Starkville’s House of El Podcast

So what did Tim think of the season premiere?

Was it a smash-hit premiere or a one-hit wonder?

SPOILER WARNING! IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE SEASON PREMIERE OF SMALLVILLE, PLEASE DO NOT READ FURTHER!

Wow. What an episode that was. It almost didn’t feel like a Smallville episode. It was such a great ride throughout the whole episode. I really enjoyed the episode as a whole, and if this premiere episode is any indication, then we are in for quite a ride this season. Just everything about it was totally awesome.

Now, I love Smallville premieres. It almost feels like the first chapter of a new volume of the already rich Smallville story. These premieres and the anticipation that is accompanied with each premiere is awesome. The best thing about these premieres is that they deliver every single time! The premieres are always so great because they make you want to come back week after week and see how the rest of the season is going to play out, and how this volume of Smallville is going to end. It’s one of the reasons I hope Smallville doesn’t end this season.

First off, the episode began with a bang, and never let up until it ended! It began with a virtual standoff between Clark Kent and Bizarro, where they traded words a bit. I thought all the Bizarro and Clark stuff was very well-acted by Tom Welling and . . . well, Tom Welling. Seriously though, throughout this episode, Tom Welling pulled off the part of Bizarro extremely well. He literally made them two different characters, and definitely made the Bizarro character more complex and more sympathetic as a villain. Tom Welling should get an Emmy for this episode. He definitely deserves it for this episode alone.

I also thought the character of Bizarro within Smallville was very well-written. He was truly the opposite of Clark Kent. Whereas Clark Kent was cared for and loved by family and friends, Bizarro was shunned by everybody around him. I think the Bizarro/Clark dynamic is something to be explored in future episodes, because it is possible and very likely (in fact it has been confirmed) that Bizarro will return later in the season. Not only was he physical foil for Clark, but he was a mental menace to Clark, as it made him realize that the Bizarro-Clark (as he has so been dubbed) could be him if he wanted to. Now, they’ve done this kind of thing in Smallville before with meteor-freaks, but I think it was more effective because the foe Clark faced in the premiere had all of Clark’s powers, so the threat inside Clark was a little more personal, especially since Bizarro not only has Clark’s DNA but has all of his memories and thoughts, “every last twisted one of them”.

This episode was a very Clark-centric episode, and it seemed that this episode was more so than say Zod, where Clark was hardly in Smallville and Metropolis, but spent the majority of it in the Phantom Zone and came back to Smallville at the end, while this was a very Superman-centric episode in Smallville. I think it fit real well, and was really awesome, I think. The episode also moved Clark Kent in a real positive direction. Although there are many episodes that push Clark in a forward direction, this one I think made him realize with Lana’s death finally striking a (dare I say it) human chord in him, and I think in the next episode we will be seeing him really deciding to take the mantle of a Kryptonian upon him, since not only is Lana dead, but he has vanquished all the Criminals from the Phantom Zone, and may resolve to begin his Training.

We also got to learn something that perhaps longtime Superman fans have known for a while, but for those unfamiliar with the Superman mythos, it was a cool revelation for them as it was for Clark Kent. This was the revelation that Clark Kent’s powers are derived from the yellow sun. This was hinted at in Season Three during an episode called “Perry” when Clark’s powers shorted out due to a solar flare that was happening in space. But this time Clark was able to use his greatest strength against this new villain. This will also kind of key in to Clark’s story-arc of teaching his cousin, Kara, about how her powers on Earth work. So it was a very nice touch. The problem is with future episodes Bizarro will not be falling for the same trick twice, so it’ll be very interesting once he returns.

But not only did the episode move Clark in a very interesting direction but it moved several of the characters in a direction that maybe we weren’t expecting. The one I wish to discuss further is the direction Chloe, Smallville’s ace reporter, might be taking this season. For the major part of the first four seasons of the show, Chloe had always pushed Clark to tell her his secrets because they had been basically best friends their whole lives. Now she has a secret of her own, of her meteor power: that of her healing tears. These powers had nearly cost her her life, and now Chloe is determined to keep it a secret. This new secret has not only cast a burden on poor Chloe, but have forced her darker side to surface. At the end of the episode, Chloe showed what she was willing to do to protect her secret that she now carries: destroy the evidence, and lie about what has happened to her. It also shows how human Chloe is, as she had so lectured Clark about not telling people about who he is, but now that the burden of a superpowered secret has fallen upon her, it is a different scenario. This was an interesting turn of events for the character of Chloe Sullivan, and should be very interesting to watch unfold.

Another character that might be taking a serious direction will be the character of Lex Luthor. At the end of the last finale, Lex was left in a very “dark and twisty” place and was arrested for Lana’s murder. At the beginning of the premiere, he was left for dead at the bottom of the water and was daringly rescued by Kara Zor-El of Krypton. To Lex, this was almost a second chance. to me, this was a hearkening back to the early days of season 1 of Smallville, where Lex had viewed Clark saving him as a second chance for him. It’ll be interesting to see where the Lex character goes. Because the impact of Lana’s murder coupled with his near-death religious experience, has really caused Lex to kind of revert to those early days of him being good. Throughout the episode, Lex was seen doing things that Lex in season 6 would not have done, but Lex in season 1 would have. Like betraying Bizarro for Clark’s safety, and then forfeiting knowledge of Clark and Bizarro’s true origins in order to do the right thing. It’ll be interesting to see how long this change lasts. And if this good Lex will wear off and the real darkness that we all know is inside of him. It will also be interesting to see how Lex and some of the other remaining characters will interact this season now that Lex has supposedly turned over a new leaf. Also, since it had been a while since Michael Rosenbaum had played this Lex, he played it surprisingly well. I also sincerely hope that Lex is not underused this season with this new leaf attitude he’s developed, as this could potentially be Michael Rosenbaum’s last season as Lex Luthor. Because I think as Bizarro does that “redemption really doesn’t suit” Lex. But I think Rosenbaum played this kind of aspect fairly well.

One complaint some people seem to have about this episode was that it was too much like the sixth season premiere, Zod. I see Zod and Bizarro, episodically, as two different animals. Zod and Clark only had one major tussle the whole episode. Their tussle was regarding the whole world’s safety, whereas the battle between Bizarro and Clark seemed more personal. It seemed that throughout the episode Clark and Bizarro were trying to stop the other. Bizarro had a more heartless take on his goals, whereas Clark was more peaceful about it. It was like a huge mind game between the two Kryptonians, and the endgame was simply magnificent.

I guess we can’t go throughout this review without talking about the return of Lana Lang, as the episode did conclude on that note. First off, I did not think she was dead at all. But I still want to know how she procured an apartment in Shanghai and how she actually ended up there. This scene was beautifully played out by Kristin Kreuk, who, in my opinion, is the most underused actress of the series. She said a lot with her eyes in the concluding scene, as if longing to be home again. It was wonderful It will be interesting though to see what happens once she finally does return to Smallville, particularly her interaction between Clark and Lex. Especially since she knows Clark’s secret. So, it shall be interesting.

I also loved the concluding scene with Kara sitting on top of that watertower, as if contemplating her current situation now that she knows she has finally arrived on Earth. I thought Laura Vandervoort played this scene wonderfully, and believe she’ll make a fine addition to the already shining Smallville cast. In the few scenes she was in, she was spot on! So it shall be very interesting to see her interact with the other characters in Smallville, particularly her cousin, Clark. It also will be interesting where her character goes in the next episode as the second episode of this season is primarily focused on Kara herself and also throughout the rest of the season.

One thing, the story aside, that I liked was Bizarro’s face. I thought it was awesome that we saw a lot of it. I thought when Bizarro got rid of the cracked face in the teaser, that that was the last we would see of it. But we saw it almost every time that we saw Bizarro. The visual effects for Bizarro’s face and the rest of his cracked body was also very well done. I loved CGI Bizarro as he took to the skies before he was “defeated”. Another thing that this episode had a lot of was flying and it was portrayed magnificently onscreen. The excess of flying from Kara, Bizarro, and Martian Manhunter gave the episode a more epic feel than it already had, so the flying was top-notch, and cannot wait to see this particular effect improved over the course of the season.

Also, visual effects wise was the bringing down of the dam, which was totally awesome to watch. This was a scene that I partially seen on the CW’s site, as a director’s cut video, that they normally air on their website. But it was greatly improved for the episode. It was truly amazing. Everything visually was great.

Another thing, effects-wise that was done very well was the sound, particularly the synthesized sound of Bizarro’s voice. It also solidified Bizarro as a separate character from Clark. The music and sound effects for the episode were just spot on and welded together really well. It was truly awesome to watch and listen to, and added to the epic-feel to the episode.

Also, I thought the ending song to the episode was perfectly chosen and contributed well to the mood of the episode and what had happened throughout the episode. The ending song being “Sober” by Kelly Clarkson. It just seemed to work really really well. One thing I will say about Smallville is that the music just always contributes to the mood of the episode, and tugs at the heartstrings. This one definitely did for me. It is a trend I hope continues until series’ end (which I hope does not happen soon)

Some things that I did not like was the underusement of John Jones/Martian Manhunter. I would’ve loved to see more of him in action. Phil Morris plays this role wonderfully as I have mentioned in a prior review, and would love to hear his name used in the season. I think that the Martian Manhunter on Smallville is a great character and would love to see more of him and particularly see more of him and his powers in action! Maybe we will see more interaction with Clark, Kara, and John in the future.

Another thing I did not like was that it seemed in the course of the episode that since so much happened in this episode with regards to Clark, Bizarro, Chloe, and Lex, that characters such as Lois and Lionel kind of got the shaft. Especially Lionel. Lionel was knocked unconscious and whisked away from the wreckage to who knows where? But it shall be interesting to see where Lionel was taken and what his role in the series will be now, which is always interesting. It shall also be intriguing to see how Lois is treated throughout the reason in regards to her journalistic arc that we know she will be going through this season.

But other than that, the episode was pretty awesome. It almost felt like a movie. It was that amazing. It definitely set a high bar for the rest of the season. It’ll be interesting to what direction the season and series will go from here. This episode definitely rocked!!!!

RATING: 5/5

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 29th, 2007 at 2:41 am and is filed under 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.