Smallville season 5

[Cthulhudrew]

Flipped back and forth between this and Alias. I don't know. I remember why I stopped watching it during the second season. Too much melodrama. A few things that just bugged me.

[sblock]
"Jor-El took my powers". Wha? I thought Superman got his powers from the radiation of the yellow sun. How could Jor-El take them away? I presume they'll explain this, but it seems to me they've been less than forthcoming about some of these sorts of things in the past.

Lex is EEevil! This has always seemed so forced to me. I liked the interaction/friendship between Lex and Clark in the first season, but it seemed like the writers put themselves in a corner where suddenly Lex was too good to become the badguy we all know. Hence Lionel's greatly expanded role. Then they realized they had to make Lex bad somehow, so they shoehorned this whole "he lies and betrays Clark's trust" plot into things, that never really reflected what was actually happening in any episodes. Lex never really betrayed Clark- and he certainly hasn't lied to the extent Clark has- yet Clark (and everyone else) seemingly despise Lex all the more. I just don't get it.

Clark to Lana- "No more lies." Okay, well, seems to me you're the one doing all the lying, so if I were Lana, I'd pretty much be tired of the constant platitudes.

Also, is it just me, or was the Phantom Zone effect in Superman: The Movie much more effective and realistic looking than the blah cgi thing they had in this episode?[/sblock]

Going to go back to not watching this, it looks like. Though I'm sure no one's crying for me.

 

[WayneLigon]

I'm at least hoping I was right about 'Jor-El' being Zod all along THat would be just too cool.

 

[Truth Seeker]

Nice tribute to Sam Loeb, Jeff Loeb's son.

And no, Spike is not Zod.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Nice tribute to Sam Loeb, Jeff Loeb's son.

And no, Spike is not Zod.

Nano tech - Brainic

 

[Insight]

This was the best Smallville episode in a long time. Those of you who follow the show will agree with me. It was great! if you don't like melodrama, then you probably don't like mainstream comics either. This was a very well put together episode.

Sure, some things remain unexplained. But some things were revealed that I believe bode very well for the show's future.

That said, I really hope that...

Spoiler

1. Clark finally just tells Lana everything. He pretty much did, but there's still some 'splainin to do.

2. Lex falls further into madness. This will better explain how he becomes a villain. He needs to resent Clark for something major, and thus become the 'villain of the story'. Show, not tell.

3. No love triangles with Clark, Lana, and Lois. It would make for much storyline/angst fodder, but it's unworkable given how Lois and Clark interact right now. I might be able to buy it with some major change in their relationship that would *lead* to romantic feelings, but right now, the path of least resistance is Lana + Clark.

4. Brainiac isn't just another freak of the week. They wouldn't have made such a big deal about him if he was just going to be in the next few episodes. My only problem with Brainiac is that I always saw him as such a goofy villain. I hope the writers do something interesting with him.

 

[Belen]

This episode rocked. Lex has finally turned completely to the darkside and I see a complete break with Clark soon. Not only has Clark lied to him, but he will also be competing with Clark for Lana's affection. Once Lex realizes that they are together, you can bet his hatred of Clark will be cemented.

As for Jor-el, we all know that there is a chamber in the Fortress of Solitude that can strip Kryptonians of their powers. I think that Jor-el needs Clark to realize why he needs them. As long as Clark desperately wants to be "normal" he can never truly become superman. Clark has always been a persona of Suoerman. I think that Chloe finally saw the truth in the hospital. It is a truth that Clark wants to hide from.

Jor-el is going to show Clark that the only way to protect them people he loves will be to embrace the powers that make him different.

Great show, great episode and I cannot wait to see the direction of this season!

 

[Cthulhudrew]

if you don't like melodrama, then you probably don't like mainstream comics either.

See, I personally love mainstream comics (and non-mainstream ones), but I just don't dig Smallville. I liked it at first, but it went into such a weird, non-Superman direction. More than that, actually, it just went in a weird, exaggerated teen-angst direction, that I just can't really get into it anymore. Tried again last night, but it just didn't do much more for me than it used to.

I just feel the writing is somewhat sub-par. But some things aren't for everyone, I guess.

Spoiler

1. Clark finally just tells Lana everything. He pretty much did, but there's still some 'splainin to do.

Spoiler

This is one of my problems. I guarantee that as soon as his "abilities" come back, he'll go back to being Mr. Mysterio and break up with Lana or push her away again. The whole dang thing recycles. Honestly, with "Superboy" being this withdrawn and angsty, I really don't see him growing into the big blue boy scout of modern myth. I used to dig his relationship with his father, too, but after the first season that relationship became all about- Clark, you can't do this, you can't do that. Hide yourself from the world. Too much arguing in the Kent household, and not enough nurturing.

That said, I did like Pa Kent's "Don't worry about Clark. He can take care of himself," speech in this episode. 'Bout time he started realizing it.

Spoiler

2. Lex falls further into madness. This will better explain how he becomes a villain. He needs to resent Clark for something major, and thus become the 'villain of the story'. Show, not tell.

Spoiler

Again, I don't know that he needs to go mad to get where they need him. They've done a pretty good job of building his mistrust for Clark (not such a good job of the reverse, sadly), and if they simply go the route of say, the recent Waid penned "Superman: Birthright" series, they could play up the alien angle of Clark and Lex' distrust of alien invaders' motives. IE, build him up as not a "bwahaha! I'm evil!" villain, and someone who does the wrong things for what he perceives as the right reasons- fighting Clark because he believes he represents a threat to mankind. Or something like that.

There are tons of ways they could make Lex "bad" without making him a caricature (though many of them should have had the groundwork laid much better). The show seems to lend itself more towards shallow/one-dimensional motivations, though, and not any sort of complex characterization. How many times have they done the "evil" Lex storyline, in one form or another, only to reset later?

Then there's the other problem I mentioned, where no one trusts Lex, despite the fact that he's always coming to the aid of everyone else, even when they constantly refuse to let him in on what's going on. They don't even talk about the meteorite rock situation with him, despite the fact that he obviously knows about the rocks. Even just something like- "hey, Lex. We're battling a freak of the week. Could you and your amazing resources help us out?" Instead they always pretend like- "oh, there's nothing out of the ordinary going on. Why are you looking at us like we're blatantly lying to you?"

 

[Xath]

I started watching the show again because I really like James Marsters. I did think the first episode was kind of weak, as I was expecting a much better fight from the two Kryptonians. Their exit was sad in my opinion.

But I love James Marsters. And they kept the blonde hair.

 

[Fast Learner]

Great episode, really enjoyed all of it (except for the fairly lame fight with the Kryptonians).

 

[Crothian]

I started watching the show again because I really like James Marsters. I did think the first episode was kind of weak, as I was expecting a much better fight from the two Kryptonians. Their exit was sad in my opinion.

But I love James Marsters. And they kept the blonde hair.

I agree, its not the strongest of shows these days but it does an okay job. I figure they had to keep the blonde hair his only purpose is to bring viewers and that's a signiture style for him.