Smallville: Fragile (TV post)

[bluebrocade.livejournal.com]

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Smallville is about the adventures and early life of Clark Kent before he became Superman. It's set in the fictional town of Smallville, Kansas. According to Wikipedia, the first four seasons focus on Clark and his friends' high school years. Beginning with season five, the show ventures into more adult settings, with some characters attending college. Later seasons see an increase in the introduction of other DC comic book superheroes and villains.

In the episode Fragile, Clark and his mother Martha take in a young foster child named Maddie after her foster mother is murdered by an unknown party while Maddie is in the house. Callum plays Maddie's biological father, Tyler McKnight, who wants her back so they can be a family. Keeping with the superhero/supernatural theme of show, both father and daughter have a unique ability which can be used for good...or bad.

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The IMDB page: Smallville : Fragile

Smallville debuted in 2001. It was created and produced by the writing team of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. They have collaborated on several projects including writing episodes of the television shows Timecop and Martial Law and writing the screen story for the feature film Spiderman 2. Fans of Smallville were stunned when they announced their departure from the show at the end of season 7.

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Cast / Characters:

Tom Welling Kristin Kreuk Michael Rosenbaum Erica Durance Allison Mack Annette O'Toole Callum Keith Rennie Emily Hirst Bud the Dog Anne Marie DeLuise Maxine Miller

Clark Kent Lana Lang Lex Luthor Lois Lane Chloe Sullivan Martha Kent Tyler McKnight Maddie Shelby Naomi Mrs. McKnight

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Original Air Date: April 13, 2006 (Season 5, Episode 18)

Runtime: 42 minutes (60 minutes as aired)

Country: USA

IMDB rating: The episode Fragile has an impressive 7.8 rating based on 115 votes. The series overall has a 7.9 rating based on 11,763 votes.

Genre: Action / Adventure / Drama / Sci-Fi / Thriller

Keywords: Wet Jeans / Best Friends / Shipper / Young Versions Of Characters / Good Versus Evil

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There are 5 user comments on the IMDB page for this episode of Smallville, all of them positive.

One example:
A character, who isn't even credited in this episode [ed note: this is wrong. He's credited.] is the actor who plays Maddie's biological father. The actor is the very same man who played a very philosophical Cylon in Battlestar Galactica who was introduced in the miniseries, and we have come to love and hate at the same time. And through this character, Tom Welling is able to make a point in this episode, a message that he had learned and passed on to this wonderful little girl, that anyone can become a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad, and I could totally see Clark being a great dad. We have seen this with Ryan, Evan, and now Maddie. It was a great episode, and Callum Rennie should be credited for this part.

You can find all the comments here.

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Callum Quotient: 25% (He's on screen ~11 minutes throughout the second half of the episode.)

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Pictures:

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Quotes:

• Tyler to Maddie: "All those years locked up. You're the only thing that kept me going. I would do anything for you."


• Lois, describing Tyler to Clark: "Good-looking, in a psycho-killer kind of way."


• Tyler to Maddie: "All I want to do is put our family back together."


• Tyler to his police escort: "Nice glasses."

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Trivia:

• The episode Fragile is notable for being the directorial debut of Tom Welling, the actor who portrays the lead character Clark Kent.


• Smallville is filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.


• Maddie's foster mother is played by due South alumna Anne Marie DeLuise, formely Ann Marie Loder -- i.e. Stella Kowalski.


• Guest star Emily Hirst was nominated for a Young Artist Award for her portrayal of Maddie.


• The bad guy/gal with special powers that appear in many Smallville episodes are fondly referred to by fans as the "Freak of the Week" or FOTW. Callum is the FOTW of this episode.

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Interesting scenes:

• The first shot of Callum is quite dramatic. It brings to mind the archetypal loner hero--not villian.


• When Callum's character, Tyler, is pleading with his daughter, you know this is an actor who's way above the usual "guest star" fare. He's so subtle and quietly sympathetic.


• In the final scene, Callum does this head-twist movement as he prepares to unleash the full measure of his wrath. His expression and the gleam in his eyes are deliciously evil.

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Do I want to show this to my parents / friends / co-workers?
[Poll #1188206]

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So, Tyler McKnight -- Good? Bad? Misunderstood? Sexy? Uggo?
[Poll #1188207]

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Does he die?
You really want to know? Are you sure? Really sure? Well, then. (highlight to read)

::Nope!::

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Articles/interviews:

Nothing really. Though there is a blog entry here about the episode by a TV Guide Network Producer who refers to Callum as "the very cool Callum Keith Rennie".

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Links

There is a character page for Tyler McKnight at the Smallville Wiki.

c_regalis posted comments and a small picspam here.

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Availability

Season 5 of Smallville is available from many online DVD sales site, including Amazon.

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Final comments from the editor:

Callum is quite good in this "freak of the week" role. He brings a pathos to Tyler McKnight that a lesser actor (*cough*Tom Welling*cough*) couldn't. Also, he's really handsome. GUH. And he's having a good hair day. Always a plus.

Comments

[scriggle.livejournal.com]

Great job, blue! ♥

[belmanoir.livejournal.com]

It's funny, I saw this episode as a Smallville fan before I ever heard of CKR and didn't think he was attractive at all. Now I'm looking at these pictures thinking "maybe I should rewatch that episode...except it was SO BAD...why did they let Tom Welling direct again?...oh and Stella...but she had to do that dumb thing where she screamed and waited for a giant mirror to smash her face...yeah, not gonna rewatch...but DAMN he looks good!"

[c-regalis.livejournal.com]

Hehe, I know that feeling. He's weird like that.

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

I love the myth and the fic for Smallville, but hate the canon execution. I watched this one for Callum, though--it was an adequate FOTW ep and Callum sure was pretty. :-) But the ep ended on the start of the horrible Lexana arc. Ew!!! *eye gouge*

Can you mention RPS in these posts? Because it did inspire moosesal's fabulous Five People Callum Didn’t Sleep With When Guest Starring on Smallville, and One He Did (http://community.livejournal.com/midsummer2007/7933.html) (Callum/Michael Rosenbaum).

[c-regalis.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I need to think about that RPF thing some more. I am leaning towards 'no' though. Maybe... maybe if it's at ckr_actorfic, it's a locked community, so that would be okay I guess.

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

Actually, it's elsewhere, and it's unlocked. I'm happy to delete the comment and repost the not-RPF-y part.

[c-regalis.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know. You linked after all. *g* And no, no, no. Just leave it there. I am not worried about comments. I was more wondering about the rules for RPF links in the actual posts.

[bluebelle789.livejournal.com]

Great post! :) I've only seen a couple of episodes of Smallville, sadly never caught this one yet. Boo. But this:

"Good-looking, in a psycho-killer kind of way."

seems about right to me. *g*

[c-regalis.livejournal.com]

Keyword Wet Jeans? Ooookay? Things you learn. (I really don't remember any wet jeans? These are for the series, not for the episode, I guess? Otherwise... I would hate to miss CKR in wet jeans, I really would. *considers watching this thing again* O.O)

It was a great episode, and Callum Rennie should be credited for this part.

Er. I agree with the second statement? Ahem. (And I remember that he was credited, but at first not at IMDB. Not that this was a shock.)

Re pictures, I will never cease to be amazed how great he looks in handcuffs. ...What? You know it's true.

The first shot of Callum is quite dramatic. It brings to mind the archetypal loner hero--not villian.

Haha. You managed to sneak in another picture. Wait until Scriggle notices. ;P (And I agree.)

The very cool Callum Keith Rennie, Maddie's messed-up biological dad.

♥

*cough*Tom Welling*cough*

I am stunned about this statement, I tell you. Stunned. Um, yes.

Great post! \c/\b/\ckr/

[scriggle.livejournal.com]

Wait until Scriggle notices.

I noticed. But far be it for me to complain about extra pics. *g*

[neu111.livejournal.com]

Lois, describing Tyler to Clark: "Good-looking, in a psycho-killer kind of way."
Someone's been watching too many CKR movies...

It was nice seeing Stella again, even playing the typical blonde heroine putting herself in harm's way.

I love your comments, final comments and in the interesting scenes, pointing out how Callum manages to bring another dimension to the show and bringing out the good sides in his character (loner hero! yep, that's him!)