Smallville Marathon #2, a review by DJ Doena
Disc 5
Lucy
Synopsis: Lois's younger sister Lucy calls in the middle of the night from Switzerland and heralds her in arrival in Smallville. But this isn't a happy family reunion since Lois and Lucy have never gotten along so well since the death of their mother. Additionally Lucy is followed by a loan shark whom she owns $50,000. Lois and Clark try to help her but she isn't completely honest with them.
My Opinion: Maybe I would care much about this episode and Lucy if I knew that we would see her again. But as far as my knowledge goes (to the first episodes of the seventh season) we will not see her again. Even though it wasn't a regular FotW episode it felt like one because of this one-time-character.
Onyx
Synopsis: During an experiment green Kryptonite is transformed into black Kryptonite and then the entire lab explodes. Somehow the black Kryptonite tears Lex apart into two seperate beings, one that has all his good aspects and one that is purely evil. Evil-Lex imprisons Good-Lex and does all the things Normal-Lex wouldn't do - or maybe he would?
My Opinion: It the classical
Star Trek episode
The Enemy Within, set in Smallville. But I liked it because Lex's evil side is actually in him. There are few characters that can believably do such a split and Lex Luthor is definitively such a character. I also liked the analogy to
The Man in the Iron Mask, it fits into Lex's biography that this was one of his favourite books.
Spirit
Synopsis: Dawn Stiles is bound to become the Prom Queen. But then she drives her car down a ravine and falls into a coma - sort of. Her spirit wanders around until she lands herself into Martha's body and has control over it. From now on she switches bodies at will and tries to make her dream come true.
My Opinion: I loved to see Annette O'Toole as an adolescent teenager and the others were also great. I also liked the fact that Clark didn't ran headless into the fight (as he often does; granted often he has less time than Jack Bauer) but was prepared for the possibilty that Dawn would take over his body. It was also good that Chloe found out about his weakness, she will need that knowledge later.
Blank
Synopsis: A young man who has been treated at Summerholt Institute tries to clean out the register of the "Talon". When Clark tries to stop him, all his memories are erased and he has no clue, who or what he is and what he can do. With Clark's parents being in Metroplis it's now Chloe's job to introduce him to his abilities and along the road she learns about some of them that she didn't know before.
My Opinion: One of my favourite episodes. It's so funny to see how Chloe teaches Clark about his own abilities. Especially funny was the scene when she learns that he has an X-Ray vision and she tries to cover her chest. But I also liked that she's learned that it isn't that easy to keep such a secret.
Disc 6
Ageless
Synopsis: Clark and Lana find a baby in a huge crater and they bring it to the Smallville Medical Center. Even though there wasn't a spaceship Clark believes that this child is special. He takes it with him to the farm and he and Lana care for it. But then it suddenly ages into a 7-year-old and it doesn't stop there. Lex tries to help them but only the biological father can prevent that this child dies within a few days.
My Opinion: Honestly: I loved to see Clark and Lana as parents. It was heart-warming. But I didn't like the part where he met his father. This part wasn't well written and a bad excuse for why he couldn't be saved. Don't get me wrong: I am not mad about the fact that he didn't survive, just about the part where (and how) his father died.
Forever
Synopsis: A high school graduate wants to "freeze time". He wasn't accepted to a college and in his mind everything should stay as it is just now. For this he captures Chloe, Lana and a few others and imprisons them in a "Smallville High" copy. But he leaves too many traces and soon Clark and Lois are on the search for their friends.
My Opinion: Some people have weird ideas. While there are days that I'd like to relive again I wouldn't give up the future for it. The porcelain effects were great, especially the one where Lois tries her karate kick. But it still was just an average FotW episode where the bad guy's abilities mysteriously turn against himself.
Commencement
Synopsis: Lana has been taken over by Isobel and kills Genevieve Teague with one of the stones. As Jor-El has warned his son this sets a chain reaction in motion. The first link of this chain is the second meteor shower over Smallville in 16 years and it wreaks havoc in the city. And the gang is scattered throughout the scenery: Clark tries to put the three rocks together, Lana sits in a helicopter and crashes, Jason tries to kill Martha and Jonathan and Lionel is in some sort of coma.
My Opinion: Another great finale. There's wasn't the smallest space for any more action in it. And finally that "Isobel" storyline is finished (although without a satisfying conclusion). Now I am really eager to watch the continuation - the cliffhanger has done its job.
The Season - My Opinion: Hmm. Sorry, but I couldn't make head nor tail out of this "Isobel" arc. What was the point of it? As suddenly as it arose as suddenly it vanished into nothingness. I am not entirely sure but apart from the mentioning of Jason that story will never come up again. Let's imply forget about it.
But this season had some extraodinary developments. For one, Chloe's discovery of Clark's secret and how she influenced him afterwards. But I also found it interesting to see that Lex has also feelings for Lana. The relationship will evolve over the next seasons. From an outside perspective it's interesting to see how simultaneously Clark and Lex drift apart and Lex and Lana get closer. I also liked to see how ambivalent Lionel behaves. It was never clear towards which goals his actions were directed.
(From Smallville Marathon #2 on June 7th, 2008)
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May 14, 2024, 11:22:12 PM
