My Arrival Review

[triplet]

Hey, I'd like to hear what everyone thinks about my review...

You can read it here:

http://www.kryptonsite.com/arrivalreview.htm

It's highly spoilery for the Fifth season Preem episode, btw. so you might not want to read it if you haven't seen it yet and don't want to be spoiled.

If you hate my review go ahead and let me have it, I can take it. My feelings won't be hurt too badly , but I'd be more interested in hearing about how your reaction to the episode differs with mine.

Thanks!



You can always PM me as well...

[F-Stop Blues]

great review triplet.

[cat_303]

Awsome review, i really agreed with most of the points you made!

[MBCorp]

That's a really good, interesting review. I pretty much agreed with all of it. I especially liked the praise given to the actors, because I think that acting wise this was one of the strongest SV episodes.

[LoisNClark]

awesome review and i agreed with all of it, and like MBCorp said i liked how you praised the actors!!

[F-Stop Blues]

Originally posted by MBCorp
That's a really good, interesting review. I pretty much agreed with all of it. I especially liked the praise given to the actors, because I think that acting wise this was one of the strongest SV episodes.

I agree. The acting was very strong in this ep.

[kali]

I agree with you on most of your review, but I had a different take on the Kryptonian bad guys. I also thought that it seemed as if Clark took care of them too easily, but I thought there was reasoning behind that appearance. I looked at these guys as serving two purposes: 1) to foil the villiany of Brainiac and 2) for dramatic irony.

When Brainiac emerges from the black crystals you know that whatever he is (even if you haven't been finding out spoilers online!) he's bad news for Clark. As you pointed out, we also can see the contrast between the Fortress of Solitude crystals and these crystals. We know that dark colours tend to symbolize evil and negativity in the Smallville universe. This is the real danger Jor-el was warning Clark about in Season 4. I think making the Kryptonian villians as defeatable as they were serves to highlight just how dangerous Brainiac is going to be.

And this leads into my second point of dramatic irony. Clark is thinking that he has defeated the danger Jor-el spoke of, but because of that delightful clip at the end of the episode we the audience are well aware that he has not.

Your review was excellent overall. I always find that my experience of the episodes are enriched when I read what you have to say about them.

[ryb]

Good review, Triplet.

A comparison to the episode "Duplicity" is interesting. Both "Duplicity" and "Arrival" were written by Slavkin and Swimmer. While I agree that the Clark and Chloe conversation/revelation was more convincing than the Clark and Pete scenario, I think that can be attributed to experience in many forms -- including that of writers Slavkin and Swimmer, the enormous acting improvement of Welling, and the age of the characters portrayed.

Personally, I found "Duplicity" to be an engrossing episode because it revealed just how precarious the situation may be if Clark tells someone his secret. But there is no doubt the exchange between Clark and Chloe in "Arrival" far exceeds the power of the Season 2 episode. In fact, it may be one of the best sequences Smallville has produced.

I don't know if you've read it, but somebody in the Episode 5-1 Review thread had an interesting comment regarding Clark's "punishment" from Jor-El. Jor-El temporarily "relieves" him to save his friend Chloe from freezing (Clark's act of selflessness) but punishes him for helping Lana (which may, in part, be an act of selfishness). I was wondering what your comments, and others, were on this idea (if any).

Personally, I think that's a remarkable insight into the episode and one I believe has quite a bit of merit. And will Clark regain his powers by this same theme? Interesting question to ponder as we head into "Mortal" and "Hidden".

[triplet]

Originally posted by kali
I agree with you on most of your review, but I had a different take on the Kryptonian bad guys. I also thought that it seemed as if Clark took care of them too easily, but I thought there was reasoning behind that appearance. I looked at these guys as serving two purposes: 1) to foil the villiany of Brainiac and 2) for dramatic irony.

When Brainiac emerges from the black crystals you know that whatever he is (even if you haven't been finding out spoilers online!) he's bad news for Clark. As you pointed out, we also can see the contrast between the Fortress of Solitude crystals and these crystals. We know that dark colours tend to symbolize evil and negativity in the Smallville universe. This is the real danger Jor-el was warning Clark about in Season 4. I think making the Kryptonian villians as defeatable as they were serves to highlight just how dangerous Brainiac is going to be.

Interesting point, but wouldn't Brainiac be an even more perfect nemesis if the kryptonians were more difficult to defeat?

If they were THAT bad and he's even worse, then you really know that he's going to be on super bad ass villain...

I think they were defeated as easily as they were for expediency's sake, not for reinforcing the overall goal of making Brainiac seem even worse than them.... They were over budget even, and couldn't afford to do more than they did.

I read another review after I wrote mine that made an excellent point: he said they shoulda gotten rid of the nearly useless blowing up of cop cars at the begining, substitute some cheaper evil-doing there, and put the money they saved from the opening sequence into making the fight with Clark more exciting...

Dramatically, that woulda made more sense and it probably wouldn't have cost them any more money... :shrug:

Oh, well...

Originally posted by kali
And this leads into my second point of dramatic irony. Clark is thinking that he has defeated the danger Jor-el spoke of, but because of that delightful clip at the end of the episode we the audience are well aware that he has not.

But is it dramatic irony if the audience doesn't realize at the time of Clark's speech to his parents that he didn't succeed?

I'm not sure it is, it's more of a red herring then I think....

I knew it wouldn't be that simple, however.... It never is or there wouldn't be a show.

Originally posted by kali
Your review was excellent overall. I always find that my experience of the episodes are enriched when I read what you have to say about them.

Thanks, I appreciate that...

Originally posted by ryb
Good review, Triplet.

A comparison to the episode "Duplicity" is interesting. Both "Duplicity" and "Arrival" were written by Slavkin and Swimmer. While I agree that the Clark and Chloe conversation/revelation was more convincing than the Clark and Pete scenario, I think that can be attributed to experience in many forms -- including that of writers Slavkin and Swimmer, the enormous acting improvement of Welling, and the age of the characters portrayed.

Interesting... I didn't realize they'd written that episode too...

Originally posted by ryb
Personally, I found "Duplicity" to be an engrossing episode because it revealed just how precarious the situation may be if Clark tells someone his secret. But there is no doubt the exchange between Clark and Chloe in "Arrival" far exceeds the power of the Season 2 episode. In fact, it may be one of the best sequences Smallville has produced.

Personally, as good an episode as Duplicity was this one blows its doors off in terms of dramatic power.

I found the coming out for Clark and Chloe had so many more layers for them than it did for Clark and Pete.

Also there was no awe for Pete... The thing I liked about Chloe was that she was still in awe of Clark, she didn't get weirded out like Pete did.

I didn't like that Pete, after knowing Clark for so long and being his best friend since they were both toddlers, was so freaked out....

I don't know how I'd react were I to find out my best friend was an alien with superhuman powers, but I hope my reaction would be more like Chloe's than Pete's.

Originally posted by ryb
I don't know if you've read it, but somebody in the Episode 5-1 Review thread had an interesting comment regarding Clark's "punishment" from Jor-El. Jor-El temporarily "relieves" him to save his friend Chloe from freezing (Clark's act of selflessness) but punishes him for helping Lana (which may, in part, be an act of selfishness). I was wondering what your comments, and others, were on this idea (if any).

Personally, I think that's a remarkable insight into the episode and one I believe has quite a bit of merit. And will Clark regain his powers by this same theme? Interesting question to ponder as we head into "Mortal" and "Hidden".

No, I didn't read that but that's an interesting idea.... I'm not sure I agree with that however, I'll have to think about it and maybe watch the episode again..

Oh, how I suffer for my craft...

[Grand_Sophy]

I enjoyed your review, Triplet. Nicely balanced, and it's great that you credit the design and production people, who are so often overlooked for the cast, writers and directors, but who contribute so much to the look and feel of the show.

As for dramatic irony, a large proportion of viewers must have been aware at the time of Clark's speech that he had not in fact averted the great danger, or however they phrased it, because of the relentless way the WB has been promoting the Brainiac storyline all summer. For the uninitiated, it can be retroactive irony (snigger).

The only real point of difference I have with you concerns the way they had Chloe act in the Arctic and at the hospital. Although you could say her insouciance was a veneer to cover her uncertainty and anxiety over Clark's possible reaction, she seemed entirely too self satisfied for me. It would have been more realistic for her to have shown more awe, more trepidation, more apology even. However the expression on her face when Clark admitted to his alien origins, when so's to say the veneer cracked, was right on and very satisfying.

[last man of krypton]

I liked the review, as always. I especially liked the observation of the crystalline formation of Brainiac as a mirror to the creation of the FOS, it hadn't occured to me before reading the review.

[Torgo]

Excellent review, and I agree with most of it, particularly the comments on the effects and the acting. I suppose you're right about the Krypton bad guys. It does seem a wasted oppurtunity since I don't think anyone ever expected to see anyone else from Krypton on Smallville. I didn't really feel as strongly about it as you though.

[margroks]

Yea, the FX were good considering the limits of TV. However, many people noticed the bandaid on CLark's hand and while it was a minor thing, couldn't they have either edited it out digitally or...here's a thought...used liquid bandaid? Just a thought but that scene with CHloe was top notcha as was the hospital scene. Tom Welling does better all the time. He brings a nuance to Clark I've seen nowhere else and that includes Chris Reeves.

I'll have to disagree with you on Kristin Kreuk, who, by the way had her name mispelled in the credits. ANd even though I found her performance lacking and her foot dragging walk truly lame, no pun intended, that's inexcusable. The makers of the new credits should be keel hauled for that one. Lana is always the weak spot in almost every ep and probably no actor could make her seem good considering the pathetic material she's given.

As for Erica Durance as Lois...thirteen eps is way too much. Her interaction with Clark is rarely nice and her character bears so little resemblance to either Lois from any medium nor to the girl who threatened Clark with bodily harm if he ever hurt Chloe's feelings again I find her perfectly appalling.

The biggest plot hole was that no one even asked about Chloe's whereabouts and well being, including Lois who knew where she went and why, was with her when she went to find Lana and was driving her car yet she had apparently had no thought or concern for her at all. That was a huge mistake, no doubt they couldn't find time for such critical info, even a few seconds because we had to watch Clark make mooney eyes over Lana even though she once again afirmed to Clark that she was freaked out by the idea of ET life. Whatever he sees in her remains inexpicable and that was Clark's big clue that he should quickly reevaluate his silly crush. You could see he was thinking of telling her but stopped after her remarks.

Also, neither Martha or Jonathan discussed Jason or his demise or what happened to his body. And of course, Lana never mentioned the important fact that she's murdered her boyfriend's mother and that Lionel and Lex had helped her cover it up. Pretty large ommissions that. The fact that Clark has even stopped asking, "What about your boyfriend, Lana," is in inself a very disturbing development and shows us a Clark who's backsliding rather distressingly in the moral fiber department.

His willingness to save his friends does not negate that important point. While the ep began on a high note it ended on this very distressing one. Clark knows that Lana, just like football is not for him and has voiced that opinion in the past yet now we have to live through the annoying hamster wheel that is Clana once again.

[All about Clark]

Ah, are you watching the same show as the rest of us?

[kali]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by triplet
Interesting point, but wouldn't Brainiac be an even more perfect nemesis if the kryptonians were more difficult to defeat?

I agree with you that this definitely would have made it more interesting. I was analysing the story more from the perpsective of figuring out why the writers may have chosen that way of presenting these characters as opposed to what would have made them and the story more interesting. (I should have said that in my original post.) Now if I had written the story I would have made the Kryptonian bad guys a nasty force to be dealt with to heighten how even nastier it will be to deal with Brainiac.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by triplet

But is it dramatic irony if the audience doesn't realize at the time of Clark's speech to his parents that he didn't succeed?

I would argue that it becomes dramatic irony at the point where the audience meets Brainiac and will continue to be so up until the point where Clark finds out who Brainiac is. It isn't dramatic irony during Clark's speech because we haven't met Brainiac yet. I see Clark's speech more as foreshadowing Brainiac's arrival.

Thanks for your thoughtful response on my points, Triplet. I'm quite new here and it's nice to be able to engage with a thoughtful debate on one of my favourite shows with someone!

[prometheus04]

Your review get Five out of Five STARS. I'm sure your mention of SAM will get back to Jeph and will touch him dearly.

BRAVO Triplet

[LanaandPete]

Originally posted by triplet
Interesting point, but wouldn't Brainiac be an even more perfect nemesis if the kryptonians were more difficult to defeat?

If they were THAT bad and he's even worse, then you really know that he's going to be on super bad ass villain...

I think they were defeated as easily as they were for expediency's sake, not for reinforcing the overall goal of making Brainiac seem even worse than them.... They were over budget even, and couldn't afford to do more than they did.

I read another review after I wrote mine that made an excellent point: he said they shoulda gotten rid of the nearly useless blowing up of cop cars at the begining, substitute some cheaper evil-doing there, and put the money they saved from the opening sequence into making the fight with Clark more exciting...

Dramatically, that woulda made more sense and it probably wouldn't have cost them any more money... :shrug:

Oh, well...




But is it dramatic irony if the audience doesn't realize at the time of Clark's speech to his parents that he didn't succeed?

I'm not sure it is, it's more of a red herring then I think....

I knew it wouldn't be that simple, however.... It never is or there wouldn't be a show.




Thanks, I appreciate that...



Interesting... I didn't realize they'd written that episode too...




Personally, as good an episode as Duplicity was this one blows its doors off in terms of dramatic power.

I found the coming out for Clark and Chloe had so many more layers for them than it did for Clark and Pete.

Also there was no awe for Pete... The thing I liked about Chloe was that she was still in awe of Clark, she didn't get weirded out like Pete did.

I didn't like that Pete, after knowing Clark for so long and being his best friend since they were both toddlers, was so freaked out....

I don't know how I'd react were I to find out my best friend was an alien with superhuman powers, but I hope my reaction would be more like Chloe's than Pete's.



No, I didn't read that but that's an interesting idea.... I'm not sure I agree with that however, I'll have to think about it and maybe watch the episode again..

Oh, how I suffer for my craft...

People tend to forget that Pete actually was ok with the secret, he didn't freak out because of it, he was more upset that after 16-17 years of knowing him, Clark still didnt trust him enough for him to know

[number8]

Great review Triplet.

[triplet]

Originally posted by kali

I agree with you that this definitely would have made it more interesting. I was analysing the story more from the perpsective of figuring out why the writers may have chosen that way of presenting these characters as opposed to what would have made them and the story more interesting. (I should have said that in my original post.) Now if I had written the story I would have made the Kryptonian bad guys a nasty force to be dealt with to heighten how even nastier it will be to deal with Brainiac.

Ah, I see.... gotcha.

Originally posted by kali
I would argue that it becomes dramatic irony at the point where the audience meets Brainiac and will continue to be so up until the point where Clark finds out who Brainiac is. It isn't dramatic irony during Clark's speech because we haven't met Brainiac yet. I see Clark's speech more as foreshadowing Brainiac's arrival.

Gotcha... or I liked what the grand sophy said: retrospective irony... *snort*

Originally posted by kali
Thanks for your thoughtful response on my points, Triplet. I'm quite new here and it's nice to be able to engage with a thoughtful debate on one of my favourite shows with someone!

Not a problem, it's the main reason I do the reviews in the first place.

I highly enjoy thinking critically about something I love and talking about it makes it even better. I'm a writer and it hones my craft to an extent too which is just icing.

Originally posted by prometheus04
Your review get Five out of Five STARS. I'm sure your mention of SAM will get back to Jeph and will touch him dearly.

BRAVO Triplet

Thanks, I never met Sam but I heard from someone who did, and that person also thanked me for what I said, and he had nothing but nice things to say about Sam...

He was a remarkable boy by all accounts.

He will be truly missed. What a loss.

I would be honored if Jeph were ever to read one of my reviews, I'm a fan of his, so if he does I hope he knows I was sincerely saddened when I heard about Sam...

I'm a parent myself and my 10 year old recently went through a health crisis that could have ended much worse than it did, so I also sympathize with him as a mother.

She's better and willl be fine, nothing like fighting cancer, but it was a very close thing for awhile so I understand probably better now than I would have even two months ago.

[Jlvsclrk]

Thanks Triplet for this review. I think it was pretty much bang on and I'm so glad I'm not the only one who loved the episode. Especially the scene between Clark and Chloe in the hospital. I loved the way she explained that she wanted him to be the one to chose the time. And yet her reaction also shows why she's not the right person to be his life mate - she'll never keep him on his toes the way Lois would.

Yes, the fight at the end was a let down but here's how I figure it: the kryptonians were older than Clark BUT they lacked "real earth" experience. he got them to underestimate him with the whole clutching at the floor routine, they turned their backs, then Clark used his experience in Vortex with the tornado of "willing himself" forward and got behind them before they could react. To me, the perfect finishing touch would have been if he'd picked up a pool cue (or cue ball) and used it to smack them into the vortex. That would have just reinsforced for me that Clark had the home field advantage in this fight.

As for Jor-El taking away Clark's powers, I reckon he did so to punish Clark for not knowing the fundamentals of astronomy a little better. The episode takes place in June, the fortress of Solitude is in the high Arctic - the sun won't set for quite some time yet! Check out http://www.athropolis.com/sun-fr.htm He's still got 3 months to return if the FOS is at the North Pole.