quiet_tiger (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
quiet_tiger) wrote2011-05-13 10:56 pm
quiet_tiger) wrote2011-05-13 10:56 pm
SV 10.21, 10.22- Finale
Well…
It’s over.
I have mixed feelings.
Unsurprisingly. :)
I found myself battling four emotions: boredom, apathy, confusion, and happiness.
The first half was lllooonnnnggggg. So much time spent on a wedding that we all knew would happen. Move the story along, mmkay? And the Kent/memory/Jonathan thing. Heavy handed, no?
I do appreciate Martha being horrified Clark sold the farm, just like we were. You’d think Clark would have either asked her about it or talked with her about it before they accepted an offer.
Why is the Kent barn good enough for Chloe’s wedding to Jimmy, but the actual owner of the barn uses a chapel?
And who the hell were all those people at the wedding? There was not one familiar face. They couldn’t get anyone we’d recognize there? Maybe I just missed them. And what about Lois’s sister? She couldn’t be a bridesmaid? Doesn’t Clark have any other guy friends?
I dunno. The first half was just boring for me. And I like Clois. I can’t imagine what it was like for those of you who don’t.
But go, Chloe, realizing what the ring was! I hadn’t expected to see Chloe again, but I’m glad she was there, even not considering her observation.
The second half quickly descended into confusion for me. We get Luthors, which was nice, but now we’re supposed to believe there’s been a labyrinth of corridors underneath the mansion this entire time, and that they can be outfitted for a lab that can sustain cloning and genetic testing? Why were there corridors in the middle of a field in Kansas? How did no one know they were there? When the mansion burned down, Clark didn’t ever use his x-ray vision to see how they faired, and happened upon the lab? WTF?
And this all happened over one day? Lois and Clark are apart, then they both convince each other to get married, Tess makes it from Metropolis to Smallville and back before sunset when the light had appeared to be waning at the beginning of the episode.
I know I shouldn’t get hung up on the terrible science fiction of it all, but before his “death” in season 8 Lex was picking and choosing body parts and keeping them in jars to Frankenstein himself a clone? (Yet he still has the scar on his lip?) And that body was sustained without a heart. So now he has the heart of a 60-year-old man? And who put the heart in? Darkseid is a surgeon now, or is it mystical?
I just hate this wonky hand-wavy science stuff. At least monsters and supernatural stuff can be handwaved.
There was no green Kryptonite in the episode. Interesting.
Why does Oliver stare at his bow like he’s never seen it before? Dude, you used one last week.
And I totally didn’t understand Tess’s death at all. I guess she isn’t in the comics, but neither is Chloe, and Oliver doesn’t have any kids in wedlock as far as I know (cute little boy, though). And she had…something…from the lab that would wipe Lex’s memory? So not only is he a clone he doesn’t have the memories of why he is the way he is? And why were the flashbacks played forward, wouldn’t it make sense to play them backward as they’re erased?
Why don’t Lois and Clark get married for another 7 years? They were kinda all set to go there.
I did like Lionel’s soul going to Darkseid. He was super creepy at the end in the barn. But does he realize he inspired Clark (or Jor-El, or to listen to Jor-El) to realize he is the light? (or to steal from an earlier episode in the season, the “beacon”?)
Can we punch Jor-El in the face? No specific reason. Though he and Jonathan are awfully chummy all of a sudden.
But why could Kara fly and use all her powers but Clark had to earn his flight even though he was perfectly capable of it as Kal? I don’t understand. What the hell made Kara worthy?
I think a lot of the problems in the episode come from trying to cram three stories into one finale. We had Clark and Lois’s wedding, which could have either been postponed entirely or happened much more quickly as it shouldn’t have been the focus for so long, we had Lex’s resurrection and him taking his place as the sole Luthor (aside from Lucas, presumably), and the Darkseid/Apocalypse stuff.
Considering the Darkseid stuff was seemingly the running theme of the season and the season’s “big bad” (not counting the Luthors and the VRA), it seemed so rushed. I mean, yes, it’s in the entire finale, but Clark defeats it in all of about seventeen seconds once he’s done standing around staring at stuff. I think more time could have been spent on it, because by the time the story got to the him defeating it part there was like five minutes left.
Lex. If the Luthor storyline had been handled a little differently, Lex’s return could have been awesome (bald cap notwithstanding). But it seemed rushed and corny to me. And again, for what, to happen ten minutes before the episode basically cuts to the future?
Maybe if they hadn’t been screwing around the last several episodes, the stories could have been developed properly. But no, we got Booster Gold and Zod and stupid bow of Orion.
Tess, strapped to the table and getting free? Awesome ninja skills were awesome. I was glad she got a true bad-ass fight in.
The last fifteen or so minutes were, of course, awesome. The second he leaps from the floor of the Fortress and changes into his costume… You can’t tell me you weren’t smiling. The special effects kind of went downhill from there, but it was cool seeing Superman all flying and super and catching the plane in its kinda cheesy way. (budget those fake backgrounds, guys, so you can do more later on).
And hey, the “real” Jimmy Olsen at the end. Why the heck was he dressed like that?
But Clark going off to save someone, running to the roof while unbuttoning his waistcoat like the world’s most obvious superhero, chucking his glasses, loosening his tie, ripping open his buttons as the classic Superman theme swells…
Oh yeah.
That was awesome.
I’m not going to say the last 15 minutes make up for the previous hour and a half of fail, but they were a nice cap to a show that has been building to that moment for ten years.
I think a nice touch would have been instead of doing the Jor-El trippy flashback party in Clark’s head in the barn, maybe working in a montage of every single save Clark’s made on camera for us. Kind of building towards the final reveal of the “S” shield. May have taken too long even at shots only frames long; it’s been a long ten years of saves.
Oh well, Smallville.
You've been a part of my life for ten years.
What a long, strange, confusing, inspiring, infuriating, fun, fake sunset-filled trip it’s been.
It’s over.
I have mixed feelings.
Unsurprisingly. :)
I found myself battling four emotions: boredom, apathy, confusion, and happiness.
The first half was lllooonnnnggggg. So much time spent on a wedding that we all knew would happen. Move the story along, mmkay? And the Kent/memory/Jonathan thing. Heavy handed, no?
I do appreciate Martha being horrified Clark sold the farm, just like we were. You’d think Clark would have either asked her about it or talked with her about it before they accepted an offer.
Why is the Kent barn good enough for Chloe’s wedding to Jimmy, but the actual owner of the barn uses a chapel?
And who the hell were all those people at the wedding? There was not one familiar face. They couldn’t get anyone we’d recognize there? Maybe I just missed them. And what about Lois’s sister? She couldn’t be a bridesmaid? Doesn’t Clark have any other guy friends?
I dunno. The first half was just boring for me. And I like Clois. I can’t imagine what it was like for those of you who don’t.
But go, Chloe, realizing what the ring was! I hadn’t expected to see Chloe again, but I’m glad she was there, even not considering her observation.
The second half quickly descended into confusion for me. We get Luthors, which was nice, but now we’re supposed to believe there’s been a labyrinth of corridors underneath the mansion this entire time, and that they can be outfitted for a lab that can sustain cloning and genetic testing? Why were there corridors in the middle of a field in Kansas? How did no one know they were there? When the mansion burned down, Clark didn’t ever use his x-ray vision to see how they faired, and happened upon the lab? WTF?
And this all happened over one day? Lois and Clark are apart, then they both convince each other to get married, Tess makes it from Metropolis to Smallville and back before sunset when the light had appeared to be waning at the beginning of the episode.
I know I shouldn’t get hung up on the terrible science fiction of it all, but before his “death” in season 8 Lex was picking and choosing body parts and keeping them in jars to Frankenstein himself a clone? (Yet he still has the scar on his lip?) And that body was sustained without a heart. So now he has the heart of a 60-year-old man? And who put the heart in? Darkseid is a surgeon now, or is it mystical?
I just hate this wonky hand-wavy science stuff. At least monsters and supernatural stuff can be handwaved.
There was no green Kryptonite in the episode. Interesting.
Why does Oliver stare at his bow like he’s never seen it before? Dude, you used one last week.
And I totally didn’t understand Tess’s death at all. I guess she isn’t in the comics, but neither is Chloe, and Oliver doesn’t have any kids in wedlock as far as I know (cute little boy, though). And she had…something…from the lab that would wipe Lex’s memory? So not only is he a clone he doesn’t have the memories of why he is the way he is? And why were the flashbacks played forward, wouldn’t it make sense to play them backward as they’re erased?
Why don’t Lois and Clark get married for another 7 years? They were kinda all set to go there.
I did like Lionel’s soul going to Darkseid. He was super creepy at the end in the barn. But does he realize he inspired Clark (or Jor-El, or to listen to Jor-El) to realize he is the light? (or to steal from an earlier episode in the season, the “beacon”?)
Can we punch Jor-El in the face? No specific reason. Though he and Jonathan are awfully chummy all of a sudden.
But why could Kara fly and use all her powers but Clark had to earn his flight even though he was perfectly capable of it as Kal? I don’t understand. What the hell made Kara worthy?
I think a lot of the problems in the episode come from trying to cram three stories into one finale. We had Clark and Lois’s wedding, which could have either been postponed entirely or happened much more quickly as it shouldn’t have been the focus for so long, we had Lex’s resurrection and him taking his place as the sole Luthor (aside from Lucas, presumably), and the Darkseid/Apocalypse stuff.
Considering the Darkseid stuff was seemingly the running theme of the season and the season’s “big bad” (not counting the Luthors and the VRA), it seemed so rushed. I mean, yes, it’s in the entire finale, but Clark defeats it in all of about seventeen seconds once he’s done standing around staring at stuff. I think more time could have been spent on it, because by the time the story got to the him defeating it part there was like five minutes left.
Lex. If the Luthor storyline had been handled a little differently, Lex’s return could have been awesome (bald cap notwithstanding). But it seemed rushed and corny to me. And again, for what, to happen ten minutes before the episode basically cuts to the future?
Maybe if they hadn’t been screwing around the last several episodes, the stories could have been developed properly. But no, we got Booster Gold and Zod and stupid bow of Orion.
Tess, strapped to the table and getting free? Awesome ninja skills were awesome. I was glad she got a true bad-ass fight in.
The last fifteen or so minutes were, of course, awesome. The second he leaps from the floor of the Fortress and changes into his costume… You can’t tell me you weren’t smiling. The special effects kind of went downhill from there, but it was cool seeing Superman all flying and super and catching the plane in its kinda cheesy way. (budget those fake backgrounds, guys, so you can do more later on).
And hey, the “real” Jimmy Olsen at the end. Why the heck was he dressed like that?
But Clark going off to save someone, running to the roof while unbuttoning his waistcoat like the world’s most obvious superhero, chucking his glasses, loosening his tie, ripping open his buttons as the classic Superman theme swells…
Oh yeah.
That was awesome.
I’m not going to say the last 15 minutes make up for the previous hour and a half of fail, but they were a nice cap to a show that has been building to that moment for ten years.
I think a nice touch would have been instead of doing the Jor-El trippy flashback party in Clark’s head in the barn, maybe working in a montage of every single save Clark’s made on camera for us. Kind of building towards the final reveal of the “S” shield. May have taken too long even at shots only frames long; it’s been a long ten years of saves.
Oh well, Smallville.
You've been a part of my life for ten years.
What a long, strange, confusing, inspiring, infuriating, fun, fake sunset-filled trip it’s been.
no subject
Tess ("Lutessa", gag) is based on Lena Luthor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lena_Luthor), Lex's sister. She also has qualities from Mercy Graves (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercy_Graves), Lex's right-hand man, and Eve Teschmacher, Lex's girlfriend from the first two Reeve movies.
Chloe, IMHO, is Lana Lang in all but name. (Not SV!Lana, obviously, but comics!Lana.)
And you're right, none of Ollie's kids are from a marriage.
Here via eat_crow and just wanted to comment and say hi. You make a really good point about the labyrinth of corridors under Luthor mansion. That was kinda WTF, out of the blue. Ah well, I still enjoyed it. :)
no subject
Lana in the comics marries Pete, who is also Luthor's Vice President, so they obviously took some liberties in the show there.
It's like every new writer wants to make up something cool about the Mansion, but you'd think they'd kind of give that up in the series finale. Just work with what you have at that stage, right?
And hey, I don't have a problem with people visiting via wherever. Thanks for commenting!
no subject
True, but I think a lot of comics!Lana's qualities were transferred to Chloe from the very beginning, and while some of it got lost on the way, S10 and "Finale" in particular brought it back. She's Clark's childhood BFF who knew his secret long before almost anyone else and supported him. She's family, intimate enough that she gets involved in the superhero business. She's been a reporter (television and newspaper) and gets married to Clark's closest male friend--now Oliver, since Pete is gone--and has a kid. Maybe I'm crazy, but it makes sense to me! *g*
I have to wonder why there was a labyrinth of corridors under the mansion. If they'd thrown in a line about the Underground Railroad, I would have been less sceptical. Ah well!
no subject
I'm not that versed in the Superman comics, being a Batman fan, but you do make good points!
The way Clark said the labyrinth line made it sound like the corridors were there and Lionel put the castle on top. The only way that would have made any sense would be a line about the Underground Railroad, which is what I thought imemdiately, too. But no, someone just randomly put some corridors in, and Lex had a lab built in them that no one noticed.
Nonsensical show is nonsensical.