Smallville "Rabid"

[norwich36]

That was interesting.

Once again, let me just start with the things I didn't really like:

1. The lighting continues to drive me crazy. I know it was thematically appropriate for a zombie episode, but I still hated it; the golden light on the Kent house in the end just drove home how much I miss the visual look of earlier seasons. Also, is anyone else experiencing problems with the vid quality of the CW broadcast--pixelation etc?

2. The main plot...didn't really feel like a Smallville episode to me. Well, it wasn't so much that it was zombies--certainly we've had all sorts of mutated outbreaks caused by Kryptonite or Luthorcorp, and god knows they've ripped off horror movies before *cough* Saw *cough--but somehow the combination of this plot coupled with the funky lighting and the way they filmed all the action sequences, complete with the very horror-esque makeup of the zombies, really felt like a completely different show to me. I didn't hate it, but it kept distracting me from the stuff I liked, which was all character stuff.

Stuff that I loved:

1. Every single Lois-Clark conversation, whether they're exchanging playful banter or she's confiding in him her secret love of another guy. I really just can't get enough of that. It's hard to pick a favorite Clois scene; equal contenders have to be when he swept her up into his arms after the zombie attack in the Daily Planet; the scene in the rain after she gets cured of the virus (where all of fandom was shouting KISS HER, right?), or the scene in Clark's house where she tells him they make a good team.

2. Gratuitous male nudity. beck_liz posted this idea first, but I swear I had it independently as I was watching the episode: do you think there's an actual clause in Justin Hartley's contract requiring him to be shirtless in every episode? Or maybe his chest just actually has an independent contract? I think it gets more screentime than AOT did in her last season.

3. Oliver's downward spiral. I don't know why it is that I love him more when he's all emo and sarcastic, but I kind of do; while I don't actually think his criticisms of Clark are valid, for example, I completely loved that scene where he was getting on Clark's case about leaving the Kryptonian symbols all over the place, and suggesting the Clark thinks of himself as the second coming. I don't actually think Clark thinks that, but I *do* think Ollie thinks Clark thinks that, and it's connected to his own insecurities at being a superhero without powers. And while I can't say that's a great character trait, for some reason he wears resentment well, and I can totally understand his desire not to be saved by Clark, so I loved the symbolism of him burning his uniform.

I'm assuming at some point this season he will resume the hero mantle, so I'm not too too worried here; in the meantime I'm just enjoying watching him be a hot mess of dysfunction.

4. DR. EMIL!!!! Holy crap, I am officially in love. He's hot in that geeky way, he's smart as hell, he's take-charge, and he's unflappable. SERIOUSLY unflappable. I love how totally blase he was to learn Clark's secret, how quickly he was able to find a cure for the virus, and how pragmatic he was about the need to go cure people now, not dither around worrying about Clark's minimal exposure to Kryptonite.

Seriously, he is exactly what Chloe needs in a relationship. He appreciates her intelligence and optimism, but calls her on her shit. I loved that he challenged her about keeping tabs on the Justice League (though I'm also very relieved she had a good reason--I was a little worried about what she might be hiding from him earlier in the episode).

And I liked the fact that Chloe had a decent storyline this week that wasn't centered around jealousy or Jimmy. In fact, although I loved the expression on her face when Clark revealed himself to Emil. I really hope that Emil turns out to be trustworthy (I know he is in the comics).

5. Tess: swordfighting with zombies for the win!

6. Oh, Major Zod. If you kill all your subordinates just because they don't remain in their boxes, it will foil your plans for world domination, and I will feel very vindicated.

7. SMART CLARK. I love how he used coffee to distract Lois from him vanishing to cope with both of those emergencies. Smart Clark is SO DAMN SEXY.

Comments

[latxcvi.livejournal.com]

1. Every single Lois-Clark conversation, whether they're exchanging playful banter or she's confiding in him her secret love of another guy. I really just can't get enough of that. It's hard to pick a favorite Clois scene; equal contenders have to be when he swept her up into his arms after the zombie attack in the Daily Planet; the scene in the rain after she gets cured of the virus (where all of fandom was shouting KISS HER, right?), or the scene in Clark's house where she tells him they make a good team.

All the Clark/Lois stuff was golden. I finally caught up with the season after being out of town for two weeks, and I have to say I'm very satisfied, so far, with how they're handling all the Clois stuff. I feel like the pacing of Clark's realization that he feels something deeper than friendship for Lois is on point, and I really like it that for as much as Lois is crushing on the Blur, the series hasn't forgotten that she fell in love with Clark last season. I know the Triangle for Two is frustrating to people, but it is a pretty big part of standard Superman lore; SV really does kind of have to do its own version of it and I think the show's handling it well. Lois is in love with Clark, but she still doesn't think he's into her That Way, so of course she's tabled those feelings and put her energies into the guy who (a) is paying emotional attention to her, and (b) appeals to her penchant for noble, honorable men. It's not a situation where Lois is all about the Blur but couldn't care less about, or can't be bothered to pay much attention to, Clark (which is the traditional Triangle for Two dynamic, and why I think SV's take on the dynamic is actually an improvement over the way other versions of the mythos have handled it). She's relegated Clark to the Friends category for now because that's what she thinks he thinks of them as, but she hasn't stopped caring about him, or forgotten that she loves him. She's just not pining for him. That works for me right now, because Clark's still not to the point yet where he's ready to express to her that he'd like to be more than Friends, even though I can see that he's getting there.

4. DR. EMIL!!!! Holy crap, I am officially in love. He's hot in that geeky way, he's smart as hell, he's take-charge, and he's unflappable. SERIOUSLY unflappable. I love how totally blase he was to learn Clark's secret, how quickly he was able to find a cure for the virus, and how pragmatic he was about the need to go cure people now, not dither around worrying about Clark's minimal exposure to Kryptonite.

He's fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. I'm so glad they decided to incorporate him more into the storytelling because he had such a great first impression on me last season. He works well with the other characters, and I think he's exactly the degree of genuinely adult level-headedness the show and other characters need as a regular presence.

5. Tess: swordfighting with zombies for the win!

Tess, the Zombie Slayer will never not be completely awesome.

7. SMART CLARK. I love how he used coffee to distract Lois from him vanishing to cope with both of those emergencies. Smart Clark is SO DAMN SEXY.

I know, right?

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

I know the Triangle for Two is frustrating to people, but it is a pretty big part of standard Superman lore; SV really does kind of have to do its own version of it and I think the show's handling it well

Yeah, I've seen some people talking about it, but it doesn't bother me at all--I mean, it's so much part of Superman canon, and I think SV is handling it well. And really, TW and ED are always so charming in their scenes together I have no complaints whatsoever if they end up stretching this out. It doesn't hurt that Clark himself seems to be at a place where he's actually flattered by Lois' crush on the Blur rather than feeling jealous of his own alter-ego.

ITA with you about Emil being an adult, and how much this show needs more adults.

[goodvibe.livejournal.com]

//equal contenders have to be when he swept her up into his arms after the zombie attack in the Daily Planet; the scene in the rain after she gets cured of the virus (where all of fandom was shouting KISS HER, right?), or the scene in Clark's house where she tells him they make a good team.//

Great scenes - all of them.

//DR. EMIL!!!! Holy crap, I am officially in love. He's hot in that geeky way, he's smart as hell, he's take-charge, and he's unflappable. SERIOUSLY unflappable. I love how totally blase he was to learn Clark's secret, how quickly he was able to find a cure for the virus, and how pragmatic he was about the need to go cure people now, not dither around worrying about Clark's minimal exposure to Kryptonite.//

That's very well put. He's such a fantastic addition to the cast.

I liked how even though there were aspects of this ep I sort of hated, to be honest, the stuff that I loved? I ::really:: loved.

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

Yes. While I can see there were several aspects of this week's plot a lot of people disliked, just about everybody can agree that the Clois scenes were awesome. (And I'm glad to see most people like Emil).

[shardsofblu.livejournal.com]

lol, I'm loving the Dr. Emil love I'm seeing pretty much everywhere these days. He's almost like... Shelby!