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shallowness) wrote2018-02-10 12:02 pm
shallowness) wrote2018-02-10 12:02 pm
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Smallville season 5 - disc 6
I meant to finish watching this season over the Christmas holidays. Not only did I fail, but I left the disc behind where I was staying, so it took me a while to get this done.
Again, I found these last three episodes much of a muchness qualitywise, with the finale maybe edging it.
In ‘Fade’, Clark saves a life in Metropolis. Unfortunately, it’s the life of an overly grateful hitman, who is also a second generation kryptofreak of the week (i.e. like many KotWs this season, it was the second space ship crash that changed him). One of the gifts that he tries to give Clark is a night with a prostitute with excellent eye shadow, or that’s what I inferred. Clark, I think, believed she was a legitimate friend (or he’d have told Lois that the guy she was on a date with was well dodge, right?) My first reaction to Graeme AKA The Chameleon, was ‘ooh, Byronic’, and Lois didn’t see him kill someone, but didn’t he seem…pushy to her? Worse, we had Lois being flagrantly objectified.
The show got meta about Lex’s terrible security. Clark was also grumpy about finding out that Lana really was on kissing terms with Lex. The only thing that was subtle about this episode was Mack suggesting Chloe’s past hurt over Clana in her performance. Chloe was firm with Clark about being both his friend and Lana’s, and I appreciated Chloe and Lana being vocal about Clark’s lack of rights over his ex-girlfriend who he had dumped. Rosenbaum did Lex in love with Lana quite charmingly. That’s a Lana now wearing sexy, grown-up (going over to the dark side) black.
‘Oracle’ really should have raised the previous episode’s superheroic ethical quandary, when Clark faced a new one thanks to his father’s ‘ghost’. I also wondered why Fine didn’t just shoot Lionel or hire an assassin. Was all this just for kicks? (Or bad writing. I fully understand not wanting to write Lionel off.)
John Schneider returned (again) to have fun as the vengeful ‘ghost’. The best thing about this ep was Lionel. The developments with his character make little sense – see also Clark and Chloe’s theories, as they put two and two together and came up with seven most of the episode - but Glover was convincing. He had a great scene with O’Toole when Lionel fessed up that he contributed to Jonathan’s death.
Clark was self-righteous, and although he couldn’t bring himself to execute Lionel, he could totally rifle through Lana’s stuff for Lex’s secrets. There was a lot going on, including anvils wherein Lois gave Clark advice about not being a stalker.
‘Vessel’ felt quite bleak for a finale. At the same time, I wondered which bit of the episode they’ll conveniently forget when they write their way out of this ending at the start of series 6. I’m in no rush to find out. There were some good ideas that might have hit harder if the execution wasn’t so shoddy: Jor-El and Lionel claiming Clark as their son; Clark struggling with the idea of murder (again, should have made the escalation of quandaries he faced in these three episodes more explicit). This time, the question was whether he’d kill Lex for REASONS (which boiled down to the one versus the many).
It turned out Fine was an extension of the alien ship, which made a little more sense of his abilities. For REASONS, Lex gained Kryptonian powers and hilariously told Lana immediately. They bitched about Clark and totally had a point. Then Zod took over Lex’s body and was quite interested in nookie with Lana. Meh. I wasn’t that bothered about Zod in Lex.
Fine unleashed a mega powercut, so Metropolis turned into Gotham. Despite missing most of the crackling UST between Lionel and Martha, Lois pressed whether Lionel would lend his private jet to any lady. That would be the jet piloted by a Fine into danger.
I wish they hadn’t bothered with the Chlark kiss. He’s such a self-righteous, impulsive jerk, I would be fine with her being allowed to get over him.
They cut two nice scenes about what Martha meant to Lois.
The disc also contains a brisk overview of how they made ‘Reckoning’, the hundredth episode, which I didn’t rate, so it seems like everyone worked hard for very little. I did like seeing the real-life owners of the Kent farm and that it seemed a positive experience for them.
I then went back to watch the two commentaries, and I have to say the one for ‘Thirst’, the bad ep featuring vampires in a sorority, where the show makers tried to explain how it could have been even worse, and this was a rescue job. It was quite entertaining, although if you know about these problems that your show has, er, address them.
I just wanted to talk about where this all leaves me as a shipper. Chloe has always been my entry point for Smallville fic, and though I’ll read Chloe/Clark (also Chloe/Whitney and Chloe/Lex, the latter more so after series 4), I feel that canon has shut it out more and more since the introduction of Lois. I’m fine with Clark/Lois as endgame, even if Clark/Lois are nowhere near as charming as the version depicted in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, their dynamic is much less annoying than Clark/Lana. As for the latter, well, they got it out of their system. I’ve enjoyed how the Lexana has pointed up some of the problems with Clana, even if I wish Rosenbaum were paired up with a stronger actress.
So, I’d happily ship Chloe and a crossover character – for a while I could see Chloe/Bruce (Nolanverse) but then we had Selina, which is my default Bruce ship. I know that they’re eventually writing in a love interest for Chloe in Smallville and I like the actor, so I’m looking forward to that. But I wish right now she wasn’t hung up on someone who has always treated her as a second choice, even if I love their friendship and her being in on the mysteries and world-saving. Was kissing Clark now that she knows he’s an alien really worth it? But then, this is from the people who still hold on to the amazing chemistry between Clark and Lana (eyerolling forever).
Who did have chemistry, however, is Martha and Lionel. It’s an utter impossibility. He’s such an awful person, that even if he’s slightly seeing the galactic picture and Team Clark, at his best, he isn’t worthy of her. But the fact that he knows that and appreciates her goodness (and the actors’ quality and spark) is endearing. Jonathan’s death has changed things hugely, because when Martha/Lionel meant adultery, and it still would be a betrayal at this point, and perhaps always, I was a bit hostile. But the fact that he lost a spouse too and wants to build her confidence and help her in her public role (not that his motives are pure here) adds something. As does the fact that the Jonathan/Martha that Martha (and the show) believed existed was not quite the one I saw in front of me. I don’t exactly want Lionel and Martha to get together, but there is this sweet spot of impossible UST between them that I’ve enjoyed.
My next TV show DVD boxset is OUaT season 1. I'm rather excited about whether the show will stand up to the rewatch.
Again, I found these last three episodes much of a muchness qualitywise, with the finale maybe edging it.
In ‘Fade’, Clark saves a life in Metropolis. Unfortunately, it’s the life of an overly grateful hitman, who is also a second generation kryptofreak of the week (i.e. like many KotWs this season, it was the second space ship crash that changed him). One of the gifts that he tries to give Clark is a night with a prostitute with excellent eye shadow, or that’s what I inferred. Clark, I think, believed she was a legitimate friend (or he’d have told Lois that the guy she was on a date with was well dodge, right?) My first reaction to Graeme AKA The Chameleon, was ‘ooh, Byronic’, and Lois didn’t see him kill someone, but didn’t he seem…pushy to her? Worse, we had Lois being flagrantly objectified.
The show got meta about Lex’s terrible security. Clark was also grumpy about finding out that Lana really was on kissing terms with Lex. The only thing that was subtle about this episode was Mack suggesting Chloe’s past hurt over Clana in her performance. Chloe was firm with Clark about being both his friend and Lana’s, and I appreciated Chloe and Lana being vocal about Clark’s lack of rights over his ex-girlfriend who he had dumped. Rosenbaum did Lex in love with Lana quite charmingly. That’s a Lana now wearing sexy, grown-up (going over to the dark side) black.
‘Oracle’ really should have raised the previous episode’s superheroic ethical quandary, when Clark faced a new one thanks to his father’s ‘ghost’. I also wondered why Fine didn’t just shoot Lionel or hire an assassin. Was all this just for kicks? (Or bad writing. I fully understand not wanting to write Lionel off.)
John Schneider returned (again) to have fun as the vengeful ‘ghost’. The best thing about this ep was Lionel. The developments with his character make little sense – see also Clark and Chloe’s theories, as they put two and two together and came up with seven most of the episode - but Glover was convincing. He had a great scene with O’Toole when Lionel fessed up that he contributed to Jonathan’s death.
Clark was self-righteous, and although he couldn’t bring himself to execute Lionel, he could totally rifle through Lana’s stuff for Lex’s secrets. There was a lot going on, including anvils wherein Lois gave Clark advice about not being a stalker.
‘Vessel’ felt quite bleak for a finale. At the same time, I wondered which bit of the episode they’ll conveniently forget when they write their way out of this ending at the start of series 6. I’m in no rush to find out. There were some good ideas that might have hit harder if the execution wasn’t so shoddy: Jor-El and Lionel claiming Clark as their son; Clark struggling with the idea of murder (again, should have made the escalation of quandaries he faced in these three episodes more explicit). This time, the question was whether he’d kill Lex for REASONS (which boiled down to the one versus the many).
It turned out Fine was an extension of the alien ship, which made a little more sense of his abilities. For REASONS, Lex gained Kryptonian powers and hilariously told Lana immediately. They bitched about Clark and totally had a point. Then Zod took over Lex’s body and was quite interested in nookie with Lana. Meh. I wasn’t that bothered about Zod in Lex.
Fine unleashed a mega powercut, so Metropolis turned into Gotham. Despite missing most of the crackling UST between Lionel and Martha, Lois pressed whether Lionel would lend his private jet to any lady. That would be the jet piloted by a Fine into danger.
I wish they hadn’t bothered with the Chlark kiss. He’s such a self-righteous, impulsive jerk, I would be fine with her being allowed to get over him.
They cut two nice scenes about what Martha meant to Lois.
The disc also contains a brisk overview of how they made ‘Reckoning’, the hundredth episode, which I didn’t rate, so it seems like everyone worked hard for very little. I did like seeing the real-life owners of the Kent farm and that it seemed a positive experience for them.
I then went back to watch the two commentaries, and I have to say the one for ‘Thirst’, the bad ep featuring vampires in a sorority, where the show makers tried to explain how it could have been even worse, and this was a rescue job. It was quite entertaining, although if you know about these problems that your show has, er, address them.
I just wanted to talk about where this all leaves me as a shipper. Chloe has always been my entry point for Smallville fic, and though I’ll read Chloe/Clark (also Chloe/Whitney and Chloe/Lex, the latter more so after series 4), I feel that canon has shut it out more and more since the introduction of Lois. I’m fine with Clark/Lois as endgame, even if Clark/Lois are nowhere near as charming as the version depicted in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, their dynamic is much less annoying than Clark/Lana. As for the latter, well, they got it out of their system. I’ve enjoyed how the Lexana has pointed up some of the problems with Clana, even if I wish Rosenbaum were paired up with a stronger actress.
So, I’d happily ship Chloe and a crossover character – for a while I could see Chloe/Bruce (Nolanverse) but then we had Selina, which is my default Bruce ship. I know that they’re eventually writing in a love interest for Chloe in Smallville and I like the actor, so I’m looking forward to that. But I wish right now she wasn’t hung up on someone who has always treated her as a second choice, even if I love their friendship and her being in on the mysteries and world-saving. Was kissing Clark now that she knows he’s an alien really worth it? But then, this is from the people who still hold on to the amazing chemistry between Clark and Lana (eyerolling forever).
Who did have chemistry, however, is Martha and Lionel. It’s an utter impossibility. He’s such an awful person, that even if he’s slightly seeing the galactic picture and Team Clark, at his best, he isn’t worthy of her. But the fact that he knows that and appreciates her goodness (and the actors’ quality and spark) is endearing. Jonathan’s death has changed things hugely, because when Martha/Lionel meant adultery, and it still would be a betrayal at this point, and perhaps always, I was a bit hostile. But the fact that he lost a spouse too and wants to build her confidence and help her in her public role (not that his motives are pure here) adds something. As does the fact that the Jonathan/Martha that Martha (and the show) believed existed was not quite the one I saw in front of me. I don’t exactly want Lionel and Martha to get together, but there is this sweet spot of impossible UST between them that I’ve enjoyed.
My next TV show DVD boxset is OUaT season 1. I'm rather excited about whether the show will stand up to the rewatch.