Smallville (TV Series) Pariah (2005) User Reviews

Unfair, Sad, but Good Episode

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 4 June 2006]

When Lana Lang is attacked in her apartment and Jason Teague in his car by an invisible being, the Smallville's dwellers believe that the attempts were committed by Alicia Baker, and even Clark Kent does not believe on her innocence. Alicia shows Chloe Sullivan the abilities of Clark, expecting people to leave them alone, but she is murdered by the deranged Tim Westcott (Derek Hamilton). Meanwhile Genevieve Teague looks for Lex Luthor trying to separate Jason from Lana.

"Pariah" is a very unfair and sad, but also good episode of "Smallville". I personally liked very much the character of Alicia Baker and the beautiful unknown actress Sarah Carter, and I did not like the way she died. The usually wise Martha and Jonathan Kent showed a great prejudice against Alicia, and Clark Kent seems to be a teenager without a strong personality. Now that Chloe knows the secret of Clark, let's see her behavior in the next episodes. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "A Excluída" ("The Outcast")

The best episode of the show thus far

[Ace_of_Sevens · 10/10 · 11 December 2007]

Pariah very deftly addressed pretty much everything that had been bugging about Smallville up to this point. This basic point of the episode is that all these mostly paper-thin Kryptonite weirdos who have served as the villains in most episodes are people, too.

From the beginning, the show had this ugly xenophobic undercurrent where anyone who is different must be evil. For a show about a literal alien, it should have known better. Here, we see Alicia Baker in a far more sympathetic light. This isn't a whitewashing. Her flaws are very much in evidence, but we can see that she is a flawed person, not just a freak. What makes this important is that it emphasizes the prejudices of every other character in the show and Clark and Chloe at least learn something.

Since it has some rare and much needed sympathy for the mentally ill, I am willing to forgive the obvious villain (Who's the bad guy? could it be the guy who was introduced out of nowhere and is getting a lot of screen time despite having no obvious connection to the plot?) and lame special effect for the villain. This is an episode that doesn't beat you about the head with whatever the lesson is supposed to be. It's the best I've seen so far.

Lana is attacked and all evidence points to Clark's friend Alicia doing the deed.

[iainr-12481 · 8/10 · 4 December 2016]

Interesting episode that has one obvious guilty suspect and another not so obvious one this deals with many emotional moments for Clark and a villain that looks like Spidy's Sandman. Oh and Chloe discovers a big secret one wonders how many episodes it will take for her smug smile to crack and tell Clark.

Lana gets her own Psycho shower moment Alicia is the prime suspect thanks to her teleportation powers but soon it becomes obvious that another super-powered person is doing all the attacks one that has rather murderous ideas as xenophobia rears its head again on the show.

To be honest the death gave Clark a great moment to seek revenge on a super-powered foe but also showed he needs to show control and luckily Lois was there to support him.

Heartbreaking episode

[Mikkel_Abildgaard · 9/10 · 26 March 2023]

As a 23 year old numb, a-never-crying male, this episode broke me completely. I have never cried this much in my life and I have never cared that much for any character on television my entire life as much as I did for Alicia. All she wanted was a 2nd chance, and she loved Clark the most of all the characters in the show. She knew his secret, she almost killed herself, catching a bullet for Clark, whom she knew was bulletproof.

Besides Clark she is the most pure hearted person in the show, and she was the only girl Clark felt free and special with. His girl of his dreams. And she was framed and killed, leaving almost everyone knowing it was her who tried to kill lana and jason.

I really believed with all my heart that Alicia was Clark's one true love, the girl destined for him. But she was taking away for some little punk kid, who thought the had authority to know was right and wrong.

I will love the character Alicia for the rest of my entire life, and hate the character (the sanddude) for the same amount of time.

Rest in piece Alicia <3.

A Second Chance

[tomasmmc-77198 · 9/10 · 15 June 2022]

10 years ago I saw Smallville and one of the characters I never forgot was Alicia. Now I'm doing the rewatch, and her story broke me. After the last episode, which ended with Clark holding Alicia in tears, now she and Clark still are somehow together. The episode begins with everyone at the Talon, including Lois and Chloe, on a sing along. But everything turns quiet when Clark and Alicia show up. Everyone hates her, Jason scolds Clark for bringing her there, and when Alicia apologizes to Lana, she refuses to accept and rebukes her off. Alicia walks away saddened while Clark can only look at the scene helpless. Later, Lana is attacked by some "sand man" on the shower, but when Jason appears, the attacker fades away. And so, everyone around thinks Alicia did it, except Clark. Chloe, Lois, Jason, Lana, Clark's parents, the sheriff, all think the same. Jonathan and Martha are usually wise, good persons, but here they were blind, like everyone else. The writers made a great job. I hated each one of the characters. How can be Clark the only good hearted man to see through Alicia? When she is actually innocent, and wants to be trusted, but no one does? Why do mental illness are so stereotyped?? Why being different, having powers on Smallville has to mean the person is a freak, bad, cruel? Eric Summers (on Leech) felt this way, and that made him worst, not better. All they want is to be accepted. Alicia's speech was very well done. She suggested Clark that if he told everyone his secret, he'd be free, and people would treat him as they treat her. Of course, she doesn't know that Clark wasn't meteor infected, that he's actually from another planet, but it still applies.

Later, in the attack to Jason, the attacker leaves behind Alicia's scarf on purpose, so this leads Clark to believe it was her. Only when the sheriff tells him that she's innocent because she was interrogating her at the moment, Clark realizes. Meanwhile, Alicia does her last act, leaving a big mark on the series: she takes Chloe to a car drive, and calls Clark, telling him she's in danger, so he rushes to saves her, but Alicia teleports herself and Chloe out of the car, so she can see Clark using his powers. Alicia revealed Clark's secret to Chloe. She intended Chloe to reveal it to the rest, but still, this will be very important, given that after Pete, Clark desperately needed someone else to trust his secret. A detail I thought was that Clark could have thought that Alicia can teleport herself out of the car, but it's clear that in the heat of the moment, he didn't really think. And then comes the saddest part. Alicia returns home, only to find the attacker, Tim, there, who was waiting for her, with clothes to frame her. She realizes it, but he surprises her and uses a peace of cloth to make her sleep, so she can't escape through teleport. Then, when Clark comes, he finds her hanged. A really tearful moment, for me, the audience, Clark. One of the most unfair events of the show. Clark is heartbroken, even with all his powers, he couldn't save her. It was too late. And while he holds her body, crying, the perfect person appears: Lois. After a reluctant date she accepted with Tim, she realized he's the murderer, and tells Clark, who rushes to face him. Clark wins the fight thanks to the heat rays, and in a rage because Tim killed the girl he loved, he's about to choke him to death, and once again, Lois comes to look after him. She calms him down, makes him stop himself from killing a person. That was another beautiful moment. Only Lois Lane could be the one to calm, comfort Clark in such a critical moment. After that, the implied imprisonment of Tim, Clark spends at least 2 days of mourn, without leaving the barn at all. His parents try to comfort him, but to no avail, Clark feels responsible for not believing Alicia when he had to, for not revealing his powers like she wanted to. The last two scenes show Lois giving a great advice to Chloe (not to reveal Clark what she knows, wait til he's ready), and Chloe visiting Clark at Alicia's grave, where he leaves a rose. She's sorry for everything, and shows remorse and more understanding feeling for people who is different, people with powers, afraid of how the world will look at them.

The episode is very sad. I always liked the character of Alicia. Her obsession with Clark wasn't really crazy, how was possible for her to find a nice guy with such abilities, and not only that, but also one of the greatest superheros, the one with a good honest heart. A man who always tries to see the good on people. The signs of mental illness appeared when she started to become manic with the relationship, and when she tried to kill Lana. But as many persons with different mental illnesses, she got healed, she got better. All she needed was compassion, understanding, someone to love her, a second chance. Clark tried to do all that for her. He loved her. And that's why the episode is so sad, unfair, tearful. Alicia understood Clark in many ways, and truly loved him. Honestly, I prefer her over Lana, who has put herself above Clark a lot of times. Besides, Lana has been very cold towards Clark on this season, and couldn't even show a little bit of mercy towards Alicia, unlike Clark, who always showed mercy and compassion for everyone, even his greatest villains. And so, this episode raises Lois, who even without knowing what the sheriff told Clark about Alicia's innocence, realized who was the real attacker by having an open mind. An she was there for Clark when she needed him. On the other hand, the secondary plot between Lex, Genevieve, Jason, wasn't very interesting, only keeps a game of lies that I've already seen.

Milestone Episode

[spasek · 10/10 · 27 October 2023]

I still remember the very time I watched this episode when it aired. The best stories tend to be the ones that catch you off-guard; that do the unexpected and surprise the viewer. And frankly, the best surprises, unfortunately, tend to be those of the tragic kind.

The writers set this episode up beautifully. Even the viewer is forced to question whether or not Alicia might be back to her old ways, especially after "Obsession" and the previous episode where Alicia uses Red-K on Clark. Has she really changed?

What makes this episode all the more tragic is knowing that Alicia was trying her best to change, and poor Clark has nobody in his corner regarding her. We can understand Jonathan and Martha's concerns, but sometimes, the best thing we can do as parents is to step back and let our children make their own decisions, even if they are mistakes.

This is a milestone episode of the series for two reasons. First, this is the first time that Clark experiences true loss. It was clear, that despite his doubts, he loved Alicia. And to hear him cry out in agony as he pulls her body down is heartbreaking. And without Lois there to pull him back from the brink, we have to wonder if Clark may have actually killed that kid.

And, of course, the second reason is Chloe finally seeing Clark for who he is. And while there may have been a lot of initial questions, as the show progresses, we come to find that outside of Clark's parents, there was nobody better suited to trust and keep Clark's secret than Chloe. This also opened the door for some great stories throughout the next few seasons.

It was shocking to find Alicia murdered, but the greater tragedy is the leap of faith that it often takes to trust someone, and to also trust that may have, indeed, changed. Clark is wracked with guilt at the end of this episode, and I was really hoping that this would have carried over a bit into the next episode. It would have been great to explore it in more depth.

However, throughout the first four seasons of the series, this was not only an unforgettable episode, but an especially poignant one.

Am I the only one who hates this episode?

[matteonif · 3/10 · 4 April 2013]

To start with, I stopped watching Smallville after season 4 because I just couldn't take it anymore. After four years the drama, lies, inconsistencies in the characters and episodes littered with plot i had to stop watching (Though to be honest the last two only happened in seasons 3 and 4 and the first two season were actually good). Needless to say I don't like Smallville and you would think picking my least favorite episode would be hard but you'd be wrong. This episode without a doubt is my least favorite for one reason. I can look past the stupid plot line with witch Lana, I can see past the all around terrible character that is Alicia, but what I can not get over is WHY IS CLARK STILL WITH HER. I know I'm supposed to feel sorry for her but how can I. She tried to kill Clark and got him to marry her. So what if she took a bullet for him, that doesn't make up for all the things she's done. The show also tries to make me feel sorry for Clark because he says that this is the only girl he can be with because she knows his secret. It was at this moment that I realized that this was the worst episode. Why is Alicia any different. I know she can teleport but Clark believes that she is wearing the bracelet and won't use her powers. But, for the sake of argument, lets say she can take off the bracelet and get away if she gets in trouble. She's never really been in trouble because of his secret and the other love interests have gotten in more trouble even though they don't know his secret. And if Chloe learning Clark's secret is supposed to be this episodes saving grace, all I have to say is Chloe is annoying with her knowledge of his secret in the next couple of episodes and as cool as it is that she learns his secret it doesn't even come close to saving this god awful episode.