Hourglass

Season 1, Episode 6, Aired
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Episode Summary

An old man uses green meteor rock to reverse the aging process, then gain vengeance on the children of the jury that put him away decades earlier. Meanwhile, another woman at the same old folks' home has prophetic abilities and she sees the futures of both Clark and Lex.moreless
9.3
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Fan Episode Reviews (24)

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  • Lana is working at a elderly care home, so Clark gets a job there too. Clark's charge is an old woman who can see the future, while Lana's old man falls into a pond containing Kryptonite rejuvenating him to youth, and with a 60 old grudge to settle. Acemoreless

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By Jay-Spacedust, Mar 06, 2011 Report Abuse
    This review contains spoilers.

    The high quality of the first season continues with another great episode, "Hourglass".

    After very basic, slightly generic mutants-of-the-week in the first couple of episodes of the series, the writers are getting much more creative at this point. When the elderly Harry falls into the pond contaminated with Kryptonite and emerges rejuvenated, I half expected the episode to fall into a retread of 'Cocoon' (1985). Thankfully, the story takes its own direction.

    The climax of the episode is very good, slipping into a slasher-like scare fest. I liked that Martha was responsible for putting an end to Harry although almost killing herself in the process; it is nice that Clark doesn't directly have to be the saviour each and every week.

    There is also the b-plot of the old lady, Cassandra, who can see the future. She predicts that someone close to Clark will die soon, and also, near the end of the episode, sees a psychedelically dark vision of Lex, before she passes away.
    I did kinda guess that the person close to Clark that would die would be her, but it didn't matter too much that I guessed, as it played out very well.

    "Hourglass" is a top-notch episode. At the start I thought it might be slightly predictable, but it turns out to be really enjoyable. I give it a high-scoring 9.5 out of 10.moreless

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  • this was another really good ep

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By cube2k8, May 07, 2010 Report Abuse
    in this smallville ep clark gets pete to volinteer at a nursing home were he knows lana is volinteering and they have to help out this lady that can suposivly see the feature. and she tells pete that he left the keys in the car. and she tells clark she can see his future he gets spooked at first and leavies meanwhile lana is helping this old man that is a history buff and he askes to be taking out near the water and he tells lana to go get his skarf and falls in and then he becoems young again and starts to target the sons of the parents that convicted him years ago . and clark must deal with the fact if this lady really can see the feature.moreless

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  • A great episode of Smallville. (Spoilers)

    8.5
    "Great"
    By Jason5550123, Jul 10, 2009 Report Abuse
    This was another great episode of the first season of Smallville, showing that even mortal villains can be a threat to Clark. The character interaction is, of course, brilliant as always. My favorite character is obviously Clark, followed by his father, Jonathon. Of course the rest of the cast is superb, I don't think they could have chosen better actors for any of the characters. I do hope they start including more action sequences though. Although, the action they do have in this episode is pretty good. The end of the episode was kind of like a horror movie/thriller, which I thought was pretty cool. Overall though, I give this episode, Hourglass, an 8.5 out of 10.moreless

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  • Clark and friends investigate a murder which they trace to a nursing home resident who apparently has acquired meteor powers, and who uses them for revenge on the descendants of Smallville families.moreless

    7.5
    "Good"
    By cxtasy, Jan 19, 2009 Report Abuse
    From an elderly male resident at a local nursing home, Lana learns that her ancestors moved to Smallville in 1938 and bought a couple farms. Another elderly woman, Cassandra, is allegedly mildly psychic, but the old man, Henry Volk bears a bitter grudge towards those who convicted him of murder in his youth. Unlike most episodes to date, this one has the antagonist acquiring meteor powers not by early exposure to the meteor shower, but by falling into a pond (source of electrical discharge unknown), which transforms him into a revitalized youth, while Clark is simultaneously receiving from the old woman a warning about someone close to him dying very soon.

    The matter of a missing patient is trivialized, even though the script for Lana has her feel guilty about losing a patient when she left him at the pond at his request. How the now-young Henry can continue to impersonate an aide at the nursing home is likewise an unexplained plot element.

    Mr. Rosenbaum gets to swerve around in a nice black Ferrari cabriolet, tagged "LEX 1," while Clark is consigned to hauling organic produce from the farm in the old blue Dodge pickup. Lana and Clark eventually discover that the old man was living under an alias for many years, and Volk starts taking his revenge on the descendants of his jury. With Cassandra's touch, Clark's fears of losing everyone around him become the subject of a vision of cemetery headstones, with the names of family and friends. Lex always seeks to exploit any ability he detects, and consults Cassandra about Clark, still a subject of his curiosity. But she won't talk, and he won't touch.

    Even with only a couple brief scenes, Mr. Rosenbaum's acting skill and presence stand out among all the cast members, but Cassandra (Jackie Burroughs) also creates such a strong image that she remains with you for some time after the close of the story.

    Somehow Lana gets her first glimpse of Chloe's Wall of Wierd - and the magazine photo from her tragic youth is on the wall too, giving Clark the chance to offer some genuine sympathy. Clark, Chloe and Pete do some good detective work on Volk, and begin tracking him down. Guest star Eric Olsen has to fake some piano playing in this episode, making us wonder why it's considered helpful to bestow upon untalented actors skills they do not possess. Cassandra has words of hope for Clark, seeing him saving people from fear and darkness, with the choice of how to carry out this responsibility still up to Clark.

    Volk goes after his next victim, and Clark intervenes in some pretty good scenes of him being run over by a truck while saving a young lady. He catches up with the fleeing young Volk, but the real dilemma is how anyone can proved he's actually the old man he once was.

    A secondary plot has Lex showing Clark the blue Porsche 911 from which Clark saved him at the bridge - it's still on display at the mansion - Lex won't let go of that incident, and Clark continues his well-worn denials of anything unusual about the rescue. The writers nicely dovetail Lex's curiosity into the other story about Cassandra.

    Shackled at the hospital, Volk morphs from young back to old out of sight of anyone - the perfect alibi, while Clark discovers the meteor rock at the pond - it has the usual effect on him. Clark faces down the old man effectively - none of that hesitation or wishy-washy Clark who sometimes appears in Smallville episodes when a strong confrontation is appropriate. Volk is freed and decides to take another pond dip - it's a modern-day Fountain of Youth.

    Investigator Chloe discovers that Volk is killing jurors - and one was Hiram Kent, Clark's grandfather. Again-young Volk comes to the Kent farm, but despite Martha's extra caution, she's not quite a match for the murderer. Ms. O'Toole has some difficult scenes here as she hides in a grain bin, then if found by Volk. The expected grain dump takes place, burying both in a mass of corn, as Jonathan and Clark arrive in time to dig her out and revive her, but the antagonist is finally done in.

    Lex again visits Cassandra, this time willing to check his destiny but allowing her to hold his had - "I lived when he should have died," he says. But her vision of him is frightening, he's the U.S. President, alone in a vast field of beautiful flowers...but in a moment his touch causes them to wilt and die in a dark and ever-expanding circle of death, and then begins a rain of blood. It's a dramatic scene, and the most important in the episode in that it demonstrates the potential evil within Lex that even he does not yet recognize. This vision will no doubt become a continuing image when we think of Lex and his future. We conclude that he did not see this vision, it was Cassandra's alone, but the shock of such great potential for evil stills her own life force.

    Lex calls for help, and Clark enters moments later, not seeing Lex, but only Cassandra. It's a sad ending for an average episode, but the foreboding vision of Lex and how he would use power is one of Smallville's imaginative best. Re-run rating C+.moreless

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  • Murder By Visions

    9.3
    "Superb"
    By lenzinoH20, May 13, 2008 Report Abuse
    Hourglass-An old man uses green meteor rock to reverse the aging process, then gain vengeance on the children of the jury that put him away decades earlier. Meanwhile, another woman at the same old folks' home has prophetic abilities and she sees the futures of both Clark and Lex.

    One of the first episodes to show how capable of a series Smallville can be, "Hourglass" sees the writing staff creating an indepth hour of television. "Hourglass" is unlike the first 5 episodes of the series, as there is a much darker tone throughout this hour and the storyline is much more complex. The 2 freak of the weeks of the episode are both well-developed characters and drive the story quite well. First being Jackie Burroughs (Cassandra Carver) who is by far the best guest star to come to Smallville. Cassandra becomes an unlikely ally for Clark throughout the episode and their scenes together provide much insight on the future. Cassandra is a great mentor for Clark and her dialogue is quite touching. Cassandra's visions are very inriguing and thought-provoking. The vision she has Clark when sees him out live all his loved ones is well-directed but also great forshadowing of Clark's destiny. Young Harry Bolston/Volk is one of the best villains of the series thus far. He's M.O. was well though-out as well as the kryptonite infested lake causing him to revert to his youth. Eric Christian Olsen gives a suprisingly good performance as the psychotic murder out to get revenge on the ones who convicted him. I usually see this actor in low budget comedies like The Hot Chick, but he's quite impressive here. There is just this subtle sinister mannerism that he portrays that is very convincing. My favorite scene would have to be when he appears out of no where to stab Clark and the knife breaks into pieces of his chest. It's a disturbing scene with excellent effects. The final act where Harry goes after Martha is suspenseful and whole sequence is well acted. The episode ends with the best scene of the episode, and probably one of the best scenes of the series as Cassandra has a horrifying vision of Lex's future. It's a truly remarkable sequence as we see Lex as President of the US then we see Lex in a middle of a beautiful field of sunflowers. Suddenly, all the flowers die when Lex touches one, the field is filled with corpses and it rains blood as Lex is covered by it. Cassandra's death from the vision only adds to how terrifying the sequence is as well as Lex's reaction to her death. "Hourglass" shows how great Smallville can be just beyond the Superman mythology when it creates tragic yet chilling episodes like this.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • At 42:49 there is a shot of Cassandra after she died, but it is easy to see the actress breathing. Edit
    • After he visits the diner for the first time, Young Harry goes back to the nursing home and puts on a set of blues. Why? Does he think he's going to somehow pass as his old version? Apparently he just goes back and changes his clothes just to play the piano. If he hangs around for what appears to be at least one full day, why didn't anyone else notice he was gone? Edit
    • As is often the case, Clark walks out into the middle of the koi pond, filled with green meteor rock, and doesn't feel a thing until he looks down and sees the stuff. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • Music: "Time Served" by Dispatch, "Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, op. 59" and "Piano Sonata No. 1 in C minor, op. 4" by Idil Biret (written by Fryderyk Chopin), "5/4" by Gorillaz, and "Crush" by Kevin Clay. Edit
    • This episode marks the first appearance of Mitchell Kosterman as Sheriff Ethan, although he appeared previously in "X-Ray" as an unnamed deputy. Edit
    • When Lana and Mr. Bolston first talk, he mentions that the Langs moved to Smallville in 1938. This is the same year that Superman debuted in Action Comics. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Lex: I believe we make our own destiny. Edit
    • Cassandra: Mr. Ross, if you want your fortune told, go to the circus. Edit
    • Pete: Yeah, but we could have served our community by lifeguarding the girl's swim class at the Y, instead of hanging out with the denture crowd. I mean, what's the attraction? Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Chloe: At least we know how he's doing the Time Warp. Reference to the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The Time Warp is a dance that the Transylvanians do. Edit
    • Cassandra: Cassandra is a classical character that was the most beautiful daughter of the king of Troy, who was given the gift of prophecy by the god Apollo. Cassandra rejected Apollo's seduction, so he cursed her so that no one would ever believe her predictions. The name "Cassandra", or otherwise "Cassie" was used for another psychic a year later on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Edit
    • Lex: I come bearing gifts...
      In order to gain leverage in the Battle of Troy, the Greeks had to devise a clever plan that would gain them access to the city of Troy. They constructed a huge wooden horse with a hollow belly and hid Greek soldiers in the horse's belly. The Trojans believed they defeated the Greeks and celebrated. In the early morning the Greek soldiers left the belly and opened the gate to Troy, allowing the Greek army to attack on the unsuspecting Trojans. Edit

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