Smallville (TV Series) Sacred (2005) User Reviews

Looking for the Knowledge Stones

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 15 June 2006]

When Dr. Virgil Swann dies, Clark Kent receives the octagonal metallic disc through mail. He goes to the Kawatche caves and after inserting the disc in a stone, he hears Jor-El ordering him to find the knowledge stones to protect planet Earth against destruction. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor and Jason Teague are in Shanghai trying to locate one of the stones. Lionel Luthor gives a copy of the map and an airplane to Lana Lang, and together with Clark, they travel to China and meet Lex and Jason arrested and being tortured in a temple. When Lana is captured and also tortured, Isobel returns to protect Lana's body.

In "Sacred", more secrets are disclosed about the previous relationship of Lana and Jason's ancestors. This episode is only reasonable, without surprises and nothing special. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Que É Sagrado" ("What is Sacred")

Fantastic- Takes the Characters to unexpected places

[Rcwilkinson123 · 10/10 · 16 December 2007]

Lex, Jason Teague, Clark, and Lana all find themselves in a very surprising location of the world in a "Smallville" episode with a different, fresh twist than usually seen.

Together, Lex and Jason travel to China to find one of the three elements or power stones that when united promise access to an archive of knowledge that can bring unimaginable power. Lex has previously hired Jason onto the LuthorCorp team as directed by Jason's mother Genevieve; he also believes that in this hiring he can use Jason to help acquire the stone for him. Meanwhile, Lionel gives Lana a copy of the map that Lex discovered on an ancient Russian artifact and two plane tickets to go to China and discover the stone herself. Fortunately, she takes Clark with him. When there, the characters embark on a terrific but brief quest to discover the stone, a quest that involves Lana getting possessed, Clark getting involved in a sword duel, and a brawl with Chinese prison guards.

Meanwhile, Dr. Virgil Swann has passed away, and has mailed the all-important Kryptonian key, the key that has previously unlocked secrets found in Clark's spacecraft and in the Kawache caves, back to Clark. Clark inserts the key into the cave and is told by his biological father Jor-El that he soon must unite the crystals.

This episode is fantastic because it takes the four main characters of this season to a totally unexpected location that makes for a fresh story. The episode was also written to do a good job recognizing Christopher Reeve (Dr. Swann), who had passed away.

Marred by cheesy stereotypical Asian scenes

[pleiotroph · 3/10 · 11 February 2007]

As a fan of the series, I was disappointed with this episode.

Lex, Jason, Lois and Clark wind up in China while investigating the map. Lex and Jason get "Shanghai'd" by Chinese soldiers while Lois and Clark try to find them.

As it was located in China, the director and writers chose to indulge in 1950's style stereotypes of China. Shanghai is one of the most modern cities in the world, visited by millions of tourists a year. The scenes they filmed showed a stereotypical chinatown, where arriving ostensibly as tourists, Lex and Jason appear to be immediately chased and shot at by Chinese army soldiers. It also disappointingly inserted an implausible cheesy "Crouching Tiger" style fight scene, and "torture-the-white-prisoner" scenes. It all came across as laughably stupid.

A very sub-par example, when I thought the writing was getting somewhat better. Why is television in regards to things Asian, so often so stupid and skewed?

Seriously? Can it get any more ridiculous?

[LittleStorpingInTheSwuff · 2/10 · 19 September 2018]

Two teenagers just take off for China on their own. Ooooookayyyy. Why not? Happens every day, doesn't it? And apparently without passports.

Another bit of silliness. When Clark finds the hidden chamber there is some sort of idol or statue. Lo and behold, the idol has eyes made of kryptonite!! Since the idol was built in 1604 (or maybe before that), where did the Kryptonite come from? Krypton hadn't blown up yet.