Post by buffysmglover on Dec 22, 2007 11:13:56 GMT -5
Clone-ing around on 'Smallville'
By Ryan McGee
December 13, 07:55 PM[/B]
blog.zap2it.com/ithappenedlastnight/2007/12/clone-ing-aroun.html
Last time on Smallville...wait, does anyone remember? It's certainly been a long time, hasn't it, Smallville fans? It's been about a month, and it will be about another six weeks until we learn exactly what that surprise ending meant. Do you care? Will you care? Hard to say. It's like Smallville has gone all "Movie of the Month" on us, offering us an occasional glimpse into the world of Superman and his friends.
But that's not the show's fault: blame the writers' strike and The CW's desire to hoard existing episodes as long as humanly possible. Our duty is not to expound about the narrative pitfalls inherent in this bizarre scheduling: ours is to merely recap the action in the final new episode of 2007. I'll resist making as many "Attack of the Clones" references as possible, I promise.
You have to love Smallville: they can't drop a plot twist without turning it completely around in the next episode. The bombshell before break-that Gabriel Grant Grant Gabriel was in fact the long-thought deceased Julian Luthor-was instantly refuted this week with the revelation that Grant Gabriel is merely a by-product of Lex's 33.1 operation. So, essentially, if I have this right, 33.1 served two functions:
Create a superhuman race of beings designed to protect mankind from an alien invasion
Create Luthor a younger brother
Call me crazy, but that's some bipolar thinking. The initial reason I understand, if not condone: Lex's thinking over the course of the show has gone from "spoiled rich kid intent on proving Clark's true nature" to "martyr determined to save the human race from extinction, no matter what the cost." I'm a fan of this evolution, and support it wholeheartedly. Which is why seeing Gabriel as a by-product of it stings so much. I'm all for seeing a truly human element to my villains, which is what I think the writers of Smallville are going for, but Lex Luthor is the epitome of what philosophers such as Paula Abdul would dub a "cold-hearted snake." I mean, look into his eyes. Dude's been telling lies.
Essentially, if you think about it, with Grant Gabriel, Lex Luthor has created a living, breathing My Buddy doll. Gabriel's someone that exists solely to idolize Lex, to validate him, to justify him. The Lex Luthor who coldly created 33.1 needs not such idolatry; he sits in solidarity in his den, sipping brandy, knowing that while misunderstood, he's humanity greatest boon. He does not abuse his life's mission in order to create a freakin' fencing partner.
I'd be more upset with the primary villain of this show if they treated our primary protagonist with a little more respect as well. The big twist of the episode revolved around what we thought to be Clark was in fact Bizarro, which would be insanely cool if anything before this revelation made an ounce of sense once you looked back upon the episode. At the beginning of the episode, we learned that Clark had spent the last two weeks in the Fortress of Solitude, either looking for Kara or being admonished by Jor-El. Turns out, Clark's still frozen inside the Fortress with Bizarro taking his place in his every day life.
But if I've got the basic Bizarro mythology down pat, wouldn't Bizarro do everything opposite of Clark? Wouldn't he dump Lana, marry Chloe, and generally kick butt with a positive attitude? Wouldn't that be the complete and total opposite of Clark? Instead, we have an equally droopy, equally Lana-fixated, equally super-but-not-superb Clark, with a quick flash of CGI, as if fulfilling C+C Music Factory's desire for things that make you go hmmmm.
As to why Clark is frozen: ostensibly this is punishment for Clark's 57th outright refusal to perform Jor-El's will. To me, freeing Bizarro and allowing the unleashing of Braniac seems an awfully harsh form of tough love, but I'm not a dead Kryptonian, so I won't judge Jor-El too harshly here. In any case, the cliffhanger was far from earned and, pardon the pun, bizarre.
In this week's installment of "Kick Chloe While She's Down," she received the Secret Santa Gift from Hell (a bomb), which revealed itself while stuck in an elevator with her ex, Jimmy. She reveals in the face of death to Jimmy that she's a meteor freak, and for a brief moment, Jimmy seems OK with the revelation, until he reveals himself to be the racist jerk he is in their final embrace of the episode. He totally gave the "man, I need to get out of this quickly without losing cred on eHarmony" face during that last hug. Poor Chloe. Clark doesn't appreciate you, Jimmy doesn't appreciate you, Lois nearly gets you killed, and Lana offers you a Danish she secretly hopes you don't snag. You have it rough, sister.
So, with this six-week break upon us, we have a Clark in the Fortress, a clone in the Daily Planet, a Chloe in confusion, and a computer in a researcher. Did I catch everything?
By Ryan McGee
December 13, 07:55 PM[/B]
blog.zap2it.com/ithappenedlastnight/2007/12/clone-ing-aroun.html
Last time on Smallville...wait, does anyone remember? It's certainly been a long time, hasn't it, Smallville fans? It's been about a month, and it will be about another six weeks until we learn exactly what that surprise ending meant. Do you care? Will you care? Hard to say. It's like Smallville has gone all "Movie of the Month" on us, offering us an occasional glimpse into the world of Superman and his friends.
But that's not the show's fault: blame the writers' strike and The CW's desire to hoard existing episodes as long as humanly possible. Our duty is not to expound about the narrative pitfalls inherent in this bizarre scheduling: ours is to merely recap the action in the final new episode of 2007. I'll resist making as many "Attack of the Clones" references as possible, I promise.
You have to love Smallville: they can't drop a plot twist without turning it completely around in the next episode. The bombshell before break-that Gabriel Grant Grant Gabriel was in fact the long-thought deceased Julian Luthor-was instantly refuted this week with the revelation that Grant Gabriel is merely a by-product of Lex's 33.1 operation. So, essentially, if I have this right, 33.1 served two functions:
Create a superhuman race of beings designed to protect mankind from an alien invasion
Create Luthor a younger brother
Call me crazy, but that's some bipolar thinking. The initial reason I understand, if not condone: Lex's thinking over the course of the show has gone from "spoiled rich kid intent on proving Clark's true nature" to "martyr determined to save the human race from extinction, no matter what the cost." I'm a fan of this evolution, and support it wholeheartedly. Which is why seeing Gabriel as a by-product of it stings so much. I'm all for seeing a truly human element to my villains, which is what I think the writers of Smallville are going for, but Lex Luthor is the epitome of what philosophers such as Paula Abdul would dub a "cold-hearted snake." I mean, look into his eyes. Dude's been telling lies.
Essentially, if you think about it, with Grant Gabriel, Lex Luthor has created a living, breathing My Buddy doll. Gabriel's someone that exists solely to idolize Lex, to validate him, to justify him. The Lex Luthor who coldly created 33.1 needs not such idolatry; he sits in solidarity in his den, sipping brandy, knowing that while misunderstood, he's humanity greatest boon. He does not abuse his life's mission in order to create a freakin' fencing partner.
I'd be more upset with the primary villain of this show if they treated our primary protagonist with a little more respect as well. The big twist of the episode revolved around what we thought to be Clark was in fact Bizarro, which would be insanely cool if anything before this revelation made an ounce of sense once you looked back upon the episode. At the beginning of the episode, we learned that Clark had spent the last two weeks in the Fortress of Solitude, either looking for Kara or being admonished by Jor-El. Turns out, Clark's still frozen inside the Fortress with Bizarro taking his place in his every day life.
But if I've got the basic Bizarro mythology down pat, wouldn't Bizarro do everything opposite of Clark? Wouldn't he dump Lana, marry Chloe, and generally kick butt with a positive attitude? Wouldn't that be the complete and total opposite of Clark? Instead, we have an equally droopy, equally Lana-fixated, equally super-but-not-superb Clark, with a quick flash of CGI, as if fulfilling C+C Music Factory's desire for things that make you go hmmmm.
As to why Clark is frozen: ostensibly this is punishment for Clark's 57th outright refusal to perform Jor-El's will. To me, freeing Bizarro and allowing the unleashing of Braniac seems an awfully harsh form of tough love, but I'm not a dead Kryptonian, so I won't judge Jor-El too harshly here. In any case, the cliffhanger was far from earned and, pardon the pun, bizarre.
In this week's installment of "Kick Chloe While She's Down," she received the Secret Santa Gift from Hell (a bomb), which revealed itself while stuck in an elevator with her ex, Jimmy. She reveals in the face of death to Jimmy that she's a meteor freak, and for a brief moment, Jimmy seems OK with the revelation, until he reveals himself to be the racist jerk he is in their final embrace of the episode. He totally gave the "man, I need to get out of this quickly without losing cred on eHarmony" face during that last hug. Poor Chloe. Clark doesn't appreciate you, Jimmy doesn't appreciate you, Lois nearly gets you killed, and Lana offers you a Danish she secretly hopes you don't snag. You have it rough, sister.
So, with this six-week break upon us, we have a Clark in the Fortress, a clone in the Daily Planet, a Chloe in confusion, and a computer in a researcher. Did I catch everything?