Triplet's "Oracle" Review

[KryptonSite]

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

Talk about her review here!

Look for her "Vessel" review on Tuesday.

[triplet]

No one had anything to say about my review?


Am I a hack that should never write again?


Or am I brilliant?






Is there an echo in here?



*shrug*

[Miss L]

You're brilliant, and we're awed speechless.

[triplet]

Originally posted by Miss L
You're brilliant, and we're awed speechless.

LOL!

Too funny...

[enamored]

Triplet, we love your reviews. I for one learn things from you and really enjoy the things you pick up on. I for one am not a critical viewer. I just watch for enjoyment and rarely if ever reflect too much on contrivences or inconsistencies. However, from what I read on this site, most of the viewers have a much more critical viewpoint than I do.

[triplet]

Thanks...

I think some people get seriously hung up on the inconsistancies and contrivances but they only really bother me if they break me out of the show...

I want to be entertained first and foremost and Smallville usually does that pretty well. Otherwise, I wouldn't write the reviews much watch the episode the two or more times it takes to write the reviews...

Gawd... watching Ageless more than once was pure torture.

[Krypto500]

Originally posted by triplet
Gawd... watching Ageless more than once was pure torture.

Triplet, I always wondered if you had a favourite or least favourite episode! Now we know!

So you'd put 'Ageless' lower than 'Velocity', 'Spell' or 'Thirst', eh? It's a tough call but I'm leaning towards 'Thirst' myself.

Brilliant review as always. It was nice to hear how your son enjoyed watching it. Always good to hear how wide the demographic for the show is.

I'd agree with what you say about the "contrivances" in this episode. Clark not being able to read Kryptonian is definitely a weak story point: he seemed to understand it fine in "Rosetta", and surely whatever info Jor-El was pumping into Clark at the FoS in "Arrival" was in Kryptonian? Are there different dialects or versions of the alphabet or something? So yeah, glaring plot hole there ...

Why had Clark assumed the "weapon" Lionel was having those meetings about was in fact him? ... Clark's assumption wasn't motivated by anything in the story itself and seemed forced.

I hear what you're saying, but I felt the explanation was there. It just wasn't made crystal clear. Clark knows 1) that Lionel knows his secret, 2) that Lionel's been trying to get closer to both Clark and Martha, 3) that Lionel has a history of exploiting people's special abilities for his own ends (the T-1000 rip-off in "Gone", Emily Dinsmore in "Accelerate", the whole Level 3 project), 4) that Lionel double-crosses everyone in the end.

With those things in mind, Clark presumably came to the conclusion that Lionel would try to blackmail Clark into committing crimes, a la "Rogue", with Martha and Clark's secret as leverage.

I agree, though, that a lot of this needed to be evident through dialogue.

May I second what you say about how "the action seemed to flow well from one scene to the next". Yeah, it was a seamless 40 minutes, and the momentum was incredible.

You're right that Michael Rosenbaum "portrayed the changing motivations of Lex very well"; we saw him demonstrating his "insatiable distrust", as Fine puts it, but also his openness and faith in Lana ("You're the one person I can share [the secret of the vaccine] with", etc.). He got to display the full spectrum of emotions in this episode, it must have been emotionally exhausting for him!

Do you have any thoughts on the 'tractor issue'? A couple of fans have wondered why Fine didn't just throw the tractor at Lionel and take Jor-El's 'vessel' out of the picture. SDK mentioned recently that the writers had put in a few lines about how Fine is actually unable to hurt Jor-El (programming codes or whatever), but that this was cut out. It's a shame, because as with the "weapon" story, I felt it sort of needed to be established.

Otherwise, an outstanding episode. Your 4.5 is pretty much right on. Advancement of the Jor-El/Zod story, another brilliantly-acted confrontation between Clark and Lex, John Schneider, some delightful Chlark moments, Milton Fine, a wonderful set-up for the finale - what more could we ask for?

[triplet]

Originally posted by Krypto500


Triplet, I always wondered if you had a favourite or least favourite episode! Now we know!

So you'd put 'Ageless' lower than 'Velocity', 'Spell' or 'Thirst', eh? It's a tough call but I'm leaning towards 'Thirst' myself.

Usually I find something of value in almost every episode but Delete and Craving are nearly value-less in my mind...

I'm not sure where I mentioned that recently, was it in a review thread (I don't remember)?, but Delete was pretty much pointless and showed an appalling lack of basic knowledge of computer hardware that a simple google search could have solved.

*shudder*

Actually, from last season Lucy was my least fave and Hypnotic was probably my least fave from this season...

So awful and it was such a sexy idea that was totally wasted. Oh, well.

Originally posted by Krypto500
Brilliant review as always. It was nice to hear how your son enjoyed watching it. Always good to hear how wide the demographic for the show is.

I'd agree with what you say about the "contrivances" in this episode. Clark not being able to read Kryptonian is definitely a weak story point: he seemed to understand it fine in "Rosetta", and surely whatever info Jor-El was pumping into Clark at the FoS in "Arrival" was in Kryptonian? Are there different dialects or versions of the alphabet or something? So yeah, glaring plot hole there ...

Yeah, that was weird...

I watched that episode again when I was working on my Vessel review and I think they wanted Clark to be confused by the jumble of symbols or something but that wasn't made entirely clear.

Originally posted by Krypto500

I hear what you're saying, but I felt the explanation was there. It just wasn't made crystal clear. Clark knows 1) that Lionel knows his secret, 2) that Lionel's been trying to get closer to both Clark and Martha, 3) that Lionel has a history of exploiting people's special abilities for his own ends (the T-1000 rip-off in "Gone", Emily Dinsmore in "Accelerate", the whole Level 3 project), 4) that Lionel double-crosses everyone in the end.

With those things in mind, Clark presumably came to the conclusion that Lionel would try to blackmail Clark into committing crimes, a la "Rogue", with Martha and Clark's secret as leverage.

I agree, though, that a lot of this needed to be evident through dialogue.

It wasn't obvious enough to me... not nearly.

Originally posted by Krypto500
May I second what you say about how "the action seemed to flow well from one scene to the next". Yeah, it was a seamless 40 minutes, and the momentum was incredible.

You're right that Michael Rosenbaum "portrayed the changing motivations of Lex very well"; we saw him demonstrating his "insatiable distrust", as Fine puts it, but also his openness and faith in Lana ("You're the one person I can share [the secret of the vaccine] with", etc.). He got to display the full spectrum of emotions in this episode, it must have been emotionally exhausting for him!

Do you have any thoughts on the 'tractor issue'? A couple of fans have wondered why Fine didn't just throw the tractor at Lionel and take Jor-El's 'vessel' out of the picture. SDK mentioned recently that the writers had put in a few lines about how Fine is actually unable to hurt Jor-El (programming codes or whatever), but that this was cut out. It's a shame, because as with the "weapon" story, I felt it sort of needed to be established.

Yeah... it was weird.

I hadn't thought of that but maybe there was something about his programming that kept him from killing "Jor-El" in Lionel...

Interesting. I wonder if they'll explain that later and how Lionel destroyed Fine...

Originally posted by Krypto500
Otherwise, an outstanding episode. Your 4.5 is pretty much right on. Advancement of the Jor-El/Zod story, another brilliantly-acted confrontation between Clark and Lex, John Schneider, some delightful Chlark moments, Milton Fine, a wonderful set-up for the finale - what more could we ask for?

It was a wonderful episode, that is for sure...

[GottaLoveHotSuperHeros]

Originally posted by Krypto500



Do you have any thoughts on the 'tractor issue'? A couple of fans have wondered why Fine didn't just throw the tractor at Lionel and take Jor-El's 'vessel' out of the picture. SDK mentioned recently that the writers had put in a few lines about how Fine is actually unable to hurt Jor-El (programming codes or whatever), but that this was cut out. It's a shame, because as with the "weapon" story, I felt it sort of needed to be established.

They shouldn't have cut it out! Geez! storyline is more important than whatever they put in it's place! I totally I agree.

[triplet]

Yeah, that's nuts... makes so much more sense why Fine went to such lengths to have Clark kill Lionel.

They shouldn't cut stuff like that.

:thumbs-down:

[Wallis]

Your reviews are fine. At the very least, they pomulgate discussion.

I find it quite interesting that since the beginning the writers instilled a strong desire within me to "pray" for Lionel's demise. Then we went through this "holy" conversion with Lionel. And now we see a complete turn-around of the character.

In a religious setting, we probably could point out real people who have made such drastic changes in their lives. As skeptics, most of us would never completely accept the degree of the turn-around of an individual. "Once a skunk, always a skunk."

As I see it, the writers want us to suspend our belief so completely as to be able to walk ten feet of the diving board before entering the water. In trying to cram as much material--differing material--into a 22-episode season, they themselves have to take so many shortcuts. "What? You didn't quite understand? Don't worry. We'll have a four-line conversation between Clark and someone knowledgable to fill in all of the holes we created."

I have found that with this series several "mistakes" were made by the writers, but being a writer myself I understand that they are not in complete control of their product:

1. Each season year will equate to one "real" year of Clark's life.

2. Monsters R Us will "rule the day," as we saw exclusively in Season 1.

3. The "dumbification" of Clark. Let's create a "dark side" of Clark.

4. A lack of focus on a continuous storyline that could have developed all of the characters in greater depth. I mean, if series like OC and other sex-oriented teenage-focused programs (all of them detestable) can plod out storylines and developing characters at a snail's pace and still attract adoring fans, then Smallville could have done the same.

5. Creating such a bizarre new twist to the Superboy-Superman saga as to be incompatible with all of the Superman serials, movies, and series that came before. One very laughable example has to be Clark's fear of heights, whereas in the Superboy comics, flying was one of Clark's greatest joys.

If you'll read my comments under Vessel, I heartily endorse that Season 5 could be considered--maybe should be--the final season. Clark is trapped in a Phantom Zone in an alternate Superman reality. The world is destroyed. Evil triumphed. Now, let's move on to a different reality and see how we can further change Superman.

[Krypto500]

Originally posted by triplet
Usually I find something of value in almost every episode but Delete and Craving are nearly value-less in my mind ... Delete was pretty much pointless and showed an appalling lack of basic knowledge of computer hardware that a simple google search could have solved.

Aww, come on! The scene at the end outside Summerholdt where Lex tells Garner that he wants his memories restored? If there was nothing else in the episode, there was at least that.

Actually, from last season Lucy was my least fave and Hypnotic was probably my least fave from this season...

So awful and it was such a sexy idea that was totally wasted. Oh, well.

"Lucy" - can't disagree with that. Lois barely gets any episodes to herself, and the writers instead devote one to her sister?! Uh, yeah, smart move guys ...

A lot of fans seem to trash "Hypnotic". I seem to be in the minority because it didn't bother me too much. Fine using his heat vision in Honduras, Clark twisting the baseball bat into an 'S', Clark trying to do the 'right thing' by ending Clana, Lana breaking into tears outside the barn. I thought there was some really excellent stuff in that one.

I watched ["Oracle"] again when I was working on my Vessel review and I think they wanted Clark to be confused by the jumble of symbols or something but that wasn't made entirely clear.

Clark: "I'm confused by the jumble of symbols." Not a tough line to deliver, I agree. Could have been slipped in and taken less than four or five seconds of screen time.

I hadn't thought of that but maybe there was something about his programming that kept him from killing "Jor-El" in Lionel...

Interesting. I wonder if they'll explain that later and how Lionel destroyed Fine...

Surely there will be an opportunity at the beginning of S6? Getting Clark out of the PZ, 'exorcizing' Zod out of Lex ... the Lion-El arc will be a core part of that, surely. Do you think there's any truth in the speculation that Fine will stick around and maybe become a cast regular? The guy's been portrayed as essentially 'un-killable', but also limited by his design and his 'mission', so it could just be a case of Terminator-style re-programming. The response to James Masters has been so overwhelmingly positive that Gough & Millar would be foolish to write him out so soon.

It was a wonderful episode, that is for sure...

Absolutely. My favourites this season so far have been "Lexmas", "Reckoning" (yes, despite the time travel!), and "Mercy", but "Oracle" would IMHO definitely be a contender for one the season's strongest episodes.

[triplet]

Originally posted by Krypto500


Aww, come on! The scene at the end outside Summerholdt where Lex tells Garner that he wants his memories restored? If there was nothing else in the episode, there was at least that.

Hmmm... well, that was nice.... the rest is almost pure drek so I still hate it. Especially with the IP address thing being so NOT how IP addresses work...

*shudder*

It was an Adam episode too... I LOATHE Ian Somerhalder, the arrogant ass.

*double shudder*

Originally posted by Krypto500

"Lucy" - can't disagree with that. Lois barely gets any episodes to herself, and the writers instead devote one to her sister?! Uh, yeah, smart move guys ...

There were some nice Lois and Clark moments and Lois had some nice moments with her sister but Peter whatshisname was totally wasted in that and the story was a nearly complete mess...

I didn't start reviewing here until after Lucy, my first review was for onyx, so it's not online really anywhere anymore (the site I reviewed for before has shuttered) but I had very little nice to say about that one.

Yikes...

The opening chase didn't make any sense once you found out how Lucy and the bad guy were connected...

It was almost pure Drek and (for me) probably ties with Craving as the worst episode of the series.

Originally posted by Krypto500

A lot of fans seem to trash "Hypnotic". I seem to be in the minority because it didn't bother me too much. Fine using his heat vision in Honduras, Clark twisting the baseball bat into an 'S', Clark trying to do the 'right thing' by ending Clana, Lana breaking into tears outside the barn. I thought there was some really excellent stuff in that one.

Well, my least favorite part was the uneven tone.

I thought how differently the characters acted while under Simone's spell, and how the effect on Clark varied a great deal from scene to scene, was inexplicable.

I hardly ever think ill of Mr. Welling and I thought he totally blew it in that episode.

For me, that's saying a lot.

Originally posted by Krypto500

Clark: "I'm confused by the jumble of symbols." Not a tough line to deliver, I agree. Could have been slipped in and taken less than four or five seconds of screen time.

Yeah, wouldn't have taken much time... even shorter: "It doesn't make sense..."

Originally posted by Krypto500

Surely there will be an opportunity at the beginning of S6? Getting Clark out of the PZ, 'exorcizing' Zod out of Lex ... the Lion-El arc will be a core part of that, surely. Do you think there's any truth in the speculation that Fine will stick around and maybe become a cast regular? The guy's been portrayed as essentially 'un-killable', but also limited by his design and his 'mission', so it could just be a case of Terminator-style re-programming. The response to James Masters has been so overwhelmingly positive that Gough & Millar would be foolish to write him out so soon.

I haven't heard anything more than anyone else has, but they'd be crazy to not do something more with him next season.

He's fantastic.

Originally posted by Krypto500

Absolutely. My favourites this season so far have been "Lexmas", "Reckoning" (yes, despite the time travel!), and "Mercy", but "Oracle" would IMHO definitely be a contender for one the season's strongest episodes.

Hmmmm...

My faves this season are probably Reckoning, Mercy, Oracle, Splinter, Mortal and Hidden but not necessarily in that order. Maybe Vessel, Reckoning and Solitude would be in that list too...

[Krypto500]

Originally posted by triplet
["Delete"] was an Adam episode too... I LOATHE Ian Somerhalder, the arrogant ass.

Poor guy, I can hear him sobbing "It was the character, it wasn't ME!"

The opening chase didn't make any sense once you found out how Lucy and the bad guy were connected...

[Gough & Millar in unison:] "Yeah, but look at the lovely skiing! It was dramatic, it had an exotic 'somewhere-in-the-mountains' feel to it! It was high octane stuff and we suckered you into watching the rest of the episode!"



But hey, Clark jumping onto the lorry? That was a great moment, it made up for the episode's other shortfalls.

I haven't heard anything more than anyone else has, but they'd be crazy to not do something more with him next season.

He's fantastic.

Everybody loves James Masters! It'd be a bizarre deja vu moment for the guy, I imagine: a season or two as a guest villain on 'Buffy' before they make him a regular and begin the redemption process. And now here he'd be on a different show, possibly doing much the same thing.

My faves this season are probably Reckoning, Mercy, Oracle, Splinter, Mortal and Hidden but not necessarily in that order. Maybe Vessel, Reckoning and Solitude would be in that list too...

Totally agree about the "Splinter"/"Solitude" ratings. Interesting that we had those two and "Lexmas" one after another; rare to see such an extended creative high-point mid-season. The last (IMHO) was the "Shattered"/"Asylum" arc, which was about the same point in season 3.

Usually, the 'Smallville' pattern seems to group the finest moments at the beginning and end of the season, with the less significant filler in the middle. Season 5 kind of seemed to buck that trend and only take a tumble post-"Reckoning", with "Cyborg" and "Mercy" being the only two that really stood out before "Oracle".

Not sure, what do you think?

[triplet]

Originally posted by Krypto500
Poor guy, I can hear him sobbing "It was the character, it wasn't ME!"

On the contrary, my friend.

I never really like Ian Somerhalder anyway and then he badmouthed Smallville last year when his new show was beating the pants of his old show in the ratings.

He's a graceless ass.

I was so happy when Boone got killed.

Ha...

Served him right.

Originally posted by Krypto500

[Gough & Millar in unison:] "Yeah, but look at the lovely skiing! It was dramatic, it had an exotic 'somewhere-in-the-mountains' feel to it! It was high octane stuff and we suckered you into watching the rest of the episode!"

Hee...

Too funny....

Originally posted by Krypto500

But hey, Clark jumping onto the lorry? That was a great moment, it made up for the episode's other shortfalls.

That was the only reason I didn't give it a .5 star rating..... I think I gave it a one and half.

I'd have to check my review....

Originally posted by Krypto500

Everybody loves James Masters! It'd be a bizarre deja vu moment for the guy, I imagine: a season or two as a guest villain on 'Buffy' before they make him a regular and begin the redemption process. And now here he'd be on a different show, possibly doing much the same thing.

Totally agree about the "Splinter"/"Solitude" ratings. Interesting that we had those two and "Lexmas" one after another; rare to see such an extended creative high-point mid-season. The last (IMHO) was the "Shattered"/"Asylum" arc, which was about the same point in season 3.

Usually, the 'Smallville' pattern seems to group the finest moments at the beginning and end of the season, with the less significant filler in the middle. Season 5 kind of seemed to buck that trend and only take a tumble post-"Reckoning", with "Cyborg" and "Mercy" being the only two that really stood out before "Oracle".

Not sure, what do you think?

It seemed to slump a bit after Lexmas, true... I'm not sure why it would happen but it does seem to be a pattern.

I think Cyborg was a far fresher episode then the previous episode (Tomb) . Although I did like Vengeance and Reckoning quite a bit. Lockdown and Fanatic weren't as good as they coulda been. You gotta admire that girl in fanatic shaving her head on camera. Too bad she wasn't a better actress.

Poor Tom was pretty sick when he filmed Cyborg too... Did you ever read about that?

Glen Winter had given an interview to a French fan site and he said Tom was so sick, he couldn't work. Glen said they actually had to take four days off in the middle of Cyborg to give Tom a chance to get better.

In all the years Smallville has been on, Glen said that has never happened before.

Poor baby.

[Krypto500]

Originally posted by triplet
I never really like Ian Somerhalder anyway and then he badmouthed Smallville last year when his new show was beating the pants of his old show in the ratings.

He's a graceless ass.

I was so happy when Boone got killed.

To be agonizingly killed off in both shows that he was in is punishment enough, methinks. Wouldn't wish that on anyone ...

Poor Tom was pretty sick when he filmed Cyborg too... Did you ever read about that?

Glen Winter had given an interview to a French fan site and he said Tom was so sick, he couldn't work. Glen said they actually had to take four days off in the middle of Cyborg to give Tom a chance to get better.

Never heard about this ... Guess TW was a consummate professional and never let the camera see it, 'cause I'd never have been able to tell. (Though you appear to be more of a TW fan than I am, so you might have noticed something I didn't. ).

Do you know whether they actually stopped production on the episode, or just re-scheduled filming of TW's scenes? I'm surprised if the shooting pace slows down for anyone, even the main character.

You've commented on Tom Welling's reduction in screen time in several of your recent reviews; you mention it in "Cyborg" (perhaps because of sickness?), "Void" (impending directorial debut), and "Tomb" (you write that "he must have needed a break after the previous two episodes").

I wonder if this could be a good thing in a way? (No, not that less TW is a good thing!). Perhaps it means that 'Smallville' is beginning to work as more of an ensemble show, where other characters can carry the story and capture the audience's attention and imagination without depending on the main character for every scene?

To link that to "Oracle" for a moment, that's part of what I thought was great about it; pretty much everyone had something going on with their respective story arc of the season. Lex had the Fine/virus/lab thread, Chloe was offering her usual magnificent Clark-support and IT genius, Martha was dealing with the ghost of Jonathan, Lionel had the Jor-El influence arc developing; the only characters who seemed to lose out were Lana and Lois, who had a brief scene at the beginning at the Talon but otherwise were fairly redundant to the story. Although that said, you could argue that Lana's knowledge of what the 'meteor rocks' do to the 'aliens' sort of propelled the Lex/Fine story forward.

The point I'm trying to make, I guess, is that the majority of the characters had a significant role in the 40 minutes; even John Schneider got a cameo. As much as I loved the charcter-centric episodes this season such as "Tomb" or "Mercy", I think the show works best when it's using all of its cast together. And heartbreaking as it is to say it - if that means less TW, it's a sacrifice perhaps worth making for the quality of the show. (The way he described his schedule in the ABC interview, I'm sure he wouldn't be complaining about that! ).

[triplet]

Originally posted by Krypto500
To be agonizingly killed off in both shows that he was in is punishment enough, methinks. Wouldn't wish that on anyone ...

Hee... Karmic payback is a *****, ain't it?

Originally posted by Krypto500

Never heard about this ... Guess TW was a consummate professional and never let the camera see it, 'cause I'd never have been able to tell. (Though you appear to be more of a TW fan than I am, so you might have noticed something I didn't. ).

Do you know whether they actually stopped production on the episode, or just re-scheduled filming of TW's scenes? I'm surprised if the shooting pace slows down for anyone, even the main character.

Yeah, he said that production was shut down in the interview. The link was from tomwelling.org. I don't speak french so I had to depend on babblefish, which doesn't work all that well.

Originally posted by Krypto500

You've commented on Tom Welling's reduction in screen time in several of your recent reviews; you mention it in "Cyborg" (perhaps because of sickness?), "Void" (impending directorial debut), and "Tomb" (you write that "he must have needed a break after the previous two episodes").

I think he did, he works a hellish amount and since Tomb followed Vengeance and Reckoning, I think a less heavy schedule would have been warranted. Not only were those highly Clark-centric episodes, they also had a huge emotional toll on Clark and thus probably on Tom.

I think they must have been very difficult episodes for him as an actor. Clark's been through a lot this year and playing emotional trauma like that can be physically and emotionally draining.

I would think he could use some breaks from time to time, so I mentioned it since I saw a lot of people complaining about there not being enough Tom in those episodes.

Could it be the difficult nature of those episodes contributed to him being sick in the next episode after Tomb, Cyborg?

I dunno that much about it, but it would make sense that maybe it did.

In general, however, I know that they don't want him to burn out, so there is a necessary ebb and flow to his screen time.

If you look at the arcs where there are more Clark centric episodes, they are usually followed by two or three less Clark centric ones. Splinter and Solitude was followed by Lexmas, Fanatic and Lockdown before another two extremely heavy Clark-centric episodes, Reckoning and Vengeance, which were followed by several less Clark-centric eps, Tomb and Cyborg.

That's on purpose and I bet if you looked at any season past the first, you'd see the same pattern.

I hate that he isn't in every minute of the show but I would hate it more if he burned out and stopped producing great performances.

I'll take that trade-off...

Originally posted by Krypto500

I wonder if this could be a good thing in a way? (No, not that less TW is a good thing!). Perhaps it means that 'Smallville' is beginning to work as more of an ensemble show, where other characters can carry the story and capture the audience's attention and imagination without depending on the main character for every scene?

To link that to "Oracle" for a moment, that's part of what I thought was great about it; pretty much everyone had something going on with their respective story arc of the season. Lex had the Fine/virus/lab thread, Chloe was offering her usual magnificent Clark-support and IT genius, Martha was dealing with the ghost of Jonathan, Lionel had the Jor-El influence arc developing; the only characters who seemed to lose out were Lana and Lois, who had a brief scene at the beginning at the Talon but otherwise were fairly redundant to the story. Although that said, you could argue that Lana's knowledge of what the 'meteor rocks' do to the 'aliens' sort of propelled the Lex/Fine story forward.

The point I'm trying to make, I guess, is that the majority of the characters had a significant role in the 40 minutes; even John Schneider got a cameo. As much as I loved the charcter-centric episodes this season such as "Tomb" or "Mercy", I think the show works best when it's using all of its cast together. And heartbreaking as it is to say it - if that means less TW, it's a sacrifice perhaps worth making for the quality of the show. (The way he described his schedule in the ABC interview, I'm sure he wouldn't be complaining about that! ).

You have a good point.

I think some of the best Smallville has been the more character centric episodes, like Mercy and Memoria, but when they can balance an episode so well among the entire cast like this it can be great.

Tom is the star of the show, it is mostly Clark's story and I'm a huge Tom fan, so I want to see him more than anyone else, but I love a good Lex or a good Lana or a good Chloe story too.

Too bad the only Chloe centric episode this season was the severely subpar Tomb.

[Krypto500]

I think he did, he works a hellish amount and since Tomb followed Vengeance and Reckoning, I think a less heavy schedule would have been warranted. Not only were those highly Clark-centric episodes, they also had a huge emotional toll on Clark and thus probably on Tom.

I think they must have been very difficult episodes for him as an actor. Clark's been through a lot this year and playing emotional trauma like that can be physically and emotionally draining.

I definitely see your point. I kind of see "Vengeance" as following directly on from "Reckoning" - being on the verge of snapping a goon's neck, breaking down at the sight of Jonathan in the video; that must have been just as demanding on Tom Welling as the devastation when he found Lana at the crossroads. His character went to extremes over the course of those two episodes, and I sort of see them as complementing one another.

If you look at the arcs where there are more Clark centric episodes, they are usually followed by two or three less Clark centric ones. ... That's on purpose and I bet if you looked at any season past the first, you'd see the same pattern.

Yeah, I hadn't noticed that before:

"Rosetta" - "Visitor" - "Precipice"
"Whisper" - "Delete" - "Hereafter"
"Pariah" - "Recruit" - "Krypto"

Brilliant Clark-centric episode followed by either a FoTW episode or a weak filler episode.

Kind of sad to see that the pattern is consistent; it suggests that any outstanding episode focusing on Clark will be followed by a dud or two. Hope this trend changes in S6.

I think some of the best Smallville has been the more character centric episodes, like Mercy and Memoria, but when they can balance an episode so well among the entire cast like this it can be great.

You didn't mention one point related to this in your "Oracle" review, but I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on it: do you think balancing this episode between the entire cast was the reason why they needed two people to write the story (Neil Sadhu and Daniel Sulzberg) as well as someone to do the teleplay (Caroline Dries)? It seemed like an awful lot of effort went into crafting the story and script, and perhaps the reason was exactly this - that all of the character arcs were moving forward at the same time? Perhaps this is why we don't see so many episodes where all of the threads are brought together; logistically, it must be incredibly challenging.

But then, as you said in your review, the flow of the scenes in "Oracle" worked so well, one would never be able to guess whether it was difficult to piece it together or not.

Too bad the only Chloe centric episode this season was the severely subpar Tomb.

True, but she got a regular stint in pretty much every episode this season. A little of Chloe every week as opposed to one or two Chloe-centric shows; that's a trade-off I'm willing to make!

[triplet]

Originally posted by Krypto500
I definitely see your point. I kind of see "Vengeance" as following directly on from "Reckoning" - being on the verge of snapping a goon's neck, breaking down at the sight of Jonathan in the video; that must have been just as demanding on Tom Welling as the devastation when he found Lana at the crossroads. His character went to extremes over the course of those two episodes, and I sort of see them as complementing one another.

Yes, of course... the emotional tormoil of Vengeance doesn't mean as much to the viewer if you hadn't seen Reckoning.

They compliment each other beautifully.

Originally posted by Krypto500
Yeah, I hadn't noticed that before:

"Rosetta" - "Visitor" - "Precipice"
"Whisper" - "Delete" - "Hereafter"
"Pariah" - "Recruit" - "Krypto"

Brilliant Clark-centric episode followed by either a FoTW episode or a weak filler episode.

Kind of sad to see that the pattern is consistent; it suggests that any outstanding episode focusing on Clark will be followed by a dud or two. Hope this trend changes in S6.

I think with Lex's descent into his evil doer status we'll be seeing more of Lex in the sixth season, and probably a little less of Clark. Hopefully not too much less, however.

However, I contend that there is really no such thing as a filler episode.

There are very few episodes (we've had this discussion before) that had little value, so I disagree with the "filler" designation.

Something of value happens in almost every episode and there is usually at least some movement in a major story line or some development in the character arc of one of the major characters.

In my review of Ageless, I likened "filler" episodes to being like twinkies....

Do they have twinkies across the pond, even?

Maybe the analogy is lost on you if you don't know what a twinkie is...

It's a yellow sponge pastry that has a cream filling. They taste pretty good but aren't substantial at all and sometimes leave a weird after taste yet are surprisingly addictive...

Kinda like Smallville's "filler" episodes...

As much as I hated Ageless, there were some good things in it, and Clark learned and changed because of the events in that episode.

It was really a filler, now Craving on the other hand...

Originally posted by Krypto500
You didn't mention one point related to this in your "Oracle" review, but I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on it: do you think balancing this episode between the entire cast was the reason why they needed two people to write the story (Neil Sadhu and Daniel Sulzberg) as well as someone to do the teleplay (Caroline Dries)? It seemed like an awful lot of effort went into crafting the story and script, and perhaps the reason was exactly this - that all of the character arcs were moving forward at the same time? Perhaps this is why we don't see so many episodes where all of the threads are brought together; logistically, it must be incredibly challenging.

But then, as you said in your review, the flow of the scenes in "Oracle" worked so well, one would never be able to guess whether it was difficult to piece it together or not.

Hmmm... I'm not sure why the split.

It was a complicated series of events to tackle. Neil and Daniel's only Smallville previous writing effort was Lucy, so they've had some experience writing before although that episode doesn't particularly recommend them. They're probably young and inexperienced. I've seen no other pro credit for them whatsoever.

They're in the credits after Holly Harold as story editors, so they're on staff just maybe not regular writers.

Perhaps they worked out the basic ideas of the story but maybe the complexity of the episode was beyond them when it came to actually crafting the script.

*shrug*

I'm not sure I really understand how things work in the show's writers' room, despite Steven DeKnight's attempts to explain it in his myspace page.

I think I finally need to get around to watching that Writers' Room featurette on the 4th season DVD set...

Originally posted by Krypto500
True, but she got a regular stint in pretty much every episode this season. A little of Chloe every week as opposed to one or two Chloe-centric shows; that's a trade-off I'm willing to make!

True... she's played an important part in most of the season's episodes.

[Krypto500]

Originally posted by triplet
Do they have twinkies across the pond, even?

Maybe the analogy is lost on you if you don't know what a twinkie is...

I'm familiar with them, but thanks for the explanation!

I think with Lex's descent into his evil doer status we'll be seeing more of Lex in the sixth season, and probably a little less of Clark. Hopefully not too much less, however.

Kind of hoping it'll be an equal balance between them. I hear what you're saying about this being Clark's show, but it would be a nice case of the show's structure mirroring its story; it could reflect that they're adversaries now and on an equal footing, and nothing emphasises that more than an equal share of the story and the screen time.

However, I contend that there is really no such thing as a filler episode ... Something of value happens in almost every episode and there is usually at least some movement in a major story line or some development in the character arc of one of the major characters.

I totally agree, there's always at least a couple of moments or lines in the dialogue that make sitting through an otherwise mediocre 40 minutes worthwhile.

Thing is, I wonder if that's enough. A lot of fans have stopped watching the show specifically for that reason - they don't want to have to sit through three or four poor episodes before they see an outstanding one.

The saddest thing seems to be when the writers feel it's okay to have a weaker episode because it's ahead of a brilliant one. Key examples are the ones leading up to finales: "Ageless" being your episode of choice , but "Accelerate" and "Fade" arguably being others.

You speak highly of "Lockdown" in your review, and I agree that it had some excellent scenes in it, but there were a lot of flaws and inconsistencies as well. It seemed like everyone was looking forward to "Reckoning" - as you mention, you hadn't given Episode 99 much thought until you saw it - and perhaps the writers figured they could coast through it without any dramatic character work or development of the Superman mythos.

That said, with hindsight it seems like a lot of stuff did get done in "Lockdown": Lexana taking its first steps in 'real life' as opposed to in a near-death hallucination; Clark super-speeding through the explosion and being caught on camera; Clark realising that he needs to tell Lana the truth if he wants their relationship to have a chance. That's a fair bit of character- and story-related development for a 'filler' episode!