Saturday, September 25, 2010

Smallville: Season 10, Episode 1 "Lazarus" Season Premiere Review


I have to be honest, this episode was not a Premiere WOW. First of all they not only blew it with the "Clark is Superman" cliche, but most importantly, they began this series announcing the "Final Season of Smallville". Truly Disappointing, as I am certain most would share my view.

On a realistic note, I was a bit disappointed in this premiere. Not so much because of the 'Finale', but the Chloe not outliving the series notice, the constant Oliver beat ups (abuse, for no apparent reason for viewers), the Clark attempt to fool Lois by not revealing his secret to her, the poor attempt for Lois to allow Clark his moments of "superhero" time when she was not looking, and finally, the Clark becoming Superman stressed to hard to impress leading to Johnathon being scripted into a Clark suppressed dreamed state.

I would not begin to mention the poor Luthor "going to take over the world" reveal, I believe it would have been more convincing had Michael Rosenbaum made a surprise guest appearance, but what a pathetic way to kill of Luthor, even if it were a clone. Did he even die when Clark left him? It seemed as though, had the cameras stuck around a little longer, his eyes would have opened and the traditional "villain laughter" would have been screened "Muaahh hahahah ehemmmm" (dramatic pause).

The secret lab with Tess and the cloned Lex's were a bit overdone, maybe I bought the crazy lady from last season conducting some experiment on Tess, probably plastic surgery or some crazy ruse, but why carry her to the Lex lab unless she were one of them herself, or part of some twisted equation? The clones were either to old, to young and in this case to mean for Tess and his only solution to rule the earth would be to kill the other Lex's and be to only one standing, especially since he was dying. He literally gave new meaning to 'going out with a bang'. Too bad Clark surpassed his expectations, or was that part of the plan.

I found it difficult to focus past the fallacy when compared to the reality of it all. Where does Johnathon go in the equation, and what kind of alter plain was Clark into; between life and death? I was happy to have Lois run to Clark's rescue in the beginning, but believe me, as soon she reached his body I kept shouting "Pull out the knife!" and when she didn't, even while she stood in the rain and kept crying, we felt her pain. Clark fell from many stories, the mere fact that he was still breathing would be extraordinary. After "The Blur" planted that kiss on Lois, she suddenly saw things clearly for the first time, but couldn't she have "pulled that knife out sooner, come on!" So while we have Clark revealing his powers unknowingly to Lois, and Lois pretending to find a pen that felt a little too gullible for Clark.

Jor El was a huge part to play in the boy becoming a man strategy. Clark still had mans desires and inhibitions, pride and anger. It is a promising journey for Clark, but there were so many of the 'unexplained' going on that a lot of things did not make sense, and anyone could get lost five minutes into this season, or not having seen the previous seasons. Chloe's rebellious break to sacrifice her life using the 'Doctor Fate' analogy and swapping herself for Ollie was impulsive, even for Chloe.

Was Lois' trip to Africa for real? Standing in the middle of the dessert smiling seemed so made up and more part of Clark's dreamlike scenario. I just hope this isn't the last of Clois scenes. I imagine Lois would leave after Lex said she was his weakness, to try and even the odds for Clark.

Maybe all would make sense once the pieces start coming together and the Finale draws nearer. Believe me I was not expecting the final season announcement, it was saddening more or less, so I expected nothing but the best for fans. Still, there is a lot more waiting to happen, according to the Carpenters 'We've only just begun'.

Lexa

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Three Stars

Grade C-
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