Red X said:
Did you did it? The review that is.
Oh, do you mean did I find it?
Yeah... you want me to post it anyway?
It's not that great a review and I wasn't too impressed with Tom's performance in that episode at the time, although now I don't think I woulda been that hard on him.
Well, you asked for it:
In all, with a few lapses, this is probably one of the better episodes. It had a little bit of everything, love, laughter, amnesia, Superman mythos, sexual tension, mystery and Tom Welling naked. What else could you ask for?
Tom, aside from side benefit of showing a lot of skin, probably could have done better. He seemed a bit stiff, and I'm not sure that was solely motivated by being Kal-El for the most of the episode. Apart from this, the acting for the rest of cast was pretty good.
I must say the best part of this episode was the special effects. It started off with the lightning and the pulse of energy that landed Clark in the corn field. It took off with Kal-El's flight. That was really cool, for lack of a better adjective.
I found the black kryptonite crystal effect splitting Kal-El and Clark apart interesting, but admittedly also a bit strange. It was inexplicable how this also seemed to heal Jonathan. I hope they explain that one later, hopefully in the same episode where they explain Lana's tattoo
Technically the episode was top notch. Glen Winter's photography was brilliant and the show was beautifully shot. I especially loved the fact that he sold a sand pit in Vancouver as the Egyptian desert. It looked hot. The scenes in the cave with Kal-El the lighting evoked his cold emotionless self so well. It was harsh and bright. And once Kal-El was gone and Martha was holding Clark in her arms, the lighting had become warmer and earthy. It was very well done.
I also liked the new wardrobe for Lana. A lot. I know that in previous seasons Lana was known for pink and pastels, so much so that Kristin Kruek even would get sent pink items as gifts from fans
She hates the color apparently. I don't blame her, it doesn't really suit her skin coloring as well as the darker shades she's wearing in this episode. I hope she never goes back to pink.
This episode, of course, marks the series debut of several new characters. The beautiful Erica Durance bows as Lois, but in an uneven performance.
She sparkles when it comes to more intimate moments, but hasn't quite gotten the street smart, single-mindedness of Lois down just yet. I found a majority of her scene with Martha in the Kents' kitchen annoying. She was talking and walking around so fast, it was almost like she was jacked up on way too much caffeine. However, at the end when she was explaining why it was so important to find out what happened to Chloe she pulled back quite a bit and delivered a remarkably powerful moment.
Maybe once she does a few more episodes, she'll get the hang of it. She undoubtedly has a great onscreen chemistry with Tom Welling and her scene at Chloe's grave was extremely effective. Lois' scene with Lionel was close to brilliant. You have to admire an actress who can hold her own with John Glover.
Jenson Ackles is seriously cute, and exceedingly charming, as Lana's new love interest, Jason Teague. He clearly has some great onscreen chemistry with Kristin Kruek, which is wonderful. I'm not sure I really ever saw any between Kristin and her season 3 love interest Ian Somerhalder (who played the ill-fated Adam Knight). Jason seems to bring out a lighter side of Lana which I think will be welcome. She is always so serious with Clark, even in this episode you can still see that side of her. So I can't wait to see how the love triangle between Clark, Jason and Lana works out and how this affects Lana's relationship with Lex. I'm really looking forward to this season.
In this episode Margot Kidder shows up in the first of two planned guest appearances as Bridgett Crosby, Dr. Swann's assistant. Like Erica, her performance was a bit uneven to start but once she warmed up I liked her character. I hope she explains the black kryptonite thing in her next appearance.
I like the way the mythos is being explored in this episode, but the massive number of references made to the Superman Universe in it was probably overkill. Some of the references were amusing, like Lois saying that she likes geeks with glasses. I laughed out loud at that one. And Clark wearing the red blanket like a cape was a subtle nod to his future self.
And about the flying: As cool as it was, it's probably partly a ratings ploy that worked. Against the ratings juggernaut that is Lost, they did very well coming in fourth. I understand that Al & Miles had a "no flights, no tights" rule but come on. It was Clark who flew, no matter who he thought he was at the time.
It's strange that he flew as Kal-El but can't, or won't, now that he's Clark again. It's patently ridiculous, actually. Millar and Gough broke their own rule and made up some silly reason why it doesn't count, "After all: it wasn't Clark, it was Kal-El." Yeah, right.
Whatever.
They should keep Clark flying. It was way cool and could come in very handy but they probably won't... Too bad.
4 and half stars outta five.
