Smallville, 817, Hex
I wrote the review as I watched so it's ramble-y and stuff. Also, typically wordy. Obviously, spoilers abound.
Okay, let's get this out of the way: Durance did an amazing job mimicking both Mack's mannerisms and her speech patterns. Considering that both her own and Mack's are very unique, that's pretty remarkable.
For another, I loved this episode. I loved the little things at the beginning, Lois keeping her old press ids everywhere and her picture with the Dali Lama? Hilarious. "Don't worry, Miss Lane, one day you'll remember my name," is perfect. And the cop owing Lois money because she has a Friday night poker game with guys like is also perfect. She really would.
I suppose I should also mention Chloe's party at the beginning. Not being big on birthdays, I'm sure I'm more understanding than most about Clark missing it, especially for something that sounded sort of important. 'Crisis in Keystone I think.' The thing about being in on the secret is that you do occasionally have to be set aside for the people who don't.
It was also nice seeing the other side of Lois and Clark's life -- the time when crisis isn't happening. Smallville is such a plot driven show and because of this we see the crisis' and not the time in-between, where they do everyday things like chase stories and celebrate birthdays. This was the kind of filler episode they should do more often -- one that is more character driven than plot driven. This isn't always true, I enjoyed Bulletproof for instance, but it was still nice to see. (Both Power and Requiem have the features of overblown filler episodes, for me anyway. Bad ones.)
I liked Clark's perspective regarding the Chloe/Jimmy break-up because it's one I share and it's nice to hear expressed on the show. I felt more than a flitter of contempt for Chloe when she said, at the beginning, about her marriage being over in five seconds. To make a comparison that reflects poorly on her, let's go back to season 6's 'Rage.' Oliver's behaving weirdly, Clark informs Lois that he thinks Oliver is doing drugs and Lois says something like 'I'm not going to abandon him when he needs me the most.' Jimmy's clearly having a PTSD-type reaction to the attack at his wedding, a time when he least wants but most needs help, love and support, and Chloe declares the marriage over, not worth fighting for. She declares Jimmy not worth fighting for. Poor Jimmy.
"I don't make the news. I just report it." Welling's delivery of that line was perfect and made my heart go flipidy-flip. "I'm a regular Green Arrow." <-- Clark thinks Ollie's a bona fide hero! I always knew. ♥ "I believe this place needs better maintenance." "The acoustics are amazing up here." Oh Clark.
This is a great episode. Incredibly funny and done well, too.
Does it go without saying that I loved the Green Arrow bits? I'll say it anyway: he sensed desperation in Zatanna and realised the book was too dangerous in her hands because of that. In the comics, Green Arrow once said that Zatanna was the most powerful member of the Justice League -- in other words, more powerful than Superman or Wonder Woman. (Reminds me: had a nightmarish thought the other day that the SV writers were setting up Lana as Wonder Woman. Yesh.) "Not good." Nope. Not good at all.
Soul for a soul is predictable but let's face it -- it does make sense. Why the roof of the Daily Planet though? That makes no sense to me. I'm liking this episode enough that I can ignore it though, what with production costs and everything.
He flew! He flew! That was the same effect they used for the flying! He totally flew!
"I'm finally the man my father wanted me to be." Yes, that's it and part of that is being his own man. If he believed in himself less, he would have believed Chloe a lot sooner, which is ironic.
Wasn't sure that was the right moment for the Chloe-shift but they changed my mind. Nice reason for it. Anyone want to explain the whole "the same goes for Jimmy"? Is this setting it up for the Chloe/Davis? Does it mean the Jimmy/Chloe is now over for good? Once again, I'm saying it: poor Jimmy.
This' the morning after right? Is Ollie still chained up in that alley? They'll probably answer that right? Okay, so Ollie is not still chained up in that alley. Wonder how he got down. The spell just wore off or something? I mean, he looked tied up pretty well.
They kept Zatanna saying her spells backwards! Yay! And Ollie worked it out! Smart boy. "I would like to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again." "Here's a thought: don't do it again." Zing!
Go Zatanna! You're awesome, you really are. Random comic fact for anyone interested: Zatanna was a childhood friend of Batman. Her father was the one who taught him his escape artisty-type stuff. Their father's were friends. Love that it was just her business card. Also love that Zatanna has the good sense to hit on Oliver, lol.
Love the Clark and Lois at the end. Lois being smug always works for me but the end of the flirting? Sad. :( I'm not even a shipper and I think it's sad.
"Watchtower is officially online." Nice. Still, Ollie should have handed Chloe the ear pieces, not the other way around. He's giving her something, not the other way around. This' tv, this stuff matters! I always have something to complain about, lol.
Okay, let's get this out of the way: Durance did an amazing job mimicking both Mack's mannerisms and her speech patterns. Considering that both her own and Mack's are very unique, that's pretty remarkable.
For another, I loved this episode. I loved the little things at the beginning, Lois keeping her old press ids everywhere and her picture with the Dali Lama? Hilarious. "Don't worry, Miss Lane, one day you'll remember my name," is perfect. And the cop owing Lois money because she has a Friday night poker game with guys like is also perfect. She really would.
I suppose I should also mention Chloe's party at the beginning. Not being big on birthdays, I'm sure I'm more understanding than most about Clark missing it, especially for something that sounded sort of important. 'Crisis in Keystone I think.' The thing about being in on the secret is that you do occasionally have to be set aside for the people who don't.
It was also nice seeing the other side of Lois and Clark's life -- the time when crisis isn't happening. Smallville is such a plot driven show and because of this we see the crisis' and not the time in-between, where they do everyday things like chase stories and celebrate birthdays. This was the kind of filler episode they should do more often -- one that is more character driven than plot driven. This isn't always true, I enjoyed Bulletproof for instance, but it was still nice to see. (Both Power and Requiem have the features of overblown filler episodes, for me anyway. Bad ones.)
I liked Clark's perspective regarding the Chloe/Jimmy break-up because it's one I share and it's nice to hear expressed on the show. I felt more than a flitter of contempt for Chloe when she said, at the beginning, about her marriage being over in five seconds. To make a comparison that reflects poorly on her, let's go back to season 6's 'Rage.' Oliver's behaving weirdly, Clark informs Lois that he thinks Oliver is doing drugs and Lois says something like 'I'm not going to abandon him when he needs me the most.' Jimmy's clearly having a PTSD-type reaction to the attack at his wedding, a time when he least wants but most needs help, love and support, and Chloe declares the marriage over, not worth fighting for. She declares Jimmy not worth fighting for. Poor Jimmy.
"I don't make the news. I just report it." Welling's delivery of that line was perfect and made my heart go flipidy-flip. "I'm a regular Green Arrow." <-- Clark thinks Ollie's a bona fide hero! I always knew. ♥ "I believe this place needs better maintenance." "The acoustics are amazing up here." Oh Clark.
This is a great episode. Incredibly funny and done well, too.
Does it go without saying that I loved the Green Arrow bits? I'll say it anyway: he sensed desperation in Zatanna and realised the book was too dangerous in her hands because of that. In the comics, Green Arrow once said that Zatanna was the most powerful member of the Justice League -- in other words, more powerful than Superman or Wonder Woman. (Reminds me: had a nightmarish thought the other day that the SV writers were setting up Lana as Wonder Woman. Yesh.) "Not good." Nope. Not good at all.
Soul for a soul is predictable but let's face it -- it does make sense. Why the roof of the Daily Planet though? That makes no sense to me. I'm liking this episode enough that I can ignore it though, what with production costs and everything.
He flew! He flew! That was the same effect they used for the flying! He totally flew!
"I'm finally the man my father wanted me to be." Yes, that's it and part of that is being his own man. If he believed in himself less, he would have believed Chloe a lot sooner, which is ironic.
Wasn't sure that was the right moment for the Chloe-shift but they changed my mind. Nice reason for it. Anyone want to explain the whole "the same goes for Jimmy"? Is this setting it up for the Chloe/Davis? Does it mean the Jimmy/Chloe is now over for good? Once again, I'm saying it: poor Jimmy.
This' the morning after right? Is Ollie still chained up in that alley? They'll probably answer that right? Okay, so Ollie is not still chained up in that alley. Wonder how he got down. The spell just wore off or something? I mean, he looked tied up pretty well.
They kept Zatanna saying her spells backwards! Yay! And Ollie worked it out! Smart boy. "I would like to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again." "Here's a thought: don't do it again." Zing!
Go Zatanna! You're awesome, you really are. Random comic fact for anyone interested: Zatanna was a childhood friend of Batman. Her father was the one who taught him his escape artisty-type stuff. Their father's were friends. Love that it was just her business card. Also love that Zatanna has the good sense to hit on Oliver, lol.
Love the Clark and Lois at the end. Lois being smug always works for me but the end of the flirting? Sad. :( I'm not even a shipper and I think it's sad.
"Watchtower is officially online." Nice. Still, Ollie should have handed Chloe the ear pieces, not the other way around. He's giving her something, not the other way around. This' tv, this stuff matters! I always have something to complain about, lol.