TNMC
This site’s design is only visible in a graphical browser that supports web standards, but its content is accessible to any browser or Internet device.
Smallville
"Hothead"
Air Date: October 30, 2001
Written by: Greg Walker
Directed by: Greg Beeman
Guest Stars: John Glover (Lionel Luthor), Sarah-Jane Redmond (Nell Lang), Dan Lauria (Coach Walt)
Good show this week. Some problems did catch my eye, though. We have our first "throw away" episode of Smallville. It didn’t really tell us anything we didn’t already know, or confirm anything we might suspect. I enjoyed it, even if it seemed like filler.
Tonight's ep featured the villainous Coach Walt, Maker of Men. Ever see Varsity Blues starring Dawson VanderCreek? Same concept. Football coach corrupt with power gets taken down by strong jawed high school athlete. Walt runs his team with a hot iron grip, sorta like Stalin, only without the sensitivity. A man that helps jocks cheat on tests and smacks them around every now and again. It builds character, I guess. Sorta like showering in one big group builds inferiority complexes.
When you boil it all down, "Hothead" was practically unnecessary. The coach would have been a great deal more menacing w/o the superpowers. I mean, come on, a normal human being setting fires and slapping high school kids around is a great deal more visceral than Dan "Wonder Dad" Lauria closing his eyes really hard and giving us his best "constipation" face. I understand that for a villain to be considered a threat, they have to have something other than parental authority to use against our hero. However, the only time Coach Walt WAS a threat was when Clark was exposed to Kryptonite. Which, if you're keeping track, is exactly what happened last week.
Don’t get me wrong. I love this show dearly, and I'm not just saying that to score either. I know it's only been the third date and there were some flaws in tonight's Kansas Adventures, but I can still see massive potential. Lex’s mental and physical battles with his father are a future gold mine in and of themselves. I miss seeing John Glover’s face on the little screen. I so enjoyed his work as the Devil on Brimstone, and it’s good to see him playing the fiend again. It’s not hard to believe his character is the man that made Lex Luthor. Not one bit.
There were nice, quiet character moments, as usual. Lex and Clark share a nice bonding session over a warm cup o’ joe, served to them by the plucky, and now part time employee, Lana Lang. After she hears that some of the football team were caught cheating, she has one of those life evaluating moments that happen at least once a week on television. She drops cheerleading and starts working at the local coffee house. Wackiness ensues, of course. I'm so glad she wasn't used as the "damsel in distress" this time around. Still, I’ll wager that she’s back wielding her pom-poms next week.
Chloe got that face time I was talking about, and it was all but wasted. She is quickly turning into a young Fox Mulder, only with breasts and better hair. At least she knows her actions have equal and opposite reactions. She even seems to enjoy it. "I already started getting hate mail." Who could hate you, Chloe, you fashion conscious cub reporter you? That would be me, or at least I'm heading down that path. As a young person who went to college in pursuit of a career in journalism, I can tell you that the majority of reporters I knew didn't become cynics until after they became raging alcoholics.
What's with the rampant coffee drinking, btw? Gilmore Girls had a coffee guzzling mom and daughter, now Clark and the others are swilling down Columbia's biggest export, too. Does no one drink tea in this country? Sheesh.
7 out of 10 (barely)
- drenball
What do you think? Talk about it on the Forums
