Its actually been a while since I've gone back and watched eps of SV. I admit, I was feeling a bit burned out by the way S8 turned, and especially how it ended. Since we are less then 2 months away, I decided that I would just randomly rewatch some eps, in no particular order, for no particular reason. I've been sticking to S8 & S7 for now, but I'll probably start going further back. And of course, eventually, I have to get to those S1 screentime totals.
So, this is what I rewatched:
Committed - I ended up liking this episode even more then I liked it the first time...and that was already quite a bit. I do agree that the jeweler with the kryptonite watch is lame, but I just LOVE Clark in this episode. He's so amazing throughout, and that makes almost anything forgiveable. I love the toast he gives at Chloe's party. I love that he took Lois home to look after her *and* to give Chloe and Jimmy a break. I love his determination to find Chloe and Jimmy, and then later Lois. I love that he uses his smarts to get he and Lois out of the predicament. Powerless Clark finding a way to save the day is always a major turn-on for me. And I love how he approaches Lois at the end, and I love how he offers her a way to save face. And a lot of the lines are funny. My 2 favorites: "You got changed by yourself, in the middle of the kitchen, for, like, an hour" and "You know what Lois likes to see when she gets home. Pants! Pants on everyone". I also find the jewelry store scene very amusing.
Cure - I liked this episode the first time as well, but I think I was able to appreciate the fine, fine job Dean Cain does this time around. I doubt SV's budget would allow it, but I'd love for him to come back. I also like the Clex in this episode. In fact, there is a lot of good set-up in this episode that the season failed to capitalize on, I think. What also took me by surprise was how much more sympathetic I found myself being towards Jimmy. Chloe and Jimmy were such a disasterously mismatched and unappealing pairing, and I think I tended to take a lot of my frustration with it out on Jimmy. But now, in retrospect, I find myself seeing his POV more clearly. I also think AA and LV actually had good chemistry, so Jimmy/Kara seems like a wasted opportunity.
Abyss - Yeah, didn't much like this episode the first time around, and still didn't like it the second time around. Looking back, this episode didn't seem to have much point. Why exactly was Brainaic trying to erase all Chloe's memories? Why bother having Clark ask Jor-El not to restore Chloe's memories of his secret if that storyline wasn't going to go anywhere? Why bother with that whole Chloe/Clark flashback? I mean, I get that it was sort of cute, but doesn't it seem sort of random? I think my favorite thing in the episode might be the cute Australian MRI tech.
Doomsday - You know if I'm watching this one, I must've been choosing randomly. This episode may very well be one of my least favorite episodes of SV. Ever. My head still wants to explode in anger when I watch it, and I'm so disappointed that the failures of this episode were not addressed at Comic Con in some fashion. Because Kelly and Brian have to know. And the writing is just terrible, and nonsensical. I completely and utterly hate it. And I'll be honest, I just don't think I ever see myself getting over what Oliver, Dinah and Bart did to Clark. I don't care what sort of arc Oliver goes through. I don't want to forgive him, and I don't think he should be forgiven. And the whole Tess/Lois fight is so damned random. Somehow, I don't think I was supposed to be saying "Yes Clark, leave, runaway, don't look back, make new friends!" at the end of the episode. I could rant for paragraphs on everything wrong with this episode.
Descent - Now my reaction to this episode is funny, because I can clearly see everything wrong with it, and yet I kind of love it. The Clex in this episode is EPIC! EPIC, I tell ya!! They have 3 scenes, and only one with dialogue, and each of them just sizzle with tension and chemistry. The direction in this episode is also gorgeous. I miss Gina. She was a fun character. And I was reminded why the Veritas storyline was such a failure. And yes, the canonization of Lionel was bullshit. And yet, I still really, really like this episode. MR is on fire here, and I love CS's little Lex. But in the end, its all about the Clex here.
Arctic - And speaking of the Clex. Now, this episode is a mxed bag for me. The Clex confrontation at the end is a win in a lot of ways, except one...lack of in depth dialogue for Clark. And that just reminds me on one of my biggest frustrations with this show, which is how obvious it is that the writers prefer to write characters other then Clark. Lex's POV in Arctic is very well articulated. But Clark? Well, there's a lot he should've been able to verbalize, and yet the dialogue just isn't there. I do want to give LV mad props for nailing her Brainiac. She really captured JM there, but without it being an imitation. The scene between BrainiacKara and Lex at the mansion is a stand-out scene. But there's a lot in this episode that just feels wasteful. All the stuff with Jimmy and the Lana break-up vid (which is just aggravating since it was retconned) being the major 2. But there was something very fitting in that last image for Clex.
- Current Mood:
restless
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Comments
I like to think Kelly and Brian begged Tom to come to the panel in an attempt to avoid answering questions on that episode. Like they were in full-fledged "LOOK AT THIS! DON'T THINK ABOUT THAT STINK-O OF FINALE! IT'S TOM!" mode in order to avoid it.
I should've gotten my ass out of the chair.
And when I first looked at your icon I filled the initials in as saying Giant Queer Mother Fucker instead of leaving the GQ together.
But yeah, its not that I wanted someone to get up there and ask Kelly & Brian when they started smoking crack. But S8 had a whole pile of WTF?'s, and I'd have liked some of them to be brought up.
Hee. As much as I'm a self-admitted Polyanna, this is pretty much my reaction to the end of "Doomsday." Lois is off in the future, Jimmy's dead... RUN, CLARK! It's not that much longer before Bruce and Diana show up!!! YOU CAN HOLD OUT UNTIL THEN!!!
About Descent, I loved the Clex too. Lex still wanted words of comfort from Clark even though he *did* kill Lionel.
I agree about Arctic. I can't believe someone got paid for writing Clark's dialogue:"Lex!I can explain!" when they're in the middle of a 40-story high igloo. Geez! But I liked that last image. It mirrors their first encounter where Clark is bending over Lex as he just saved his life; and now Lex is bending over Clark wanting to kill?control? him. To make it more perfect, I think Lex should have kissed Clark. But unless I missed something, I still don't get what that pink orb was supposed to do.
I'm sure nobody wanted to kill the mood at comic con. I still wonder what Tom knows about online fans reaction to the show, his character and him. I hope he doesn't get his clues from the producers.
So, yeah, his whole character arc feels like a waste to me, and a huge suck on Clark's story.
In Descent, that wordless first scene between Clex is so amazing. Because Clark gives him that puzzled look, and tilt of his head, almost like saying "Tell me what happened", and Lex just can't face him.
One of the huge failures of Arctic is that there is all this build-up of the disco ball being able to control Clark, but then it can't and doesn't. At all. First it just took away Clark's powers (again), and destroyed the FOS. Now Zod pops out of it. Ah, WTF SV?
(And we all know it would have come down to Gina and Tess, right? "I LOVE HIM! *slap, boot to the solar plexus*"
"I LOVE HIM MORE! *roundhouse kick and then a chop to the throat)"
"*ahem* Ladies....threesome?")
I sometimes get the feeling that Gina was a Tess prototype.
Committed is one of my favorites from S8, and it's also an episode I find I can watch again and again, and delight in it every time. As an episode, it just sparkles, for all the reasons you describe.
I loved Dean Cain in Cure. He looked like he was having a blast, and he made it all look so easy. I also loved the brief Clex we got, with Clark sitting vigil at Lex's bedside in the hospital.
I agree that Abyss ended up being pretty much meaningless. I think it was meant to give Allison a showcase episode, and to throw the Chlarkers a big fat bone. Which was a crap thing to do, because as a group they were pretty much reconciled to Chloe and Clark just being friends at that point, and then of course they got their hopes up again, after an entire episode focusing on all the times Clark and Chloe have kissed. And the memory wipe really pissed them off. Whatever TPTB were trying to do with that episode, I think they failed. But the fanboys loved it, because it was full of Doomsday, and the Fortress, and Jor-El.
Doomsday was truly a mess. I didn't hate the episode as much as everyone else, because I liked Clark so much in it, and the rest I was already braced for because I was so thoroughly spoiled. I was thrilled when Clark walked out on Chloe, and I'll be interested to see how they resolve that conflict moving forward. But yes, I'm still mad at everyone who betrayed Clark.
Descent really was pretty awesome. As you say, the direction was wonderful, and the Clex was magnificent. Michael and Tom both did such a good job! I still rationalize that Lionel was only reformed in his own mind. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I wish they would have traded just about every scene in Arctic for more Clex. I didn't care about the Chimmy, I didn't care about Lana (although Tom was amazing in the scene where Clark watched the video of Lana), and I didn't care about Lex's travel arrangements. And it killed me that Clark had basically nothing to say in the Fortress. But still, I'm so thankful for that last scene, and the way the episode, the season, and Michael's time on the show ended. I wish TPTB could have left well enough alone, instead of giving us the horror that was Fake!Lex.
And I'm totally jazzed about Tom's win at the TCAs! :)
Yes to everything you said about Abyss. Thats precisely how I feel. And I think the whole second half of the season was practically a showcase for Allison. I'm not sure Abyss was even needed.
Arctic is one of those eps which has its shining moments, but you just wish you could get your hands on it and redo it a bit, and make it a far better episode.
What? Tom won at the TCA's? Wow, My Man!!
I also feel Kelly & Brian know, but I would've liked to see them address it in a more meaningful way then some allusion to "mean comments" on the 'net.
I think you are probably right that Oliver will never apologize. In fact, going by some of Justin's comments, I think he's going to compound things with Clark by making some really stupid remarks. Not to mention his resurgent feelings. I could even, maybe, get over his wrong headed decisions. But its shooting Clark with the kryptonite arrow, and his standing over Clark and talking about his "ego" that I simply can't find my way to forgive. Its heinous on a huge scale.
I'd be OK if the events in Abyss came back up again. In fact, I'd be OK with Clark and Chloe both airing their grievances and putting it all out there, and maybe redefining their friendship a bit better, and trying to find a healthier balance for the both of them. What I DON'T want is someone just raging on Clark without him being able to dish it right back. This show has a terrible track record with that.
::shudders::
Now that this turd of an ep is out of the way---
I loved 'Committed.' One of my favorites from last season. And you're completely right about how great Clark was in it. In fact, all the characters had their moments, and the Clark/Lois stuff in it is pure gold.
I liked 'Cure' a lot. There was some great stuff in it, especially the Clex. Overall, the whole ep had this melancholic, yet almost creepy vibe. But in a good way. If that makes any sense, heh.
I hated 'Abyss' when it aired, and while I still do, I think I probably have more tolerance for it in retrospect after enduring the likes of 'Power', 'Requeim', 'Beast' and 'Doomsday.' I can look back at 'Abyss' now simply as the "Everybody loves Chloe" hour and be done with it.
I loved 'Descent.' This, along with 'Traveler' and 'Apocalypse' are my three favorite eps from season 7. The Clex makes this ep for me. I remember being absolutely bowled over by their scenes while watching it, and I remember truly ::enjoying:: writing my review of them because they were just so awesome to watch. Epic.
'Arctic' has its problems but I agree, LV was pretty damn good as Brainiac. Cold and chilling. I also liked the Clark/Lois hug. It was a rare moment of Clark actually giving himself in to that emotional and physical support that someone was offering to him in that moment, and it's moving to watch. The final Clex scene, that final shot, is the kind of stuff we'll always remember as fans, but I couldn't agree more that Clark' POV was sorely lacking. I remember being so frustrated by this then.
What you said about Cure makes a lot of sense. It really feels like a very complete, well constructed episode. I think only the ending, with MM stepping in and taking Knox off to ??? is problematic. It feels open-ended. Which would have been fine if he had come back, but alas.
I think the reason I like the Clark/Lois hug in Arctic has nothing at all to do with 'ships. I just like when someone is there for Clark when he's upset and in need. I think our big guy doesn't get nearly enough hugs. So, I appreciate that there was someone to put their arms around him when he was so upset.
I also was told that all the editing is done in L.A. They only shoot the raw material in Burnaby. Maybe that´s why at ComicCon Tom said that his main goal is to improve the communication between L.A. and Vancouver.
I hope Tom being a producer can make this a better show. Though I suspect I'd need to have new showrunners and writers to really achieve the change I'd love to see. Tom can only do so much.