Love hurts, and on last night’s episode of Smallville, we saw that adage put into effect. Whether it’s with lies, wooden staffs, or electricity, love is capable of inflicting serious emotional and physical pain. Smallville took a detour from science fiction last night to focus on the three primary couples of this season, exploring their pasts, the present and their potential futures.
The difficult part on Smallville is separating what the characters say from what they mean. Do the couples truly love one another? Are there lies being told to each other, or even to themselves? Based on last night’s episode, let us break down the three couples and predict their fates.
Chloe and Jimmy
If you took everything these characters said at face value, then they are truly meant to be together. Jimmy was genuinely apologetic about the Maxima kiss (which wasn’t really his fault anyway) and his “big secret” is that his dad is a drunk mechanic. In the world of shocking revelations, that falls somewhere below Clay Aiken’s coming out.
The more serious question goes to Chloe. While hooked up to the insane Chuck Woolery’s lie detector, Chloe said she doesn’t love anyone else, which was deemed true. In theory, this would silence all those viewers who think Chloe is still in love with Clark. However, if I’ve learned anything this season, it’s not to underestimate Chloe Sullivan.
With her healing powers and her Brainiac-powered super computer of a brain, Chloe has exhibited an ability to do just about anything. If her brain really does think like a machine, it’s not such a big leap to conclude maybe Chloe lied and tricked the machine. I thought Chloe was acting rather odd during that hostage situation, and I have to believe it’s because she overpowered the lie detector to protect Jimmy’s feelings. I have no doubt she truly loves him, I just don’t think he’s the only man she loves.
Tess and Oliver
After some rough and violent foreplay, these two hooked up once again, and I’m generally in favor of two attractive people sleeping together on TV. Oliver seemed smitten, willing to woo “Mercy” to make amends for leaving her the first time. Tess appeared cold, saying their night of passion was totally meaningless. But were either of them telling the truth?
I know Oliver is supposed to be a hero, but even he’s not dumb enough to get involved with the CEO of LuthorCorp without an ulterior motive. After his team was kidnapped in the season premiere, he must be suspicious of the new girl in town. I believe Oliver has changed, but I refuse to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume his only goal was romance.
Tess is another story, and one that I find very compelling. While she claimed having sex with Oliver was just an itch she needed to scratch, there appeared to be a sadness in her eyes, one of longing. I’m on record as thinking that Tess Mercer isn’t such a villain after all, and in this relationship, we see her humanity. She tries desperately to appear as though she’s cool and confident and in control, but secretly, she wants to be loved and pursue a future with Oliver.
Lois and Clark
We all know how this one ends. We’ve read the comic books, seen the movies, and mocked Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain in the ’90s. Lois and Clark will be together, and all the wishing in the world won’t change that fact. Resisting this inevitability is like watching the HBO movie Recount, about the 2000 presidential election in Florida, and hoping it ends with Al Gore winning.
Lois gets it. Her drunk dial to Chloe revealed her true feelings for Clark, that he’s sweet. Alcohol is 100 times more effective in these situations than threat of electrocution. And much as she protested at the end, we all know she didn’t trick the lie detector and that, deep down, she truly has romantic feelings for Clark.
The only one who doesn’t get it is Clark, who may be the dumbest character on all of television. At the end of last night’s episode, Clark believed that Lois fooled the machine, seemingly oblivious to the possibility that she genuinely loves him.
It’s possible that Clark did figure out the truth and that what he said was simply a way of protecting Lois’ fragile ego, but that’s not how it looked. If that was the real intention of the scene, then someone should’ve told Tom Welling, because that’s not how he played it. Clark might have x-ray vision, but he can’t see what’s right In front of him.
-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of the CW)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
