The music of REM... in an episode about DREAMS. Yuck yuck yuck.

GREAT EXCHANGE:
Lex: “That island didn’t make me crazy, Dad.”
Lionel (laughs loudly): “Oh, of course not!……………but it’ll be good to have that in writing…won’t it?”

Okay, so the scene in which Martha incredulously asks Clark if he was skinny dipping alone was just a dream, but why would Clark think his mom would think it odd to be skinny dipping alone? People do that. It’s not just a guy-girl thing. In fact, I seem to recall an episode of Dukes of Hazzard in which his dad and his dad’s cousin went skinny dipping twice…

So, Sarah Conroy was afraid of a big man in bright red “cape.” It was actually a hooded cloak, but Clark called it a “cape.” Interesting….

The second time Clark encounters Sarah in a dream, they’re in school. The third, Sarah is walking out the front gate of Clark’s house. When she addresses him by name, he asks her how she knows his name. Now it’s a dream, but even if it weren’t, why would Clark find this weird? She could’ve asked someone at school. As Chloe said, it is high school.

Why does Clark have to open the medicine cabinet and take a bottle of the pills? Can’t he just read what type of medicine it is from the label without even opening the cabinet using his x-ray vision, and then research what type of medicine it is to see if it’s a legit part of coma care?

The way in which Sarah appeared in Clark’s truck as he drove away after stealing the medicine, and then he realized that he must’ve fallen asleep, and then we see the truck fly out of control? NIIIIIIIIICCEEE!!!

Clark tells Sarah in their last dream encounter at the dock that she has to confront her uncle, and that he can only help her in the real world because he has “no power” here. But then, when she begins to resist, he suddenly has his heat vision. Why didn’t he use it before? Maybe it’s because he only regained it when she began to resist, but why can’t he resist himself? It’s both their dream, isn’t it? Or is kinda like John Ostrander’s take on The Spectre, where, it’s really Sarah pulling Clark into her dream, and the advantage/power resides with whosever mind it is?

Add this one to the Clark Is Dumb File:
Confronting Sarah’s uncle, he grabs the cigarette lighter, and rather than destroying it, pocketing it or throwing it away, he holds it up in front of Sarah’s uncle, where he might accidentally drop it, igniting the very fire he was trying to prevent. Then, rather than knocking out Sarah’s uncle with a non-flashy move like a punch to the face, Clark picks him up and throws him against a tree, a couple of dozen feet away, giving him a clue to Clark’s unusual nature.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
"By the way Lex, when you're rich, you're not crazy; you're eccentric." -- Lionel Luthor

TOTALLY DUPED TUE OF THE WEEK:
I knew the title of this episode in advance. I knew things were going too well with Clark and Lana, and yet I didn't make the connection that Clark was dreaming until Lex smashed the sword over him. I'm such a gullible dunce.

MISSED OPPORTUNITY OF THE WEEK:
When Clark goes to see Lex (in the real world) he sees the sword and Lex tells him its fake. What "I" might have done, is have Lex smash the sword over Clark again in the real world and THEN Lex tells Clark its fake (i.e. It was designed to shatter or something like that). That would have been priceless.

LANA IMPROVEMENT OF THE WEEK:
This has been an ongoing trend lately, but Lana has not been getting on my nerves as much this season as she did last season. I think a big part of it is that she is toning down her overreacting. She's accepted that Clark's got secrets.

CAR SWITCH OF THE WEEK:
The episode starts out with the Kents giving Clark a new truck (a darn nice one too). Later, Clark is driving home from seeing Sara and he's driving his dad's red truck. Why isn't he driving his own new truck. When it was first introduced, I fully expected it to be trashed by the end of the episode.

LAUGH-OUT-LOUD TOWN NAME OF THE WEEK:
Did I hear correctly? Is Smallville near a town called Grandville?? That made me laugh.

LUCKY POSITIONING OF THE WEEK:
Clark sure is lucky that the evil father didn't pull his gasoline stunt on the OTHER side of the house. Also, I wonder just how far Clark can "magnify" something. (I didn't even know Superman had this magnification ability, though it makes perfect sense)

OVERALL OPINION OF THE WEEK:
Not too shabby. I give it a B+.

TUE

Another good episode. Quite a run this season.

The Good:
- Forget that it was a shameless plug for their greatest hits CD, the REM tunes ruled in this episode.
- Sarah manages to enter Clark's dreams, and interject her problem into his psyche. A nice departure from the overdone formula of the hero popping into the victim's dreams and bumping around searching for answers.
- Nice that Clark figures out that, when Sarah appears with him, he's asleep. A shame that Clark was driving when he figured this out...
- I'm enjoying Chloe's acceptance of her friendship with Clark, and that she's not still chasing him. Time for her to get a normal boyfriend.
- After Sarah appears to Clark in the barn, the Traveler takes her and disappears. The swirling cloak effect was very nice, ala the Spawn.

The Bad:
- While handing the keys to the new truck to Clark, Jonathan tells Clark that they could use a new truck on the farm. Uh huh, I'm sure you'll be hauling lots of hay and manure in that baby, especially after the 12" lift job.
- So Lana's old house stood vacant for more than a year? That's a suprise, even in Kansas you can finance at 5.25% these days. An even bigger suprise is that Clark didn't know a high school-age girl would be moving in.
- Lana doesn't seem terribly concerned that Clark was in a major automobile accident and was lying, seemingly unconscious, in his father's arms. I'd probably want to call an ambulance, not take Mr. Kent's word for it that Clark will be fine.
- Lana admits to Clark that it was pretty foolish of her to confront Uncle Connors by herself. Clark tries to lift her spirits. Sorry, Clark, the correct response was, "Yeah, that was really freaking moronic. What were you thinking, anyway? Couldn't you bring my dad with you, or at least waffle the guy over the head with a shovel?? 'Hey you, don't stick that needle in her!!' really wasn't cutting it!"
- Uncle Connors notices that Clark ran off with the drug vial, so he decides to dope his niece again. He could have used the IV line in her other arm, and avoided leaving needle marks in her bare arm as evidence.

The Ugly:
- People in comas for 6 years require hospitalization to monitor vital signs, not home care.
- Stabbing someone in the neck with a needle is extremely dangerous. It's a miracle that Lana survived that attack without a serious injury, or death.
- Clark finds the drug he suspects Uncle Connors is using to keep Sarah unconscious and steals a vial, presumably to show to the police. Why not take Sarah with him? Get her to the hospital, blow the whistle on the drugging situation, everybody lives happily ever after and the Kents keep their truck.
- Speaking of which, why was Clark driving at this point, when he can get around so much faster by walking?
- Apparently Clark didn't learn his lesson after flinging that frat boy onto the sheriff's car, he still tosses people into trees to stop them from perpetrating their evil.

An interesting thought. Clark uses coffee and caffeinated drinks to stay awake in this ep. It's truly amazing that his Kryptonian physiology is stimulated by caffeine. It would be fun to learn that he's stimulated by something a bit more unusual, like tartar sauce or pumpkins...

TUE: What "I" might have done, is have Lex smash the sword over Clark again in the real world and THEN Lex tells Clark its fake (i.e. It was designed to shatter or something like that). That would have been priceless.
Luigi Novi: Destroy a prop from a Kurosawa film? Yeah, that woulda been priceless, TUE…

TUE: Clark sure is lucky that the evil father didn't pull his gasoline stunt on the OTHER side of the house.
Luigi Novi: Actually, he was her uncle.

TUE: Also, I wonder just how far Clark can "magnify" something.
Luigi Novi: I sometimes wonder that about Reed Richards and Plastic Man, myself.

Obi-Juan: The swirling cloak effect was very nice, ala the Spawn.
Luigi Novi: Yeah, except that the writers on this show can actually write.

Obi-Juan:Clark uses coffee and caffeinated drinks to stay awake in this ep. It's truly amazing that his Kryptonian physiology is stimulated by caffeine.
Luigi Novi: It’s funny, it didn’t occur to me that he asked for something with caffeine because of his sleeping episodes. I totally forgot about them. I thought he asked him this because he was hoping that the uncle would make some coffee, which would take several minutes, giving Clark time to snoop around. (Instead, the uncle offered soda.)

If greed was the uncle's motivation for keeping her in the coma, where's he spending the money? No mansion? No porsche? : )

The episode starts out with the Kents giving Clark a new truck (a darn nice one too). Later, Clark is driving home from seeing Sara and he's driving his dad's red truck. -The Undesirable Element

Clark dreamed the new truck.

By the way it's interesting that Lex's favorite Kurosawa film is Throne of Blood, the tale of a man who rises to power by killing his master (it's an adaption of Macbeth).

Destroy a prop from a Kurosawa film? Yeah, that woulda been priceless, TUE…" -- Luigi Novi
Yeah, but in Smallville things don't have the same value as in the real world. I've lost count of how many vehicles have been destroyed, and yet this doesn't seem to bother anyone. Upon further reflection, though, maybe destroying a cinematic relic might be unwise.

Actually, he was her uncle. -- Luigi Novi
Sometimes I think I'm inhaling toxic fumes from somewhere when I type this stuff.

"Clark dreamed the new truck." -- Blitz
Yeah, I just remembered that one. I was hoping I'd be able to correct myself before I got caught. Personally, I thought Luigi would catch it. I'm sure he has a "Boy, TUE, are you ever an idiot" file somewhere.

HARDA$$ TEACHER OF THE WEEK:
Clark apparently has to take a history exam that will be worth 50% of his final grade. Does this seem harsh to anyone else? That's a heck of a test! Even in college the graded stuff is more evenly distributed throughout the year. With Clark's teacher, you happen to have a bad day and you've failed the course. I know parents are calling for tougher standards but this is ridiculous.

TUE

Well, Clark's dream pretty much started going nightmare around that point. Maybe Clark's subconsious exagerated it's importance?

I liked how he got lucid when he saw Sarah.