TV Review SMALLVILLE - SEASON EIGHT - 'Infamous'

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Well that was easy. SMALLVILLE 1-8 DVD decided to go ahead and give us all a big “do over” episode now that the whole Lana (Kristin Kreuk) saga is over with. I don’t know about you, but I feel somewhat cheated. SMALLVILLE 1-8 DVD had been moving along at a decent pace, slowly bringing Clark (Tom Welling) closer to Superman, fleshing out Davis (Sam Witwer), having Lois (Erica Durance) fall for Clark, etc.

Then Lana comes along and really kind of screws up the show for a while. Lois simply falls off the map. Whatever Clark had developed with her just vanished as soon as Lana showed up. There was a lot of lazy writing (see “Bulletproof”), a lot of bad writing (I’m thinking Toymaker in “Requiem”), and even some horrific writing (Lana the superhero! Come on!). And then, Lana is gone, looking for the moment that she will never return again to SMALLVILLE 1-8 DVD.

And then things just kind of slip back to normal, like Lana never happened. Lois and Clark even talk about their potential relationship, albeit briefly. Did I miss something? The last time we saw Clark, wasn’t he pretty crushed because he and Lana couldn’t be together? And now Lois comes back and he just jumps back on that Lane train once again? In all fairness, nothing does happen between them, but SMALLVILLE 1-8 DVD does hint that the feelings are still there.

Lois and Lana aside, “Infamous” had a unique premise behind it: what would life be like if Clark’s secret was finally revealed to the world? As the title suggests, fame turns into infamy as people begin to doubt Clark’s motives. The government is, of course, suspicious of aliens living on Earth and begins to persecute Clark and everyone associated with him.

The real damage, however, comes from LindaLake (Tori Spelling), when she accuses Clark of killing Lex Luthor. Any leeway Clark had before was instantly gone. The police come to question Clark and take him in for a few tests, but Clark refuses. After Clark hurls an officer who was trying to arrest him, the entire squad opens fire on him. He makes a run for it, cementing his now criminal status.

Clark being famous was actually a pretty intriguing idea. The only downside to “Infamous” was that Tori Spelling reprises her character of LindaLake. It’s Linda who forces Clark’s hand, making him decide to confess to Lana and through her, the world, about his superhuman abilities. Spelling, unfortunately, just isn’t a very good actress. Maybe I’m biased because I remember her days from BEVERLY HILLS 90210, but every time she walked onscreen, I cringed.

But enough about Linda, let’s talk about the real theme of “Infamous.” Throughout the entire episode, all I could think was how is SMALLVILLE 1-8 DVD going to undo this mess? Was it going to be like SUPERMAN (the 1978 film) where Superman flies around the world to reverse time in order to save Lois? Nope. Remember the time ring that the League of Superheroes left Clark in “Legion”? He uses the ring to go back a few days and stop Linda.

How convenient. The idea makes sense and it follows with what has happened in past episodes, but like I said, I couldn’t help but feel a little cheated. First, SMALLVILLE 1-8 DVD pretends like the whole Lana debacle never happened, and then with his time ring, it’s like this episode never happened. Eh, I can deal with it. Clark did have a few epiphanies, though, the big one being that identity must remain a secret and that maybe it’s time for an alter ego. The next episode, “Turbulence,” has Clark in the middle of an air disaster. Is this when he finally learns to fly? Is the cape coming? I guess we’ll find out.

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I like this show very much. I have watched almost all the episode of this show. this is fantastic show.