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The following review contains spoilers for Smallville through the current episode, “Odyssey,” originally broadcast September 18th, 2008.
Season 8 of Smallville kicks off with a “meh.” What do you get when you end the previous season with a cliff-hanger and one of the major characters in that cliff-hanger scene is no longer with the show? You get “Odyssey.” For those unfamiliar with the behind-the-scenes goings on, there are big changes this season. We have new show-runners and some new characters. Some familiar on-screen faces are gone, or will be seen very little. Other less-used characters will be brought to the forefront.
When last we saw them, Clark and Lex were inside the Fortress of Solitude, which crumbled and disappeared into the arctic ice. Jimmy had proposed to Chloe just prior to her being dragged away by Department of Domestic Security (DDS). Lana had skipped town, asking Clark not to come after her. So coming in to the season, we had a few loose ends to wrap up, and some major retooling of the series. Oh, and the wrapping up and retooling has to take place without the services of the actors that portray Lex and Lana, or even Kara, for that matter.
“Odyssey” has to do all this in an hour (okay, 42+ minutes). The resulting episode is a mix of exposition and plot points that stretch the willing suspension of disbelief. The new characters have to be introduced and the old characters have to be put into their new places. This doesn’t leave much time for plot development, drama or even common sense.
A few examples of the inanity: The Justice League has been searching for Clark for a month, on foot and tapping into surveillance cameras, yet Oliver finds Clark in a Russian back alley (and knows enough to talk his way out with Clark). New character Tess Mercer (yes, a nod to the Christopher Reeve Superman films’ Miss Tessmacher) claims to be the new CEO of Luthorcorp because she has a “hand-written note” from Lex, and because that’s exactly the way the reigns of all multinational corporations are handed off, no one questions her. A Krypto-drug is given to Oliver that forces him to do someone’s bidding, yet the drug is only effective for a few minutes, and there’s no reason for the bad guy to believe that Oliver could complete his task before the drug would wear off. Lois is found snooping around the Luthor mansion by Ms. Mercer, yet Ms. Mercer doesn’t fire her from her job at the Daily Planet. There’s more, believe me, but I think you get the point. Oh, yeah, and a huge chunk of the plot is simply skipped, leaving the viewer to guess how it got resolved. Brilliant.
Getting back to the new character of Tess Mercer, so far I’m not impressed with the character or the actress. She’s the new Lex, I suppose, and while she’s ostensibly trying to find Lex, she clearly enjoys her new-found position of power. This is one of the places where it would have been nice to have some of this season planned out before filming the end of last season. Even without an actress planned, a simple name-drop by Lex would have made Ms. Mercer less of an out-of-the-blue leader for Luthorcorp. As for the actress, I’ll give her a pass on this episode. She wasn’t given much to work with, and lots of exposition lends itself to lots of bad dialogue.
So I should come up with some good things to say, right? Okay, it’s good to see the Justice League show up. Oliver is returning to the show this season as a series regular, which I take as a positive thing. Chloe has a new Krypto-power, she’s super smart. It’s a power that’s at least is in keeping with her character. Also, Clark is bidding good bye, more or less, to Smallville. As the characters have grown beyond high school, it made less and less sense for the series to focus there. Of course, it might have made sense to rename the series Metropolis, but for nostalgia’s sake, we’ll stick with Smallville.
You want something else positive? It’s over. The new show-runners have essentially ripped off the bandage and are ready to move on. Clark and Lois are working next to each other at the Daily Planet, Jimmy and Chloe are engaged, Oliver has a reason to stop galavanting all over the world, and Tess Mercer has the crystal from last season’s finale, though how much she knows about it is anyone’s guess. I’m giving TPTB the benefit of the doubt on this, and hoping that we’ll get a better look at the new Smallville next week.
September 20th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Yes not to sure what show you watched to give an accurate review but the crystal is in fact the very same one that was united in season four from the stones that was used to construct the Fortress. Remember Clark saying “how does an ice fortress just disappear”, well hence the crystal. For reference to this fact please review the end of season 4 finale, and season 5 premier. Smallville is the name of the show, and changing the name of a show that's trademarked and instantly recognizable would make absolutely no sense whatsoever. The feel of the show is more then noticeably better it's downright refreshing. New characters, hence new storylines, and a Clark that openly states at the end of the episode that he's been trying to hold on to a life that hasn't existed in several years, so he's moving on from that, and embracing his destiny that truly makes for a much improved show. Clark stepping up is what we've wanted and now that's what these new show runners are giving us, and I believe they're going to deliver it. Oh and another thing, do we really need to spend a lot of time hashing out every little detail of everything someone does just for the benefit of saying, “oh OK that's how they did this or that ” all so we can grasp the reality of every situation, no. Let's not forget that this is a show about an alien sent to Earth from a dying planet who can move faster then a speeding bullet, withstand anything except green irradiated rock from his home planet, see through anything other then lead, shoots fire from his eyes, can blow storm clouds away and make a sunny day, has yet to find a limit on what he can lift, and oh yeah Fly! I think it's safe for the audience to suspend disbelief on detailed matters of every single action for the sake of moving things along . I am not advocating a total ban on them having to explain matter and hash out details in the story but there are times when when it's extremely important to do so, and others when it's not. It's entertainment as well as fiction so sit back and enjoy the ride. Take care.
Peace To All
September 21st, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Sometimes it is hard to just sit back and enjoy a television series — especially if one has been invested in said series for over seven years — when it disappoints on so many levels, as it seems the season premiere of Smallville did for Diesel Mickey Dolenz. Obviously, David Sr. disagrees, but that is okay!
Personally, although I enjoyed the premiere, thinking about it now I find myself understanding many of the complaints DMD had with the episode. It really was a bit of a mess and Clark losing his powers stopped being interesting a long time ago. The loss of so many characters over the past few seasons has taken its toll as well. Still, as DMD says, perhaps the premiere was just a way of clearing the way for the new producers to strike out on their own after wrapping up unresolved storylines from last season. We shall see.
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Well, thanks to David Sr. for clearing up the crystal bit. I was admittedly too lazy to go back and find out exactly what the thing was. I'll stand by my criticism of the cut from J'onn rescuing Clark to everyone having escaped from the lab complex. This was not a minor detail, as there were still plenty of goons around and getting out wasn't going to be easy. Were the how and why of the situation critical? No, but it's another example of either trying to fit too much into a single episode to do any of it justice, or poor writing. You choose. I'm willing to buy that it was the former, but I need to start seeing something better with the next episode.
January 26th, 2010 at 6:43 am
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