"Solitude" Review!
Written by Triplet

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NOTE: Major spoilers are revealed in this review! If you haven't seen this episode, go watch it now! However, if you are resolved to continue before watching it; don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Recap:

Martha gets struck down by a huge flash of light. Clark finds her unconscious in the driveway but she doesn‘t remember anything. At first it seems like she just fainted but the symptoms get increasingly worse. Clark tells Chloe he thinks Jor-El is to blame and then asks Fine (special guest star James Marsters) to tell him more about his father, Jor-El. Fine refuses, telling Clark that he needs to be more patient, he will tell him more when he thinks Clark is ready.

Lionel tells Chloe about Milton Fine and his Clark-like abilities and wants her to investigate him. Clark tells Fine about Martha’s worsening symptoms. Fine explains the disease was how Jor-El had tortured dissidents. Fine says that Jor-El was a cruel dictator and the one responsible for the destruction of Krypton. He also explains that if the “hero of the people” Zod hadn’t been captured, he could have stopped Jor-El.

Back at the farm, Fine tells Clark and family that there is no cure and Martha is going to die. Clark confesses to Jonathan his fear that Jor-El struck down his mom as his price for saving Clark’s life. He goes to the Fortress to try and get Jor-El to help, but Jor-El said he wasn’t to blame and can do nothing.

Chloe follows Fine to the Luthorcorp warehouse where the ship is stored. Clark talks to a dying Martha about the price she’s paying for him. She tells him to not feel guilty, she’s glad to give up her life for his. He is resolved to not let her die. Lois helps Chloe get into the warehouse and she sees Fine crystallize from a pool under the ship.

Fine easily convinces a desperate Clark that he will need to destroy the fortress in order to stop Jor-El killing his mother. They use the portal in the caves to go to the fortress. Fine helps Clark start the Fortress’ self-destruct sequence by jamming a crystal into it.

Fine pulls kryptonite on Clark and tells him he’s pathetic compared to a true Kryptonian like Zod. Helpless Clark finally realizes Fine had been lying and was the real cause of Martha’s illness. Chloe enters the cave and uses the portal. While Fine waits for the Phantom Zone to release Zod, Chloe gets rid of the kryptonite disabling Clark and he pulls the crystal, saving the fortress. Clark fights Fine and apparently destroys him. As Fine evaporates, the ship disappears from Lex’s warehouse and Martha is cured instantly.

Chloe and Clark talk about whether the danger is really over. Lex accuses Lionel of taking the ship, which he denies. Jonathan tells Clark to not worry about what may or may not happen, just to enjoy spending time with the people he loves.

Review:

When the description of a Smallville episode includes a sentence like “However, once the two arrive at the Fortress, Professor Fine tries to free Zod and kill Clark” you know it’s going to be an exciting episode. Often the official descriptions are misleading (deliberately or not), and can sometimes be downright wrong, but this week’s held up to the promised excitement.

The episode writers, Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin, have penned a story that gets off to a great start when Martha gets blasted some mysterious burst of energy and yet doesn‘t remember it. It’s creepy and troubling. The creep factor is heightened even more when nothing appears to be wrong with her, at first.

The tension builds well throughout the show, with wonderful act break cliff-hangers that kept me almost literally on the edge of my seat. As the story progresses, Fine slowly turns the screws tighter and tighter on Clark, totally manipulating him each step of the way. Finally, the imminent death of his “Earth mother” makes Clark so desperate that he agrees to destroy the Fortress of Solitude. It‘s a brilliant plan and Fine almost gets away with it, but he didn‘t count on the loyalty and resourcefulness of a human to tip the scales to Clark‘s favor.

I think it’s wonderful for them to show that Clark now knows that not all humans are as bad as Fine painted them. It’s an important lesson for him as he progresses closer to his destiny of becoming the protector of his adopted planet.

Also, I loved that Jor-El (as personified by the Fortress of Solitude) is what finally destroyed Fine. Nice touch.

What a great script!

I think the only problem I had with the story was Lois’ contrived conflict with Lex. They had never really even seen each other before except the time he tried to pay off that Swiss loan shark for her sister… I would say that should buy him at least a little slack.

That said, I loved Lex’s line about her being a “muffin peddling, college drop out.” That line was hilarious and probably worth putting up with the contrived conflict between them.

I wonder if Slavkin and Swimmer felt cheapened by writing that infomercial for the Ford Fusion into the show.

The episode was beautifully shot by Glen Winter. I especially loved the scene in the first act with Fine and Clark. It was shot low and had a crisp look to it. And later in act four, Fine’s classroom looked amazing. It is a beautiful space and Winter’s lighting makes it more so.

I think the only complaint I would have is that zoom was combined with a tracking shot in the Fortress of Solitude scene in the third act. Using an extreme zoom flattens the image and totally removes any sense of depth of the huge Fortress set. Also, the set pieces coming between Tom and the camera as it tracked back and forth and the extreme zoom made me flash back to the several traumatic hours I spent watching Altman’s McCabe & Mrs. Miller in film school… *shudder* I really hate that technique.

Anyway, Tom Welling was awesome again this week. I really think he must have learned some things this past summer when he worked on his two new films, The Fog and Cheaper By The Dozen 2. He seems to have a subtler touch now.

I especially loved his scenes with Martha. The scene with her lying on the couch was terrific. He impeccably portrayed Clark’s attempts at trying to hide his anguish while still trying to deal bravely with his mother’s impending death. It was a heart breaking scene and Tom played it flawlessly.

He also did well when Clark was dealing with the evil Fine. Brainiac had Clark twisting on a hook and Tom conveyed his desperation and despair perfectly.

James Marsters also excelled in this episode. It would have been so easy for Marsters to take the climax between Fine and Clark over the top. However, Marsters dodged that trap and produced a strong performance that deftly avoided becoming campy. And that last little knowing smile as Fine lay impaled on the console was brilliant.

The supporting players all shone as usual, but Annette O’Toole really outdid herself. Her subtle and tender performances in the scenes with Clark were amazing. It’s really a shame that the cast is so big now that we’ve seen so little of Jonathan and Martha the last few seasons, it was great for Annette to be able to show her stuff.

Erica Durance and Allison Mack’s sisterly chemistry is terrific and I hope they keep up Lois’ visits to Chloe at the Daily Planet. The foreshadowing of Lois’ role as an investigative reporter (and perennial thorn in Lex’s side) was awesome. As forced as the conflict between Lex and Lois in the Talon was, the actors had a great chemistry and I enjoyed the scene in spite of the contrivances.

Michael Rosenbaum was in his element. He was playing Lex at his maniacal best. His anger and frustration with his father, his sarcasm, his annoyed amusement with Lois’s snarky-ness - all beautifully played.

John Glover’s Lionel is a huge question mark right now, however. Why is he helping Clark? By giving Chloe the skinny on Fine, he must have known it would help Clark in the end. She’s Clark’s best friend after all. She would certainly tell Clark what she found out about his professor. Is there still some part of Jor-El inside Lionel? I think maybe there is.

This was a stellar episode, probably one of the better ones so far in this excellent season, and I give it 4.5 bolts of evil Kryptonian lightning out of 5.

Note: The views of Triplet don't necessarily represent the thoughts and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite. Send her feedback

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