Smallville 9x06 Crossfire
This is one of those strange eps in which for everything I really enjoyed, there was also something I really didn't. The Tessod scenes were easily the highlight, and the Chloe/Stuart scenes were surprisingly entertaining. And I liked most of the Clark/Lois scenes too. However then there's the Mia, Oliver/Mia and Oliver/Lois stuff, which I really didn't think too much of. So I'm not sure how to rate this as ep, ultimately.
What worked the most for me (aside from the now ridiculous heights of TW' goreousness) was the Tessod storyline. Tess is just having such a great run this season. I particularly loved her "I'll have you terminated" - pause, heh. And of course, her determined, "you will respect me." And boy did she win that respect there at the end. And the raising of the coffee cup? Oh so deliciously played by CF. CB was equally great. We have here, atleast thus far, a truly enjoyable, smart villain who has his goals set and seems to be going after them. Also, R.A.O - I'm assuming is RAO, as in prophecy of. This could be very interesting indeed. And the tower was very similar to the one from Lois' visions. Finally, I admit I got a bit of a kick seeing Zod sitting there oh so civilized, sipping a cup of coffee. Heh. Oh, and CF and CB have tons of chemistry, IMO, which makes their scenes even more enjoyable to watch. I liked that this storyline picked up here a bit and I definitely want to see more of it.
The Chloe/Stuart scenes were such an unexpected surprise. The hack off was hilariously done and the whole adversarial, yet begruding respect vibe was nicely played. I liked what these scenes did for Chloe' character too, which was primarily have her shed the doom-gloom for a bit and actually revel in competence, and justifiably so. I'm not so sure if asking Stuart on board is the best of ideas though, because the issue of his loyalty is an uncertain, tricky one, but this has the potential to make for an interesting storyline so I'm quite keen on seeing where it all leads.
Now the Clark/Lois stuff is slightly more of a mixed bag for me, though I as stated earlier I did like most of it. In fact, as a basic romantic comedy premise, it worked. The opening teaser was particularly cute, especially Clark' befuddled "excuse me." What I wasn't so on board with was the flimsy reason for the set up in the first place, as in the reason to audition. I just don't think the reason we were offered by Lois seemed substantial enough. Secondly, I happened to catch stills of the Clois kiss online and I was very, very impressed. It looked both hot and romantic at the same time. And yet, and I absolutely hate to say this, but the kiss in the ep itself was nowhere near as good as the stills. I'm not sure why actually, but perhaps I was expecting it to be slightly longer? Or maybe it wasn't the best of camera angles, but whatever it was, it was lacking. And that's unfortunate because it certainly had tons of potential and I have zero issues with the chemistry.
That said, it takes little away from the fact that I appreciated how proactive Clark was in this, and in all the lead up to the kiss, wrt his feeings. All along I've said that, especially after last season where we really saw Lois falling for Clark, I wanted the same from Clark this season. For SV to show us Clark falling, and not merely telling. And this season, with eps like 'Metallo' and 'Echo' and particularly 'Rabid', that's definitely been a-go. This was even moreso of a continuation of that, and I liked seeing Clark openly flirt, with his "I only did this for you, how else am I going to get a second date" and "so what's it going to be for us, love or war." I liked seeing him visibly jealous, because for once, it was completely unambiguous. I liked that his intentions wrt the whole thing were somewhat verbalized in the "we had high hopes of you two" / "I did too" exchange. And I liked that he took that step and went for it, so to speak, with Lois.
On the Lois part of the equation, I remember while reading the sides for this, when the 'date, stood up' part came up, I cringed because I gathered it was a reference to 'Infamous', which IMO would've only served to make Lois look more than a little stupid, considering how long ago that was. So I was relieved that this was the 'Echo' date being referred to. Also, I had a bad feeling as the first Lois/Oliver scene rolled around that she was there to ask him to be her date, and I inwardly cringed again because that would've been horroble of her to do so, playing both Clark and Oliver like that. So once again I was relieved to see that wasn't the case. And moreover I was pleasantly surprised to see how uncomfortable she was in the pseudo date and how later she gently but firmly shot Oliver down and made it clear that Clark was the only one she had feelings for.
I thought there was major cuteness all around in the Clark/Catherine date sequence but I can't say the same at for the the Lois/Oliver one or in fact, any of the Lois/Oliver scenes. Again, like in the last ep, it just felt contrived and tacked on to me. And now that Oliver knows of Lois' feelings, I should hope he has the decency to back the hell off.
The Oliver/Mia scenes were a huge yawn for me as well. All I could think was that was he really in any position or place to be mentorring anybody? And for the love of all that is holy, please, SV, don't romantically entangle Oliver and Mia. ::shudders::
While I liked Chloe' scenes outside of Clark in this ep, I was meh on the Chlark ones themselves. There was nothing so wrong with them actually, to be fair, but after everything this season, and then the massive stench of condescension last ep, I'm still not in the best pf place with these two. I think I probably will get there eventually but it'll take more of their scenes like these, I suppose. Also, another problem I think I had with the second Chlark scene was Chloe as romantic advisor. This is a role she's been so inconsistent and all over the place wth ever since S5 actually, that I just can't take her seriously anymore because who knows when she might change her tune.
Oh, before I forget - the bullet catching sequence? So Supes! Loved it.
A mixed bag, but infnitely better than last week's, so I guess it has that going for it, if nothing else, heh.
What worked the most for me (aside from the now ridiculous heights of TW' goreousness) was the Tessod storyline. Tess is just having such a great run this season. I particularly loved her "I'll have you terminated" - pause, heh. And of course, her determined, "you will respect me." And boy did she win that respect there at the end. And the raising of the coffee cup? Oh so deliciously played by CF. CB was equally great. We have here, atleast thus far, a truly enjoyable, smart villain who has his goals set and seems to be going after them. Also, R.A.O - I'm assuming is RAO, as in prophecy of. This could be very interesting indeed. And the tower was very similar to the one from Lois' visions. Finally, I admit I got a bit of a kick seeing Zod sitting there oh so civilized, sipping a cup of coffee. Heh. Oh, and CF and CB have tons of chemistry, IMO, which makes their scenes even more enjoyable to watch. I liked that this storyline picked up here a bit and I definitely want to see more of it.
The Chloe/Stuart scenes were such an unexpected surprise. The hack off was hilariously done and the whole adversarial, yet begruding respect vibe was nicely played. I liked what these scenes did for Chloe' character too, which was primarily have her shed the doom-gloom for a bit and actually revel in competence, and justifiably so. I'm not so sure if asking Stuart on board is the best of ideas though, because the issue of his loyalty is an uncertain, tricky one, but this has the potential to make for an interesting storyline so I'm quite keen on seeing where it all leads.
Now the Clark/Lois stuff is slightly more of a mixed bag for me, though I as stated earlier I did like most of it. In fact, as a basic romantic comedy premise, it worked. The opening teaser was particularly cute, especially Clark' befuddled "excuse me." What I wasn't so on board with was the flimsy reason for the set up in the first place, as in the reason to audition. I just don't think the reason we were offered by Lois seemed substantial enough. Secondly, I happened to catch stills of the Clois kiss online and I was very, very impressed. It looked both hot and romantic at the same time. And yet, and I absolutely hate to say this, but the kiss in the ep itself was nowhere near as good as the stills. I'm not sure why actually, but perhaps I was expecting it to be slightly longer? Or maybe it wasn't the best of camera angles, but whatever it was, it was lacking. And that's unfortunate because it certainly had tons of potential and I have zero issues with the chemistry.
That said, it takes little away from the fact that I appreciated how proactive Clark was in this, and in all the lead up to the kiss, wrt his feeings. All along I've said that, especially after last season where we really saw Lois falling for Clark, I wanted the same from Clark this season. For SV to show us Clark falling, and not merely telling. And this season, with eps like 'Metallo' and 'Echo' and particularly 'Rabid', that's definitely been a-go. This was even moreso of a continuation of that, and I liked seeing Clark openly flirt, with his "I only did this for you, how else am I going to get a second date" and "so what's it going to be for us, love or war." I liked seeing him visibly jealous, because for once, it was completely unambiguous. I liked that his intentions wrt the whole thing were somewhat verbalized in the "we had high hopes of you two" / "I did too" exchange. And I liked that he took that step and went for it, so to speak, with Lois.
On the Lois part of the equation, I remember while reading the sides for this, when the 'date, stood up' part came up, I cringed because I gathered it was a reference to 'Infamous', which IMO would've only served to make Lois look more than a little stupid, considering how long ago that was. So I was relieved that this was the 'Echo' date being referred to. Also, I had a bad feeling as the first Lois/Oliver scene rolled around that she was there to ask him to be her date, and I inwardly cringed again because that would've been horroble of her to do so, playing both Clark and Oliver like that. So once again I was relieved to see that wasn't the case. And moreover I was pleasantly surprised to see how uncomfortable she was in the pseudo date and how later she gently but firmly shot Oliver down and made it clear that Clark was the only one she had feelings for.
I thought there was major cuteness all around in the Clark/Catherine date sequence but I can't say the same at for the the Lois/Oliver one or in fact, any of the Lois/Oliver scenes. Again, like in the last ep, it just felt contrived and tacked on to me. And now that Oliver knows of Lois' feelings, I should hope he has the decency to back the hell off.
The Oliver/Mia scenes were a huge yawn for me as well. All I could think was that was he really in any position or place to be mentorring anybody? And for the love of all that is holy, please, SV, don't romantically entangle Oliver and Mia. ::shudders::
While I liked Chloe' scenes outside of Clark in this ep, I was meh on the Chlark ones themselves. There was nothing so wrong with them actually, to be fair, but after everything this season, and then the massive stench of condescension last ep, I'm still not in the best pf place with these two. I think I probably will get there eventually but it'll take more of their scenes like these, I suppose. Also, another problem I think I had with the second Chlark scene was Chloe as romantic advisor. This is a role she's been so inconsistent and all over the place wth ever since S5 actually, that I just can't take her seriously anymore because who knows when she might change her tune.
Oh, before I forget - the bullet catching sequence? So Supes! Loved it.
A mixed bag, but infnitely better than last week's, so I guess it has that going for it, if nothing else, heh.