Smallville“Committed”
Air Date: Oct 16, 2008
Charles - TwoCents Reviewer
charles@thetwocentscorp.com
The recent run of engaging episodes hits a bit of a misstep here, although the silliness of the plot is almost made up for by the engaging character moments. Smallville is now a series at the venerable stage where the audience tunes in for the character interaction as much as, if not more so than, the actual stories. Still, that doesn’t help explain this particular story.
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[photo: Michael Courtney/The CW]
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The recent run of engaging episodes hits a bit of a misstep here, although the silliness of the plot is almost made up for by the engaging character moments. Smallville is now a series at the venerable stage where the audience tunes in for the character interaction as much as, if not more so than, the actual stories. Still, that doesn’t help explain this particular story.
ReplyDeleteWe start off at Jimmy and Chloe’s engagement party, where Lois is knockin’ back drinks at the comp bar and bemoaning her wallflower status. Lois doesn’t see how the “barely legal” Chloe can be happy with Jimmy, and starts to say so in a toast to the couple, but Clark saves her from embarrassing herself too much. Jimmy tells Clark that he’s OK with the past, and the future’s gonna be all Chloe and Jimmy! The party breaks up, but as the happy couple heads out to the parking lot, they’re confronted by a mysterious stranger who shoots them both!
Lois wakes up at the Kent Farm wearing a hockey jersey and nursing a hangover. Clark insists that the change of clothes and the Whitesnake sing-a-long were all her idea. Meanwhile, Tess finds Oliver in her office at the Daily Planet, where they begin to engage in not-so-endearing banter. Oliver wonders if Lex was more to Tess than just a mentor, but then offers a white flag to her with a dinner invitation. Tess reminds Oliver that Lex dedicated his life to making the world a safer place and that Oliver always wants what he can’t have. Rowr! Lois & Clark pay a visit to the Talon, where a pair of fuzzy handcuffs indicates that maybe Olsen’s not so wholesome. With no sign of the happy couple, Lois plays the messages on the answering machine, forgetting about her giggly drunk dial to Chloe from the previous night about being “rescued” by Clark. The other messages confirm that Chloe and Jimmy never made it home; they are, in fact, chained up to a pair of electric chairs in a creepy basement!
Lois and Clark learn that three newly engaged couples have vanished in the last two weeks. Chloe and Jimmy are told by their face-masked captor that not everyone is meant to be married, and he proceeds to hook them up to a lie detector and some electrodes in what appears to be a more painful version of The Moment of Truth, which would have probably made a better title for this episode. Lois comes up with the idea of pretending to be engaged to Clark in order to suss out the wedding vendor who might be responsible for the engagement kidnappings. Lois puts on her best gooey-eyed act with Clark for the local jeweler, but isn’t quite prepared when Oliver walks in looking for a make-up present for Tess. Lois tells Oliver about “one magical night” with Clark and tells Olly she’ll see him at the wedding. Oliver looks confused.
The masked kidnapper apparently has some lingering trust issues, and is subjecting couples to electroshock truth therapy to ensure an honest marriage. Chloe passes the lie detector test when she’s asked if she’s in love with anyone else, but the masked man shoots them both anyway. Meanwhile, Tess and Oliver continue their bickering, this time with gaff sticks and accusations of liaisons with waitresses. Oliver confesses he’s a little afraid of Tess, which apparently presses the right button. Cue make-out session! Lois, continuing her investigation, is hit by the high beams of the masked kidnapper, who is revealed to be the town jeweler. Is this the best way to increase sales?
Chloe wakes up in bed with Jimmy, and it’s not just a dream. They have evidently passed the masked jeweler’s love test. Clark has figured out where Lois has been taken, but the jeweler is sporting a Kryptonite wristwatch. Now Clark is chained up facing Lois just in time for true love confessions. The masked jeweler asks a tearful Lois if she loves Clark, and her reluctant “yes” doesn’t set off the lie detector. Before Clark has to answer the same question, he grabs the watch and tosses it, then eye-zaps the steam pipes to obscure his heroics from Lois.
Now that all their secrets have supposedly been revealed, Chloe wants to plan the honeymoon, but Jimmy has a confession: his parents are losers and he came to Metropolis to make up a new life for himself. Guys like him, he says, never get girls like Chloe. Chloe begs to differ. Oliver wakes up with Tess, but she gives him the cold shoulder and suggests Oliver should grow up. Like Indiana Jones, he left her back in the day just when he was getting interesting. Cue Oliver’s dejected face as Tess rejects the nice necklace he bought for her.
Back at the Planet, Lois is avoiding Clark, until her gives her an out to explain her love confession. She’s a great liar! The lie detector was outdated! But then Clark gets a surprise when Lois claims to have slipped off the lie detector’s detector from her finger before she answered any of the questions. Clark looks sad, underscoring Lois’ sense of relief that Clark never had to answer the love question, since he’s such a terrible liar.
So do you buy the premise of this episode? Would a broken-hearted jeweler go through all the trouble of kidnapping couples, hooking them up to lie detectors, and then letting them go once they demonstrate honesty? Is this just a handy plot device to examine the potential coupling of the Smallville cast? Is Lois recycling Chloe’s low-cut blouses from seasons past? Commit yourself in the comments!