A Little Drowsy: Slumber
Written by Hope

And the second annual Smallville New Writer Memorial Episode (the inaugural recipient, Jeph Loeb with "Red") goes to Drew Greenberg, late of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. From the looks of "Slumber," he's not quite unpacked from his long trip from Sunnydale.

"Slumber" existed entirely as character development, and for viewers who don't read fan fiction, this episode made for an interesting look into Clark's fears. For viewers who do read fan fiction, however, this episode is a lesson in tone. Much as Loeb's "Red" very much resembled a comic book, reflecting his history there, Greenberg's "Slumber" reflects his history on Buffy.

"Red" also existed as character development for the season, and like "Red," Slumber's story suffered for being an inaugural run. There's a lot to learn about a show when you sign on after the pilot episode- a year or more of canon, which to Greenberg's credit, he proved he understood immediately by exploring Clark's dream-and-nightmarescape.

Greenberg also brings an ease with writing female characters that Smallville desperately needs. Frequently, Clark has conversations with only Jonathan that he could have with Martha, or with both parents- and Greenberg used that. He also effectively used Chloe as a pivot character- she makes the story turn, without allowing her to descend to the Greek Chorus.

His use of Lana as confidante was also excellent; of course there are still glimmers of the love affair that wasn't, but this is an important step for Clark and Lana to take: toward friendship rather than romance. However, I do have to ding Greenberg for allowing Martha to say she's also worried about Sarah Conroy- the coma girl next door- and then scripting Lana to go to the Conroy's home alone. It was a plot point that made both of them look ineffably stupid, but Martha especially, considering she's the adult. (See also, Helen Bryce leaving Lana alone in a coffee shop after dark with a group of rowdy, abusive frat boys.)

Like "Red," this was not so much an episode with a story, as an episode consisting of escalating incidences to draw out certain aspects of the character. Though I didn't care much for "Red," I found it to be a more successful episode because unlike "Slumber," it had a good pace, and the right tone for the show.

Tone is what makes any show that show. On Buffy, the tone was dark, violent, and quippy- an excellent balance to emphasize that while Sunnydale's reality doesn't resemble yours or mine, it's *real* within the context of the show. Smallville's tone trends toward high-stakes conflict, measured by sentimentality and earnestness. The twain, unfortunately, did not meet.

Buffy's universe was defined by the supernatural; vampires, demons and magic formed the foundation for the show's storytelling. Conversely, Smallville's universe is strictly defined by science (no matter how weird their science is, sometimes.) Clark's heritage as Kal-El means he has powers, and some kind of Kryptonian Aura that allows him to catch people and cars without subjecting either to deceleration poisoning; his back is sufficient shield for bombs and fireballs. After Smallville's physics, comes its paranormal (but not supernatural) properties. Meteor exposure causes mutations, mutations tend to make people violent. As weird as the science is on Smallville, it's not a *magical* unreality.

Though "Slumber" attempted to adhere to Smallville's science foundation, the aspects and nature of The Traveler - his appearance in dreams, his actual form as a crimson reaper, the way in which he was defeated- veered too much into the magical realm, thus upsetting the whole tone for the episode. It was, no pun intended, too dreamlike, and too ethereal, to make a good episode of Smallville

Greenberg's familiarity with the characters and canon, however, did not extend to their unique linguistics. While Smallville doesn't have the deeply felt cultural impact of Jossverse dialogue, each character does have his or her own patterns of speech, which wasn't reflected here at all. While the nod to Lex's geekness was a fun peek into his psyche, the Luthors have the most distinctive speech patterns on Smallville, and they were in no way evident in this episode.

There were valuable character moments - I've already mentioned Clark and Lana transitioning toward friendship as significant. Chloe's lack of bitterness when Clark mentioned he'd get Lana to help was refreshing, and signaling that the Chloe-Clark friendship is well on its way to recovery. The fact that Clark talked to Lex about the weird goings on in his head made a nice contrast to previous episodes and previous seasons, where he wouldn't share anything at all, if it bordered at all on the edges of his secret.

However, there were no twists, turns, or reversals in this script - this is straightforward, linear A to B to C storytelling; and the attempt to wedge a parallelesque (dreams to minds to psychology) storyline for Lex into it fell flat. In its defense, however, it didn't rush the launch of Lex-versus-the-Psychiatrist storyline (like "Visage" did with the Lex and Helen storyline) so that's at least a point in its favor.

I'm glad Greenberg's on the team, and I have faith that once he sheds magic for science, and internalizes the way these characters speak, he'll turn out strong, compelling episodes - much like Loeb did, after his faltering start with "Red." But, if a show can have a low point only four episodes into a season, I'd say this was it. Better luck next time, Drew.

Screenwriting: C
To Watch: C

Next Week: Lost without Squiggy, Lenny gets a little grouchy when he comes to Smallville, and really, if Clark threw a tractor at me, I'd be a little grouchy, too.

Note: The views of Hope don't necessarily represent the thoughts and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite.

Return home