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Smallville: Traveller
So the medical stuff wasn't as bad as feared, and I actually got to watch SV tonight, albeit a little tape-delayed. YAYITY.
Denial is the first step
Ok, first things first: Patricia Swann is not dead. Because I love Gina Holden too much (oh Blood Ties, what did you do to me? I totally have a crush on her), and the character was way too cool to kill her off that early. I mean, she has serious femslash potential with, oh, just about anybody (Kara is the logical choice, all in all, but I'd be pretty damn happy with Lana or Chloe too), so I'm going with "I didn't actually see her corpse, so by TV logic she still could be alive. Blood spatter on a locket is not proof of death. La la la la la I can't hear you."
In which I actually appreciate SV's whackadoodle laws of characterization character inconsistencies:
I realized, watching tonight, that Lionel's very inconsistent characterizations over the past, oh, three seasons or so can actually make for good plot twists. Because when Clark was captured? I totally didn't think of Lionel at all; I was sure it was either Lex, the government, or Lex and the government working together. So that was a great twist. And then at the end of the episode I thought, oh, Lionel no longer has to pretend to be a good guy anymore, so he must have ordered the hit--when it turned out to be Lex. So, um, good job, SV writers? I guess?
Seriously, though, regardless of the inconsistency of Lionel's characterizations, John Glover really is masterful at making the best of what he's given. I really loved his performance tonight even more than normal, because for the first time ever, I became convinced (a) that Lionel is convinced in his own mind that he is sincere in believing he is a changed person (b) he believes this while being completely blind to the huge flaws in his own moral system that prevent him from authentically changing. In that scene where Clark confronts him, it seemed clear to me that this was more than one last desperate attempt for Lionel to try to spin things so as not to lose Clark (although it was definitely that)--Lionel actually believed he had made the right decision in attempting to protect Clark by imprisoning him. He knew, of course, that Clark wouldn't accept his reasoning (that's why he did it the way he did), and he definitely has his own agenda--yet in his own, extremely morally crippled way, he did think he was doing the right thing.
In fact, he was hampered by his own good intentions. Lionel playing at his A game would never have been authentically threatened by sadist!Tyrol, or even by Patricia Swann; he would have taken out the blackmailer, not tried to have her shipped off on a plane to Europe. This, more than anything, convinces me that Lionel really does believe his own press. And yet his past--which is absolutely crammed full of more misdeeds--is going to always rise up and strangle his good intentions, because there are no real shortcuts on the road to redemption. And in some ways? that redeems the whole mishmash they've made of Lionel in the past couple years, for me, as long as they're really going to show that he can't escape his past any more than Lex could. If anyone deserves to be crushed under the weight of his past sins, it is definitely Lionel.
The "return" of Veritas
It seems like way back when we were all gaping at the idiocy that was the stones-of-McGuffin plotline of season 4, there had been some sort of webcomic that actually set up the backstory we finally got in this episode, about the meetings of the Teagues, Queens, Swanns and Luthors--but I didn't actually read it, I just heard about it. Still, I'm happy that Lex's discovery of the secret of his family crest (which sounds like a bad Nancy Drew novel--and I'm pretty sure "The Secret in the Old Locket" is an actual Nancy Drew novel) is less pulled-out-of-their-asses than it seemed last week.
But, um, why kill the Swann that can lay golden eggs, Lex? Patricia might have known more secrets than the one in her locket. I am deeply confused by your idiotic choice to kill her, and please note my other objections at the top of this review.
The gratuitous TC porn
I just had to comment on the fact that the TC folks must be in heaven at this episode. Me, though? I'm happy to see Clark writhing around, don't get me wrong, I just think they should have stripped him down to the silver bikini pants first. See, this is how I should have known immediately it wasn't Lex that kidnapped him.
But dammit, psycho!Tyrol used to work for Lex--and that man was quite, quite scary. Lionel, you really have to stop shopping for your minions at Casa Lex--we all know those minions are inherently defective, go nuts and try to kill their masters. It's some defect in the factory they haven't been able to pin down.
Girlpower to the rescue
Speaking of femslashy episodes--if someone wants to write me the scene where Chloe consoles Lana about Clark's kidnapping, and they drink a lot as they plan Kara's rescue and things get a little out of hand, I wouldn't complain. Just saying. And they were damn cute in their mutual scoobying. I also really liked their confrontation with Lionel--they didn't *quite* pin him down, but they were very close. And I can't decide which I liked more: Lana using the secret knowledge of Lex's interior spaces against him*, or Chloe saving Clark with the power of love.
*I feel there is probably an interesting essay in this about Clark v. Lana in Lex's public v. private spaces. I nominate someone else to write it, though.
Denial is the first step
Ok, first things first: Patricia Swann is not dead. Because I love Gina Holden too much (oh Blood Ties, what did you do to me? I totally have a crush on her), and the character was way too cool to kill her off that early. I mean, she has serious femslash potential with, oh, just about anybody (Kara is the logical choice, all in all, but I'd be pretty damn happy with Lana or Chloe too), so I'm going with "I didn't actually see her corpse, so by TV logic she still could be alive. Blood spatter on a locket is not proof of death. La la la la la I can't hear you."
In which I actually appreciate SV's
I realized, watching tonight, that Lionel's very inconsistent characterizations over the past, oh, three seasons or so can actually make for good plot twists. Because when Clark was captured? I totally didn't think of Lionel at all; I was sure it was either Lex, the government, or Lex and the government working together. So that was a great twist. And then at the end of the episode I thought, oh, Lionel no longer has to pretend to be a good guy anymore, so he must have ordered the hit--when it turned out to be Lex. So, um, good job, SV writers? I guess?
Seriously, though, regardless of the inconsistency of Lionel's characterizations, John Glover really is masterful at making the best of what he's given. I really loved his performance tonight even more than normal, because for the first time ever, I became convinced (a) that Lionel is convinced in his own mind that he is sincere in believing he is a changed person (b) he believes this while being completely blind to the huge flaws in his own moral system that prevent him from authentically changing. In that scene where Clark confronts him, it seemed clear to me that this was more than one last desperate attempt for Lionel to try to spin things so as not to lose Clark (although it was definitely that)--Lionel actually believed he had made the right decision in attempting to protect Clark by imprisoning him. He knew, of course, that Clark wouldn't accept his reasoning (that's why he did it the way he did), and he definitely has his own agenda--yet in his own, extremely morally crippled way, he did think he was doing the right thing.
In fact, he was hampered by his own good intentions. Lionel playing at his A game would never have been authentically threatened by sadist!Tyrol, or even by Patricia Swann; he would have taken out the blackmailer, not tried to have her shipped off on a plane to Europe. This, more than anything, convinces me that Lionel really does believe his own press. And yet his past--which is absolutely crammed full of more misdeeds--is going to always rise up and strangle his good intentions, because there are no real shortcuts on the road to redemption. And in some ways? that redeems the whole mishmash they've made of Lionel in the past couple years, for me, as long as they're really going to show that he can't escape his past any more than Lex could. If anyone deserves to be crushed under the weight of his past sins, it is definitely Lionel.
The "return" of Veritas
It seems like way back when we were all gaping at the idiocy that was the stones-of-McGuffin plotline of season 4, there had been some sort of webcomic that actually set up the backstory we finally got in this episode, about the meetings of the Teagues, Queens, Swanns and Luthors--but I didn't actually read it, I just heard about it. Still, I'm happy that Lex's discovery of the secret of his family crest (which sounds like a bad Nancy Drew novel--and I'm pretty sure "The Secret in the Old Locket" is an actual Nancy Drew novel) is less pulled-out-of-their-asses than it seemed last week.
But, um, why kill the Swann that can lay golden eggs, Lex? Patricia might have known more secrets than the one in her locket. I am deeply confused by your idiotic choice to kill her, and please note my other objections at the top of this review.
The gratuitous TC porn
I just had to comment on the fact that the TC folks must be in heaven at this episode. Me, though? I'm happy to see Clark writhing around, don't get me wrong, I just think they should have stripped him down to the silver bikini pants first. See, this is how I should have known immediately it wasn't Lex that kidnapped him.
But dammit, psycho!Tyrol used to work for Lex--and that man was quite, quite scary. Lionel, you really have to stop shopping for your minions at Casa Lex--we all know those minions are inherently defective, go nuts and try to kill their masters. It's some defect in the factory they haven't been able to pin down.
Girlpower to the rescue
Speaking of femslashy episodes--if someone wants to write me the scene where Chloe consoles Lana about Clark's kidnapping, and they drink a lot as they plan Kara's rescue and things get a little out of hand, I wouldn't complain. Just saying. And they were damn cute in their mutual scoobying. I also really liked their confrontation with Lionel--they didn't *quite* pin him down, but they were very close. And I can't decide which I liked more: Lana using the secret knowledge of Lex's interior spaces against him*, or Chloe saving Clark with the power of love.
*I feel there is probably an interesting essay in this about Clark v. Lana in Lex's public v. private spaces. I nominate someone else to write it, though.