Smallville Review: "Scion"

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After the abomination that was "Fortune," I was not prepared to watch the rest of the season continue to derail in its wake, and therefore approached tonight's episode with trepidation.

Fortunately, "Scion" appears to have put things back on track.

With having already witnessed what would happen to Clark if he had missed out on the loving, nurturing influence of his earthly parents, it was nice to see him try and emulate that influence with Connor especially when Connor has a much tougher inner battle to face with half-Luthor blood flowing through his veins. Trying to train Connor to use his abilities really did bring out a light in Clark, as Tess indicated. I particularly enjoyed Clark's explanation to Connor that there is a shadow inside all of us, but that doesn't mean we have to embrace it.

Smallville Spoiler Pic

It's always a treat when Clark's more tender and vulnerable side shows itself, as when he was asking Lois to give Connor the benefit of the doubt because she doesn't share Clark's understanding of the feelings of being an outsider, feelings that never do go truly go away. The way Lois melted when Clark expressed to her that she is the only thing that makes him feel normal sweetly reinforced the depth of the bond between these two.

Connor was absolutely right in his observation that Clark is only who he has become because of Lois. Sure, his parents laid the groundwork by helping instill good values in him, but Lois really does complete Clark. He's more focused with her in his life, and seems to be far more confident and at ease when she's around.

Lois truly is Clark's perfect complement.

Does anyone else find it amusing, though, that she didn't appear to have suffered any broken bones, bruises or other injuries after her tussle with Connor? Sometimes I wonder if the writers forget she is actually flesh and blood given that she typically carries herself with the bravado of a superhero.

I must say it was mighty sharp of Lionel to use Red Kryptonite to bring Connor's Lex side to the surface, although I had difficulty grasping how easily Connor tossed Clark around, unless Clark was intentionally holding back. Despite having similar powers, Clark is still twice his size and should have no problem besting Connor. I also kept wondering why Clark didn't narrow the focus of his heat vision and destroy the ring from afar, since he claimed earlier that the ability could be localized enough to light a candle. Connor certainly wasted no time in destroying the green kryptonite that way.

I suppose it is a testament to John Glover's acting ability that I despise the character of Lionel Luthor with the heat of a thousand red Krypton suns, but this episode just amplified everything I hated about him in his earlier incarnation (quite literally if you count that dreadful opera music to which he listens at a piercing decibel). It made his comeuppance via Tess all the more sweet when she kicked him out on his keister for failing to recognize his fingerprints would be directly opposite to this world's Lionel, thus disproving his identity.

Not so sharp now, eh, Mr. Luthor?

I hope Tess continues on this trend of goodness, because that last moment between she and Lionel seemed to threaten a reprise of the wicked witch we once loved to hate. As I've said before, I much prefer Tess as an ally rather than an enemy, and it would sadden me to see her succumb to Lionel's mind frakking this late in the game.

Did anyone else find it disturbing that the man in the blood-spattered lab coat told Lionel that he had "convinced Emil" to reveal that Clark had taken Connor to the farm? Was that blood Emil's? Harrowing, if so. If he's brutally injured, or even worse, dead, it should serve to only fuel Tess' hatred of her father and solidify her allegiance to the heroes.

To say that I had chills over that final image of Darkseid appearing to Lionel doesn't exactly do it justice. I crave moments like that, and would have cheered far louder if it didn't continue to feel like a tease. I cannot wait until we have a story centering on Darkseid to really sink our teeth into, but I'm awfully nervous to find out what Lionel will be capable of with the dark lord in his hip pocket.

Something odd occurred to me for the first time tonight when Connor revealed the "S" on his chest. Have they ever explained why the symbol is clearly an "S" now, versus the original  that looked like the number eight? Clark hasn't adopted the Superman moniker yet, so what does the "S" stand for at this point?

That's a head scratcher.

UPDATE: The director of Scion indicated that Dr. Lamelle, not Emil, was who was interrogated by Lionel's thug Ziegler, which makes much more sense.  I misheard when I when I initially watched the episode.

Scion Review

Editor Rating: 4.1 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.7 / 5.0 (29 Votes)

Jeffrey Kirkpatrick is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow him on Twitter.

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Smallville Season 10 Episode 16 Quotes

Lionel: You can't hide Alexander from me forever.
Tess: I'm saving him from an encore performance of Daddy Dearest.

So it's not just the Luthor males who like secrets.

Lionel