SMALLVILLE 3:11-12 ("DELETE." "HEREAFTER," 2004)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *cosmological, psychological*

The next two episodes are not as bad as "Asylum," but they're just average undistinguished tales with cardboard opponents.

Shortly after Lionel has cancelled Chloe's internship with the Daily Planet, she's almost killed by an assassin driving a truck, who is none other than Clark Kent. Clark has no memory of doing anything to Chloe, despite still not trusting her due to her spying on him. In short order other persons in Chloe's circle-- Lana and both of the Kent parents-- also try to kill her. The culprit is Doctor Garner, last seen in the episode "Ryan," and because Chloe has some dirt on him, Garner has enlisted computer-genius Molly Griggs to use a hypnotic email that programs the recipients to attack Chloe. Eventually both Clark and Lex are able to separate Molly from Garner's influence and stop her attacks. It's a disjointed episode, not least because Molly does succeed in murdering a minor character. A comics-sequel outside the range of the TV show brought her back, but both she and Garner are pusillanimous villains. The episode's only asset is a well-choreographed hand-to-hand battle between Chloe and Lana.

"Hereafter' is a little less insipid in that, though it's a meteor-freak story, this time the afflicted fellow, student Jordan Cross, is trying to do good. Jordan has the ability to read the future fates of persons he touches, and so he gets into trouble trying to save people. The episode feels like so much marking time and there's little urgency to Jordan's crusade. The escalating subplot about Lana's sometime boyfriend Adam Knight gets more attention, the better to lead into the ensuing episode and its resolution of the not-very-captivating Adam Mystery. The episode ends with a loose cliffhanger in that Jonathan suffers an ordinary heart attack, but he's doing OK at the beginning of the next episode.