Line #19 Recap/SmallvilleS05E04Aqua


1	Originally aired October 20, 2005
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3	Written by Creator/ToddSlavkin & Creator/DarrenSwimmer
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5	Directed by Creator/BradfordMay
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7	After hitting her head while diving into a lake, Lois is saved by [[ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} Arthur "A.C." Curry]], a mysterious swimmer. Clark begins attending college and meets his new History professor, Milton Fine (secretly Brainiac).
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9	!!Tropes present in the episode:
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11	* NinetyPercentOfYourBrain: In his introductory scene, Professor Fine/ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} claims humans only use 10% of their brain capacity.
12	-->'''Professor Fine''': Do you know where the greatest supercomputer in the world resides? ''[points to his head]'' Right here. It's the human brain. Yet we only use [[NinetyPercentOfYourBrain ten percent of it]].
13	* AlmostKiss: Lois and A.C, before he falls into the lake due to Leviathan, an earache-inducing sonar noise.
14	* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: A.C. can swim a lot faster than Clark can.
15	* BeachEpisode: The closest the show has, with Clark, Lana, Lois and Chloe going to swim at Crater Lake.
16	* BodyHorror: After being deprived of water for a long period of time, A.C.'s skin starts to dry out. Needless to say, it isn't a pretty sight.
17	* ButNowIMustGo: A.C. to Lois at the end.
18	* CharacterDebut: This episode marked the live-action debut of DC Comics superhero Aquaman.
19	* ColdBloodedTorture: What Lex subjects A.C. to, by dehydration. A sign of his growing dark side.
20	* DistressedDude: A.C. is captured and held prisoner by Lex until Clark rescues him.
21	* EarAche: Leviathan, Lex's sonic weapon, causes A.C.'s ears to bleed.
22	* EatingTheEyeCandy: Lois does this to A.C twice, first after he saves her from drowning and again at the café while she judges his fashion.
23	* EvilTeacher: Milton Fine AKA Brainiac, though Clark isn't aware of his true colors yet.
24	* FanDisservice: A.C's skin drying out due to being deprived of water.
25	* {{Fanservice}}: Lois in a swimsuit and {{Female Gaze}}s up A.C.'s torso are sure to serve everyone's interests.
26	* FireForgedFriends: Clark and A.C. become friend when working together to disable Project Leviathan.
27	* IntimateLotionApplication: The opening has Clark intimately rubbing sunscreen on Lana's back at Crate Laker. Once he's done, she tells him he missed a spot and points to her lips, prompting him to kiss her.
28	* KickTheDog: While A.C. is [[StrappedToAnOperatingTable strapped to a table]] and growing weaker due to being out of the water for a while, Lex tauntingly holds a glass of water over his head before withholding it completely.
29	-->'''Lex:''' You may be a fish out of water, but up here, [[BadassBoast I'm the shark]].
30	%%* LoveTriangle: Clark/Lois/A.C
31	* MakingASplash: A.C. can control water. He can condense it into balls thrown with enough force to knock Clark around.
32	* TheMountainsOfIllinois: Crater Lake continues to be one of the most blatant examples in the series. While the lake itself being created by a meteor impact isn't necessarily implausible, the fact that it seems to be surrounded by literal mountains shows that it blatantly wasn't filmed in Kansas.
33	* MythologyGag:
34	** A.C. wears orange and green, ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'s traditional colors.
35	** A.C. uses his water ball attack like he did in Superfriends.
36	** In the final act, A.C. remarks that he and Clark should start a "Junior Lifeguard Association," to which Clark replies he's "not ready for the [[ComicBook/JusticeLeague JLA]] just yet."
37	** A.C. refers to Clark as both "Super Boy" and a "[Big Blue] Boy Scout."
38	* OnlyAFleshWound: A.C to Lois after his earache out in the lake earlier. Though Lois insists he should see a doctor, A.C brushes it off as just a minor headache and (unknown to Lois) spontaneously recovers just from drinking glasses of water.
39	* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: The episode is almost entirely devoted to a reinvention of the classic Comicbook/{{Aquaman}} character, with little relation to the regular plot. It was later revealed that Creator/TheWB planned to launch a ''Smallville''-esque ''Aquaman'' series called ''Mercy Reef''. The proposed series would have diverged widely from the episode's version of the character; in the unaired pilot, Aquaman was played by Creator/JustinHartley rather than Creator/AlanRitchson, who played the character in ''Smallville''. After the pilot failed, Hartley was cast as ComicBook/GreenArrow on ''Smallville'' and Ritchson keep guest-starring as Aquaman.
40	* RescueRomance: Lois and A.C. romance starts with him rescuing her after she almost drowned.
41	* RomanticFalseLead: A.C. and Lois are ultimately this to each other.
42	* SarcasticConfession: Plenty involving fish puns. A.C. telling Lois he's "part fish".
43	* SexySurfacingShot: Lois surfacing out of the water in a bikini in SlowMotion, so the audience can drink in her curves. We even get a [[MaleGaze close up]] shot of her toned legs and navel. The shot would later make it into the [[TitleSequence opening credits]] when introducing Creator/EricaDurance as ComicBook/LoisLane.
44	* ShirtlessScene: A.C. in the teaser and later in the episode.
45	* ShoutOut:
46	** Arthur tells Lex "I don't travel with an entourage." This is a possible reference to the television series ''Series/{{Entourage}}'', in which the main character plays Aquaman in a fictional motion picture.
47	** The sequence of Lois [[SexySurfacingShot climbing out of the water]] early on in the episode is extremely reminiscent of the iconic scene in the film ''Film/FastTimesAtRidgemontHigh''.
48	** Lois sarcastically telling Clark "Well, I know what you did this summer", a possible nod to ''Film/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer''.
49	** Chloe asking "Where did [[Series/{{Baywatch}} Bobby Baywatch]] come from?" upon meeting A.C.
50	** Lois telling A.C that his style "looks like Flipper threw up".
51	* StrappedToAnOperatingTable: A.C., after being captured by Lex.
52	* WellIntentionedExtremist: A.C. wants to protect the ocean and sea life, but his methods are questionable, to say the least.

Context Recap / SmallvilleS05E04Aqua