Smallville - Masquerade
Sep. 7th, 2011 03:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daibhidcHmm, not sure about this one.
First up, um, can Clark fly now? Given the famous "no flights, no tights" rule, and the way the temporaty exceptions were always presented as huge moments, you'd think they'd make a bigger deal out of him finally breaking the barrier that prevents him accessing that power. Instead he's just casually hanging around Big Ben for no clearly defined reason.
And let's not even mentione the Dick van Dyke accents in the London internet clip.
Chloe and Ollie's storyline starts off looking like it's going to be fluff (they pretend to be someone else leading to wacky misunderstandings!) and rapidly turns very, very serious. The scene of Desaad tempting Chloe with hallucinations (the Anti-Life Equation?) was deftly done ... although it's interesting that Clark represents Lust, not Oliver. I suppose she's dating Oliver, so it doesn't count as a temptation.
Oliver's idea of how to dress in order to avoid attracting attention continues to be hilarious. And if he now has "no identities", whatever happened to Mia?
The final battle with Desaad ... well, it was a typical Smallville fight; once the heroes finally show up, the villain's as good as defeated. But Oliver giving into Wrath means he's now subject to the Omega Mark as well. And Clark finally learns that The Darkness has a name.
And at the end Clark starts wearing the glasses ... in a scene that completely doesn't work for me. Firstly, they aren't explaining how his suddenly wearing glasses now will actually prevent anyone making the connection when the Blur finally goes public. I can just see the crime-scene guy saying "I was right, the Blur really does look exactly like Clark. No wait, I mean he looks like Clark did before he wore glasses, so it doesn't count."
But also, I've always been a fan of Byrne's "Clark Kent is who I am, Superman is what I do" characterisation. And while I get the point that he is the person the Kents raised pretending not to be the person the Kents raised, and which labels are attached to which identities are beside the point, it still rubs me the wrong way.
And it doesn't help that they pretty much have to invent the idea that Clark doesn't normally behave like an ordinary person to justify it, and have a weird idea of what "acting like the Blur" actually involves -- apologising is something the perfect hero wouldn't do[1]? And all Clark has to do is say "Actually, that was my fault" and instantly the guy goes from intimidated to seeing him as a weakling? Man, remind me never to get on a bus with this week's writer...
[1]And Desaad's sure he couldn't find any Pride there?
First up, um, can Clark fly now? Given the famous "no flights, no tights" rule, and the way the temporaty exceptions were always presented as huge moments, you'd think they'd make a bigger deal out of him finally breaking the barrier that prevents him accessing that power. Instead he's just casually hanging around Big Ben for no clearly defined reason.
And let's not even mentione the Dick van Dyke accents in the London internet clip.
Chloe and Ollie's storyline starts off looking like it's going to be fluff (they pretend to be someone else leading to wacky misunderstandings!) and rapidly turns very, very serious. The scene of Desaad tempting Chloe with hallucinations (the Anti-Life Equation?) was deftly done ... although it's interesting that Clark represents Lust, not Oliver. I suppose she's dating Oliver, so it doesn't count as a temptation.
Oliver's idea of how to dress in order to avoid attracting attention continues to be hilarious. And if he now has "no identities", whatever happened to Mia?
The final battle with Desaad ... well, it was a typical Smallville fight; once the heroes finally show up, the villain's as good as defeated. But Oliver giving into Wrath means he's now subject to the Omega Mark as well. And Clark finally learns that The Darkness has a name.
And at the end Clark starts wearing the glasses ... in a scene that completely doesn't work for me. Firstly, they aren't explaining how his suddenly wearing glasses now will actually prevent anyone making the connection when the Blur finally goes public. I can just see the crime-scene guy saying "I was right, the Blur really does look exactly like Clark. No wait, I mean he looks like Clark did before he wore glasses, so it doesn't count."
But also, I've always been a fan of Byrne's "Clark Kent is who I am, Superman is what I do" characterisation. And while I get the point that he is the person the Kents raised pretending not to be the person the Kents raised, and which labels are attached to which identities are beside the point, it still rubs me the wrong way.
And it doesn't help that they pretty much have to invent the idea that Clark doesn't normally behave like an ordinary person to justify it, and have a weird idea of what "acting like the Blur" actually involves -- apologising is something the perfect hero wouldn't do[1]? And all Clark has to do is say "Actually, that was my fault" and instantly the guy goes from intimidated to seeing him as a weakling? Man, remind me never to get on a bus with this week's writer...
[1]And Desaad's sure he couldn't find any Pride there?
