“Mr. & Mrs. Smallville”

Show: Smallville
Episode: “Sleeper”
First Aired: 4/24/08

Last week’s review ended with a reference to the Brad Pitt film “Se7en.” This one begins with a reference to another Pitt project - “Mr. & Mrs. Smith.” In fact, the new episode of “Smallville” is an entire reference to that movie, as well as “True Lies,” James Bond, a little bit of “Mission: Impossible,” etc. Is this another example of Hollywood’s lack of originality or a sincere homage? Read on to find out.

We open with Jimmy trying to reignite the spark in his renewed romance with Chloe (right), but as usual she’s too busy to stick around. Why so busy? That’s what a sexy special agent from the Department of Domestic Security wants to know. She’s been monitoring Chloe’s recent computer hacking exploits and suspects that Jimmy’s main squeeze is part of a sleeper cell of terrorists. In reality Ms. Sullivan is using government satellites to help Clark find Kara and Brainiac. Jimmy of course doesn’t know this and, although he doesn’t want to believe his girlfriend could be a traitor, he’s curious enough to spy on her for the feds (plus, he was threatened by the sexy fed -- so he’s got that going for him).

To say what follows is a mere allusion to “Mrs. & Mrs. Smith” would be the understatement of the year. Jimmy and Chloe not only end up spying on each other, suspecting one another of treason, but they also work out their relationship differences in the process. Sound familiar? Even the score sounds familiar, taken practically note for note from the film. There’s also a tango scene, though that could be from “True Lies” -- that other blockbuster where a lackluster couple renews their passion after spying on one another. Mix in a 007 tux for Jimmy (complete with cufflink dart weapon) with a close-up of Stride Chewing Gum and we have the second worst episode of this season (#1 is still hands down the Stride gum/OneRepublic infomercial passed off as an episode).

Sounds pretty bad, eh? But wait -- there’s more!

In Act I, Lex is ready to fly to Zurich and open that mysterious Veritas box that he killed his dad for. However, he’s red flagged by the FAA and restricted from leaving the country. Why was he flagged and how will he overcome it? Apparently the writers don’t care because when we finally see him again (30 minutes later in Act IV no less) he’s in Zurich! No explanation is given, not even a reference is made to the earlier scene -- so what was the point of including it in the first place?

Believe it or not, there actually are some good parts to “Sleeper.” After seven seasons of Chloe hacking into classified mainframes belonging to various government agencies, it makes perfect sense that the feds would finally track her down. The idea is great, but unfortunately the execution of it is not.

Another good part is the final scene where Chloe and Clark hypothesize where Kara is. Due to some “intergalactic time portal vortex” they surmise (as would anyone) that she’s traveled back in time to Krypton before it exploded. This is an intriguing idea and it’ll be interesting to see where it goes. Let’s just hope it
doesn’t become the season’s third worst episode.

UP NEXT: Move over, George Bailey - It’s time to see what Smallville would be like if baby Kal-El had never rocketed to earth.

- Steve D’Arcangelo

Comments

[Jamie H]

I agree. This was pretty low, even for this season. The Zurich thing?...Lex must've found the same time portal as Kara, because he got there very quickly.

And how about that lame dance scene...not since Peter Parker and Gwen, have I seen a such an inappropriate dance interlude. Lame!

[Supergirl'07]

I will agree this epsiode was sort of all over the map. The dancing was...not good. Chloe was stiff as a board! However I do appreciate the Jimmy episodes because he is a great addition to the show. Next week should be interesting with Clark never existing ~ ~ ~