Season 1, Episode 10: Shimmer

 "Shimmer"
Episode 10
Air Date: January 29th, 2002

This episode reminds me of an episode of Buffy 5 years prior to this one where she had to deal with an invisible threat at Sunnydale High as the Hellmouth had literally made a girl constantly looked over in transparent because she felt as such. While "Shimmer" doesn't live up to the metaphorical highs of that episode, it does make for a pretty entertaining mystery that has some great misdirection when it comes to the real identity of one behind the unseen attacks. We get a bit of a mini "Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jill" reunion between Micheal Rosenbaum and guest actress Azura Skye playing Amy Palmer, the daughter of one of the mansion's caretakers and brother to Jeff Palmer, played by Kell Turton.  I really enjoyed how the story plays out with Amy clearly being an obvious suspect to a bunch of terrifying attacks around Smallville, especially when they have to do with Lex as she has an obsessive crush on him.  But it soon becomes clear not is all as it seems as the real culprit makes themselves known for a tense conclusion as Clark must rush to Lex's rescue.  I gotta say, while the CGI is still amatuerish here, the invisible sequences are very well done, especially when Clark uses his X-Ray vision to see the skeleton of the attack to fight back.  Damn that power is being used well and becoming too handy! :)  Tho the whole bright light and shaking door sequence made no sense to me. So how did an invisible person do all that and spray paint the whole room with a black light no less??? Seems like the part of the episode that doesn't add to the invisibility but was added just to add some suspense.

I guess I should talk about Clark's progression with Lana with their high school romance as when Lana and Whitney take some time apart because of Whitney pushing her away for some reason.  Clark finally takes his shot with Lana by helping her with the school's blood drive and while he initially does it to avoid revealing his secret, it doesn't stop her for finally making his move...only before Lana's aunt Nell stops them from their first kiss.  It's a really cute Dawson's Creek-y moment and like I said, I'm just enjoying the cute beginnings of their relationship compared to the disturbing soap opera it would become in latter seasons. Seriously, Ewwwwwww!!!  But unfortunately, Whitney's sudden distance from his girlfriend is because of his father's abrupt illness and how he can't stand to bring Lana back to seeing a parent dying.  Its a nice development, especially giving Clark and Whitney finally some breathing room to be acquainted instead of the constantly fighting over Lana...sigh.  Teenagers! lol But I like seeing Clark being so noble and wanting Whitney to have Lana there for him instead of taking the opportunity to be with his first love. I feel bad for him, especially during that obviously fake sunset sequence in his loft with Lana as he tells her to reach out to Whitney and as he watches the two console each other after Whitney tells Lana about his father. :( 

I really was shocked and surprised by Lionel returning this episode as honestly, I forget what episodes he showed up in the first season before the writers decided to appropriately keep him on the series as a regular.  Once again, the back and forth between John Glover and Micheal Rosenbaum is just sublime as Lionel once again chastises Lex for failing as his cat and mouse relationship with Victoria is making Luthorcorp suffer because of it.  You'd think the constant corporate dialogue would be a little much but those two really can make you so enraptured in it because of their performances! We also get Clark and Lex building on their friendship when talking about themselves and the current women in their lives.  It leads to the show's signature historical references that play a part in narrative of not only the episode, but of Clark's overall lore as becoming Superman.  Damn, did I cover everything again??? Chloe was actually helpful this episode in Clark's Lana pursuit as well as finding out who the real culprit was behind the invisible attacks. So there's a plus! So rare to like her during these high school seasons but Allison Mack sure can act tho being only 19 here! WOW! O_O Now if only she wasn't into illegal trafficking!!! 0_0

Final Kryptonite: B-