"Subterranean"
Review!
Written
by Triplet
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NOTE:
This review discusses major plot points. Read no further if
you wish to remain unspoiled.
Well, well,
well. This episode wasn't as bad as I had feared, despite some
strangeness I found the episode highly enjoyable.
One huge
point in its favor was that the leading man of the show was
back in a leading role in the episode. On top of being very
Clark-centric, Tom looking gorgeous in "Subterranean"
was just icing.
Tom did
a wonderful job. When he went to Jed McNally's farm to scope
out the situation, Clark actually thought of a good reason to
get there. "I was hoping you might have a spare pivot pin?"
I have no idea what that is, but him asking the farmer for that
gave him a legitimate reason to be at his farm. He did it in
a way that would not easily raise suspicion. That was a very
nice touch.
I love that
Clark isn't taking a back seat to Chloe anymore in the investigating-things
department. Chloe is great, but Clark should do more on his
own without depending on the super-computing powers of Chloe.
It's a very nice thing to see Clark actually go out and do some
investigating and do it believably.
Clark is
also stubborn when it comes to helping others, no matter what.
Clark helped an illegal alien, who just wanted to see his mom.
It wasn't legal, but it was the right thing to do. It's the
kind of compassion that makes Superman the kind of hero he is.
It's nice to see signs of that in Smallville.
Tom had
a great chemistry with the kid who played Javier (guest star
Tyler Posey). Tyler played the earnest young Javier ably. Although
I wish his hair hadn't been quite so long, it made it hard to
see his eyes sometimes.
I was a
bit confused about exactly what Jed McNally (guest star John
Novak) was doing and how Clark beat him at the end. How did
his power to move through earth help his farm succeed? Why was
he still working the farm if Luthorcorp had bought it? That
was confusing, but he was sort of funny. Jed McNally looked
a lot like the bad guys in the old Scooby Doo cartoons. He even
had the dusty fedora. Too bad some of the hammy dialogue was
also typical of a Scooby Doo episode. Anyway, McNally was a
typical meteor freak so it didn't really get in the way of my
enjoying the episode.
I loved
Michael Rosenbaum in this episode. Lex has gone fully into Evil-Criminal-Mastermind
mode and I love it. He did really well in the scene with Lana
after she came back from Amsterdam. His face went through a
wide range of emotions. When she was talking about the money
and the power it gives, Lex looked happy she seemed corrupted
by the money. But when she said wanted to use the power for
good and then his face fell, confused and concerned that maybe
she hadn't been fully corrupted just yet.
The scene
at level 33.1, with poor Jed McNally laid out on the exam table
in a coma, was terrific. There's no wishy-washy-ness going on
here with Lex's intent. He's all out evil now, and that scene
at the end with him walking past the cells of the poor souls
he's kidnapped and tortured was awesome. He's cold and evil
now.
As much
as I liked this episode for Tom and Michael, it made me feel
sorry for Kristin Kreuk. This episode had Lana going back to
being a good little girl again. Will she be good or evil in
the next episode, Hydro? I'm betting evil since she seems to
be flip-flopping every episode, but I guess we'll find out.
I really
hope the writers and producers have a good plan for Lana, because
I'm confused by what they are taking her. I just hope it all
makes sense once they get her there.
I loved
Aaron's Jimmy in this episode. I think he has great chemistry
with Allison Mack and I really enjoyed the scenes they had together.
Jimmy speaking more loudly so that Javier could understand him
was painfully embarrassing but also endearing. Later, his line,
"I'm your bro not your foe," was funny. Jimmy's so
clueless, he's adorable.
Allison
was awesome in this episode. Her Chloe was so enamored of Jimmy
it was cute. I'm not sure I'd love my boyfriend being quite
that clue-less, but she played it beautifully. Also, her hair
was gorgeous this episode. I'm not sure what they're doing differently,
but they should keep it up.
The script
by Caroline Dries wasn't quite as good as her previous efforts
(Cyborg and Oracle), but part of that might have been because
they likely had to do some re-shoots to get it to fit in the
current continuity. This episode was filmed fifth and was supposed
to air in the slot that Reunion took before the episodes were
reshuffled. That first Lex and Lana scene, which definitely
had been re-shot since it directly referenced the proposal in
the 8th episode "Static," was particularly stiff.
Not knowing what else changed, it's hard to say how much that
was a factor but I think that must have affected it.
The episode
was beautifully shot by Glen Winter. The ending of the "Subterranean"
was especially well done. I loved the music from AFI and the
terrifically dramatic lighting. The low angle hand-held shot
of Lex as he walked along the hallway, going in and out of the
light spilling out from the cells, spoke volumes about whether
or not he's really gone over to the "dark side." He
definitely has now, so it's nice to see it expressed so beautifully
visually. The music really helped that moment work too, it was
a terrific choice.
All in all,
despite some strangeness with McNally and some awkward dialogue,
this was a pretty enjoyable outing for Smallville. I give the
episode 3.5 trips to Amsterdam to view rare Vermeer's out of
a possible 5.0.
Note:
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