Starkville’s House of El Podcast

Here it is!!! Tim’s last Smallville episode review of season six!!!

So what did Tim think of the season finale?

Did it up the ante as previous season finales have? Or was it a big letdown?

What a great episode and an awesome finale!!! This episode had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. WOW!!! I thought it was a really great way to end the season, and I think it will be a great launching pad for the seventh season. I was way surprised as to how this finale turned out. Earlier this week, on KryptonSite, there was an advance review of Phantom, and it made me a little nervous, and I tried not to let it deter me from my enjoyment of the finale, because in finales past, I have been overall impressed. I find myself on the edge of my seat on every finale I’ve watched right up until the To Be Continued at the end of the episode, and Phantom was no exception at all.

The finale was directed by fan-favorite James Marshall, and he is always able to turn out a good episode, having directed last year’s Vessel. He definitely turned Phantom into a great finale for us, as he was able to direct both of Tom’s performances as well as the performances from the rest of the cast and turned good performances into awesome performances. One example is when Chloe is crying over Lois’ dead body, which was a wonderful performance by Allison Mack. There’s a reason why he remains to this day as one of my favorite Smallville directors.

The visual effects on Phantom were once again on par with some of the great VFX that are a Smallville staple, and it seems like throughout the course of the season, they were saving their effects budget for only a select few episodes (Zod, Justice, Prototype, and Phantom). We were treated to another good special effects shot of the top of Luthorcorp tower, It was nice to have some newer establishing shots of Luthorcorp tower because I think we’ve probably seen the same shot of Luthorcorp tower since season two. Some other visual effects moments to note were when the “Bizarro” phantom entered Clark and also Bizarro VS. Clark was awesome.

As importnat as the visual effects and the director, credit also has to go to the writing team of Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer. For without the script that they wrote for this episode, this episode, this finale, would’ve been nothing. This team of writers have written many episodes in Smallville’s history. The one that comes to my mind and in many of the fans’ minds is Commencement. Their wiritng made Commencement a great finale but also made Phantom a great finale. It was wonderfully written, and truly enjoyed watching it. I thinik my only gripe with the finale was that it had been at least 10 minutes longer, I would’ve loved it even more than I already did.

Bot one thing that was a little sad for me in this episode was that Phantom was the last appearance of Martha Kent as a series regular. We knew at the end of Prototype last week that Martha Kent might in fact be leaving the show as a series regular. I thought that in Phantom we did get a nice sendoff for her. But I don’t believe we’ve seen the last of her. I beleive she’ll make a few guest apperances in the next season, and she’ll be mentioned a few times in the same vein that Oliver Queen has been mentioned since he’s been off the show. I did think it was very nice that Martha kind of got Clark thinking as to why he’s staying on the farm. So I’ll be interested to see what they do with Martha Kent as the series goes on.

There were some very interesting reveals in Phantom. The most interesting being the reveal with Lionel Luthor. I think we were all interested to find out wht the heck Lionel was up to this whole season. My reaction? I, for one, was surprised when he was revealed that he was actually a good guy, and still being an oracle/emissary for Jor-El, no less. I found it very intriguing when he revealed to Clark that in Zod, when Lex was possessed by Zod, and when the Fortress went to red-alert last year, Jor-El transferred all of his knowledge into Lionel. I’m thinking Jor-El must see something in Lionel if he keeps transferring Kryptonian knowledge into him. It is interesting to note that when you analyze what Lionel has done in regards to the Phantoms and 33.1 throughtout this season, this reveal makes perfect sense. Very interesting move, I think.

Another interesting reveal for the finale was the reveal of Martian Manhunter. I really liked how Martian Manhunter knew Jor-El. I loved how he was tied into the Smallville universe. I thoiught that was a nice touch to his character, making him a sort of a guardian for Clark. I cannot wait to see what else Smallville has in store for this character. I also believe that Phil Morris was a great choice for the role of the Martian Manhunter. I love the way he plays it, and it feels like the Martian Manhunter I’ve always read about in the comics. What I would’ve liked though in regards to MM was to have heard Lionel or Martian Manhunter say the name “John Jones” (or better known to the comic fans such as myself as J’onn J’onzz). I think that would’ve been awesome. But I don’t think we’ve seen the last of our Martian Manhunter in Smallville.

But the twists on these two characters have lead me to believe that they might start playing a more actiuve role in Clark’s life in helping learn more about Jor-El and starting his training. It’s very possible that Jor-El might return in season 7. So it’ll be interesting to see how these characters will be involved in next season’s arcs (whatever they may be) . . .

Now the highlight of the episode for me was BIZARRO. Bizarro was very interesting and could be considered somewhat tricky in what many people consider a pre-Superman story. I thought Bizarro being a Phantom was a nice touch and gave the character a very Smallville twist, which I loved. The introduction of the Bizarro-Clark was amazing! I have alwasye njoyed the Bizarro character whenever he is introduced. So, you can imagine I was a little nervous when I initially heard Bizarro would be the final phantom from the Phantom Zone. But, needless to say, I was not disappointed. For those of you not too familair with the comics, there are two versions of Bizarro that are known to many. One where Bizarro was a Superman from another dimension called “Bizarro World” and the other where Bizarro was an imperfect clone of Superman. In this version, Bizarro was a phantom that was ecperimented on by a group of Kryptonian scientists in a lab just before they sent it into the Phantom Zone. I thought that it was a very nice touch to the Bizarro character. I also liked the way Bizarro looked in this episode, in regards to his wardrobe. He looked just the way I hoped he would. At first glance, Bizarro’s clothing looked black. But in fact (and as most of you know) his jacket was a very dark-blue and his shirt was a maroon-color, almost a purple tone, and in the comics, Bizarro wears a purple Superman suit. Some may not be happy that Bizarro’s vocab wasn’t as reduced as it is in the comics and various other interpretations of the character but I think for this first intro at the end of the episode, it worked and the Bizarro vs Clark fight was awesome!!!! I also think Tom Welling did a wonderful job playing both Clark and his “bizarre” clone. The line spoken by Clark,”I’m you. Just a little more bizarre” was classic!!! Where the Bizarro character actually goes in regards to Smallville will be very interesting indeed . . .

In regards to Bizarro, I hope we see a full display of his “bizarre” superpowers, as Bizarro is reputed to have the opposite powers as Superman (i.e. when Bizarro got strngthened by the Kryptonite whereas Clark would’ve been weakened)

Now to a subject that I’m sure veryone is wondering my thoughts about. DEATH. What did I think of the two “deaths” we were treated to this episode? I don’t think anyone of our fair maidens who were supposedly visited by the Grim Reaper, will be dead for very long. I don’t think Chloe is totally dead. I think she was just recharging after using her power. Apparently, her meteor-power is very taxxing on her human life-forces, which is something very interesting that we haven’t seen with any of the other meteor-freaks. It’ll be interesting next season (after Chloe recharges herself in the premiere :) ) to see how she develops this meteor-power so she doesn’t blackout every time she uses it. Possibly Clark will help her with that. So, No I don’t believe Chloe’s officially dead.

Now, I don’t entirely believe that Miss Lana Lang-Luthor is entirely dead either. I think she staged the death to get away from the Luthors’ web, as she knows what could happen if she did stay tangled within that web. It will be interesting to see where this scenario leads her character as we approach the coming season. I think her death will be one that will not be resolved in the premiere, but it will be something that will dragged out over for at least the first five episodes of the season, taking her a while to get back where she was.

What this finale did bring was a resolution of sorts for the Clark and Lana relationship. After six years, Clark finally told Lana about who he really was, which will make for some interesting drama for season seven, as Chloe also knows who Clark really is. And as we saw, when Clark told Chloe that he told Lana his secret, she reacted very much the way she did in Reckoning, shocked and hurt all at the same time (Allison Mack played that wonderfully, by the way) It’ll be really interesting to see once Lana returns to Smallville and reveals she’s alive to everyone, how she interacts with Chloe, who up to this point ever since learning the secret in season four was somewhat of Clark’s confidant. It’ll be interesting to see how that relationship between these three characters changes.

Also, the Lex and Lana relationship was somewhat resolved, I think, or at least ended in a great way. I think this has been a great year for these two characters, and it was not just because of their relationship. It helped, but it was not the deciding factor in their character-change. I think this year, Lex’s love for Lana has literally driven him nuts. Now, he will be going literally insane now that he thinks she’s dead and no longer wants to be a part of his life. I see Lex getting darker, and Lana getting stronger in the series’ history. But now that Lana is believed dead by both Clark and Lex, it’ll be interesting to see how these two clash in the next season.

Every finale, as most long-time Smallville fans know, leaves our characters in perilous situations. This finale was no exception, of course. Everyone (except for Lana) was trapped inside Lex’s secret lab/HQ by the end of the finale. It’ll be interesting to see how they all get out of there before it all comes down. The question being who will save them all, seeing as Clark’s a little detained with Bizarro? Will Clark be able to handle Bizarro before his face and vocabulary deteoriate? Is Lex really going to be arrested by Smallville authorities? What has and will become of Lex’s 33.1/Ares super-soldier army? (So, as you can see, lots of questions)

But, as we also know, the finale at the end of a season can sometimes give us hints to where the next season might be going. My thoughts on that are I think, with the introduction of Bizarro, we will see more DC Comics characters (superheroes and supervillains) in the coming season that we ever have before and we’ve had a few this season too. I think we will see more things opening up for Clark next season as well. But those are just post-finale thoughts. I could be wrong about that.

So overall, I enjoyed this finale very much. This was probably my favorite finale of the six that we’ve had in the series’ run. It really left me with a lot of questions that I will be probably be pondering over our summer hiatus, that I hope will be resolved in an awesome way. I believe that next season’s premiere will be amazing. Last year, Vessel was a great finale and ended things on a dark note, and Zod brough things back in a big way. This year, Phantom ended in a big, action-packed way with Clark fighting Bizarro at the end, and I think the season seven premiere will bring things back for us in an even bigger way. So, great finale!!! But the next four motnhs will be GRRR ARGH!!! for me.

RATING:5/5

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 20th, 2007 at 7:48 pm and is filed under News, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.