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Smallville
"Metamorphosis" airdate 10/23/01I swallowed a bug...
The WB dedicates this episode of Smallville to English Lit teachers everywhere.
Fanboy Planet refuses to insult the intelligence of our readers by explaining why the bug-obsessed antagonist played by Chad E. Donella in Smallville's second episode is named Greg, or how that relates to the episode title, "Metamorphosis." He's just an ordinary high school student, until his collection of meteor-enhanced super-insects turns on him, creating just another ordinary Smallville mutant, a footnote for the Wall of Weird. He feeds on his mother, molts in the shower and lives by his instincts.
Greg's other passion is Lana Lang, his chosen mate. After his transformation, however, he is no longer content to videotape her from afar or leave butterflies in her bedroom, and uses his newfound strength to crash the truck of his primary rival, Whitney. Which of course gives Clark another chance to save a life and brood about his growing invulnerability.
Clark becomes another potential threat, and Greg attacks him as well, but he is no match for the intrepid reporters of the Smallville High Torch. The entertaining if weak "bugboy" plot is quickly resolved, advancing the budding mythos of the meteor shower, Luthor Corp. and Clark's own strange origins. The producers have not yet gotten over their sly references to the superhero who does not exist, referring to his loft in the barn as his "Fortress of Solitude."
When not wobbling along the line between an X-File and a decent comic book tale, Smallville also delivers the neatly wrapped theme-o-the-week: instinct and nature. Again Clark faces off against an opponent who possesses as much power (of one kind or another) as he does, but lacks his moral fiber. Lex has the power of money and influence and a suspicious nature, while Greg has the physical power and instincts of a teenage-sized insect.
But Clark is a slave to these things as well. He can no more NOT save Whitney than he can resist the crippling effects of the strange green jewel on Lana's necklace. And when the time comes to return it to her, even though it means he'll go back to acting like a "freak show" in her presence, he leaves it on her porch with no fanfare.
The special effects team didn't blow their whole wad on the meteor shower, and the effects in this episode are decent enough, with one stunning exception. Greg attacks "the Kent boys" in the barn, and while his father falls in slow motion, we watch Clark move to save him in ordinary time, underscoring the speed not only of his body but his mind. It's an excellent alternative to the superspeed whooshes and blurs, and one we should see more often.
This week also saw the debut of the opening credits, which plead for "somebody to save me." Last week's pilot episode pulled the WB's highest ratings for the Tuesday 9 p.m. timeslot since the premiere of Dawson's Creek in 1998, and reviews continue to be mostly favorable, so Smallville probably doesn't need saving yet. The characters are developing nicely, the symbolism could be a little less clumsy, but there's something to be said for a show that doesn't shy away from Kafka.
Scenes from next week's episode promise sentient fire and Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years) as the football coach. If this were a comic book, we'd be due a light-hearted comic relief issue soon.
