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Last night
I've only had a chance to glance at the cut-tag headers in some of my friends' journals, but so far I think I might be in a minority.
I was disappointed.
I really liked several things, and other things royally disappointed me. An overall feeling of ambivalence, some joy, and some absolute cringe-inducing moments.
The Joy
- The Clark/Chloe/Pete scene in the Torch at the beginning made me the happiest of the episode. That was beautiful. A return to their season one relationship really made me a very happy fangirl.
- The Chlionel. We all saw this coming and knew exactly what he would do, but that added twist of Lex was just nifty. Chloe managed to piss of Lionel by doing something he wasn't expecting. Of course this really marks her and puts her in a bad position, but it all also shows that a teenage girl can get the best of Lionel Luthor. There is potential for Chloe in regards to Lionel. She may have something on her side if she can harness it. Honestly, at this point, I'm seeing a Chloe/Lex union that will bring Lionel to his knees.
- The overall notion of the episode was quite brilliant for Smallville. The guy who hates meteor freaks and his genocide. Lex having to deal with his own uniqueness. Chloe's list coming into play. I just wish we could have seen Lex dealing with his freakness more.
- The absolute knowledge that Lionel was not in any way responsible for the plane crash. Yeah, the way TPTB handled the plane crash sucked. It still irks me that the Helen storyline was treated so badly. But that last scene in the Torch with Chloe and Lionel...Lionel loves his son. That ladies and gentlemen is his fatal flaw. He loves his son in a twisted, messed up way. And it will be his downfall.
- The way Chloe sees Clark had me just so happy. Her list of meteor freaks - Clark wasn't on there. But she knows he's different. Folks, Chloe sees Clark as being heroic. He gets on her nerves at times, they fight, but his friendship means the most to her. And she knows on some level that Clark's differentness is unlike that of the standard meteor freak. Whether she thinks he was affected by the meteors or not, she sees him as being in a unique category. She would be very accepting of Superman.
- BoKent almost made me cry as he was getting that bullet out. JS did a magnificent job. Jonathan is normally angry or mildly frantic, but never crying. That amount of heartbreak just about killed me.
- I like the use of the word "vigilante" throughout the episode. That's one thing common to the comic book superhero, and it's smart to actually address that fact.
The Super Irritating
- The lack of depth in the Lex storyline. There should have been more there dealing with him and his meteor freak qualities. I know I don't get all excited by Lex storylines usually, but this was one time when I felt the exploration of his emotional state could have shed light on the character in a very pivotal fashion.
- TW phoning it in. I'm sorry folks, but there were several scenes where he was muttering, barely emoting, just sort of going through the motions. I've gotten so used to FabTommy and his fab acting that this glaring error on his part just reached through the TV screen and bitch slapped me.
- The return of bad Tommy hair.
- The misuse of Pete. Again. I swear, I'll write that essay. But my main problem is that they throw Pete into action sequences just to walk with Clark and talk. There's no point to him being there because Clark could have done it faster himself.
- The occasional disjointed nature of the episode. At times it flowed smoothly. At other times it seemed like an outline that was only partially finished.
- Lana's ass kicking. Kicking Van in the balls? Priceless. A perfect move. Finishing him off with a roundhouse kick to the head while her hands were tied behind her back? WTF? *face palm* Yo! Almiles! What is wrong with you? She's not Jean Claude VanDamm! She's not a martial arts whiz with years of practice! Okay, so she's the Pink Ranger, we'll give you that one. But please oh please, stop with the Lana Lang VanBland and give us realistic butt kicking on her part.
- The weird disjoint that there is between the show's reality and reality-reality. Clark didn't kill Greg Arkin (yeah, the thing fell on Greg, but Greg also turned into bugs and scampered off). Clark didn't kill lots of people. BUT he was fighting a few when they died. He has saved one person and not another. Manslaughter on Tina maybe? Life isn't as black and white as Almiles get at times. This is one of those issues, the issue of death in Smallville. (There's also the issue of sex, but I'm of a different mindset from most. I don't think he's had sex because what others consider hard proof - stop laughing - isn't so set in stone to me. That night with Jessie for instance - I didn't buy the intimated sex that others saw.)
The Horrifying
- Lana's complete lack of reaction to death. This is starting to really freak me out here folks. There is something seriously wrong with Lana and death. I can understand getting tired of being attacked by obsessive weirdos. But wishing them dead? What? That girl has a severly violent streak and no morals.
- Almost as frightening is the fact that no one seems concerned that Lana has so little regard for human life.
- And again on the frightening scale (although it was a short time after, so it's understandable that her emotions might have been running high and she didn't mean it as strongly as she said it) is the fact that Lana's discrimination was "understandable". The girl was fine with genocide! She was fine with the death of a people just because of a commonality of elements they couldn't control, based on a few that reacted in a criminal manner. Racism, hate crimes, discrimination, my god she's a poster child for a supremecy group in Smallville. She had a "those people" mindset and was saying they were less than her and other citizens. I'm sorry but...no. I can't have any feelings of like for a character that is allowed to act like that and then has it all explained away with "but she changed in her heart when she found out her ex-boyfriend could have/possibly was but isn't one of the freaks."
***
I'm in mourning for the Cubbies. The goat rises again. My poor Kenny.
***
I went to the gym last night. *whimper* So far, as the day progresses, I've discovered more and more muscles. And they all hurt. Well, 2/3 of my body hurts. Every muscle in my legs (and there are a lot), my butt, my abs, my back, my ankles (yes, they hurt too)...my arms and part of my torso got off fine.
And I go back tonight. Say a prayer. Or laugh. Your choice.
***
Can I just say, straight up, that werewolf stories freak me out? I think it's been a while since I mentioned it, but any nightmares I have include wild animals. Tigers, lions or wolves. Tigers are the most common and wolves come in second. So werewolf things freak me out.
Last night was no exception. Freaky as hell. I kept having to change the channel. Literally fear inducing. *shudder*
***
I've been having weird dreams lately thanks to PMS. Three nights ago it was a dream where Sully and I (and a couple of other people, but I have no clue who) were hanging out with TW and MR, and they were absolutely hysterical. Teasing each other, TW making fun of MR's hair. MR's hair kept growing in really quickly, which he said was a hassle on the show. Let me tell you, grown in he had this whole flowing mane thing going that was scarily JGish.
Last night was probably the most interesting though. *g* And it's only a tiny snippet that I remember, but it's an important snippet.
I dreamed that
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kryptonsite was Dean Cain. Somehow I met Dean Cain. He said he ran Kryptonsite. I reminded him that Craig ran Kryptonsite. Then came the shocker where it was revealed the Craig and Dean Cain are the same person! Duh duh duhhhhhh. I don't know, my mind did it. *g*
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The problem lies in that she displaces her fear and anger inappropriately. And here is where we FINALLY see Lana Lang's tragic flaw...the one that will be the downfall of the Clana and the one TPTB intend for EVERYONE to see: She's a bigot. She is distrustful and, at times, hateful of those who are different from her, particularly meteor mutants. It's the classic case of someone with a very limited understanding of the world around them using a few bad instances to justify sweeping accusations and general hatred towards an entire group.
And what was great about that last scene when she told Clark that it wouldn't matter if he were a mutant: She only said that after she saw for herself that he wasn't "one of them". And Clark picked up on that...he physically placed the fence in between them after her comment.
I also had a problem with the likening of Clark to a vigilante. Clark differs from a vigilante in that he sometimes goes above the law not because he holds a disdain for the ineptitude of "the system", but because he has abilities that he can't share with them that allow him to act quicker and rectify a situation in ways that "the system" can't. His actions don't stem from frustration and anger...they come from altruism, love and the secret he can't share.
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And the dog did not comment back. *g*
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I know you're all about the Pete, Mave, but when he is given something to do, I'm afraid that Sam Jones III doesn't step up to the plate. Not meaning to harsh your mallow; just my opinion!
And it was if the first two episodes of the season didn't exist. This episode was Season 2 Bad all the way. But hey - DOMOS got my memos about seeing Welling shirtless in every episode. And y'all know that's why *I* tune in.
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But as far as death goes...she's lost too many friends and classmates and had too many nutcases kidnap her and try to rape or kill her to give a damn whether they die or not.
Frankly, I think it was Clark's *duty* to execute some of the most powerful FOTW's whether it makes him feel guilty or not, because it would be nearly impossible to hold some of them in jail...and they were almost all murderers anyway. If he would've snapped Tina Greer's neck in season one her rampage of terror wouldn't have happened in season 2(and this guy's dad wouldn't have died setting another rampage in motion). Taking a little sin on his head will save a whole lotta people(especially prison guards) down the road.
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Oh, I by no means think he's Olivier, or even Welling on the good acting scale, but part of it to me has been that he has had scenes where he's done well with the material. And I think that might have to do with the directors on those. Sam overacts a lot. He's got a character that isn't very interesting (although the writers could fix that in a plausible way) and so he's lost on how to play it. There have been a few times where he's been spot on, and you can totally see Pete there. The thing for me is, those times have always been with Allison and Tom. He does his best with those two to bounce off of. I'll be honest, I really don't think they should have him playing off of John Schneider or Annette O'Toole. Sam is very teenagery in his delivery and acting style, and he has a hard time working with the "adults".
But the bouncing back and forth, rapid repartee, Pete as the buffer scenes have been best for him. In those, Pete has a purpose, and in some of those the directors have actually been able to harness him. After watching Zig Zag, I'm convinced the boy can act. But Zig Zag was vastly different because Sam had something to concentrate on and was worrying less about line delivery. Hmmm. It may be that he overthinks it (hell, I know I overthink the few times I've done plays when it's been a boring character).
This episode was Season 2 Bad all the way.
It had a whole lot of those bad season 2 qualities, but I'll give it a thumbs up for an actual concept that was darn smart. But if they concept isn't executed right...*Sigh*
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Oh definitely. Any three-dimensional character isn't all good (even nuns and monks face temptation), so having a character that seems extremely perfect and without flaw is just sloppy storytelling. (And here's something that you may not know since Season 2 made me not like Lana. I actually really liked Season 1 Lana (up to the last few episodes). I actually had this big long essay I wrote explaining why she was a nice girl. I grew up with a girl that was very much like early Lana, so I could identify with the character. But my main issue is that they're going in and giving her a dark side that's in such extreme contrast with the way she started out, it seems deliberate and not realistic. I can understand getting tired of being attacked by the Krypto-freaks. I can understand being upset about being a target for obsessive people. But she's also been targeted and attacked by people that *weren't* Krypto-freaks. So lumping all of the times she's been attacked into direct hatred for a group of people who didn't *ask* to be different (well, there are a few meteor freaks who asked) isn't realistic. She went to Lex for training in how to protect herself from anyone, not just the freaks. Yet suddenly it's all about the freaks. There's having a dark side and going complete Vadar. Two different things. The getting tired of being attacked that preceeded her training (however silly it seemed to me at the time as merely a means to make Lana more interesting - even though it was a good move because she *does* need to take more responsibility for her own safety, as does any woman) had nothing to do with the physical traits of the people coming after her and everything to do with their obsessive personalities.
*looks at the big long paragraph* Okay, wow, that was long and rambly. But essentially, I would have been fine with a dark side that displayed her humaness, but this complete shift from who she was to this amount of hatred in one season just doesn't feel right. It's too extreme.
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But as far as death goes...she's lost too many friends and classmates and had too many nutcases kidnap her and try to rape or kill her to give a damn whether they die or not.
See, I can't quite agree with that. Any person that loses their humanity to feel sorrow over death, that's a person destined for either a looney bin or a jail cell. Humans have a conscience. That's part of what makes the dominant species on the planet. Conscience, reason, opposable thumbs...morality. Free will. People make choices. The people that attacked Lana made those choices. They were stupid choices (I still don't understand why he tried to kill her. That made no sense whatsoever.). But they were choices that were punishable by the laws of the land. Attempted murder is a capital offense. He would have gone to jail. Yes, it's hard to put someone in jail that has unusual abilities, but aren't there "normal" people who are hard to jail for similar reasons? Tina obviously was the extreme in here.
Killing in self-defense of defense of others is one thing. That's why citizens can be found not guilty of murder, or why cops may shoot and kill someone in the line of duty and not be put in jail for life. But killing someone because they may commit a crime, because the person killing doesn't want to wait for a system of justice to take care of them...that's not allowable under law. Vigilante justice isn't justice for anyone but the victim, and sometimes not even for them. Plus, as the episode illustrated, a lack of education on the subject often leads to the wrong people being killed in the name of a cause. Lex may grow up to be evil and with murder on his mind, but man can't mete out punishment based on offenses that have not happened.
And that's the major crux of the problem to me. The meteor freaks who do no wrong and the meteor freaks that commit crimes are not distinguishable from one another until after the fact. And once they've committed the crime, they've broken the laws of the United States of America. They've broken the laws of man. Some of them are insane, but either way, they should be locked away, not punished by death unless they caused a death. Because whatever their abilities are, it's the human choice that they made to act in a criminal manner that's on trial for punishment, not the means they chose to do so. Not all criminals in Smallville are meteor freaks, just like not all heros have superpowers.
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It's funny, because I've seen people say so far that either they hated it or loved it. You and I are two of the few in between folks. Hey, anything with shirtless Tommy is good. We're not going to argue (but were you as mad as me over bad Tommy hair returning?). But sometimes it's just interesting to discuss all of the ways it could have improved. The good stuff was already good. We liked the good stuff. We don't have to hash out the good stuff. *g*
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I don't think Lana was suggesting that this vigilante guy go kill all the mutants. I think she was merely perturbed by Clark's defense of the swimfan who was clearly guilty...and just another in a long line of meteor freak psychos(I think there is little doubt that the meteor freaks are more insane than average people, even if 100% of them aren't criminals).
Clark's X-Ray vision and 100 acts of B&E, violates plenty of laws as it is. He's not exactly following the same laws the cops do.
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This makes me wonder one thing about the Smallville universe and all of the surrounding comic book towns - is Arkham Asylum in existence yet? Places like that deal with supercriminals with unusual abilities. Methinks Metropolis needs to build one pronto.
I know a judge and jury, as well as the police, might have trouble believing that a Justin weilded a chainsaw and tried to hack up a girl, or did the thing with an elevator, but he also undeniably did some nice art. That could be entered into evidence that he's not as disabled as they might think. Combine that with testimony about him driving a car into Kwan (even though he wasn't necessarily behind the wheel) and he might get put away (even though he might be hard to cage also).
The criminal justice system would eventually find a way to house people like Justin and Tina. They *will* eventually find a way in the Smallville universe. And it has to start somewhere. The realization that the evolutionary process has changed will eventually dawn and society will have to face facts.
Clark's X-Ray vision and 100 acts of B&E, violates plenty of laws as it is.
The B&E, yes, God yes it violates laws. That always got me in every detective novel written and on this show. The kids commit crimes for their "stories", and yet there's no consequence for the action becausing they're "do-gooding".
But the X-Ray vision...morally it's not right, but there are no laws that it's breaking because of the fact that it's never existed before Clark. Law dictates that anything discernible to the naked eye in an area where a person has the right to be (that being key) does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Unfortunately, Clark's naked eye is very different from everyone else's. Should the law be changed just for him? Should the law be changed to include X-Ray vision, just because of him? It's also really, really hard to prove when he uses it (even if he is fairly honest and would probably would admit so if he were pressed by law enforcement that knew of the ability).
You are so making me think of a really cool topic. Must ponder it.
I think there is little doubt that the meteor freaks are more insane than average people
They seriously need to address this on the show. We've had Kyle Tippett who was a good guy, and tons of bad guys. They need to address what in the rocks affects people's psychology, and why is it that while 9 out of 10 go bad, there's one that doesn't? That would be compelling and interesting, and quite fascinating.
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I still prefer the sex hair though.
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Plus, in the comics, Superman actually enters into an agreement with the Metropolis police. He's licensed to catch criminals like a cop. He has the *mentality* of a cop (says the girl in school to be a cop).
One thing that got me about the use of the term vigilante is the common usage of it in the comics in reference to some of the superheros. Batman is a vigilante in some areas. But Superman has always, always been above vigilanteism. I think part of it was to point out the difference between vigilantes and what Clark does, and I think it did so nicely. The point everyone got was that, as you said, Clark does what he does out of a desire to help, not out of anger or hatred. He's the ultimate Boy Scout.
Sorry about the Cubbies
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The one thing I actually didn't mind was Lana's view on Van and the freaks. It reminded me so much of her attitude in "Hug" (another reason why good ol' Kermit the Hermit should have merited a mention!) that I felt like I was instantly transported back to the happy days of early Season 1, when Clark and Lana could actually have an argument.
Regardless of what it made me think of Lana, the fact that it made her argue with Clark, and that he didn't just immediately accept her views (though his convo with Bo later kinda undermined that, it was sorta more a "she made me think" rather than "she's right") gives me a happy. And the way their convo in the Talon ended with Clark not saying anything out of hurt and Lana looking like a jackass (though she didn't intend to say anything mean)...warmed my heart. Lana isn't perfect anymore. Even Clark seems to have broken his perfect image of her, and as so many fans predicted, it happened when he saw her reaction to his alienness. I hope this becomes a trend in Season 3. I don't mind Lana so much, now that Clark has admitted to hisself that she is fallible. Maybe it isn't Lana so much who was an idiot last season, but Clark, for never standing up to her.
I don't think Lana's views were bigoted exactly. Even Clark admitted that when he runs into a freak, their encounter hardly ever ends with them "shaking hands". The truth of the matter is that all the freaks that anyone knows about have been pyscho. Lana may just be inferring that Kryptonite makes humans crazy. Many of them are like rabid dogs. I don't think she was defending Van's murdering ways, I think she was saying that just because he killed the guy doesn't mean he wasn't just trying to stop him. I think she saw it as defense of another's life. The same way people sometimes die when they fight Clark.
She was still wrong and stupid, but I think she makes some sense. And the first person she mentions when she decides that Van's a murderer is Lex, not Clark. Once Van goes after a good person, she sees that he's definitely bad news.
Lana's stupid, but I don't think she's mean or discriminatory.