Aqua
From Smallville Wiki
| Aqua | |
|---|---|
| |
| Series | 5x04 |
| Episode | 92 |
| Writer | Todd Slavkin & Darren Swimmer |
| Director | Paul Shapiro |
| Broadcast Date | October 20, 2005 |
| Production Code | 2T6404 |
| Navigation | |
| Previous Episode: Hidden
Next Episode: Thirst | |
Contents |
[edit] Summary
Lois hits her head while jumping into a lake and is saved by a mysterious swimmer, Arthur "AC" Curry. Clark meets the human form of Professor Milton Fine after his first lecture. Fine tells Clark that Lex Luthor is behind a covert operation manufacturing weapons. AC attempts to break into the LuthorCorp Marine Center in an attempt to destroy one of the weapons and is captured. Clark breaks into the lab and saves AC. Together they destroy the weapon, thereby ruining the deal Lex has been brokering. Clark finally finds himself unable to trust Lex any longer and agrees to work for Professor Fine in exposing the activities of LuthorCorp.
[edit] Recap
A summer party is in progress at Crater Lake. Clark and Lana are already there when Lois and Chloe arrive on the scene. Lois decides to go swimming but hits her head on the footbridge and starts to sink underwater. Chloe becomes aware of the dangerous situation and calls on Clark to help Lois. Once underwater, Clark superspeeds into Lois' direction, but a mysterious guy outswims him. The young man revives Lois and introduces himself as Arthur "AC" Curry.
The next day, Professor
Clark follows Professor Fine to excuse himself for being late. They have a brief conversation about personal attitudes towards life and then Fine offers Clark a job to find out the truth about Lex Luthor himself. He still needs a few research assistants, but Clark doesn’t take the opportunity.
At Crater Lake, Lois and AC enjoy some relaxed swimming until Lois initiates a race. Arthur easily wins the race, although he starts a few seconds after Lois. She is honestly impressed but not suspicious of him. They have an intimate moment on the footbridge- almost starting to kiss each other- when a high-pitched hurts Arthur. He falls into the water and makes a quick escape to find the power source. He can't bear the volume of the noise for long and subsequently returns to Lois suffering from severe pain. His ears are bleeding and Lois is shocked at his
At the Luthor Mansion, Lex analyzes the effect of a marine weapon, called Leviathan. He is very happy with the results of the last test, which causes him to think about selling Leviathan to the US Navy. When the doctor asks what will happen to the marine life in the surrounding area, he reveals an unscrupulous ecological behavior towards life.
Lois cares for a weakened AC who recovers after drinking a glass of water. Lois wants to talk about the incident again, but AC has other things in mind. He gently touches Lois, but when he kisses her, she refuses. Anyhow, Lois cannot fight AC's charm for long, and she starts to kiss him passionately. Suddenly, Clark enters the house and interrupts them. Clark wants to know more about AC and his amazing abilities. Chloe finds out that he is a sophomore student at the University of Miami, majoring in marine biology. In addition, he is a prominent member of its swim team. He has not visited Smallville until recently, which Clark takes to mean that his abilities are the result of meteor rock exposure.
Lois is at the Talon admiring AC in front of Lana. Clark joins the small group, asking Arthur why he has come to Smallville. AC says that he worries about the recent mass mortality of the fish in Crater Lake. He gives a speech about ecological responsibility and the way it all affects people. AC's speech impresses the girls, which makes Clark a bit jealous and doubtful about AC's true motives. Due to Clark's rudeness, Arthur leaves the Talon and Clark already regrets his behavior. He tells the girls that he's going to apologize, and follows AC out of the Talon.
AC trespasses onto a LuthorCorp facility and deploys an explosive in order to destroy Leviathan. Clark appears right in time to absorb the explosive force. AC swims away but stops when Clark blocks his way. Arthur creates a water blister and attacks Clark. Only a few moments later, Clark counters with his super strength and super speed. A second blister from A.C. is strong enough to knock Clark out of the water.
At the barn, Lois asks Clark if he has apologized to AC, but Clark states that Arthur was too busy playing terrorist. Lois interprets this as some kind of provocation and leaves the barn. AC uses the opportunity to feature Clark's abilities with subtle irony, since Leviathan can now cause more damage. Clark wants to talk to Lex about the issue and AC agrees to it only with internal resistance. Lex lies to AC and Clark about his projects when he mentions that LuthorCorp's only weapon is the one to fight hunger. Arthur is seriously angry with Lex and leaves the mansion in anger. Clark is also frustrated with Lex's obvious half-truths.
AC tries to destroy Leviathan in a second attempt, but he is stopped with a tranquilizer. He awakens inside the facility as a captive of Lex Luthor. Lex wants to know how Arthur manages to breath under water. He tortures him by denying him any water. Nevertheless, Lex is unable to worm the secret out of Arthur. Luckily, Clark enters the room to save AC's life by supplying him with water. Clark offers to help AC to bring down Leviathan once and for all. Meanwhile, Lex is about to present his new invention to some representatives of the Pentagon and an admiral. During the initiation process, the cameras drop out and the demonstration fails. A few moments later, Lex recognizes two streaks superspeeding through the water.
Clark visits Lex at the mansion and asks him about his latest project. Lex angrily admits that it was a failure due to sabotage. Thinking about Professor Fine's warning, Clark wonders if Lex knows what he has become and what he is going to be. Lex affirms it and explains that the world cannot be separated just in black and white. Clark tells him about his professor’s bad opinion towards Lex and his company and tells him he seriously regrets to have defended Lex. Later, Clark calls on Professor Fine to ask him if he was still looking for research assistants. Fine specifies all the conditions Clark has to fulfill. He agrees with Fine and his idealistic attitude.
The last encounter of AC and Clark is affected by mutual respect and admiration. AC thanks Clark for helping him to save the marine life of Crater Lake. Clark warns him to beware of Lex in the future because he witnessed his abilities. However, AC is confident concerning the safety of his future whereabouts. The two say good-bye to each other as friends.
Lois and AC's final meeting takes place at Crater Lake. Lois asks AC if he will ever return to Smallville, but he confesses that it’s much unlikely. They share one last intense kiss before AC leaves.
Later, Lois and Clark talk about Arthur Curry and his talents. Lois is really sad about AC's departure because he was absolutely different from the other guys Lois fell in love with until now. Clark consoles her and suggests that she will eventually meet someone even more special.
[edit] Recurring Role
- Professor Milton Fine - James Marsters
- Arthur "AC" Curry - Alan Ritchson
[edit] Featured Music
- "All The Money Or The Simple Life Honey" - The Dandy Warhols
- "Waiting For Your Letter" - Cary Brothers
- "Everyday Is Like The Weekend" - Amy Ward
[edit] Episode Title
- Aqua means water (from the Latin word for water).
- This episode introduces Arthur Curry, the superhero destined to become known as Aquaman.
- Keeping with the theme of water, much of the episode takes place at Crater Lake. Clark and Arthur are trying to disable an underwater weapon known as Project Leviathan.
[edit] Notes
- When Lex mocks Arthur, he says that Arthur is part of a group called Guardians Of The Sea, which is very similar to Guardians Of The Universe, which is the group responsible for the Green Lantern Corps. However the Green Lantern Corps are not shown in the Smallville universe so it could just be a joke.
- Arthur Curry is Smallville's interpretation of the DC Comics character Aquaman, also named Arthur Curry. In the comics, Aquaman is the son of a lighthouse keeper and an Atlantean. He fights on the Justice League with Superman and his friends. AC's UM team colors and his attire in the show are orange and green, like the suit Aquaman wears in the comics.
- Jonathan, Martha, and Lionel Luthor don't appear in this episode. This is the first episode not to feature Martha.
- This is the highest rated episode for a Thursday night in WB history. This may account for the reason the WB chose to green light a pilot for an Aquaman series.
- This is the first time Brainiac is introduced as Professor Milton Fine. Brainiac first appears in Arrival. In addition, when talking about the most powerful supercomputer, Professor Fine taps his forehead. Brainiac is, in fact, a supercomputer.
- Professor Fine mentions Alexander the Great, and immediately after Lex Luthor. Lex was named after Alexander the Great.
- When Chloe looks up AC on the Miami Hurricanes website, the page she sees is almost identical to the actual website which can be seen here.
- A.C. calls Clark "Superboy" after he finds out about his powers and he also calls him "Boy scout" later which is his code name in the "JLA".
- At the end, AC suggests to Clark that they should begin a "Junior Lifeguard Association". Clark tells him he's not ready for the "JLA" just yet, a reference to the Justice League of America from the comics.
- In his lecture, Professor Fine states the popular urban myth that humans "only use ten percent of the brain", which has long been proven untrue.
[edit] Continuity
- Clark mentions that AC isn't the first guy he met that didn't get his abilities from meteor rocks, referencing the time he met Bart Allen in the episode Run by saying that he was too fast for his own good.
- Clark meets AC again when AC joins Oliver Queen's hero team in the sixth season episode Justice.
- AC calls Clark "Superboy" and "Boy Scout". Superman is often said to be a boy scout by other characters in the DC Universe. In Justice, it becomes Clark's codename.
- Clark still wears a patch to cover up his fictitious gun shot wound from Hidden
- Crater Lake hasn't been used as a setting since the Season Three episode Slumber.
- AC says to Clark that they should set up a Junior Lifeguards Association, to which Clark replies "I don't think I am ready to join the JLA just yet". This is an obvious reference to the Justice League of America which starts to take place in the Season Six episode "Justice"
[edit] Quotes
- Milton Fine: Don't apologize. If you're going to be late, at least be late with conviction.
- Arthur Curry: You were turning blue.
- Lois: It's a good color on me!
- Lex: It's a complicated world, Clark. Only the naïve view it in black and white
- Arthur Curry: Maybe we should start up a Junior Lifeguard Association or something.
- Clark: I'm not sure I'm ready for the JLA quite yet.
- Milton Fine: What is your story, Mr. Kent? How will you affect the world in the generations to come?
- Clark: I'm not sure you know that, at 18.
- Milton Fine: Tell that to Alexander the Great! Or bring it closer to home, Lex Luthor, and he's not much older than you are. And yet he's turn his father's agribusiness into a leading defense contractor. He's gone from feeding people to killing them. And yet his story is that he is a white knight, who's just put a small Kansas town on the map. Beware of white knights, people. They don't, uh, slay dragons. They train them to suit their own dark purpose. Think of Hitler, Stalin, Napoleon-
- Clark: Lex is not a saint, but I don't think you could put him in the same league as those guys.
- Milton Fine: An honest opinion. I like that!
- Lois: You know this whole orange and green thing you got going? Looks like Flipper threw up.
- Clark: Just stay out of trouble, all right, A.C.?
- Arthur Curry: Try to get in some, Clark.
- Milton Fine: I'll never lie to you, Mr. Kent. After all, I'm an educator. Truth is my life's work.
- Milton Fine: Well you know Groucho Marx once said "There is one way to find out if a man is honest; ask him! If he says yes he must be crooked"
- Clark: I would think a college professor would be quoting Karl Marx not Groucho
- Milton Fine: German philosophy's easy. Comedy's hard.
[edit] External Links
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