Hourglass

Clark Kent applies to community work in an institute for the aged to be close to Lana Lang. Clark's favorite patient is Cassandra Carver (Jackie Burroughs), an old lady that foretells the future. Lana takes care of Harry Bollston (George Murdock), an unknown former murder. When Harry falls in a lake full of kryptonite nearby the institution, he becomes younger again. The young Harry Volk (Eric Christian Olsen) revenges the descendants of the members of the jury that sentenced him in the past trying to kill them. One of these descendants is Jonathan Kent.

"Hourglass" is a reasonable episode of "Smallville", but not my favorite. The story has some flaws, like for example how the Kents could explain the death of old Harry Bollston in a pit for corn. However, the scene when Cassandra Carver sees the future of Lex Luthor is very impressive. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Destino" ("Fate")

This episode wasn't bad, but it is literally the second episode in a row where someone fell into a kryptonite infested lake and then transformed into the bad guy of the week.

I found the plot line with the blind woman to be the best part of the episode, and it's what saved it for me. The villain's reasoning didn't make a lot of sense.

The kryptonite plot is starting to get repetitive. Six episodes so far all have the exact same plot line: "Townsfolk is surrounded by kryptonite and it mutates them into the villain of the week, only to be stopped by Clark."

Definitely one of the best episodes to come from the first season of Smallville is Hourglass. Eric Christain Olsen guest stars as Harry Volk, a serial murderer in the forties who turns back time and becomes his young self again to take revenge on the people who killed his dreams.

Clark befriends an old woman, Cassandra, who is known at the retirement home for being able to see the future and Lex becomes skeptical about having a destiny decided for him already. When Martha and Jonathan become the next target of Harry's, Clark has to show himself that Cassandra is right about his destiny of saving people.

It's a great episode and very inspirational. I especially like character of Harry, as he is very evil and good at being exactly that. With a small glimpse of Lex's possible future, we are given more suspicions about his true character. He's a very well developed character.

Special effects do not let up as we get to see Clark use his X-Ray ability as well as his super-speed. His super-strength isn't used as much, aside from one scene. I think it's one of the better episodes of the series, I think. Visual effects aren't given much of a backseat compared to special effects. Plot and storyline along with character development are given primary seat. It's more of a theatrical episode than an action packed, although the writers never leave out action completely.

Hourglass is the best of the early run, it takes an interesting approach with time-travel and puts a spin on it. And it works for most of the episode. And Lana gets a new job, which works because that's what she wanted to do for most of her time, whilst at high school.

So it takes place at an elderly home, where Larry is an old and innocent man, with a dark past. A very dark past. It raises the stakes and does a good job of that, I feel anyway. So, Larry drowns in a lake, only he has turned into a younger version of himself. And everyone in Small Ville is at high risk.

He was a serial killer back in his day, and goes on a rampaging spree, and nobody can stop him, apart from Clark Kent. And that's good because it raises the stakes, and the danger our characters are put in, and it's way ahead of it's time, and isn't afraid to show the risks.

And a women can also see the future, you see Lex's future being explored, along side Clark's future. So it does raise the question, how can it be? And it's expressed between the Clark household who are worried, but it definitely keeps the intrigue. And it keeps the interest throughout. So many good ideas, and expressed in a very cool and unique way, and through the lenses of each and every individual character.

Larry wants to take down Kent, however Martha's in, and is suspicious of his actions, she is put in danger, and the stakes are being raised even higher in this one, it certainly is mind-blowing how they could pull it off.

For 45 minutes, this one is a highly entertaining and fun watch, and i'd certainly recommend it to anyone, a very easy and simple watch.-9/10.

Oy, was "Hourglass" ever a fine hour of television...and perhaps the best Smallville episode yet? We have a different type of villain, one who is not after Lana or Chloe. We get a little bit of inspiration as we glimpse the future of both Clark and Lex both of whom take different trajectories as we all very well know. Saving Lex in the car crash continues to haunt Clark. Lex is never going to let this mystery go. So, we can see the seeds being planted on how these two men became archenemies. This a very exciting episode that has implications for all involved and the ending is fantastic.

In order to be close to Lana, Clark and Pete apply to volunteer at an institute for older people. Clark gets to assist this old, blind lady named Cassandra. She has the power to foretell the future and realizes Clark is not from this world. Meanwhile, Lana works with this former murderer named Harry Bollston. He falls into a lake filled with kryptonite and becomes a young man again (played by Eric Christian Olsen). He seeks revenge against the jury that sentenced him by killing their descendants. One of these descendants happen to be Jonathan Kent. Finally, Lex approaches Cassandra to ask about Clark and is given a future not of hope, but one of despair and hurt.

Overall, this is a fantastic episode! I was not expecting much to be honest, but it ends with a bang. Clark's situation with Lana takes a backseat for once as this storyline plays itself out. Even though we know what happens eventually, it's nice to see the show giving us reminders about their futures. And the villain is not a cookie-cutter one. He was a legit villain. Definitely ranks as one of the best episodes in this early season.

My Grade: A.