“Hothead”

“Hothead” is a different take on an already somewhat tired take.  It’s almost as if shows like this want to get on the air, but don’t know the depth of the story they want to take, so they throw a few filler episodes at you where you see the potential the series has, but for whatever reason it just doesn’t see it itself yet.

The FOTW this week is the team’s football coach, Walt Arnold.  He is the typical coach who puts his legacy and himself above the education to the extreme of helping his players cheat.   His temper is legendary and when he develops fiery powers, you can already tell where this is going to go.

The problem is that it doesn’t seem real.  If he were to act the way he acts during this episode, he never would have made it 25 years.  Maybe I’m naive, but it seemed a little too overblown and confrontational, even with the principal.

At least we were mostly without the 90210ish romance drama that plagued the first two episodes.  Clark and Lana subtly built their relationship without getting overbearing.

Lex continues to shine as his struggles to find his place in the world under his father’s dominion.  I know I sound like a broken record, but he continuously is the most interesting portion of the show.

Clark’s home life makes for interesting viewing as well.  The argument about Clark joining the football team springs up again and this time Clark won’t take no for an answer disillusioning his father.  The issue truly is a tough one.  Clark deserves a chance at a normal life and he has done everything to gain his parents trust at being able to control himself, but at the same time, when a heated moment or accident by a teenager could cause a kid to die…well where can you really put yourself.

Lana’s struggle to find who she is also lays the groundwork for interesting storylines possibly as she takes the prom queen cheerleader stereotype and turns it on its head.

Overall though even with all these groundwork laying issues, the truth is, the episode is mediocre due to the slow plodding storyline, the over the top characters.  It is partially redeemed by the cinematography which is well done for television show of it’s type.

C

REFERENCES:

1. Walt Arnold is played by Dan Lauria.  The character name is a nod to Dan Lauria’s most famous role, Jack Arnold in the Wonder Years.

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