Episode 1.7: Craving

Craving is notable mainly for the presence of actress Amy Adams in the supporting role of a girl so desperate to lose weight she starts to live on a diet of strange shakes that have been infected by the meteor rocks. As a result she becomes the victim of horrible cravings that make her attack people in order to suck out their body fat.

Amy Adams is a wonderful actress and has since gone on to deliver great performances in the likes of Enchanted and Doubt. She is just as spectacular here even though, during some sequences, she has to work under some dodgy prosthetics.

Although the story for this episode's freak of the week can at times come off as fairly silly, it does at least allow the viewer to sympathise for the meteor infected character, something that has been lacking since the pilot episode. This might be down to Adam's performance just as much as, if not more than, the writing itself. In fact, without her presence I'm not sure this episode would hold as much interest for me.

However, there is also an interesting plot involving Lex who spends most of the episode trying to get a scientist onto his payroll. The reason this is interesting is that the scientist in question is conducting research into the effects of meteor rocks on genetic makeup. It's nice to see the writers acknowledge the fact that there would be other people out there intelligent enough to see what's going on in Smallville other than Clark and friends.

This is a solid episode made all the more watchable by its guest star. 7/10