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Smallville: CURE
This actually may be my all-time favorite episode of Smallville.
Of the so-awesome-the-awesomeness-cannot-be- textually- rendered:
The girls and the boys have switched places!! OMG! I think I screamed out loud when it turned out that Lana is watching Lex just like he watched her (complete with a secret chamber!!! Yay for Luthorian secret chambers!) And not only has Lana become Lex, but Chloe has become Clark, really really wanting to make things all right with Jimmy but completely incapable of sharing her secret.
*Insert lots of lots of flaily noise, because I flailed for a LONG time after those two scenes*
And ahem, if Lana is Lex and Chloe is Clark, the Chlana can't be far behind. Really. And no, I'm never going to stop futilely hoping for this pairing, so just be warned.
Of the really awesome.
Dean Cain!!! Ok, I watched all three seasons of Lois and Clark completely for Dean Cain's hottitude, so I cannot help but approve that they got him on the show. And I love that he got to be an evil immortal trying, Frankenstein-like, to make himself a bride. (I did think making him Jack the Ripper was a little over the top, though). Also, his encounters with Lex were terrific.
Cain and Abel-El! I love that storyline, brother El against brother El. And I love that the two aliens Clark trusts, Kara and MM, are in opposition to each other; that's going to make his relationship with both of them interestingly complicated. And it definitely makes the search for that Kryptonian MacGuffin Kara lost more meaningful.
Jimmy/Kara. I hate to say it, because I always thought Chloe and Jimmy were cute, and their breakup scene did hurt my heart, but "James" and Kara have mega-chemistry in a way that Chloe and Jimmy never had. Even though Kara is kind of deftly exploiting him, she really does like him--and Jimmy can't help but bask in her praise and admiration. Plus the chopsticks thing and the mutual bonding over their interest in extraterrestrial life was really cute. "Everyone knows Martians use infrared." Hee!!!
Lana, who completely rocked the house. I love that she started the day all domestic, making blueberry pancakes for Clark, and ended the day in her secret lair, spying on Lex. And in the middle she had that extremely cute reaction to Jonn Jonzz (I take it he's a Kryptonian too?) and handled the Martian revelation with great aplomb. And masterminded a plot to help the victims of 33.1. Oh, and deftly handled the ten million dollar accusation from Lex: misdirecting Clark in a very effective way by pointing out Lex's motive for lying (even though he was actually being truthful) and lying herself. Damn. You are more a Luthor now than ever, Lana, and damn if that doesn't make you fun to watch.
James Olson, who really is an amazing boyfriend. That box of momentoes made me cry, dammit. He's also an adorable geek and really talented at his job, as Kara recognized. I actually think I'm sadder for him than I am for Chloe, and normally my sympathies would be for Chloe.
Clark and Lex. My god, two scenes together--that's the most since Nemesis, isn't it? And really good scenes together, too. Clark knows perfectly well Lex is covering up for 33.1; Lex knows Lana is feeding Clark information, and drops revelations about Lana and money in a way that manages to sow doubt without sounding like he's deliberately attacking her. Damn. It's so much fun to watch them really go up against each other even as they (kind of) end up working together.
The whole A plot. I really love that they're addressing the issue of mutants--how Lex is looking for a cure, but one that erases their memories of captivity. SMART, albeit pretty damn creepy. And it's really interesting to watch Chloe struggling with her own mutation. I like that she is trying to get Jimmy to stop saying "meteor freaks," but clearly she does still think of them as freaks--that's what she labels herself when she visits Dr. Knox, and her reaction to Sasha being out of Belle Reve clearly indicates she thinks the meteor-infected are dangerous. And the fact that she's willing to potentially give up her past to preserve her future clearly shows how scared she is.
I've been looking forward to Chloe's storyline because the re-evaluation of the meteor infected is something the show has toyed with since season 4, but never really explored in depth. What I didn't realize until the closing scenes of this ep, though, was how Chloe coming to grips with her own mutation would parallel Clark's coming to terms with his alienness. That makes me really excited for this season.
ETA
I forgot one other thing that was really significant about this episode: Lex deliberately killed someone. Well, he would have if Knox wasn't immortal. True, he killed someone who he found hauling a dead body around, but still. This seems like a big step to me, putting six rounds into someone's chest.
Of the WTF:
Does the entire population of extraterrestrials know that Lana knows Clark's secrets? Because otherwise, they're being very cavalier about revealing things.
Of the so-awesome-the-awesomeness-cannot-be- textually- rendered:
The girls and the boys have switched places!! OMG! I think I screamed out loud when it turned out that Lana is watching Lex just like he watched her (complete with a secret chamber!!! Yay for Luthorian secret chambers!) And not only has Lana become Lex, but Chloe has become Clark, really really wanting to make things all right with Jimmy but completely incapable of sharing her secret.
*Insert lots of lots of flaily noise, because I flailed for a LONG time after those two scenes*
And ahem, if Lana is Lex and Chloe is Clark, the Chlana can't be far behind. Really. And no, I'm never going to stop futilely hoping for this pairing, so just be warned.
Of the really awesome.
Dean Cain!!! Ok, I watched all three seasons of Lois and Clark completely for Dean Cain's hottitude, so I cannot help but approve that they got him on the show. And I love that he got to be an evil immortal trying, Frankenstein-like, to make himself a bride. (I did think making him Jack the Ripper was a little over the top, though). Also, his encounters with Lex were terrific.
Cain and Abel-El! I love that storyline, brother El against brother El. And I love that the two aliens Clark trusts, Kara and MM, are in opposition to each other; that's going to make his relationship with both of them interestingly complicated. And it definitely makes the search for that Kryptonian MacGuffin Kara lost more meaningful.
Jimmy/Kara. I hate to say it, because I always thought Chloe and Jimmy were cute, and their breakup scene did hurt my heart, but "James" and Kara have mega-chemistry in a way that Chloe and Jimmy never had. Even though Kara is kind of deftly exploiting him, she really does like him--and Jimmy can't help but bask in her praise and admiration. Plus the chopsticks thing and the mutual bonding over their interest in extraterrestrial life was really cute. "Everyone knows Martians use infrared." Hee!!!
Lana, who completely rocked the house. I love that she started the day all domestic, making blueberry pancakes for Clark, and ended the day in her secret lair, spying on Lex. And in the middle she had that extremely cute reaction to Jonn Jonzz (I take it he's a Kryptonian too?) and handled the Martian revelation with great aplomb. And masterminded a plot to help the victims of 33.1. Oh, and deftly handled the ten million dollar accusation from Lex: misdirecting Clark in a very effective way by pointing out Lex's motive for lying (even though he was actually being truthful) and lying herself. Damn. You are more a Luthor now than ever, Lana, and damn if that doesn't make you fun to watch.
James Olson, who really is an amazing boyfriend. That box of momentoes made me cry, dammit. He's also an adorable geek and really talented at his job, as Kara recognized. I actually think I'm sadder for him than I am for Chloe, and normally my sympathies would be for Chloe.
Clark and Lex. My god, two scenes together--that's the most since Nemesis, isn't it? And really good scenes together, too. Clark knows perfectly well Lex is covering up for 33.1; Lex knows Lana is feeding Clark information, and drops revelations about Lana and money in a way that manages to sow doubt without sounding like he's deliberately attacking her. Damn. It's so much fun to watch them really go up against each other even as they (kind of) end up working together.
The whole A plot. I really love that they're addressing the issue of mutants--how Lex is looking for a cure, but one that erases their memories of captivity. SMART, albeit pretty damn creepy. And it's really interesting to watch Chloe struggling with her own mutation. I like that she is trying to get Jimmy to stop saying "meteor freaks," but clearly she does still think of them as freaks--that's what she labels herself when she visits Dr. Knox, and her reaction to Sasha being out of Belle Reve clearly indicates she thinks the meteor-infected are dangerous. And the fact that she's willing to potentially give up her past to preserve her future clearly shows how scared she is.
I've been looking forward to Chloe's storyline because the re-evaluation of the meteor infected is something the show has toyed with since season 4, but never really explored in depth. What I didn't realize until the closing scenes of this ep, though, was how Chloe coming to grips with her own mutation would parallel Clark's coming to terms with his alienness. That makes me really excited for this season.
ETA
I forgot one other thing that was really significant about this episode: Lex deliberately killed someone. Well, he would have if Knox wasn't immortal. True, he killed someone who he found hauling a dead body around, but still. This seems like a big step to me, putting six rounds into someone's chest.
Of the WTF:
Does the entire population of extraterrestrials know that Lana knows Clark's secrets? Because otherwise, they're being very cavalier about revealing things.
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I loved the Clark/Lex scenes - the way Clark just scooped Lex up! And was there in the hospital with him, showing Lex's focus on him sitting there.
Happymaking.
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I always love Clark saving Lex--and it was about time they got a scene together!
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As someone who hasn't watched a new SV ep for … a long time, it really sounds like the writers are smoking crackier crack with each episode :o) !
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And really? I get that you, like a number of other folks in SV fandom, are here mainly for the fic or the Clex or whathaveyou and have given up on canon. That's cool--it's not my job to convert you to love for the show.
But I like canon--I think that's entirely clear just from this review, even if you don't normally read my reviews because you're not watching the show any more. And if you do read my reviews, you know that I am actually kind of a cheerleader for canon, and specifically for Lana's character development in the last three seasons. And your comment struck me as the equivalent of someone commenting on a Clex story saying "As someone who doesn't read slash, and therefore didn't read this story, I wonder what kind of crack you must be smoking to write this :O)"
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Sorry, I didn't mean to imply it didn't; in fact, I assume it didn't, but just had to point out - and not for the first time, I gather - that for someone who stopped watching eons ago, the characters sound so different from how I know them!
And I think it's great that you (and others) like canon - it makes me hope it's just me, that canon is still good. And I regularly read your reviews to bask in the reflected glow of your canon love :o)
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And I'm glad you enjoy the reviews, though they must be kind of odd without watching, especially when I'm just squeeing in bullet points and not forming coherent sentences.
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"Everyone knows Martians use infrared." Hee, that was so cute! Kara is getting more wonderful each episode.
Lex deliberately killed someone.
And he didn't seem very bothered by it, either. It's kinda odd - on the one hand he's no long all cold and unreadable this season, and actually shows some sign of still having morals and a conscience (if paired with ulterior motives) but on the other hand he seems to have lost his angsting about the evils he does judge necessary.
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I think it's deliberate: showing us he has, actually, become a competent villain, but one who is charismatic enough that we still like him (hence the lack of coldness).
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And I agree about the role reversal ... Lana is definitely Lex and Chloe is definitely Clark ...
And Clark saved Lex! And sat by his bedside!! *ignores the angriness when Lex woke up*
And Dean Cain was the shit!! He was gorgeous and creepy and ... *happy sigh*
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You know, before I saw Dean Cain's version of Superman in Lois/Clark, I was all Superman....Piff! Batman is the man. Now I still think Batman rocks, (Christian Bale *swoon*) but I now love Superman equally and that's in part to Dean Cain. So, it was a treat seeing him still looking so hot and being so very bad.
I know. Chloe/Jimmy was sweet, but James/Kara is hotttt! I'm really loving Chloe's overall story arc which is a surprise since I haven't liked Chloe in years. I guess all that was needed was for the writers to tone down her smugness and actually give her a storyline, and I'm all with the love again.
Lana is like the queen of badasses now and it makes her imminently watchable.
I nearly fainted when I saw Lex/Clark....in a scene.......together! One that didn't involve Clark storming into Lex's mansion, but had them calmly (if a bit angrily) talking, and working for a common goal. Color me stunned. I didn't think the writers knew how to still do that.
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I like the fact that the writers are mixing things up, having Lex come to the Kent house rather than the reverse, toning down Clark's accusations while still making them accurate, having Lex play Clark by telling him the truth. It definitely makes stuff more interesting.
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I agree! I think Jimmy's cute in ANY relationship and I always found him adorable with Chloe, but there's way more zing with Kara. I'm excited!
Chloe coming to grips with her own mutation would parallel Clark's coming to terms with his alienness.
I didn't realise they'd go that route either. I guess viewed that way her non-reveal to Jimmy at the end, with her losing the relationship instead makes more sense. In fact, I can now see why the writers wrote it that way. I struggled with it from a character perspective. But we know they love to put parallelism first and internal consistency second, so I shouldn't really be surprised! ;) I'm pleased to see they've got a solid road mapped out for the Chloe plot.
This seems like a big step to me, putting six rounds into someone's chest.
Yeah, did you notice that his stance matched that from Vortex too? But that in all other ways his body language was so different. No hesitation this time, no regret.
no subject
Already addressed the Chloe thing on your journal, so we can talk more about it over there.
I didn't catch the parallel to Vortex with Lex, though. Interesting! And yeah, definitely no hesitation or regret.
part I
Clark and Lex. My god, two scenes together--that's the most since Nemesis, isn't it? And really good scenes together, too. Clark knows perfectly well Lex is covering up for 33.1; Lex knows Lana is feeding Clark information, and drops revelations about Lana and money in a way that manages to sow doubt without sounding like he's deliberately attacking her. Damn. It's so much fun to watch them really go up against each other even as they (kind of) end up working together.
I really love how cool Lex plays things these days. From his attitude of "Mussolini failed, bitch. Step off," with Knox when Knox oh-so-subtly tried to intimidate to his attitude of "Knox is immortal, bitch. Step off," when Clark got all sanctimonious with him in the hospital*, to not even blinking as he unloaded all six bullets into Knox, he rocked my sox. His screentime is so quality these days; it feels like he's stretching his iconic muscles every time he has a scene.
The whole A plot. I really love that they're addressing the issue of mutants--how Lex is looking for a cure, but one that erases their memories of captivity. SMART, albeit pretty damn creepy.
Right. That's what I'm talking about: his motives are explained and even reasonable if one ignores the truly questionable means by which he attains his ends, and he's done trying to get the other characters to see his point of view; he'll bend the world to his will, Clark and everyone else's opinions be damned. And that's Lex Luthor, baby.
And it's really interesting to watch Chloe struggling with her own mutation. I like that she is trying to get Jimmy to stop saying "meteor freaks," but clearly she does still think of them as freaks--that's what she labels herself when she visits Dr. Knox, and her reaction to Sasha being out of Belle Reve clearly indicates she thinks the meteor-infected are dangerous. And the fact that she's willing to potentially give up her past to preserve her future clearly shows how scared she is.
*nodnodnod* I like what this storyline has done for Chloe's character. It's made her more accessible to me than she's been, gosh, probably since she learned Clark's secret. Now that she's doing more than being his Trusted & Wise Confidante, I'm interested in her for herself again, rather than her as an extension of Clark.
Re: part I
Well, even if they are going for season 8, KK isn't signed for it, right? So I assume they're actually going for the end of the Clana this season, so it would be nice to think they are actually giving thought to how to end the relationship in a permanent way. But you're right, of course, that it's never a good idea to get your hopes up about plot developments related to Lana.
I really love how cool Lex plays things these days. From his attitude of "Mussolini failed, bitch. Step off," with Knox when Knox oh-so-subtly tried to intimidate to his attitude of "Knox is immortal, bitch. Step off," when Clark got all sanctimonious with him in the hospital*, to not even blinking as he unloaded all six bullets into Knox, he rocked my sox. His screentime is so quality these days; it feels like he's stretching his iconic muscles every time he has a scene.
Yes! It's about time, too. I so completely loved his scenes with Knox, where he kept winning the exchanges not because Knox was a wimpy villain but because Lex was simply better.
part II
This seems like a big step to me, putting six rounds into someone's chest.
To be fair, Lex did warn Knox; he gave the man a chance to stand down. Knox didn't heed him. Now obviously, Lex has crackerjack aim (a character trait that goes all the way back to the S2 premiere, btw *g*) and it's clear he could have disabled Knox -- if Knox were normal -- had he wanted to instead of aiming for the heart, um, six times, so it does raise the question of why he had the gun in the first place and if he always intended that Knox wouldn't get out of that conversation alive. What's really interesting is that it's that continuum you and I talked about back when Promise aired, the idea that the creative team recognizes they've got to build Lex up to taking someone's life with malice aforethought and all that jazz. The Knox shooting still has wiggle room: he was a killer himself, Lex told him to stand down and he didn't, and ultimately, he didn't really die. But it's further along the continuum than what Lex did in Promise. It's clear that he had the requisite intent in that scene with Knox, but it's still ... several steps shy of first-degree murder. I love it that they're taking that kind of care, because it'll be that much more meaningful when Lex finally crosses that line deliberately, with malice aforethought and for the sole and express purpose of wanting a mofo dead.
* I love Clark and I do get his frustration at constantly bailing Lex out of situations, but if Knox had died as a result of being tossed into a giant fuse box? That's actually not on Lex. It's not Lex's fault that Clark can't think of any other way to neutralize people than tossing them 30 feet into solid, inanimate objects. You choose to hurl someone 30 feet into a brick wall or a GIANT FUSE BOX, you take the lumps of that all by your lonesome, Kent.
Re: part II
But yeah, I agree that they're moving Lex along the continuum toward first-degree murder, even if he isn't there yet.
Re: part II
Oh, I definitely think that's what we're generally supposed to think; that's why Clark's line was so stupid, from both a meta-textual and intra-textual perspective. Meta-textually because the series' writers should know they've established as part of the show's ethos that Clark's signature move isn't deadly. They shouldn't have written him fretting about killing someone with it if they wanted to be consistent with the other nine million times he's done it. Raise the spectre that he could have killed Knox with it and you necessarily raise the spectre that it's been deadly other times he's done it -- and I would think they'd take better care not to raise that possibility, you know? Intra-textually, it was dopey because Clark's got a bunch of other powers in his arsenal. If he can't get creative enough with them that he's not tossing people into shit that can electrocute them, that's nobody's fault but Clark's.
p.s.