- Title: Smallville – Hothead
- wiki: link
Smallville Saturday takes us back to Clark‘s (Tom Welling) first brief stint on the Smallville football team. “Hothead” also marks the first time an adult, rather than someone closer to Clark’s age, becomes a meteor freak. In this case it’s football coach Walt Arnold (Dan Lauria) whose quick temper and fiery disposition is enhanced by the meteor rocks in his steam room making him a Firestarter. The conflict from the episode comes from father vs. son dynamics with Clark disobeying his father and joining the team, and in a short B-story Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) making a similar bold move against his own father. We also get Chloe‘s (Allison Mack) investigation into the football team discovering the bad behavior of its coach (even before he sets the principal’s car on fire) putting herself, and eventually Clark, in danger.
As Clark tries out a new role so does Lana (Kristin Kreuk) who leaves the cheerleading team looking for something new which includes a brief stint working at the local coffee shop. The turn for Lana would have worked a little better a few episodes into the season since the show had done nothing to build up her role in the school as a cheerleader until five minutes before she quits. This hurts the attempt to sell it as a major life event for a character that hadn’t yet been fleshed out by the writers. Lex’s refusal to perform the massive layoffs his father commands show his time with Clark is rubbing off on him, although the need to butt heads with his father also provides plenty of motivation. While Clark’s initial flirtation with football doesn’t last, he’ll return to the sport in his final year of high school.
