Smallville (Season 1, Ep 19): Crush

Welcome to Smallville. I am doing an episode-by-episode watch, recap, and reaction and blogging about it here. There will be no spoilers for the series beyond the current episode. You can find my prior recaps HERE.

For those of you that don’t want to read the long plot recap, I provide a quick episode summary here at the top. You can read that and just scroll down to the “REACTION” heading below.

THE QUICK AND CLEAN SUMMARY:

After a hit-and-run accident, Justin Gaines (Adam Brody) develops telekinetic abilities that compensate for his loss of fine motor skills. He uses his newfound power to seek out revenge on the doctor who messed up his care and on the person he believes was responsible for hitting him. He also returns to school and has a genuine romantic interest in Chloe – who reciprocates the feeling – due to her email correspondence with him while he was gone.

Clark becomes aware of the fact that Chloe likes him, romantically, thanks to Pete telling him that outright. He decides that he likes her, too. However, Justin wins Chloe over first. When Clark suspects Justin of being behind attacks, Chloe does not believe him, thinking that he is jealous. However, after seeing evidence of Justin’s complicity while visiting him in his home, Chloe comes to Clark for help. Justin attacks her but Clark saves her and knock out Justin. The episode ends with Clark asking Chloe on a real date, Lana wanting to break up with Whitney, but being unable to do so because Whitney’s father unexpectedly dies.

THE EXTRA DUSTY RECAP:

The episode opens with a boy Clark’s age, Justin, drawing in a dimly lit room during a thunderstorm. A man, wearing a tuxedo, comes in and congratulates him on the fact he will be returning home to Smallville the following day. He tells Justin that in the five months he has been there, his body has done a lot of healing. We see the drawing, and that it is not good, and better understand the look of anger and frustration on Justin’s face. Justin tells the man he is talking to that his hands will never heal, and that he will never draw anything well again, and that drawing was the only thing he had ever been good at.

The tuxedo wearing doctor tells Justin that he did everything he could and that Justin knows that.

Justin: Really Is that what you told the five patients who filed malpractice suits against you?

The doctor tells Justin that he understands being angry but also that Justin needs to accept that he was in an accident. Justin fires back that it was not an accident, it was a hit and run. The doctor tells him that when he was his age, he wanted to be a violinist. He explains that he failed his conservatory audition and was told that he had the hands of a surgeon.

Doctor: You’re young. You’ll find something new.

The doctor leaves and Justin mutters as he goes to have a nice life. Th doctor meets his well-dressed date outside the room. She asks him if he thinks Justin will sue. The doctor tells her that the boy has no proof and that since he is alive, he should be thanking him. Cutting back to Justin, we see that he now has a very well drawn picture of the doctor on his pad. As we see this, the doctor’s elevator begins to malfunction. It stops momentarily and the doctor’s date screams for him to get them out of there. They manage to pry the door open, but as the elevator is not precisely level with a floor landing, the date has to climb up to get out. When it is the doctor’s turn to climb out, Justin begins drawing over the picture of the doctor with a red marker and the elevator comes loose again and falls dramatically with the doctor inside. Justin continues drawing over the doctor’s picture with a red marker and a smile on his face.

♫Somebody saaaaaaavvee meeeee♫

At school, Clark meets with a man at a career fair event.

Man: I see you in a uniform, flying. You ever consider a career in the Air Force?

Pete meanwhile gets a job for the city’s mayor to work on his reelection campaign. Clark says he thought Pete was going to work for his mom at the courthouse but Pete replies that Judge Ross (his mom) needs some KSU students to schlep her files. They run into Chloe who is also attending this event. She tells them that The Daily Planet only takes four high school interns for the entire state of Kansas. Pete tells her that she will get it, but she replies that there are already over five hundred applicants and that she doubts she even gets an interview. Clark reminds her that Lex offered her an opportunity at The Inquisitor but she pushes away the idea, saying determinedly she will be interning at The Daily Planet in whatever capacity she can.

Chloe says that she will try to interview when she is in Metropolis next week. Clark asks why she is going next week and she reminds him that they are both supposed to attend a journalism conference there. She asks Clark if he forgot to sign them up and he apologizes, saying that he has been busy at The Talon all week working on a history project with Lana. Chloe gripes that once Clark does anything for Lana, everything else becomes secondary.

Clark tells her that’s not true and she asks him how much they have seen each other over the last three weeks. Clark tells her that they see each other every day. Chloe retorts that she only saw him for forty-five minutes recently and that was due to her car breaking down and her own effort to tear Clark away from Lana to get a ride home.

Clark: Don’t you think you’re being just a little unfair?
Chloe: No. Whenever Lex or Lana are around, it’s like the rest of us don’t exist.

She starts to storm off as Clark asks her why she is being so hypersensitive. She replies that most men are from Mars but that Clark is from some distant galaxy that she has never heard of.

After she goes, Clark asks Pete what that was all about and Pete tells him that he’s not the most observant person. He explains that Chloe wanted to spend the day with Clark, uninterrupted by either Lana or Lex, so that she could asks him to the spring formal. Clark says aloud that would be like a date. Pete tells him that if he would take off his Lana blinders he might realize that Chloe likes him.

At her locker, Chloe feels a hand touch her shoulder and she starts to tell Clark she is not interested in an apology, only to turn around and see Justin. He thanks her for staying in touch while he was gone, saying that for most of his friends it was out of sight, out of mind. She says that she knows the feeling and asks when he can restart his cartoon. He holds up his hand and tells her that unfortunately his drawing hand is kind of shot. He then asks if there is any chance he can buy her a coffee and she accepts. Clark watches this date get setup from a few feet away.

Lex kneels in front of his mother’s tombstone. In the stone’s reflection he sees a familiar woman approach and asks her why she is here. The woman replies that she is here for the same reason that he is, and comments that it has been nine years since Lillian’s passing. Lex asks sarcastically why she is suddenly so sentimental, and when she says she deserves that, he suggests that the LuthorCorp stock his mother left for this woman must have helped to ease the pain.

Woman: Is that what your father told you?
Lex: All those years I thought you loved me. But you were just in it for the money.

He walks away and she shouts at him that they need to talk. He answers that he cannot think of anything that she might have to say that would interest him. He then tells her, Pamela, goodbye.

Chloe and Justin are looking at comics, at the offices of The Torch, and discussing what they like when Clark awkwardly enters and greets both of them. Clark asks if they ever caught the guy who hit him and Justin says that they did not due to the fact he could not remember much about the incident. When Chloe asks what he does remember, he replies that he knows part of the license plate said “DDI.” Chloe says that they will look into it and Clark suggests that they call the police. She angrily tells Clark that if they find something themselves, they will pass it on to the police form there.

Clark changes the subject and tells her that he talked to Lex and got two tickets to the journalism conference he forgot to sign up for. Chloe then tells him not to worry about it, saying that Justin is already signed up and that she is going as his guest. Justin can sense the awkwardness of the situation and suggests that they could all go together but Chloe forcefully says no and that Clark is not that interested in journalism anyway. Clark glares at Chloe for this and Justin notices, so he says that he should get going. As he does, he drops his things. When Clark helps him pick them up, he notices a newspaper clipping about a doctor dying on an elevator. Justin pulls the clipping from Clark’s hands and puts it with his other things.

Lana visits the Kent Farm and enters through the kitchen door, where she runs into Clark. She asks if his mom is around and says that she wants to order some more pies. Lana tells him that she thought he would be with Chloe working on the newspaper. Clark replies that she had enough help, which leads Lana to ask if they are still fighting. Lana tells him that she caught it yesterday at the career fair and asks what is going on between the two of them. Clark tells Lana that Chloe likes him, and when she asks Clark how he feels about her, Clark tells her that he thinks that he and Chloe could maybe be more than friends.

Clark: When I saw her with Justin today, I got kind of–
Lana: Jealous?
Clark: It’s like you find out this secret. It colors everything.

He tells her he cannot believe he never saw it before and Lana replies that sometimes the right person can be in front of your eyes and you do not know it. They stare at each other for a while and Clark breaks the silence by asking how many pies she wants. She answers that she wants a dozen. Clark asks her about Whitney and says he has heard his dad is doing better. She tells him that Whitney is great, but in a manner that is not believable. He asks if everything is okay and she tells him “never better” but again is not believable. Finally Lana wishes Clark good luck and says she hopes things work out with Chloe. Clark says that he hopes so, too.

Alone in front of his sketch pad, Justin attempts to draw but again fails. Once he gives up, though, we see him watch as multiple pencils draw and color a very good picture of Chloe in a pink dress, onto the pad.

At school, Clark asks Pete if he has seen Chloe. Pete says no and guesses that she is probably hanging out with Justin. Clark asks him what he thinks of Justin and Pete replies that he seems pretty cool but that he never got to know him very well before his accident. Clark notes that Chloe seems to like him and Pete happily tells him that he almost sounds jealous.

Clark: I’m not jealous, I’m… concerned.
Pete: Why, because Chloe is falling for a nice guy? It’s got me worried, too.

Clark gives Pete a newspaper article which is about Justin’s doctor losing his hands in a freak elevator accident. He says he saw that in Justin’s stuff the day before and asks Pete if it is not a little weird that he is carrying it around with him. Justin suddenly speaks up, having overheard this conversation, and says that he liked the tragic irony. Justin then asks Clark if he always talks about people behind their backs.

Justin: So what, I start spending a little time around Chloe and suddenly you realize she exists and want me out of the picture?

Clark tells him that he and Chloe are just friends. Justin replies that Clark had his chance with her and now he needs to let him have his chance with her.

Lex finds Pamela in his office at the mansion and asks what she is doing there. She replies that she wanted to see what kind of young man he had grown into. Lex tells her that he is a busy one and instructs her to leave. She replies by saying that they were close once and that he was like a son to her. Lex tells her that she was an employee of his father, paid to watch him while his mother’s health failed. She argues that after the meteor shower, she was the one person who never looked at him differently. Lex, losing patience, says that knowing him at a vulnerable point in his life does not give her the right to waltz back into it now acting as though she knows him. She tells him that she wants him to know what really happened. Pamela then tells Lex that after the funeral, she was called into Lionel’s office and told to not even contact Lex again or else Lex will be disinherited.

Lex: Why would he do that?
Pamela: Because he wanted you to be his son, not hers.

He asks her if the statute of limitations on his father’s threat has expired and she answers that she wanted to see if Lex remained true to himself despite his father’s efforts and she adds that she also hoped for Lex’s forgiveness. He tells her dryly that she will have to find a way to grant it to herself. With tears in her eyes, she nods and tells him goodbye.

At The Talon, Clark delivers pies and Lana quips that she wishes everything at the Talon sold as well. Whitney walks up and Clark asks how his father is doing. He replies that he is happy to be home and on the mend. Whitney then tells Lana to keep Saturday night free because he has two tickets to Our Town at the Metropolis Playhouse. She asks him what inspired that and he admits to seeing her read it at school and says he hopes they can start making up for lost time.

Once he is gone, Lana looks annoyed. Clark walks back up and she tells him that Whitney has paid more attention to her over the last two weeks than in the previous year combined. Clark asks how she feels about that and she says, wisely, that when Whitney’s dad got sick, he needed her, and that need defined their relationship. She adds that now they need to redefine their relationship. Clark tells her that there is a lot of that going on. Lana asks how things are going with Chloe and Clark tells her that they are unresolved. Clark tells her that he just does not want to lose a friend in this process.

Lana: Once you cross that line you can’t go back.
Clark: Chloe gave me that same advice about… someone else.
Lana: What happened?
Clark: I decided to stay friends.

Lana asks Clark if he regrets that decision and he tells her yes, saying he let that moment slip away and that he does not think he’ll ever get it back. He looks at Lana, with both of them knowing the subtext, and tells her that he does not want to make the same mistake twice.

Justin visits Chloe in her office. She updates him on his hit-and-run case, saying that she is waiting to hear back from a contact at the DMV. Justin then hands her a drawing – it is of Chloe in a pink dress. When she tells him it is beautiful, Justin replies that she is too.

Justin: Did you know that after that car hit me, and I was lying in the road, I kept picturing your face?

When she asks why her, he tells her that he always had the biggest crush on her and that he was too afraid to do anything about it. He says as he was lying there, thinking he was about to die, he regretted never telling her how he feels. He goes on, though, saying that when she started emailing him while he was in the hospital, he knew that this was his chance, and he says he was not going to let her get away twice. They kiss and ask they do so, objects all over her office begin floating up into the air. Finally Chloe notices and asks Justin what is happening.

Justin: Can you keep an open mind?
Chloe: Sure.
Justin: Something happened to me after the accident and when I was in the hospital I found that I can move things… with my mind.

She asks if it is like telekinesis and he nods before asking if she is freaked out. She laughs and says, believe it or not, that she has seen stranger things. He tells her that he does not want to end up on her wall. She tells him that he won’t and then suggests that they make everything float again.

As they lock lips again, Clark barges in looking for her. Justin smirks at him and Clark asks if he can talk to her outside for a second. She says sure and promises Justin that she will be right back. While she is gone, Chloe gets a fax from her friend at the DMV with a message on it that says he got a match for the partial plate. Justin sees this.

In the hallway, Clark asks Chloe if she thinks this Justin thing might be happening a little fast. She tells Clark that she has been emailing Justin back and forth for six months and that she knows Justin better than she knows Clark.

Clark: Did he tell you what happened to his doctor?
Chloe: No. But he did tell me that you were talking about him behind his back.

Clark tells her that he is just looking out for her and turns to go, but she follows him, very upset, asking what is wrong with him and if he has some kind of savior complex. She says that if she is in trouble, he’ll rescue her, but other than that he is emotionally unavailable. Clark turns around and says he does not want her getting involved with Justin because she is mad at him. She informs him that her world does not revolve around him. The bell rings and the hallway fills with students as she walks away.

[DustyReviews Note: Everyone in every classroom in that hallway – including the teachers – would have just heard this conversation. LOL.]

We see Principal Kwan get out of a car with a license plate beginning with “DDI.” Justin is there and asks him if it was easy to lie to everyone. Kwan asks him what he is doing here and suggests that he should go home. Justin then tells him that his car was only halfway across the crosswalk when his car came barreling around the corner. He tells Kwan that he hit him so hard he felt like he was broken in half. Kwan says that he does not know what Justin is talking about but Justin goes on, saying that he remembers bleeding on the street, watching Kwan’s taillights disappear, and he notes that the principal did not even bother to stop. Kwan tells Justin that it was not him, but just then Justin begins torturing him with telekinesis. As he does this, he explains that while he was in a full body cast, his body began compensating for his loss of motor skills by moving things with thought. He picks up a light, staked into the ground, and pulls it up with the sharper point now facing Kwan. He uses the stake to pin Kwan against his garage door. Then as he asks Kwan if he knows what it is like to be hit by a two thousand pound car, Justin starts Kwan’s car with his mind and then drives it at full speed into the older man. The scene ends with Kwan bleeding and unconscious atop the hood of his car.

Clark is reading “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” as Lex climbs up the steps into his barn loft to join him. Clark asks why he is here so late and Lex explains that he visited to talk to Clark’s parents about the settlement. He asks what Clark is reading and when Clark tells him that he is trying to gain insight about the female psyche, Lex tells him that he seriously doubts Clark will find it in this book. Lex asks what the problem is.

Clark: I’ve got these two amazing friends who both happen to be girls.
Lex: For argument’s sake let’s call them Lana and Chloe.

Clark tells Lex that he has always liked Lana but having just found out that Chloe likes him, he says that he thinks he might like Chloe, too. Lex asks which of them he will pursue and Clark says he wants to protect his friendship with both of them. Lex says that this means he’ll never get either one of them, then. Clark thanks him and says he thinks he will stick with the book. Lex tells him that love is not about playing it safe, it’s about risk. He advises Clark that unless he is willing to put himself out there, he will never know how it will turn out. Clark asks him if he has ever been in love before. Lex answers that he has only ever loved two women in his life – one died and the other betrayed him. When Clark says that he’s sorry, Lex replies that some people are meant to be alone. Just then Martha joins them in the loft and tells Clark that Principal Kwan was just killed in an accident.

The next day at school, Chloe is frantically putting together a memorial issue with Pete’s help as Clark enters The Torch’s offices. She tells Clark that she just read the police report and that it said Kwan’s car was still on and that it just slipped into gear. She’s visibly upset and Clark asks if she is okay. Clark tries to help her and she tells him no. Just then, Clark looks at accident photos and notices that the first three letters of Kwan’s license plate match Justin’s hit-and-run driver. Chloe asks what Clark is getting at Clark answers that a lot of weird accidents seem to happen around him. She angrily tells him that he is barking up the wrong tree but Clark presses on and asks if she got a response from the DMV the day before. Chloe tells him it never came through. Clark then checks and finds out she did and tha tit came through right around the time that she was here with Justin.

Chloe: He couldn’t have done it.
Clark: Why, because you like him?
Cloe: No, because I know him and I know he wouldn’t hurt anyone.

Lex enters his office and finds his father in his desk chair. Lionel tells him that they are selling Cadmus Labs. Lex argues that their ownership agreement gave him both a fifty percent share of the place and veto rights over selling it. Lionel says that the place has served its purpose already, in their ploy to bankrupt Sir Harry, and that it is now worthless. Lex changes the subject and says he knows his father did not pay him a visit to discuss this. Lionel tells him that he knows Pamela is in the States and that she paid him a visit. He says Lillian was an extraordinary woman but that she had poor taste in selecting help. Lex asks Lionel if he is here now to disinherit him. Lionel says that he knows how much Pamela meant to him and that he hopes to help Lex avoid her use of emotional tyranny to take his money. Lex asks why she would be asking for money and Lionel suggests that she does not want to sell her stocks to pay for her medical bills. When Lionel realizes Lex does not know what he is talking about, he sarcastically calls Pamela noble, and tells Lex that she is dying of cancer.

Lionel: What does she want?
Lex: Forgiveness.
Lionel: And what did you tell her?
Lex: To get out.

Lionel comments that Pamela does not know him very well and then leaves.

Clark visits Kwan’s house to look around at the garage accident scene. Danny, Kwan’s son arrives, and asks Clark why he is here. Clark tells him he is sorry about what happened. Danny says that he does not understand what happened because his father was found with his keys on him, so it is like something smashed the car into him. Clark asks Danny if he knows Justin Gaines. When Danny nods that he does, Clark tells him that he thinks Justin came by the night before and that Justin believed Kwan had something to do with his own accident. Danny suddenly stiffens, tells Clark that this is crazy, and suggests that he should leave. Clark then tells him that they matched part of Kwan’s license plate to the hit-and-run driver. Danny turns away. When Clark asksif there is a chance Justin is right, Danny replies that his dad did not deserve this.

Clark: Your dad wasn’t the one driving the car, was he?

Danny tells Clark that his dad was just trying to protect him.

Chloe is in Justin’s bedroom and looking through a comic depiction of the recent attacks on Justin’s doctor and on Kwan. The pictures include the word “justice.” As she is looking, Justin calls out her name from a distance so she quickly hides what she is looking at. He enters the room at his house and tells her that his mom said she was up here. She tells him that she did not see him at school and asks if he heard about Principal Kwan. Justin says he did and that it is really weird.

Justin: I guess you never know when your time is up… which is why we shoudl make the most of the time that we have.

He touches her face and then she jumps. He asks what the matter is and she says she just remembered that she needs to meet Clark at his house. Just says that for someone who Chloe says is out of the picture she spends a lot of time with him. Chloe recovers herself enough to lie well and assures Justin that he should not worry because she is going to go tell Clark exactly what is going on between them. After she goes, Justin notices that his comics – the ones depicting his real life murders – has been moved out of place.

Martha and Clark are in The Talon and she is telling him that he did the right thing by convincing Danny to turn himself in. Just then Lana walks up to Martha and Clark and tells Clark that Chloe is on the phone and sounds really freaked out. Clark picks up the phone and Chloe tells him what is going on, she says she is at his barn, and she admits that she knows how Justin caused those accidents. While she is talking, things in Clark’s barn begin to move on their own. She abruptly gets off the phone, and calls out for Justin. Clark hangs up his end of the phone and runs out of The Talon.

Justin throws her across the room and asks how she could betray him and what they had together. She tries to run away but he suspends her in mid air and won’t let her leave. Then he drops her far onto the floor. She gets up and tries to run out but he bars the door. After telling her that he loves that she is a fighter, he pulls a horseshoe from the wall where it is nailed, and hits her in the head with it. As she is lying unconscious, Justin picks up a chainsaw, starts it, and tells her that he is sorry and that he did not want it to end like this.

Just then Clark runs in and between Chloe and the chainsaw. It breaks when it hits Clark. Justin is freaked out now and asks how Clark did that. Clark tells him that he killed the wrong man and that Danny just turned himself in. He reminds Justin that he said he cared about Chloe and asks how many innocent people he is willing to kill.

Justin: Just one more.

He throws Clark through the barn’s ceiling and up to the loft. Mockingly he tells Clark that he needs to stick those landings. Before he is finished talking, Clark is tapping him on the shoulder and telling him that he cannot win. Then Clark throws Justin and he does not get up. Chloe wakes up and she has a gash on her forehead. He asks if she is okay and they hug while she cries.

Lex visits Pamela in the hospital and she tells him that he is the last person she expected to see. He asks why she did not tell him and he says he could get her help or treatment. She says she did not return for health or pity, bu tbecause she finally had nothing left to lose She adds that she is ashamed it took metastasizing to give her the courage. She complains that she wanted to tell Lex how much he meant to her and how much she wanted to help him grow up. Lex tells her that he wishes she had helped him grow up.

Lex: I might be a better man.
Pamela: The fact that you’re here speaks volumes about the kind of man you rare. Your mother would be proud.
Lex: I really miss her.
Pamela: So do I.

Later at The Talon, Chloe tells Clark that she just spoke with Justin’s parents. She says he is in the psychiatric ward but that the police do not know what to charge him with. She notes that at least he won’t hurt anybody. She then asks Clark if they need to do the “I told you so” part or if her bad judgment is just implicit. Clark says he wishes that he were wrong. Clark tells her that she is not oblivious, she is trusting, and that she is strong enough to take risks with her emotions. Clark says that he wishes he was as brave as she is and then suggests that they go to the journalism convention together. When she tell him that it’s a date, Clark holds her hand.

Lana – also at The Talon – sees WHitney come in and tells him that they need to talk. However, she sees immediately that something has happened and he tells her that his dad passed away.

Later, we see most of the town gathered outside in the rain for Whitney’s father’s funeral.

REACTION:

I guess we’re wrapping up some of the longer arcs from this season. RIP Whitney’s dad. I think the whole “we need something to distract and occupy Whitney so that Clark and Lana can get close even though she is in a relationship” finally ran its course. It was a predictable demise for Mr. Fordham when he was healthy enough to go home at the start of the episode. That’s always the kiss of death.

Most of this episode was pretty good. Adam Brody (most famous for his starring role on The O.C.) was a great guest star in the role of Justin. He was charismatic and I think an not entirely evil person, but his trauma produces an anger he did not know how to handle. His trauma also produced telekinetic powers that were formidable. That of course made it all the more fun when Clark absolutely owned him in their fight. Not only did Clark own him, Clark straight up told him “you can’t win” because he *knew* his self-confidence was well-placed. Those type of fights are my favorite Superman fights. The story builds up the bad guy to a point that you forget for a moment just how powerful Clark is.. then bam. He reminds you. I do wonder, though, how Justin is being held in a psychiatric ward. How can they possibly hold him?

The body count at Smallville High this year is getting ridiculous. RIP Principal Kwan. I’m not sure why he didn’t also get a funeral scene, in the rain, with a cover of Time After Time being sung in the background. Maybe two of those in one episode was too many.

I always enjoy Luthor family drama. I love adding the layer to Lex of his love for his mother being genuine and a source of what drives him to the dark side eventually. Pamela was a good way to bring that out. I just think the story here was too rushed. As an aside, I hope you caught that line from Lionel about the Cadmus Labs sale because I doubt it was a throwaway.

Here is my gripe with this episode: For a novice actor, Tom Welling is usually pretty good. However, I don’t think he pulled off “jealous” at all. First, I didn’t and don’t buy that Clark *likes* Chloe romantically. The story up to now doesn’t justify that and the on-camera chemistry is not there between those characters. Second, is Tom Welling – the former male model – likely to have had a lot of personal experience with jealousy to draw from here? I don’t know. I kind of doubt it. It just didn’t work.

I assume the writers were kind of going for a Clark/Lana parallel thing in this episode, where both characters kind of get upset over the possibility of losing the romantic interest they have on the backburner. Lana’s reaction is way more believable, though, since she actually likes Clark and Clark clearly doe snot like Chloe (excepting that we are told his does.) She obviously likes Clark and feels trapped by her circumstances with Whitney. She cannot really blame Clark for moving on, either, though she probably eventually will.

This is typical Smallville. Other than the bad relationship drama, this is a good episode but the writers seem to lean into the relationship stuff anyway. Also, I wish there was a way to get more Adam Brody. He was a fun bad guy.