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Smallville: Reckoning
Big-ass spoilers and first reactions to "Reckoning" behind the cut. I had to type these out before I went and read everyone else's reactions.
Ok, first of all, the cinematography was absolutely *gorgeous*--especially in the opening and closing scenes. I think you could probably do a frame-by-frame analysis of that final scene at the grave and get a *lot* of symbolism out of it--from Lana briefly holding his hand and then letting it go, to the positioning of Chloe and Lois, to that really creepy look Lionel gives Martha Kent, to Lex watching from the background. And the composition--with the washed out look, and the snow, and everyone in stark black--just damned gorgeous, and a wonderful mirroring to the opening scenes at the fortress, except there the white was broken by some color, of course (because passion/love was still possible). Whoever directed this (was it Almiles themselves?) just did an amazing, amazing job.
Second, as predicted, while I was not really moved by Jonathan's death itself, Martha and Clark's reaction to it just *killed* me--I was sobbing so hard I could barely make out the dialogue. AOT continues to rock the house, and she pretty much destroyed me. I also loved, though, how if anything Almiles took the tragedy from the first Superman movie and upped the ante: not only did Jonathan die, but he did so in a way that Clark feels responsible for. And even though it was kind of cheesy that he could go back in time and change things, it was so obviously a tribute to what he does for Lois in the movie--heck, Chloe even referenced "spinning the earth backward"--that I couldn't help but like it.
Just like I couldn't help but love the proposal. Because of the cinematography, it felt at first very much like a dream sequence of CLark's, which helped me not object to it, but frankly I admit to liking the wonder on Lana's face, and it seemed like a nice tribute to--umm, whichever that episode with Jor-El and Louise was called--that the first time we see Clark fly as himself (rather than while under the influence of Jor-el or whatrever) was when he was finally *choosing* to reveal himself to someone he loved. (I suppose he kind of chose with Pete, but the significance was somewhat different).
God, for the whole first half, though, all the anvils they were dropping about who might die were *killing* me, so I think I'll have to watch it again to say anything sensible about that, except *yay* for Chloe again coming through and being supportive friend when Clark told her about the proposal, and I thought that Lois-Lana scene was actually nice rather than anvilly, because I was starting to believe that Lana might actually die at that point.
And I have to say, both of the scenes with Lana and Lex were lovely and organic and in character, and I really liked the little differences between the two (as well as the similarities). In fact, if you get over the cheesiness of the whole time travel metaphor, this episode is a kind of microcosm of the theme of the whole show: how much of your life is choice, and how much is character/destiny? Lex and Lana make many of the same choices in those two scenes--though knowledge of Clark's secret or lack of it plays a big role in their relationship with *each other*, ultimately the ending would have been the same if Clark hadn't known the future.
And Jonathan Kent's death was, I think, also handled in a similar way. So Jor-El really wasn't punishing Clark, he was just predicting the future: Jonathan died because of his past choices and his choices in the present, and yes, his abilithy to make certain choices was shaped by Clark's decision, but I actually think Martha was right at the end that Clark was not, ultimately, responsible for his death, though that's not going to prevent Clark from blaming himself. And I doubt Clark is going to be sharing his secret voluntarily with anyone else in the near future.
I'm sure there are a million things worth commenting on I didn't get to, but I want to read everyone else's responses first.
Ok, first of all, the cinematography was absolutely *gorgeous*--especially in the opening and closing scenes. I think you could probably do a frame-by-frame analysis of that final scene at the grave and get a *lot* of symbolism out of it--from Lana briefly holding his hand and then letting it go, to the positioning of Chloe and Lois, to that really creepy look Lionel gives Martha Kent, to Lex watching from the background. And the composition--with the washed out look, and the snow, and everyone in stark black--just damned gorgeous, and a wonderful mirroring to the opening scenes at the fortress, except there the white was broken by some color, of course (because passion/love was still possible). Whoever directed this (was it Almiles themselves?) just did an amazing, amazing job.
Second, as predicted, while I was not really moved by Jonathan's death itself, Martha and Clark's reaction to it just *killed* me--I was sobbing so hard I could barely make out the dialogue. AOT continues to rock the house, and she pretty much destroyed me. I also loved, though, how if anything Almiles took the tragedy from the first Superman movie and upped the ante: not only did Jonathan die, but he did so in a way that Clark feels responsible for. And even though it was kind of cheesy that he could go back in time and change things, it was so obviously a tribute to what he does for Lois in the movie--heck, Chloe even referenced "spinning the earth backward"--that I couldn't help but like it.
Just like I couldn't help but love the proposal. Because of the cinematography, it felt at first very much like a dream sequence of CLark's, which helped me not object to it, but frankly I admit to liking the wonder on Lana's face, and it seemed like a nice tribute to--umm, whichever that episode with Jor-El and Louise was called--that the first time we see Clark fly as himself (rather than while under the influence of Jor-el or whatrever) was when he was finally *choosing* to reveal himself to someone he loved. (I suppose he kind of chose with Pete, but the significance was somewhat different).
God, for the whole first half, though, all the anvils they were dropping about who might die were *killing* me, so I think I'll have to watch it again to say anything sensible about that, except *yay* for Chloe again coming through and being supportive friend when Clark told her about the proposal, and I thought that Lois-Lana scene was actually nice rather than anvilly, because I was starting to believe that Lana might actually die at that point.
And I have to say, both of the scenes with Lana and Lex were lovely and organic and in character, and I really liked the little differences between the two (as well as the similarities). In fact, if you get over the cheesiness of the whole time travel metaphor, this episode is a kind of microcosm of the theme of the whole show: how much of your life is choice, and how much is character/destiny? Lex and Lana make many of the same choices in those two scenes--though knowledge of Clark's secret or lack of it plays a big role in their relationship with *each other*, ultimately the ending would have been the same if Clark hadn't known the future.
And Jonathan Kent's death was, I think, also handled in a similar way. So Jor-El really wasn't punishing Clark, he was just predicting the future: Jonathan died because of his past choices and his choices in the present, and yes, his abilithy to make certain choices was shaped by Clark's decision, but I actually think Martha was right at the end that Clark was not, ultimately, responsible for his death, though that's not going to prevent Clark from blaming himself. And I doubt Clark is going to be sharing his secret voluntarily with anyone else in the near future.
I'm sure there are a million things worth commenting on I didn't get to, but I want to read everyone else's responses first.
no subject
The Clark-flying-with-Lana harkens back to Jor-El and Louise in Relic (also written by Brian Peterson & Kelly Souders). What's interesting though is that Jor-El/Louise moment is actually an homage to a Clark/Lana moment in Jeph Loeb's graphic novel A Superman For All Seasons. In ASFAS, when Clark decides to leave Smallville for Metropolis, he decides to tell Lana the truth about himself as the means of explaining why he's leaving -- because he has a greater role to play. He takes her flying and tells her about Krypton, and at the end, she says something to him like "you've shown me more of the universe than I ever thought possible, and now, you're taking it all away". It's a very bittersweet moment in their history together (Loeb's Lana has never fully gotten over Clark). So, Peterson & Souders actually kind of took it old school when they had Clark fly with Lana in the Fortress in Reckoning.
no subject
no subject
I had a very similar emotional response to you to the episode. I nearly believed Lana might die! And then I figured it was going to be a 'didn't really happen' twist. Oh the beauty of Reckoning! Do you know I saw cows in a field with a little calf when I was down the beach and teared up remembering the shots from this ep...! Amazing!
*huggles Greg Beeman* Greg has amazing creative input into the show. I think he's one of the hidden forces that makes the show so great.
no subject
Oh, the little calf broke my heart. That whole shot of the Kent farm, so desolate! The landscape itself grieves! I'm never going to get around to writing my color essay, but one thing I did notice was that throughout the episode, there are three or four establishing shots of the Kent barn--and the light in each grows progressively less sunny and more wintry in each shot, culminating in that wonderful montage. And also, the only other episode with snow this season--actually the only other episode with snow that I can remember in the show (though I might be forgetting something) was Lexmas, which is a parallel I should go back and edit back in (as well as fixing typos--jeez there were a lot of typos in my essays this time).
no subject
The lighting usually reflects Clark's comfort zones--so at the farm it's always sun-drenched, getting darker and more shadowed the further he moves from his comfort zone (with Metropolis the most extreme). But they also use light and shade in particular scenes too. I think it was in the S4 extras that they had a feature on this. So I'm sure they spent a lot of time thinking through the lighting in this ep and it was beautiful.
Also interesting in Lexmas that so much of the ep was bright lights and the first sun-drenched bed scene was so un-Lexlike. That really brought home that Lex lives largely without a secure sunlit 'centre'. In his dream/vision, we got to see what it would be like if he had this stable heart/homeland, like Clark usually has. But gradually his vision darkened until Lana's death and the the final hospital shots were all heavily shadowed and stark greys and blues (traditional Lionel/Metropolis colours). This is all off the top of my head. I really must rewatch. But I just love the colour and light work on the show.
no subject