TNMC

Why the discrepancy? Simple, really. The episode gets an extremely high rating just because Lana wasn’t in it. At all. On top of that bit of heavenly pleasure, Clark gets called on a lot of his shit with Lex. I always enjoy watching Clark make an ass of himself.

Tom Wopat guest stars as a former hell-raiser and childhood friend of Jonathan Kent’s. This hot-blooded American male has grown into a mighty Kansas senator. He takes a break from the campaign trail to visit the Kents and drop a little bomb about Lex Luthor. It seems Lex has decided to run for Jack’s office come election time. Some incriminating photos pop up tying Jennings to the death of an exotic dancer from Metropolis. Jonathan immediately blames Lex, and Clark follows right along. The confrontation is hilarious to me. Lex is being a decent guy and Clark, who is supposed to be decent himself, is a total douchebag. Why can’t this show have Clark as the alien threat? That would be awesome.

Anyway, Lex didn’t fake the photos. Jack was actually having an affair with the girl, but her death had nothing to do with either Lex or the horny senator. It was the son of a diplomat practicing a little white slavery for kicks who did her in. It’s a lovely plot right out of Lethal Weapon. There’s even a scene with Erica Durance stripping and give Clark a lapdance, much to his shrinkage. He can’t even look her in the face while she’s jiggling her Jell-O at him. Poor bastard. Fucker.

The episode contained a great many Dukes references, which I have to admit I enjoyed. And I can’t fault an episode that saved me the torture of Lana/Clark/Lex interaction. Still, the entire thing was dreadful in other ways. Jonathan Kent is coaxed into running for senate himself. This isn’t that bad a plot, I suppose, but it’s really not something I care about. I blame the producers. They don’t really have a story for the Kents or Lana, so they toss this sort of thing at us in an attempt to make these two-dimensional characters more interesting. It doesn’t work for me. I guess it’s better than having him possessed by a thirteenth century witch. Still not saying much.

Ups and downs and all arounds. I can’t really get my bearings on this one. I guess I’m just too close to the material here, but I enjoyed it. Even if I don’t care for Lois or Jonathan. I guess we’ll see what happens later this week with "Splinter". This show is a chore to watch now. More so than it has ever been in the past.