Episode Report Card Omar G: C+ | 1 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Goodbye Jocko
By Omar G | Season 2 | Episode 11 | Aired on 01.13.2003
Inside the house, Jocko walks back to Ma Jocko. She's still cowering. He squints and then suddenly morphs into Shapeshifta' Girl, from way back in "X-Ray." Hey, welcome back Shapeshifta'! As Ma Jocko yelps, Shapeshifta' says simply, "Shut up!" And it's a brilliant line reading.
The offices of The Torch. We cut to an iMac screen of a front-page Torch layout. It says, "Smallville's Favorite Son Returns." It shows Jocko in uniform against a flag background with a picture of a flag next to it. Jingoism much, Chloe? The real Chloe would never stand for this. Clark walks in on Pete and Chloe at work. Clark says this may sound crazy (when has that ever stopped him?), but Jocko may not be Jocko. Chloe asks if he's getting existential or if this is Wall of Weird material. And where is the Wall of Weird these days? Clark says he thinks Jocko is Shapeshifta' Girl. "The Mighty Morphin' Power Girl?" Chloe asks. Clever, yes, but also about a reference about six years past its prime. Clark says she was the girl who was "Lex, then Lana, then locked up." Nice summation. Pete says it's impossible. Clark says she was obsessed with Lana, which puts her in the majority of Smallville's population. Chloe says there's no way Shapeshifta' could have pulled of a "Martin Guerre." I had to look this one up: he was some sixteenth-century French dude who took someone else's identity on the battlefield. It was made into a musical and a Gerard Depardieu movie, which is about all you need to know about that. Chloe says that Shapeshifta' committed suicide the week before. She was going to run a story about it on page two. Chloe says she went to the art therapy room of her psychiatric ward, doused herself in paint thinner, and lit a match. They give Psych patients matches and paint thinner? "Now that's nasty," Pete says. Thanks Pete, for weighing in on that. Chloe says Shapeshifta' wrote that she didn't know who she was anymore and couldn't take it. Zoom in on Clark. He asks if they IDed her dental records.
Pete and Clark are in the school hallway. Clark looks around before proceeding, then tells Pete that Shapeshifta' Girl might know about his abilities. Clark says he had to use them to stop her, and that when she was declared insane, he thought he wouldn't have to worry. Clark likes it better when the villains just die outright. Pete asks if she knows about the meteor rocks. Clark says that Shapeshifta' had used Lana's necklace against him. "You better be careful, man," Pete says. Again, thanks for that insight. "I'm gonna go find [Shapeshifta']. You warn Lana." Lana suddenly pops out of a door. Does she just wait around for stray conversations to wander by? "Warn me about what?" she asks. Clark and Pete both look back to see if anyone's around. Clark says this may be hard for her to understand -- like the concepts of discretion and non-coffee-based drinks are hard for her to understand -- but Jocko is actually Shapeshifta' Girl. "Why would you say that?" she asks incredulously. Clark says she just has to believe him. Lana says it's insane. Clark says it's crazy, but true. He leaves Lana with Pete. Lana gives a Look of Death and walks the other way. She says she needs some time alone. Pete says he understands, but "that freak is dangerous." "I know," Lana says. She turns around and delightedly gives Pete a roundhouse kick to the face, and then another kick to the chest, sending him flying. She picks him up by the clothes while he emotes not at all. Psycho Lana throws Pete against the far wall, and he slams his head into a locker. By the end of the season, Pete's gonna be totally brain-dead. "Pete, I think she knows about my secret!" Clark will say. "Secret?" Pete will ask, "I like oatmeal." Pete is lying in a bloody heap. Shapeshifta' Lana walks over and says, "Who're you callin' a freak?" I like Lana much better this way.