Rants, Raves, and Reviews--Abandoned
Nov. 14th, 2010 01:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluesuedeshoesRants, Raves, and Reviews--Smallville "Abandoned"
A review of Smallville Season 10 Episode 8
Let the crazy plot-twists begin!!!
As Lois would phrase it: "Twist."
Spoiler Warnings As Usual:
Well, well, well. That time again. Time for me to write a review even though there are so many other things I should be doing right now. Oh well.
So, "Abandoned." I liked it. I'm really quite surprised by how much I liked it. Within the first couple of minutes of the show I was already convinced it was going to be weird, and not in the good way, but as it went on I got more and more engrossed, especially because we were delving into Tess Mercer's past, and I realized suddenly that we know little to nothing about her before she showed up on that island with Oliver.
One comment I can't resist making that I almost said something about in "Ambush": Is anyone else getting an X-men vibe lately? Between the "Vigilante Registration Act" last time (which savored strongly of an X-men plot) and the Fury with the claws in this episode (who is distinctly reminiscent of the character Lady Deathstrike), things have had a real Marvel feel lately. I don't know that I like or dislike that one way or the other; it's just something I've noticed. Also, I will say that I only know basic details of Darkseid and crew, so if she is a specific fury that everyone knows about, well, just ignore the woman behind the keyboard.
Speaking of Darkseid and crew, Christine Willes, you made one fantastically creepy (and quite frankly, scary) Granny Goodness. I've been waiting for this character's appearance ever since we saw the old woman knitting outside of Tess's hospital room in the season 9 finale, and I was not at all disappointed. Willes was fantastic, and I was on the edge of my seat to see what would happen next. One continuity question did arise for me, however, while watching the show. If Darkseid just showed up on earth, then how has Granny been around long enough to have that orphanage, etc.? That had me confused, admittedly, but after I dismissed that detail, I enjoyed the plot. The story of Tess' time there was gripping, and very believable. Granny talked about how Tess could take all the abuse and more, what a strong woman she was, and I thought that was so fitting, so true. That is exactly the kind of woman Tess is, and that kind of childhood (even if she can't remember it) would explain so much about the woman she became. The moment where Clark rescued her was truly touching, as well, when she talked about thinking she could handle things on her own. Too true.
But now that I've mentioned Clark, I have to bring up another inconsistency. It seems to be an eternal problem with Smallville writers: To what extent does Kryptonite incapacitate Clark? I really would like for the writers to sit down and establish this as a specific standard, because no two episodes are quite coherent. When Clark was able to use ice breath in this episode--meaning his powers were still in tact--I had to swallow a scoff. A good way for him to get out of his bind? Sure. But isn't Kryptonite supposed to render him totally powerless? Heck, in some episodes, he's been so incapacitated he can barely move. But if he still had superbreath and heat vision, that wouldn't be much of a problem, would it? --shakes head-- I don't know. I tell ya, I just don't know. It's yet another pitfall of having different writing teams. Not that there's an alternative to different writing teams. That's how it's done, but they need to communicate a set standard in shows like this. If you ask me, anyway.
Well, back to the plotline: Tess is really Lutessa Lena Luthor? Holy #$*&! I was so confused. I just sat there, staring at the screen for two full minutes before it registered. I mean, it's cool. It's really cool. It just came out of left field is all. Did anyone see that coming? Really? It raises the question of how well planned that was. Have the writers known that's who she is since she was first introduced? Or did they just suddenly decide that's who she is? I still have whiplash, and I honestly don't know....but I think it's cool. Tess's character and the upcoming episode "Luthor" just got that much more interesting. It also begs the question of whether Lex knew who Tess was back when he was playing puppet-master to her. It's all very confusing, and my head hurts. Seriously, though, it was cool.
As for Darkseid, I want to take a moment to apologize to all those I led astray when I thought Godfried was Darkseid. I really did, right up until the moment where Granny, Desaad, and he had their little pow-wow, and they introduced him as "Darkseid's third minion." ...at which point I blinked a few times and backed up the episode to play it again. Right. Well, whoever was playing Desaad was fun and creepy and I look forward to more from him. In the meantime, I'm going to brush up on my Darkseid characters, I guess.
Also in the meantime (I know, amazing segue) Lois is playing family counselor, and I thought it was awesome. I don't really know how much was resolved or what was going on with her in the big beam of light, but I liked it. That seemed to be my response to a lot of things in "Abandoned": "I'm really confused, but I like it." I thought the video with Terri Hatcher was just beautiful, as is Ms. Hatcher, for that matter. How perfect, having the Lois from Lois&Clark play Lois's mother on Smallville. It was so beautiful, and very touching. And the fact that the video inspired Lois to reunite Clark and his Krypto-Daddy? Also touching. (By the way, I like the fact that someone finally referred to Jor-El as a machine. FINALLY!) And really, I just love golden retrievers, so anytime Shelby gets to be somebody's scene partner, I just squeal a little bit, and smile really dopey. It was beautiful to see the return of Julian Sands as Jor-El and Helen Slater (the actress from the movie Supergirl) as Lara-El. Having both those two and Terri Hatcher in one episode was a thing of rare beauty if you ask me, and I certainly got a bit choked up during all of their "farewells" to their children. It was a wonderful background to the storyline of Tess' childhood, keeping in congruity with the theme of families and what our parents want for us.
As much as I enjoyed all that subplot and guest-starring, I want to make my final note about Miss Mercer.
The final scene with the music box was something to behold. Truly. It was a beautifully directed--if short--scene. And Freeman played it well. I am eager to see where this new development with Tess' past will take us, and all the while, I kept wondering, "What about mini-Lex?" Where is he? And how will this play into that subplot?
How, indeed.
. . .
P.S. Did anyone else giggle at the words young-Tess scratched into the wall being lyrics from the Smallvlle theme song? Just me? Okay, never mind then...
A review of Smallville Season 10 Episode 8
Let the crazy plot-twists begin!!!
As Lois would phrase it: "Twist."
Spoiler Warnings As Usual:
Well, well, well. That time again. Time for me to write a review even though there are so many other things I should be doing right now. Oh well.
So, "Abandoned." I liked it. I'm really quite surprised by how much I liked it. Within the first couple of minutes of the show I was already convinced it was going to be weird, and not in the good way, but as it went on I got more and more engrossed, especially because we were delving into Tess Mercer's past, and I realized suddenly that we know little to nothing about her before she showed up on that island with Oliver.
One comment I can't resist making that I almost said something about in "Ambush": Is anyone else getting an X-men vibe lately? Between the "Vigilante Registration Act" last time (which savored strongly of an X-men plot) and the Fury with the claws in this episode (who is distinctly reminiscent of the character Lady Deathstrike), things have had a real Marvel feel lately. I don't know that I like or dislike that one way or the other; it's just something I've noticed. Also, I will say that I only know basic details of Darkseid and crew, so if she is a specific fury that everyone knows about, well, just ignore the woman behind the keyboard.
Speaking of Darkseid and crew, Christine Willes, you made one fantastically creepy (and quite frankly, scary) Granny Goodness. I've been waiting for this character's appearance ever since we saw the old woman knitting outside of Tess's hospital room in the season 9 finale, and I was not at all disappointed. Willes was fantastic, and I was on the edge of my seat to see what would happen next. One continuity question did arise for me, however, while watching the show. If Darkseid just showed up on earth, then how has Granny been around long enough to have that orphanage, etc.? That had me confused, admittedly, but after I dismissed that detail, I enjoyed the plot. The story of Tess' time there was gripping, and very believable. Granny talked about how Tess could take all the abuse and more, what a strong woman she was, and I thought that was so fitting, so true. That is exactly the kind of woman Tess is, and that kind of childhood (even if she can't remember it) would explain so much about the woman she became. The moment where Clark rescued her was truly touching, as well, when she talked about thinking she could handle things on her own. Too true.
But now that I've mentioned Clark, I have to bring up another inconsistency. It seems to be an eternal problem with Smallville writers: To what extent does Kryptonite incapacitate Clark? I really would like for the writers to sit down and establish this as a specific standard, because no two episodes are quite coherent. When Clark was able to use ice breath in this episode--meaning his powers were still in tact--I had to swallow a scoff. A good way for him to get out of his bind? Sure. But isn't Kryptonite supposed to render him totally powerless? Heck, in some episodes, he's been so incapacitated he can barely move. But if he still had superbreath and heat vision, that wouldn't be much of a problem, would it? --shakes head-- I don't know. I tell ya, I just don't know. It's yet another pitfall of having different writing teams. Not that there's an alternative to different writing teams. That's how it's done, but they need to communicate a set standard in shows like this. If you ask me, anyway.
Well, back to the plotline: Tess is really Lutessa Lena Luthor? Holy #$*&! I was so confused. I just sat there, staring at the screen for two full minutes before it registered. I mean, it's cool. It's really cool. It just came out of left field is all. Did anyone see that coming? Really? It raises the question of how well planned that was. Have the writers known that's who she is since she was first introduced? Or did they just suddenly decide that's who she is? I still have whiplash, and I honestly don't know....but I think it's cool. Tess's character and the upcoming episode "Luthor" just got that much more interesting. It also begs the question of whether Lex knew who Tess was back when he was playing puppet-master to her. It's all very confusing, and my head hurts. Seriously, though, it was cool.
As for Darkseid, I want to take a moment to apologize to all those I led astray when I thought Godfried was Darkseid. I really did, right up until the moment where Granny, Desaad, and he had their little pow-wow, and they introduced him as "Darkseid's third minion." ...at which point I blinked a few times and backed up the episode to play it again. Right. Well, whoever was playing Desaad was fun and creepy and I look forward to more from him. In the meantime, I'm going to brush up on my Darkseid characters, I guess.
Also in the meantime (I know, amazing segue) Lois is playing family counselor, and I thought it was awesome. I don't really know how much was resolved or what was going on with her in the big beam of light, but I liked it. That seemed to be my response to a lot of things in "Abandoned": "I'm really confused, but I like it." I thought the video with Terri Hatcher was just beautiful, as is Ms. Hatcher, for that matter. How perfect, having the Lois from Lois&Clark play Lois's mother on Smallville. It was so beautiful, and very touching. And the fact that the video inspired Lois to reunite Clark and his Krypto-Daddy? Also touching. (By the way, I like the fact that someone finally referred to Jor-El as a machine. FINALLY!) And really, I just love golden retrievers, so anytime Shelby gets to be somebody's scene partner, I just squeal a little bit, and smile really dopey. It was beautiful to see the return of Julian Sands as Jor-El and Helen Slater (the actress from the movie Supergirl) as Lara-El. Having both those two and Terri Hatcher in one episode was a thing of rare beauty if you ask me, and I certainly got a bit choked up during all of their "farewells" to their children. It was a wonderful background to the storyline of Tess' childhood, keeping in congruity with the theme of families and what our parents want for us.
As much as I enjoyed all that subplot and guest-starring, I want to make my final note about Miss Mercer.
The final scene with the music box was something to behold. Truly. It was a beautifully directed--if short--scene. And Freeman played it well. I am eager to see where this new development with Tess' past will take us, and all the while, I kept wondering, "What about mini-Lex?" Where is he? And how will this play into that subplot?
How, indeed.
. . .
P.S. Did anyone else giggle at the words young-Tess scratched into the wall being lyrics from the Smallvlle theme song? Just me? Okay, never mind then...
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no subject
Date: 2010-11-14 07:52 pm (UTC)The Marvel feel >> actually I agree. LOL. The Vigilante Registration Act is basically the Superhero Registration Act of Marvel's "Civil War" arc. Though I disagree about Mad Harriet (Lindsay Hartley) being a Lady Deathstrike copy, as she really does have (energy) claws in the comics and is the older character :)
no subject
Date: 2010-11-14 09:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-15 03:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-14 11:41 pm (UTC)And this week -- your little side comment about Golden Retrievers cracked me up. My husband once told some friends of me (while I was making friends with their dog) that "Goldens love to retrieve her."
But why wasn't Lois sneezing around Shelby? Is she on her allergy meds?
My thoughts on the Kryptonite thing: I was really bugged by the fact that Zod and crew didn't seem to be as bothered by Green K as Clark. Then I told myself, 'it's because they're soldiers trained to fight through pain and injury.' Which is how Zod got the better of Ollie in Sacrifice. So, maybe Clark is learning how to rally his inner strength a little better? Also, it may depend on the concentration level. Pure Green K is more daunting than liquid green K or otherwise diluted Green K? I don't know -- I agree it's pretty shakey.
I've been saying since episode 2 that this season was Marvel influenced. It was called "Shield" which is the group that Nick Fury works for (approached Iron Man in the first movie) and speaking of my parenthetical, Ollie's 'coming out' was totally Iron Man. The Lady Deathstrike chick was Mad Harriet (aka Lindsay Hartley) and her claws weren't organic, and I think DC canon.
Finally -- I totally heard the theme song when I saw those words! You weren't alone.
Ollie and AC next week! -- I'll be at my parents house who only have dial up internet and a VCR...I hope I can tape it!
no subject
Date: 2010-11-15 02:08 am (UTC)as for the marvel thing, dc did do a bunch of this registration stuff in the comics too.
thanks for your review
no subject
Date: 2010-11-15 05:59 am (UTC)And I sang outloud somebody save me on that scene, totally spoiled the serious mood, lol, I had to giggle at that too. The writters have a lot of time to themselves...