The Daily Smallville 04:01 Crusade

04:01: CRUSADE

Prologue

• three months later
• A death video for Clark from Chloe to find out what happened to her / in spite of later career protestations, Lois’ intro is because she’s investigating!
• Crazy storm. Clark returns. 
• Is this similar to Superman the Movie? Spending time with Jor-El to learn?
• “Who are you?” “Lois. Lois Lane”
• the Clark/Lois cute meet should offer up all kinds of proof for Lois later that Clark is weird
• Okay even though I remembered this opening it still worked on me. 
• New title song images. Including spoilers for this season!
• Jensen Ackles in intro but no Erica Durance?

Act One 

• Writers Alfred Gough & Miles Millar. Directed by Greg Beeman. All the big guns.
• whoa. Lex alive. Just like that. All in white and playing Indiana Jones. And now Kryptonian symbols are all across the world.
• Kryptonian alphabet: “This is the First Crystal of Knowledge” 
• Clark at the hospital. Red blanket of course
• Upping the beefcake now that Lois is here. It’s only fair. 
• Paris! Or the center of Smallville made to look like France
• Jason. Ew. Lana has a type for sure
• Pa in a coma for three months. Huck Finn is his favorite. 
• Doctor Harden again. 
• Kal to Lois: “You talk a lot.” Haha. 
• “I’ve come to Smallville to investigate my cousin’s death.” – see! She’s a natural reporter and doesn’t know it. 
• Lois constantly checks Clark out and is impressed that he can pick her up so easily.

Act Two

• Lois meets Martha
• “I’m waiting for the sign.”
• Martha to Lois: “This is a family matter.” Yup – it will be eventually even with Lois.
• Lex’s blood needs to be purified every 72 hours. Yikes. 
• He survived something that 99.9% of other people would die from. Again, because he’s physically different from the meteor storm
• Pa calls the barn Clark’s fortress of solitude 
• Clark: “I was in a place that felt like home”
• About Pa: “He tried to prevent me from being reborn”
• Clark seems to respond when Martha mentions Jor-El
• Dr. Vaughan, Lex’s doctor
• A crystal inside the artifact. Is that an F or P in the Kryptonian alphabet?
• ANOTHER Kryptonian artifact: a key. The ship’s heart. Jor-El’s amulet. The star blade. And now a Crystal or gem. 
• Always dug this moment. The Crystal affects Clark. And he goes all Matrix
• Hahaha. No flying what???
• Martha’s face. She’s stunned

Act Three

• Jason Teague
• Countess Margaret Isobel Thoreaux. Is this the new Smallville 61? Unheard of ancestors? Or the start of Veritas?
• Jason knows her birthday. Jokingly says he found out using “sources at the highest level of government.” Hmmm… foreshadowing.
• Looks like Lana. Has a necklace like the Kryptonian necklace. Symbol on the shield. So is this connected to Lana or just happenstance?
• What the heck. Lana zapped. Ah. Right. I think I remember this. 
• Martha trying to call Virgil possibly?
• Lois: “Give me a nerd with glasses”
• Erica is a little eager in her acting. 
• Apparently the Talon has been closed
• Lionel is being released in two weeks
• “What is it? A bird? A plane?”
• Clark’s initial size against the plane seems off
• How much did Lex see?
• Ah I see. Because Clark and Lex aren’t friends anymore they need a new cute meet. A new bridge crash moment (and stunt) to bring them together. That’s what the airplane scene is for Lex. A new obsession just like surviving the porsche

Act Four

• Margot Kidder!!! Bridgette Crosby! The original Lois and Lana!
• Love that there are two Loises that show up in this episode
• “Your son’s destiny was set in motion long before their paths crossed” – love that line in a meta contextual way. Could even suggest because Superman has been around since 1938, “long before”
• “You don’t know anything about my son.” That look on Kidder’s face in response. The closest we get to an acknowledgement of a larger Superman metaverse beyond just using similar actors. This is like the multiverse before Crisis. Almost like Kidder would turn and say Shut up, Lana. Or, I knew you in a different reality. / it even reminds me of how Riverdale has the adults that could also be Archie and the Gang and the kids are the ones the show focuses on at the moment. So much better than Smallville ‘61
• “You’re right. I don’t know Clark”. Or at least – not this Clark
• “But I do know what it’s like to love someone whose calling is greater than your own.” This is great casting and great meta dialogue. 
• “In a different lifetime.”
• “Because he flew. He has completely embraced his Kryptonian destiny” – as I talked about before, flying is like his final form 
• Why do they want to stop him going full destiny? 
• Crusade symbol 
• “Only challenge to a father’s will is a mother’s love”
• Black Kryptonite. Wtf???
• Three relics hidden around the world. When United they point the way to a treasury of knowledge. Where is this coming from?
• Apparently Lionel has been looking for these for the past 2 years. This is like a new hunt to replace the caves. Like the caves weren’t working so we’re going a new route. A new chase. 
• “Apparently I’m not ordinary.” Still pushing that Lex is above average in health
• Oh gross. The caves again. 
• Kal doesn’t even need the disc to open the portal / red blue yellow symbols / 
• One symbol found and placed into a table in the caves. One down two to go. 
• Seems to wake Lana up. Everything’s connected
• Naked Lana now just like Clark earlier. Both going thru a destiny thing. 
• black Kryptonite separates Clark’s two natures. There’s the Kal side with the Superboy Prime scar and the Clark side. / Superman III fight
• “Your humanity has made you weak”
• So does this mean the Kal side is gone for good?
• Pa Kent wakes up! Maybe Jor-El was keeping him in a coma.

Act Five

• Kal was in a black shirt, Clark is in a white tee
• Clark about flying: “If I can do that maybe I’m capable of anything.” That’s the look Pa once gave Clark when they talked about flying before. Just how powerful is his potential? 
• Martha held on and saved them. 
• Tramp stamp / everyone is marked. Clark had the scar, Lionel has a shaved head, and now Lana
• Ha! Lionel was expecting Martha Kent. He was trying to make himself presentable. But it’s Lois. 
• Lois and Lionel
• “Try to have a little more than righteous indignation.” Lois gives a look like she will bring the facts from now on. Lionel just set her on her journalistic streak for answers.
• Lois slings it back. If it wasn’t Lionel then who was it and why? And are they setting up Lionel?
• Chloe Sullivan: 1987-2004
• The real Clark meets Lois this time. / Lana and Clark had a scene in a cemetery in 1.1 as well
• They have pretty good chemistry so far
• X-ray that coffin Clark. “Chloe’s still alive!”
• So many new elements. Pretty cool for a season opener. Trying to push the series to new roads. Building on before but needing to push beyond. 
• Also interesting to note that Lost premiered the same night as this episode / no wonder they had to ramp this episode up

Next episode: Gone!