#8.17 “Hex” Review

NOTE: I will spoil you rotten if you read this before you view this episode. What are you waiting for? It’s awesome, warm up the TiVo or your VCR or iTunes and watch it. You won’t regret that, just come back when you’re done….

I was feeling a bit blue after Turbulence. I had my hopes up too high, I suppose. I had thought that there was some truth in advertising and that episode was going to be awesome like the promo had suggested the previous week. It wasn’t, much to my regret.

So, before I saw this I wasn’t sure what to think with this one at all. I had actually heard something about Chloe getting her wish to be Lois ahead of watching this, and I had been sorry I had. I didn’t think it would be much better than Turbulence. I guess that I just didn’t like the sound of it and I usually (for some reason) hate Chloe-centric episodes. I honestly do like Chloe, so I’m not sure why that is, but knowing only that little about this episode, I really didn’t have much hope for it.

Boy, was I wrong.

This was a wonderfully touching episode and was funny to boot. How did Bryan Q. Miller manage to do that? He’s new to the show, this is only his third script, but I am sure glad he came on board. I LOVED this episode, nearly every second of it… Well, almost every second of it. I sorta got bored with the Oliver bits on subsequent viewings, but it didn’t really hinder my overall love for this episode.

Chloe becoming Lois for a day, a dream that fits her like a glove, and not liking it? That’s awesome and the way Erica played that, also extremely funny. I loved that the show toyed with some tropes and did it so well.

Body switch stories are pretty common in Sci-Fi Fantasy TV and movies, although they didn’t really switch in this one. But still, becoming someone else, living a life you thought you wanted, if only for a day and then the reality being different than the dream is pretty standard fare. So much so, I had even written a screenplay in college based on that premise (my idea was sorta like “Freaky Friday” combined with “Mean Girls”) and the professor busted me on writing such a trite story. I didn’t even get a good grade… That was tough. It’s hard to hear it when someone thinks your ‘great idea’, your baby, is dreck. I had sincerely thought that the story would have been commercial, but maybe he had a point.

It is a trite idea.

The body switch idea’s been done to death by everyone, even Smallville. They even sorta had a similar story in the brilliant Transference back during Season 4, although for Clark that was more like a nightmare than a dream come true. Lionel got the better part of that body switch.

Anyway, I’m glad that this time they played it for humor’s sake. Also, Bryan actually managed to fit in some nice progression into Chloe’s and Clark’s story arcs for the season at the same time. That’s a pretty neat trick.

Also, what happened helped them both reexamine themselves a bit. That is something Clark and Chloe both needed to do.

I mean, Chloe has pretty much gone through hell recently. She’d even told Oliver about that in the beginning of this episode. She had wished, if only for a moment, to live what she thinks is a better life; one more like the one Lois has. Given all the bad stuff that had happened to her this year, who can say she isn’t entitled to feel a little bitter? It makes sense that she would have a few what-ifs.

As for Clark, he had started to embrace his dual roles as a reporter and the Red-Blue Blur, but still has some doubts. He told Chloe that he still wants to be normal, not have to deal with all the weirdness he’s had to deal with almost on a daily. He carries a lot of responsibility and sometimes it’d probably be nice to take a vacation from it and just be a reporter… Who can blame him for a momentarily wistful, and wishful, if-only?

But by the end, they both discovered what they’d wished for hadn’t really been what they had wanted. Chloe discovered there was a lot of good in her life, despite all the bad thing that had happened to her. She gets real fulfillment from helping Clark and Oliver in their crime-fighting careers. No, she may not be a reporter anymore and she’s estranged from her husband, but her life still matters. What she does helps people. She helps make a difference in people’s lives.

As for Clark, he was glad he’d seen what life was like without all of that: it was empty. He does really like being the reporter, but he discovered that he’s happy that he gets to wake up everyday with a purpose, unlike a lot of people. That’s what his dad had taught him, as he’d told Zatanna.

I also liked some of the symmetry of this episode too. Like when Lois was squeaking her chair in the bullpen, trying to get a rise out of Clark, just like he’d done to her way back at the end of Odyssey. That was awesome.

And I LOVED that Bryan had brought up Lois’ list of rules of journalism, even though she never gave him an actual list on the show. I liked that she wrote those rules up and gave them to him off-screen and he actually framed her list. With Clark’s sentimentality combined with his growing affection for Lois it makes sense he would prize that. That was adorable and it fits both of their characters well.

It’s also perfect for Lois and her determination to make sure Clark learned to do things the right way; which, of course, is her way. Her telling Clark about the rules back in “Plastique” was just so Lois, her later writing them out and giving them to Clark (even in off-screenville) shows that Bryan has a wonderful grasp of who Lois is and what she would do. I like seemingly subtle touches like this that can show so much about the characters, without getting too bogged down with explaining what happened. It’s always better to show rather than to explain, so that was great.

Chloe’s surprise that Clark had that framed, even at his so closely knowing Lois’ rules, showed us some things about Chloe too. She had known that Lois felt something for Clark, but I’m not sure she realized before what he felt for Lois. I liked that. As well as Chloe knows both Clark and Lois, I loved that they both still could surprise her.

I also love that Chloe’s belief in Clark, her unwavering faith in him, is what showed him the way back. Also, her talking to him about needing to go in there and save Zatanna got her to go back to herself. That was a good way to show us what they’re thinking instead of depending on only expository dialogue to explain it later.

I also liked the humor in this episode. The scene on the roof of the Daily Planet showed the average-Clark as unexpectedly stodgy and unwilling to break any rules, to do anything unexpected. Even when presented with proof of his abilities, which of course weren’t removed (only his memory of having them), he was determined that it couldn’t be true. That was just too weird for this new version of Clark, but it had hilarious results as he tried to deny the truth of what Chloe-as-Lois was trying to show him. What’s funnier is that the excuses he was making are very like the ones he might have made to someone when trying to cover up signs of his abilities. For example: the door being ‘poorly maintained’ to explain why he could so easily break the handle or there being a perfect echo point on the roof to explain him hearing the city sounds around him so clearly.

The whole scene was terrifically written and very, very funny. I can’t remember the last time I laughed out loud that many times in one episode. Tom’s and Erica’s comic timing had never been better, which helped, but more about that later.

The wishes that Zatanna had granted hadn’t maybe turned out quite the way the person had expected, but magic generally doesn’t always follow expectation. I liked that about Zatanna’s ‘magics’… She doesn’t have good control over her power without her father’s book, so the results of the spells were unpredictable. People got their wishes, but it only followed the letter of the wish instead of the intent.

Chloe wanted her life to be more like Lois, she hadn’t wanted to actually become Lois. But in becoming Lois, she did get a more exciting life, for a little while. And Clark, he wanted a life that was normal, even if he hadn’t asked to lose his memory, so that’s pretty much what he got.

It was also fascinating the way that their wishes, even though they didn’t stick, revealed so much about their characters. And Chloe walking a day in Lois’ shoes showed what life is really like for someone like Lois. It’s not all accolades for your writing and overeager interns bringing you your coffee and dry cleaning every morning, it’s also men that look more at her bust line than her eyes and wearing high heels that are hard to walk in. Chloe saw that Lois’ life isn’t always all that much fun.

Clark saw that being normal was nice, but life on the sidelines isn’t where he wants to be. He wants to be in there stopping crime and saving lives. Good for him.

I also liked the version of Zatanna Bryan had written, close to the comic version but not quite identical. The backwards spells were terrific.

I know it’s probably a girly thing to like, but I loved that Chloe and Clark actually talked about things. They don’t really do that a lot, but the flow of dialogue seemed very natural, it wasn’t heavy handed at all. I don’t know what, exactly, was different than what other writers do on Smallville, but I especially liked a lot what Bryan had done with the dialogue in this episode.

I liked the end too. Chloe fully accepting her new role as Watchtower is likely intended to help the build up toward the re-launch of Tess’ Injustice League, which they’ve pretty much ignored for most of the last third of the season. Lana’s swan song side-tracked that story arc, more than likely, so I’m glad they’re apparently going to readdress that.

Bryan Q. Miller did an outstanding job with this episode and nearly every moment was fun. The pacing was good, for the most part (although some of the Oliver/Zatanna parts dragged a bit), but the act breaks were all terrific. Also, Bryan does a good job showing more than telling and bringing up old canon in meaningful ways. And top of all that this was wonderfully funny. Clark’s amazement at even just hints of his powers, asking whether flight was one of his abilities, was very funny. This was an awesome script.

Tom Welling really needs to go out and star in a romantic-comedy feature. He was FANTASTIC in this episode. His comic timing is as good as any I’ve seen on the big screen. Clark’s scenes with Chloe-as-Lois were some of the funniest I think of the whole series.

I loved how he played Clark as so average yet so uptight. The looks he gave were awesome. I loved the end of act two when Clark and Chloe-as-Lois were in the street looking at the mugging. She implored him to do ‘something’ about the mugging and then he gives this awesome Supermanly look, like maybe he’s snapped out of being average, and then he flips open his phone and calls 911.

That was so funny, but his look completely added to that. Tom punched up the humor of it in a big way.

Then on the rooftop, Tom played it perfectly, as Chloe-as-Lois said that he needed to listen. “It’s amazing. The acoustics up here are incredible.” He had such a look of awe on his face. It was very funny.

The interesting thing about Tom’s performance was that somehow, I’m not quite sure how, his physicality was different after Clark had forgotten his true nature. That was a very smart move on Tom’s part. The show’s explored this idea a time or two, like back in “Abyss”, but a person’s memories, what they’ve gone through in life, really influences who they are. I’m not sure I can articulate exactly what Tom did differently, but Clark without his memories of his true self seemed different. It was more than the way he held himself; his very facial expressions were different. Tom had done another terrific job.

Erica Durance did an awesome job, both as Lois and Chloe-as-Lois. Although, I think she did slip a time or two and played it more like she does Lois. That aside, she did a terrific Allison-as-Chloe impersonation. I loved how she completely played that sorta fish-outta-water thing… She played Chloe as surprised and that she doesn’t really understand what Lois goes through on a daily basis.

Probably her best scenes were the one on the rooftop with Clark and then at the end as Lois. The rooftop scene was very funny. She did a very good job channeling Allison’s version of Chloe during that whole part. At the end, I loved the way she played Lois as truly touched by Clark’s actually framing the list she’d given him. I completely enjoyed her performance.

Allison Mack wasn’t in this episode much, considering this was such a Chloe-centric episode, but I loved what she did when she was in it. I liked the melancholy she gave Chloe as she looked out onto the Metropolis night sky. The unspoken moments before Oliver arrived were remarkable; I could almost tell what Chloe was thinking.

I also really liked the way she’d played Chloe back in her apartment with Clark towards the end. She had Chloe seem to be happier. No, nothing really changed after what happened, but Chloe’s attitude toward her life did from how Allison played it.

Justin Hartley was adorable as Oliver. I loved it when he asked if Chloe was about to put the dagger through her corset… awesome. I also liked it when he trotted out Oliver’s clueless billionaire playboy routine when talking to Zatanna.

Guest star Serinda Swan did a wonderful job as Zatanna. She was a little darker than the rest of the episode might really have warranted, but I liked her a lot. She did an awesome job with the spells that she had to speak backwards and she certainly looked perfect for the part too. I hope she comes back.

Director Mairzee Almas delivered another incredible episode. The camera movement was well-balanced and she got good performances from everyone, even the bit players. I especially liked Andrew McIlroy as Yuri. It wasn’t a big part, but I did like what he did and I think it’s largely thanks to Mairzee that he gave such a good performance. He didn’t steal any scenes and he fit into the episode very well. Her getting even the small parts to be just right shows she pays attention to even the more detailed parts of the job. If I had to say anything had been wrong, I would have wished that the Zatanna/Oliver scenes had been a bit more humorous, but other than that I think she did a wonderful job directing this.

Director of Photography Glen Winter shot the episode beautifully. I liked the economical use of slow motion photography, it was used sparingly and in just the right spots, and the nice mix of static and moving cameras. Probably my favorite scene was the one where Chloe-as-Lois and Clark were standing on the sidewalk near The Daily Planet. The extremely high angle looking down on them was a good choice, it echoed the scene right before when Zatanna looked up before she performed her spells. Both of the high angle shots made them seem small compared to the task at hand, which they were. Zatanna was a bit out of her depth and as long as Clark thought he was just another average man, he was too.

I liked the flash of light when Chloe changed back to herself. The bright light made her overexposed and there was a nice lens flare too. I loved that. On top of everything else, everyone also looked really good. He photographed another gorgeous episode.

I adored some of the humor of the set dressing, probably thanks to Production Designer James Philpott. The monster truck rally press pass right next to Lois’ picture of herself with the Dalai Lama was funny. I don’t know if that was in the script or not, but it underscored to Chloe what Lois had achieved in her career so far with the Daily Planet, so it was a nice touch.

I loved the version of Zatanna’s costume that Melanie Williams had created. It wasn’t quite like the costume in the comics and in the animated Justice League series, but was still faithful to the idea of it. I’m not sure Zatanna would wear a black leather over coat in the comics, but it fit Smallville’s slightly darker version of the character.

I liked Erica’s make-up and hair when she was playing Chloe. It was different from how Lois usually wears her make-up and hair, so key Make-Up Artist Natalie Cosco and Key Hair Stylist Sarah Koppes both did a good job.

Laugh out loud funny at places, I rate this episode 5 wonderful sllepS nekopS-sdrawkcaB (Backwards-Spoken Spells) out of a possible 5.

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