Episode 4.14: Krypto

When Lois hits a dog in the road she takes it back to the Kent farm, little realizing that it has super strenth thanks to an experimental drug that was developed by Luthorcorp, and was recently used by two men as part of a robbery. The two men find out that Clark has the dog and send another dog to the farm that attacks Jonathan. When Clark and Lois figure out who was behind it they discover that the two men are about to use the dogs to hit a Luthorcorp van and head out to stop them. Meanwhile, Genievieve tells Jason that Lana descends from the line of Isabelle while they descend from the line of a woman named Gertrude. Gertrude is the one who betrayed Isabelle, which is why Isabelle swore to wipe out her entire family line. Jason is dating someone who may eventually kill them. When Jason later bumps into Lionel, Lionel gives him a copy of the map that could lead to the Kryptonian stones. He says he is helping because he doesn't want either Lex or Genievieve to get their hands on the stones.

Fans of Superman lore will either get a kick out of seeing Krypto the Superdog making an appearance or be slightly disappointed when it turns out not to be Krypto at all. Either way, this is a fun little adventure in which Clark and Lois go on a journey to save man's best friend, having lots of their usual banter along the way. I just love the verbal sparring that goes on between them. Clark always seems like a much happier person when they are together. I don't think he quite realizes this himself though, especially when he starts telling Chloe about the difficulty of having Lois stay with them. The man doth protest too much indeed!

Martha's reaction to Jonathan being attacked by the dog really sells that moment. But it's still hard to believe that the beast wouldn't have done more damage given the mess it make of a locked steel door in the opening scene. That specific scene is actually quite brutal, especially with the way they build it up before making you think the dog has left, only for it to then come crashing through the door. Makes Cujo look like a puppy!

There's a scene in this episode where Clark goes to see Lex at the mansion. The first words out of his mouth are a question about Luthercorp but in a really accusational tone. You can tell that Lex is getting sick of this routine and, to be quite honest, I really don't blame him. Clark always heads in there under the assumption that Lex has done something wrong. No small talk. No, "Hey Lex, how ya been?" Just no respect. Lex just wants to shoot some pool with someone. How many times does Lex have to play pool with himself before someone takes notice of his lonliness?

The best thing to come out of the Isabelle Theroux story is the character of Jason. He definitely appears to be on Lana's side for now but, with Lex trying to steer him on one side and his mother trying to steer him on the other, there is a conflict of interests that he now has to struggle with, which makes him an interesting character, beyond merely being a rival to Clark for Lana's affections.

7/10