Season 3, Episode 2: Phoenix

 

"Phoenix"

Episode 2

Air Date: October 8th, 2003

Almost feeling like a part 2 to the season premiere (and honestly, it REALLY is tho), "Phoenix (Amazing title!) picks up exactly where we left off with father and son falling down Luthorcorp Plaza...until they crash through a ceiling of a construction area beneath the building.  Gotta really love this fight and it really is just as awesome as it was then rewatching it.  Not to mention, the heightened tension and emotion as Jonathan and Clark fight is beyond heart pounding as well as the their dialogue, like when Jonathan sees Clark's scar on his chest and wonders what Jor-El did to him.  "He made sure I never forget who my real father is!"  Chills!!! But the best part is when Clark looks like he's about to strike Jonathan and calls Clark on killing him since he raised him.  It's a truly powerful moment, very well acted by both Tom and John; not to mention the special effects are once again pretty expensive looking compared to the last 2 seasons especially when the kryptonian scar vanishes from Clark's chest after he smashes the red kryptonite ring.  Man, and this was only the teaser!!! From there, we get a heartbreaking reunion between Martha and Clark, not to mention I'm glad Martha mentioned they never blamed him for the baby's death since it was what pushed Clark over the edge to leave Smallville.  But it's not only Clark that has a triumphant return home, as Lex confronts his father in his office and puts a gun to his face; thinking he tried to kill him.  Once again, the acting is supreme sequence of dynamic acting from the two Luther men with Lex desperate to get Lionel to confess to trying to kill him while Lionel knows it was Helen who obviously tried to kill him...not to mention, she sold the vile of blood to Lionel that Clark found in his safe.

Yeah, so it turns out as of last episode, Helen was a two timing gold digger and lied about Lex saving her as revealed after Lex's memorial when Lionel confronts her at her new mansion.  At first, it's hard to believe Helen would turn out to be so duplicitous as Lionel said but given everything she saw from Lex last and STILL wanting to marry him....it really does make sense that she would have an arterial motive in marrying him.  I mean like Lex says during his brilliant set up with Helen once again in a Luthor jet, "No sane person would go back to Lex" after such betrayal and performing a such a devious crime.  Not to mention, I love the added bonus of Lex mentioning, "If his father wanted him dead, he would have succeed"! Ha! Wonderful script by Kelly Sounders and Brian Peterson! :) It shows how much more menacing and cunning Lex can be than the people that pursue him and try to kill him, something he thanks his father for in their final scene together.  It's really a big moment in Lex's character growth that he would thank Lionel for making him a ruthless survivor, not to mention join his father again at Luthorcorp, but it's a really stunning move on the show runners part by really exploring Lex's darkness and psychological trauma this season that clearly is a HUGE part of what makes him into THE Lex Luthor we know. :)

Back in Dramaville, Clark begins dealing with the fallout of him leaving home from why Jor-El would send his father to retrieve him when he wanted Clark to leave, Clark revealing the vile of blood from Lionel's vault and Jonathan destroying it so know one could trace it back to him and of course, confronting the women in his life like Lana, who he decides to break off their relationship is a very Roswell-ly scene ( Ironically, Smallville is the reason why that alien teen drama show was cancelled so prematurely.) but you do feel bad for Lana who's been trying so hard to be there for Clark but he keeps pushing her away even when he seems back to normal.  But that line about, "the only person hurting me is you."........uhhhh, since when??? I'd say Clark has still earned some leniency considering he's been more there for you than disappointing you, not to mention saving your life.  But then Clark at the end of the episode decides to keep Lana away from him in fear of him hurting her again and learning something she can't handle when she is clearly ready for him to tell her the truth.  Oy! Cue classic WB ending with latest sappy pop song playing as Lana rides away and Clark is left all alone.  Ewwwww, yes let's keep padding out the will they and won't again already! Omg! -_- Then of course, Chloe gives Clark a hard time as he tries to apologize to her for his behavior too but it's Chloe and she's the one with more issues than Rolling Stone! Ewwww, hypocrite.  Oh and NOW you want to be a friend to him??? Oh you loved him confiding in you again??? Aren't you the one how's been investigating since he disappeared??? Who knows who chastising Clark for being with Lana when all that crap happened to him before he left may have contributed to it Chloe! -_-  But I suppose she does make a good point when Clark doesn't know if he wants to say and she tells him to face his demons and not run away again.  Look who's talking but still! O_o  Clark and Lex's touching reunion does bring about the two men who spent the summer dealing with their dark sides and how that has played out on where they are in their lives now.  It's a nice moment of both men realizing they have a lot in coming in that regard by having to return from their exile and rise from the ashes to learn from their mistakes.  Hence the title! Har Har! :P

But the best part of the episode is Morgan Edge coming to Smallville to get the item that Clark stole from Lionel...especially considering he and Lionel are old friends and can send him straight to prison if he doesn't.  Seriously, I like the history between these two deceitful men, giving Lionel more granduer as the show's first overarching villain while also making Morgan Edge for Clark to continue to have to deal with.  That moment when Clark threatened him was a remarkable scene full of tension as Tom really sells his "acting" to scare Morgan out of town.  Of course, it doesn't work when Morgan holds his parents hostage and Clark has no choice but to give Morgan some of his blood so he won't kill them.  Tho Lana's brief involvement in the situation wasn't really needed, outside another shocking accidental death.  With will become far to common on this show, seriously! O_o  But the end of the episode is yet another well directed and clearly pricey action set piece when Morgan wants to bring in Clark for Lionel but our quick thinking farm boy managing to escape and indirectly make it seem like Morgan had set him up.  So Morgan is shot and falls into the ocean.....for the moment. But I'm already looking forward to seeing him again (sort of) later down the season.  "Phoenix" was a excellent second half to this phenomenal pair of premiere episodes with great, tense action, high stakes, a continued well directed display of the show's higher budget and plot pieces brought up to continue the show's overarching narrative in Clark and Lex's journeys. Amazing! :)

Final Kryptonite: A+