"Arctic"
Review!
Written
by C.M.
Houghton ("Triplet")
Send
her feedback
WARNING:
I tell you now: DO NOT read this until after
you've seen this episode, otherwise you will
be spoiled rotten. There are HUGE spoilers ahead.
As
a public service, I will again include the Official
Description so people who haven't read it
before will understand why I feel royally betrayed.
LEX
DISCOVERS CLARK’S SECRET — Kara (Laura
Vandervoort) tells Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) he
is destined to defeat the Traveler and offers
to take him to the Fortress to learn how. Clark
(Tom Welling) is stunned that Kara would go
to Lex but it is revealed that Brainiac is impersonating
Kara and she’s actually trapped in the
Phantom Zone. Chloe is arrested by the Department
of Domestic Security and Lana awakens from her
comatose state. Meanwhile, in an epic turn of
events, Clark and Lex face off in the Fortress
and Lex learns Clark’s secret. Erica Durance
and Aaron Ashmore also star. Todd Slavkin directed
the episode written by Don Whitehead & Holly
Henderson (3T6320).
If
this site wasn't family friendly I'd use very
strong, un-family friendly, and extremely unladylike,
language to describe how angry I got when I
realized that the Official Description writer,
or writers, had yet again ruined what should
have been one hell of a powerful reveal. However,
because KryptonSite is a family friendly web
resource for all Smallville fans, and I try
to act in a professional manner whenever possible,
I will restrain myself.
What
I don't understand, and why it had gotten me
so angry, is why they did it.
I
know not everyone is a spoiler-phobe, a lot
of people want to know major plot-points ahead
of time. I can understand that since I used
to be that way, but back in season 6 when Lana
was killed, I felt the power of the moment was
diluted by knowing ahead of time that she was
going to "die." Spoilers were everywhere
online, if you knew where to look for them.
Not
that they had disclosed it in any official way.
Nowhere in the Official Description had her
death been spoiled.
Even
back earlier this season, there was a huge surprise
when it was revealed that it had been Bizarro,
not Clark, who had setup housekeeping with Lana
in "Gemini." That wasn't spoiled in
the official description and I had been completely
floored at that reveal. What a wonderful episode
and what a terrific surprising cliff-hanger
of an ending...
So,
I had thought (wrongly, it would seem) that
reading the official descriptions was pretty
safe. Like I said in my "Apocalypse"
review, they're usually pretty vague and often
have facts wrong.
For
example, in the "Gemini" Official
Description, for example, said that the bad
guy had been infected with an alien substance.
Where? When? That must have come from an earlier
draft of the script. In the episode as aired
the bad guy, Adrian, was actually a failed clone
of Lex's dead baby brother, Julian. He wasn't
a mutant and hadn't been infected by an alien
substance that we know of. Maybe his cloning
was made possible by the alien DNA that Lex
had somewhere, but it was never mentioned in
the episode. How much more wrong could they
be?
Even
in this Official Description, they got some
of the details wrong. For example, the Official
Description said that Clark was stunned when
he found out that Kara had gone to Lex. Maybe
it happened in a scene that had been cut or
maybe it happened that way in an earlier draft,
but it wasn't something he seemed to know at
anytime in the course of the episode as it had
aired.
However,
maybe I should have been more cautious earlier
this season when they'd started spoiling the
episodes in the Official Descriptions. You might
not realize that "Apocalypse" wasn't
the first episode spoiled in the Official Description,
although it was the worst, before "Arctic."
In
the Official Description for "Hero,"
they did spoil the fact that Pete was a gum
chewing meteor freak, so that was also spoiled
ahead of time. However, for that episode it
had so many other problems, who the heck cares
that it was spoiled in the description?
Another
bad case was in the "Traveler" official
description. They had spoiled that Lionel had
been to blame for Clark's capture and torture.
I watched that episode again recently and it
occurred to me that we probably weren't supposed
to know about Lionel's involvement until the
end of the first act, when he walked in on Pierce's
torturing of Clark and made him stop. That would
have been another wonderful reveal that had
been completely spoiled by the Official Description.
I wish I'd said something about that back then,
maybe the rest of this nonsense could have been
avoided. However, I doubt my stating anything
about that in a review would have helped at
all. I'd like to think that they change things
for the better, but considering how well Lana's
character had been handled all season maybe
not...
Anyway,
with "Arctic" I can sort of understand
them teasing Lex finding out Clark's secret
and them having a confrontation in the fortress.
That's a huge event. That is just the kind of
thing that the show has been building toward
since the Pilot. Especially given that they'd
earlier spoiled Lex finding the Fortress in
a promo for "Sleeper," it probably
was not that big a surprise even for people
who hadn't read the description.
However,
how in the world can they justify ruining what
should have been fantastic surprise like Kara
being in the Phantom Zone and Brainiac impersonating
her? Like "Apocalypse" and Jor-El
being responsible for the alternate universe
Clark had found himself in, her not being herself
clearly had been intended to be a surprise.
Even
if I hadn't known, I would have suspected something
was up by her strange behavior, but we were
likely supposed to find out when Chloe held
out that kryptonite. After all, 'Kara' just
smiled and joked when Chloe had held out the
rock that's toxic to Kryptonians. It was then
it had been clear that she was not really Kara.
I
just don't understand why they would choose
to ruin the biggest surprise from this episode
and the episode-ending cliff-hanger from another.
But
hold on!
Does
the "Apocalypse" cliff-hanger even
make sense now given Brainiac's explanation
of what had happened and how he got to Earth?
In "Arctic" he had said that he came
back disguised as Kara to protect himself from
Clark. He said that impersonating Kara was the
only way he could return to Earth without Clark
damaging him...
So,
if it was Fine who had really been Kara at the
end of "Apocalypse," why the hell
was he going to drink milk? Was he trying that
hard to maintain the illusion to drink milk
when there wasn't anyone around to see him do
it? Maybe he might do that, but then why did
he collapse in pain? None of that makes sense
given what Fine had said in this episode...
So,
who's at fault with that? Al Septien and Turi
Meyer for writing the end of "Apocalypse"
like that? Or Don Whitehead and Holly Henderson
for making sure that a good (albeit completely
spoiled) cliff-hanging ending from that previous
episode made no sense?
I
just don't get what any of them were thinking
in regards to that.
Anyway,
I mostly liked this episode, despite being officially
spoiled, but it was pretty uneven. It had some
great act-break cliff-hangers and at times was
very exciting, but it didn't really flow, especially
toward the end.
I
understand that Kristin Kreuk wasn't in Vancouver
to film a kiss-Clark-goodbye-while-breaking-his-heart-again
scene, so I can see why they had her send him
a Dear Clark DVD. She was still in Thailand
filming her new movie, "Street Fighter."
It
even makes sense, given Lana's history of leaving
guys without facing them directly to break the
bad news. (Thanks to a friend for reminding
me about that particular trait of hers, by the
way. I'm not quite that on top of things when
it comes to the show.)
She'd
previously sent Whitney, her boyfriend from
the first season, a 'Dear John' (or a Dear Whitney)
video to break it off with him while he away
in the Marines. She then was going to leave
Lex at the altar just last season after leaving
him a Dear Lex letter until Lionel had forced
her to go through with it anyway.... So, her
sending Clark a 'Dear John' video makes sense,
but I wish there had been a better way to handle
it.
Kristin
isn't coming back full-time next year, so she's
going to have a much smaller recurring role,
so it feels a bit contrived. I hope that this
isn't the only goodbye that Clark and Lana will
get. I hope they can give us a more satisfying
ending to their relationship when she finally
does come back.
Jimmy's
proposal of marriage to Chloe was sweet, especially
after she'd just been in the hospital in a Brainiac-induced
coma. However, the arrest was happened so quickly
on the tail end of that scene that it felt like
it had been shoe-horned in.
The
final act probably should have been solely about
Lex and Clark, but they added the Jimmy/Chloe
marriage proposal scene almost as a way to insert
happiness for them both just before it got snatched
away by her probably not totally unexpected
arrest (especially since they'd spoiled that
too).
It
felt contrived, not sweet and romantic. I mean,
to begin with why would Jimmy who loves Chloe
that much think that Lex would just let Chloe
get off her Federal rap scot-free after losing
her as leverage against Jimmy?
Jimmy
knows Lex killed Lionel. He knows that Lex probably
also had others killed. Why would he rely on
Lex's good will with Chloe's freedom at stake?
I don't buy someone even as guileless as Jimmy
being that trusting or naïve.
|
The
ending with Lex and Clark at the fortress
should have been as legendary as their
Lex had said their friendship would be
way back when... It just wasn't. The way
it was staged and shot didn't help it
any (I'll talk about that more when I
talk about the director).
One
thing I didn't see coming was the destruction
of the fortress. Wow. Why would Jor-El
send a device through space to control
his son and destroy the only source of
Kryptonian knowledge on Earth? Why would
using the device on Clark cause him to
collapse like that? Why would Jor-El want
to destroy the Fortress, much less think
his son capable of losing control so badly
he'd give power over him to others? It
doesn't make sense. I think something
else must be going on, but I hope they
clarify that come the next season premiere.
|
|
Overall
I think Holly Henderson and Don Whitehead did
a pretty good job with what they probably had
to deal with, but this clearly wasn't their
best effort.
Todd
Slavkin directed this episode. It was his sophomore
effort (his directorial debut was "Persona"),
and I'm not sure I'm in love with his visual
style. There were too many long shots. I want
to see more of the actors when they have "moments"
than we did. I don't know what Todd had intended
with all the long shots, or even whether that
was what he'd intended at all since I found
the shot choices ill-conceived.
Maybe
he ran out of time or did the best with what
he'd been left from what had been shot before
(parts of this episode had been intended to
be in the original season ender, "Veritas,"
before the strike had ended in time for them
to shoot 5 more episodes). However, I wanted
to get a better look at the actors in the pivotal
moments of the episode.
I
wanted to see Chloe's desperation as she got
dragged off by the police. Instead we got a
long, Jimmy Point-Of-View shot where I could
barely tell that it was Allison Mack at all.
I
had wanted to see Clark's reaction to Lex's
betrayal. Instead, we got a Lilliputian Lex
and Clark (and it was impossible to tell who
was really portraying them in that scene, they
were so small) as Clark was felled by whatever
that little glowing lilac ball did to him.
I
don't know about you, but I feel cheated in
both scenes, especially when it came to Clark
and Lex's confrontation at the end.
We
should have seen the moment when Clark realized
what Lex was doing to him. The physical pain
would have been dwarfed by the betrayal he would
have felt. Why didn't we get to see that realization?
Why did Todd decide to show us only the final
moment when Clark, helpless, could only look
up in confusion at Lex? Why not show us Lex's
reaction to what happened to Clark? Why not
let us see how Tom portrayed Clark as he became
helpless and fell in a flash of light and pain?
It's
the culmination of their relationship. This
was the ending of their hot and cold running
friendship that had turned so acrimonious that
Lex was willing to kill Clark. Why not spend
more time on the relationship's end? Seeing
how Lex Luthor may not be in the show at all
next season, why not show us as much as possible
of their final showdown?
Again,
I don't know what he was thinking or what he
might have been possibly compensating for, but
no matter the cause I'm unhappy with the result.
It did play better on subsequent viewings than
it did initially; the scene was almost five
minutes long which is an incredibly long scene
in TV, but still... I felt a bit cheated.
The
actors, on the other hand, all turned in nearly
flawless performances.
Tom
Welling was outstanding as Clark. The cold anger
Tom portrayed when Clark realized that Brainiac
was responsible for Chloe's condition was chilling.
Then, when Clark fought Fine with such a determination
it was amazing to watch. When the time came
to kill Brainiac to save Chloe and Lana, he
played Clark killing without hesitation, but
Tom gave Clark just a hint of horror at destroying
something sentient. The way Tom played it, Clark
clearly hadn't enjoyed killing even though the
man wasn't really alive.
However,
what was probably his best moment in the episode
was when Clark watched the Dear Clark video
that Lana had made for him. Clark's world appeared
to crumble as he watched... Tom took Clark from
concerned and worried at what he was going to
see to complete devastation and all of it without
speaking a single word. What an awesome scene,
what an awesome episode, we got from Tom.
Kristin
Kreuk almost literally phoned it in since she
filmed her one scene while on location in Thailand,
but considering she had no one to play off of
from the show she was absolutely amazing. In
that one minute or so of screen time Kristin
had believably shown how much Lana loves Clark
despite having to leave him and Smallville.
Kristin was terrific.
This
is possibly Michael Rosenbaum's final appearance
on Smallville and he did a wonderful job. Lex
had didn't actually have a lot of screen time,
which is a shame especially considering this
is possibly the last time he's Lex Luthor, but
what time he did have he made excellent use
of. Michael played Lex as cold and business-like
most of the episode, neatly manipulating the
naïve Jimmy, but he was truly shocked to
find out that Kara was an alien and his savior
from the season opener.
In
the ending scene with Clark he played Lex as
resolved to end the threat to the Earth that
Clark posed. He made it believable that Lex
would kill the man he loved like a brother.
He seemed to really regret the choice, but went
through it anyway. Lex went through a lot of
emotions in that final scene, so if it is Michael's
last it was a very good one.
I'm
really going to miss Michael. However, I hope
the powers-that-be can convince him to come
back at least for a few episodes next season.
Allison
Mack was terrific as Chloe. She was ever the
reliable friend for Clark. I think she performed
admirably in this less than stellar episode
despite the more unwieldy than normal expository-heavy
dialogue she had to deliver. I really liked
how she played Chloe facing Kara and then Brainiac.
Kara is a nearly unbeatable Kryptonian, Brainiac
a nearly unbeatable machine, and Allison played
how brave Chloe was for facing them flawlessly:
resolved, but with a tinge of fear of what was
going to happen.
Erica
Durance was pitch-perfect as Lois Lane. She
was adorable in Lois' opening scene with Clark
when she tried to convince him to apply for
a job at the Daily Planet, but her best scene
was one where she didn't really speak much.
In that final scene with Clark, Erica had Lois
go through a wide range of emotions and I could
almost tell what she was thinking, her face
and body were so expressive. What a terrific
scene for her.
Laura
Vandervoort did better in this than her previous
outing in "Apocalypse." She believably
portrayed Brainiac in the scenes where Fine
was impersonating her, especially in that one
scene with Chloe in the Talon apartment. The
only time she didn't sell me on her Brainiac-as-Kara
portrayal was the long scene with Lex in the
Luthor mansion where she slipped back into a
more Kara-like delivery, and her very Canadian
accent, for most of the scene.
Aaron
Ashmore was terrific as Jimmy. He made the turbulent
episode for him realistically played. I could
almost see how torn Jimmy was in the scene with
Lois. Aaron did a terrific job.
