Smallville Review
May. 14th, 2003 10:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
serafina20Last night, instead of getting to watch Buffy and Smallville, I went to my brother's school to see the night of one acts. He was performing in one and had written another. Then there was one he had nothing to do with.
God, I hate theater sometimes. His play was great, funny, fairly well acted, and it moved along. The other two were ... not so great. The first play was pointless, and the second was too full of its own self-importance. But, ah well. The night ended without an explosion (my head was in danger of exploding).
And, I got to watch Smallville. I don't know how much I remember. My head is a little fuzzy right now and all I want to do is sleep. But here I go.
The Bad (because I want to end on a positive note today)
Not much. I'm firmly in the "Lionel needs a haircut" camp, or at least "Wash your damn hair, you magnificent bastard you!"
I wish I could have really *felt* the break between Lex and Lionel. I missed some emotional severing between him and Lex that would involve Lex not inviting him to the wedding. I'm not saying it doesn't make perfect sense, because it does. And I know Lex pretty much said his farewells to any hope of ever being Lionel's real son (for lack of better words) back in Insurgence. And still ... I'm missing something. Maybe it was Lionel who did the leaving in Insurgence ("I'll have my things out tonight" or whatever he said), or that the very next episode, he was shot and Lex was part way back on the, "Save my Daddy!" boat that made me forget Lionel's final betrayal. Or maybe it's just that, since Lex and Clark are drifting apart, and the whole Fever bull, I don't see that Lex is really emotionally invested in anyone. It's not that I don't see Lex not inviting Lionel to his wedding, I just ... something about the whole arc bugs me, and I can't put my finger on it.
Another part that irks me--no, wait, pisses me off--is the eminent character assassination. I can buy that Chloe is a little out of control with her emotions right now. She gets frustrated, blows up, acts like a bitch, calls off her friendship with Clark, calms down, realizes she was wrong, tries to make amends. I can buy that she thinks that she'll be okay with Clark and Lana together, or that, if they were just honest with her (which I think they are being, since neither Clark nor Lana knows what's going on with their relationship), and then not be able to deal with it. I've been there (only not so dramatically), and I've had mood swings and crying jags and lashing out periods, so I get it. That I can buy, even though I want that arc to end.
I cannot buy, though, that because Clark and Lana got together without telling Chloe, or that they got together period, that she would then work for Lionel and investigate Clark. Maybe she won't. Maybe the writers will surprise me, but it seems like they're setting her up for this.
Chloe is not a bad person. She knows the difference between right and wrong. Yes, in the past she had investigated Clark and his family, but she thought she was helping him. At first, she truly didn't realize that it could be conceived as wrong and stupid. Okay, whatever. Maybe her moral compass is a little skewed when it comes to a mystery. But the whole Rachel Dunleavy thing happened not because she was trying to hurt Clark, but because she was trying to help him. Perhaps she does want to hurt Clark right now, but I can't see her doing something that would have such serious repercussions as investigating him for Lionel. She has a pretty good idea of what Lionel is capable of. She wasn't exactly a Luthor-fan to begin with.
I hope I'm wrong. I want to be wrong. My first thought when Lionel asked Chloe to do this was that when she refused, she was going to be killed. I don't want to say hopefully she still will be, but it would be better than her doing something totally out of character and investigating Clark. (I can't believe I just said that.)
Oh, and I got bored watching Clark and Lana kiss. At least she kissed him back this time, instead of doing the 'icky boy lips' thing, but still. Too much. Boring.
Another thing that bothered me was them starting the scenes en media res. The two that come to mind are the scene with Lex and Clark, where Lex says something about the fairer sense and being fascinated by them, and then the one between Lex and Lionel that starts, "I can't believe you're still here tying to get invited to the wedding" or however it went. Just before the linguist came in and tired to palm 'em. I know it's supposed to look like they were all in conversation or something before we got there, but it felt to me like they were just standing around, blinking at each other until the audience came in. It was fake and awkward to me. I'd rather see the entrance.
The Good
I liked the episode overall. It wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't Dichotic. There were some lovely slashy moments between Clark and Lex. I didn't mind the whole Clark/Lana thing because it ain't going to go anywhere. Even Lana backpedaling didn't bother me because it was in character and I've felt the same way at times. She wasn't overly sacrificial, not too tragic, just a teenage girl in love. Or like.
The doctor was creepy. Too bad he's dead. Ah well.
The Lionel thing cracked me up. First he's with Helen, appearing out of nowhere and planting seeds of doubt. And then, Clark's in the caves and I thought, "Wouldn't it be funny if Lionel was there?" and bang! There he was. Funny. Maybe he's a clone. The pesky conscious thing was never a problem anyway.
Lex asking the Kent's to sit in for his family. Lovely and sweet, and would have been more effective, I don't know. If they'd been acting that close all season?
I'm glad Lionel didn't have the blood. I almost wonder if it was sent to Lex, or if Lex had really broken in. I liked that whole thing, but, once again, I would have felt it more strongly had I sense any real deep affection on Lex's part. I'm assuming when he pulled the vial from the safe, it was in a, "Was it worth it?" moment for him, but I saw it rather than felt it.
Helen's still going to die. Walking out on the relationship isn't going to help.
Were there two Jonathan Kent's last night?
My thought when Lex said that they were fascinated by the fairer sex was, "Think for yourself, Lex," from Clark. Because they were so smirking at each other. Then traipsing off to bless the wedding bed.
I'm intrigued by the message, and the ship, and look forward to next week's episode. I enjoyed this one a lot.
Oh! And I called Clark's "birthday" in May.
God, I hate theater sometimes. His play was great, funny, fairly well acted, and it moved along. The other two were ... not so great. The first play was pointless, and the second was too full of its own self-importance. But, ah well. The night ended without an explosion (my head was in danger of exploding).
And, I got to watch Smallville. I don't know how much I remember. My head is a little fuzzy right now and all I want to do is sleep. But here I go.
The Bad (because I want to end on a positive note today)
Not much. I'm firmly in the "Lionel needs a haircut" camp, or at least "Wash your damn hair, you magnificent bastard you!"
I wish I could have really *felt* the break between Lex and Lionel. I missed some emotional severing between him and Lex that would involve Lex not inviting him to the wedding. I'm not saying it doesn't make perfect sense, because it does. And I know Lex pretty much said his farewells to any hope of ever being Lionel's real son (for lack of better words) back in Insurgence. And still ... I'm missing something. Maybe it was Lionel who did the leaving in Insurgence ("I'll have my things out tonight" or whatever he said), or that the very next episode, he was shot and Lex was part way back on the, "Save my Daddy!" boat that made me forget Lionel's final betrayal. Or maybe it's just that, since Lex and Clark are drifting apart, and the whole Fever bull, I don't see that Lex is really emotionally invested in anyone. It's not that I don't see Lex not inviting Lionel to his wedding, I just ... something about the whole arc bugs me, and I can't put my finger on it.
Another part that irks me--no, wait, pisses me off--is the eminent character assassination. I can buy that Chloe is a little out of control with her emotions right now. She gets frustrated, blows up, acts like a bitch, calls off her friendship with Clark, calms down, realizes she was wrong, tries to make amends. I can buy that she thinks that she'll be okay with Clark and Lana together, or that, if they were just honest with her (which I think they are being, since neither Clark nor Lana knows what's going on with their relationship), and then not be able to deal with it. I've been there (only not so dramatically), and I've had mood swings and crying jags and lashing out periods, so I get it. That I can buy, even though I want that arc to end.
I cannot buy, though, that because Clark and Lana got together without telling Chloe, or that they got together period, that she would then work for Lionel and investigate Clark. Maybe she won't. Maybe the writers will surprise me, but it seems like they're setting her up for this.
Chloe is not a bad person. She knows the difference between right and wrong. Yes, in the past she had investigated Clark and his family, but she thought she was helping him. At first, she truly didn't realize that it could be conceived as wrong and stupid. Okay, whatever. Maybe her moral compass is a little skewed when it comes to a mystery. But the whole Rachel Dunleavy thing happened not because she was trying to hurt Clark, but because she was trying to help him. Perhaps she does want to hurt Clark right now, but I can't see her doing something that would have such serious repercussions as investigating him for Lionel. She has a pretty good idea of what Lionel is capable of. She wasn't exactly a Luthor-fan to begin with.
I hope I'm wrong. I want to be wrong. My first thought when Lionel asked Chloe to do this was that when she refused, she was going to be killed. I don't want to say hopefully she still will be, but it would be better than her doing something totally out of character and investigating Clark. (I can't believe I just said that.)
Oh, and I got bored watching Clark and Lana kiss. At least she kissed him back this time, instead of doing the 'icky boy lips' thing, but still. Too much. Boring.
Another thing that bothered me was them starting the scenes en media res. The two that come to mind are the scene with Lex and Clark, where Lex says something about the fairer sense and being fascinated by them, and then the one between Lex and Lionel that starts, "I can't believe you're still here tying to get invited to the wedding" or however it went. Just before the linguist came in and tired to palm 'em. I know it's supposed to look like they were all in conversation or something before we got there, but it felt to me like they were just standing around, blinking at each other until the audience came in. It was fake and awkward to me. I'd rather see the entrance.
The Good
I liked the episode overall. It wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't Dichotic. There were some lovely slashy moments between Clark and Lex. I didn't mind the whole Clark/Lana thing because it ain't going to go anywhere. Even Lana backpedaling didn't bother me because it was in character and I've felt the same way at times. She wasn't overly sacrificial, not too tragic, just a teenage girl in love. Or like.
The doctor was creepy. Too bad he's dead. Ah well.
The Lionel thing cracked me up. First he's with Helen, appearing out of nowhere and planting seeds of doubt. And then, Clark's in the caves and I thought, "Wouldn't it be funny if Lionel was there?" and bang! There he was. Funny. Maybe he's a clone. The pesky conscious thing was never a problem anyway.
Lex asking the Kent's to sit in for his family. Lovely and sweet, and would have been more effective, I don't know. If they'd been acting that close all season?
I'm glad Lionel didn't have the blood. I almost wonder if it was sent to Lex, or if Lex had really broken in. I liked that whole thing, but, once again, I would have felt it more strongly had I sense any real deep affection on Lex's part. I'm assuming when he pulled the vial from the safe, it was in a, "Was it worth it?" moment for him, but I saw it rather than felt it.
Helen's still going to die. Walking out on the relationship isn't going to help.
Were there two Jonathan Kent's last night?
My thought when Lex said that they were fascinated by the fairer sex was, "Think for yourself, Lex," from Clark. Because they were so smirking at each other. Then traipsing off to bless the wedding bed.
I'm intrigued by the message, and the ship, and look forward to next week's episode. I enjoyed this one a lot.
Oh! And I called Clark's "birthday" in May.
