Episode 3.16: Crisis

When Clark visits Pete at the crisis centre where he volunteers they receive a call from Lana who is being chased. But when Clark rushes to The Talon he finds her safe and sound. The call, it seems, came from the future and the man who was chasing Lana was Adam. Can the gang stop fate or is this the end of the line for Lana? Also, Lex tells the FBI that he'll help them catch his father. But little does Lex know that Lionel already has a death sentence in the form of a rare liver disease.

As much as Adam does nothing in this episode to redeem himself I can't help but feel a small amount of pity for him. Ultimately, he was fighting for his life, but lost the battle here. Yet another example of the collateral damage that is left in the wake of Lionel's actions. Even so, it does seem somewhat strange that Adam would try to kill Lana. At the end of 'Obsession' we learned that he'd deliberately endangered his own life by pushing Lana away and refusing to do as Lionel had asked. I had assumed this was because he genuinely cared for her and so would rather lose her than lie to her. This episode muddies the waters of his character to the point where it's not really at all clear how he ever felt about her or whether he was a good guy forced to go bad or just bad to begin with. Given that he never returns after this I guess we'll never know. I feel like the writers could have done a better job on this element of season 3.

On the whole though, I do enjoy the story with this one. The idea of hearing your own death on a recording is kind of creepy and, while we never doubt the outcome, it does make for good drama.

I love the look on Lex's face when he tells the FBI agent that he'll help him bring down his father. There's a lot going on in Rosenbaum's eyes in that moment. He is determined to not let his father screw him over and yet there seems to be a certain sense of anguish at the realization that he is willing to betray his own flesh and blood.

Once again, as with the previous episode, Clark's superspeed is the cause of the biggest hole in this episode's plot. When Adam steals a van, Clark gets to the scene a minute later. But he gives up the chase because there are 3 different roads that Adam could have taken. Given how fast Clark is able to get to Lana towards the end and save her from Adam, it's a little hard to believe that Clark couldn't have used that same superspeed to check out each route and easily catch up with Adam.

Despite that annoying plot detail this is a very good episode that gives us a tragic end to a minor character. 8/10