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Smallville: Prototype

by Kevin Kelly, posted May 11th 2007 9:02AM
Smallville: Prototype
(S06E21) Okay, before we get much further, can anyone tell me why Lex's super-powered project Ares can turn invisible, has super-strength, can deflect bullets, but has to use a knife? Did that strike anyone else as weird or was it just me? I'm trying not to digress here because I really enjoyed this episode, but a couple of small things nagged at me.

Chief among them was the fact that ... Ares is Helo from Battlestar Galactica! Tahmoh Penikett is a terrific actor who lives in Vancouver, where both Smallville and Battlestar Galactica are shot, but I have a rule of thumb that if one actor is on a fairly popular sci-fi show and then jumps across to another, it's going to rattle a few fanboy brain cells, mine included. If Helo suddenly appeared on say ... Law & Order, it probably wouldn't feel so jarring, but this was a bit distracting for me.

Still, having said that ... this was pretty well done. Ares turned out to not only be a nice foe for Clark to deal with (and possibly see again in the future?) but he also showed some subterfuge with Lex, a senator and Lana. He also had a tied to Lois that was an interesting subplot, and managed to give Ares / Wes a sense of humanity. After all, we'd seen his poor wife blow herself up, and we needed something to make him more real.

The super-powered fights between Ares and Clark were what really made this episode really rock. Frankly, Clark could be battling anything with super-powers and it would be tops in my book. Did you notice that when he used his heat vision on Area, it was the first time it looked like it did in the comics? Instead of pulses of heat blasts, it actually looked like rays shooting out of Clark's eyes. Nice one.

Between Clark apparently (almost) showing his powers off to Lana, and Lex's admitting that he knows Lana has been snooping around, there was a lot going on. That's not even counting those genetically-enhanced and Kryptonically inspired slugfests. Seeing Ares systemically take apart Lex's defenses is pretty cool to start things out with, but Clark and Ares sparring off was great. It's just too bad those scenes were so brief.

It's fairly obvious that the next supply of super-genetic material that Lex is referring to is going to be Clark. They used up some other source in making Titan (HA! I totally called that one) and Area, so he needs a new batch to fuel the fires of the tons of Ares models still on the showroom floor that we saw in this episode. Based on the previews for next week's episode, Lex is going to come gunning for Clark, and a lot of things are going to unravel. I'll be sitting in the front row, waiting to see how this season wraps up


Quote of the show:
  • After Clark peels off at super-speed -- Chloe: "Do you ever get used to that?" Martha: "Not really ... no."
(Smallville - S06E21) How do you rate this episode?
1 - Worst2 (1.9%)
22 (1.9%)
36 (5.7%)
411 (10.4%)
531 (29.2%)
627 (25.5%)
7 - Best27 (25.5%)

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24 Comments

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Jazzie

I enjoyed last week's episode, but the one before this one was EXCELLENT. I am looking forward to tonight's finale, I hope Lana stays!

Lana and Clark are so great together, I don't know why so many people would like for Lana to leave. They are grown up now and should be together FOREVER! Lex on the other hand is too evil to live! Lionel is so incredibly sexy, I can barely take it. I love Martha and don't want her to leave.

Lois is awful, I would rather see Lois leave than anyone else. She doesnt fit in and she has no chemistry with Clark.

May 17 2007 at 6:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Lemonhead

The next "source" will be that vial of Clark's blood that's been in Lex's possession for a few seasons... and should give birth to "Bizarro".

May 17 2007 at 11:05 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Brenda

In my previous comment I stated I would miss Michael Rosenbaum but I neglected to mention is would be after next season according to his interview. I will be sorry to see him go but we still have another season with him.

May 14 2007 at 12:02 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Daniel

yeap. in shimmer there was an invisible m.f. , even with x-ray vision clark had trouble

May 13 2007 at 11:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jen

"Ares turned out to not only be a nice foe for Clark to deal with (and possibly see again in the future?)"

Err...if you specifically mean Helo's character, he died. That point in your review kind of confused me. Unless you mean the project, and future 'super-infantry' creations...then I'm sure we may see more of them.

May 13 2007 at 9:39 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
robfran

People, you're all forgetting one huge event that happened in this episode: Lana telling Clark that she knows about his secret!!. We've had to endure 6 series and 21 episodes for them both to have a moment of truth and just before they can kiss to seal it, Lex walks in! Clark and Lana forever.

May 13 2007 at 6:57 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Daniel

Titan's DNA was what made possible for all the meteor freak powers to coexist in a single host, and therefore sthrength was the main trade of the prototype. Obviously the last phantom is the next source. Keep in mind that this one is not only a zoner, but a phantom, so it should be interesting what comes out of that. What i didn't get was why Wes didn't continue to fight Clark invisible?

May 12 2007 at 5:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dan

Why couldn't clark use his x-ray vision to find wes that annoyed me along with the super short fight. Maybe Lex knows about martian manhunter and hes the next source? the next episode is named phantom and i heard that MM will be in it. I hope a lot of things get cleared up like Chloe's power (which i heard is supposed to happen) and the whole baby thing with lana and lex

May 12 2007 at 4:44 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kevin Kelly

I said Lex was involved with Titan somehow, but some of the commenters thought he was just a watcher of the show.

May 11 2007 at 9:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jennifer

Yeah, what Lex said was that Titan was the source they used for the Aries project and they'd used him up making Wes and his predecessors, so Lex needed a new source. I'm sure one of the other zoners will be the source.

May 11 2007 at 8:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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