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SV 6.15 "Freak"
A great directing debut for MR!
Spoilers for "Freak" behind the cut
Yeah, what do I know about directing? I did notice there were a lot more shots with natural light than is normal in an SV episode (like the exterior of Tobias' house the first time Clark and Chloe visited), which I liked. I also thought the night scene with Clark and Lana outside Tobias' house was beautifully lit, and they both looked gorgeous in the multicolored lights. Ditto with the final Chloe-Clark scene--they both looked gorgeous.
To turn my attention to the plot: I was a little bit spoiled for this episode, so I've been playing around with idea of Chloe the meteor freak all week. On the plus side, it will probably make Chloe re-evaluate how she thinks of meteor "freaks," which is probably a good thing. (I noticed a real terminological distinction in this episode; Chloe consistently referred to them as meteor freaks while Clark and Lana talked about people with "meteor powers," which I thought was interesting.)
Lana was surprisingly open toward the meteor infected in this episode; I'm trying to decide how much this is a consequence of deciding Clark is meteorinfected and trying to protect him, and how much this means she *was* faking out Lex in that episode earlier this season when she said she didn't have a problem with him experimenting on them in level 33.1 if in fact he was. Regardless, I loved Lana in this episode. I thought it was really cute that she went bowling with Chloe for her bachelorette party (and also VERY SLASHY--as was the fact that her fiance had her girlfriend best friend kidnapped and anal probed experimented on, as if she were Clark his rival.) I adore these cute Chlana bonding scenes.
I also liked Lana calling Chloe on her suspicions about Lex. Chloe's been doing the dance of avoidance on that score for good reason, but I'm interested that Lana is apparently starting to wake up to the reality that Lex is concealing things from her. In fact, watching her conversation with Lex and her subsequent attempts to save Tobias, I had an epiphany: Lana is to Lex as season 1 Lex was to Lionel. Well, except for the whole marriage and pregnancy thing :cough Luthorcest cough: In season 1 Lex knew that his father was shady, and thought he was smart enough to play his games and win--and yet he was still using the Luthor name and money to try to make things better for the people Luthorcorp hurt, and investigating Clark while simultanously trying to protect him from his father. Now Lex is Lionel, in terms of power, finesse, methods, and desire to protect his power base even at the expense of other people's lives; meanwhile Lana thinks she can play in his league, and she really is getting better at it, but she's really no match for him.
Still, it's fun to watch her try to play. I loved that she was using her Luthorian power to try to rescue Tobias (and rescue Clark in the process)--it almost made up for the burn that now Clark has another go-to billionaire when he needs some financial help to save people. Ouch. That hurt my Clexy heart in a way that Lana doing it did not, for some reason--maybe because I'm looking at her as Lex's good side, since she's symbolically representing him so thoroughly. Did anyone else think that the fact that she almost killed the doctor was supposed to parallel Lex shooting Roger Nixon, or am I stretching things there? (Has Lex ever found a flattened bullet? I'm blanking on this, although I'm sure that scene was echoing something else).
And meanwhile, Lex was thoroughly awesome in his bad-assness in this episode. He's no longer giving his characteristic tells when he lies to Lana; he's become incredibly smooth. And I love that he maintained his urbanity when he threatened the doctor, because *that's* the Lex Luthor I want to see: smoothly evil, powerful, and sexy as all hell. Damn, that last scene? When he's looking at the images of Chloe being tortured and orders that she be watched carefully? Rocked my SOCKS off.
Ok, I guess I should talk a little bit about Chloe, since it was a Chloe-centric episode and all. And after thinking it over for a while, I think I'm cautiously liking the Chloe-as-a-metoer-freak retcon. True, it could end up with her in Belle Reve, but that has been foreshadowed as a possibility for a while, so it's not bothersome. At least now we get a completely new option: superChloe! She can join the Justice League and fight crime! Yay! Let the betting begin on what her superpower is going to be. And if she is a walking time bomb, Clark is going to be her own personal bomb squad. Awww! I loved that scene a LOT.
I also really loved Clark in this episode. He's starting to be able to investigate stuff on his own (at least if hacking skills aren't required), and I thought he played that hospital scene where he got the laptop very well. Smart of him not to just vanish! And wow, that scene where he used his heat vision to remove the tag from Chloe was also really well-played. My favorite scene with him, though, was actually that scene with Lana, where he lies/tells the truth very convincingly ("I don't know where you got the idea I'm a meteor freak") while at the same time thanking her for protecting him. That was a very sweet scene--I loved that Lana saying he was still the same Clark Kent, meteor powers or not. Will that carry over into knowledge that he's an alien, given her negative encounters with all the Kryptonians? Hard to say, but I am liking her character growth, nonetheless.
And finally, Jimmy was wonderful in this episode! I had a feeling Chloe was going to turn up in her own bed like all the others, but I loved how worried he was and that little conversation with Clark about playing it cool and not telling her how he really feels.
Spoilers for "Freak" behind the cut
Yeah, what do I know about directing? I did notice there were a lot more shots with natural light than is normal in an SV episode (like the exterior of Tobias' house the first time Clark and Chloe visited), which I liked. I also thought the night scene with Clark and Lana outside Tobias' house was beautifully lit, and they both looked gorgeous in the multicolored lights. Ditto with the final Chloe-Clark scene--they both looked gorgeous.
To turn my attention to the plot: I was a little bit spoiled for this episode, so I've been playing around with idea of Chloe the meteor freak all week. On the plus side, it will probably make Chloe re-evaluate how she thinks of meteor "freaks," which is probably a good thing. (I noticed a real terminological distinction in this episode; Chloe consistently referred to them as meteor freaks while Clark and Lana talked about people with "meteor powers," which I thought was interesting.)
Lana was surprisingly open toward the meteor infected in this episode; I'm trying to decide how much this is a consequence of deciding Clark is meteorinfected and trying to protect him, and how much this means she *was* faking out Lex in that episode earlier this season when she said she didn't have a problem with him experimenting on them in level 33.1 if in fact he was. Regardless, I loved Lana in this episode. I thought it was really cute that she went bowling with Chloe for her bachelorette party (and also VERY SLASHY--as was the fact that her fiance had her
I also liked Lana calling Chloe on her suspicions about Lex. Chloe's been doing the dance of avoidance on that score for good reason, but I'm interested that Lana is apparently starting to wake up to the reality that Lex is concealing things from her. In fact, watching her conversation with Lex and her subsequent attempts to save Tobias, I had an epiphany: Lana is to Lex as season 1 Lex was to Lionel. Well, except for the whole marriage and pregnancy thing :cough Luthorcest cough: In season 1 Lex knew that his father was shady, and thought he was smart enough to play his games and win--and yet he was still using the Luthor name and money to try to make things better for the people Luthorcorp hurt, and investigating Clark while simultanously trying to protect him from his father. Now Lex is Lionel, in terms of power, finesse, methods, and desire to protect his power base even at the expense of other people's lives; meanwhile Lana thinks she can play in his league, and she really is getting better at it, but she's really no match for him.
Still, it's fun to watch her try to play. I loved that she was using her Luthorian power to try to rescue Tobias (and rescue Clark in the process)--it almost made up for the burn that now Clark has another go-to billionaire when he needs some financial help to save people. Ouch. That hurt my Clexy heart in a way that Lana doing it did not, for some reason--maybe because I'm looking at her as Lex's good side, since she's symbolically representing him so thoroughly. Did anyone else think that the fact that she almost killed the doctor was supposed to parallel Lex shooting Roger Nixon, or am I stretching things there? (Has Lex ever found a flattened bullet? I'm blanking on this, although I'm sure that scene was echoing something else).
And meanwhile, Lex was thoroughly awesome in his bad-assness in this episode. He's no longer giving his characteristic tells when he lies to Lana; he's become incredibly smooth. And I love that he maintained his urbanity when he threatened the doctor, because *that's* the Lex Luthor I want to see: smoothly evil, powerful, and sexy as all hell. Damn, that last scene? When he's looking at the images of Chloe being tortured and orders that she be watched carefully? Rocked my SOCKS off.
Ok, I guess I should talk a little bit about Chloe, since it was a Chloe-centric episode and all. And after thinking it over for a while, I think I'm cautiously liking the Chloe-as-a-metoer-freak retcon. True, it could end up with her in Belle Reve, but that has been foreshadowed as a possibility for a while, so it's not bothersome. At least now we get a completely new option: superChloe! She can join the Justice League and fight crime! Yay! Let the betting begin on what her superpower is going to be. And if she is a walking time bomb, Clark is going to be her own personal bomb squad. Awww! I loved that scene a LOT.
I also really loved Clark in this episode. He's starting to be able to investigate stuff on his own (at least if hacking skills aren't required), and I thought he played that hospital scene where he got the laptop very well. Smart of him not to just vanish! And wow, that scene where he used his heat vision to remove the tag from Chloe was also really well-played. My favorite scene with him, though, was actually that scene with Lana, where he lies/tells the truth very convincingly ("I don't know where you got the idea I'm a meteor freak") while at the same time thanking her for protecting him. That was a very sweet scene--I loved that Lana saying he was still the same Clark Kent, meteor powers or not. Will that carry over into knowledge that he's an alien, given her negative encounters with all the Kryptonians? Hard to say, but I am liking her character growth, nonetheless.
And finally, Jimmy was wonderful in this episode! I had a feeling Chloe was going to turn up in her own bed like all the others, but I loved how worried he was and that little conversation with Clark about playing it cool and not telling her how he really feels.
no subject
I won't be judgmental of Lana, but I will have a problem with the creative team, because it's the Jason Problem all over again. Yes, the audience knew as of the end of Spirit that Jason Was Evil Now but Lana didn't. As far as Lana knew, they were just having problems with their relationship but she wasn't ready -- or at least hadn't articulated to anyone yet that she was ready -- to break up with him. So when she went to the prom and was all snuggled up with Clark while still technically dating another boy, it made her look bad and a lot of the fandom judged her harshly for it. And in that instance, I didn't particularly think the harsh judgment was unfair because Lana didn't know what the audience knew, so that behavior was questionable on her part.
I don't care about Lex's hurt feelings. But I do care enough about Lana as a character that I think the creative team shouldn't squander whatever sympathy she deserves from the audience if she ends a relationship that means something to her even if it's not the love of her life. Lana being a bitch to Lex in how she ends it only makes sense intra-textually if Lana herself knows about the way he's manipulated her via the pregnancy. If the creative team pulls a Jason Version 2.0 with her, where her actions are questionable but questionable in a way that's not justified by what she actually knows as a character, then Lana's the one who's going to suffer for it in terms of episode commentary, not Lex (even if Lana ends it the day of the wedding I'm going to be on her side because she shouldn't marry him if she doesn't love or trust him; I just don't want her pulling an MJ or The Graduate unless it's specifically to get back at Lex because he hurt her).
It's lazy writing to rely on what the audience knows when the characters don't know the same thing just for the sake of an emotional moment. The writers have to earn Lana being a bitch to Lex when she breaks up with him if that's the way they decide to play it. That means letting Lana in on it that she was manipulated via the pregnancy. Otherwise, her being a hosebeast to Lex in breaking up with him doesn't make sense intra-textually. It's not an issue with the character per se, but it will be an issue with the creative team, 'cause they should know better than to repeat a mistake she's already been dinged for in the past.
A little piece of me thinks it would be cool if Lana finds out about the pregnancy manipulation the night before, thinks about running (a la Helen), tells Lex she's decided to come to the wedding after all, and then dumps Lex at the altar precisely like it was originally scripted in "Scare." Because that would be an awesome callback to "Exodus" and it would be an amazingly Luthorian form of revenge.
That would be amazing and it would make internal sense.
no subject
To clarify, I mean that it's lazy writing to do it this way when you want the character to have the same reaction that your audience is likely to have, but you don't let the character know what the audience knows. I draw this distinction because a lot of SV's emotional power does come from the audience knowing how the story ends, something the characters themselves can't know; that's not the kind of thing I'm talking about with something like the Jason Problem. The Jason Problem was an instance of the creative team wanting the audience to feel the romance of that Clana moment without respecting the fact that Lana ... really shouldn't have been a part of that moment while still dating Jason. But they basically thought, "Well, Jason's evil now, so it's okay," nevermind that they hadn't hipped Lana to the fact that he was evil.
no subject