Kara: "It's really easy. Just up, up and away."Or not. This was all windup and no pitch. I was sort of expecting something big to happen. Like, Clark flying. Lots of teasing, but come on: we didn't even see him jump out of the barn and plummet to the ground.
Okay, so I admit that they probably didn't do much with Clark flying because this was Lionel's episode. There were lots of intimations that Lionel was going to bite the dust, which does not make me happy. Veritas means truth. What is the truth about Lionel and his obsession with the Traveler? We still don't know. But after seven seasons of loving Lionel's ambiguity and mystery, I have to say that I honestly believe Lionel's intentions toward Clark became benevolent back when Lionel became Jor-El's vessel, and that he is indeed trying to atone. Clark is justifiably angry at Lionel right now, but Lionel has come through too many times to be faking it.
Who knew getting shot in Detroit could be a good thing? Lex has started remembering Veritas stuff from back when he had hair. This is an interesting plot development. I seem to remember Lex being committed and having Clark's secret jolted out of him. Is Lex going to remember the Big Secret? If they're on the verge of writing Lionel out (no! no!), that would certainly be an interesting way to go.
Brainiac wants Krypton back. Where did he take Kara? The Phantom Zone? What he did to Lana was very creepy, very Terminator 2; James Marsters even had the same expression on his face that the T-1000 did when he was skewering Sarah Connor. The last ten minutes made me sigh, but not in a good way. I really want Lana written out, but permanently – not like this, with ickiness and being trapped in her brain screaming and all. Let's face it, Clark will never move on this way.
What's coming that is so terrible? What could be worse than Zod?
Bits and pieces:
— Lots of birds flying in the (appropriately named) teaser. And note the huge, bizarrely-shaped angel behind Clark and Lana in the hospital segment. Precursor of death, please? Yes, I know. They're never going to write Lana out.
— Loved little Oliver Queen with the bow and arrows. They didn't say, but we can assume that the fourth child was the late, unlamented Jason Teague.
— We did get some fun with Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen as the "dynamic duo," going undercover as "Pruners R Us."
— What's in the secret Veritas envelope? If it's not super-Kryptonite, how can it possibly affect Clark and Kara?
— "Prominent Metropolis Citizen Dies a Suspicious Death." Grammar, anyone?
— Shelby was back. Funny how he just vanishes for many episodes at a time but shows up when they could use a dog to bark at something.
— Little Lex was playing with a Warrior Angel action figure that looked a great deal like Superman.
— Next new episode is April 17, and the previews on the CW were very, very spoilery. If you didn't see them, I won't spoil you. I'm rather ticked about this.
Three out of four stars from me,
Billie
---
Billie Doux had a love-hate relationship with Smallville, which is why some of her reviews are briefer than they should be.
Lionel is a character that I have always loved. Actors looks aside Lionel Luther is also the most complex character on the show. A character that you genuinely WANT to end up good, kinda like Lex in the first few seasons. I genuinely WANTED to like Lex, but now I honestly wish his character would just die (even though I know it won't). This episode didn't make me give up on Lionel though. I don't think he's done anything irreparable even if Clark is convinced he has. I don't know WHY exactly but this episode didn't seem to hit me as hard as it did some of the people I've talked to. Here are my feelings on the matters that seems to have upset the people I've talked:
ReplyDelete1) He put Clark in a cage. Yes, okay, but BUT he was preparing to put him back in the loft at the end of it. In fact as far as I understood things he only put Clark in the cage because he knew the Patricia would ask to see him. I'm not sure why this necessitated caging Clark but apparently it did any his mind. At any rate he WAS going to let Clark go. He ALSO told the psycho-guard to take it down a notch and was obviously upset at the idea of Clark suffering.
2) He made krypto-tazers. Okay am I the only one who has noticed the absurd number of kryptonians on Earth? I mean for an extinct species they sure do get around. Now thing about this: You are Jor-El's vessel. All the Kryptonians you've met so far (not including Clark) have either tried to kill you or been pressured to kill you because you are Jor-El's vessel. Now with that in mind: Would you not want some sort of weapon?? Plus! I mean honestly he TAZED superman, comedy aspects aside if he had wanted to do damage he would have brought in kryptonite bullets or started out with kryptonite gass or something more effective and damaging.
3) He was prepared to let Lex take the blame for everything. Yea okay because Lex is defiantly going to jump to Lionel's defense next episode when Lionel goes to jail for murdering Patricia I'm sure. Seriously though what would you do? Would you say "Oh yea I hired a bunch of guys to jump Clark, he's in a kryptonite cage right now but no worries he'll be back by dinner." Um no, not so much, sorry. Lionel Luther is a logical man and logic dictates that we do not spend months developing top secret technology and then confess to it the first time two twenty year old girls confront us about it.
And honestly so he killed some people in the past! Newsflash people: WE ALL KNEW HE WAS EVIL! That's why we like him now, because he was evil and now he's less so. Are we REALLY going to start drudging up the past now? No. I mean it may seem insensitive but I honestly don't give a damn if he was personally responsible for Pearl Harbor he's more then proven himself over the past few seasons and he's always had a fairly good reason/excuse (if only one paired with an alternative motive) for the things he's done.
So to sum up my little rant: I have not yet forsaken Lionel Luther and while I'm perfectly prepared to be wrong I have yet to see anything in this episode to tie him to the dark side definitely.
"He ALSO told the psycho-guard to take it down a notch and was obviously upset at the idea of Clark suffering."
DeleteThat's no good! When the stakes are this high, this kind of buffoonish oversight can easily be seen as a crime by the right fans. I think we're more offended by Lionel's failure to read character than any moral line-crossing
"if he had wanted to do damage he would have brought in kryptonite bullets or started out with kryptonite gass or something more effective and damaging"
He probably would've, if it was an option lol... as it stands, look at Clark in absolute agony there with fire coursing through his veins and tell him he should appreciate Lionel's uh relative mercy.
Listen, we all love Lionel but I can't help but reflect on what his insane charisma levels lets us fluff over. I think of poor Lana chiding Chloe & friends for assuming she's gone over to the dark side just because she was keeping surveillance on Lex in a satisfying reversal but still wanted her 'tainted' help. You don't even need to bring up the other members of Veritas he's had murdered if you want to hold him accountable. You can look more recently, the earlier seasons of the actual show. Listen to Pete talk about the damage he carelessly spread. Watch him threaten Chloe through her father and then herself directly. Redemption isn't Tabula Rasa... old history matters. Lionel is a very fascinating monster, not a guy who "follows logic" to some impressively extreme degree. We still don't really know if the Jor-El possession was a spiritual awakening or if Jor-El actually purged the evil out of him. If it's the former, like I'm thinking, then his old crimes should absolutely remain relevant...