Smallville 7.04 Cure review

Original US airdate: 18/10/07

Why you can trust 12DOVE Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Written by: Al Septien, Turi Meyer

Directed by: Rick Rosenthal

Rating:

The One Where: Chloe employs the services of Dr Curtis Knox in a bid to cure herself of meteor freakery. Sadly Knox is a dastardly immortal who was once Jack the Ripper. What are the odds?

Verdict: Another Superman luminary washes up in Smallville in the form of ‘90s Man of Steel Dean Cain. Sadly the role of immortal villain Dr Curtis Knox is distinctly underheated, a shallow sketch of a villain (shame, given the potential for thousands of years of back story...). The fact that he’s doing it all for a dying love is an awful old cliché too. The episode never quite rises to its premise, and Chloe’s sudden need for a cure feels bolted-on.

Highlight: Mack and Ashmore deliver a beautifully played break-up scene between Chloe and Jimmy.

Influences: You have to wonder if there’s a touch of Hostel in all those loving pans over surgical tools.

Trivia: Bee girl Sasha Woodman is played by Jovanna Huguet, but Shonda Farr originally played her in the season one episode “Drone”.

Did You Spot? Knox tells Clark “Your powers might be far beyond those of mortal men”, referencing the opening narration to the ’50s TV show The Adventures of Superman.

Hmmmm...: Interesting business with the Martian Manhunter warning to watch his back with Kara. He claims her father tried to kill Jor-El. If true, this is a pretty bold revision of the Superman mythos.

Best Line:
Clark (to Chloe): "Your letter was a little Da Vinci Code, and I’m no cryptologist."

Nick Setchfield

SFX Magazine is the world's number one sci-fi, fantasy, and horror magazine published by Future PLC. Established in 1995, SFX Magazine prides itself on writing for its fans, welcoming geeks, collectors, and aficionados into its readership for over 25 years. Covering films, TV shows, books, comics, games, merch, and more, SFX Magazine is published every month. If you love it, chances are we do too and you'll find it in SFX.