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Smallville: Echo
I have to say I'm enjoying this season a lot more than I expected to.
Really there was nothing about this episode that I didn't like, except the fact that my CW seems to be getting crappy DVDs of the eps or something, because there always seem to be awful picture-quality issues.
Some thoughts:
Echoes of Lex: Oliver and Tess
Sorry to all you Oliver haters out there, but I am actually really on-board with his story arc this season, and as I wept my way through that scene where Clark apologizes for not being there for him, I realized why. Much as I love Oliver for Oliver (and I do), what worked for me in that scene was not the idea that Oliver's downward spiral was Clark's fault (which I do not believe), nor that Clark has been a neglectful friend (not really--he has consistently tried to help Ollie; it's Ollie that keeps rebuffing his help), but instead the way this storyline echoes Lex's. Both of them are emotionally damaged rich kids who wanted nothing more than to be saviors (in part because of their relationship with Clark, though in both cases hero worship was mingled with jealousy). The one crucial difference between Ollie and Lex is that this time Clark is mature enough--and perhaps unenmeshed enough--to actually try to prevent Ollie's downward spiral.
It's funny, because I honestly haven't been missing Lex for a while. I think part of that was just that by season 7, Lex had changed so drastically from that young man I had fallen for, who desparately wanted to do the right thing but was consistently foiled by his history and especially his dad's machinations, that he felt like a different person to me. But I spent, what, 6 years with the rest of fandom hoping for Clark to be able to stop his descent, and knowing it would never happen because of DC canon. And maybe I should feel mad that Clark is probably going to save Oliver when he couldn't save Lex, but I don't; I feel almost like in saving Ollie he is symbolically saving Lex. And yeah, that is a little ironic considering Ollie killed Lex--but he is at least clearly beginning to regret that, and to realize that what he did was murder, despite how noble his intentions were. (I wish he had chosen a better way to atone than attempted suicide, but he hasn't quite hit rock bottom yet, if the scenes for next week are any indication.)
The other thing I was thinking as I watched Ollie's scenes with Tess was I really hope they return to that romance a bit, because symbolically they best stand in for Lex together: he's the fucked up vulnerable rich boy with the hero complex, and she's the pragmatic CEO who gets things done and investigates the mysteries no matter the cost; the one who will battle aliens to save the planet even if (a) she kind of is responsible for their invasion in the first place and (b) she needs to use unsavory means to do it. Really, if we can't have actual Lex back, the echoes of him in Tess and Ollie are really quite satisfactory.
Echoes of the past: Chloe as caring and competent
The only explicit callback to Chloe's past in this episode was her reference to the Wall of Weird when Clark explained his mindreading ability to her, but I felt like this episode marked the real return of the Chloe I used to like a lot: someone whose investigative & computer expertise helped Clark save people, and someone who was very loyal to her cousin and looked out for Lois' well-being even if it meant calling Clark on his behavior. Yay. I may even be able to read other people's reviews without reflexively cringing in advance.
Echoes of the future? Is there such a thing? Lois and Clark
I guess the "Clark-gets-tested-by-Jorel" thing is an echo of the past, though with a much better outcome, but geez, is Jorel omnipotent? He can resurrect the dead, change history, and make people into mindreaders--that's quite a lot of power for one little AI.
Still, I was ready to handwave that because Lois' internal monologue was hilarious, and I loved Clark's responses to it. Some of it was just damn adorable--like him giving her the donut with a bite taken out of it, and her returning the favor later, or the whole monster-truck rally thing--and some of it was just brilliantly done, like giving Lois an organic reason to withdraw slightly from her enthusiasm for dating Clark (of COURSE she would think he's competing for stories! that makes perfect sense). And damn, their banter continues to be the best thing ever. I love that part at the end of the episode where Clark pretty much asks for a second date and she concedes it may be possible in the journalistic version of a blue moon: the slow news day. I swear, I could watch a whole episode dedicated to their banter. Other favorite lines from their scenes: from her internal monologue at the Queen event, I love when she refuses to let herself become distracted from her anger by his prettiness: "No, Lois, kick his ass." But for some reason my favorite line was "Clark, you can't get rid of me that easily; I have the internet on my phone."
Really there was nothing about this episode that I didn't like, except the fact that my CW seems to be getting crappy DVDs of the eps or something, because there always seem to be awful picture-quality issues.
Some thoughts:
Echoes of Lex: Oliver and Tess
Sorry to all you Oliver haters out there, but I am actually really on-board with his story arc this season, and as I wept my way through that scene where Clark apologizes for not being there for him, I realized why. Much as I love Oliver for Oliver (and I do), what worked for me in that scene was not the idea that Oliver's downward spiral was Clark's fault (which I do not believe), nor that Clark has been a neglectful friend (not really--he has consistently tried to help Ollie; it's Ollie that keeps rebuffing his help), but instead the way this storyline echoes Lex's. Both of them are emotionally damaged rich kids who wanted nothing more than to be saviors (in part because of their relationship with Clark, though in both cases hero worship was mingled with jealousy). The one crucial difference between Ollie and Lex is that this time Clark is mature enough--and perhaps unenmeshed enough--to actually try to prevent Ollie's downward spiral.
It's funny, because I honestly haven't been missing Lex for a while. I think part of that was just that by season 7, Lex had changed so drastically from that young man I had fallen for, who desparately wanted to do the right thing but was consistently foiled by his history and especially his dad's machinations, that he felt like a different person to me. But I spent, what, 6 years with the rest of fandom hoping for Clark to be able to stop his descent, and knowing it would never happen because of DC canon. And maybe I should feel mad that Clark is probably going to save Oliver when he couldn't save Lex, but I don't; I feel almost like in saving Ollie he is symbolically saving Lex. And yeah, that is a little ironic considering Ollie killed Lex--but he is at least clearly beginning to regret that, and to realize that what he did was murder, despite how noble his intentions were. (I wish he had chosen a better way to atone than attempted suicide, but he hasn't quite hit rock bottom yet, if the scenes for next week are any indication.)
The other thing I was thinking as I watched Ollie's scenes with Tess was I really hope they return to that romance a bit, because symbolically they best stand in for Lex together: he's the fucked up vulnerable rich boy with the hero complex, and she's the pragmatic CEO who gets things done and investigates the mysteries no matter the cost; the one who will battle aliens to save the planet even if (a) she kind of is responsible for their invasion in the first place and (b) she needs to use unsavory means to do it. Really, if we can't have actual Lex back, the echoes of him in Tess and Ollie are really quite satisfactory.
Echoes of the past: Chloe as caring and competent
The only explicit callback to Chloe's past in this episode was her reference to the Wall of Weird when Clark explained his mindreading ability to her, but I felt like this episode marked the real return of the Chloe I used to like a lot: someone whose investigative & computer expertise helped Clark save people, and someone who was very loyal to her cousin and looked out for Lois' well-being even if it meant calling Clark on his behavior. Yay. I may even be able to read other people's reviews without reflexively cringing in advance.
Echoes of the future? Is there such a thing? Lois and Clark
I guess the "Clark-gets-tested-by-Jorel" thing is an echo of the past, though with a much better outcome, but geez, is Jorel omnipotent? He can resurrect the dead, change history, and make people into mindreaders--that's quite a lot of power for one little AI.
Still, I was ready to handwave that because Lois' internal monologue was hilarious, and I loved Clark's responses to it. Some of it was just damn adorable--like him giving her the donut with a bite taken out of it, and her returning the favor later, or the whole monster-truck rally thing--and some of it was just brilliantly done, like giving Lois an organic reason to withdraw slightly from her enthusiasm for dating Clark (of COURSE she would think he's competing for stories! that makes perfect sense). And damn, their banter continues to be the best thing ever. I love that part at the end of the episode where Clark pretty much asks for a second date and she concedes it may be possible in the journalistic version of a blue moon: the slow news day. I swear, I could watch a whole episode dedicated to their banter. Other favorite lines from their scenes: from her internal monologue at the Queen event, I love when she refuses to let herself become distracted from her anger by his prettiness: "No, Lois, kick his ass." But for some reason my favorite line was "Clark, you can't get rid of me that easily; I have the internet on my phone."
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I like the connection you made with Ollie and Lex, too. I'll have to go read the Rabid review that you linked now :P
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