Smallville S6: Freak

[moonshayde]

Wow, so not only can TW direct, so can MR.



I was very very very very anxious about this episode and didn't expect much. Meteor freaks? Meh. Chloe a possible freak? Meh. Lana and Clark? Meh.

But this turned out to be one of the most fantastic SV eps I've seen. MR did a bang up job on directing it. I so hope we get more from him in the future. The music was perfect for this episode.

I was really annoyed when I heard the spoiler Chloe might be a freak. Chloe is one of my fave characters and while I've been annoyed with her in the early part of S6, she's been great again during the second half. So my Chloe love is back. (And yes, I can love Chloe and still love the Clark and Lois ship all the way.) But it turned out that it was acted and played out well, and we ended up with Clark honing his heat vision into more of the ray type effect we know from the comics and the movies. Awesomeness!!! And the emotional impact of this episode was amazing. Just amazing. I think every single episode I've seen this half of the season has been spectacular. From Hydro through Freak it's just been Smallville at its best.

I'm still on a SV high. We had Jimmy almost crying because Chloe went missing. We had Clark caring and so very mature. I am *loving* the maturing Clark. He is so becoming Superman. Lex being his evil self. Lex, oh Lex. Beautiful evil Lex!

And OMG, I like Lana. Her quest to protect Clark and also to find out who he is? Excellent. It's amazing. I've been loving her this second half of the season too. I love them all. Is the end of the world coming or something?

Back to Chloe...I'm still not sure she is a freak. I think this is a ploy for something coming later down the line which I won't say for those unspoiled. But if she is latent, I see this as a way for DC to use her character in the comics. So SV can keep Chloe "normal" while giving DC the opportunity to make Chloe into something else later if they want to. And Chloe might never become a freak. But I see this as a way for TPTB to keep the door open on that.

Kudos to everyone for making this another fine episode in a string of wonderful eps.

*dances*

Comments

[cyren-2132.livejournal.com]

I need to start paying more attention, because I didn't even realize this was MR's episode to direct.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

heh heh. I thought he did a great job. I hope he does more.

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

From Hydro through Freak it's just been Smallville at its best.

And those are the new episodes that I've seen. *g*

I hadn't seen the spoiler for Chloe so I was rather shocked by it, but in a good way. I feel so sad for her.

I'm also liking Lana more now than I do in the earlier season episodes or even season 4, though I've never disliked her.

I've liked every episode that I've seen so far this season, and I'm still loving whatever season I'm watching in syndication now. I think it's still season 1.

I didn't realize that TW and MR were directing now either. That's cool. Which episode did TW direct?

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

TW directed Hydro and also S5's Fragile.

Lana is getting so interesting. I love her trying to find out Clark's secret while also protecting him. I've never hated her, but she started to annoy me in S4 and S5. She was sweet in S1-3.

You're in S1??? Have you seen the pilot yet? I love the pilot.

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've seen the pilot. Once they finished with season 5, they started showing season 1 again (I assume *g*). I loved the pilot but they tried to fit so much in that some of it was a bit uneven. It was the 2nd episode that I really loved--or I assume it was the second. I think it was the one with the bugs. Clark just totally broke my heart with that one.

These early episodes are fun because Clark is only just discovering some of his powers. :-)

Lana is okay in season 1, but a little too clueless for me. She's kind of just there to be there as the object of Clark's affections--the thing he wants but can't have, the thing he breaks his heart over.

I actually liked Lana better in season 4 when she was with Jason--at least in the beginning. It wasn't the witch storyline *g*, but more that she was making a life for herself and seemed more mature and self-assured. Then in the middle of the season they started making her all wishy-washy again--and Jason, too. It was so weird. hehe By the end of the season, I wasn't liking Lana as much because she seemed to be completely clueless. I hadn't seen season 1 yet, so I didn't know that was her character trait. hehe

I'm actually liking her a lot better in season 6, though her odd stalking of Clark does make her seem a bit wishy-washy again to me (because it makes her seem less committed to Lex, when she swears that she is), but at the same time I like it because she's like a cat with her curiosity, even if it may end up being a train wreck, and she also seems to be coming to some of the correct conclusions, even if she's a bit confused.

She also seems to be making the same mistakes now with Lex that she made with Jason. She suspects, but doesn't ask, or she asks and isn't satisfied with the answer and then she and Lex go on as if they hadn't even had that conversation.

Is Lana a character just from this show? She's not from the comics or any of the movies or whatever else?

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

After the witch storyline, I'd take any other kind of Lana LOL They attempted to give her a decent storyline in S2, though. But the series suffers from "everyone stalks Lana" syndrome. Every season, it's there. It gets really old. Everyone seems to fall for her. But I liked her in the early seasons because it's more in line with her character. But yeah...That is why Lana isn't liked by very many people.

I love the pilot. It is definitely uneven, but Lex crashing into Clark? That scene gets me every time. I'm not sure, but I think the pilot is actually a combination episode. The bug ep is usually played with the pilot and I think they run into each other on the DVDs.

Lana is a comic book character. She is Clark's high school crush (and in some cases love). Smallville has taken it farther than any incarnation I know of, but I don't know tons on the comics. Basically, she was the popular pretty girl of Smallville, cheerleader type who was with the football quarterback. That could differ in some incarnations. She also was Clark's best friend and had a love of investigation and journalism. TPTB pretty much split Lana Lang and made her into Lana and Chloe for the TV show. She ends up learning Clark's secret and falls for him, but Clark has moved on from her. Lana eventually marries Pete Ross and has a child with him. However, from what I hear, Lana and Pete split. Pete is taking care of their child and Lana is running LexCorp or whatever it is called as Lex is having some legal issues.

Out of the main cast, the only original characters not brought over from the comics are Chloe Sullivan, Lionel Luthor, and Jason Teague.

And be on the lookout for Lionel because he is just so awesome all the time.

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

I *adore* Lionel! *g* When I first saw him in season 4 (in jail?) I thought I wouldn't like him, but he's a great character, partly because he's so hard to figure out. His actor is fantastic, because he can come off as so sincere and compassionate and then he'll *do* something so awful and then totally justify it with his own convoluted reasoning. *g*

But yeah...That is why Lana isn't liked by very many people.

That's too bad, because there is a lot to like about her character, but even I could see some of that (what you mentioned) at various times. I did think it worked in the bug episode, though, and so far I think she works well as Clark's crush on the show.

She's actually like some girls I knew in high school who were popular, but didn't realize it, so they had no agenda--no sense of preserving their spot or level of popularity or position. They were just totally and completely nice to *everyone* in a school that had a caste system rivaled only by India. *g* They also didn't perceive themselves as the lucky or perfect ones, and they reached out to people just to be nice. It's hard not to like someone like that, and it could be why people were drawn to them.

Anyway, Lana reminds me of that kind of person. She lost her parents at a young age, has an aunt who doesn't really understand her, and feels lost in her life, so she doesn't see what others see on the surface: gorgeous popular girl who has the coolest boyfriend in the school and appears to have everything come so easily to her.

OTOH, they do tend to play up that "lost her parents" thing a bit, don't they? It *is* awful and it's the kind of thing no one would get over, ever, and I'm all for the angst and emotional stuff, but even I can see that this could get a little old if they keep harping on it as the reason for everyone to feel sorry for Lana. She's also pretty passive right now, which is why I liked the idea of her being less passive in season 4, but that didn't last. *g*

Thanks for the explanation of Lana and her relationship to the series. That's interesting. I had no idea. I only ever knew of Clark and Lois. I had never even heard of Lex Luthor before.