Smallville - Persuasion
Aug. 25th, 2010 01:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daibhidcTo be honest, as soon as I heard the premise of this one my reaction was "The Silver Age called, they want their plot back". Actually, it was pretty good.
Yes, it's a story about Clark being hit by a brand new flavour of kryptonite[1] and unknowingly developing a wacky new power which leads to contrived situations. Very Silver Age (or mid-period Lois and Clark). But the first half of the episode is a fairly deft comedy, and the second half is a gripping look at the drama of the situation. The only downside is the drastic tonal shift between the two sections.
A nice touch is that Clark's "super hypnotism" doesn't completely rewrite the victim's personality: Lois doesn't magically turn into a fifties housewife; she's still Lois, just a Lois who's trying to be a fifties housewife. Slacker Emil is still a scientist; honest Zod still thinks Clark is weak; and vengeful Clark still wants to save the world.
And Chloe ... well, Clark's command to Chloe basically told her to act the way she's been acting all season, only more so.
One more nitpick: A few weeks back, Clark decided to make friends with Zod to change the future. Having proceeded to do absolutely nothing about this, he is now reacting with horror to the very idea when someone else suggests it. It's feuding writer syndrome again...
[1]Not named in the episode, although Sky+ calls it "gemstone kryptonite". Presumably, this is based on "jewel kryptonite", which in Silver Age comics gave Kryptonians trapped in the Phantom Zone the ability to project their thoughts.
Yes, it's a story about Clark being hit by a brand new flavour of kryptonite[1] and unknowingly developing a wacky new power which leads to contrived situations. Very Silver Age (or mid-period Lois and Clark). But the first half of the episode is a fairly deft comedy, and the second half is a gripping look at the drama of the situation. The only downside is the drastic tonal shift between the two sections.
A nice touch is that Clark's "super hypnotism" doesn't completely rewrite the victim's personality: Lois doesn't magically turn into a fifties housewife; she's still Lois, just a Lois who's trying to be a fifties housewife. Slacker Emil is still a scientist; honest Zod still thinks Clark is weak; and vengeful Clark still wants to save the world.
And Chloe ... well, Clark's command to Chloe basically told her to act the way she's been acting all season, only more so.
One more nitpick: A few weeks back, Clark decided to make friends with Zod to change the future. Having proceeded to do absolutely nothing about this, he is now reacting with horror to the very idea when someone else suggests it. It's feuding writer syndrome again...
[1]Not named in the episode, although Sky+ calls it "gemstone kryptonite". Presumably, this is based on "jewel kryptonite", which in Silver Age comics gave Kryptonians trapped in the Phantom Zone the ability to project their thoughts.
