UK Thoughts

[Pesk]

Wow! Definitely the best episode of s6 so far, and a serious contender for being in the top 5 all time great smallville episodes.

After the first few minutes I thought the ep was ok, a little too soap operaish- too much shipping, too many characters, and it seemed like an episode of the secrets and lies show. Turns out it was an episode of the secrets and lies show, but it a very good way.

Lois teamed up with clark and jimmy to expose the green arrow as oliver... but clark turned the tables on her to protect him... and ended up making out with her! Ha! Lois was actually opening up to clark emotionally, and he showed he knows her so well she hates it. That alone would have been enough for a clois shipper like me to get excited... but not only did they make out, but they both loved it! Clark clearly enjoyed himself, and chloe forced an embarassed clark to hear lois tell him he's a better kisser than oliver. That scene was awesome, and was a great way for chloe to find out that oliver was the green arrow (or did she already know, I forget).

I loved how jimmy turns to lois when chloe spurns him. I smell break-up.

Meanwhile we have the best lana story in a long time. Lana and chloe team up to take down a meteor freak... until lana finds out that chloe knows the secret clark's been keeping from her all these years! Also it turns out lana loves clark, ok that was a little out of the blue, but forgivable. There were as many clana moments in this ep as there were clois ones, I guess the writers want to keep everyone happy.

The only bad thing about this ep was the slightly annoying freak of the week, but thats a very small complaint in an otherwise superb episode.

Best line- "A million dollars for your thoughts?"

[Torgo]

I wasn't a huge fan of the FotW either, but in this case it's entirely forgiveable, since she was used mostly as a means to an end, allowing certain characters to obtain information they might otherwise not have gotten (at least so soon). I also thought her being hit by Lana's car was cool, although I suppose the effect might just have been done by, er, throwing a bucket of water over the windshield.

Lana still in love with Clark... hmm, I don't know about that. To be honest, I'm long past understanding Lana's character. It just seems like she'll be whatever the writers want her to be at any given moment. There was some good acting involved though.

The most fun of the episode was definetly GA/Lois/Clark. I know over on the main forums people have complained that SV doesn't feel like Clark's show anymore, but I think it's great that other characters are getting a chance to shine, and Clark still always seems central to things.

Another nice thing was Chloe really struggling with secrets. For one of the first times you can really see the burden she carries, and I hope this is something we see developed across the season. It was nice also that Clark finally got to understand that a little. He's been taking Chloe for granted.

Weak plotting maybe, but this was a great episode.

[newbaggy]

Not sure if I would reate this quite as highly as "Arrow" or "Reunion" as there were a couple of aspects that got on my nerves. So, I'll deal with the bad stuff first.

Tori Spelling. I suppose when I heard that she was the guest star, I wasn't expecting much, and I wasn't disappointed. If you are going to make a gossip columnist your villain, then you need to emphasise the power that they have, make it seem credible that people would fear their words. Unfortunately, Linda Lake was too much of a one dimensional characature to seem truly threatening. Nice bit of CGI though, when the puddle under Lois' bathroom door morphs into the human Linda.

Then, we come to Lana. I have praised Kristin Kreuk's performances in a couple of episodes, but also pointed out that I hate her "Woman Permanently On The Verge Of Tears" routine. "Hydro" saw Lana back at her WPOTVOT worst. Unfortunately, since the main plot was based around the Clexana triangle, it was a serious handicap. The worst parts were the last two scenes, in which Kristin's over-mannered "emotional" performance made her look like an animatronic or CGI character rather than a human being. It rendered those scenes pointless, as it became impossible to understand why either Clark or Lex would be in love with Lana. Why bother with her, when both could easily do better. At least, Michael Rosenbaum had some decent lines, so could give Lex some dignity. There were times when Tom Welling's expression seemed to say "how on earth am I meant to play this?" (a bit worrying, when he was the director).

As if to emphasise the point that Clark could do better than Lana, the other women in his life were definitely on form. Allison Mack gave another of those performances that Chloe lovers (and I'm definitely one) adore. Her brief annoyance with Clark, and the subsequent hug, was a reminder of the pressure that her relationship with Clark puts her under, whilst still showing what a beautiful friendship they both have. Meanwhile, Erica Durance continued to move Lois from army brat to the tough, sassy reporter we know and love. Her first scene with Jimmy (and it's great to see Aaron Ashmore coming into his own after an awkward start) brought the classic pairing to life beautifully - in fact, I can't wait for more from the Scoopgirl/Hotshot485 pairing. Of course, we had some great Clois scenes. Naturally, "that kiss" will be uppermost in peoples minds (I love Clark's breathless reaction), but I loved the scene where Lois first talks to Clark about the possibility of Ollie being Green Arrow. It was great to hear Lois discuss the Lana story with sympathy and understanding whilst keeping the character's trademark toughness. Otherwise, Erica did a fine job of blending Lois' cynicism, vulnerability, awkwardness and humour. Put her together with Allison and Tom Welling, and we got that lovely "Lois' Green Arrow story" scene that was a hundred times better than any of the Clexana nonsense.

Overall, the weakness of Clexana plot just stops this from being a truly great episode. However, given that Allison Mack, Erica Durance, Aaron Ashmore and Justin Hartley (he didn't have much to do, but did it splendidly) were all on top form, plus a decent script, meant that (most of the time) this was still thoroughly entertaining. As for Tom Welling, as an actor, he wasn't very good in the Clexana scenes, but came to life in the Lois/Green Arrow plot. As a director, he managed to get good performances out of most of the regulars, and whilst I think that he failed with Kristin Kreuk, I think that has more to do with her ability to handle those sorts of scenes than his limitations as a director.

[psycosis]

Well after the last few episodes this is some improvement - though not much, i can see on the power of these last three alone why there's so much negitvity about season six.

Saying that this ep did have it's moments - and my fave by far has to be Chloe getting Lois to relive her intimate moment with "Green Arrow" - Clark's face was the best!