Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

Smallville: Arctic

Lex: "I must admit, Clark, this is a big step up from the barn."

Smallville is famous for its season finale cliffhangers. Dan and I had a bet on it. I thought there would be the traditional four cliffhangers. Dan went for five or more. In truth, we only got three. And they weren't what I expected. Kara in the Phantom Zone. Chloe arrested by Homeland Security. And Fortress go boom.

Like the Fortress, this episode sort of fell flat as it meandered to an all too brief conclusion. I had thought (silly me) that this episode would be about Lex and Clark and the Fortress. But the story didn't get there until the last five minutes, when we got a very Zod-looking Lex finally, FINALLY learning Clark's secret. That was a moment they'd been working up to for seven years. And as cool as it was, it wasn't quite enough. I wanted a lot more, and I don't feel all that happy about waiting until fall. Plus we never saw Lex controlling Clark, something they'd been working up to for awhile. I assume there will be Michael Rosenbaum guest appearances in season eight to finish up that story.

The Kara-was-really-Brainiac plot was completely predictable; she practically screamed "I'm possessed." Clark killing Brainiac was satisfying, even though we all know it won't be permanent; and I even got the impression that Brainiac was goading Clark into killing him. Maybe he soaked up all the electricity somehow and will reintegrate in a transformer somewhere.

At least Lana is gone, leaving Clark a Dear John recorded message much like the one she left Whitney. (I thought at first she'd left Clark a mix tape.) I won't hope that she's gone forever; that's been like Charlie Brown and the football way too many times. But Lois did show up right after the final goodbye, which felt like a passing of the torch. And did I sense a tiny bit of sexual tension between Clark and Lois, as well as some affection?

Come on, Clark. Take the job on the Daily Planet. We all know you're gonna at some point.

Bits and pieces:

— Chloe apparently hit Brainiac with a white light and weakened him before she collapsed. Is Chloe more than just a meteor freak with healing power? Is she a superhero in the making? And wouldn't that be cool?

— Clark and Kara/Brainiac destroyed the barn. The Kent farm and/or the Fortress gets blitzed on pretty much every season finale, so that was to be expected.

— Edward Teague bit the dust on his way to Argentina.

— Back to the Smallville Medical Center. As I've said before, every character on the show should have a permanent locker there.

— I liked the vending machine ring Jimmy got Chloe. Very cute.

— During Lana's goodbye to Clark, the background music practically drowned them out. Very distracting. Not that it was an emotional moment for me, anyway.

Quotes:

Jimmy: "Lying is just, it's not my thing. It's eating me up, it's making my stomach hurt."
Lex: "It's never too late to learn a new skill."

Lex: "You see, you live among us as a mild-mannered farm boy. But secretly, you're a strange visitor from another planet plotting our demise."

Lex: "I love you like a brother, Clark. But it has to end this way." I did think it was touching that what bothered Lex the most was that Clark had rejected him.

This finale was much like this season – a bit fragmented, with too much emphasis on plotlines that didn't interest me. Two out of four stars,

Billie
---
Billie Doux had a love-hate relationship with Smallville, which is why some of her reviews are briefer than they should be.

2 comments:

  1. My favourite bit of this finale is the growing Lois and Clark friendship. After telling him that she "doesn't do sad," her hug at the end was perfect. Maybe there's hope for these two yet.

    Another great year of reviews, Billie. Especially as I can only imagine how difficult a year this must have been to review. I agree with you -- not their strongest outing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Finally, came back to Smallville and am crawling through the end of season 7. You really nailed it with the "fell flat as it meandered" description. What on earth possessed them to do that interlude with Lana and the Chloe/Jimmy proposal in the middle of the episode? It just killed any sense of momentum. The end of Brainiac and the confrontation with Lex should have felt stronger, but there was just too much else going on in the episode.

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.