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Friday, 21 November 2008 |
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By John Keegan
Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.
| One of the enduring problems with “Smallville” in past seasons was quite simple to diagnose: too many the big events were unearned. They didn’t do the proper amount of introduction and setup to justify the decisions and changes set into motion. The most obvious example of that would be the seventh season, and for many, it was deeply disappointing.
This episode provides a laundry list of examples of vast improvement. The first example is the most evident. This is the episode where Chloe and Jimmy get married, and it’s been a long time coming. Chloe’s relationship with Jimmy has been building and evolving since the third season, when he was first mentioned.
Considering how many other times the writers have fouled up relationship arcs (the Clark/Lex/Lana triangle, anyone?), it’s good to see them pacing out the evolution of the Lois and Clark saga. The two of them have been circling each other since the beginning of the season, and while I think it’s still a little faster than it should have been, it still works for me.
In fact, it worked so well that I was a bit annoyed at the thought of Lana’s return. Surprisingly, the writers allowed them to have a mature conversation that brought their past mutual infatuation to a close. It would be even better if this had been Lana’s final appearance, but alas, she will be around just a little bit longer. Certainly she’s up to something substantial; it might even have something to do with Lex. (And, I must admit, Kristen looked gorgeous in this episode.)
Lana tells Clark that she would never be able to forgive him for wiping out her memory as he did with Chloe, which strongly suggests that it will come back to haunt him in a big way. I still suspect that her inability to remember anything about Clark’s true nature will put her in dire straits, but for now, her apparent reversion to Brainiac’s control is bad enough. (At least, that’s how I interpreted the end of the episode.)
The arrival of Doomsday was nicely done, with serious injuries and blood everywhere, and I like the fact that it was merely a prelude. Could the rubber suit have been a bit better? Sure, but this is “Smallville” and they only have so much money in the budget for that sort of thing. Frankly, I don’t care. They’ve done such a great job of setting up Davis, his threat level, and his obsession with Chloe that the rubber suit really doesn’t matter. The writers have sold the concept already.
So far, this has been one of the best and most consistent seasons of “Smallville” in a long time, and I can’t help but think that it has everything to do with changing the top-line producers and showrunners. The show is still not perfect, but a lot of the fundamental issues have been improved. I think the fans who left the show at the end of the seventh season will end up wishing they had stayed.
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