Season 3, Episode 4: Slumber

 

"Slumber"

Episode 4

Air Date: October 22nd, 2003

Holy Nightmare on Elm Street Smallville!!! O_O  What's going on here?!!! Well, this certainly one of the rarest of episodes for this series that plays out a lot different than what you'd expect from this series.  I guess you kind of see it coming right from the beginning of the episode as Lana seems a bit to eager to skinny dip with Clark at the lake.  Seriously, I feel like the writers were just always trying to play up Kristin Kreuk's sex appeal on this show as this is clearly more of a fantasy of a pair of perverted show runners than Clark just having a teenaged boy fantasy.  Nevertheless, it does set up the bizarre, trippy aspect of the episode that we just haven't seen from Smallville.  I LOVE how the first 15 or so of the episode is a dream that we're just thrown into with Clark, but the script penned by Drew Z. Greenberg, slowly but surely shows that things are not all as they may seem, like Sarah continuing to randomly pop up during Clark's dream during school or at his house, that shocking moment of Lex revealing he knows Clark's secret, not to mention the odd way certain scenes are shot with this glowing filter around it.  Not to mention, seeing Clark get dragged down through the ground is quite the unforeseen jump scare the first time you watch it. Yikes! It's also extremely creepy when it's revealed that Clark has been asleep for a day and a half. WOW!!!

Apparently, our dream girl, Sarah and her uncle just moved in across the farm, into Lana's old house as Clark feels he needs to investigate as usual to figure out what exactly is going on.  Lana soon tags along, fully clothed and real, to visit the Conroys and Clark is all to adamant about knowing how Sarah came to become in a comatose state for 6 years.  Turns out Sarah's menacing uncle is behind her constant coma as he is keeping her asleep to get his hands on her parents' inheritance.  But of course, the chilling dream sequences are at the core of the episode and while some shots haven't aged well (hell, some may haven't been that great in 2003 to begin with! O_o) it really is a scary visual everytime the Traveler is on screen to attack Sarah.  Even scarier is that Clark has no powers in his dream to defend her and of crap, the stakes and danger is even higher.  Of course, it's all a lesson of overcoming her fear of her uncle who is drugging her and it works, even able to give Clark his abilities in his dream....for some reason.  Also, we get the usual confrontation at the end where Lana is in some kind of last minute danger with Clark having to quickly use his powers to save the day.  Tho Lana should have known better to go to confront Sarah's uncle alone when she could have come with one of the Kents or even the sheriff??? Then again, she didn't know that her uncle was drugging her until she some how got into his house to stop him.  I think in Kansas, they just leave their doors open, which is so unsafe but then again, it's a farm town.  But considering how dangerous Smallville is in general with meteor freaks??? I know a locked door isn't gonna help with people who have superpowers but....ok, I'm so off track! lol

In the Luthor world, Lex maybe working back at Luthorcorp but there is still some extensive hurdles he needs to overcome as his father believes he needs to see a shrink before moving forward and passing his psychological evaluation.  Once again, the writers are laying down some exceptionally solid foundation when dealing with Lex's inner turmoil that will play a major part in his psychosis in becoming the villain we all know and love. Apparently, he will be seen by doctor Claire Foster who will be his therapist through all of this until he is ready.  God knows I can't wait to look extensively into Lex's complex and darkened mind as a Luthor.  But of course, this is Smallville and the writers always, always, ALWAYS have to jam the Clana drama in our faces as when Sarah is awake, she has to convince Clark to give it another shot with her to Clark's nervous hesitation at the idea.  Outside of the callback to Clark's skinny dip dreaming, we're back to more will they or won't they, when I just want them to just either be friends or a couple without some gray area that makes things more angst-y and complicated than it should be. But overall, "Slumber" in terms of its otherworldly story and progression in Lex's journey through the uncharted areas of his tortured mind, really kept me invested outside the usual failings of the show to keep me interested in Clark and Lana getting back together. Oh boy! 

Final Kryptonite: A-