Smallville is now in its ninth season, and if there is one thing I have learned from another show that made it to its ninth season, The X-Files, it’s not to rely too much on continuity in the show’s mythology. I mean, this is a show where the creators are long gone, and half of the writers that took the reins last year are now on Melrose Place, not to mention the fact that Clark and Chloe are the only original characters left. By all accounts, this show sounds as doomed as Krypton.
But if you are a longtime Smallville fan like myself, you were given quite the treat in last night’s episode “Kandor”. The history of Krypton and its involvement with Earth has always seemed like a hard thing to wrap my head around. But I think I really get it now! Let me see if I can clear this up a bit. First we find out that Jor-El sent his only son to save the world. Then we see that he sent the Stones of Power to help create the Fortress of Solitude, which will hold all of Krypton’s history. He even set it up so the Kawatche Caves could serve as a portal to the Fortress. Portals were a big thing for Kryptonians, as they used them to travel between Krypton and Earth. This is how Jor-El met Hiram Kent and decided in his later years that this would be a good family for Clark.
But why would Jor-El feel that his son would have to save the world? We find out tonight that the orb Tess opened was actually manufactured by Jor-El. The orb contained the blood of Zod and his Kandorian militia as well as Jor-El’s, because the Ruling Council, sometimes known as the Science Council, wanted to ensure the preservation of Krypton on Earth if anything bad should happen. They insisted that if Krypton goes down, the Kandorians would take over Earth with the powers of the yellow sun and Jor-El and Zod would be their leaders. Little did they know, Jor-El corrupted the blood with blue kryptonite, essentially making its occupants mortals. The yellow sun would do nothing for them but give them a tan.
Jor-El and Zod were once good friends back in those days, much like Clark and Lex. But Jor-El’s refusal to resurrect Zod’s son after the destruction of Kandor twisted Zod against him. Jor-El sent the orb and the Stones of Power to Earth, and since Zod’s fury led him to start a war that would inevitably lead to the destruction of Krypton, Jor-El sent his son to Earth to stop him from doing the same there after he is resurrected by the orb. His son, unlike the unfortunate Kandorians, would have the powers of the yellow sun to stop them. He would also have the guidance of his disembodied voice in the Fortress along with the keys to Kryptonian knowledge.
It’s not perfect. This history lesson leaves us with a few errors in the timeline. For example, when the flashbacks in this episode start, it is twenty years before the destruction of Krypton in 1986, which is only five years after the flashbacks in the episode “Relic” in 1961, where Jor-El meets Hiram Kent. The Jor-El in “Relic” was played by Tom Welling and the Jor-El in tonight’s episode was played by Julian Sands. One tends to wonder what happened in those five years that made Jor-El look like he aged twenty-five years and dye his hair blonde. But, hey, maybe Krypton’s favorite scientist and father of the year was a bit stressed out.
Casting choices aside, I really think Smallville did a spectacular job in bringing us full circle and setting up what truly should be one of Clark Kent’s biggest challenges in Major Zod. Their destinies are surely going to collide into one of the most epic showdowns seen on the show. By the end of the episode, Jor-El has died in Clark’s arms, begging him to save Zod. But Clark knows from his earlier experience with Zod’s essence embodied in Lex Luthor that this is a villain that needs to be put down quick. As Clark buries yet another Kryptonian, Zod looks on sinisterly.
I must mention a couple of things before I wrap this up for the week.
1. Why did the medic start collecting blood on the Kandorian battlefield? Couldn’t they have taken care of that back at the base?
2. We get the impression that Smallville has a bit of an ongoing obsession with the consequences of raising the dead this season. Most obviously was how the infected in “Rabid” were much like the zombies from 28 Days Later. But we also had Clark’s argument with Chloe about going back in time to save Jimmy. Tonight, Jor-El argues with the council about creating the orb, saying that the clones it would create would be “abominations”.
3. Chloe insists that putting cameras in and around Kent Farm was because she was just keeping an eye on the place while Clark was away. We have seen Chloe act a bit off this season, from her feuds with Clark to her setting up an elaborate game to bring Oliver back to his quiver. Are the cameras as innocent as she suggests?
4. When Clark finds Jor-El bleeding to death, he asks his father who did this to him. What I found surprising was that Jor-El said he didn’t know! A scene beforehand he was being beaten by Zod, and now he doesn’t know who stabbed him? He isn’t trying to cover up for Zod because then he pleads with Clark to save Zod, so why did he say he didn’t know? Is this a bad line or a mystery yet to be solved?
5. Chloe spots on one of her hidden cameras Jor-El finding something I am supposing he had hidden in the walls of the Kent home. I look forward to seeing where this leads.
