- Title: Smallville – Hug
- wiki: link
Superman Sunday takes us back to Smallville, Kansas, and the arrival of scumbag salesman Bob Rickman (Rick Peters), able to influence people through his Kryptonite-powered handshake, who comes to town to build a pesticide plant on the Kent farm and deal with his old friend (Gregory Sporleder) who could expose the secret of his persuasion. The B-story of the episode involves a horseback riding accident where Lana (Kristin Kreuk) is unsure whether the town hermit, Bob’s old friend Kyle, was responsible. This causes conflict between Clark (Tom Welling) who thinks the best of him (and sees a bit of himself in the man) and both Lana and Whitney (Eric Johnson) who get angry at Clark for not lying about what he actually saw to help the police to imprison a man Clark feels is innocent.
Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) bleeds into both stories when Clark goes to him for help after Bob uses his powers to swindle Jonathan (John Schneider) and offers some commentary on the frostiness of Clark and Lana throughout the episode. While Lana’s stance (she doesn’t actually know Kyle has done anything to her and refuses to admit Whitney’s violent nature) is relatively weak, the friction between the pair is one of the more memorable aspects of the episode, as is Clark and Chloe‘s (Allison Mack) first kiss (albeit one with her under Kyle’s power). Of course, the other memorable moment involves the mind-controlled Lex attempting to kill Clark and Kyle at the end of the episode, showing a glimpse of the character’s darker side.
It terms of the show’s ongoing themes, Bob and Kyle offer more examples of the Kryptonite powered guest-stars (although neither really fits the “freak” mold that the show used up until this point), and there are several nods to Superman history from using the Kyle/Bob friendship turned enemies to foreshadow the future of Clark and Lex and less subtle mentions such as Clark observing he doesn’t want to grow up to wear a suit and fly (truly one of the show’s more groan-worthy moments).
“Hug,” whose title is confusing at best, offers another episode that marks people learning Clark’s secret only to be dealt with through the finality of either death or amnesia. The concept that those under Bob’s influence don’t remember their actions allows for Lex to forget what he’s seen. The death of Bob, which also gets rid of the villain, is a bit more complicated. While it does allow for Clark’s secret to be safe, it also involves Clark being perfectly fine with Kyle murdering Bob for the greater good while also letting Kyle leave town without facing any consequences. Locked in to the quick resolution (Clark and Lana also quickly make-up) to close the episode, it’s certainly a morally ambiguous chink in Clark’s armor that the show chooses to move on quickly from and promptly forget.
For more on what Michael Rosenbaum and Tom Welling thought of the episode, check out the Talk Ville Podcast
