Jitters

Much better than the last episode, there is much to like about "Jitters." We finally get to see the good ol' city of Metropolis. No Daily Planet, but we receive more information about the Luthor Corporation. In addition, the villain of the week really is not a villain in the sense we have seen before. Up to this point, villains on the show have been kryptonite-infused angsty teens with murder as their only solution to their problems. Here, Tony Todd's character is a person close to the Kent family and you can at least sympathize with his actions and rationale. Also, we get a bloody good storyline between Lex and his father. Lex wants to stay away from his super-villain future, but it seems like that can be difficult at times. Of course, Lionel makes a great villain and John Glover plays him incredibly well.

In this episode, Earl Jenkins is a former LutherCorp employee and also used to work at the farm with the Kents. He is suffering from this mysterious disease which creates violent body revulsions. When Clark is throwing a party with his parents out of down, Earl comes to the farm and tells Clark the disease has spread too far. He said it was the result of an explosion at the Smallville's Level Three plant which was experimenting with meteor-rock fertilizer. Problem is...it does not exist. In order to prove he is right, he breaks into the plant and takes a class touring the plant hostage. Lex stays behind to help free the hostages as does Clark to learn more about this Level Three, which Lex denies even existing. On the other hand, Lionel may know a thing or two about this Level Three.

Overall, this a fantastic episode with excellent performances all around. There is no villain we have seen before in the series like Earl. His ending is even somewhat open-ended, so I would not be surprised if he appears on the show again somewhere down the line. This Lex-centric episode has me wondering about his future. In the early going, Michael Rosenbaum is showing the capability to become the best Luthor in any portrayal. There is so much depth to his character.

My Grade: A.

This is a great chapter with many suspense very well worked.

Not a favourite episode of mine, as there is no real villain. Tony Todd guest stars as Earl who has an unknown mineral in his skin and causes his body to try and push it out in a jitters like way. His involuntary shaking is extremely strong and because it's kryptonite in his skin, he weaken's Clark and disables his abilities.

He continuously looks for level three at the LuthorCorp plant, but according to everyone, it doesn't exist. The effect of the jitters looks like a visual and special effect at the same time. It's not very exciting to watch and after the third or fourth time happening in the episode it can get quite tedious to watch.

Aside from that, the character of Earl and the plot of the episode is kinda dull. I don't actually like this episode very much. It seems more like a filler episode just to continue showing Clark's ability to be a hero and show off his powers.

No real character development happens, chemistry between the characters is not really shown, and the only real action is at the end of the movie. However, the action that is shown isn't a fight between Earl and Clark, it's actually just an accident that causes Clark to struggle to save Earl and Lex.

Lex is basically the only character to gain development from this episode aside from Clark. He tries to be a hero and save all the high school students from Earl's jitters or whatever he's planning to do to get to level three. Not that it's a bad thing, but this episode doesn't contain many things enough to enjoy it as the previous episodes have. I merely watch this episode for the sole purpose of it being in chronological order to get through the season.

This episode rivals the pilot as the best the season has yet to offer.

Clark is informed by a former employee of LuthorCorp that a disease that causes him to violently shake was caused by a massive explosion within Level 3. Clark inquires Lex about this knowledge, and Lex claims that he knows nothing about such a thing, that the level itself is mythical and claimed only by disillusioned former employees who want compensation for their new and alien disease. However, while Lex is giving a group of Smallville High School a tour of the LuthorCorp facility, Clark sneaks off with the ex-employee to find the Level. Lex realizes that the two have escaped. Lionel arrives in time to create a lock-down in the building, keeping any others from possibly discovering the truth. It turns out that Level 3 does indeed exist. As the press covers the event in Level 3 at the end of the show, Lionel attempts to maintain a persona with the public by imitating a hug with Lex, a gesture that Lex knows is not about love but about Lionel maintaining a good standing with the people- a very touching moment indeed.

In this show, Clark sees the untruthfulness that poisons Lex's character. And the audience sees the artificial love that Lionel gives Lex just to maintain his own persona of goodwill.

The former employee of the Luthor Corporation, Earl Jenkins (Tonny Todd), has an unknown disease that violently shakes all his body, and claims that it was contracted in an inexistent Level 3 of the plant. He accidentally kills a man, and kidnaps Clark Kent's high school class during a visit to the plant, trying to contact Lionel Luthor (John Glover) and prove his assertion.

In my opinion, "Jitters" is the best episode of "Smallville" up to now. The last scene of this dramatic episode is very touching, when Lex Luthor, my favorite character of this series, observes close to his own father the reaction of the Kent family when Clark Kent returns safe and sound to their arms. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "No Limite" ("In the Limit")