Smallville, Season 9 Episode 3, 'Rabid'

Show: Smallville
Episode: 9.03 'Rabid'
Air Date: Friday, October 9, 2009 on the CW

"Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange?" This may not be Halloween but strange definitely describes the ghoulish zombies roaming the streets of Metropolis after an alien airborne virus strikes. Clark [Kent] wakes up to an abandoned Metropolis and finds Lois [Lane] in the Daily Planet - only this Lois is a zombie. As was done in episodes like 'Bride,' the story is scrolled back 12 hours where we find Clark and a normal Lois getting ready to fly "the red-eye on this paper airplane." With some clever play on words and a classic Clark Kent disappearance, Clark manages to put out a fire in 2 seconds flat while bringing Lois her coffee and keeping her in awe of the Blur's actions. Clark then has to cool her coffee so he can make another escape to confront a reckless Oliver [Queen] who's cruising for a bruising on his motorcycle.

Sitting in the Luther Mansion, Tess [Mercer] examines the alien marks across the world when she is attacked by two zombies. Pulling out one of Lex's old samurai swords, Tess manages to defeat her attackers but is next seen laying in a hospital bed with the same rabid behavior and appearance as the zombies. Getting Lois & Clark's attention with her attack at the hospital, Lois heads back to the Daily Planet to start writing the story while Clark rushes to WatchTower to get Chloe [Sullivan] to run a blood test on Tess' blood. Hacking into the Luther Mansion's security footage, they are able to view the zombie attack which grabs Dr. [Emil] Hamilton's interest. Clark rushes Hamilton to Metropolis General to discuss the findings with the DCA [Disease Control Agency] representative.

The DCA representative reveals that the virus infecting Tess is airborne and that Tess got it after being at the Daily Planet alerting Clark to the danger Lois could be in. Attempting to wake a sleeping co-worker, Lois comes face to face with an infected zombie and has to fight her way out as more corner in on her. Swinging blindly to fight her way out, Lois stops just as she realizes Clark is there. The two fight off the zombies and realizing Lois had gotten hurt, Clark carries her away to safety.

Meanwhile Oliver is found fooling around with a cop who had pulled him over for speeding. Noting the picture of Lois in his wallet, the officer and Oliver proceed to make out when the officer discovers a camera in Oliver's belt buckle. Ruining the mood combined with Oliver's snarky remarks, the officer leaves as Oliver takes a closer look at the camera and discovers it was Tess who put it there. Back at WatchTower, Hamilton and Chloe examine the bloodtest results and discover the infection is induced by sleep and the only bloodtype matched to cure it was last seen in Davis Bloom.

In Tess' office in the Daily Planet, Clark patches up Lois' wound while a scared Lois reveals one of her deepest darkest secrets. She didn't just talk to the Blur to help people and that she did it for her because she doesn't want to be alone anymore. After a text from WatchTower breaks up the heartfelt moment, Oliver bursts in holding a rifle. Clark has Oliver look after Lois in an elevator and instructs him not to let her fall asleep. Rushing to WatchTower, Clark reveals to Hamilton that he has the alien bloodtype they need for the anecdote. Using a Kryptonite lined needle, Hamilton draws Clark's blood. Leaving Clark unconscious, Hamilton and a reluctant Chloe go to put together the anecdote while Oliver tells Lois he misses her and their time together not realizing she had fallen asleep.

Back at the start of the episode, we find Clark waking up and finding a zombie Lois at the Daily Planet. Up in the air, Chloe and Hamilton have a discussion on trust and her "spying" on the Justice League members while preparing to release the anecdote into the weather system. With a pretty mean left hook, Lois knocks Clark straight through the window and out onto the street. Wrestling to keep her safe, Clark holds Lois as the rain containing the anecdote pours down. Relieved to know she's okay, Clark continues to hold Lois in a beautifully shot scene.

With the danger being over, Clark once again confronts a drinking Oliver who tells him that he knows who he has to be now before burning his Green Arrow outfit. Back at the farm, Lois shows up at just the right time as Clark is closing his scrapbook and thanks him for being her hero. Admitting they make a good team, Lois tells Clark to keep his secret cause he's going to have to work every ounce of mystery he's got. Proceeding to leave the Kent farm, Lois is haunted by more flashbacks which catches Clark's attention. Cutting to the next scene, the DCA representative turns out to be one of Major Zod's men and is killed by Zod himself for having disobeyed orders by releasing the virus.

'Smallville' is good at time inconsistency. Sure it was last year that we first saw Lois talk with the Blur in 'Stiletto' but in the show's internal timeline it was merely months ago. An observation that is, in most likelihood, overlooked by the average viewer but still amusing for the avid fan. One must not take these inconsistencies to heart as they can be found all throughout the series, although they have gotten better in the recent seasons. But on that note, it is nice to know that while the show does have its inconsistencies, it is consistent with its characters. Seeing Lana's picture being taken out of Clark's wallet and placed into his scrapbook was very well executed in acknowledging simultaneously that Clark has not forgotten Lana and is now ready to move on. With the symbolism employed in that gesture one cannot deny the symbolism of Lois' appearance just as he's closing the scrapbook as well as that in Clark catching her arm as she is about to punch him as she has done so many times before. This moment, for me, serves as a metaphor of Clark growing past the brother-sister relationship he's had with Lois all these years and his way of stepping up his game in their growing romance but interpret it as you may... This last scene at the Kent farm is nicely phrased and visualized in this video:



Thanks to Starkville's House of El Podcast: http://www.smallvillepodcast.com/ and luvtheheaven on youtube :)

For the first time in a while, 'Smallville' has provided its viewers with a nice action-packed episode. There was little to no downtime and all the events kept a nice moving pace. With raving reviews on Twitter hours before I could see this episode, I was pumped up and this episode exceeded my expectations if nothing else. While the episode does have its flaws with minor inconsistencies, it sure makes for some good television. Rating this 5/5 and probably the best episode so far of the season, season 9 is proving to be one of the best seasons yet and I can hardly wait for more :)

Preview for 9.04 'Echo':