Extinction review

[serafina20]

Hmm. Interesting episode this week, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. It was very much in the style of S1: FOTW plot with the freaks being the vaguely sympathetic victims (Lex, Clark, those who haven't done no wrong) and the Freak being the son of the Marine man. After last season, I thought I would almost welcome a return to the norm, and the episode was, in fact, very, very gay.

So, let's start with the Gay:

Van and his froggy friend. They actually seemed a lot like Clark and Chloe from first season, right down to the unrequited longing on Van's part (him taking the Chloe part in snarking the one besotted on Lana). Then he killed Froggy Man. In style of course, judging by the beautiful eyeliner he sported later in the show.

Lex and Clark. Gay. Clark rushes all the way to Metropolis to save Lex instead of calling. Then he stays behind to beat up Van, until Van pulls out his rocks and screws up that plan.

And speaking of Van, did he actually say, "How does that feel?" while lording over a writhing Clark? Oh, yeah, he did. GAY.

And then for the stretching the gay: Any conversation with Lana or using the word "freak" could easily be coded for "queer", and thus, Clark is gay and not ready to come out.

The Good:

Lex. I, of course, live in a Riftless world over here on the banks of deNile, but I really like the direction they're going with him. He's not insane after his stint on the island, but he's wary. Beyond that, now he's gotten the idea that he may be invincible. Special. Akin to God. And, since Clark can't tell him what he's doing (why? Because the writers say so), Lex is going to gather more in more evidence of his godlike state until he begins to think he's above it all. I do hope that the other side of his decent to evil does follow the path of him trying to do good but doing it wrong each time, because that seems more tragic than him simply becoming a flaming, queeny, maniacal psychopath, but I won't hold my breath. This show is, after all, written by the same guys that said Pete finding out Clark's secret gave him a "pivotal role" last season.

Clark. I loved his line to Lana about maybe not having a choice about being alone. To me, it was delivered without self-pity, without asking for pity, just as matter of fact. He's beginning to realize that maybe he won't be able to share all of himself, and while he's sad, he's coming to terms with it.

I'll get into the bad of Clark (or, rather, the huh? of Clark later), but right now, I just want to say I like how he seems to be thinking about things now. The meteor shower, and his actions. I wish that he'd taken out Van because I'd like to see him take out an enemy in a way that doesn't result in a death or violent injury (that, of course, isn't his fault).

Chloe and Lionel. I like the path this is going. The characterization is consistent for both Chloe and Lionel. Color me journalistically intrigued. Okay, I'm not a journalist. Just colored me intrigued.

Chloe and Clark. Friends again. Yay!

Pete. Had lines. Had actions. Then disappeared. So sad.

Lana. KK is still acting fairly well.

The Bad

Martha, if your son stops breathing, then you breathe for him, okay? Two breaths every, what? Five seconds I think?

Slow motion. God, it hurt. Hurt so bad, why the hell was their so much slow motion?

And the bullet making scene. What, were the writers not able to fill up forty minutes of plot? Because that scene hurt as well.

Clark hasn't killed anyone? Keep telling yourself that, baby. I can buy Tina, since he just stepped aside, but the others? Not so much.

Lana's being stalked. Again. And no, Lana, Chloe has not had more freaks after her than you. You're the center of the universe, remember? It's all about you. Making Lana fight back each time doesn't make her more interesting. WE DON'T CARE ABOUT LANA.

The scenes between Lionel and Lex were weird. I don't know why and I don't know if they were bad, but something was just off.

Oh, and swimming by yourself? Lana, what the hell are you thinking? You're SMW. And did she *drive* to the pool at the high school? Because that was the same pool as in "Nicodemus" (but not Redux, I don't think), and that pool was on campus. Yet she drove away just before.

So, I'm giving this episode a B/B-. As for next week, it better be a fucking dream, yo? Otherwise, I'm kicking some typing monkey ass.

Comments

[sullivanlane.livejournal.com]

I too wondered why either Bo Kent or Martha didn't administer CPR to Clark. They said he stopped breathing.

I posted my thoughts on my LJ too, and like you I thought it was a fairly good episode, small nitpicks aside.

[tigress35.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I suppose they could have... once they got the bullet out, his skin healed pretty quickly. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it, but I wonder if his skin could heal itself and then his body still be able to die.

And speaking of Van, did he actually say, "How does that feel?" while lording over a writhing Clark? Oh, yeah, he did. GAY.


There was one line, where I think Van told Lana that Clark could take one, but what about his whole clip, and I started snickering, and then Craig caught on about why I was laughing and it's so fun to twist lines.

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I suppose they could have... once they got the bullet out, his skin healed pretty quickly.

They didn't need CPR since his heart didn't stop beating, but they should have administered recuse breathing the moment he stopped breathing. As Jonathan was digging out the bullet, Martha should have been breathing for Clark. There's a difference between recuse breathing and CPR that television doesn't seem to get yet, just as they don't seem to understand that if your heart stops beating, CPR doesn't start it again, it just keeps the blood circulating until a difibulator (or however you spell it) can be used.

As for Clark's skin healing and him still leaving, that's a good question. You'd think taht if the kryptonite was Clark's blood stream, it would take a lot longer for him to heal. That's why I thought the two measly rocks that Van had during the scene where he tried to shoot Lex affected Clark so much. When Clark cut himself with the rock for Edge, some of it got into his bloodstream, making him more sensitive to it. But then he healed so quickly from the bullets, I figured it was just done for dramatic affect.