Smallville Asylum Review

Date written: 01/2004
Source: TV Tome

Oh! My aching heart. Electric shocks, beatings, metal encasing...such torture for a Lex-lover! I wanted to yank all of Lionel Luthor's scraggly hair out in this episode. It was sweet satisfaction for me when Lionel realized he unknowingly erased Clark's secret from Lex's memory. 

Kudos to the writers for shaping Lionel into a wonderful villain. One you really want to strangle, but you can't because you remain fascinated with his twisted mind! 

Lex is one hell of a guy. He would do anything to break out of the asylum, from cleverly hiding his medicine, to painfully climbing the wired fence. But when Ian Randall offered to break him out, he refused because he didn't want to betray his own friends, even if it meant staying enslaved in that metal container. He continued to believe that Clark would rescue him ("I knew you'd come"). When Clark was in trouble, Lex's main concern was to help Clark, even when he could hardly move himself. This guy's just a brilliant friend! 

Clark, just like in "Shattered", had a difficult decision to make in this episode. What will Superman do? Save his friend or save his own skin? Clark, despite warnings from Pete and his parents, decided to save Lex in the end. He knew his own life was at risk, but he knew what he had to do. It is natural for his family and friends to want to protect him. But he knew that he wouldn't be able to live himself if Lex died. It was an unselfish decision - a decision that a true hero makes. 

Nice bit of continuity to see Eric Summers from "Leech", Ian Randall from "Dichotic" and Van McNulty from "Extinction" again. Now we know what happens to the meteor freaks everytime they're carted off at the end of the episode. They end up in Belle Reve, a maximum security prison, which incidentally, doesn't seem all that secure! Shouldn't Clark be visiting Lex in a private visitor's room? Shouldn't the security cameras show Van getting killed by Ian? 

I liked that Clark is doing more investigative work rather than relying solely on Chloe as this eases him into his role as future journalist. But it seemed rather unbelievable that he could so easily obtain info on Lex's treatment. 

Other stuff 
- Tom Welling sounded like he had a cold, poor thing. 
- We meet Adam, the new guy in Lana's life. He's cute, he challenges Lana…I like him already! 

Verdict 
Nitpicks aside, I really liked this episode. I love it when the characters are pushed out of their comfort zones and tormented around for a bit. Such a sadist, I am! Four and a half out of five stars. 

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