Weak Bond: Magnetic
Written by Hope

If you like Chloe Sullivan and Lex Luthor, tonight's episode, "Magnetic,"
written by Holly Harold, had a few redeeming moments. If you like Clark Kent or Lana Lang, or masterful storytelling, or the fact that Smallville has progressed past Season One, there was very little redemption to be found.

Half of "Magnetic" played like an episode from S1; the characters backtracked on development they've already made, rehashed situations we've already seen, and poorly revived formats better left in the past. There's a reason for that, however, but it's mostly metatextual- if you prefer to try to understand the events of an episode from an intratextual perspective, this review isn't going to help, I'm afraid.

A kryptomutant, another Lana love story, Clark's uberknowledge of a situation being mistaken for rabid jealousy- how could this happen again? It happened because Holly Harold is a freelancer who was lucky enough to get her script to screen. While most episodes throughout the year are written by the usual stable of writers (minimum and maximum numbers per author usually set by contract,) two episodes are left free to allow for guest writers.

These spots are commonly given to big name authors as "stunt" writers, like when The X-Files brought in Stephen King to write the episode "Chinga." Often, freelance spots are given to cast members who wish to try their hand at writing an episode of their own show- for example, Yaphet Kotto wrote several episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street during his tenture performing the character Lt. Giardello. However, most frequently, these freelance spots are offered to interns and story editors on staff, both as a reward for their hard work, and an opportunity to prove their craft.

Though this merit system is a wonderful way to earn WGA points and experience, sometimes the results are less than stellar on the screen. This particular script suffers from truly schizophrenic plotting and characterization: Lex and Chloe are fully engaged in the intrigue of Season Three, whereas Clark and Lana are mired back in Season One. Though I can't say for absolute certain, I suspect that's because "Magnetic" was originally written in S1 or S2, and only the B line with Lex and Chloe was fully rewritten to reflect the current continuity.

Because freelance spots are an open field, scripts for them don't tend to stray from the most basic formulae for a show. Since mythology for a series changes so quickly, a spec script is written in the hopes that an author can get a year out of it- a year to try to sell it, a year to submit it to agents, a year to enter it in contests- before it's jossed. That means avoiding the deeper character examinations, and deeply twisted mythology plots in Smallville, and returning to MotWs. A kryptomutant can wreak havoc regardless of what season it is.

That's probably why "Magnetic" reverted to the MotW format, down to the CSI-esque visual explanation of Seth acquiring his powers, Clark's sudden, deep interest in the contents of the fridge (a S1 humor staple,) and the sudden, inexplicable return of Lana's desire to see the world outside Smallville. And you know, for a S1 script, it wasn't bad. Had it aired then, it would have strengthened Lana's character as being self-possessed and strong; it would have given us a frustrated Clark trying to do the right thing... it's just that none of these elements work now, after having seen "Crush," "Tempest," "Vortex," "Dichotic," and "Phoenix."

Whatever Chloe and/or Lex had to do in the first version of this script obviously had to be ditched entirely. Not surprising, since S1 Chloe and S1 Lex bear little resemblance to their S3 incarnations. Forwarding Chloe's deal with the devil and Lex's further investigation into his father worked really well, and their shared storyline- though sometimes faltering- was the highlight of the episode. Harold plainly likes Lex and Chloe, she obviously enjoyed writing them, and she did well by their voices- if some of Chloe's motivation was left obscure. And, of course, it was most entertaining, not just because the scenes were sterling- though they were pretty good- but because it was something *new*.

This episode is actually a good lesson in screenwriting. Technically, the script followed every required step- introduction and exposition by page 10, cliffhanger at pages 15, 30, and 45, each scene had a purpose that forwarded the story, and the main plot was resolved while leaving minor plots to arc into other episodes free-standing. At the same time, this is also a good lesson in why good screenwriting is more than the act of following a formula. We fans have a tendency to believe that we could write a better episode than the production staff, and honestly, it's just not true. Harold did absolutely everything *right* by the craft, she accurately portrayed the characters (for their respective seasons,) and her dialogue was strong.

So yes, there is a skill to screenwriting, but there is also an art and it's the art that not just anyone can do. Over the seasons, we've seen writers come into their own on Smallville. Jeph Loeb's maiden voyage "Red" is not half the episode his "Insurgence" was. Peterson & Souders' "Nocturne" is not a quarter the episode their "Phoenix" was. More than learning the basic craft (this many pages in a script, rising action has to happen here,) a screenwriter has to develop a sense of story and style, and the strength (or weakness) of a script will rest solely on those elements. From a writing perspective, this is not a bad episode because Holly Harold doesn't know how to write a TV script- she most certainly does. It's a bad episode because it's all technical competency and no heart.

I can't find it in myself to get excited about the backwards characterization for Clark and Lana because I know things will be back to normal next week. I'm not particularly perturbed over the lack of Clark and Lex, because this was a script written by a freelance author who plainly really enjoys writing Chloe Sullivan- in spec scripts, you get to let the leads and secondary characters deviate from their usual pattern because most of the time, a spec script never makes it to the screen. "Magnetic" is a blank spot in the season for me; I have no particularly strong feelings about it one way or the other. However, I hope now that Harold has seen the process through- from idea to airing, she'll work on finding the heart in her screenwriting. She's got the craft; now she needs the magic.

Screenwriting, Craft: A
Screenwriting, Artistry: C-
To Watch: C-

Next Week: Sorry, I can't comment on the preview, as I'm hiding in my
closet, curled in a fetal position, sobbing.

Note: The views of Hope don't necessarily represent the thoughts and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite.

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