"Wither"
Review!
Written
by Triplet
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her feedback
NOTE:
Be warned that this review discloses major plot points. Stop
reading this instant if you don't wish to be spoiled. Don't
say I didn't warn you...
Last
week I said this:
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.
I should
have saved a comment like that for this episode because if I
say that again about "Wither" it will definitely not
have the same bite...
Oh, well.
Anyway,
despite some less than spectacular moments in this episode,
I think it was a strong debut for new Smallville scribe Tracy
Bellomo. This looks to be Tracy's first professional writing
credit. IMDB has her listed as only having worked as a writing
assistant for the TV series Alias and Angel (uncredited)
before this.
I liked
that in this episode we've finally seen that Clark wasn't the
only person who escaped from the Phantom Zone when he opened
the gateway. It was also refreshing that Gloria (Amber McDonald)
didn't get her powers from kryptonite. However, it was a shame
that she wasn't a better villain. Despite wanting to kill off
as many males she could in order to procreate, I'm not sure
she was really evil. It might have helped if she'd been more
bent on seeking revenge for being locked up in the Phantom Zone
at the expense of the only handy Kryptonian.
One thing
that I especially liked in this episode was the character development
for the main characters... It was awesome to see Lex finally
showing real animosity toward Clark while not under the influence
of some outside force. Some of the problems I had last season
with the growing rift between the two men was that it seemed
to come and go, depending on the needs of the story. Sometimes
Clark still went to Lex and asked for favors and other times
he would go out of his way to show Lex how much he distrusted
him. Hopefully Lex's confrontation with Clark in the greenhouse
meant that won't be a problem this year.
I LOVED
that Lana acknowledged that her trust issues with Clark maybe
weren't his fault. I always felt that Lana's high expectations
of complete honesty from Clark were understandable to an extent,
especially given her past, but maybe that the writers had previously
put too much emphasis on that being an issue between them. I
mean, if Clark and Lana needed to have a disagreement about
something the "trust" issue seemed to be the go-to
point of conflict for the writers.
I like Lana
a lot more than some fans do online, but it's crazy how needy
and weak person she can be sometimes while other times she's
portrayed as independent and strong. Her uneven characterization
is frustrating. As much as I didn't understand her decision
to stay with Lex despite not totally trusting him, I think I'm
seeing the appeal more after this episode. She feels that the
nagging doubts she has about Lex are because of her issues with
trust, not because he's been lying to her. That shift is thanks
to the epiphany she's had about her relationship with Clark.
I love the irony.
She just
doesn't see that Lex is the real villain of this story even
though we all know who's wearing the black hat and who isn't.
It should make for some great TV when she finds out just how
much Lex has been manipulating her because of her bitterness
over the bad break up with Clark.
Also, Tracy
wrote some great flirty scenes with the three younger women
on the show. The easy companionship all three found with their
respective love interests contrasts really well with how alone
Clark is. He really doesn't have anyone to talk to anymore,
except for his mom. There's no one to help him work out the
moral of the story in the final act loft scene like he used
to. Jonathan is dead and the Fortress is gone so there is no
available father figure in Jor-El either. He can't talk to Lex
anymore and he admitted that Lana is now like a stranger to
him. While Chloe would probably love to still be his sounding
board, she now has a boyfriend to keep her busy. Clark's emotional
world is narrowing and I thought Tracy did a good job setting
up the situation for that to play out believably in the heartbreaking
final scene.
As good
as Tracy's writing debut for Smallville was, she did
make what looks like a fairly basic mistake. In the scene were
Lex talked to Lana about all his previous 'women' he told her
"I've never asked any of them to move in with me..."
Uhm.
MEMO to
Tracy: Not true.
Lex had
previously asked Dr. Helen Bryce to move in with him. Now that
was way back in Season two during the episode "Fever,"
but he'd done it before.
Mistakes like that written into episodes are annoying. Even
if Tracy hadn't known of Helen moving in, it was from a story
arc almost four years ago, shouldn't have someone else remembered
it?
Or could
it a deliberate lie on Lex's part?
If it was
a deliberate choice for her to have Lex lie about that, why
wouldn't Lana have asked about Helen moving in? Shouldn't have
Lana, who was Lex's business partner at the time Helen was Lex's
SO, known about it? Smallville is a small town. Wouldn't the
resident billionaire's son shacking up with a prominent local
doctor have been news? It's perplexing either way...
Also, I
thought that Chloe's use of metaphors has gone over the top.
I usually like her use of those kinds of lines, however the
"newly minted pimple popper" line was a bit much.
How did the "we planted our flag on the summit of intimate
territory" line even get through all the network and studio
hoops scripts go through before Allison Mack had to speak it
in front of a camera? Only Allison could say that mouthful so
well it almost didn't sound dreadful. Hopefully that kind of
over the top metaphorical dialogue will be dialed back in future
episodes.
Anyway,
the acting was probably some of the best in the series. Tom
was gorgeous in this episode and did a beautiful job. He did
an especially good job at the end of act five when he was up
in the loft, looking like he was really lonely for the first
time in his life. It was a painful moment and Tom played it
so tenderly. Too bad we didn't see more of him.
I loved
Michael Rosenbaum in this episode. He played the bitterness
of Lex trying to deal with the overly cautious Lana so well.
Michael also did a great job in the party scene. Lex went through
a very wide range of emotions. He started by looking lost when
he was looking for Lana; then amazed when she showed up looking
so beautiful; then was cold and business-like with Oliver, yet
with a hint of a pain in his eyes. If that short exchange between
the Lex and Oliver is any indication, any future scenes the
two will have together will be a joy to watch.
I loved
Kristin Kreuk's work in this episode. She was warm and sexy
in her love scene with Lex, which was a nice switch since the
last couple of episodes I've found their "love" scenes
oddly cold. I also liked the way Kristin played Lana's resolve
to live more fully and stop worrying about the lies the men
in her life are telling her. That change came too little, too
late for poor Clark.
I absolutely
love Erica Durance in this episode. Not only was Lois her usual
snarky self but Erica played contrition well when Lois unknowingly
treated a billionaire like a gopher. Her comic timing is excellent
and Lois' scenes were light and amusing when needed. She did
an equally good job playing the more serious side of Lois, especially
after she'd committed yet another egregious mistake in front
of Oliver.
Justin Hartley
did tons better this week than last, both in terms of acting
and in his charisma. Maybe he just needed to warm to his role
a bit. His Oliver Queen is charming and sexy, yet arrogant and
a bit of a hot head. In the scene at the party, Oliver showed
some hints of being a bully while Lex tried to play it cold
as ice. That dynamic was very entertaining to watch. Justin
also has great chemistry with Erica Durance and Oliver's scenes
with Lois sparkled because of it. It was funny and exciting
when Oliver shot the arrow through the soda can top! Justin
had a playful twinkle in his eye that added to the moment.
It was wonderful
to see Chloe flirt with a guy who won't be trying to kill her
later. Aaron Ashmore and Allison seem to have developed a nice
easy going thing between Chloe and Jimmy. I loved how she beamed
at him, like a "newly minted" girlfriend might. Their
scenes were a pleasure to watch.
Aaron showed
some nice touches of the easily flustered Jimmy from the comics
without him going too broad with it. I hadn't been sure what
to think of him from his appearance in "Zod," but
I liked Jimmy a lot in this episode.
With how
much as I loved Carolyn Cranstoun's costumes from "Zod,"
I'm surprised how much I absolutely hated Lana's Cleopatra costume.
It wasn't flattering to her figure at all, which is an odd choice
in a scene where Lana has finally decided to "do it"
with Lex. Also the headpiece looked like an upended gold bucket.
The make-up was oddly over the top and made Kristin so dark
she looked like she'd had a cheap spray-on tan and was performing
in a Vegas show.
I'm perplexed
by how unattractive Lana's make-up and costume was in comparison
to Lois', which looked so good. Her costume and make-up both
had a softly romantic, old-time movie feel to them like she'd
stepped out of an Errol Flynn movie.
Although
this episode was not a slam dunk by any means, "Wither"
was still a solid piece of work from new scribe Tracy Bellomo
and the cast.
3.5 alien
men-killing vines out of a possible 5
Read
Triplet's "Arrow" review in case you missed it!
Note:
The views of Triplet don't necessarily represent the thoughts
and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite. Send
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