Welcome back to Smallville Reviews! Get ready to grab a cup of coffee because this week, our favorite farm boy is going to war with sleep itself. It’s Season 3, Episode 4, “Slumber.”
TV Guide Preview: Night Terrors and Trust Funds
Clark Kent is hitting that part of the semester where sleep is an enemy, but it gets worse when his dreams start featuring a terrified girl and a seriously spooky, grim reaper-looking dude chasing her through the cornfields. We all have strange dreams, but when they keep happening—and they feel real—you know it’s a job for Superboy. Turns out, the girl is Sara, his comatose neighbor, who is desperately trying to reach out to Clark from her own mind palace. Clark’s inability to sleep leads to some chaotic daytime mishaps, including crashing the Kents’ truck, which, let’s be honest, is peak Clark Kent.
Meanwhile, Lex Luthor is back in Smallville but certainly not back in his father’s good graces. Lionel is making sure Lex is subjected to a truly grueling psychological evaluation before he can get his hands back on the LuthorCorp keys. This is all standard Luthor family dysfunction, but the real fun starts when Clark’s dreams dive deep into his psyche, giving us some major glimpses into his deepest hopes (like that dream scene with Lana, wink wink) and his worst fears (which involve Lex learning the secret and getting all Darth Vader about it). Don’t miss this one; it’s got killer dream sequences and a surprisingly excellent soundtrack.
Episode Review
“Slumber” is a fun deep dive into Clark’s subconscious, reminding us that being the most powerful teenager on Earth doesn’t exempt you from having seriously messed-up nightmares. The central mystery—a comatose girl trying to signal her murder before it happens—is a classic Smallville “Freak of the Week” setup, but the episode elevates itself by using Clark’s dream state to explore his relationships and insecurities. The whole sequence where Clark is convinced he’s had a “Blue Lagoon” moment with Lana, only to wake up in his perfectly normal bed, is a great bit of teen-drama wish fulfillment, and the subsequent scene where he absolutely demolishes a fancy sword wielded by Dream-Lex? Pure gold. We love the dramatic stakes and the psychological warfare.
Starring Cast
Tom Welling as Clark Kent
Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
Sam Jones III as Pete Ross
Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
John Glover as Lionel Luthor
Annette O’Toole as Martha Kent
John Schneider as Jonathan Kent
The “Freak of the Week”
- Katharine Isabelle as Sara Conroy: Sara is the comatose girl Clark is connected to, trying to wake him up to her plight. If you think she looks familiar, you might recognize Katharine Isabelle from the horror genre, specifically as Ginger Fitzgerald in the cult werewolf trilogy Ginger Snaps, which she starred in just a couple of years before this episode. She’s great at playing the damsel in distress with a sharp, haunted quality.
- Christopher Shyer as Nicholas Conroy: The classic shady uncle/guardian who is running a scam to keep his niece Sara in a coma and steal her inheritance.
- John DeSantis as The Traveler: This imposing figure is Sara’s dream manifestation of her uncle/caretaker and appears as a menacing “Reaper.”
Thoughts on Special Effects
The effects in this episode are a mixed bag, which is exactly what we expect and love from Season 3. The bad effects definitely include “The Traveler.” He looks less like an embodiment of death and more like someone threw a cheap black cloak over a basketball player—it’s just not very scary and the costume is a bit rubbery and simple.
However, the good effects are entirely in the dream sequences. The scene where Clark, believing Lex has learned his secret, blocks a sword that shatters perfectly against his forearm is visually stunning and dramatically awesome. It’s a clean effect that demonstrates his impenetrable skin beautifully. Also, the subtle CGI work on the water and the atmosphere when Clark and Lana are in their “Blue Lagoon” dream is well done. The special effect of Clark smashing the Kent farm truck after falling asleep is a necessary and impactful visual reminder of the stakes of his self-inflicted sleep deprivation.
Music
This episode is one of the most musically clever installments of the series. The show’s music supervisor had a field day, using songs by the band R.E.M. throughout the dream sequences, specifically linking the band’s name to R.E.M. sleep (Rapid Eye Movement). A+ for that nerdy joke!
Track Listing:
- “At My Most Beautiful” by R.E.M.
- “Losing My Religion” by R.E.M.
- “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M.
- “Bad Day” by R.E.M.
- “Imitation of Life” by R.E.M.
Rating
4 out of 5 Stars
This episode is a strong four stars. It balances the procedural “Freak of the Week” structure with deep character drama for both Clark and Lex, giving us one of the most memorable non-Kryptonite-related confrontations in the show’s run. It’s not perfect—The Traveler costume is truly goofy—but the tight script, high stakes, and brilliant music choices make it essential viewing.
Complete Synopsis and Plot Breakdown
The episode opens with Clark experiencing vivid and frightening dreams where he is chased by a cloaked figure, “The Traveler,” alongside a distressed young girl. He is so affected that he drives the Kents’ new truck into a pole after falling asleep at the wheel, ruining the truck and terrifying Jonathan and Martha.
Clark realizes the girl is Sara Conroy, his neighbor, who has been in a coma for three years since a mysterious illness struck her right after her parents died in the first meteor shower. Sara, through her dream-projection ability (thanks, meteor rocks!), is reaching out to Clark for help.
Clark becomes obsessed with staying awake to avoid the dreams, leading to a hilarious but concerning scene where he accidentally sets off the barn’s sprinklers using his new heat vision (oops, that secret’s getting harder to hide).
The Investigation: Lana, ever the eager investigator, joins Clark. They visit Sara and meet her uncle, Nicholas Conroy, who acts as her sole guardian and handles her massive inheritance. Clark notices that Nicholas never lets them near Sara unsupervised. Chloe does some digging and finds that Nicholas is a shady accountant who took over the Conroy estate and controls Sara’s substantial trust fund.
The Dream Dive: Clark finally gives in to sleep and finds himself fully integrated into Sara’s nightmare world. He tries to help her escape The Traveler, a menacing manifestation of Nicholas’s threat. In his dreams, Clark experiences his desires (the aforementioned Lana skinny dipping scene and a new truck) and faces his biggest fear: Lex knowing his secret. This is where we get the legendary dream sequence where Lex, having uncovered the truth, swings a Kryptonian sword that Clark instinctively blocks, shattering the blade. Lex delivers a chilling monologue about Clark’s betrayal before Clark wakes up, shaken.
The Climax: The pair realize Nicholas is slowly poisoning Sara with a mild sedative mixed into her medicine, keeping her comatose just long enough to liquidate her assets and kill her off before she wakes up naturally. Clark breaks into the house to switch the drugged medicine with a legitimate antidote.
Nicholas catches Clark and Lana and attempts to attack Lana. Clark, fueled by adrenaline and the need to protect her, engages in a super-speed blur that appears to Nicholas as the very Traveler figure from Sara’s dreams. Clark disarms Nicholas and saves Lana. The Kents call the authorities, and Nicholas is arrested.
The Resolution: Sara awakens from her coma, now free of Nicholas’s influence. Clark and Lana share a nice moment, reinforcing their bond of trust. Meanwhile, Lex completes his humiliating psychological evaluation, passing it but warning Lionel that the battle for LuthorCorp—and their souls—is far from over.
Lessons and the Path to Superman
“Slumber” is a fantastic episode for Clark’s emotional growth and mental training, teaching him several key lessons necessary for his future role as Superman:
- Trusting His Instincts Over Logic: Despite the bizarre, illogical nature of a “comatose girl reaching out via dreams,” Clark chooses to believe Sara because of his connection to the meteor shower and his own unique experiences. This ability to trust his intuition, even when the situation defies scientific explanation, is crucial for Superman, who must often deal with threats outside the scope of normal human understanding.
- The Danger of Secrets: The long, terrifying dream sequence with Lex exposes Clark’s deepest fear: the inevitable fracturing of his friendship with Lex and the moment Lex discovers his truth. This nightmare is a psychological warning. It shows Clark how heavy the burden of his secret is becoming and foreshadows the necessity of being emotionally prepared for Lex’s inevitable villainy. It reinforces the need for better compartmentalization and greater mental strength.
- Mental Fortitude: By resisting sleep for days, Clark learns to push the boundaries of his own physical and mental limitations. While Smallville often explores his physical strength, this episode focuses on his mental and emotional endurance, which is essential for a hero who will one day carry the weight of the entire world on his shoulders. He learns that the human psyche is just as much a battlefield as any physical location.
Photos
Video
Talkville: SLUMBER (S3E04) Tom’s Easter Egg, Skinny Dipping with Lana & Lots of REM
Review Notes
Best music episode so far. Some actual number one hits used by REM
Clark sleepwalking is kind of weird.
LOL – Chloe heard something came up at the lake – LOL
Sleeping 36 hours all dream sequence?
Sword hit was cool effect, Traveler sucks looks like a high school play.
Whats the necklace? did I miss something
When your rich your not crazy, your eccentric. How true.
In our dreams were all Super
Cute ending: In your dreams Clark 🙂
Next Week: Perry. I think I can guess what this ones going to be. We get Perry White! Is he going to mentor Chloe?
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