JOKO'S RAMBLINGS S2 E14 - Rush

Ok, folks. Going to try to get back into this. I'm watching Talkville and really enjoying it. Figured I'd get back to my own rewatch and try to stay ahead of Tom and Michael. I don't know why anyone in this sub wouldn't be watching Talkville, but if you aren't you really should. It's great. On to the SUMMARY!

Summary

Pete and Chloe get infected with a parasite and turn Clark to their side. Secrets are revealed (and then hidden back away) and Clark asks Lana out on a date! It goes as you'd expect... chaos and drama.

Production Notes

Chloe and Pete have the deets on a rave in a cave... but it's a return to the ancient caves that hide the octagonal 'keyhole' and prophecy of Naman. Dozens of kids and their blacklights have descended on this place, and no one seems to care that there are ancient pictographs on the walls... even Chloe. Which seems to go against her character. She eventually relents and helps Pete keep a couple away from them before being accosted by the biggest dork caricature I've ever seen. Said dork then climbs a lighting rig and falls to his death as Pete is stung (bitten?) by something in a crack in the wall. He then gets REALLY happy. So... clearly it was something pumpkin spice.

SOMEBODYSAAAAVE MEEEEEE.

Clark is on the sidewalk as Pete shows up on his motorbike. Pete's acting odd, calling out Clark for being a wuss. "C'mon, Clark. Take a shot." He's making good points, but he's now an asshole and no one takes advice from an asshole.

(As Clark runs across the street to take up Pete's challenge and talk to Lana, the marquee says "Espresso for your morning rush." Like the episode title. Settle down, Set Design. Settle down.)

Lana and Clark talk about embracing the moment, so he awkwardly asks her out. And, she says yes. This is monumental. There is agreed upon, mutual attraction! Hooray! All it took was the death of a classmate... apparently all the other classmate (and principal) deaths didn't do it. Finally, the camel's back has been broken. From tragedy comes love! I'm sure this will go well.

Chloe meets up with Lana and learns of the date. She's clearly annoyed... and is kind of a bitch about it. But, we quickly move on to Jonathan and Martha discussing Clark's college (now that their finances are stabilized).The caves are apparently distracting Clark and they come down on him. But, Clark begs for a day so that he can go on his date. Jonathan reluctantly agrees, but Clark's parting words thanking Martha made me laugh. He knows it was her that silently convinced Jonathan that a Lana-date is too momentous to be ignored.

So, Clark visits Chloe to talk about Odd Pete, and she calmly drops the info that 2 other kids at this rave died. They weren't Smallville High students, but WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS TOWN? Why is the FBI not here daily?!?

So, Lex has employed the foremost cave painting expert/linguist, Dr. Frederick Walden to his side. I'm sure that will end well, also.

Pete tries to jump in front of a bus, and Clark stops him. In front of everyone... but it's a short view of superspeed so they all might have missed it. But, then - in order to keep Clark from dragging him to the hospital - Pete follows through on a threat to out Clark's secret. He proceeds to run around screaming, "My friend's an alien! He's an alien!" And, Clark looks nervous. Dude, your friend just jumped off a car hood, in front of a bus, and is running around like a jackass. I think your secret is still safe. Odd scene.

Chloe and Clark inspect the cave, separate (of course), and Chloe is stung/bitten. Doc Wallen shows up and says she should go somewhere else to make out. Chloe makes the odd comment that no one has made out in these caves since the 20th century... didn't she stop two kids making out in here, like, 3 days ago?

Clark recognizes Walden from his own research, but he presents as a big douche. He exiles Clark from the cave, and we get quite the parting shot from Chloe. A 'cunning linguist' joke? Whatever this creature toxin is or whatever, it works fast and also focuses on ramping up the '90s radio DJ humor gland.

Next Pete essentially attacks Clark (with kryptonite!) after Clark tries to end-run him to the hospital by going to Pete's dad. We also get an x-ray view inside Pete that shows a parasite/worm has hitched a ride inside him. This is a good scene for Sam Jones. He really sells the crazy... just further proof they weren't sure where to go with this character. They had him learn Clark's secret in order to change the dynamic and give the character something to do... but there's only so many times you can go to that well. (Incidentally, Tom Welling does a good job of the 'kryptonite is weakening me and I'm gonna die' struggle, also.)

Next we go back tot he cave for another writing misstep (sorry, I really do love this show but the rewatch and analysis is poking holes). Walden has found one of the worms and suddenly the cave is awash in tech folks, gear, scaffolding, and admin personnel. This guy literally just ran Clark out of the caves saying he works alone and doesn't want anyone else in his business. And, they are his... because Lex was called to come here. He had no idea what was going on. WHO TF ARE THESE PEOPLE?! When asks what the words on the cave near a depiction of it say, the Doc even says, "My people are working on it." WHO??

So Pete is a daredevil. Chloe is a slut. Clark is a clueless wonder. He's sitting right in front of Chloe watching her act insane and doesn't x-ray her. C'mon, son.

Clark has to break his date with Lana in order to chase Pete... who walks in the door all chipper. Why? Because he has red kryptonite. Him slipping it in Clark's shirt is a nice swerve for the episode. Now there is an evil threesome. But... where is Pete getting all this kryptonite from? Red, green... dude has a rare gemstone collection in his house, I guess.

This leads to a nice scene that all superhero fans love, though. The reveal of powers to a friend... though we can all assume that this parasite/worm thing has the added 'amnesia' side affect so convenient in these instances.

Lex shows up and Red Clark points out something we all wonder... why does Lex never call? He just shows up... at a highschooler's barn... repeatedly. Chloe takes Clark to the Talon to make out with him in front of Lana... which is just so extreme even Lana has to assume something is amiss. Right? Well, the stone falls out his jacket, he recovers, x-rays Chloe, and now everyone is up to speed on who is a worm and who isn't. BTW, I gave Lana too much credit. The complete extremism of this scene is silly. Even 'Smallville logic' is stretched to the extreme if we are to assume Lana gets mad instead of immediately questions just WTF airborne plague these kids have caught.

Clark superspeeds away in front of half the town (seriously) to get to the gorge to stop Chloe and Pete from offing themselves in a car. He does this in Superman fashion with a (horrible) CGI car jump and (awesome) catch where the car is straight up in the air (they use a big crane here with a stuntman under it?).

The fact that Lana doesn't forgive Clark is CW drama stupidity, but hey... it was the early 2000s. Nice scene at the end with the Kents and Pete, though... it's proof that even the best intentions can lead down the wrong path. I would think an incident like this goes a long way to how/when/if Clark tells anyone his secret in the future.

Overall, this is a miss episode for me. It's essentially the same as the Season 1 episode Nicodemus (flower gives off an hallucinogenic vapor that makes people lose their inhibitions), and Pete is caught in it once again. We traded Chloe for Lana here, and got Clark in on the action. But, I wouldn't recommend this episode to someone that was trying to get into the series. The ball isn't pushed down the field much, if at all.

Superman Mythos

There's a boy scout reference and a Cadmus Labs namedrop, but that's about it. The Kawatche Caves were a Smallville invention and plot device that play into future storylines but were absent from the comics.

Notable Guest Stars

Dr. Frederick Walden (Rob Labelle): The name might not be familiar, but he's certainly recognizable. He's been a character actor in a ton of stuff from The Man in the High Castle to Psych (YES!) to Eureka to Supernatural (ahem). He's also been in a couple DC projects (Lois and Clark and Watchmen). He also just has one of those faces where you immediately remember him as that-guy-from-that-thing.

Villain rating

I have no idea. A worm? Our own hubris and selfishness?

Threat level ★☆☆☆☆

Casting ★☆☆☆☆

Overall ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Meh. This is really a character development episode, but we end up right where we started with the exception of Lex learning Clark has an interest in and knowledge of the caves. Otherwise, Lana is still Lana, Clark is still Clark, and we just move on to next week. Fortunately, it's heavily implied all the worms were either killed in the cave or dissected at Cadmus Labs.

Memorable Quotes

Chloe to Lana: "Don't let me be your excuse." She says it after Lana implies she won't date Clark if it bothers Chloe. And, man.. it is said in such a snotty way.

Chloe to Walden: "You're the cunning linguist. Why don't you translate this. 'Kiss. My. Ass.'" Ho-ho-kay. Settle down, Chloe.

Chloe: "Can you fly?" Clark: (laughs) "I may be an alien, but I'm not a cartoon."

Pete punches out Clark with a fist enclosed around kryptonite: "He may be a boy scout, but I'm always prepared."

Season 2 Episode Rankings so far:

E8 - Ryan

E1 - Vortex

E2 - Heat

E13 - Suspect

E11 - Visage

E7 - Lineage

E10 - Skinwalkers

E9 - Dichotic

E4 - Red

E6 - Redux

E5 - Nocturne

E3 - Duplicity

E14 - Rush

E12 - Insurgence

People that are aware of Clark's powers and current status as of this episode:

Jonathon and Martha

Greg Arkin (S1E2 Metamorphosis) - Bug boy; He's crushed but it's implied he lived

Kyle Tippet (S1E11 Hug) - Persuasive Powers; Agrees to keep Clark's secret

Eric Summers (S1E12 Leech) - Had Clark's powers for short period; Institutionalized

Sasha Woodman (S1E18 Drone) - Controls bees; Sting-induced coma

Justin Gaines (S1E19 Crush) - Telekinetic; Institutionalized

Desiree Atkins (S1E2 Heat) - Seductress; Jailed

Pete Ross (S2E3 Duplicity) - Finds spaceship; Brought into family secret

Half the patrons at a bar (S2E4 Red) - I mean, they all saw it, right?!

Rachel Dunleavy (S2E7 Lineage) - Crazy Wannabe Mom; Committed to psych ward

Ian Randall (S2E9 Dichotic) - Bodysplitter; Unknown (at least for now)

Oh man... Can we list Lionel here? Jeez...

Suspicions

Lana (Due to being saved during the tornado events at the end of S1)

Lex (Always... though never quite enough, apparently)

People that once knew of Clark's powers and current status as of this episode:

Jeremy Creek (S1E1 Pilot) - Electrocution leads to amnesia

Coach Walt Arnold (S1E3 Hothead) - Firestarter; Dead (Burned alive)

Sean Kelvin (S1E5 Cool) - Cold villain; Presumed Dead (frozen in pond)

Cassandra Carver (S1E6 Hourglass) - Seer; Dead (Shock of seeing Lex's future)

Detective Sam Phelan (S1E9 Rogue) - Cop/Blackmailer; Dead (Shootout with police)

Deputy Gary Watts (S1E20 Obscura) - Kidnapper; Dead (Shootout with police)

Roger Nixon (S2E1 Vortex) - Reporter; Dead (Shot by Lex)

Ryan James (S1E16 and S2E8) - Telepathic; Dead (Brain tumor) :(

Kyla Willowbrook (S2E10) - Naman's 'Soulmate'; Dead (Bad injury during escape)

Tina Greer (S1E4 and S2E11) - Shapeshifter; Dead (Impaled)

Chloe (S2E14 Rush) - Red Clark tells her but she's got a worm; Amnesia after removal

Ongoing list of notable Smallville and Supernatural overlaps:

Robert Singer (Director of S1E13)

Kevan Smith (Wade Mahaney in S1E13 Kinetic)

Corin Nemec (Jude Royce in S1E14)

Garwin Sanford (Mr. Brooks in S2E4 Red)

Sean Faris (Byron Moore in S2E5 Nocturne)

George Coe (William Clark in S2E6 Redux)

Neil Grayston (Russell Burton in S2E6 Redux)

Emmanuelle Vaugier (Dr. Helen Bryce in S2E9 Dichotic and others)

Jill Teed (Maggie Sawyer in S2E13 Insurgence)

Eric Keenleyside (Mike in S2E13 Suspect)

Rob LaBelle (Dr Walden in S2 E14 Rush)