Season 7, Episode 15: Veritas

"Veritas"

Episode 15

Air Date: March 27th, 2008

Sigh......it's funny, as much I really HATE this Veritas story arc and this episode genuinely makes the story reach a point of already being hopeless non-sense that doesn't add up to character motivations we've seen in the past, Veritas opens with possibly my favorite cold opening of the show as Kara is doing farm chores early in the morning while a hawk flies across a moody atmosphere to watch Kara then fly into the barn.  The tension and set-up here is so ominous yet builds to such an epic confrontation when Brainiac has returned once again and is adamant about using Kara for his latest plan.  I absolutely love James Masters and how he can just control an entire scene with such ease and they way he so coldly plays with Kara here is just so menacingly brilliant right until he grab her and Clark comes out of nowhere to swing him away in an awesome SFX/stunt sequence! As Kara and Clark superspeed to confront him, we get an even more epic sequence of Brainiac flying through the two before taking off into the skies as Clark and Kara look beyond terrified by the fact that he can fly.  From there the episode descends (only one episode until then! ;) into bringing us more information via flashbacks of what Veritas is, the conflict within the group and what they are protecting in case the Traveler may be a threat??? What??!! O_o

Suddenly, Lex conveniently remembers these moments pre-meteor shower about his father meeting up with the other wealthy families to discuss Veritas and their mission......uhhh huhhh.  So now because Lex was healed from that gunshot to the head thanks to Chloe, he now just puts the clues together because he keeps remembering all of a sudden.  -_-  Now Lex knows all the answers he's been looking for since he's lived in Smallville with the cave walls, the stones, the mysterious symbols, etc. was all right in front of him.  Now all he has to do is collect all the keys of each member of Veritas to open some safety deposit box in Missouri that will lead him to those very answers.  Uhhhh huh.....  at least we get a hilarious side splot of Lois and Jimmy once again teaming up for another story, this time the mysterious death of Patricia Swan, who they believe was killed by Lionel.  After a humorous scene where they confront Lionel in his office for a quote, their clues soon lead them to the Isis Foundation where Lionel has left a note for Lana that shows Lex was the one behind her murder.  It's just always entertaining to see Lois and Jimmy doing Lois and Jimmy things from the comics so I was all for this and wished we got more from them.  Meanwhile, Kara is trying to get Clark to learn how to fly so they can track down Brainiac but Clark quickly shoots that down...because  RULES!!! I mean at least indulge us in an attempt at least. Boooooooo!!!! -_-  Oh and what's up with the continued dumb dialogue like Kara and Clark figuring out Brainiac runs on energy!!! Ummm he's a machine, of course he does, he needs plenty of electricity to function....that's how machines work guys! Why do they keep insulting the heroes this season in terms of common sense/intelligence!?? First Chloe being smarter than both of them combined, the entirety of Blue, now THIS!!!  Can't wait until next season when the original showrunners leave because WOW!!! They really didn't care anymore!

Meanwhile, Lionel is going completely batsh!t now that Team Clark no longer believes from Chloe to Clark himself, no matter how desperate and damn near hysterical he becomes throughout the episode.  Seriously, John Glover is giving his all more than usual for a story arc that seriously doesn't deserve even an inch of his immense talent but I'm thinking it's mostly because these are the last days of Lionel on the show rather than being really into this crap! O_o  I actually felt really bad for Lionel, his arc on the show really has been problematic since last season when the writers didn't seem to know whether to keep him evil or be this emissary of Clark's heritage.  This season has been even worse with this sudden Veritas non-sense that now retcons his initial motives for even visiting Smallville during the meteor shower and yes, we get a legit flashback of Lionel preparing to fly to Smallville with little Lex during the Pilot episode because he was waiting for the Traveler to arrive instead of buying the Ross' out of their property like originally shown.  I mean I love that we finally got some resolution on that newspaper of the Queens' death that was in the actual Pilot, but there are still more questions here than answers. Like literally, I have a list of how this arc makes no sense and how trying to connect old storylines together to make sense of the past seasons' arcs is just making a needlessly messy continuity that was flawed yes, but at least made sense in context with the first 6 seasons.  Now....Veritas was apparently behind it all!  When....clearly it wasn't...EVER! -_-

As least the Brainiac portion of the episode continued to thrill, especially when he attacks Lana; leaving in a terrifying catatonic state where she is being controlled by Brainiac.  Of course, with her life in jeopardy, Kara makes the sacrifice to fly off with Brainiac for his plan apparently (Still don't know what he's up too and why Kara's bracelet is the key....but he needs her to come with him anyway??? O_o) in another tremendously well done SFX sequence that has stood the test of time since.  Seriously, far more epic and convincing than the most recent Supergirl flight scenes from that show. :)  But alas, things are looking bleak as Lionel is on the brink of madness, Lana is now being held in an asylum until Clark can bring her back to normal (Leave her there! *cough*)  and Lex is about to confront his father about the remaining key he needs to get to the Veritas' item that can seemingly control the Traveler....because!!! Mediocrity overall with sprinkles of gold. 

Final Kryptonite: D+