‘Smallville’ was on tonight. Seriously, there isn’t much to say about the mediocre episode other than that. Sure, Erica Durance made her return by using a mind numbing excuse for her character’s absence. Then there was the Luthor baby mishap. In any case, let’s find out what happened to The Man of Steel in “Combat.” With an episode title like that, one can only hope for a titanic (horrible pun intended) battle at some point.
Getting a tip from Green Arrow, Clark and Chloe discover an underground meteor freak fight club. The fights are aired live on the internet, and at the end the audience gets to vote whether the loser lives or dies. It’s an ingenious idea that you almost think Lex would have been behind it all. Then again, murder just for the sake of some cash and fun wouldn’t be his style.
As they’re sleuthing for info on the fight club, Lois walks in fresh from a trip failing to prove that the chupacabra exist. It’s lame and forced, thankfully she glances at Clark and Chloe awkwardly for 2 seconds and we can move on. Clark, determined to find this fight club and challenge it’s grand champion, leaves with Chloe. Lois, who must have her own super ability to get into trouble no matter the media the character appears in, finds a picture from the fight that Chloe threw away. She recognizes the writing on the wall from Fort Ryan.
Lois goes to the base to find the fight club. OK, do I give her credit for looking so good in the outfit or do I make fun of the “Oops, I did it again” getup? Posing as a stripper or not, that red pleather body suit has to chafe when sliding down a pole. Not a good choice. Hot as Erica Durance is, even in that ridiculous getup, the episode was personified in the cheesy outfit. It tries hard, but just doesn’t work out. How sad that an outfit is one of the very few highlights of a 42 minute show.
Upon her arrival Lois meets up with Athena, played by WWE Diva Ashley, and subsequently gets caught taking photos of the bloody arena. The two have a bit of a fight, and Lois knocks the Diva out. Unfortunately, the fight promoter shows up with a gun and captures Lois. It was such a huge twist, I’m sure no one could have imagined Lois would get caught.
Clark and Chloe figure out that the promoter is using patients from Bell Reeve for the fights. Clark confronts the man, and convinces him to let the Boy Scout fight by catching a bullet. When he’s taken to battle, he requests Titan, who Clark knows to be a Zoner. Instead, he gets a warm-up battle with Lois. Rather than fight her, Clark uses his heat vision to take out the broadcasting equipment. It’s then that Titan shows up calling out for Kal-El.
So, here it is. Another WWE superstar on ‘Smallville.’ Unlike the disappointing appearance by Batista earlier in the season, Kane puts up a decent fight. Other than their disproportionate size, why exactly are these people on this show? Hell, Chloe even references Vince McMahon. Maybe he’s a producer on the show, who knows? In any case, Titan super punches Clark causing him to fly across the arena and bleed. Lois jumps on the monster’s back, but is thrown aside and knocked out.
Titan continues to batter Clark, but as he goes for the killing blow the Man of Steel stops him. Clark then gets vicious and lays a severe beating on Titan, clearly intending to kill the Zoner. In the end, Clark performs a Ryu style uppercut and Titan lands on the spike protruding from his forearm. Just as Lex accidentally killed Dr. Langdon, Clark has accidentally killed Titan.
I guess the episode was supposed to be about Clark accepting that while he’s from another planet he is still human. When he talks to his mom after killing Titan he tells her that he wanted to kill him, and that makes him no different than Titan. She explains the regret and remorse he feels, even though he had no choice but to defend his own life, is exactly what makes him human. It’s true, but it’s also old news. There’s no real reason to reiterate the lesson, other than to give “Combat” some purpose for existing. Superman is human because he was raised to be one. His compassion is his greatest strength, and at the same time his greatest weakness.
In Luthorland, the newlyweds don’t seem to be getting along. Lana is distant with Lex, not wanting to go on a honeymoon and pulling away when he tries to kiss her. There are complications with the baby, and when she wakes up at Smallville Medical, Lex informs his wife that they lost the child. I think she’s the only one who might buy that line of crap. I have no doubt that Lex, the evil mastermind, has the child somewhere gestating. Just waiting for it’s chance to…do something. Seriously, what is going on with that child?
Lex also attains some new information that he finds very interesting. His team was tracking down Titan, but they found him dead. The autopsy revealed that he was not a meteor freak, he is in fact not human. Ah, another piece of the puzzle falls into Lex’s lap.
That’s what ‘Smallville’ threw at it’s fans this week. A girl in red pleather, and a decent fight scene. Maybe next time we can get Erica Durance in a ridiculous outfit plus an interesting storyline. That’d be nice.
