“Jitters”

After last episode, I didn’t think the show could go down much further. Luckily “Jitters” brought the show back to at least the mediocrity that while had been frustratingly short in deliverance, had at least been good in developling characters into people you wanted to know more about.

Of course that is also helped that we know these characters, so learning their pasts…and perhaps the slight differences is what makes Smallville so intriguing. If this had been an all new show, I don’t think it would have lasted doing FOTW episodes. I understand that not everything can be an arc or part of the epic tale, but I’d love to see at least SOME episodes go along in that direction.

In a unique twist this week’s FOTW played by Tony Todd, doesn’t get cool superpowers. Instead he gets an affliction that his now meteor-induced body fights off in a unique way. By jittering uncontrollably and ultra powerfully. So much show that he breaks glass, can take catwalks down off their bolts, etc.

Pretty lame power, but at least it is a different take.

Earl Jenkins worked at the LuthorCorp. plant at Smallville where he claimed an explosin on Level 3 was behind his malady, but the only problem is no one knows anything about Level 3. He tries to get to Lionel Luthor to find out what was going on in Level 3, but Luthor won’t see him. During an empassioned plea to a friend who also works as a janitor, Earl has a strike of the jitters while holding on to him, killing him accidentally.

In the meantime the Kents go on vacation leaving Clark home alone and what does Clark do? He throws a party like most red blooded human males would do. He tries to limit him to a small gathering but things tend to snowball, even before Lex shows up with fireworks to help out his “little brother”.

Earl makes his way to the Kent farm because he used to work as a farmhand before working for LuthorCorp. Clark gets him to a hospital, but Earl is not happy, especially when he finds out he’s wanted for murder.

Coincidentally, Clark and his classmates go on a field trip to the local LuthorCorp. plant. Earl escapes from the hospital and makes his way there and takes everyone hostage. It’s clear Earl doesn’t want to hurt anyone, which is a striking difference from our usual FOTWs.

All the parents converge on the plant along with Lex and Lionel. Lex has not heard of level 3 either and Lionel denies it. But when nothing is going to be done, Lex decides to go in himself and is able to talk Earl into letting the kids go while he stays, after one of his jitters has raised the methane levels to dangerous levels. Clark stays inside and helps find what Earl is talking about although Lex still denies knowing about it.

Do we believe Lex? At this stage I think we do. ]

Earl is taken out and taken to a hospital where according to a guilty feeling Lex, he will get the best medical attention. In a great contrasting shot we see the happy Kent family being genuinely warm with each other, while Lex stares as his father “hugs” him.

It is obvious that this is the seed of destruction that will lead Lex down a dark path. He wants Clark’s life in a way. He wants the close family, the love. It was well depicted and while not overly subtle, made a good impression.

The 90210 angle was played down this week with only a minor argument between the decaying relationship of Whitney/Lana being shown. Although it doesn’t really make sense…it’s almost as if they are just showing us the points of interest, rather than watching the relationship deteriorate. I don’t know if it’s good or bad to be honest, but it is kind of jarring at times.

Overall, it had some good points, and some meh points, but I’ve definitely seen worse.

C+

REFERENCES:
I didn’t catch anything specific during this episode.

Previous -1.07

Next – 1.09

Please discuss this in our small screen section of Phatooine!