Episode 714 - Traveler Review




"Traveler" 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.

In my last Review I lamented about how SV was rarely about Clark and his journey, and I said that the episode "Siren" was "an example of how SV has lost its way." In Traveler" SV is off the grid.

The episode revealed the existence, after seven seasons, of a secret group called Veritas that vowed to protect the interstellar "Traveler" who had arrived in the meteor shower of 1989. Veritas was a cabal of four families: the Queens, the Teagues, Lionel Luthor, and was led by the late Dr. Virgil Swann. It is very likely that Lionel was responsible for the deaths of four members of the cabal because he wanted the Traveler all to himself. As the episode unfolded, it tended to present the story of Clark Kent's journey and the whole Superman mythos as part of a pre-existing saga of the Veritas families' noble mission, for which four of them may have given their lives.

The Veritas storyline would be a significant alteration to the Superman mythos. This could have been an interesting and highly original development in the series, but given the pattern in recent years of rarely focusing the scripts on Clark, and given that his role in this episode was greatly reduced, I fear that the Veritas storyline will tend to overshadow, diminish, and detract from the Clark Kent character, the original premise of SV, and even the whole Superman mythos.

THE GOOD

Tom's Performance: Even with a truncated role, Tom gave a strong performance, especially in his final confrontation with Lionel. Tom delivered his lines rife with controlled anger and restraint. When Lionel asserted that he was a different man, Tom pronounced the climatic line, "No, you're not," with a certain solemnity and finality in his voice. It was powerful and satisfying. In his scene with Patricia Swann, he seemed soft-spoken and pensive. They were discussing, after all, the weighty matter that he may change the future of the world.

Chloe, Lana, and Kara: It was very good to see the women teaming up to save Clark's life (and in comic book fashion, just in the nick of time). Chloe and Lana in particular were portrayed as smart, decisive, resourceful, and courageous (no helpless females here). They were wise enough to suspect Lionel in Clark's abduction, En route to rescuing Clark, they saved Kara from Lex, and had her memory and powers restored so that she could use them to set Clark free. All three would risk everything to save Clark. Very heroic.

Chloe: When Lana told Chloe that they would have to climb a steep hill to get to the mansion's secret passageways, Chloe replied, "If it means saving Clark, I'd climb Mt. Everest." I got a chill from her undaunted determination. We know that her love for Clark has no bounds and that she would die for him; she already has, freely and lovingly. (And Lana would kill to avenge his death.) When she pleaded with Jor-el to help them, she reminded him that he had trusted them to protect his son.

Chloe proved herself to be one of the real protectors of the Traveler, along with his parents. When she screamed, "I love your son!" she was showing Jor-el exactly what would save his son, one of the very values that Jor-el had deemed weak: human emotions, love, compassion.

Words I Longed to Hear: Clark finally told Lionel, "You're not my father!" when Lionel once again called him "son." And Clark finally knows, indisputably, that Lionel is EVIL and not his ally.

Continuity: There are still tenuous connections to the exceptional series SV once was: Patricia Swann echoed Jonathan's words from "Rosetta:" "You are a force for good in the world."

THE BAD

Veritas: Why are the Veritas people of any importance to Clark Kent's journey? They had no role in helping him or protecting him. Jonathan and Martha, and even his friends, assumed that role. Dr. Swann contributed some invaluable pieces of information (and some sage advice), but otherwise, he played no role in Clark's personal development and growth.

THE WORSE

Misplaced Guilt: When Patricia told Clark about the Veritas deaths, Clark replied that they "were killed because of me." Once again he blamed himself for events that were completely beyond his control. Furthermore, after reading Dr. Swann's journal, he was concerned about living up to unspecified "prophecies" and other people's vague "expectations" for the Traveler. He should take Jonathan's and Dr. Swann's advice and be concerned only about finding his own destiny. His conscience and values would guide him in the right direction.

Dr. Swann: When Dr. Swann met Clark in "Rosetta," it seemed clear that Swann didn't inform the other members of Veritas, certainly not Lionel, that the Traveler had made himself known. What happened to the noble mission to protect the Traveler? If Swann dissolved Veritas because he knew Lionel could not be trusted, why didn't he warn Clark about the serious danger in his own town?

THE WORST

Torturing Clark: Over the last few seasons the writers have developed a pathological delight in physically and emotionally torturing Clark. It was very difficult to watch Clark suffering, bleeding, and being held captive in a kryptonite cage. The writers are not enhancing the show by repeatedly and unrelentingly tormenting Clark. Sadists! Why didn't Clark just super-speed out of the barn when Lionel's men were trying to harpoon him?

SV's Loss of Focus: SV is only rarely about Clark any more. This assertion can be supported quantitatively: Tom appeared for approximately only thirteen and a half minutes in this episode. Except for approximately five and a half minutes in the concluding scenes, Tom's role in this episode was relegated to being captured and being held in a cage.

The Veritas storyline has the potential to overwhelm or distract us from the central character and his life. It could take on a life of its own as the story of the ultra-rich and the ultra-malevolent, or "Dallas" meets "The Sopranos." (Jor-el would have made a fine honorary member.) Are we really supposed to care about the cloak-and-dagger doings of these families when they weren't part of Clark's life? This attempt to anachronistically insert Veritas into the background of Smallville seems to make "Traveler" part of a very long jump over the shark.

Rating: I give "Traveler" two out of five stars.

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