Episode 4.13: Recruit

Lois is arrested when a drunken jock she kicks to the floor ends up paralysed. The evidence eventually leads to a star football player, named Geoff Johns, who has the ability to cause momentary paralysis. Johns kills the parylized jock in his hospital bed for fear that he will reveal his secret. Then he tries to drown Lois when she gets too close to the truth. But Clark arrives to save the day. Clark then quits football so that he won't have to face the same temptations as Johns did. Also, Lex tries once more to recruit Jason, telling him that it's his mother that is the threat and he wants him to spy on both her and Lana to find out as much as possible about Isabelle Theroux. Jason tells Lana and Lana confronts Lex directly. He tells her that Jason has been aware of Isabelle since he was a child as his mother has spent a lifetime investigating her.

The actor who plays Geoff Johns is actually really good in this episode. I really buy him as a young man who has essentially sold his soul in order to stay at the top. I can easily believe that he was once a good person who somehow lost his way through making little compromises, that eventually turned into big compromises, until eventually he even began to rationalize committing murder. There is a real sense of internal conflict with this guy and I feel that's down to the performance.

I love Lois in this. Seeing her beat a bunch of jocks at the start whilst still wearing her jammy's is quite cute. But she has a "take no prisoners" attitude throughout, which is quite endearing, even though it does put her life in danger. Speaking of which, the idea of being unable to move while water rises all around you is horrific to someone like me. From a very young age I had a fear of being buried alive after seeing a film called, err, "Buried Alive". But couple that with my fear of drowning and you pretty much have my worst nightmare.

Recruit is all about the pressures of stardom. While I have no interest in sports, when it comes to real life, I think this episode does make you think about all that one has to give in order to be at the top of their game. When Clark makes the mature decision to not even allow himself to be put in a position of temptation I feel like giving him a pat on the back. Chloe's reaction to that is quite moving. All of her interactions with Clark take on a new dynamic now that she knows his secret. It's fun watching her try to encourage him to fess up.

While I'm definitely not a fan of the whole witches angle with Lana, I do like the intrigue that comes from Jason and his mother, and the way that it puts Lana into a position of not knowing who to trust. Jason as a character is much more likeable and seems to be much better thought out than the likes of, say, Whitney or Adam. It's just the damn witches angle.

This is one of those episodes that, when I see the title of it in my dvd booklet, I sort of remember it as being one that is good but not great. But actually, watching it this time around for the sake of this review, it really is a great episode with very little that I can fault it on.

9/10