Episode 519 - Mercy Review




"Mercy" Review

Written by Catarina

DISCLAIMER - Please remember that this review does not represent the opinions/viewpoints of everyone; it is the personal opinions of the reviewer only. Thank you.

A masked man takes Lionel & Martha hostage and torments them with a dangerous life & death game. Clark tells Martha that Lionel knows.

The Good:

Martha's speech. Martha is off to a function and practices part of her speech on Clark, which includes the words, "upholding the principles of truth, justice and the American way... is a matter of conscience." "Sounds like words to live by," replies Clark. So that's where Superman gets that phrase!

Martha and Clark try to protect each other. Clark finally told Martha that Lionel knows his secret, and Martha finally told Clark about her being blackmailed with the video of him saving Lana from an explosion. They each kept secrets for the same reason - out of love, loyalty and each not wanting to burden the other. Scenes with Annette and Tom are great and this was no different. I almost forget that they really aren't mother and son.

Special Boy. While Martha and Lionel are struggling with the "who should die, Lionel or Martha" decision, Lionel tells Martha that she's the one who must live since Clark is a special boy who is going to need her to "become the man that this world so desperately needs." Lex and Clark both overhear his words, and the rift between Clark and Lex in that moment becomes an abyss. The father that never shows love to his son is giving the ultimate praise to Clark. Ouch.

Clark saves Martha and Lionel. Clark puts revealing his powers at a very distant second to saving his mother's life. Tom looked like the ultimate superhero when he caught that elevator.

Lionel sticks it to Lex. To further fan Lex's hatred of Clark, when Lex asks Lionel what he meant by "Clark is a special boy," he tells him that Clark is the kind of son a father can be proud of. The writers are really building Lex's intense dislike for Clark and his own father. Lex is getting very frustrated at being in the dark about Clark – even more so now that it is clear that Lionel knows more than he's letting on.

The final scene. Clearly, the highlight of the whole episode was the last scene when Clark confronts Lionel about knowing his secret. I think this ranks up there as one of my favorite scenes that Tom has ever done. He was so intense and threatening, nose to nose and whispering to Lionel to stay away from Martha or he'll wish he hadn't saved his life - he was almost scary. Mixing disgust (at being called "son" by Lionel) anger and rage in quiet tones can't be easy, and Tom pulled it off perfectly. I honestly don't know how he manages to make his eyes glow with intensity and menace.

What was Lionel writing? After Clark leaves, Lionel falls to his knees in pain and starts writing something. Is it Kryptonian? A note to Martha? The suspense is killing me (in a good way). Another thing killing me is Lionel's motive for keeping Clark's secret for a year. What's his agenda? What's going on inside his head? Is JorEl in there somewhere? TPTB are keeping us jumping and scratching our heads.

The Bad:

Another episode that was light on the Tom.

Lionel seems to know more about Clark's destiny than anyone – but he was surprised and almost knocked off his feet with shock when Clark caught him & Martha in the elevator. It's a little confusing.

Chloe's hacking and technical knowledge is getting ridiculous. Between her knowing exactly what kind of spying device was in Lionel's office and her tracking down the signal output…she should work for the FBI or NASA.

Martha can't swim? I might be being picky, but she was drowning before the tank even filled up.

I wasn't crazy about the horror-flick method of progressing the story line. And the guy who lost everything was able to put together that elaborate kidnapping scheme and foil Luthorcorp security?

Overall, the good outweighed the bad in this episode. The bulk of the episode dragged in a weird direction for a while but the ending more than made up for it. It's moving the story line along, showing the pathway that leads to Clark & Lex being mortal enemies, keeping us in suspense, and is giving Tom a venue to show us what an amazing actor he has become.

My rating? I give "Mercy" 4 stars out of 5 stars.

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