Episode 618 - Progeny Review




"Progeny" Review

Written by Babaluwee

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.

On the surface Progeny was an episode about Clark and Chloe saving Chloe's mother, Moira, from Lex's evil plans to exploit her meteor-power of controlling other meteor-infected people. But Progeny's underlying message was about the extraordinary responsibility of having special powers and abilities, and the moral wisdom it takes to live with them. It was a boon to the series to have another beloved iconic figure, Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman), guest star as Chloe's mother.

The Good

Tom/Clark: Tom's acting was superb in his scenes, the majority of which were with Allison. The two always elicit the very best performances from each other. In the scene in which Chloe expressed her serious fear of being meteor-infected, Clark said all the right things with perfect emotional delivery: He reassured her ("You don't have to go through this alone."); he appealed to her reasoning ("Reporters don't jump to conclusions."); and he validated, rather than dismissed, her feelings ("I don't blame you."). After Chloe turned away, he allowed us to see the depth of his own worry and fear in his face.

The Subtext: The underlying message about the overwhelming responsibility of having a meteor-power was a salient and important one, and it seemed to remind us of the fate of other meteor-infected people from the past six seasons. The overwhelming majority did not fare well; they either misused their powers for evil or they couldn't cope with them effectively. When Moira saw that she had harmed her own child with her meteor-power, she had herself committed. It was repeated in the episode that Moira left Chloe to protect her. Moira knew that controlling and violating people's wills with absolute commands would have inevitably disastrous repercussions.

When Moira did use her power in the episode, it had serious, though unintended, consequences: Lana was injured and Clark was subjected to long term exposure to kryptonite.

It was heartbreaking to watch even a mind-controlled Chloe use kryptonite against Clark! And the potential consequences of Chloe either killing someone or getting hurt/killed could have been even worse. It had been wise of Moira to have herself committed and withdraw from the world, as evidenced that her first resort to free herself from Lex was to attempt to have him murdered by a mind-controlled psychopath. It is arguable, either way, whether that was justified. Another meteor-infected character, Kyle from the Season One episode Hug, withdrew from the world as well; he was among the very few who understood the potentially dangerous and unintentional consequences of his power.

Clark's Journey: The examples of how the majority of meteor-infected people either misused or couldn't cope with their powers beg to be compared to how Clark has used all of his powers. Clark's parents prepared him exceedingly well in so many ways to cope with his abilities and to use them responsibly, morally, wisely, and altruistically. This is essentially one of the premises for the SV series: how Clark becomes the Superman who undertakes the super-human responsibility for his powers.

Chloe: Progeny confirmed that Chloe was meteor-infected, both by demonstrating that Moira could control her and by Lex stating that there were traces of meteor rock in both of their blood. There is great hope for Chloe, that if and when she does develop a meteor power, her special relationship with Clark, and all they've been through together, will have prepared her well enough to become a very well adjusted meteor-empowered person.

The Bad

A scene or two between Moira and Clark would have been deeply appreciated and was sorely missed. Lex and Moira had four scenes together, and there was another one with them and Chloe. Even in the one scene that contained Clark, Chloe, and Moira, Clark had no dialogue with Moira, and seemed to be a mere by-stander as Allison delivered a moving performance in which she lost her mother yet again to a catatonic state. It was a missed opportunity to have actually portrayed the conversation in which Clark warmly and admiringly gives Moira "the complete Chloe Sullivan bio," instead of Clark merely telling Chloe that he had done so.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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