Ep 2.06 - Redux

[shy175223]

This episode always stumps me whenever I see it. The storyline makes sense but the FOTW never did. A freak that sucks the youth out teenagers in order to stay. The episode never explained WHAT she is? Is she a meta human or a meteor freak?

[jon-el87]

I'm okay with them not explaining how Chrissy got her powers. However, I would've liked to have seen some reaction from Clark and Chloe, about encountering someone who couldn't have gotten their powers from Kryptonite. Sure, they had encountered Ryan James. However, the cause for Ryan's powers wasn't revealed until two episodes after this. For all Clark and Chloe knew, at this point, Ryan could've been a meteor freak. Chloe managed to trace Chrissy back to 1921, making it impossible for her to think that Chrissy was a meteor freak.

Upon rewatching the episode, I found myself liking Chrissy's motivation. She isn't some mastermind, out to rule the world. She is someone who simply can't let go of the past and move on. She is so desperate to hold on to four years of your life, that she's spent close to a century (if not more) sucking the youth out of teenagers. Her inability to let go of the past, is what causes her to become evil. Come to think of it, over the years, Clark ran into several people who couldn't let go of the past (Harry Volk in "Hourglass" and Brendan Nash in "Forever", to just mention two). So, there does seem to be a recurring theme of not letting go of the past sends you down a dark path.

A problem I do have with Chrissy is that they don't seem to have fully thought her character through. Since before 1921, Chrissy has lived the life of a High School student. The thing is, where does she live? How does she support herself, if she spends her whole time playing HS student? She clearly don't live with foster parents, as principal Reynolds spends a whole episode trying to have a talk with her parents.

This episode also introduces the Henry Small plot (something that was sadly forgotten about, after this season). I like Patrick Cassidy's performance, both here and on L&C, but I wish they had gone with an asian actor, given that Kreuk is half-Chinese.

This episode also marks the only appearance by principal Reynolds, played by L&C alumni Richard Gant. I thought he gave a good performance. Reynolds is the type of educator, who wants students to think about the future (a strong contrast to Chrissy's obsession with holding on to the past), even if that makes the student feel that he's being hard on him. I understand why this character never showed up again (though, he was mentioned several times). Apart from getting "slackers" to think about the future, what could you do with him? Would you have him show up in multiple episodes and ask Clark where he sees himself in five years? Or just do a repeat of some of the stuff done with Kwan? Not everyone has everything mapped out for them, at 15. One could argue that Clark's passive, compared to some of his friends: Chloe runs the Torch and has ambitions to write for the Daily Planet; Lana runs a coffee shop. However, as we see in future seasons, the ambitions of both women change. Lana sells the Talon after season 3, goes to College (studying astronomy) for a while, before getting married, sets up the Isis Foundation (given her bad interactions with the meteor infected, the 15 year old Lana could probably never see herself doing that) and ultimately goes to Africa to be a superhero. Chloe gets to the Daily Planet, but gets fired in S7 and takes over the Isis Foundation. After Jimmy's death, she sets up Watchtower and sets out to set up the Justice League. The life of neither turned out, like they had imagined in their teens.

[jon-el87]

I've just watched this episode again, and...I didn't like much, it's full of characters that never showed up again, like Martha's father and Mr. Reynolds, I mean what happened to the principal that we saw in "Red"...and about Lana's biological father...he just came in a few more episodes, and then it was completely forgotten.

The guy in "Red" was the vice principal. We did see Reynolds again, at Clark's graduation. Only, he was played by a different actor. He wasn't identified as "Reynolds", but Reynolds had been established as still being the principal in season 4.

We might also have seen Martha's dad again. In "Finale", there's an elderly couple sitting next to Martha. The man in only seen in long shots, so you can't make out his face (possible attempt to cover up the fact that Martha's dad is played by a different actor).