Warning do not read unless seen episode.
"All those things I can do, all those powers and I couldn't even save him."
Clark Kent, "Superman the Movie"
This is one of my favorite episodes of all time and in general as well as one of the saddest episodes in general. This episode once again shows us mortality of not just Clark but the people around him in the world of Smallville and how even there no one truly lives forever.
Really love the scenes with Clark and Lana, it's always beautiful whenever those two interact at time I honestly don't know why whenever they hook up, they can't keep them there, I know that it's not in the cards for both of them but at least make their run good. But that's beside the point just seeing those two it really shows why Clark or at least good guys like him truly are a healthy significant other for Lana because they love her for who she is and treat her right. Even like that song choice they had for the scenes which fit right.
We see he takes Lana to the Fortress of Solitude and reveals his secret to her. It was just sweet relief and just beautiful because it felt like the love between them was just about complete. In a way also it was a bit of an homage to some of "Superman 1 and 2" only here it's with Lana. And of course, we then see Clark then propose to Lana and of course from her answer that's when you know it's complete, I couldn't help but cheer at that moment.
But then suddenly the unthinkable happens when a bad accident occurs, and we see Lana has just died. I'll admit the whole thing took like one long minute to register in my mind and I though "Oh my God.", the scene took me totally by surprise, I honestly never saw it coming a mile away; I knew that the relationship between both Clark and Lana wasn't going to go the distance, but I honestly never thought it would end this way. That feeling really gives the show a sense of reality showing none of us truly have all the time in the world with the ones we love.
It was truly heart sinking and put a small tear in my eye as the reality that Lana is truly gone was slowly sinking in, though what was even more heart sinking was seeing the look on Clark face of utter loss and heartbreak. So of course, we see him go to the Fortress of Solitude and like in "Superman the Movie" he turns back time to save her but of course Jor Rel warns him that even though he's been given a second chance to save Lana, nature is still going to take it's course.
Clark gets that second chance but unfortunately makes a bad decision as he wrongfully thinks that revealing his secret and asking Lana her hand in marriage is what killed her; as Alex Trebek would say, "That is incorrect." None of that had anything to do with her dying and Clark really didn't need to make that choice; in fact, all he needed to do just one thing which was to save the bus at the correct time which would save Lana's life and both could still get married.
At times it makes me wonder if both Clark and Lana did get married how different "Season 6" would have been. But also makes me which there could have been an Elseworlds like episode, where we would see them married and have a family.
The aftermath of that bad choice was bad enough, but we see things are about to get a hell of a lot worse. We see things are going right for Johnathan Kent as he's doing well on his road to being senator for the state of Kansas. I thought that was cool showing how truly far Jonathan has come and we really could of use people like him as one of leaders of our country back then in fact we need people like him more than ever right now.
We see him have a confrontation with Lionel Luthor, but after what he says to Johnathan it just makes Jonathan fly off the handle. I don't blame Johnathan for beating the crap out of Lionel, after everything he's done to him and the Kent's it would push anyone over the edge. Also, despite Lionel's good intentions and making some effort in redemption, but sadly it may already be too late for that as he's still being manipulative and a selfish gain in mind. We see unfortunately Johnathan's rage becomes too much for his heart. Even though I knew based on the lore of "Superman the Movie" this would happen, I personally wished to God it wouldn't happen as I and the rest of the fan love the guy, but there was just nothing I or any of us could do about it.
Those final minutes we then see Johnathan is held on by both Martha and Clark, He doesn't say anything in that moment, but he doesn't need to it was like from that look he was saying both of them I love you, and then just passes away. That moment just made me break down and cry.
The funeral scene is just so beautifully shot there was just a lot of beautiful imagery which even more added to the emotional weight we all feel. We see not just Clark and Martha, but just about the whole town of "Smallville" and people outside of "Smallville", along with ourselves that watch it. It just goes to show how many live Johnathan Kent has truly touched.
That last image is truly tragic and haunting, as we see Clark is the final one that is standing near the grave of Jonathan. Seeing that just shows that now Clark truly is on his own.
Clark is truly going to miss Johnathan Kent and so are the rest of us.
Rating: 4 stars
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