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A jock named Sean gains the ability to absorb heat from everything and everyone around him, and begins preying on people to gain the heat he needs to survive.
  • Chill Out, Chloe!

    5.5
    "Mediocre"
    Cool-A jock named Sean gains the ability to absorb heat from everything and everyone around him, and begins preying on people to gain the heat he needs to survive.

    Yet another average freak of the week outing, "Cool" is only interesting because of the great special effects for it's time. Only 5 episodes into the series and the SFX crew are getting a bit more creative. Michael Coristine (Sean Kelvin) wasn't much of a villain and seemed like a Mr. Freeze knock-off for the most part, but ice effects were crafted well. I especially love the scene where Sean freezes Jenna after her shower and she falls to pieces, which was quite disturbing. Also, Chloe get some time in the spotlight when she becomes Sean's next target and needs to get...uuhh...warm. Too bad Chloe becomes slighty b!%@#y throughout, especially when she attacks Clark about being mad that Chloe getting attention from a guys, other than Lana. While she is right, it sad that the writers resort to Chloe being the "victim in denial" before being put in danger so Clark can be proven right. But the ending makes for interesting demise for Sean as Clark throws him into a lake and is complete frozen solid with in, which provides more eye-candy effects. "Cool" is pretty average hour from Smallville and isn't that memorable.moreless
  • A highschool jock falls through ice into a frozen lake contaminated with Kryptonite. He emerges frozen, and will absorb body heat from anyone who touches him. Meanwhile, Lex orchestrates a date between Clark and Lana. Not as good as some of the others...moreless

    8.0
    "Great"
    This review contains spoilers.

    "Cool" is a fair enough episode in itself, but I didn't find it as engaging as some of the other stories of the period, and, as the fifth episode in the series, is probably my least favourite up to this point.

    The writers seem to have been going through conditions and phenomena that they could exploit; after the sports coach who controls fire in the (superior) "Hothead" a couple of episodes ago, here we get the opposite a character who turns people to ice.

    The plot of frozen Sean wanting "quick fixes" of heat from girls is presumably a metaphor for quick relationships. While I try not to compare the two shows, as I feel they both have their own very strong merits, I have to say that I feel this metaphor is the sort of thing that 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' does so much better and more successfully.

    These early episodes seem to often call into play the concept of either Lana or Chloe in danger, and in this one, it is Chloe's turn, as Sean tries to "suck the heat" from her!
    The episode also develops the Clark / Lana "just friends" relationship, with Lex orchestrating a date between them. Naturally, this date is doomed, as Clark must instead deal with ice boy Sean. Although I can buy that this relationship-of-characters element is all part and parcel of the series, as in a way quite like it, I found it a bit too much in this one for my personal taste.

    All-in-all, "Cool" isn't a bad episode at all, but, as I say at the top, is my least favourite episode up to this point, and just appeal to me as much as the others. It's okay on its own merit but nothing special; I give this one 8 out of 10.moreless
  • Clark is challenged by a fellow student who is affected by submerged meteor rock. While Clark attempts to draw nearer to Lana, his dedication to helping others thwarts his efforts again. Lex attempts to help the Kents financially, but is rebuffed.moreless

    7.0
    "Good"
    Beginning with underwater meteor rocks, this episode is clearly a case of another teen mutating somehow, this time at a woodsy school party with Clark escorting Chloe, who blithely asks, "What, are you from an ice planet?" Partygoer Sean asks Clark about Chloe's availability, and settles in for a few cool moves. Then the jocks toss a few footballs near Crater Lake, and Sean falls in, drowning in the green glow. Or maybe not, as an arm explodes from the ice the next morning, but Sean is cold as ice, and must have warmth, which he inhales from the old campfire. So what good is this power?

    The Kent farm appears in full bloom, a bit inconsistent with a frozen lake in the previous scene. The family is struggling with finances, and Clark suggests pro sports, but not seriously. Like those fast exits he makes, amusing scenes. Somehow I thought Chloe and Pete lived in town, but here they are catching the school bus in front of the Kent's. Sean is still suffering from the cold, but absorbs heat from the school nurse, as he should with a body temperature of 35 degrees.

    Lex comes by to talk to Martha about an investment in the farm, promising to change the local perception of the Luthors. More romantic conflict occurs between Whitney and Lana, she disappointed at his bailing on their date, while Lex tries to insert more doubt in her mind about him, and offering Clark concert tickets if he'll invite Lana. He does, she accepts.

    Sean makes some moves on Chloe, bringing new meaning to the term "chillin." A shower scene follows with another coed, but he's just too cold, and turns the shower flow into instant ice cubes. and turns her into an ice chick. He can even freeze candle flames. Sean tries to hook up with other girls, as he grows increasingly desperate, them remembers Chloe again.

    Martha wants to hear Lex's proposal about a loan, but Jonathan is reluctant. The Kents comed to the mansion later, Jonathan extremely negative about Lex and any proposal, but they agree to listen.

    Chloe's drops by with fashion advice for Clark's date - about his shirt choice, she quips, "Burn it." She picks out a blue shirt - "This is a good color for you." These little in-jokes are fun to watch. Chloe takes a call from Sean, and agrees to a "date." Off on their "date", Lana and Clark play a little card trick, Clark using his new x-ray vision to impress her with his skill. If she only knew. On the limo tv, they hear news of the coed's death, and the search for Sean, so end of date, Clark realizing the danger to Chloe.

    This week, Chloe has traded in her product placement computer for a new brand, easily recognizable. If this commercial push gets too obvious, it begins to spoil scenes with the realization that we're just watching more ads. It inevitably affects the screenwriting when the "promotional consideration" involves deliberately altering scenes to show the product as required by the pushy corporation. It never works out for anyone.

    The writers avoid questions such as how Chloe comes to be in a darkened high school room at night with no security. But we have to have some scary tension, so Chloe follows a trail to the pool, where Popsicle Sean forces her into the pool as he turns it into a giant ice cube just as Chloe almost escapes. Great FX scene as he walks across the frozen pool, when Clark comes to the rescue. Later, he remembers he left Lana in the lurch, but she's reeled in by Whitney and Clark is too late. On the way home with Lana, Whitney almost runs over Sean, forcing his Ford F-150 into the ditch, and he has to help Lana to the Luthor mansion with her ankle injury.

    Sean gets an arm on Clark at the accident scene, putting even Clark into a deep freeze, then Sean sucks the mansion power dry. Clark starts to recover, and finds Sean at the mansion. In a neat trick, he flings Sean into the lake, which freezes instantly and traps him.

    The loss of a school coed hits hard, with classmates decorating a memorial to her. Clark tries some explaining for leaving Lana, but she's hooked back with Whitney. That romantic interlude didn't last long, and Clark is left alone again. It looks like this is going to be a recurring theme, since we know in the long run that Clark and his powers will never allow him to have a normal relationship.

    Sean is not a very scary character, just another high school mutant, but there's some clever dialog between Clark and others, and Mr. Welling get the acting stars this time. The relationship with Chloe continues developing, and Ms. Mack is starting to show she's an important part of this cast, dedicated to helping Clark and Lana. The financial side plot between Lex and the Kents goes nowhere, other than once again showing that Jonathan has no love or trust for anyone named Luthor. Nothing compelling or memorable other than some dialog and pretty fine special effects. Re-run rating C.moreless
  • This was yet another superb episode of Smallville. (Spoilers)

    9.0
    "Superb"
    This episode of Smallville, of course, had great character interaction and group character development. It was nice to see Clark and Lana's relationship take another step towards love, but unfortunately, Clark's plan to take Lana out on a date backfired when Sean, a guy that can't stay warm, started to hurt people to take their heat. I also hope that Lex can earn the respect of Clark's father, Jonathon. The action scenes, were also pretty impressive. I am really looking forward to watching the next episode, and seeing these great characters continue to interact with each other. Overall, I give this episode, Cool, a 9 out of 10.moreless
  • Not cool

    9.5
    "Superb"
    Sean is not cool,n a high school party nearby a frozen river with kryptonite in the bottom, the arrogant football player Sean Kelvin (Michael Coristine) has an accident and drowns under the ice. However, he mysteriously survives with the power and need of taking the heat of other people and freeze things. Meanwhile, the Kents have financial difficulties and need a loan to save their farm, and Lex Luthor invites them for a meeting and offers the necessary money in a lower interest rate to the reluctant Jonathan Kent. Sean freezes and kills his girlfriend Jenna Barnum (Tania Saulnier), and invites Chloe Sullivan to date him with the intention to use her heat for his own survival. Clark Kent, who is going to a Radiohead concert with Lana Lang, quits the date to save his friend.

    "Cool" is another great episode of this excellent TV series. This well written episode shows again a very charming cast, a great cinematography and music score and also fantastic special effects with the power of Seanmoreless
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  • TRIVIA (13)

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    • When Sean is trying to get a girl to come over, he is trying to light matches but they keep freezing, yet the phone in his hand doesn't freeze.

    • When Sean goes into Jenna's bathroom while she is taking a shower, he is in desperate need of heat, yet the candles stay lit. It isn't until after he kills Jenna, and restores himself, that the candles freeze as he exits.

    • Right after Sean gets the football on the frozen lake, there is an aerial shot of him walking back to the shore as the ice starts cracking, and the frozen lake is covered with snow. In the next shot, when Sean falls through the ice, he is shown under the clear surface of the ice, as if there were no snow on it at all, or had been swept clear for the shot of his face under the ice.

    • Right after Shawn breaks out of the lake, he moves to the fire. We see in the first shot that his hands are right close to the fire. However, in the next shot, Shawn is bending down to get his hands close to the fire.

    • In the begining of the show, they're all at Crater Lake having a good time. The lake is completely frozen over, enough for someone Sean's size to walk around on. At the end of the episode, Clark sends Sean through the air and he lands in a pond in Lex's back yard...that doesn't even have the beginning stages of ice. Unless they had a heat wave strong enough to completely thaw the pond, there should be at least a little ice on Lex's pond.

    • When Lex says to Clark, "You're like the brother I never had" this isn't true, in later shows we find out that Lex did have a brother but was killed as a baby and that Lex also had a half brother but isn't mentioned much after they meet once.

    • When Shawn is kissing the girl (right after she comes out of the shower), she gasps when he is kissing her, right before her body turns into a solid block of ice. How could she gasp if her mouth wasn't open? Even if it were just a little bit open, the sound of the gasp would still be different.

    • When Sean freezes Jenna in her bathroom, you can clearly see that as he lets her fall backwards, she is quite pliable where his hands were holding her shoulders, so she couldn't have been frozen enough to shatter. Contrary to popular belief, a person who is frozen won't shatter when dropped. This can be easily verified by dropping a piece of frozen steak. The skin might crack because it is less pliant than before, but the muscle and bone tissues won't become glass(or ice)-like. Also, freezing a metal lock won't make it breakable by a human either. Freezing things makes them more rigid and less pliant--which won't affect metal much because it is already rigid and non-pliant. This can be verified by the Apollo moon modules which had to endure the freezing cold of space and then land on the moon safely.

    • In the final battle between Clark and Sean, Sean is in "frozen mode" but there is no blue makeup on the side of his neck in a couple of shots.

    • When Clark instantly figures out the family bills (see Quotes), the implication is that he has some kind of super-calculating mental ability - this has never been referred to before or since.

    • So...what happens to Sean? Is he still frozen in the middle of the lake near the Luthor mansion, or did the police or someone eventually show up, chip him out, and haul him off to the Asylum for Kryptomutants? (We find out in the Smallville comic and the Chloe Chronicles Volume 2 that Sean is in a government research center but is bearly alive and has a little bit of a heart beat. How official this is, isn't clear.)

    • When Whitney is driving Lana home, and they swerve to avoid Sean in the middle of the road, the dubbing of Lana saying "Whitney-look out!" doesn't match up with her lip movement.

    • If Sean escaped from an frozen lake once, couldn't he escape from the one that Clark trapped him in?

  • QUOTES (15)

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    • Clark: You deserved a lot better than Sean even before he...tried to kill you. Chloe: That's sweet, I think.

    • Clark: Maybe I can help. Jonathan: You already have. Last season you saved us four part-time hands. Clark: No, I'm thinking bigger picture. You know, forget about this whole high school thing and try out for a pro sports team. I could make a ton of money in endorsements. (off his parent's stern looks) Just trying to lighten up the mood. Martha: Much as we'd love to see your face on a cereal box, we'd settle for you getting to school on time.

    • Clark: I thought you came over for fashion advice. (Clark shows her a shirt) Chloe: Burn that. What else have you got? Clark: I'll check the laundry basket.

    • Chloe: Are you from an ice planet? It's freezing. I'm going to go thaw out by the fire. Have fun.

    • Chloe: Don't sound so shocked, Clark. Guys do find me attractive even though I don't have raven hair and the initials "L.L."

    • Lex: A high school boyfriend isn't a husband; he's an obstacle.

    • Jonathan: We already talked about that. Martha: I talked, you grunted. Jonathan: I thought that I was rather articulate.

    • Clark: Hello, citizens. Martha: I'm not familiar with this child. Where's the moody one? Lives upstairs, runs real fast?

    • Chloe: Your online horoscope suggests that you try not to flaunt your excitement which I know will be hard since you've been waiting for this date since, like your first growth spurt. Clark: I'll say this one more time, and then I'll print up bumper stickers: this is not a date.

    • Pete: Clark Kent, international man of mystery.

    • Chloe: This is what I love about high school parties: people will gather anywhere as long as there's illegally purchased alcohol and even the slightest chance of hooking up.

    • Pete: I can't believe both your dates went straight to hell and I ended up with the limo.

    • Chloe: I'm swearing off men. Clark: We're not all bad. Pete: Maybe you should just swear off heat-sucking horn dogs.

    • Sean: If you want I could rub them for you; nothing heats up the body like friction. Chloe: Wow. I can't believe you just delivered that line with a straight face.

    • Martha: The distributer gets 12.5. Jonathan: Feed bill over 6 months at 5% Martha: Plus the mortgage at 8.2 plus the harvester repairs gives us... Clark: (instantly) $54,501.38.

  • NOTES (6)

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    • Music: "Rescue" by Eve 6, "Standing Still" and "This Way" by Jewel, "Let Your Shoulder Fall" by Matthew Jay, "On Your Side" by Pete Yorn, and "We're At the Top of the World" by The Juliana Theory.

    • When Chloe and Clark are going through Clark's clothes, she tells him "blue's a good color on you." -Reference to his costume to come?

    • Originally advertised as "Freeze"

    • Even more in-jokes: Chloe comments she doesn't want to be a crash test dummy for the guys' dating lives. The band Crash Test Dummies put out a hit single about Superman.

    • When Lex approaches Martha Kent at her farm and she almost cuts him with a chainsaw, he comments apropro of nothing, "Good thing you didn't have an arc welder." In the TV show The Adventures of Lois & Clark, Martha Kent was an artist who used an arc welder to make metal sculptures.

    • In-joke: note Sean's last name, and the nature of his powers.

  • ALLUSIONS (0)

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