Great episode. The in-jokes were flying as always. Loved it when the Sheriff asked Perry not to call her "chief." Who wasn't laughing at that?

Overall a great episode, though Perry did remind me of a toned-down version of season 1's Roger Nixon. The scene here where Clark was pounding the fencing posts into the ground, I half expected to see Perry hiding in the woods videotaping the whole thing.

X-Styles. Cute. An obvious play on X-Files.

I'm sure everyone knows that Michael McKean (Perry) is the real life husband of Annette O'Toole (Martha). It's funny that the two never had any scenes together.

Sure. But do you want cream and sugar?
“And DON’T call me chief.” –Sheriff Adams to Perry, at the scene of the fallen tractor in Act 2.

COMIC BOOK DIVERGENCE OF THE WEEK:
So now this episode establishes that Perry White met Clark in Smallville when Clark was a teenager, rather than as an adult when Clark first applied at the Daily Planet for a job, as has always been the case in the comics and the Christopher Reeve movies. What next? He meets Lois or Bruce Wayne next week?

Mylan pointed out under nits for Extinction that Lex stated in that episode that he has never gotten sick since the meteor shower, even though he supposedly just recovered from malaria. But now this episode establishes that he didn’t have malaria, which means his hallucinations were psychological. Interesting….

After being thrown into the air, the tractor should’ve tumbled over in the same consistent direction, but for some reason, it didn’t. It would stop its rotation in one direction mid-fall, and then being tumbling in another.

So Clark doesn’t know yet that his powers are solar-powered? Interesting. That hadn’t occurred to me.

When Clark realizes that an uncontrollable burst of his heat vision is about to go off, he yells at Pete to get down. Why doesn’t he just shut his eyes?

Jonathan keeps a fire extinguisher in the house? Pretty convenient.

When Perry shows up at the Talon a second time near the end of the episode, Lana tells him she’ll call a cab, and Perry says they won’t come because of some matter of nonpayment. What, there’s only one cab company in Smallville? Does the dispatcher at that company ask for the name of the passenger over the phone? Is there only one cabbie at the company, who will necessary recognize Perry when he arrives as the guy who didn’t pay? Did the last one that Perry didn’t pay circulate his photo to all the other cabbies, or something?

Ummm. Whats so convenient about having an extinguisher in the house? Not only about having a kid with uncontrollable or erratic at least heat vision but from a normal comon sense perspective. I mean I have one in my house.

COMIC BOOK DIVERGENCE OF THE WEEK:
So now this episode establishes that Perry White met Clark in Smallville when Clark was a teenager, rather than as an adult when Clark first applied at the Daily Planet for a job, as has always been the case in the comics and the Christopher Reeve movies. What next? He meets Lois or Bruce Wayne next week?

Seeing as I was never a fan of the comic book (except for Ambush Bug/Blue Kryptonie (it was funny!) and the Doomsday storyline, excluding the whole Return of Superman thing), these things don't really bother me.

Funny that the "largest solar flare ever recorded" in this episode should coincide with the real-life third largest solar flare ever recorded. Most peculiar.

"Funny that the "largest solar flare ever recorded" in this episode should coincide with the real-life third largest solar flare ever recorded. Most peculiar."


Yeah, that was great!
i happened that i saw almost the whole dark sky tonight in red light! Pretty amazing.

Very good episode IMHO.
Clark's only dumb thing again is to throw car doors 15 meters away. Why not just open it?

Clark's only dumb thing again is to throw car doors 15 meters away. Why not just open it?

Maybe the solar flare had already begun to make Clark's powers go wacky and hyperactive? But judging by past episodes, I guess you're right; he was just being dumb again.

OK, so in about 10 years, when Superman is swooping all over Metropolis, Perry isn't going to put 2 and 2 together and remember all this with Clark?

The Good:
- I enjoyed Lex in this ep. A little over the edge, and he realizes it. The ocean sounds CD was a nice touch. What's the over/under that the pshrink is working for Lionel?
- Pete had a little bit more of a role this time. Nice to see that he replaced the Camaro from last season with an old Ford.
- They finally catch the connection between Clark's powers and the Sun.

The Bad:
- Perry gets tossed out of the Wild Coyote bar. C'mon, this is a WB show, it should be the Wiley Coyote!
- Most joggers run on the edge of the road, but Clark zips along at super-speed right down the centerline, sees Perry's oncoming car, then pulls a deer-in-the-headlights and forces Perry to swerve off the road. Too bad he couldn't step sideways. His powers weren't going nuts at that moment, because he walks through power lines and rips the door off the car.
- Why does Lana get mad at Clark when Perry ambushes her at the Talon? She sees that Clark is with Perry, but she doesn't ask for an explanation. After all that wailing for Clark to open up to her, she doesn't want to hear it.
- Jonathan tells Clark that he's not worried about the crushed tractor. Didn't he just lose his farm, and get bailed out by his son's rich friend? His insurance adjuster must work really quick!
- Why did Pete and Clark take 200' of rope camping? Did they need to hoist their Cheetos in a tree to keep them out of reach of bears?
- If Perry can't afford cab fare, how is he supposed to afford bus fare?

The Ugly:
- Can we assume that Clark has learned his lesson about blatant displays of his powers, and that he will never rip a car door off the car again? Nah.
- Amazing how Clark can just fling a tractor into the air, and it would land 50 feet from Perry.
- Tom Welling needs to work on his facial emotions. Clark runs up to the smashed tractor, they show Perry staring in amazement, and then they pull a close-up on Clark. He looks like he's smiling as they go to commercial.
- The fall Perry took from the lookout point, with Clark's weight, easily would have snapped his ankle, or dislocated his knee or hip.
- I can buy that he loses control of his heat vision, but Clark couldn't stop running? Why? Just hold still.

Jonathan keeps a fire extinguisher in the house? Pretty convenient.

When Perry shows up at the Talon a second time near the end of the episode, Lana tells him she’ll call a cab, and Perry says they won’t come because of some matter of nonpayment. What, there’s only one cab company in Smallville? Does the dispatcher at that company ask for the name of the passenger over the phone? Is there only one cabbie at the company, who will necessary recognize Perry when he arrives as the guy who didn’t pay? Did the last one that Perry didn’t pay circulate his photo to all the other cabbies, or something? -Luigi

Being a New Jerseyan transplanted to Kansas City, it took me a while to get used to how rural some things can be out here. Everyone has fire extinguishers here, especially farmers, because it can take a long time for the county fire district to get their members and their fire trucks to the fire. And you'd be lucky to find a cab company in most of the rural Kansas towns, so it's reasonable that there would only be 1 or 2 cabs in Smallville.

FIRE SAFETY TIP OF THE WEEK:
Not to insult Luigi or anything, but I thought it was common practice for people to keep a fire extinguisher in the house somewhere in case of a small fire (such as curtains catching fire).

QUALITY ACTOR CHOICE OF THE WEEK:
I can only recall one other performance of Michael McKean and that is the clown from Voyager's "The Thaw". I was impressed there and I was impressed here as well. I hope we get to see him again.

LOGIC ERROR OF THE WEEK:
Perry White says that he wasn't killed because all of his lawyers have orders to release incriminating evidence about Lionel upon his death. If he already has this evidence, why didn't he release it already? He just roams around rural areas getting dangerously drunk (and driving while drunk I might add). He really doesn't seem to have much to live for. Why not release the evidence? All he would have to do is go into hiding until the police nabbed Lionel and then he'd be safe. (I think that makes sense anyway)

SLACKER SCHOOL SECURITY OF THE WEEK:
How can Perry just waltz into the high school during school hours. They don't just let people into schools anymore. You have to have 40 forms of identification and a blood sample just to have a chance.

ODD GEOGRAPHY OF THE WEEK:
Perry says he will leave town if Lana takes him to the bus station. Later, Lana tells Clark that Perry claimed to be sick so she pulled over. He then ran over to the edge of a ravine. Why is there a ravine on the way to the bus station? Shouldn't the bus station be somewhere centrally located like IN Smallville?

OVERALL OPINION OF THE WEEK:
Not too shabby. Michael McKean stole the show. Liked it very much.

TUE

I can only recall one other performance of Michael McKean and that is the clown from Voyager's "The Thaw". I was impressed there and I was impressed here as well. I hope we get to see him again.

Several episodes of The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen
This Is Spinal Tap
A Mighty Wind
Best In Show

Just FOUR brillaintly funny performances that McKean has given. You're telling you never saw ANY of them?!?

If Perry can't afford cab fare, how is he supposed to afford bus fare? -Obi-Juan

I don't think the issue was that he couldn't pay THEN, just that he had a history of not paying and they probobly wouldn't take him. However...

And you'd be lucky to find a cab company in most of the rural Kansas towns, so it's reasonable that there would only be 1 or 2 cabs in Smallville. -Obi-Juan

THAT'S what threw me. Having lived in rural towns about Smallville's size myself, I was more suprised that they'd have taxis at all.

Perry White says that he wasn't killed because all of his lawyers have orders to release incriminating evidence about Lionel upon his death. If he already has this evidence, why didn't he release it already? He just roams around rural areas getting dangerously drunk (and driving while drunk I might add). He really doesn't seem to have much to live for. Why not release the evidence? All he would have to do is go into hiding until the police nabbed Lionel and then he'd be safe. (I think that makes sense anyway) -The Undesireable Element

But go into hiding WHERE? And for how long? It seems like a fellow like Lionel would have lawers (and other such low lifes) good enough to keep him out of jail even if the evidence did come out, so Perry would need to be in hiding for a looooong time. The result would probobly be worse than his present situation (he may be a wandering drunken hack, but at least no one is actively trying to kill him) so he'd have no reason to reveal the evidence.

Shouldn't the bus station be somewhere centrally located like IN Smallville? -The Undesirable Element

Not only that, couldn't someone have sprung for a bench at that place?

R: I mean I have one in my house.
Luigi Novi: Maybe it’s just me, then. The one in my kitchen is the small, white handheld variety.

Brian Webber: Seeing as I was never a fan of the comic book (except for Ambush Bug/Blue Kryptonie (it was funny!) and the Doomsday storyline, excluding the whole Return of Superman thing), these things don't really bother me.
Luigi Novi: Well, I wouldn’t say that they bother me (not much at least), but it does make his future life more implausible, as Obi-Juan pointed out. Next you’ll tell me he’s married to Clark’s mother, or something.

However, I’m not a fan of the book either, Brian. At least, none of the three or four monthly titles. I am, however, enjoying the current miniseries Superman: Birthright written by Mark Waid, and beautifully illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu, which depicts the young Clark as a young reporter in one of his first big stories, just before (and when) he decides to become a public figure as Superman, and apply at the Daily Bugle. I highly recommend it to fans of Smallville, since his relationship with Jonathan and Martha features heavily in the story, as does his exploration of his Kryptonian culture via a computer tablet placed in his space ship, particularly in issue three, when he and his parents discuss how he’ll make himself inconspicuous as Clark Kent, and his father becomes a bit distraught because he thinks Clark is turning his back on the human part of his upbringing.

Obi-Juan: Perry gets tossed out of the Wild Coyote bar. C'mon, this is a WB show, it should be the Wiley Coyote!
Luigi Novi: Shouldn’t it be Wiley E. Coyote?

Obi-Juan: Why does Lana get mad at Clark when Perry ambushes her at the Talon? She sees that Clark is with Perry, but she doesn't ask for an explanation. After all that wailing for Clark to open up to her, she doesn't want to hear it.
Luigi Novi: She didn’t realize that Perry tricked Clark, and because Perry’s behavior provoked such a raw emotional reaction in her, she wasn’t thinking openly enough to give Clark the benefit of the doubt.

Obi-Juan: Being a New Jerseyan transplanted to Kansas City, it took me a while to get used to how rural some things can be out here. Everyone has fire extinguishers here, especially farmers, because it can take a long time for the county fire district to get their members and their fire trucks to the fire. And you'd be lucky to find a cab company in most of the rural Kansas towns, so it's reasonable that there would only be 1 or 2 cabs in Smallville.
Luigi Novi: Interesting. As a fellow New Jerseyean, I thank you for your insight about the fire extinguisher, Juan, but even if there are only 2 cab companies, that still leaves one other company for Perry to use. Besides, Metropolis is nearby. A big city like that would mean there should be an abundance of cab companies in the area, even if they’re in the city.

Obi-Juan: I can only recall one other performance of Michael McKean and that is the clown from Voyager's "The Thaw".
Luigi Novi: You’ve never seen reruns of Laverne & Shirley featuring him as Lenny?

Its ok. I live in the midwest like Obi Juan said we have a volunteer fire department here. So the guys have to get the call, get to the firehouse where the trucks are kept, get to the place where the fire is, hope that there is a fire hydrant nearby (The closest one to my house is 6 miles away in one direction and 1/2 mile in the other) if there isnt then they have to bring the tanker truck or hope the farmer has a wellhead compatible (several of the bigger farmers around here have their own fire hydrant setup on the farm) or hope the fire is manageable enough. So thats why I have one of the 10 pound big red ones in the house itself and another in the garage/workshop. And as for the Bus station thing is it really in Smallville? Maybe it is in another town nearby. The smalltown near where I live could be like smallville but it doesnt have a bus station. I dont know I barely get the channel this is on (We dont have cable and the cable company wont run the cable to where we live)so half the time I wind up watching a polar bear in a blizzard.

Obi-Juan: I can only recall one other performance of Michael McKean and that is the clown from Voyager's "The Thaw".
Luigi Novi: You’ve never seen reruns of Laverne & Shirley featuring him as Lenny?

TUE: *sniff* I'm heartbroken that my brilliant statement was attributed to Obi-Juan.
Hmmm... I've seen Laverne and Shirley, but not very much of it. I may have seen him in other places (Wasn't he on SNL for a time?) but the Voyager episode is the only place I can actually remember it being him.

TUE

He was on SNL for one or two seasons. He was also Morris in the X-Files.

McKean was also David St. Hubbins in This Is Spinal Tap.

Up, up and away!

Oops. Sorry folks, I failed to notice that Brian Webber had also mentioned This Is Spinal Tap.

Up, up and away!

even if there are only 2 cab companies, that still leaves one other company for Perry to use. -LUIGI NOVI

Not to be a nitpicker or anything (God forbid), but Obi-Juan didn't say 1 or 2 cab COMPANIES, he said 1 or 2 CABS.

TUE: *sniff* I'm heartbroken that my brilliant statement was attributed to Obi-Juan.

It's a good thing that Obi-Juan was issued the standard New Jersey sarcastic wit at birth, otherwise I would take this the wrong way and get into quite a snit, TUE. ;)