Smallville 9x07 Kandor
I think an ep like this was needed around this point in the season. It's about time we had the Kandor storyline fleshed out a little bit more, as well as Zod' character. And this was an effective enough way to go about it. I also appreciated certain touches wrt how Clark was written in this ep, whereby he was actually allowed to emote some of his very valid reasons for anger at people like Chloe and Tess.
Julian Sands is a good actor, and it was wonderful to see a name like him on our show. But him looking so completely the opposite of Clark, just really kept taking me out of the story. That, and I suppose my general feelings of indifference by now towards the Jor-El AI. To make it worse, there were 'Relic' call backs. Which, normally, I'm all for continuity. But are we forgetting that Jor-El was the spitting image of Clark (or rather, vice versa, but you get my point). It's probably not that big of a deal as I'm making it, I'm willing to concede. But just where I'm concerned I suppose, this came off like a huge glaring inconsistency, especially given that only as recently as S7, we had Lara comment on the uncanny resemblance too, and I think Faora might have done the same last season.
But, like I said, maybe this is just me being overly critical or nitpicky. I did actually, surprisingly enjoy a fair bit of this whole storyline involving Jor-El. I thought the flashbacks were done quite well. We were shown a Zod and Jor-El who were actually believable as allies. It didn't come off as forced as I would have imagined. I liked that this was Jor-El the scientist, doing what he thought best, i.e protecting the very laws and ethics of science. And then the Jor-El in SV, did what he thought best, i.e protect his son.
There are obviously parallels to be found in the Jor-El / Zod and Clark / Lex dynamics. And one could argue that was it really necessary to go this route again? But I think what worked in this case was that this ultimately proved to be an effective mans to provide this Zod that we are now faced with - a plausible backstory and take off point from here on out.
And I have to say here, I am still really loving CB' Zod. Not only has CB so amazingly embraced the OTT, but I also really appreciate that the character is being shown to be a formidable opponent, no matter who he goes up against. I expect that of Zod. I expect him to be smart and clever, and thus far he hasn't disappointed. There's a bit towards the end of the trial scene where after Jor-El thanks him and tells him he is in his debt, Zod shakes his hand and replies with, "never forget that, my friend." That, sort of says it right there. That Zod will always look for a way to serve his purposes, no matter what. And that's such a foreboding thing to say, moreover. It's the use of the word "never" I think that gets me the most, as well as the adding of the "my friend" at the end of it all. I also liked how he was smart enough to basically toy with Tess while he had his minions kidnap Jor-El.
And the Tess / Zod scenes continue to be awesome. They not only have terrific chemistry but the game of one-up manship is proving to be quite the rollercoaster too.
Tess is such a funny one. The woman's motivations are ambiguous at best and dubious at worst, her ethics and morals are probably none to speak of, and yet clearly somewhere, she is driven by this consuming need to protect Clark. And that kind of a skewed motivation can sometimes make the most dangerous of allies to have around. CF continues to be a pleasure to watch every week. Amd we finally got a Tess/Clark scene as well. Where, is it just me, or did Tess kinda enjoy being manhandled there by Clark? Oh, Tess. Heh.
Another huge surprise for me this ep was how I didn't once feel like punching Oliver. Perhaps that had something to do with the fact that for the first time this season he wasn't acting like a total jack ass. Instead he was pretty much there for Clark throughout, which, I'll take more of please. Though, I have to laugh at his "I got your back" line. Yes, you do. You have his back---in sight---while you proceed to shoot him with an arrow. Yes, yes, me being nitpicky again I suppose, though I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to let this one go.
I felt so much for Cark in that scene with Jor-El, if only for the fact that this was another father he had to lose, dying in his arms no less. TW was great here, with his anguish quite palpable. I liked how in the end though he was so clear in his focus. "I can't save Zod. You might have known him as a friend. But I know what he becomes." I was pleased to see his resolve here. I was also very pleased that we got see Clark actually visibly show his annoyance / anger with Chloe, and later Tess. Firstly, what is up with Chloe and her sudden need for this all encompassing spying? And continuing to not tell Clark? Not cool. And I'm glad Clark called her out on it. I'm also glad he was obvioysly as irritated by Chloe and Oliver' self righteous lecturing and just cut them mid sentence by zipping away. What exactly did they think he was going to do to Tess, for fucks sake. Sheesh, give the guy some credit already.
Amongst the stuff I found jarring or flat out disliked was Chloe' apology to Clark. Talk about half assed. What I also didn't like was Oliver' "if it's one thing I can relate to it's growing up without parents." WTF? Are we just retconning the Kents out of existence now? Chloe' "the Kents are the greatest parents one could have asked for" made it a bit better, but still.
As for bits and bobs I'm left scratching my head about, how come Zod had his memory intact after it all? Also, was the son in question Davis?