"Sneeze"
Review!
Written
by Triplet
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NOTE:
This review discusses major plot points. Read no further if
you wish to remain unspoiled.
Well, probably
the best thing I can say about "Sneeze" is that it
wasn't the worst episode ever. Despite being highly entertaining
at times, I'm not sure it was an entirely successful episode.
Now, don’t
get me wrong. There was a lot to love about this episode.
There was
the Chloe/Clark/Lois interaction. LOVED that! Not only was it
humorous, the events surrounding Clark's new power advanced
both Clark's and Lois' character arcs quite a bit. I loved that
Lois finally got her feet wet in a real way with writing. Yeah,
it was for the Metropolis' scandal rag, The Inquisitor, but
she got her first byline that wasn't for the Smallville High
paper.
The sneezing-related
bits in "Sneeze" were very funny as well. I laughed
out loud when Clark faked Chloe out and pretended to start to
sneeze. I also loved the scene with Lois, Clark and Martha after
Lois survived the falling barn door.
I loved
the fact that Clark is beginning to see that secretive use of
his powers won't cut it anymore. He was having trouble helping
clean up Metropolis on the sly because he could only do it at
night... It obviously weighed heavily on him and he still doesn't
see himself as a hero, despite his tireless efforts to help
others.
As for what
I didn't like about this episode, I know that the addition of
a new super power is sometimes hard to handle in terms of coming
up with a story that will show it off. Superbreath is arguably
not one of Superman's sexier powers so Smallville scribes Darren
Swimmer and Todd Slavkin probably had their work cut out for
them. It's definitely not as much fun a power as x-ray vision,
for example, so I suppose they did well with what they had to
work with.
As much
fun as the more comedic moments with superbreath were, the power
has limited potential in what it can accomplish. By the end
of the episode, as soon as the fire started I knew exactly what
Clark was going to do to "rescue" Lex and Lana. At
that moment, there was little suspense in the use of the power.
As much fun as a lot of this episode was, that moment was severely
anticlimactic. Perhaps the writers weren't helped by the directing
and editing choices in that scene either...
The pacing
of the show was off, as well I thought. It dragged in parts,
especially in the scenes with Lex and Lana. The confrontation
Lana had with Lex over the hidden camera in her bedroom was
oddly stiff. The scene was dull, actually.
You know,
I've liked the Lex and Lana scenes for the most part, but now
the pairing is beginning to not make much sense anymore. Now
that the Kryptonian threat is gone, as far as Lana knows anyway,
what is the appeal in being with Lex? There is no longer a mystery
surrounding the ship to uncover and their relationship doesn't
seem to have any passion or real love in it.
Last week,
Zod said about Lex's feelings for Lana: "His feelings for
you were also strong. They left an unpleasant taste when I consumed
his essence." Why would love leave an unpleasant taste
in his mouth? And what other emotion might leave an 'unpleasant'
taste? It makes me wonder now if Lex feels anything for her
at all that might even resemble love.
Maybe that
explains why he'd put cameras in her room and didn't tell her.
It seems that she's more a possession that needs protection
against being stolen like his antiques than a significant other.
But that doesn't explain why she is still at the mansion. She
should be out of there, especially now she's discovered that
he has been her very own personal peeping tom. I hope she gets
a clue soon that Lex isn't the nice guy he's pretending to be.
The acting
was, for the most part, excellent. Tom did a beautiful job in
this episode playing Clark in both the more serious parts with
Lionel and Lana and the more comedic moments with Chloe and
Lois. His resolve in doing his 'job' despite being sick was
played well. He seemed very natural in those scenes.
Kristin
Kreuk played Lana well. She had some quiet moments and played
the emotional parts with increasing expertise. I don't know
what they did differently, but I loved her hair in this episode
too.
I liked
Erica Durance's Lois a lot in "Sneeze". She showed
signs of the canon Lois in not being able to let go of a story
until she gets to the bottom of things. She also played the
comedic parts very well with Lois trying to understand how a
barn door nearly brains her. Her comedic chemistry with both
Allison Mack and Tom Welling is terrific and it's always good
to see her do her thing with them.
Michael's
performance I thought was uneven. Maybe he's getting as tired
of Lex's being kidnapped and shot as I am seeing it. It's beginning
to have a bit of a rote feel to it, anyway. He did much better
with Lana's scenes later. Lex's emotions actually touched his
eyes there.
I did like
Justin Hartley quite a bit in Oliver Queen's scene with Lionel.
He was cold and aloof, much like I would imagine him to be.
I'm not familiar with Green Arrow at all from the comics, but
given what little we know about Oliver's back-story with Lex
and his spoiled brat background, I do like the characterization
so far that they've chosen for him. The later scene with Oliver
and his lackey on his penthouse balcony wasn't as successful.
He was very stiff, although his use of archery in that scene
was very nice. It was arrogant and perfectly in keeping with
how Oliver is being portrayed in Smallville so maybe there's
hope he'll grow into the role a bit.
Oh, and
as much as I usually love the designs for Smallville I wasn't
in love with the Production Designer James Philpott's design
for Oliver's penthouse. It's too busy and artsy-modernistic
for my tastes but maybe it will grow on me.
It's an
uneven episode, but the more humorous and mythic elements more
than made up for it's lacks in other areas. 4 crumpled tissues
out of a possible 5.
Note:
The views of Triplet don't necessarily represent the thoughts
and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite. Send
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