#9.8 “Idol” Review

SPOILER WARNING: I will spoil you rotten if you read this before you watch the episode. Just warning you…

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this episode, but I ended up really liking it. With the Wonder Twins making a visit to the show, I was worried that it would come off campy, but maybe I shouldn’t have been. This is turning into possibly the strongest start of a season ever for me. There hasn’t been a single episode I hated so far. Hopefully, stating that won’t doom the next one, but that one looks really good so I think they’ll be going 9 for 9.

Anyway, this episode was just fun and this is the first script from new Smallville Writer/Producer Ann Coffel Saunders. She has a lot of experience, mostly on “Battlestar Galactica”, “Eureka”, and “Chuck”, and the script shows it. The script was extremely well done, which probably surprised me more than anything else.

When I heard the Wonder Twins were making a visit to the show, my expectations were originally very low. From ages and ages ago, I could remember their blue monkey Gleek (who made a visit only in rhinestones on Zan’s and Jayna’s phones) and the very silly storylines from the “Superfriends” show.

So I was pleasantly surprised when this story was NOT groan-worthy. The episode also had a fantastic start. And no, I’m not just talking about Clark finally joining Oliver in the-shirtless-for-entire-scene club. What I’m actually talking about is the wonderful teaser that showed us more of Lois’ time in the future. What a wonderful set of details that were revealed too, especially that one line where Clark said ‘I wish we had more time’ when he was standing behind Lois, affectionately holding her. It was only one line, and one short scene, but it spelled out what the stakes are for Clark and Lois: all done with a great set and only one line of dialog. That was awesome.

That scene was only a little over a minute long, but was enough to let us now know that maybe Clark and Lois were in some sort of danger, holed up in a wreck of an apartment, and finally hook up. It’s intriguing that it looks like the sun has gone red, taking Clark’s powers (he gets his powers from the light that comes from our yellow sun) and he has a cut on his cheek, so violence had already happened by the time they get together in this scene. That little bit certainly looks awesome, a wonderful tease not just for this episode, but for the next too.

I loved the fact that the show ended where it began, with Lois having a flashback to her time in the future. It brought Lois full circle. Circular story structures don’t always work out, but this one did… It’s something that’s been has kept happening to her all season so she took time in this episode to finally try to figure it out what those ‘weird’ dreams were al about. It fueled a great series of events and made Lois examine her feelings for Clark and the Blur.

I thought it was an interesting contrast that brash, no nonsense Lois was seeing a psychiatrist that had patch work quilted chair, a miniature Zen rock garden, and an aroma therapy oil dispenser in her office. This more touchy-feely woman possibly wasn’t the best choice to be Lois’ therapist, but maybe she was. She’s like a foil for the more emotional Lois. Even when confronted with Lois’ insecurities and neuroses she would calmly give Lois an explanation that makes sense. She’s calm and reasonable as opposed to excitable and passionate, like Lois is. So Dr. Evans gave Lois a rational, yet emotionally grounded, perspective on her problems, so I loved that choice. She wasn’t afraid to call Lois on her BS when she tried to deflect the doctor from zeroing in on the truth. Lois needs that kind of confrontation to reveal more about herself after the whole ‘ejector seat’ malfunction. She needed to be forced to confront her own feelings instead of just leaving so she didn’t have to deal with what Clark’s unexpected kiss had done to her. I liked that the doctor was the one that was more excitable in the final scene with Lois, and then Lois was trying so hard to be calm and rational.

Through talking things out with the psychiatrist Lois did just that and she ended up learning and changing, which is why that last scene was so good. With the slight hesitation, Lois showed that she was a bit afraid of the consequences, yet was ready to stand up on a stack of papers and show, rather than tell, Clark just how she feels.

That part of the story was absolutely brilliant. It showed that Lois had changed and learned, instead of just telling us. Lois had a wonderful character arc in the episode that got paid off in the end. I LOVED it.

Even though I was skeptical how well it would work, the introduction of Zan and Jayna had turned out extremely well. Their amateurish save attempts caused problems for Clark and ended up giving him a dilemma, along with an important decision to make, and the events in the episode that had happened due to Zan’s and Jayna’s actions acted to pressure Lois to making up her mind how she really feels about both Clark and the Blur.

I loved the humor of the episode. It acted as a commentary on fandom in general, with people pretending to the Blur (putting up blogs or twitter and facebook accounts). The Blur having people impersonating him online, or even while doing saves, is something that would probably happen if he were real.

I also really liked Chloe buying keepsakes from a street vendor. The cup she held up I didn’t see anywhere online, but if I had a wish-list on “Smallville” merchandize, I would want to be able to buy Clark’s gray and black Blur shirt or one of those Daily Planet key chains….

I LOVED the last scene between Clark and Lois. He was so cute, trying on glasses to see if that was some way to differentiate himself from the Blur. It’s great because it’s iconic, Clark Kent and his glasses, but sadly I’m not sure that’s going to stick. I guess we’ll see if the specs ever come back.

Another thing I loved about that scene was when Lois decided which one she was going to take, Clark or the Blur. She stopped, kicked over a stack of papers and deliberately and aggressively walked over and kissed Clark. What a nice kiss, it surprised Clark but just as things were getting more interesting for him, then Lois gets thrown into some sort of trance as she gets another flashback to what she’d seen in the future. That was a great reversal.

The tantalizing snippets that we could see of Lois’ time in the future were fantastic: more of Lois’ flashbacks of her and Clark together in bed, Clark and Lois in some sort of prison, Lois standing under a red sun, Clark getting dragged away while unconscious, Chloe apparently dead… I can’t wait to see ‘Pandora’ after all the little teases they’d shown us throughout the season.

While I loved most of this episode, there were a few problems. For example, I hate that Chloe sermonized the twins about doing the right thing, but then busted Clark for him calling her on eavesdropping. She was the one in the wrong and she should have known that, even if in the end it had helped Clark.

I find it hard to believe that Clark would give Chloe a pass on her electronic eavesdropping. I don’t think that he would, or should, no matter who Chloe is or how noble her intentions. Given her penchant to become preachy about ‘ends justifying the means’ (she’s lectured Clark and Oliver about that on more than one occasion), I hope that her electronic surveillance of Clark, Oliver and others will eventually have some consequences.

I was also struck by how similar parts of this story were to Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight”. It was probably not quite as strong of an homage as ‘Roulette’ had been to David Fincher’s “The Game”, but still…

And I was confused exactly who it was that Zan and Jayna had stopped in the limo. Lois said the Blur had stopped a diamond heist, not realizing it was really the Wonder Twins, but how? That guy didn’t seem like a burglar to me. And would a diamond thief really leave the scene of a crime in a chauffeur-driven stretch limo? That was confusing.

As much as I liked Lois having a cover of Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out for a Hero” as The Blur’s ringtone, I’m confused how Lois had even gotten his number. I mean, if he hadn’t called her since the events in ‘Metallo’ (as Clark had explained in this episode), how was she able to get his number so she could assign it as a ringtone? He’d previously only called her at the office or at the phone booth, both phones without Caller ID…

I thought he was calling her in the phone booth because of just that: Clark hadn’t wanted her to see his number… So it’s a bit weird he would now NOT do that, unless he had previously called her in the phone booth only to get her into a phone booth. It is humorous that she is the one spending a lot of time in a phone booth instead of Clark. So, him calling her on the cell phone now makes that particular plot point more contrived than it had originally seemed to have been, which isn’t good.

Usually when the show retcons something it’s because they needed to fix a continuity error. Creating a continuity error with a retcon probably isn’t a good thing… So as cute as that ring-tone was, they probably should have done something different.

The bad DA storyline was also a bit contrived. It seemed more like a Season One or Season Two type of plot, instead of one from the ninth. Added to that, the sudden and unexpected danger to Lois when she met up with the DA on the roof of the Daily Planet was a bit jarring in such a light and comedic episode. Maybe that would have made more sense if there had been some sort of foreshadowing, but there really hadn’t been any.

There were a lot of good things in this episode: good humor, cute Clark and Lois interaction in addition to some nice romantic scenes, some terrific act breaks and rising stakes throughout the episode. The character arc for Lois in this episode was outstanding as well. So some relatively minor problems aside, this was a solid effort by Ann Coffel Saunders.

Tom Welling and Erica Durance both did tremendous jobs. I can’t think of single wrong note in the whole episode for either one of them, but probably my favorite parts were any time Clark and Lois had scenes together. Erica and Tom provide probably my favorite Clark and Lois iteration and it’s because their chemistry is so strong and compelling, as was demonstrated here.

The best thing about Tom and Erica both is that they can successfully play the lighter scenes, or romantic scenes, but also believably play heavier, more emotional ones as well. In this episode, when they opened up the box with the cops ‘trussed up like turkeys’, it was amusing, but later when they both had more emotional moments to play they were effective in those as well.

Tom’s best scene was probably the ending one with Lois. He portrayed Clark as so adorably dorky at the start of it as Clark tried to make her think that he is near-sighted. Yet as the scene progressed, Tom took Clark through a wide range of emotions convincingly as Lois reacted to the glasses, as she kissed him and then after she passed out. The final look of pain and concern as he held Lois, who was limp in his arms, was heart wrenching.

I liked the vulnerability that Erica portrayed in the scenes with her psychiatrist, but the final one with Dr. Evans was probably her best. Lois went through so many emotions in that as she talked about her feelings for the Blur and for Clark. It was a very touching scene. I always felt that Lois loved Superman, but was in love with Clark, even before she knew they were the same person. So I’m glad that the show has taken Lois in that direction and that Erica did such a good job at selling that. I also like the ending scene too. I loved it when Lois took charge and kicked that bundle of papers over to Clark and surprised him with that aggressive kiss.

Allison Mack was excellent in this episode. Again, she didn’t have much screen time, but she did well with what little she had and what she’d had to deliver. I wasn’t wild about some of the things that Chloe did, but I had no problems at all with what Allison had done in the episode.

Guest stars David Gallagher and Allison Scagliotti did a great job as the Super-powered Wonder Twins. I thought they were good looking kids and both had terrific moments in the episode. They didn’t have much screen time, but they both were perfect. I hope they come back.

Anita Torrance played Dr. Evans. I loved her calm reactions to Lois’ melodramatics, and her reserved, quiet British accent was perfect for an unflappable shrink. I hope she’ll also come back…

Glen Winter delivered another remarkable episode as a director. I loved this episode. Even though there were more serious moments in addition to the comedic ones, it didn’t have an uneven feel like they sometimes can. I liked how he managed to fit so much into single takes, the camera was very mobile. The setups changed as the actors moved through the scene. I especially liked the scene when Clark and Chloe were talking in the Watchtower and the camera moved left and followed them down and then pulled back, to show them in front of Chloe’s monitor, and then moved in toward Clark to show him in close-up. I’m amazed it was all in one take, a well choreographed and blocked scene with the camera operators and the actors moving together to get that shot. That was beautifully done. It must have taken some planning and good solid rehearsals to do that so well, and he kept doing it. Scene after scene had smaller shots like that and I LOVE that kind of stuff. It’s not only less boring than more standard master scene setups, but it makes a scene seem more dynamic and feel more real. Glen also got great performances from everyone; from the regular cast, the guest stars and day players.

Gord Verheul shot a beautiful episode. There was a lot to love, including all the great mobile camera work his crew did, with all the moving and focus pulling, but probably my favorite scene was actually in the tease during Lois’ flashback to the future. The scene was bright and warm, with a very strong naturalistic light source. Maybe I’m weird, but my favorite part of that was the red lens flare that came up when the camera started to move left, with Clark and Lois silhouetted by the bright red sun behind them. It was a beautiful moment especially when combined with Louis Febre’s romantic and tender music.

Production Designer James Phillpott produced another beautifully designed episode. I loved the wrecked apartment that Clark and Lois were in during the tease. I loved the bare laths (the little strips of wood that were used to support plaster before they invented drywall) and the broken glass and rumpled looking mattress with no bed frame or box spring under it.

Key Hair Stylist Sarah Koppes did a terrific job in this episode. I loved Tom Welling’s hair in the tease and ending scene flashforwards. He had a hint of Superman’s trademark spit curl with that little lock of hair that fell across his eyebrow like that. I’m not sure his hair has ever looked better in the series. I’m still not in love with the slicker hairstyle for Lois, but I do like that it looked softer. I also really liked Jayna’s playful teased up mop of curls.

Tina Teoli, the Key Make-Up Artist, is doing a bang-up job with Erica’s make-up. There were several really tight close-ups and Erica looked amazing. Her eyes are beautiful and I’m glad the make-up isn’t so heavy that it takes anything away from them. I also really liked Jayna’s more playful and colorful make-up with the small rhinestones near her eyes.

Louis Febre did another wonderful job. I liked when a saxophone came up under Ray Sacks talking after Lois told Clark about her nickname for him, the ‘Sacks-o-phone’… pretty funny. I loved the more romantic moments as well. I liked the addition of a hint of John Williams’ ‘Superman Theme’ throughout the episode.

This was another spotty episode for Entity FX and Entity FX North. While I liked the effects when Jayna transformed, when Zan transformed they were less spectacular. He looked like a bargain basement version of the terminator transformation the second Terminator movie. It didn’t even come close to looking real.

Yet, the part that bothered me the most was when Clark and Lois were on the edge of the Daily Planet building. When Clark was leaning over the ledge to see Lois, his right hand was actually blurry. Then when her shoe dropped, it tumbled toward the camera and then just disappeared. It was there one second and the next it just vanished… The fog effects at the end of the scene weren’t all that believable either.

I know “Smallville” is a TV show with a micro-budget thanks to the lack of love they get from The CW, but can’t they do better than that? I never noticed this kind of stuff last season. Yet it seems for the last few episodes the Special Visual Effects had been shoddy enough I’ve said something about it. Maybe the budget is getting pushed more and they’re being asked to deliver a lot in episodes so close together, but the effects look half-finished or even just roughed in. They really need to step it up.

All-in-all, I absolutely adored this episode despite its imperfections. I probably should have started a new grading scale for this season, they’re really on fire this year, but I couldn’t have guessed that ahead of time. Yet, I don’t grade in quarter points (and I actually did like this better than ‘Kandor’)… If I had somewhere to go up from ‘Kandor’, I would, but I don’t. So, I’m going to have to give this episode 5 rhinestone Gleek cell phone covers out of a possible 5.

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