Starkville’s House of El Podcast

Find out what Tim thought about ‘Action’ by clicking below and be sure to check out all of Tim’s past reviews leading all the way back to ‘Crimson’ here on the site.

WOW!!! What an episode. I honestly can say that there is anything about this episode that can do it justice. It was a wonderful episode. I actually enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. We are on such a stellar ride this season. truly awesome to watch.

This episode was piloted by “Almas/Dries” team, meaning that the episode was written by Caroline Dries, and was directed by Mairzee Almas. If you recall, this team gave us that thrill ride of an episode from last season entitled Nemesis, which was one of my favorite episodes last season, so I guess I kind of went into this episode with high expectations, and I was not let down at all. Caroline Dries definitely wrote a very extensive episode with the characters and the events being very intense, as was their last effort, Nemesis.

This episode has a very extensive history, as it has been an episode that has been shuffled around for the past few seasons, as the character of Warrior Angel is deeply rooted into the Smallville mythology, with its beginnings in episodes such as Stray, Ryan, and even in the recent season six episode, Reunion. It even served as a kind of foreshadowing to the great hero that Clark will one day be, and this episode was no exception.

One thing that I was looking forward to in this episode (and I’m sure I can speak for everyone when I say this) was the return of Lionel Luthor. I, for one, was very glad to see him return. For me, Lionel is the one enigma on Smallville, as you never quite know what he is up to. It shall be very interesting to see him return to all of the events of season seven, with Kara, and Clark. It will also be interesting to know what else Lionel will have up his sleeve now that he has pretty much laid out all his cards on the table, as the oracle of Jor-El’s knowledge. The episode would’ve been much weaker had the Lana/Lionel subplot not been there, so it was definitely a treat to have John Glover, as he is the only surviving old-timer on Smallville.

Some things that made me laugh during this episode was the many references to Smallville itself, which was very hillarious if you’re a longtime fan of the show. One such reference was the actual filming of the Warrior Angel movie on the Kent Farm, as the Kent Farm is actually filmed on a real farm. Another reference that caught my eye was the Warrior Angel discussion forums, which bore a strange resemblance to the House of El forums, or was that just me? But I did enjoy these slight references to the fandom of Smallville. It totally could’ve gone the other way to the point of actually poking fun at the fans of the show, but it was handled very intelligently.

The shocker in this episode was the reveal of Lana to be Lionel’s captor for the past few episodes. I think I can say now that right now the character of Lana is starting to frighten me. Her scene with Lionel at the end of the episode, discussing her darkness was pretty revealing of her current affairs. It shall be very interesting to see this come to a head if it ever does. I give total props to Kristin Kreuk, to be able to play scenes as a seriously evil woman one moment and then turn around to be this nice “girl-next-door” with Clark the next. In these past few seasons, I have really enjoyed the direction her character has taken, and, like I said, I shall very much enjoy to see where that leads this season.

We also got to get a glimpse of the classic Lois Lane in this episode. I am also enjoying the direction that her character has taken both this season and last season, with her journalistic arcs that she has been given. There were so many moments in this episode where I thought to myself, “Oh yeah! That’s classic Lois!” Erica Durance definitely played these classic Lois moments perfectly. It is my belief that Erica Durance was meant to play this role of Lois Lane, and it was awesome seeing her as Lois Lane - Reporter. I am actually excited to see her continue to take down the Luthors this season. Will she succeed? Only time will tell.

One thing that I was a little nervous about in this episode was the addition of Christina Milian as the famous actress Rachel Davenport in this episode. I really thought I would be bothered by her acting, but I actually was not. Like with all of the other stunt casting that they have done in the show’s past, they were able to fit her into the story of the episode. I really thought that she jived well with the cast members that she did have scenes with, and I wouldn’t mind seeing her again in a future episode.

Now, I wish to discuss about something that I’m sure fans are wondering about: THE RED CAPE. I really enjoyed the addition of the cape, and I thought it was a nice little touch. It really symbolized a lot with everything that went down in the episode, with the death threat by the crazy fanboy. I think Clark has accepted his destiny for the most part. Last year, he decided to take on all the spirits and corporeal beings that had escaped from the Phantom Zone, and was ready to begin his training with Jor-El in the Fortress, and Lana really is a distraction from all of that. Clark’s imminent destiny is just bigger than her, and I think now even she knows it, as well as everyone (Chloe, Lionel, the Justice League, and even the Kents). I shall enjoy seeing Clark break up with Lana and realize this himself, which I guess to a certain point he does. I think he just wants to hold onto a piece of happiness before he does so. I think this will all happen before too long.

I cannot go throughout a whole episode without talking about Lex. I really don’t know how much Lex has really “changed.” He saved Lionel, but he is still underhandedly looking for Kara, and still wanting to know about Clark. Is it possible that Lex could be closer to discovering Clark’s secret? I shall look forward to some Lex and Lionel scenes in the near future to see the dark Lex come out once again. I do think that we saw glimpses of it when Lex tried to bribe the fanboy PA into giving him information about Clark. I think that fanboy knew that Lex was a villain at heart, which I think we all know as well.

I think one thing that can be said about the Lana/Lionel subplot was that there were some gory moments within this episode, especially on Lionel’s part. This was a part that really surprised me, as the violence in an episode is usually an attribute that I usually give to Supernatural, not Smallville, but it was still enjoyable nonetheless.

All in all, a great episode. I think that there were some points in this episode that will be touched upon in future episodes, especially with all the LLs and even the CK. This episode definitely helped to keep up the momentum of the season. I shall hope that this is not the last season of Smallville. But if it indeed is, then they are indeed pulling out all the stops for this super-season.

RATING:5/5

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 27th, 2007 at 11:53 pm 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.