PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *psychological*
The SMALLVILLE honchos decided to follow up "Insurgence," a bad heist-story, with a bad "juvenile detectives" story.
Someone shoots Lionel Luthor, and while he's recovering in the hospital, Sheriff Ethan arrests Jonathan Kent, who's found in possession of the murder weapon. Clark and Pete get their Hardy Boys groove on.
"Insurgence" derailed whatever plans Lionel had in mind for secretary Martha, since she severed her employment with him. Though he sent her an expensive present-- enough to rile her jealous husband, giving him a motive to quarrel with Lionel-- his main focus in the episode is to finally shut down Lex's independent operation. The methods he uses to do so are the proximate cause of the murder attempt, rather than his quarrel with Jonathan. The fact that Lex was slammed by his dad before the attempt causes Clark to suspect Lex, which tests their friendship but does not provide a major rift.
The mystery is nothing special, and there's really only one suspect possible once the red herring is disposed of. The only notable thing about the episode is that it continues to develop Lionel's status as an uncompromising "heavy father." The insertion of a line from Nietzsche-- "That which is done out of love always takes place beyond what is good and evil"-- is a nice touch.
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