Smallville 8.1: "Odyssey"

Monday, 22 September 2008

By John Keegan Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.   It’s no secret that I was less than impressed with the seventh season. The introduction of Supergirl was an utter failure. Bringing Veritas out of the deep background and into the forefront only exposed the very flaws that the concept had been conceived to address. Lex Luthor’s descent into complete darkness was the season’s highlight, but the culmination of his arc sputtered in the season finale. The eighth season premiere picks up where the season left off, with the destruction of the Fortress of Solitude and the disappearance of both Lex and Clark as a result. The loss of Michael Rosenbaum from the cast will be difficult to overcome, and this is evident from this premiere. LuthorCorp is now run by a previously unknown woman named Tess, a character that has yet to gel. In fact, the search for Lex puts the Justice League’s efforts to locate Clark in jeopardy. As much fun as the Justice League as a concept might be, it’s still better on paper than on screen. The budget doesn’t quite allow for the kind of dynamic action that the Justice League scenes require, and the dialogue is still atrocious for most of the banter. Most of those guest characters still feel like glorified fan service instead of characters in their own right. As much as I love Chloe as a character, and her presence has done much to overcome the degradation of the Clark/Lana romance arc over the years, this latest twist in her personal status quo is a bit much. It was interesting to give her a healing power that made saving a life, in essence, a pyrrhic victory. (That remains the easiest way for the writers to kill off the character by the end of the series, of course.) Now she has become, in a few short weeks and without preamble, a human computer. It does open up the possibility that she will morph into a more familiar character over time (say, by taking on an alias to survive), and it could quickly invaluable to someone like Oliver Queen. With Clark and Lois working at the Daily Planet, Chloe could use a fresh direction, and Queen’s elevation to a series regular is the logical choice. That said, this development is more than a little abrupt. Perhaps the lackluster qualities of the premiere are a side effect of the need to resolve the seventh season finale and adjust to the new production staff. It’s rarely a good sign when four writers tackle a script, and I think a lot of the problems with the episode are related to those pressures. The eighth season is going to take a little time to shake off the failures of the seventh season and find its own voice.

 

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