PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *psychological*
The sole purpose for the episode "Visitor" seems to be to tease viewers with the possibility of a second Kryptonian survivor, right after Doctor Swann informed Clark that he was the last son of Krypton in "Rosetta." But as is so often the case, an episode with such a transparent agenda proves thoroughly predictable, because the demands of a done-in-one episode make it obvious that this "Kryptonian" will be counterfeit.
Transfer student Cyrus Krupp (whose last name bears a slight similarity to "Krypton") provokes Smallville High's bullies with his weird behavior, and when he seems to display super powers, Clark investigates, hoping to find a kindred ET. An apparent display of heat vision turns out to be a hoax, though not one that makes much sense. Yet Cyrus does possess mysterious healing powers.
"Visitor" is in essence a throwback to the earlier rash of "freak of the week" stories. But Cyrus gained his strange powers not from exposure to kryptonite but to the descent of Clark's Kryptonian ship when it fell to earth, inadvertently atomizing Cyrus's parents, presumably when he was a small child. Somehow Cyrus witnessed Jonathan and Martha picking up their little gift from heaven, but incorporated the scenario as a fantasy about his own origins, to compensate for a life of bouncing between foster families. The script loosely implies that exposure to the ship gave Cyrus his healing powers, and possibly downloaded some ET-info into his brain, for his main project throughout the story is to build a device to "phone home" so he can escape earthly travails.
Cyrus is a flat character who never appears again in the series, and the bullies provide little tension as the only source of conflict. There's slightly more interest generated when Martha considers consulting Dr Helen Bryce about Martha's pregnancy, arguing to Jonathan that Helen kept the Kents' secret about Clark's unusual blood. For her part Helen shows a Lana-like curiosity about Lex's secrets. She's been Lex's guest at the Luthor mansion since "Fever," but she gets antsy because there's one room he won't let her enter. Yet when pressured, Lex reveals that it's a room full of the research he's been conducting on all matters alien, and that sequence leaves the viewer wondering if Helen will break patient confidentiality to benefit her lover.
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