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DVD, Smallville S7 (Action)

A mixed up episode both in tone and story. From the opening I was expecting something akin to the 'Stargate SG-1' episode 'Wormhole X-Treme!' in which the series was parodied, breaking the fourth wall in a most silly, but enjoyable celebration of what the series was, both in its reality and in the audience's fanatical community. So there are too many negatives about 'Smallville' these days (I'm going to have to start calling it 'Smallvile' instead), with antagonism between this character and that character, loose ends, mysteries and a boggy marsh of continuing plots. That doesn't excuse the unnecessarily gory moments, with Lionel first ripping the skin off his knuckles in an effort to escape a bear trap manacle clamped on his hand, then later bludgeoning his captor repeatedly until she be dead, presumably - we're not given that information, but from the aggravated bodily violence Lionel inflicts I doubt she'd have survived. It's so at odds with the Warrior Angel side of the story that the two halves would appear to be separate episodes. So much for a jolly appreciation of the series, where its come from, and fan love. Instead it becomes a muddy mixed up tale that doesn't go anywhere.

It doesn't even have good things to say about the people that love this kind of series, the guy who likes the superhero most, being the villain (of the film crew story, anyway - Lana's the villain of the other story. Just don't ask…). He's portrayed as being an obsessive fanatic of Warrior Angel which leads him to do some nasty things: trying to kill the actress playing WA's girlfriend, Rachel Davenport, then attempting to murder Lana to set Clark free from his ties so he can go off and accept his destiny and save the world. Trouble is, I'm not clear on what messages are supposed to be coming across. I get the one about not taking fantasy too seriously that it interferes with everyday life, but is there something about people being forced into the good future that they should be, by those that do bad? Or life being shades of grey, not black and white, as Lex says?

I pity poor Michael Rosenbaum. He has to put up with some shoddy dialogue: "I haven't picked up a comic since we were friends, back when I saw life as black and white. …I realised good and evil was grey…" The sentiment I understand, but it's so ponderously, clunkily written and is so unreal. Lex wouldn't say outright that they used to be friends, he never stated anything blankly, except at his most vulnerable. And only recently he's realised life isn't simple? Come on, he never was of that view! His contributions aren't the only implausible moments. The end scene suggests he didn't know about Clark's powers for certain, even now, since he was willing to trade his rarest and most expensive issues of the Warrior Angel comic for confirmation on what happened with the bullet. This becomes a moment of redemption for Ben the former production assistant, reduced to residency of Belle Reve as a mental patient. Instead of telling Lex it was Clark he claims it was all in his head - I think his motives were genuine, even when trying to kill, in his messed up mind it was the greater good of Clark saving the world that made it 'right.' And he couldn't have been all bad as he had a Mr. Freeze action figure (among others), from 'Batman: The Animated Series,' just like me!

Other inconsistencies I couldn't help but notice ranged from little things like the uselessness of the press when they swarm Clark's house, yet fail to even get a snap of Rachel as she partakes of a massage right in line with the front door, only a flimsy little curtain to foil the photographers! Clark inviting a film crew to make a film on his farm? Clark? What happened to preserving his identity and keeping a low profile? He's getting far too sloppy these days, and if he'd had more caution bad Ben might not even have seen him with the bullet in his hand and half the story wouldn't have happened. He really didn't need to hold his hand open and gaze at the squashed projectile like he did! It always annoys me when captives beat down their kidnappers, then instead of grabbing their weapon or tying them up they run headlong into the night to get away, just as Lionel did. And finally, we come to Lana's weak, girliness. This was something dealt with way back in Season 2 when she learned martial arts to gain confidence and have the ability to fight back after all the times she was overpowered. Wimpy, weedy Ben had no trouble in taking her down - she was turned back into the weak version of Lana of those early seasons just to suit the story.

Ah, but I have a bit of a theory about Lana - more and more I think she's a clone, and the real Lana did die at the end of Season 6. Look at the evidence: she doesn't act like Lana in terms of protecting herself with martial arts; she clonks Lionel with a shovel, (and pretends she's been at Aunt Nell's), and is shown to be the mastermind behind his capture, paying mad Marilyn to keep him prisoner. The real Lana wouldn't be doing this crazy stuff. I even considered there could be more than one Lana running around, but she gave away that it was the one living at the farm in her iciness and cool evilness in the face of Lionel's confrontation. But then, for Clark, things have settled down into an idyllic life. Kara's not a bother at the moment, Lana's staying on the farm and accepts him for who he is, and he gets to work on homely chores all day. Something has to go wrong, seriously wrong, but for now he symbolically walks away from his future destiny (in the form of Warrior Angel's red cloak), towards the house and Lana, and everything he knows. Even she admits that one day he may need to abandon her for a greater purpose, and I hope she remembers those unselfish words one day instead of getting all upset. We'll see.

This time Kara and Jimmy are out, and Lois and Lionel are in, but I was wildly disappointed in who it was that picked Lionel up in that first episode. Mad Marilyn was just a token crazy who doesn't survive one episode, and there's no deep mystery to his disappearance, aside from it being Lana who kept him hidden. I know she's got a lot to get angry at the Luthors about, but holding hostages and playing the sweet innocent to Clark makes her into a two-faced split personality, and she's beginning to be a lit-tle scary. The C-plot of Lois after a story about the Luthor land buy up, ties into the B-story of Lionel's incarceration, but Lois' investigations don't really go anywhere. The most fascinating storyline was Lionel trapped in that cabin, but it was the least developed. I suppose I should be thankful it wasn't Lex, and the boy doesn't even get knocked unconscious this time! I couldn't help thinking what a vehicle this could have been to bring back Ryan, the Warrior Angel comics nut of two episodes in Season 1 and 2. If he weren't dead, that is.

No, this was mostly a star vehicle for Christina Milian, whoever she is. Am I supposed to know? They should have got someone actually famous, like Thandie Newton (though it may have broken the budget). She got a Special Guest Star credit and her character didn't come across as the expected jealous, grasping, selfish drama Queen, and thorn in Clark's side, in fact the writers were very nice to her, but her role was quite pointless. I totally agreed with Clark when he hoped she didn't mean it about returning to Smallville for a sequel! As the two old men from 'The Muppets' would say 'Clark saved some people, but it was too late to save the episode.' In other words, a couple of truly heroic moments couldn't enhance a mediocre episode, as good as they were. And they did excite - the car flipping over and Clark catching Rachel as she spins out was one thing, but a 'Matrix Reloaded' sequence in which he leaps off of a building to catch Lana so stop her plummeting to her doom, was the best by far. I still thought the jolt would kill her, but he is, after all, Superma… oh, Clark Kent. I also couldn't help thinking how fortunate it was that Rachel's legs, sticking out the side of Clark as he holds her, didn't get broken by the flying car door. I guess fortune smiles on the rich and famous. So that's the message of the episode!

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