Season 3, Episode 16: Crisis

 

"Crisis"

Episode 16

Air Date: March 3rd, 2004

You know, if there's one genre of film and TV making that Smallville hasn't really done yet, it would be suspense! But for Season 3, the writers have REALLY been pushing for a darker toned and "Crisis" thoroughly excels at both serialized suspense and grimmer atmosphere than most Smallville episodes thus far.  I mean that opening alone is one of the most pulse pounding set ups for a story yet with Clark receiving a frantic and terrifying call from Lana that ends with her very brutal death.  Seriously, that shot of blood coming out from the bullet wound in her back is beyond chilling and graphic for this show! WOW! O_O  Definitely tell this show was trying to push the envelope despite its teen demographic at the time. But what Brian Peterson and Kelly Sounders' script does so remarkably well is by continuing the urgency and high stakes of the mysterious call from the future that is about to be made.  It's definitely one of the show's more inventive ideas as I don't recall it being a stolen idea from a movie as the show has a tendency to do as its run would go on.  You really do really terrified for Lana and that's a pretty amazing feeling considering she's ALWAYS the damsel in distress  each week, but here, that fact that Chloe and especially Clark try to stop her impending death from coming true but fail each time to prevent certain aspects of the call is just edge of your seat worthy.  Not to mention, Ian Somerholder does a fantastic job as Adam goes completely psycho and will do anything to stop himself from dying again by getting his hands on that serum.

I really do love also how the writers leave the origin of the call a mystery until Clark is finally on the phone with Lana as he will be in the future.  Of course kryptonite is involved and it's cool how the raging thunderstorm produce a time anomaly when the lightning hit the telephone line; making it possible for the call to be sent into the future.  Once again, very creative and builds on the immense sense of frantic fear the audience feels as the story natural progresses and you just hope Clark makes it in time to save her.  Luckily, our future Man of Steel is able to superspeed just in time to save her in yet another cool Clark time sequence as time slows down and he manages to catch the bullet from the gun with his chest as the last second.  Talk about cutting it close, Jesus! But I also loved how Adam's final moments are very somber, with him lamenting being sent to spy on Clark by Lionel and telling him to be careful of him since he's so dangerous as he won't stop going after Clark.   Really, really solid stuff here! :)  But it doesn't even end there as the episode continues the Luthor family clashing and solidifies that Lionel really is the cruelest of powerful men, my God! After Lex manages to reveal and want to lead the project that he started, Lionel inadvertently leads to death of Dr. Teng as well as 8 other personal in her lab. It's so heartless how even after Lex tells Lionel about it, he not only tries to force Lex to clean it up for him since he wanted the position but frames Lex for the murders in said lab. Talk about father of freakin' year!!!! O_O

 But luckily, Lex manages to be two steps ahead of his father and gets the FBI involved to not only stop him from getting convicted but make a deal with them to take Lionel down; reigniting his personal vendetta make his father pay for his crimes.  Wonderful plot twist there! And I can't wait to see Lex learn the truth about his father's murdering of his grandparents again.  Perfectly sets up the rest of the season....  But nothing could prepare you for the haunting final moments of the episode as Lionel finally reveals the reason behind his experimenting with Clark's blood and seems to want to commit suicide as he doesn't have enough time since he also have a rare liver disease that is quickly killing him like Adam and Vince. Yikes!!! That powerful operatic music, a torn and messy Lionel sitting down to put a gun in his mouth as the credits close.  BRAVO!!!  The show is really hitting it out the park this season.  A terrific episode from start to finish; capped off with one of the most shocking cliffhanger ever!??? Oh I need more of this! :)

Final Kryptonite: A