Smallville: Season 1, Episode 16 "Stray"

 Smallville: Season 1, Episode 16 "Stray"

April 16, 2002

“Stray” is such a heartwarming episode. For the first time, Clark has a sibling…only if for a little while. Still, Clark and the kid, Ryan James have a meaningful connection. They both are struggling with finding their place in the world as adoptive children. Clark has it good with Martha and Jonathan, but poor Ryan has abusive adoptive parents. The two have great chemistry with one another. Enough so where Clark can entrust the boy with his secret. The boy has secret powers himself as he is able to read minds. Everyone that is but Clark’s. Which makes Ryan realizes how different Clark is. In addition to this story, Lex continues to provide excellent work especially now that Lionel is around for the episode.

In this episode, Ryan James has evil stepparents who make him use his power of reading minds to commit robberies. Ryan escaped from them and ran straight into Martha Kent’s car. She takes him to the hospital where he claims amnesia. The Kents allows him to stay at the farm while social services straighten everything out. Clark and Ryan bond and we learn that Ryan is an avid comic book reader which brings some similarities with Lex. Once Clark learns the truth about Ryan, Clark helps him take down his evil stepparents for good.

Definitely a great episode! One issue is what I had. Clark destroys a garbage truck. How did the driver did not realize anything was amiss? A rare, missed detail for the producers, but did not affect the overall quality of the episode. The heartwarming story between the two “brothers” is enough to drive the story. And Clark, how hard is it to tell that Chloe is smitten with you?

My Grade: A


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