First off, this would have killed me if it was the season finale! The drama and current circumstances each character finds himself/herself in is chilling. Let's go down the list:
Clark. The Official description read "KARA TEACHES CLARK HOW TO FLY". It should have read, "KARA TRIES TO TEACH CLARK HOW TO FLY". I was really looking forward to the new level of action, but no, Clark's contract had to get in the way. His contract stated two things VERY specifically he will neither fly nor wear the cape. Seems pathetic to me, but Tom is still perfect for this role. He played the surprised, sorrowful, disbelieving look on his face perfectly as he realized Lana was being controlled by Brainiac. He was determined yet scared to fly. He was angry with Chloe but in control. Tom is the Father of mixed emotion. His character went through a tough time, what with Lana being practically dead to him now. But hopefully he'll come out okay on April 17th! (Can't wait!)
Lex. Michael is good at being bad, and this was no exception. I loved the Veritas symbol covering his right eye in his first scene. It showed his determination and his primary focus. It also illustrated, for me, the black eye Lex has coming for him! While Lex didn't do anything super bad this time around, his small steps will lead to greater things. For instance he's about to rob his dad, but I doubt he'll worry about that much. His flashbacks make sense, and were all well done. I liked how he had to see something from that time to remember back to it (i.e.: the locket or the newspaper) it was a small nod to when Clark had Jor-El's memories of earth waaaay back in season 3.
While I'm marveling over the flash-backs, Connor Stanhope was excellent as "Little Lex", again. (he played young Lex in "Fracture") He has almost no lines but his facial expressions spoke volumes of dialogue. You can't find that in many young actors today. I found the little superhero Lex played with funny. Who would have thought that the little hero, in blue tights and a red cape, whom he loved so much, would be his biggest enemy? I also liked how, when he had to leave with his dad, he looked back longingly at it. Very symbolic.
Chloe. She wasn't in much of this episode, but she rocked the parts she was in. The reason behind Jimmy's line "Chloe got a call from Clark and...." wasn't later explained/explored. I wonder if it was originally supposed to be but wasn't for time's sake. ... Hmm... I think they could've had her come to the barn to see Clark fly and help motivate him, but oh well. Her last scene with Lionel was awkward, and she showed it marvelously. Her facial confusion and disgust mimics her thoughts about Lionel. Allison Mack is my favorite actress on this show with Tom as my favorite actor. Both are long running characters for good reason.
Lana. Kristen was awesome this time around, and her best scenes were the ones where she didn't do anything. Seriously, I've grown a dislike for Lana over these past 7 years but she did well in this episode. They must've given her some major freaky eye-junk to make 'em bug out like that. I don't know how she kept such a strait face for so long without blinking, but she did. The only things I saw were that her hand twitched slightly as Clark showed Kara the burn, and she hesitated before delivering Brainiac's message. But over all she was near flawless.
Kara. Laura is definitely new to this whole "drama" thing, but she's doing okay. She isn't as well as Tom at looking determined (she almost looks worried/concerned) but she has great timing and posture. She handles her flight scenes with tremendous grace, something I'll bet is really tough. She remembers things about Krypton without being too bland about it, it kinda' has to come to her after she's pondered it for a while. She's much less naive than she was, but not by much. Kara's just an odd character and hopefully it'll get easier for Laura to play.
Lionel. John was so brilliant in the last episode, I'm sorry to say that he didn't do this one as well. He was struggling and vulnerable, he was frantic and disheveled, he didn't explain himself or his motives as well and assured as well as he always does, and to end the world's longest single sentence, he was creepy. The way he just lost control with Chloe and began to shake her and went practically berserk was out-of-character. John was not on his A-game until it came to the flash backs where he portrayed the old style of his character perfectly. (i.e.: his use of the word Smallville as if it were nothing and was never to affect his life. Ha! Yeah right.)
Brainiac. He was creepy, cool, dangerous, friendly, evil, and charming all in about three scenes. James captures this character perfectly and catapults the sinister horrors of his deep, dark actions at the unsuspecting viewer. I read all the spoilers for this episode and they were all so vague. I NEVER saw his attack on Lana coming. I almost jumped out my seat when he pointed at her, and then I about lost my lunch when he began to take control of her body, and her eyes leaked the black oily substance that is Brainiac. UGH! But he did it all very well... too well...
Lois. Haven't seen her for a while so this was nice. Her Headline idea "Big, Cool, Fancy Headline Here" was hilarious and very Lois. She went undercover and had her first story with, future partner-in-crime, Jimmy. Lois' character didn't grow much here, but she got a new buddy (Jimmy) and a serious revelation that will no-doubt play out in the next episode.
Overall, the episode was great and did a lot for several of the key characters in the show. However it would have been a seriously weak season finale, so I'm glad it wasn't. I'm gonna give this episode 5 mini-locket keys out of a possible 5.
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