Smallville: Quest
Clark Meets the Last Surviving Member of Veritas, Edward Teague
Photo courtesy of The CW/Michael Courtney
May 13th, 2008 - With only one more episode to go before Michael Rosenbaum, Kristin Kreuk, and now potentially Alison Mack will no longer be Smallville regulars, "Quest" served to set-up the seventh season finale and had an awful lot to accomplish. Thankfully, this episode moved a lot faster than the two that preceded it, and it directly continued the intriguing Veritas storyline.
The show begins with Lex trying to decipher the cryptograph he obtained in Zurich, only to be attacked by a mysterious stranger, who leaves a Kryptonian scar on Lex’s chest. (I realize this is just “one of those things,” but when we later discover just how badly his attacker wanted him dead, why would he give him just carve funny shapes into his chest? The guy did recently survive a bullet to the brain; why not just decapitate Lex or something? Oh well.) The Kryptonian symbols were a message for Clark to come to a church in Montreal, where Edward Teague, the only surviving member of Veritas, was waiting for Clark.
Teague worships Clark at first, but he suddenly and without warning deems Clark unworthy to be humanity’s savior, and he decides to kill him instead of allowing Lex the possibility of controlling him. Both reactions would have been reasonable on their own, but the way that Teague goes from one extreme to the other so quickly is disconcerting, and it makes the scene feel awkward as he goes from kneeling before Clark to offering him as a human sacrifice in a matter of moments.
In spite of this, the religious symbolism works fairly well. Superman has long been considered a Christ-like figure (despite the fact that he was created by two Jews, but that’s neither here nor there), and Smallville’s pilot episode, as well as the promotional image for the show’s debut, featured Clark tied up on a post in a very Crucifix-esque way. The show has dabbled with the theme here and there over the years since then, but in this episode, the idea that Clark is a walking G-d were really explored. When Clark says that He doesn’t want people killing in his name, Chloe responds that must be how G-d felt about the Crusades. There is also the reference to the Hero’s journey ending in a final battle with his rival that eerily shadows the Apocalypse.
Lex’s mission to discover the device that will allow him to control the Traveler is interesting, and the connection to the clocks makes for a nifty effect. Seeing him kill the man who attacked his watch man was a chilling moment in that Lex has come so far over the years that seeing him kill a man isn’t even remotely shocking anymore. The fact that he was allowed to escape Montreal with the item that activates the device in the mansion made Clark look foolish for only X-raying him, and not getting a better look around before super-speeding away. It was a nice twist to have the mansion that Lionel had moved brick by brick from Scotland to Smallville play an integral part in the story as well.
Smallville has been known to disappoint in terms of leaving plot threads dangling in the wind, but the Veritas storyline seems to be doing a good job at bringing old story elements into the fold, and it is very satisfying. Even the Kowachi cave paintings are getting their due after being abandoned years ago. Even though it’s hard to not think that these old stories could have been made to tie together in a grander way, the effort that the show’s writers are making with this arc is certainly admirable. With the promos of the season finale, it looks like Clark and Lex are set for a monumental show-down in the Fortress that could have serious consequences for both characters.
Alan’s Score: 6.9 out of 10
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