Tom Welling direction in "Patriot"

[Atomic girl]

I'll say this much: Every time Tom directs I feel like I'm watching Superman. "shattered" was his first and as such was mainly a "filler" episode. That said, when he directed a simi-AU episode in season 7 he put Clark squarely in the Superman range. I'm happy to give the writers credit when it's due and it certainly is in "Patriot" but for whatever reason, Tom's direction of himself feels more like I'm watching Superman than direction from anyone else. It truly isn't because I'm biased. Tom deserves every bit of credit he gets.

I don't think TW directed "Shattered", his first episode directing was "Fragile" - which was pretty good directing on his part.

While I agree that the script for this episode was very bad, I feel like TW did not do enough to mitigate it. He could have coached the actors to act a bit differently or made small changes to dialogue to improve things. I'm not sure how involved a director is in editing, but I think that could have improved as well. But an editor can only edit what was filmed - he/she can't make up scenes or change dialogue.

There were awkward scenes that could have been tweaked a bit to make them a lot better.

[Vergon6]

I don't think TW directed "Shattered", his first episode directing was "Fragile" - which was pretty good directing on his part.

While I agree that the script for this episode was very bad, I feel like TW did not do enough to mitigate it. He could have coached the actors to act a bit differently or made small changes to dialogue to improve things. I'm not sure how involved a director is in editing, but I think that could have improved as well. But an editor can only edit what was filmed - he/she can't make up scenes or change dialogue.

There were awkward scenes that could have been tweaked a bit to make them a lot better.

You're right. Although I supposed both episodes have glass related names, hence the confusion.

I thought the episode was pretty good, aside from awkward dialogue or acting. I wasn't sure if Mera was supposed to be the way she was represented in the episode. In other words, I thought maybe she was meant to feel a bit strange or off-putting because she was Atlantanian and a thing against surface dwellers. But maybe it was just the acting. I don't know.

As for the dialogue, it seems no matter what writer you get, there is always going to be corny fish jokes for Aquaman lol. I don't recall if it happened in "Aqua"--it probably did. But in "Justice" (which was even acknowledged by AC in dialogue-'all I get is fish jokes') and "Odyssey" and this episode, they all had fish jokes.

But I agree Tom did a fine job with what he had. Yeah I do wonder about the editing, and if Tom would have been there to oversee it. Maybe he didn't have time because of other commitments. Although I have a feeling something like us not seeing how Clark got out of the explosion near the end was a budgetary thing.

[TOMophilus]

I wasn't sure if Mera was supposed to be the way she was represented in the episode. In other words, I thought maybe she was meant to feel a bit strange or off-putting because she was Atlantanian and a thing against surface dwellers. But maybe it was just the acting. I don't know.

To me it appeared right away that Mera was strange, acting like an arrogant queen. So her weird way of talking and also her dropping her clothes were IMO just a way to show how different she was from normal people. They were probably trying hard to make her appear weird, and now some criticize both the actress and the director because they obviously succeeded...

[HulkfanwithSmallville]

I liked what I got to see, but will have to watch again before I give a final rating!

OK- gave it a 9 and will stick with that! I don't remember each specific ep he has done, but I've always like his view of things behind the camera and this was no less. He had alot to keep up with since there was so much going on in this episode- alot of action, roles, stories, etc.

Well done Mr Welling!

[Super Maverick]

Tom did an outstanding job directing!

[RyanE]

I think this was his not his best outing directing. It wasn't as bad as "Hydro" back in Season 6, but this was just a mess of an episode. I did enjoy the line he told Slade at the end, and the gahtering of everyone in the Watchtower. But there was just so much wrong with the episode.

I'll give it a 4 out 10.

But for Tom's directing I'll give it a 6 out of 10.

[KalEltheBoyscout]

This was by far my favorite scene, visually

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnu7OhUteZg

[SnowBird]

This was by far my favorite scene, visually
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnu7OhUteZg

Thanks...That was an amazing scene and I liked it as well.

[cksidekick]

I don't think TW directed "Shattered", his first episode directing was "Fragile" - which was pretty good directing on his part.

While I agree that the script for this episode was very bad, I feel like TW did not do enough to mitigate it. He could have coached the actors to act a bit differently or made small changes to dialogue to improve things. I'm not sure how involved a director is in editing, but I think that could have improved as well. But an editor can only edit what was filmed - he/she can't make up scenes or change dialogue.

There were awkward scenes that could have been tweaked a bit to make them a lot better.

Yes, Fragile is what I meant. The little girl who can control and shatter glass is the guest character. I always seem to get the titles confused.

And I think the script for Patriot was fine. It was a lot of fun imo.

[Caught_In_The_Sun]

Tom always does a great job...his eps are usually some of my favs...Patriot is gonna be great to re-watch on DVD...with the flow of the season though it was kinda awkward...that is with writing and not directing though.

[Lady Di]

I loved this episode. Usually I love an episode, because there is great acting and because a storyline falls into place. When this does not happen, I get bored easily. This time, I think I actually loved the episode in spite of the acting (man, I hated Mera) and in spite of the fact that the story was sometimes below parr (the Lois and Emil scene was completely nonsensical). I just didn't care because the feel of the episode was great! There were some really great shots and I loved the contrast between the grittier/ action scenes and the quiter scenes that were primarilly about dialogue/ charachter development. Also, the scene that Clark and AC are coming to the rescue AND discussing their lovelife, well done! So all in all, even though I think the episode could have been better, the directing was pretty good.

[Dyanara]

Im going to say ok or poor, I expect better from Tom Welling when he directs but this one was definitely not his best work. I dont know if the script was bad and as a result Tom had nothing to go on, or if the editing was bad. Patriot was a bad episode that just seemed all over the place and I am not convinced that a good director couldnt have fixed the problem.

----- Added 5 Minutes later -----

I need to watch it a second time but right now I'm between OKAY and POOR.

I really felt that the acting was quite horrible in this episode for AC, Mera, and Clark. And I have to believe that this in part is the responsibility of the director and if TW didn't pick up on this or didn't direct them a different way then I say he didn't do as good of a job as a director as he could have.

I don't recall ever cringing this much with any other episode in terms of acting. I was just...not happy....

I didn't cringe I just kept going
What's going on
Why is he/she doing that
Where did that come from
Why was this even filmed in the first place...
I am one of the few who did not have a problem with Elena as Mera, but I didn't pay a lot of attention to her. I think it might have been a combination of bad editing, directing and ESPECIALLY bad writing.

[Dyanara]

I don't think TW directed "Shattered", his first episode directing was "Fragile" - which was pretty good directing on his part.

While I agree that the script for this episode was very bad, I feel like TW did not do enough to mitigate it. He could have coached the actors to act a bit differently or made small changes to dialogue to improve things. I'm not sure how involved a director is in editing, but I think that could have improved as well. But an editor can only edit what was filmed - he/she can't make up scenes or change dialogue.

There were awkward scenes that could have been tweaked a bit to make them a lot better.

Anyone know who wrote this episode and if their previous work has been so scatterbrained?