NOTE: You know the drill: Read no further if you don’t wish to be spoiled.
Well, this episode was very good in some ways and complete dreck in most others.
As much as I dreaded seeing Batista, I was surprised. With what little he had to work with, he seemed to be a fairly competent actor. It was too bad his part was little better than a cameo.
Another actor making a cameo appearance was Tom Welling.
I suppose I can understand that to an extent, the next episode that was filmed after “Static” was Tom’s sophomore directorial effort on “Hydro.” (The next episode to air, “Subterranean,” is being shown out of order. It was originally supposed to be the 5th episode.) Tom no doubt needed to do director type-stuff while “Hydro” was in pre-production so maybe he couldn’t do more than he did for this episode, but I still feel let down. This season for the most part has been very Clark-light and seeing Clark being relegated to a sub-plot was very disappointing for me.
Of course Smallville is almost as much about Lex’s path to evil as much as it is about Clark’s path to Superhero-hood, but it’s frustrating that the series’ star has been relegated to secondary storylines several more often this season than in previous seasons. Clark is the main reason I watch so hopefully that will be changing soon.
The scribes for this episode, James Morris and Shintaro Shimosawa, are new to Smallville. They previously wrote for both The Dead Zone and Crossing Jordan. I’m not sure they’re a good addition to the writing team.
What the heck did they do to Lana?
I’m not the biggest Lana fan, but this episode even had me scratching my head. Where did this passionate deep love for Lex come from? I certainly haven’t seen much of an indication that she’s felt that way in the previous 7 episodes this season. If that was where they were going with Lana this season, the entire writing staff has done a very poor job foreshadowing it.
She certainly showed little love for Lex in that cold and very distant Thanksgiving dinner at the end of “Rage.” Why did his getting kidnapped, again, give her such a profound epiphany about her love for him? It wasn’t even like he was obviously going to die. He was stuck in a different “frequency” and was only gone for maybe a day or so yet she completely falls apart? Lana’s realization about loving Lex so desperately came off completely contrived because it wasn’t at all supported by what has gone on in the season so far.
Another problem I have with this script is that they had the previously saintly Lana, who only last week wanted nothing more than to do charitable deeds with ex-cons, decide by the end of this episode that Lex’s unethical experimentation on kidnapped kryptofreaks was actually a good idea.
What the…. ?
Maybe it makes sense in a way. Over the length of the series, Lana has been nearly killed by dozens of different krypto freaks. She knows how nasty they can get and she is probably justified in hating them. However, is Lana really ready to completely chuck her well-established kind-heartedness for Lex?
Maybe the writers forgot, but Lana has done a lot of good deeds. They used her altruism as a plot point numerous times over the years. She has spent time with the needy elderly, ran blood donation drives, helped out with disaster relief fund raisers, and helped rebuild Smallville after the last meteor shower… Would a caring person like that really endorse Lex kidnapping and torturing people? I don’t think so, but she’s done it. Maybe it’s only because the writers needed her to.
It seems every week she is completely different than the previous week. She even changed in the space of this episode. She correctly sensed that Lionel was lying about not knowing what “code 142” was. He knew and moved the 33.1 project because of it.
Yet Lana didn’t realize when Lex lied to her face about Level 33.1? Is she blinded by love? If so, why has she been so cautious with him the last few episodes? Why has she spoken time and time again about maybe not trusting him? Why is she living with her distrust of Lex now when trust has been so important to her for so long? They need to make up their minds.
Either she’s head over heels in love with Lex or she isn’t. Either she’s good or she’s evil. Either she’s trusting or she’s not.
I have no idea who she is anymore and, what’s worse, I don’t think anyone in the writer’s room does either. They’re making Lana be whoever it is they need her to be each week, without worrying about whether or not it makes sense.
Probably the only bright spot in the script was the excellent introduction of Martian Manhunter. He was enigmatic and mysterious, which suits his character very well. I’m not really sure what he’s like in the comics, but I like him so far on Smallville.
Despite the less than successful writing, the actors did wonderful jobs. Tom did well with what little he had to work with. He was very Superman-ly in this episode and did a good job showing Clark’s awe at Martian Manhunter taking off into the darkened Seattle sky.
Kristin Kreuk did extremely well. The inexplicable nature of her profound passion for Lex notwithstanding, she did an excellent job during the scene where she was talking to Lex while he was still in the alternate frequency. She played Lana’s devastation and desperation expertly.
Michael Rosenbaum was terrific. Lex’s love clearly showed on his face when he talked with Lana after she joined him in the alternate frequency in the library. He had such joy on his face then and later when he told Lana about being happy with her being pregnant. It’s nice to see the usually restrained Lex have a reason to smile.
Allison Mack did a wonderful job. She and Aaron Ashmore have a very nice chemistry and it’s a joy to watch them work together. Jimmy was so cute in this episode. Oh, and Allison’s hair has never looked better. I don’t know what they’re doing different, but I hope they keep it up.
Almost a complete waste of time, this episode still had a few bright spots which pulled it out of being complete dreck.
2 bone munching aliens out of a possible 5.
Note: The views of Triplet don’t necessarily represent the thoughts and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite. Send her feedback.
