"Metallo" Review!
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by C.M.
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HUGE SPOILER WARNING:
If you haven't yet seen the episode, don't read any further because I spoil some very important plot points in this review. Just cue up the episode on your TiVO or download the iTunes copy, you need to watch this episode. It's terrific.
Wow... I loved almost every minute of this episode. I don't think there was a single sour note in the whole thing.
Well, there probably could have been more Clark, Tom wasn't in this as much as he probably should have been (Erica Durance's Lois had more screen time for the second episode in a row), but I still enjoyed this immensely. Maybe it was because so much of the action that happened even while he was off-screen revolved around Clark.
Writers Don Whitehead & Holly Henderson wrote another terrific episode. The pace was good, the action kept things moving, and the act breaks were all awesome as the stakes steadily rose for everyone.
As an origin story, this is probably one of the best ones Smallville has delivered. Examples of previous origin stories that maybe didn't work so well were last season's 'Toxic' and 'Power'. I had said the reviews for those that there wasn't a clear change from the beginning to the end in the character whose origin those episodes were exploring (Oliver and Lana). In this episode, John Corben had a definitive arc: he was a far different person at the beginning of the episode than he was at the end of it.
The tease started out extremely well, showing us the consequences of Clark's absence from home. Lois at the Kent farm tied into the main story for John Corben. It also showed us more of John Corben's contempt for the Blur as he chats up Lois trying to get her to agree to a date.
So, at the beginning of the tease John was in his normal world. Then just after he hangs up on her, and the picture of his dear sister gets blown away. He goes to get it, obviously a very important photo for him, but then...
BAM.
John gets hit by a truck.
That was quite a shock actually and, as he lay on the pavement in a widening pool of blood, he looked close to dying, either from bleeding out or from shock. It was brutal scene. The music, special effects make-up, with all that blood, combined with the editing made the scene much more gruesome.
It will probably sound ghoulish, but I LOVED that part. When I first saw that scene, all I noticed was the blood and John being so close to death. It was appallingly graphic, actually. The editing was strident, regular, going along with the steady beat of what sounded like a metal door slamming shut with John obviously close to death. The scene then cut to black again, then the scene came back with that loud metallic SLAM, while John's blood seeped out from under his cheek; the scene goes black again and then with another SLAM comes back with another close-up of John's battered body; then the scene goes black and comes back in with another SLAM, and it went around and around. The sounds jarring, the non-instrumental music, the cut to black and the extremely graphic and gory close-ups all worked together to make the entire shot sequence more shocking.
It took a couple of times viewing that scene to understand this, I'm not always the brightest bulb in the pack, but I realized that with all the references to hearts in the episode, that what I was hearing wasn't just a slamming door, or a slamming sound meant to echo the sound of John get flattened by a truck. The pounding sound was almost like hearing John's heart beat as he was dying.
The whole sequence really only took up a few seconds of screen time, I timed it at about 35 seconds or so, but it made quite an impact. What a devastating scene for him. It was alll very well-acted by Brian Austin Green, and well-supported by everyone else on the team.
I don't know whose idea that was, but what a great choice. Heart references kept coming up over and over again, so the drum beat acting as John's heart beat fits.
It also fits the theme of the episode, all about heart, or the lack of one. I'm not being simplistic when I say that because show wasn't just about John's losing his actual heart, but it was also about Clark's losing his humanity, his empathy, his emotional heart.
It isn't enough to save people: Clark has to be a part of the world, to belong in it, in addition to being the world's savior. Otherwise, he’s largely putting himself into the role of being a god, which he denied being when talking to Chloe just the episode before this one, 'Savior'. John was right: Clark shouldn't interfere with the lives of others when he lives apart from humanity. Clark can't be who he will become if he walks away from the best part of being human: caring for others and living a richer life when you love and are loved in return.
I love that they turned John's physical loss of his heart, his becoming almost a robot, into a tool to help flesh out what Clark's real problem is with what he's trying to do. Maybe that's why I didn't mind Clark not being in this so much. Even when no one was thinking about the Blur or Clark, even while he's off-screen the themes underlined what Clark was going through.
Even though the 'A' story wasn't directly about Clark, it gave us a different viewpoint on what Clark's dilemma is. He needs to figure out how to be both a living, loving human and an alien with god-like powers who takes it upon himself to save people. If there isn't any heart, no real humanity, behind the job of saving people without showing real empathy, then Clark becomes little better than an alien hero machine. His ties to humanity have helped define who he is even without his superhuman abilities. He still needs to learn to balance that, which is exactly the lesson that John Corben taught him.
After John wakes up in that awful little apartment, he goes through hell. He later tells Dr. Hamilton later he woke to a nightmare, truer words have never been said. John Corben, an upstanding citizen, even if he's a bit hot-headed and tends to be self-righteous, gets taken by someone and loses his heart and gets made into a monster against his will. That is a huge nightmare. The way they portrayed that, the shock to John, was perfect. I liked the little glimpse of him in the video letter to his sister. It showed how very human and loving John Corben was.
Another thing the writers did a good job doing was showing how hopelessly besotted Lois has become with the Blur. Her heart is up front and center in Lois parts of the episode. She seems a bit torn between Clark and the Blur, of course not realizing they're one and the same. It was touching she was checking up on Clark, but still her thoughts were never far away from the Blur. I loved that she was drew the 'S' symbol in the dust on the counter as she talked to John about the Blur. But at the same time, she shows that she has stronger feelings for Clark than she would like to admit. She tries to draw Clark back to her by taking Shelby home, but Chloe steps in and basically squashes that plan.
I like that Chloe confronted Clark on his hypocrisy on walking away from humanity. It was clear in the previous episode that wasn't really working out. It's just gotten worse this episode, now he's spending time standing on rooftops eavesdropping on people living their lives and making sure Shelby's food bowl is full. He wasn't just lying to Jor-El and Chloe about not completely cutting his ties to his past life; he was lying to himself too.
It was a bad idea to tell Lois about the new threat; she is so enraptured of the Blur Lois of course was going to want to help. It's so much like some of the comics and the Christopher Reeve films: Lois getting so in over her head and then getting into trouble.
Yet, for his part, after he was transformed John was so keyed in on finding the Blur he couldn't even talk to Lois like normal. Being jacked up on adrenaline was making him more than a bit jumpy. I like that his speech was more robotic and didn't flow naturally after he'd been transformed. It made him more like Metallo's previous incarnations: almost robotic. I loved that choice, the short, incomplete sentences and Brian's halting delivery. It was perfect.
John's confrontation with Clark was probably some of the best written, and best delivered, dialog in the entire series. I LOVED that scene, more about that when I talk about the actors, but it was also so well written. I adored the irony of a man who no longer has a heart lecturing Clark on his lack of one. That whole speech was terrific.
I also loved when Metallo lost his power supply and then powered down. Again, another really good choice, it showed that what Emil had said was true: he was more machine than man.
And when Lois was saved and she wanted so badly to see the Blur's face. It was a very powerful moment, Clark in silhouette as she was so hopeful, the Family Crest on his chest being the only thing about him clearly in view. It was like something from the comics. That was an awesome moment.
Yet Clark was so pained and pensive when he went to talk to Chloe about the choices he'd made and the regrets he had. It was a somber scene that perfectly encompassed Clark's dilemma. I’m glad that Chloe told him about Lois’ computer having spyware on it because Tess is keeping an eye on her. That’s chilling and an excellent reason for Clark to come back, so it makes his choice well motivated. There wasn’t a light-switch moment that got him back to The Daily Planet and back into his previous life.
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Then the final scenes with Lois and Clark in the Daily Planet, her telling him about the Blur and being so excited to have been of help to him; his amusement and captivation as she talked. It was another awesome scene.
I loved that they left open that John Corben might be able to be revived. I really hope they can bring him back. I adored Brian Austin Green as Metallo and I'd love it if he can be brought back. He’s apparently a busy guy, going from his upcoming projects on IMDB, so I hope they can work it out.
Yet, the writers didn't just leave the missing Kandorians as mad scientists creating a kryptonite-fueled Frankenstein monster: there was that terrific bit at the end with the Kryptonian symbols all over the planet that were just like Zod's and there was the Symbol of the House of El with a person clearly laying down in the middle of it. Where is that going to take us? I can't wait to find out.
One thing I did have a problem with was the explanation that John was experimented on because the Kryptonian scientists apparently wanted to try and find some way to force their bodies to have the powers they should naturally have had under the rays of a yellow sun. It probably is a bit of a stretch. The logistics are a bit of a nightmare too. Where was the truck driver in all this? Did he just leave the scene of the accident, not worried about the guy he’d just flattened? How'd the Kandorians move John? Did they steal an ambulance along with all that scientific and medical equipment they took from Luthorcorp?
However, questions about the hows and whys of what happened to John are probably the only problems I have with this episode. The technology would have probably been beyond most human engineers and Tess had apparently dismantled all of the more shadowy aspects of Luthorcorp's scientific projects, so who else could have done it? It sort of makes sense, looking at it that way, but it probably doesn’t matter in any case. The most important part of the story is the consequences of the experiment, not how or why it was done, so I'll give them a pass on that part because the rest of the episode was almost pure gold.
The other thing that the writers seem to have a much better handle on the last couple of seasons than previously is the show's continuity. Things don't just get dropped and never picked up again. Mrs. Kent, Clark's adoptive mother, would still be an important part of his life in off-screenville even though Annette O'Toole is no longer on the show. I'm happy that Lois brought her up a couple of times and that we got see what was going on with Clark's rarely seen dog. Clark's absence from his former life would have consequences for more than just Chloe and Lois, so it was fantastic that the writers showed us that. It didn't hurt that it tied into the idea that his human side, the side that feeds Shelby and misses Lois even while he's up in the Arctic training, can't be pushed aside as easily as Jor-El thinks it should. Clark has lived more than twenty years on earth at this point, who he loves can't be as easily discarded as the red jacket I'm not sure we'll ever see again. (Not that I really miss that jacket, he’d been wearing it way too much lately. Also, the Red-Blue Blur moniker was a bit of a mouthful, so maybe its better that it’s gone.)
This was an exceptionally well-written episode and it's ones like this that make me so happy to be writing reviews again this year. When they do it this well, tie everything in almost seamlessly, along with some strong act breaks, there is almost nothing else better. Don and Holly did a terrific job.
Tom Welling wasn’t in this episode as much as I would have liked, Erica Durance actually had more screen time, but he was completely amazing in it. I adored what he did. Probably his best scenes were when Clark was confronting John Corben and then when he talked to Chloe in the Watchtower.
In the scene with John Corben, Tom played Clark as so resolved that he wasn't going to let John hurt Lois. Yet, as the confrontation progressed, Clark was also apparently torn. He wanted to stop John, but still felt so badly that John's sister had died because of him saving the life of a murderer. The emotions that played across Tom’s face as Clark listened to John talk about it were so touching and really added to the scene.
Later in the scene with Chloe at the Watchtower, Clark was so broody and contemplative, which was perfect in an episode that deals so much with hearts. He wasn't just making pronouncements to Chloe about accepting his destiny, he was sharing with her his doubts on the course he'd chosen. Clark recognized that it wasn't working. He recognized that he couldn't completely cut himself off because the people he loves are just too important. He can't cut himself off. The depth of Clark's sadness of his failures that Tom portrayed was profound. This was another terrific episode from Tom.
Allison Mack did a remarkable job. She wasn't in this episode much at all, but she had Chloe believably calling Clark on his BS and then giving him a reason to come back and become Clark again: protect Lois, and himself, from Tess. I really liked the scenes with Lois, where she couldn't really hide the pain she was feeling knowing that Clark shares more with Lois as the Blur than he has had shared with her recently as his best friend. Those scenes were beautifully played.
Erica Durance was outstanding. I adored Lois in this episode. She wasn't as starry eyed as she'd been in Savior, but Erica still clearly portrayed that Lois as besotted with the Blur. I loved that she was so excited about helping the Blur when she thought that there was no one else he could turn to. When she talked to Tess to try and get her job back, I loved how she pressed her case and outmaneuvered Tess. After she had turned to leave, I loved that Erica took a breath, like Lois was relieved her plan worked. She had a wonderful episode.
Cassidy Freeman was fantastic. She steals every scene she's in, but in a good way. I ADORED the scene between Tess and Lois. Cassidy added a bit of homoerotic subtext that added a bit of an edge to the scene. I loved it.
Brian Austin Green was all caps AWESOME. I'm glad that there's a glimmer of hope that Metallo can be revived, and might come back, because Brian did an incredible job. I ADORED him as John Corben. The most important thing about an origin story is showing how the person has changed after they passed through the transformation they go through. I don't know if it was all the writing or directing, although I think the writers and director did bang up jobs, I think Brian had a lot to do with the success of this role for him. The choices he'd made seemed so perfect. Probably his best scene was when John faced off with Clark. Although they cut the bit out where John picked up the photo of his sister, I noticed he was holding it even though a moment before he hadn't been, when he yelled out at Clark, “What gives you the right to interfere with our lives and change our fate?"
That moment right there is probably his best moment. Brian did an outstanding job with it. The anger and the grief John was feeling there came pouring out of Brian, his face, his body, and his voice. And all that worked to show what John was feeling. As he continued to rant at Clark, John held that photo of his sister like it was so precious and to Brian, that photo was important to him as he acted the scene out and it really showed. What an incredible moment.
Alessandro Juliani did another wonderful job. I love his Dr. Emil Hamilton. He delivers Smallville's krypto-techno-babble better than just about anyone, aside from Allison Mack. I love that he was so in awe of Clark's abilities and got so startled when Clark showed up unexpectedly. That was terrific.
Mairzee Almas did another fantastic job directing this episode. Normally a First Assistant Director, she's been tapped to direct quite a few times over the past few seasons, and I think her touch has gotten more sure and adept. This was such a beautiful show from top to bottom. From the supporting day players up to a major Special Guest Star like Brian Austin Green, every actor delivered perfect performances. Probably one of my favorite touches that I think was probably because of her was the scene in the Watchtower when Chloe was searching for info on John Corben. Clark was visible in a reflection on the screen and was unaware of Chloe watching him in the reflection. It was a subtle touch, but it showed Chloe, and us, how much Clark is growing to love Lois. The look on his face when he was talking about her was so warm and loving, I'm glad Mairzee chose to show that the way she did. I absolutely and completely adored this episode.
