Dominion
I thought there were a lot of mixed messages in this episode. Though I'm not sure if it was the writing at times or the producers failing to realize that certain plotlines don't work along side each other.
We had the very heavy-handed "learning to lean on people" storyline going on through the episode only to have Oliver do the exact opposite in the end. Right now he is choosing to keep everyone in the dark about something that could be incredibly dangerous, not just to him and the team, but the world as well. Either the producers didn't realize that these two storylines don't work side by side or they are setting up a big confrontation between Clark and Oliver over his actions. Since I don't see them having Oliver deal with the fallout of his actions, especially after they line from Clark at the end that seems to be added solely to justify Oliver keeping it a secret, this felt more like a screw up. I could be wrong and I'm actually hoping I am. It seems incredibly weird to have Oliver and Tess keeping secrets, in an episode that stressed the fact they need to trust in each other and work together, especially about something as dangerous as Darkseid. Unless they plan on doing another "teamwork is important" storyline for like the twentieth time, I don't get it. Is Clark the only person who needs to learn to lean on others and about teamwork? Tess is keeping the fact that she tried to kill Connor and was tempted by a serial killer, to herself and now Oliver is keeping something like this a secret, yet Clark is the one who gets the lesson on the importance of teamwork and leaning on others? Come on.
Then there's that scene between Lois and Tess. So apparently Lois did the right thing, choosing not give up on them. Atleast that's what I took away from that last Clois scene. I agree with this but I also found the way they set up that scene between Tess and Lois really weird. They were laying it on really thick there with Tess' speech. And yet I feel this episode showed us that it was Lois who made the right choice. But if not giving up on people was the real lesson there, shouldn't they have focused more on getting that across. Instead we had Tess give the long speech about heroism, (which is completely ridiculous coming her considering her actions in the second half) and Lois with a gun and some really, to the point one-liners. Considering how things turned out, with Lois decision being the right one, am I the only one who finds that completely weird?
Wouldn't it have made sense for both of them to share their opinions instead. Tess' worry about how dangerous it could be for everyone and Lois stressing the importance of not giving up them. That way we have two different but understandable opinions.
I didn't think this hurt Lois' character in any way but having her only come out with some pointed comments while holding a gun, and not putting enough focus on her opinion about not giving up on the team, as well Tess throwing out the words "selfish" while accusing her of putting her own needs first, seems like the kind of stuff you'd do if they were swaying the audience towards Tess being right. Which was incredibly weird since I feel we were told and shown that it was Lois who actually made the right choice.
I'm not even sure if I explained myself properly here, but yeah...
Clois:
I adored that first Clois scene. This is what we should have gotten more of this season. I love scenes that have a everyday kinda feel to it. The Whitesnake exchange was awesome. Clark wondering if she labelled it right was hilarious. I loved his expression there.
"Don't worry, my for better or worse will include your love for hair-metal." LOL
I love this scene so much. It funny and entertaining, and sweet and lovely all in one. That comment about his perfect spot... wow. I love this couple. :)
I had one small issue with it though. That Chlollie line felt completely out of place here. It didn't take away anything from Clois or imply that Lois needed advice from Chloe about life with a hero (thankfully) but it was still out of place. Clark and Lois have actually been living together for some time now. This isn't new to them. I'm guessing it's because JH was directing this episode that the writer probably felt the need to throw in these extra lines. But it felt tacked on after the fact.
That last scene between them was amazing. It was beautiful and so brilliantly acted by Erica. I'm so glad we got her POV here. The situation they were in here drew me in a lot more then the one Patriot did. Mainly because time we got to see effect this had on Lois. It was a much more serious situation and it worked more. I loved this scene, except the "kryptonian" comment.
"I try to make choices using my human side but sometimes my kryptonian side takes over."
This is the one part of the scene that bothered me... quite a bit actually. This line was either badly written or made no sense at all to me. I feel that Clark as already embraced both sides of himself, starting in season nine. It seems like the writer of this episode completely ignored all that here. Maybe I need to watch these scenes again but this line almost made it sound like his kryptonian side was this whole other part of him. An emotionless warrior. Thinking with his head and not his emotions. It's one if they just used as a cop-out in the Clois scene. But there were two scenes that referred to his kyptonian side like this. I didn't like it. I felt like it was a step back.
Clark and Oliver:
The Clark/Oliver scenes didn't really interest me. Mainly because they tied it too much to the "you need to lean on people" storyline. There was no build up to this whatsoever. Oliver arrives and Clark starts randomly making comments about how it's his problem and he can deal with it on his own. I don't have anything against Clark wanting to handle things his way, except for when it's obviously a set up, and a bad one as well, to Clark having to learn a lesson he didn't need to right now. Didn't he fully let the team in, in Patriot? I don't remember Clark actually doing anything since then that went against that. It felt like they just needed a storyline that tie Clark and Oliver together so they gave Clark a lesson about teamwork and learning to trust in his team.
This felt a lot like the "pride" storyline in Lazarus or the Jor-El issues in Abandoned. They were so heavy-handed with it and it was brought in a very abrupt way.
I also found the fight scene with Clark and Oliver awful to watch. I get that it was first time Justin directing, and for the most part he did a good job, so he was probably was trying to make his mark but this was completely over the top. When the scene first started I was amused by the way both of them (Clark and Oliver) came off looking. But by the time fight started, with the slow mo and the weird sound effects, I was full on cringing my way through it. The first fight with Clark, was much done way better.
Zod:
He always going to be my favorite villain on this show. I didn't enjoy this as much as I would have liked to, but it was still nice to seeing him again. I think the problem with PZ stuff that too much time was spent there yet they didn't have enough a of story to tell. So a lot of the scenes felt like it was dragging on.
Clark and Zod:
I did enjoy their scenes together.. I wish the PZ stuff was focused more on them. Their scenes worked a lot better and was a lot more emotionally charged then the Oliver/Clark and Oliver/Zod stuff, imo I think it's because there is history there and it was based on actual issues that happened between, that it really worked for me.
Tess:
"Clark, you'll be powerless there. Oliver has more experience with that." That's probably the funniest thing that Tess as said in a long while.
I don't have much to say about Tess at all. She's been flip flopping from episode to episode, that I'm not sure what they doing with her. I don't whether they are just trying to show us that even though she is being tempted by evil she's still a good person. Problem is they are failing with that. Right now she not an ambigeous character, she's just flip flopping from one place to the other.
I also wish Cassidy would stop playing Tess like she is two seconds away from crying, scared of something, or looking suspicious during every scene. It one thing when they were playing this up during her "tragic" scenes but I feel like she has been playing Tess like this in general recently. The only scene this didn't happen was the Oliver/Tess scene at the end. I wish I could she was like this because of what was going on but lately it's rare to see her look any other way, imo.
Oliver:
I don't buy into his storyline. That talk about anger issues fell flat to me. I've never felt that Oliver as those isssues, not even when he was out there trying to kill Lex in season eight. He was either shown feeling sorry for himself or trying to justify himself. We never seen any deep-seated hatred for him threatening to take him over. Oliver as lost his temper in the past but nothing that ever gave me the impression he was holding in a lot of anger for years. Most of the time, when he's angry, he just goes around taking pot shots at everyone, mostly Clark, or comes out with some really self-righteous speeches. And somethings really loudly. But I've never seen this kind of anger issues that they were alluding to here from Oliver. Clark in earlier seasons? Yeah, sadly. I never found it hard to believe that Cark would have those issues, never liked it, but it was believable considering the life he had back then. Oliver, not so much. This seemed like a failed attempt at giving Oliver's (Darkness)storyline more depth in this episode, imo.
Now is he kinda envious of Clark? Sure. Which is why I was almost amused by the way the dismissed that in this episode like it wasn't something Oliver cared about. Yeah, right. How many times as Oliver thrown the whole "not all of us has superpowers, Clark" speeches anyway. You want to give Oliver depth, focus on an issue he actually as. They even alluded to how it feels working with someone like Clark in Fortune.
Chlollie:
This is why they should have broken them up. Where was Chloe in all this? I find it amusing that in the first half they would go out of their way to include multiple Chloe mentions and yet in an episode like this where one is actually needed we get nothing. Well nothing in the storyline where it really mattered.
Even though it may not seem like it from this review, I didn't hate this episode. I thought it was actually a good episode, especially compared to some of the stuff we've gotten this season. The PZ stuff wasn't really necessary, but then a lot of the stuff that's happened recently aren't, but it was atleast interesting. I wish they had something more to the story though. That way we would have almost every scene stretched out more then it needed. Tom and Erica were fantastic.
It was good to see Zod back. I'm also glad that this episode didn't take away anything from Zod's storyline in season nine. I loved his part in season so I would hated that. It's actually one of the things I was wary about. I do wish we would got a better reason for Zod's interest in Oliver (outside of him noticing the Drakness as got him), except that Justin was directing so Oliver got be more involved. Did he want Oliver to stay there with him? Why? Because they have more common then Clark and Zod? I don't get that. I do feel Zod took a hit in this episode though. First his actions with Oliver made no sense. And then that he would actually believe that Oliver would turn on Clark after only a few words. The Darkness hadn't taken him fully yet. That didn't seem like the awesome manipulator and kick ass villain from last season. If they wanted Oliver to be more involved they should have spent more time trying to find a way for it to happpen without undermining the others characters, in this case Zod and Clark. Don't get me started on Oliver having to help Clark through that first fight. By pointing out the shield that was right by his feet, or handing him something that he was already close to. He needed help with that? If Zod knows what happened last season, he would view Clark as threat. He's arrogant enough to think he'll win this time but I felt Clark was being dismissed quite a bit in this episode. I think Clark handled himself extremely well in PZ but I think there were quite a few lines that I felt undermined his character or was written at his expense for someone else's benefit.
Right now my favorite to least episodes in second half is...
1. Booster
2. Masquerade
3. Kent
4. Fortune
5. Dominion
6. Scion
7. Beacon
8. Collateral
My list will probably change after I re-watch these episodes, except Collateral. I can't see any episode replacing that one at the bottom of my list. And I still can't believe a GJ's episode is at the top of my list. Hopefully the next episode will be better.