Smallville Season 5

[Ananas]

I wasn't excited about this premiere until I saw some of the advance press which said it's at its strongest since the first season. Now even seeing the end of S4's finale last night was exciting. This should be good; good enough for me to watch it and tape Joey, Survivor and The O.C.

[sahyder1]

Definitely excited about this. Between this and the West Wing that might actually make for a good TV season for me. I'm hoping Commander in Chief lives up to the hype. Does anyone know if Listen up is back?

By the way, I hate myself for reading the preview for the second episode of the season. I wanna see how they play out the Chloe knowing Clark's powers bit.

[Ananas]

Does anyone know if Listen up is back?

[thuganomic]

If there's one thing the gang at Smallville had been great at in the show's first four seasons, it was beginning and ending every season with a bang. Tonight, that streak comes to a screeching halt. Plot and character inconsistencies pretty much overshadowed the episode. Really a shame, because the visual effects tonight were really among the best I've ever seen, not just on Smallville.

Now, I've been watching Smallville for the last four years, never missed a single episode. Probably not something a lot of people can say anymore. When the teasers were released for season 5, I, like many other Smallville fans, had my hopes up for a tremendous season. Perhaps with the Teagues out of the equation, the show can return to its roots. Or, at the very least, the season premiere should be just like the past four seasons, an awesome beginning.

Unfortunately, the season premiere failed to deliver.

We begin with the Fortress of Solitude unfolding. It was so great to see that they managed to keep to the original Fortress. So Clark meanders inside, gets the pep talk from Jor-El, and for once acknowledges that he might not know everything. Great start.

(Sidebar: The opening credits have been revamped, with Miss Erica Durance smack dab in the middle. Very nice touch)

Chloe finally revealing that she had known Clark's secret was a big letdown. Maybe they built to it a little too much, that there would no way we could get the dramatic reveal. However, it seemed too forced and matter-of-factly. Chloe seemed to be too happy when she ran down the evidence in a Sherlock Holmes kinda way, explaining how she was clever enough to find out Clark's secret. I was hoping for a Pete reference here, but alas, nothing. But Chloe gives Clark a much-needed pat on the back.

The Lex-Clark scene was also very well done. Rosenbaum and Welling really played off each other terrificly, each showing their impatience with the other.

Now, as big a fan as I usually am of not mentioning Jason Teague, don't you think it was kinda lazy to lump him in at the last second? I mean, what the hell, this was one of the bigger cliffhangers at the end, with Mr. Teague pointing a rifle in the face of Jonathan Kent. And his death is now a footnote at the end of the episode?

The rest of the stuff was forgettable. No real plot development, but tolerable. The show was clearly dominated by dialogue, which usually isn't a bad thing for Smallville.

But now, here are my two biggest problems with this episode. One is a plot hole, the other is a similar inconsistency in character.

1) Alright, Jor-El gives Clark til sundown to return. First, Clark had plenty of time to go back to the North Pole. He left Lana before in similar situations, and if he wanted, he could've supersped her to the hospital and then gone back to the Fortress. However:

A sundown in Kansas takes place way before sundown at the North Pole. In fact, in Alaska, the sun doesn't set until 10 PM (assuming we're in June).

2) Clark loses his superpowers for the umpteenth time in the show. Now, if that wasn't repetitive enough, he's happy his powers are gone? Happy? After Chloe just told him how much good he was doing in the world. After Jor-El just explained to him that his destiny was more than saving just few human lives. After he has realized time and time again that he's better off with his powers……he's happy? I don't buy that for a second. That just takes Clark all the way back to the 1st season in terms of his undeveloped thinking.

Other than that, the show was very average. Brainiac's entrance at the end was fantastic. The Fortress of Solitude at the beginning was fantastic.

So tonight's Smallville is once again mediocre programming sandwiched by a brilliant first and last minutes.

But then again, we should've expected no more from this show, right?

Edited September 30, 2005 by thuggy

[St. Dubb]

I agree with thug, I too have seen every episode and was pretty bored by this season opener. Everything was forgettable and meh besides the ending, which hopefully leaves hope that things will get better...but with a possible Clark/Lana lovefest episode coming up, I'm not going to expect great things. I don't even think Brainiac is suppose to be on next week...but hopefully things will kick into gear in a couple weeks.

[Guest NYJetFan86]

I like the episode alot. Can't wait for next weeks show

[sahyder1]

yeah, I don't like this "glad to lose the powers" gig at all. I want development of the characters. I was expecting more from the Chloe/Clark bit too but not gonna complain too much about that but it was dumb the way they handled the Teagues. Did the Kents even mention what happened with Jason to Clark? I missed a few minutes while watching baseball so I'll watch it again tomorrow and might have some more to add to this.

[St. Dubb]

yeah, I don't like this "glad to lose the powers" gig at all. I want development of the characters. I was expecting more from the Chloe/Clark bit too but not gonna complain too much about that but it was dumb the way they handled the Teagues. Did the Kents even mention what happened with Jason to Clark? I missed a few minutes while watching baseball so I'll watch it again tomorrow and might have some more to add to this.

[Big Red Fury]

yeah, I don't like this "glad to lose the powers" gig at all. I want development of the characters. I was expecting more from the Chloe/Clark bit too but not gonna complain too much about that but it was dumb the way they handled the Teagues. Did the Kents even mention what happened with Jason to Clark? I missed a few minutes while watching baseball so I'll watch it again tomorrow and might have some more to add to this.

[thuganomic]

yeah, I don't like this "glad to lose the powers" gig at all. I want development of the characters. I was expecting more from the Chloe/Clark bit too but not gonna complain too much about that but it was dumb the way they handled the Teagues. Did the Kents even mention what happened with Jason to Clark? I missed a few minutes while watching baseball so I'll watch it again tomorrow and might have some more to add to this.

I kind of like the "glad to lose the powers" gig because it harkens back to the Superman 2 when Clark Kent willingly gave up his powers to be with Lois Lane.

[Ananas]

Actually I really enjoyed this episode. The visual effects were great, but a bit inconsistent. I'm not sure I'd say they were that spectacular; I'd prefer to cut the CG budget a bit and go with more after shots to save on realism. I thought most of the Fortress exteriors were cartoonish, especially the shots that were panning straight up and down. On the other hand the interior shots inside the Fortress were spectacular. They've perfectly recreated that environment, and the effects with Clark while "learning" were also quite stunning. Later on when we meet the two Kryptonians, the stand off with the police is visually stunning, and looks much better than most of the hack work they do with Clark's own "flamethrowing". This premiere was beautifully mounted and may warrant another technical Emmy nomination next year.

Moving on, I actually liked what you might call the "inconsistent characterization". The meteor strike was nothing if not chaotic, and I think one would be remiss to not counter that into the characters' reactions. These characters acting unusual only hammers home the gravity of the situation, although this may be lost on those just tuning in after 4 months who have lost touch with the characters themselves. Anyway, good on them for that.

Per Chloe's revelation: I think that it was the gravity of the situation we found these characters in to start the season that perhaps undercut the impact of what she revealed to Clark. Nonetheless, it would have been impossible to have drawn it out another episode. The reveal needed to come in the premiere, and while I do think that the aftermath might have been a bit more contemplative, the episode needed some light moments.

As for the lack of Jason Teague references, I agree that they probably should have mentioned him more. However, I'll refrain from commenting on that until we see a few more episodes this season. While it WAS a big plot point, it's not necessarily something that would have been heavy on anyones minds while the chaos around them unfolded. If they don't do the storyline (which was terrible, by the way) justice in coming weeks, then we can crucify them, but for now I'm not going to cry over less Jensen Ackles.

Finally, with regards to Clark's apparent acceptance to his loss of powers, I have to once again invoke the "gravity of the situation" argument. I know it seems to be a way of accounting for a lot of silliness with this episode, but it does still fit. Apparently even Superman gets fatigued and fed up. Even still, his immediate reaction to seeing the blood on his finger was anything but elation. Perhaps he's just putting on airs? It wouldn't be the first time he's lied to his parents to spare their worry. It may be lame, it may be repetitive, but it's not necessarily out of character.

I can understand everyone's concerns about the show, but I guess that I just interpret them in a different way. All in all I thought this was probably the best episode since Season 3's finale.

[thuganomic]

Finally, with regards to Clark's apparent acceptance to his loss of powers, I have to once again invoke the "gravity of the situation" argument. I know it seems to be a way of accounting for a lot of silliness with this episode, but it does still fit. Apparently even Superman gets fatigued and fed up. Even still, his immediate reaction to seeing the blood on his finger was anything but elation. Perhaps he's just putting on airs? It wouldn't be the first time he's lied to his parents to spare their worry. It may be lame, it may be repetitive, but it's not necessarily out of character.

[thuganomic]

Great episode. This seemed like the formula for one of the worst episodes ever. Three Meteor Freaks + Nonstop Clana + No Lois.

However, I was pleasantly surprised by the results. The writing was actually quite good. It focused, as it should've, on Clark needing to deal with the supervillains without his powers. I really liked the message that we're left with: that Clark, even without strength and speed, is still Superman. He's a hero, and he does what he needs to do.

A huge plot advancement was made (Not Clana Sex). Lex and Clark are now officially at odds. I really liked this payoff, even though Clark's reasoning was completely insane. Still, I like the fact that Clark finally did something about it. This will only drive Lex further to the dark side.

Season premiere, I was dissappointed with. This one, however, definitely not.

[St. Dubb]

Yeah, I wasn't expecting much at all out of this episode...but once we got past the lovey-dovey Clark/Lana make-out session at the beginning, this was probably one of the better non-finale episodes in recent memory for me. Plus I've always enjoyed the chemistry between Clark and Chloe more-so than Lana anyway, so watching them together is always good. And the Lex/Clark moment was amazing. I stopped watching after that, for obvious reasons.

From the previews, next week could be even better. (Y)

[BlackFlagg]

Also got bonus points for Lem from The Shield being the villain

[Guest NYJetFan86]

I like the way season 5 is going so far but I think the idea of Clark being happy without his powers is stupid. If someone had powers like that who would be stupid enough to give them up??

[thuganomic]

I like the way season 5 is going so far but I think the idea of Clark being happy without his powers is stupid. If someone had powers like that who would be stupid enough to give them up??

[Ananas]

Yeah I think this episode was even better than the premiere. No Marsters which is a bummer, but it was an interesting dynamic to see Clark having to solve problems without the usual superstrength. I also like that Chloe has an actual role this year, instead of standing around in awe of Clark to hammer home the point that yeah, he's strong. The episode built to a great conclusion, even if Clark kicking Lex's ass came way out of left field.

The best news of all is that the show held extremely well last week, drawing a 3.6 households rating and even beating "Everybody Hates Chris" in the 18-49 demographic. Seems this move might even prove beneficial to the show.

[Javs]

I only caught the last 30 minutes of this episode, but wow, that was some fucking great television.

Best thirty minutes of Smallville in recent memory.

[Ananas]

I only caught the last 30 minutes of this episode, but wow, that was some fucking great television.

Best thirty minutes of Smallville in recent memory.