Season 1, Episode 18: Drone
"Drone"
Episode 18
Air Date: April 30th, 2002
Oh you can tell this was FUN script to write!!! Seems episode writers Phillip Levens and Michael Green saw 1998's "Election" featuring Reese Witherspoon as a spunky and overzealous candidate doing whatever she can to rise to the rank of student body president but making their own spin on the concept by adding a surprisingly entertaining meteor freak storyline. Sasha is so....beyond priceless and the writers do a wonderful job of making her thoroughly entertaining as well as menacingly dangerous. It also helps that Shonda Farr gives such a stand out comedic performance with just the right touch of camp and suspense to her character. Clearly Sasha is unhinged and ready to commit acts of murder just to get a student president and I love how the writers choose to play certain scenes to the absurdity of her behavior....for high school politics no less. I especially loved her interactions with the other candidates like Felice Chandler, the head cheerleader running based on popularity that Sasha confronts with such a transparent sense of confidence and manipulation that I couldn't help but chuckle. It's also I LOVED Clark's involvement in the race as Pete not so subtly puts him in the running despite not telling him about it beforehand! I just love how Clark gets so into it despite the other candidates being attacked by swarms of killer bees....simply because he can't get hurt. The episode just stuck such a brilliant landing of teen comedy meets sci fi creature feature as the bee attack scenes were truly disturbing, even horrifying at times, like when Principal Kwan opens up Felice's car only for her to fall out of it completely covered with bees. Yikes!!! Surprisingly graphic for a WB show at the time when I think about it. O_O
Of course, it wouldn't be a high school dilemma story without Clark and one of his friends having some drama among the fun as Clark and Chloe are at odds because she rather endorse Paul than her own best friend. Harsh! But I'm glad the writers used it as a way to develop their relationship, even having Lana give Clark some sensible advice for once and showing that Clark needs to give her a break; it's just politics and what she believes in. But once again, I find Chloe being used as the painfully frustrated third wheel to Clark and Lana's romance so eye rolling at this time. It's becoming like every scene with the three of them that Clark and Lana are just being friendly toward each other and the camera has to cut to multiple shots of Chloe being so obviously jealous and resentful. Ewwww!!! Anyway, the high school political race isn't the only entertaining aspect of the episode as Lex runs into a journalist from the Metropolis Journal eager to get her big break in journalism by writing a true and honest expose on Lex...only for it to turn out that she wants to destroy his image even further and maybe working for his dad. Once again, Michael Rosenbaum just kills it by making Lex look so smart, always being three steps ahead despite Ms. Castle seeming untouchable when it comes to her upcoming story. Of course, he resolves it by getting her a promotion at her job and willing to work with Lex instead of his father. God, I love the Luthor plots on this show! :)
"Drone" is just so expertly balanced as the writers finally use their high school setting in a way that doesn't feel unnecessary or forgettable like the others of the past. It makes the show look more confident as the writers are starting to have fun with these characters they're writing for and actually poke fun at the whole meteor freak problems that just keep popping up, that the characters are so nonchalant about it and ready to dispatch their latest foe while joking about it. LOL The mind controlling killer bees angle works far better than you think and that's mostly because Sasha is just so fun to watch unleashing such shocking chaos around while putting a not so genuine smile on her face as she prances around like she already won. Ha! Also, some sequences seemed pretty expensive and elaborate like killer bees attack at the Talon and especially the huge explosion at end at Sasha's hideout. That being said, this is definitely a BIG standout for this season and can be often terribly underrated looking back on the show's 200+ episodes, which is not surprising but "Drone" is a blast and enjoyable from start to finish. :)
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