I only just saw this episode (went to the Sharks game instead- TOTALLY awesome, but that’s beside the point), and so here’s my review. And believe me- I didn’t mean to write this much.

It starts out dark. Dark tone, dark lighting, pretty much dark everything. For a minute there, I thought it was in black and white, or maybe just sepia. But it wasn’t. Combine that with the ominous music and the completely freaked-out expression that Lionel has, its pretty dang obvious something bad is going to happen. Specifically, something bad is going to happen to Lionel. And this is totally put aside from my obsessive spoiler-ness. And the fact that the preview pretty much told you that Lionel dies. They should have used the scene where Clark is dropping the dirt into the grave from the end of the episode. But I digress.

Lionel, once again, tries to persued somebody that’s obviously deranged by trying to appeal to their human side. Hate to tell you, but that doesn’t work. Nice touch, though, trying to plant the seed of doubt in Lex’s head by saying that Lex is the Traveler. Obviously wrong, but good try.

And who does Lionel think he is? Obi-wan Kenobi? He kept telling Lex to resist the darkness, even though its so strong. Pot and kettle, or some other relevant metaphor.

“I was raised in your shadow, and now you’re going to die in mine.” That’s an awesome line, totally gave me shivers and made me pause the TV to write it down (Which I usually only do with extremely stupid comments), but at second thought it doesn’t really apply. Lex hasn’t really proved that he has cast a shadow over his father, they seem to just co-exist without one overshadowing the other. Like, in the earlier seasons, we saw Lionel clearly being the one in control, and then there were a few brief moments when Lex was in charge (during the times when Lionel was committed/incarcerated). Now, they’re just there.

Like a lot of people have said, Lionel was really calm when he was pushed over the edge. He even smiled a bit. Although I believe that’s because he believed that his purpose in life was done, and he protected the key and the secret to controlling the Traveller. Hey, maybe he is Obi-Wan! Or at least Qui-Gon. But not Yoda. That’s reserved for the old guy in the Seven Samurai (I recommend it to all who like four-hour black and white Japanese films).

I love how Lois was actually actively going out and getting the story- Chloe only budged from her chair after Lois told her that it was probably Lionel who “jumped.” What Chloe, you’re not going to try and elevate your position from the basement by actually getting your lazy butt out of your chair? When you hear sirens that close, usually you want to check it out. Especially if its your job to report on that sort of thing.

After Lex’s painfully obvious internal turmoil with Alexander, they actually had a much more subtle and effective approach to show Lex’s final descent. Obviously, it was overshadowed by the glaring “the kid represents Lex’s soul!” thing, but it was still there. Lex was looking at Lionel’s body, when he noticed Clark trying to get closer to him. Lex hesitated for a bit, and then moved away. As Clark got closer, Lex kept moving away. There was one last look back, and then Lex turned his back on Clark and walked away, leaving Clark standing there. This bit was just like his turmoil with Alexander- Lex still had a bit of good left in him, and still wanted to be Clark’s friend. But then he moved away from Clark, only hesitating once. He finally turned his back on Clark, and therefore turned his back on the good side that he had.

Well, now back to the triviality.

Okay, seriously, there’s no paparazzi at the Luthor mansion? Lionel was a rich guy- there’s obviously going to be a lot of people after his money (like hey- Lucas Luthor!). Are the paparazzi really that respectful in SV? Doubt it, based on the situation in Action. But then again, paparazzi are rare unless they serve as some sort of plot device.

Commercial- for Indiana Jones! I squeed like a fangirl at that. Haha, there’s always one commercial that stands out to me. I guess this one was it.

And they just let Clark into a crime scene? I realize that he probably just super-sped into the room like he presumably always does (hey, remember when Clark actually walked to place normally?), but I still would expect CSI to be crawling around the place. After all, there was a gunshot before Lionel “fell,” so that’d be suspicious circs, right?

Haha, now its the search for the key; Smallville’s own Amazing Race- Part Two: The Race for the Key that will probably be just another McGuffin. (Part one was, if you remember from one of my earlier reviews, was the race for Kara’s crystal- yet another McGuffin). McGuffins can provide interesting facets to storylines (see: all Indiana Jones movies), but if they keep placing all this incredible importance on objects that do nothing, and then end up not getting resolved at all… I really don’t know what I’ll do. Probably just get even more annoyed.

Lois and Jimmy- can they not be cooler? I mean, you can pretty much pull them up right now out of Smallville and place them in pretty much any Superman incarnation. They’re investigating stories together, with Lois being the one who wants to go out and get her story (judging by her restlessness when Jimmy was checking out the photos). Plus, Lois acts superior to Jimmy in a “I’m older than you, but we’re still partners” type of way. Not a “I’m completely equal to you in every way, but I have this inferiority complex because my former crush is so much better than pretty much everyone else combined or at least that’s what I think so I just let him keep me in his back pocket” type of superiority. I think you know who I’m talking about. Or, at least, I hope you do.

I laughed when Jimmy mentioned the Pulitzer and Lois totally just perked up. You know what? I laughed at that entire scene – the combination of the two characters just allows for different types of interaction, and ED and AA play off each other extremely well. Jimmy’s continuing crush on Lois, with Lois just ignoring it, is probably one of the highlights.

Finally, the famous “Chloe gets fired from the Planet” scene. That’s actually the only scene I saw before seeing the entire episode, so it didn’t make as big as impact as it would have if I saw it for the first time. Although, this time I actually understood things more. Well, some things.

How freaking stupid can Chloe be? Just, when? Hero? Did Lex obtain files from Chloe’s PLANET-OWNED computer. And yet, Chloe decides to put secret objects in her PLANET-OWNED desk. At least, I’m assuming its owned by the Planet. I doubt that she brought in her own desk.

That wasn’t the worst part- here are two of Chloe’s line, all in a row:

“I’ve never seen it before!”

“If I knew it was yours, Lex, I wouldn’t keep it from you.”

Sounds like one of those kids on AFV who are caught doing something, and then totally lie about it. Or start changing their story when new facts come out. True, Chloe couldn’t really do anything in that situation, but really, leaving the key in her desk when she saw Lex coming was not the smartest thing to do.

And that brings us to the return of the hypocrite sign. Once again, Chloe lectures Lex about her privacy. And once again, I laugh at the double standards.

“News doesn’t wait for Chloe.” True that. Now, if only Chloe realizes that… But back to the kick-ass Lois and Jimmy action. I just loved the entire confrontation with Gina, including when Lois got shot. Its just one of those moments where you see something that could be incredibly violent and serious with another character, but with Lois it makes it seem more… I dunno, likable or something. Its just more fun to watch.

And Jimmy was so sweet when he put his jacket over Lois! I awwwed at that. Why Chloe gave him up, I have no idea.

My extremely obvious negativity towards Chloe throughout this entire review stems mainly from the next scene- where Chloe talks to Clark about how she didn’t like the Planet and, if I remember correctly, “wanted to get out of that blackhole anyways.” Oh, so that’s why you do absolutely no work and perform illegal activities on your work-owned computer- you want to get fired. But wait, that means you’ve wanted to be fired from the Planet for the past few years. It probably would have been faster just to quit.

So, Chloe “tried to hide it [the key].” Right, in the front of her top desk drawer is a really great hiding place. Ranks up there with “under a doormat.”

This really should be no surprise by now, the seventh season, but Clark got into the Luthor mansion. Again. And he was caught from behind by Lex. Again. Despite having superhearing. By the SV KO count, Clark has been snuck up on 37 times- although that’s only as of Traveller. And not including any time Clark is without his powers/doesn’t have superhearing. And while Clark does have to tune out most sounds, he’s breaking into the mansion. He should be keeping an ear out for anyone who can find him there.

I laughed when Lex told Clark that Lionel “turns to you with open arms.” But then that laughing quickly stopped when I got that song stuck in my head. So now I coooooome to yoooooouuuuuu with ooooooooopen arrrrrrrrrrms!

And that is why you save things on flash drives. Or CDs. Or in email. Or in an online storage facility. Hell, even iPods would work! I know when I was working on this HUGE project for history, I saved it everywhere you could possibly think of. I think I still might have it on my iPod, lol. Point is- Lois and Jimmy should have known better. Chloe should have DEFINITELY known better, especially with all of her hacking skillz.

Clark’s use of heat vision on Jimmy and Lois was awesome- although it slightly disturbs me how that was pretty much their only scene together throughout the entire episode. I want me some clois! And then his disregard for their health kinda pissed me off as well.

Woah- an assassin. I’m guessing he’s going to be playing a much more integral role in the story than the faux-driver that killed Patricia (RIP Raya 2.0), judging by his amount of screen time and the fact that we know of no one who would do such a thing. Besides Lex, but I doubt that he’d kill Gina.

The cemetary scene was quite sad- although I couldn’t help but notice how fake the backdrop looked. There was like, no depth to the shot of Metropolis at all. The should have raised the contrast on it or something. But back to the funeral- it was very touching, especially how Clark mirrored what he did to his own father to Lionel, showing that Clark accepted that Lionel was like a surrogate father to him over the past few years.
So, while I did criticize this episode quite a bit, it was a good episode. Some great lines and deliveries by Lois and Jimmy, Lex is a total bad-ass, and absolutely no Lana. Can’t really go wrong there. Except I’d like to change a bit of it- more Clark, less Chloe. It seemed like throughout the entire episode Clark was just playing second fiddle to everyone else- helping their stories along without doing anything for himself. Maybe that’s why he’s stuck in a rut.