Anyways, Cure was infinitely better than last week’s episode. But really, any episode is infinitely better than last week’s episode, lol. But Cure did have one thing going for it that boosted it above the rest- the fantastic performance of Dean Cain.
In the teaser when Sasha (who I had no idea who she was at first, even after reading the spoilers- albeit two months ago- but then after they mentioned the bees, I was so happy that they actually mentioned someone from a past season *ahemPeteAdamJasonWhitneyahem*) was walking down the alley (seriously, who does that? Isn’t it common knowledge that alleys=bad?) and attacked by Knox- well, Smallville sure knows how to steal, er, “allude.”

The first glimpse of Dr Curtis Knox was his shoes, followed by a not-so-subtle shot of his handkerchief with the initials “CK” embroidered on it in red. Well, this shot means two things- red, as in evil and blood (and maybe even a reference to the fact that he played Superman), and a blatant shout-out to Lois and Clark.

In Lois and Clark, the first glimpse that we had of Clark was him getting off a bus, and then the camera trained on his suitcase. The suitcase had the golden letters “CK” affixed to the front, being the only thing the camera focused on. Then it cut to a shot of Dean Cain as Clark, telling us who he is. Smallville copied this method of revealing a character almost directly, with the handkerchief being substituted for the suitcase.

In the scene where Chloe told Clark off- as much as I like Clark, and started disliking Chloe, I have to give Chloe props- finally she told Clark off for making her research every little thing for him instead of just doing it himself. It was very reminiscent of the Hydro scene, except Chloe was a LOT meaner this time. I mean, it’s great that they are finally showing that Chloe isn’t the “perfect brain” or whatever they are trying to portray her as, but she’s gotten way too harsh.

That brings up another point- seriously, Chloe treats Jimmy like crap. Like what was stated in the episode like, a dozen times- Jimmy shelled out a small fortune for tickets so that he and Chloe could have one night on the town. Chloe just walked all over him, backing out on their plans at the last second.

And then when Kara was flirting with Jimmy, er, James- I thought that was actually pretty cute. Now, I’m a supporter of Chimmy and all, but after the way Chloe has been acting, I really don’t blame Jimmy for wanting to just hang out with Kara. The whole Chinese food scene was cute, and really clicked as two friends with a slight amount of attraction, but not enough to act on. Chloe was way overreacting when she caught Jimmy and Kara eating food and talking- Jimmy made that excellent point about Chloe doing the same with Clark, except that Chloe expects Jimmy not to be mad about it. Double standard, much?

That entire scene at the end, when Chloe and Jimmy break up over Chloe’s secret- I held out a tiny bit of hope that the creators would actually let Chloe reveal her meteor freak status to Jimmy. But no, now that Lana is in the know, Smallville is in need of a couple torn apart by “secrets and lies”- enter Chimmy, the couple that I thought was going to be the next Lollie in terms of real-ness.

Oh, and really, regarding that whole Chloe secret thing- I kept wondering what Jimmy was thinking Chloe’s secret was. I’d bet that her being pregnant was the first thought he had (since its not a big secret that those two have definitely did, erm, it), but then after she said “I can’t tell you now,” or something to that extent, it just confused him.

Chloe trying to get rid of her powers was, IMO, a total Xmen 3 rip-off. How many other people thought of Rogue trying to get the “cure” to get rid of her powers when Chloe went to Dr Knox for the “cure” to get rid of her powers? And, well, Xmen 3 wasn’t that good of a movie. Oh- and they both were dating a guy played by one of the Ashmores. Coincidence? Probably.

Agh. I hated that scene where Kara was talking to Lana about how Lana and Clark were all “goo-goo eyes for each other”- just sickened me. “We could never be together with Clark’s secret in the way.” Um, hello- you were together season three and season five, and you most certainly didn’t know his secret then! Its like Lana blames ALL the problems in their dysfunctional relationship on Clark’s Kryptonian heritage and him keeping it secret. Its not like Lana had any part in breaking them up, right?

When MM came in, and Lana though he was Krypton, I just started to laugh. Her face when Clark said that he was actually from Mars, well, its priceless. She had just accepted that there was life on another planet- was being the key word. But then faced with yet another alien, only one from a planet that is very much alive and well (and being explored by NASA as we speak)- probably gave Lana more than a little shock.

Lana spying on Lex is, well, not at all unexpected. If I saw that seasons 1-4, I would be completely surprised, but when I saw it I just thought, “Wow, season of reversals is right- now LANA is spying on LEX! How… completely predictable.” Her setup is just really random, too. Its like TPTB want to make it as high tech as possible without spending a lot of money *rolls eyes*

And I thought it was rather symbolic that in that particular scene, while Lana was spying on Lex who was in his office, the lyrics in the song were singing, “I don’t know who I am, who I am without you.” Maybe it symbolizes that Lana’s entire existence on the show from this point on is completely intertwined with Lex’s, even though they have (apparently) divorced. She’ll always try to find out what Lex is doing and spying on him, even though she faked her death to get out of being his wife. Lana’s life has been so influenced by Lex from this past year that she doesn’t know how to be completely honest anymore.

At the end, when Lana lied to Clark about the whole “stealing money from Lex” issue, I just happened to notice that, for the first time in what seems like ages, she was wearing pink. Are TPTB trying to tell us that she’s “good Lana” again? Or is it symbolizing that Lana is trying to manipulate everyone into thinking that she’s the innocent, naive girl again? I dunno, but after years without Lana wearing pink (with the exception of Labyrinth-Lana), her wearing pink now definitely serves a purpose.
Finally, there’s a triangle on this show that I can actually get behind. Mainly because its non-romantic. That’s right- the MM/Clark/Kara triangle of hatred.

There’s no romantic feelings for one another- if there were, that would be EXTREMELY weird- so its more of a matter of who trusts who. How that triangle played out this episode- with MM warning Clark about Kara, Kara warning Clark about MM- just made me want to find out what exactly did happen between MM and Zor-El. And I love how both MM and Kara are allies of Clark, and perceived as the good guys, but apparently believe that the other is evil- putting Clark right smack dab in the middle.
And now, my favorite part of the episode: DEAN CAIN!!

DC acted so evil, so unlike Clark, that I couldn’t help but believe that he actually was Curtis Knox, and not Clark Kent anymore. Even though the fact that he was Clark was thrown into our collective faces before we even saw him (see above).

I laughed so hard when Knox said “son of a b****” after he was shot by Lex- so unexpected, which makes it so funny. Especially because I believe that DC did not swear ONCE in LnC.

The fact that Curtis Knox was immortal just gave the character a whole lot more depth and reasoning- the fact that he used such old-fashioned equipment was because that’s what he used before. And it was also sort of an allusion to how Superman is immortal, if not in body but in spirit.

“I was Jack the Ripper”- I absolutely loved this line. I don’t know why, it was probably just added in to show just how evil this character is, but it still stood out to me as awesome.

When Sophia died at the end, and Knox was crying- that was when Knox became more than just an average villain that we see every episode. As deranged as he was, he had lost the ones that he had loved countless times as they died and he stayed the same, and it showed that this seemingly sociopath killer was not actually a sociopath, but actually believed in his love more than anything.

I think that Knox’s love and sadness at the end for Sophia shook Clark up a bit- in Hourglass, he saw the endless graveyard, signifying that he will outlive everyone he knows and loves. Clark probably sees Knox as a possible future version of himself- a man who keeps losing his love to death only because he is immortal.

I’m glad that Knox is immortal, and cannot be killed- it leaves lots of room for DC to come back and shake things up again. When MM first said that he took care of Knox- I immediately thought that he meant “took care of,” as in kill. I was so relieved when it actually meant that MM locked him up somewhere or something to that extent. The Phantom Zone, perhaps? Anyways- I want to see Dean Cain again.
While this episode had pretty much all of the makings of just a filler episode (evil villain that was never mentioned before but supposedly had connections with the characters, dealing with meteor freaks, “secrets and lies”), I believe that it actually sets up a number of storylines that will happen throughout the season. I haven’t read the spoilers in a LONG time, so this is just pure speculation.

#1- MM vs Kara: Smackdown
I foresee much tension between these two. Thankfully, not of the sexual sort.

#2- The Race for Kara’s Crystal
Who will get to it first- Clark, Kara, or MM? Find out next week on the Amazing Race: Alien Style!

#3- Lana’s Nefarious Acts
Lana stealing $10 million? Spying on Lex through cameras she placed throughout the Luthor mansion? Lying to Clark’s face? WEARING PINK AGAIN? Surely Lana is up to no good, continuing her dark arc from last season.

#4- The Slow Destruction of Clana
Well, since Lana had lied about the money to Clark’s face, and is continuing down her path of darkness (see #3), this is just a continuation of the whole “secrets and lies” thing and, like in the past, will lead to the eventual destruction of this ship. Hopefully.

#5- Chimmy: the next Lollie Clana
What used to be a cute relationship has now taken the path towards the dark side. Who wants to bet that Chloe and Jimmy will be dancing around each other for the rest of the season?

#6- Kara and Jimmy: Bonding Over Alien Spaceships and Chinese Food
This is probably the first of many Jimmy and Kara scenes, as its pretty obvious that TPTB plan to have those two in a relationship this season.

#7- Chlogue (Chloe is Rogue)
Chloe is pretty obviously upset with her meteor power. I foresee her trying to deal with it and learn how to control it, but ultimately not feel comfortable with it and continue to try and get cured.

#8- Lex and the Perpetual Waffling
Good, evil, good, evil- when will it end? He’s trying to be good now, but will most likely slowly become evil this season. Again.

#9- The Journalism of Lois Lane
Three episodes with Lois at the Planet, and three stories from her. Lois is well on her way towards becoming the Planet’s star reporter.

(Smallville images from SVFan, LnC from Lois and Clark Archive, XMen found on Google)