Episode 2.23: Exodus

Clark’s space ship comes alive and the voice of Jor El tells him that he must leave his loved ones to fulfil his destiny. Helen breaks the wedding off with Lex. Clark and Lana decide to tell Chloe that they are now an item. Chloe, however, already knows about them after the kiss she witnessed between the two in the last episode. Maybe as a result of this she decides to accept Lionel’s offer of working for him to uncover Clark’s secrets.

After the finale of season one this season two closer had a lot to live up to. It almost succeeds. As is usual with any last episode of a season there is a lot going on.

Just as things seems to be going right for Clark, the rug is pulled from under him, and he is forced to make a drastic decision that leads to terrible consequences. He takes action to destroy the space ship in the hope that it will break whatever power Jor El might have over the direction of his life. In his efforts to steal the kryptonite key from Lionel we are treated to a great scene between Lionel and Pete Ross, who offers Clark the distraction he needs. The exchange between them is great, Lionel revealing just how much of a megalomaniac he is, Pete using that against him and throwing one of Lionel’s snide comments back in his face.

Jonathan Kent is a strange one. As I pointed out in my review of the last episode, ‘Calling’, he is often very contradictory in his attitude towards Lex. For all the times he has pointed out Lex’s flaws it seems somewhat strange that he should be so friendly with him here, presenting him with the gift of a compass, a ‘Kent family tradition’.

I feel so bad for Lex in this episode. He comes clean about lying, which is a massive step forward for him, only to be left by the Kents on his wedding day and sent down with the plane to boot. Seems like every time he tries to do the right thing the universe gives him a reason not to.

Jonathan’s reaction to Clark in the hospital, after Martha loses the baby, is painful yet quite understandable. While Clark’s intentions were noble, they were also reckless, and maybe even a little selfish. All the pain that Clark has caused through this error in judgement becomes too much for him to bear, and so he turns to red kryptonite to ease the pain, which ultimately turns him into emo-Clark. I love how, whenever a character in Smallville appears to be going over to the dark side, they start dressing in black. Even Chloe at the end, when she agrees to work for Lionel, is dressed in a black outfit.

One of the elements I always struggled with in season two was Helen’s betrayal of Lex. It is quite hard to pinpoint the exact moment she would have made that decision. But I will talk more about that in my review for Exile.

10/10