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Smallville 8.2
Spoilers ahoy.
Stuff I liked:
--I actually liked all the Chloe/Davis interactions. I'm spoiled (I think) for Davis' identity, and yet I can't help but think he has a thousand times more chemistry with Chloe than Jimmy does, so I'm kind of hoping this goes somewhere
--Lois giving Clark fashion advice=entirely FTW. I also loved her acting as his reporter-mentor in general. And all the red ink on his first obituary--hee!!!
--Against my will, I also thought Tess and Clark had a wee bit of chemistry, especially when he was carrying her from the bomb site
--Clark telling Chloe her happiness is one of the most important things in the world to him. *Squishes Clark* That was a really sweet scene, despite my general annoyance at the Chimmy wedding plot
--Sorry, but I'm kind of liking Tess. Tellling Clark she was on the bus because she was trying to go green, but don't tell her shareholders. HEE!!!
Also her seduction of Bette was AWESOMESAUCE. They continue to bring on the femslashy vibe with this character. Plus I loved her methods: "We'll make a hero out of you yet." And I liked the greenish lighting in that scene; I was trying to decide if that's going to be the meteor mutant hero color, or the Tess color? (I hope the latter, because that makes the "I'm going green" comment even more appropriate).
--Great Clois banter and discussion overall:
"I'm sorry that you can't keep up!"
"SItting here with you, I'm more proud that we uncovered the truth than getting a headline"
Stuff I didn't really like:
--I honestly don't mind that they're moving Chloe away from journalism, but I wish they'd give her some more character-consistent motivation for it than "it'll be kind of nice to try something new."
--Also, I was underwhelmed, somehow, with her desire to help Bette and the general motivation to reopen Isis. I just found that whole plotline...boring? I guess I was especially kind of annoyed that she kept enough reporter mojo to check out Davis, but she didn't suspect Bette at all until the last minute. I can see how Chloe at Isis helping mutants could, long term, be an interesting plot, but at the moment I'm not really into it.
--Although I am liking Tess, I really wish they didn't have her in the Luthor mansion. I don't mind that she is taking charge of Luthorcorp, but seeing her in front of Lex's fire really felt wrong to me.
--I was really missing all the folks no longer in the cast this week. The plot seemed really thin to me with only three main characters (since I'm not really counting Tess and Davis yet; they haven't established themselves enough.)
Stuff I liked:
--I actually liked all the Chloe/Davis interactions. I'm spoiled (I think) for Davis' identity, and yet I can't help but think he has a thousand times more chemistry with Chloe than Jimmy does, so I'm kind of hoping this goes somewhere
--Lois giving Clark fashion advice=entirely FTW. I also loved her acting as his reporter-mentor in general. And all the red ink on his first obituary--hee!!!
--Against my will, I also thought Tess and Clark had a wee bit of chemistry, especially when he was carrying her from the bomb site
--Clark telling Chloe her happiness is one of the most important things in the world to him. *Squishes Clark* That was a really sweet scene, despite my general annoyance at the Chimmy wedding plot
--Sorry, but I'm kind of liking Tess. Tellling Clark she was on the bus because she was trying to go green, but don't tell her shareholders. HEE!!!
Also her seduction of Bette was AWESOMESAUCE. They continue to bring on the femslashy vibe with this character. Plus I loved her methods: "We'll make a hero out of you yet." And I liked the greenish lighting in that scene; I was trying to decide if that's going to be the meteor mutant hero color, or the Tess color? (I hope the latter, because that makes the "I'm going green" comment even more appropriate).
--Great Clois banter and discussion overall:
"I'm sorry that you can't keep up!"
"SItting here with you, I'm more proud that we uncovered the truth than getting a headline"
Stuff I didn't really like:
--I honestly don't mind that they're moving Chloe away from journalism, but I wish they'd give her some more character-consistent motivation for it than "it'll be kind of nice to try something new."
--Also, I was underwhelmed, somehow, with her desire to help Bette and the general motivation to reopen Isis. I just found that whole plotline...boring? I guess I was especially kind of annoyed that she kept enough reporter mojo to check out Davis, but she didn't suspect Bette at all until the last minute. I can see how Chloe at Isis helping mutants could, long term, be an interesting plot, but at the moment I'm not really into it.
--Although I am liking Tess, I really wish they didn't have her in the Luthor mansion. I don't mind that she is taking charge of Luthorcorp, but seeing her in front of Lex's fire really felt wrong to me.
--I was really missing all the folks no longer in the cast this week. The plot seemed really thin to me with only three main characters (since I'm not really counting Tess and Davis yet; they haven't established themselves enough.)
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Oh, stepping back from it I agree that it was rushed, but it didn't feel rushed to me precisely because they had chemistry. And I can certainly see Chloe having an existential crisis especially *because* she just got another meteor (or Brainiac!) power, but I kind of wish they'd explicitly made that textual. Especially since her new power to me made it seem like she'd be an even better reporter, so I just wanted something more than that throwaway comment to Clark at the bus bombing site.
I think they had chemistry, too, but I find myself really ambivalent about Tess. I think Cassidy Freeman is capable and has a lot of charisma, and I do like the way she brings the slashy vibe to the yard in her scenes with other actresses. But I feel like I'm watching SV do the story of What If Lex Had Been A Girl with Tess and it's actually bothering me more than I thought it would.
It's funny--I was arguing with Bop about this last week, since she has a much stronger feeling that they're trying to shoehorn Tess in as a Lex replacement than I did, but after this week I think I see her (and your point) a little more. I like the actress, and I like the way she can flip from ingratiating to menacing on a dime, and she has great chemistry with everyone, but I also got a little of the "what if Lex was a girl" vibe, and also didn't like it.
ESPECIALLY the continual encroachment at the mansion. I agree with you, they should have made a new space for her, because continuing to use the Smallville mansion makes zero sense. And between the fire and someone bursting in (I was terrified for a moment it would be Clark), I had a very real sense of wrongness.
I do love your suggestion that Tess is a Lex clone with girlparts, though. Or heck, maybe even the real Lex, who somehow (handwavy Kryptonian McGuffin explanation) got turned into a girl as part of the explosion of the Fortress. It seems less egregious to me, the way she's being slotted into Lex's place [company, home, relationship with Clark], if she actually *is* Lex. (Though I'm afraid someone's going to officially come and revoke my MR fan membership card, now that I've said that). I don't think CF has MR's acting chops, but I do agree there's something Lexian about the way she's been playing scenes, and Tess as Lex/a Lex clone would be totally cracky fun. I do love me some genderswap.