This week on Smallville, Clark’s world gets turned upside down when a seemingly harmless girl reveals she has the power to steal youth. It’s a race against time as Clark tries to figure out how to stop her before she drains the life out of everyone in Smallville, including his loved ones.
Episode Review:
In this episode, the Kent farm faces financial difficulties, prompting Martha to seek help from her estranged father, William Clark. Clark is excited to meet his grandfather, but Jonathan’s refusal to see William leads to tension. Clark tries to mend the relationship between his father and grandfather, but it doesn’t go as planned.
Meanwhile, at Smallville High, a new principal, Terrence Reynolds, arrives and immediately clashes with Clark due to his friendship with Lex Luthor. Principal Reynolds has a history with Lex’s father, Lionel Luthor, which adds to the tension.
The main supernatural element of the episode involves a student named Chrissy Parker, who has the ability to drain the youth from others to maintain her own. This leads to a mysterious aging incident at the school, which Clark must investigate and resolve.
“Redux” gives us a classic Smallville “Freak of the Week” scenario, but with a twist that hits close to home – the fear of aging and the desire for eternal youth. The episode does a decent job of balancing the creepy factor of the villain with the emotional stakes for Clark and his friends. It’s a bit of a “monster of the week” episode, but it’s a fun ride. The effects, especially when people age or de-age, are a bit hit-or-miss, and sometimes veer into “cheap Halloween mask” territory. However, the emotional core of the episode, with Clark’s concern for his loved ones, really shines through.
The episode effectively uses the “fountain of youth” concept to explore society’s obsession with appearance and youth. Chrissy serves as a cautionary tale about the extreme lengths people will go to recapture their youth and the destructive nature of vanity.
The episode continues to maintain Smallville’s formula of using meteor freaks as metaphors for human flaws while advancing the larger character arcs.
“Redux” really delves hard into family dynamics and the challenges of reconciling with estranged relatives. The episode also explores the theme of hidden secrets and the impact they have on relationships. The introduction of Principal Reynolds adds a new layer of conflict for Clark as he has history with Lex.
Overall, “Redux” is a solid episode that contributes to the ongoing narrative of Smallville and provides insight into Clark’s family history.
This episode does jump around a bit though as is sometimes the problem with Smallville it tends to put A, B, and C storylines all in 44 minutes and some of them are always going to get short shrifted.
This week we get The farm problem leading to the grandfather problem as A, the freak of the week which is really the B storyline, The new principal C storyline, and finally we get an introduction of a D storyline at the end with Lana’s dad. Its just too much not fleshed out well enough in limited time. Could have easily been 2 episodes.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
- Stars:
- Tom Welling as Clark Kent
- Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
- Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
- Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
- Annette O’Toole as Martha Kent
- John Schneider as Jonathan Kent
Special Effects: The aging/de-aging effects were, as mentioned, a bit patchy. Some moments were genuinely unsettling, while others looked a little too rubbery. The rapid aging makeup is always a challenge for shows, and this one didn’t quite nail it consistently.
Music: The show’s score, by Mark Snow, effectively sets the mood, adding tension and drama to the scenes.
Lessons and Superman Connections:
“Redux” explores themes of mortality, the desire for youth, and the importance of accepting the natural progression of life. For Clark, it’s another lesson in responsibility and the need to protect others. It also touches on his own unique position as someone who will age differently from those around him. This episode reminds us that Clark’s journey to becoming Superman isn’t just about physical strength; it’s also about understanding the human condition and the value of life at every stage. This episode also shows the continuing development of Clark’s well, the best thing I can describe it as is obsession with his past, as the A story revolves around problems with the farm and asking Ma Kent’s father for help, who it tuns out Clark has never even met and the reasons why etc. This season seems to have a lot of that element in Clark and his parents relationship.
Review Notes:
Clark just swimming as the fastest in the school, hmmmm kind of goes against everything they have done up to now.
Instant Progeria… really (dumb)
New principal Reynolds and Lex’s history and his attitude about it makes him an unsympathetic character.
Actually so far he kind of seems like a dickhead on a power trip, what principal pulls kids out and gives them extra assignments.
This succubus thing is kind of cool, and kind of stupid at the same time
Directed by M Night Shymalana ding dong (just kidding) it’s actually Chris Long. Chris Long also directed several episodes of Lois & Clark
The grandpa A story is kind of BS, this is the first time since the beginning that I have felt like the Kent’s did the wrong thing.
The D story with Lana is just too much for one episode.