My Smallville Review

As many of you know, I'm Crazy4Smallville on the Smallville Ledger, Kryptonsite and Torch Message Boards. I"ve been posting my opinions on the Smallville episodes, since season one. No other show has my dedication like Smallville.

I will now start to share my reviews here on my blog each week after a new episode.


I hope you enjoy them.

Till Next Time,

T.L. Gray

Crazy4Smallville’s Weekly Review

Season 5
Episode 1
"Arrival”

“Wow – and What?” were my expressions in this episode. All the Superman references made me sit on the edge of my seat in jubilation. The fast paced actions that moved the scenes along, and the awesome construction of the fortress of solitude – these were my “Wow” moments. It felt like I was watching Superman, and it was good. But, then there were the “What” moments that mostly involved Lex, Lana and Lois and the Zod drones. Not about their actions, but the reasoning behind them. I’ll get to those in a little bit.


The Fortress of Solitude – It was excellent, and I’m so glad they made it like the one from the Superman movie. That was the first FOS that I remember, and it made me feel like I was back at home – back to that place of familiarity and security. Clark’s trek across the snow drifts reminded me a lot of the scene also from the movies when a young Clark made a similar trek. However, it wasn’t the same circumstances or the same story. This Clark had to return before his training was complete, unlike the Clark from the movies where the training took fourteen years. I had half hoped that he would have flown Chloe out of the FOS, with flight being one of the few things he did learn, but I saw no evidence by the end of the show that Clark had learned anything. I loved it that it looked for a moment, when he submitted himself to Jor-El that he had finally accepted his destiny, yet we see at the end of the episode that he has once again chosen a selfish path, a human path, (let me be a little more specific – a Lana path) and forsaken what his father had offered him. So, in essence he did not embrace his destiny and is running once again to fulfill his own desires. There was that one moment when Lana was unconscious, before the sun set, that Clark had an opportunity to return to Jor-El, but he chose not to. Jor-El warned him that his decisions endanger the whole world, yet he still made it.

Chloe/Clark – It’s about time! I LOVED her references, “Super Clark”, “faster than a speeding bullet” & “take me with you”. Those were priceless. This is where the contrasting sacrifices are made evident. When Clark decided to stop his training to save Chloe, it was to save her life. But, when Clark didn’t return to Jor-El that evening because of Lana, it wasn’t to save her life, because the danger had already passed, it was for his own selfish desire, therefore causing his decision to jeopardize the whole world. It was after Clark had lost his powers, by making the decision that he did, that caused “Braniac” to surface. But, I suppose we did need a bad guy this season, other than Lex, to help Clark see his true calling in life is beyond Lana.

I thought Clark & Chloe’s conversation fell a little short of spectacular. I loved her reaction to him, when she found out that he wasn’t a mutant – but an alien, but I was disappointed that she didn’t tell him how she had helped him out when he had lost his memory just a few months earlier. Clark’s reaction was a little confusing. He seemed reserved of emotion. It just seemed odd – considering how much he over reacted to Alicia when she knew about his powers. That was the whole basis of his attraction to Alicia – the fact that she knew about him and accepted him for what he was. With Chloe, he doesn’t have to ‘wait and see’ if she’s going to be faithful with the knowledge, she’s already proven that she has been. I was surprised that when Chloe mentioned him catching a car with his bare hands, that he didn’t even mention Alicia’s name. Overall, I’m glad they had “The Talk”. Now, we can see them working together – the way it should be.

The graphics with the FOS in Chloe's eyes was awesome!

Clark/Lex – Well, it seems that Lex has plummeted over to the other side. Let me rephrase that – it seems that Alexander is still on the loose. I’m still convinced that the ‘good Lex’ is gone forever, and that it was “bad Alexander” that survived the personality meld from Onyx. I like this Lex much better. He’s devious, more daring and more in-your-face. But, there’s still something lacking. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe it’s because he hasn’t been given enough screen time and the true story of his intentions hasn’t been made clear, but I don’t mind being in the dark – for now. There’s always been an air of mystery surrounding Lex, and I think that is what makes him so appealing. This episode showed the real Clark/Lex relationship – with all their mistrust of each other, the way it should be.

The manipulative Lex shows his colors with Lana too. I loved it! So, he covered up Lana’s butcher job of Genevieve to make it look like she was murdered by a meteor instead. NOW, it will be Lana who carries around the secrets and hides things from Clark and be the reason for the lies and distrust in their relationship – and all thanks to Lex. He’s a genius.

Lana – Ok – I loved that Lana finally showed some selflessness by deceiving the aliens into following her back to the Luthor Mansion and exposing them to Kryptonite. But, what I don’t understand is where her blatant animosity came from? Yes, she saw a spaceship and then two aliens with superpowers – but she seemed to have had an instant hatred of them, and zeal to destroy them. This seemed very misplaced and judgmental. She didn’t know what their intentions were. When Clark first approached them, he at least asked them who they were, what they wanted and then made a determination as to what side they were on, based on their actions. Lana judged them before they even opened their mouths. Could she have judged them when they blew up the police cars with their eyes? Well, weren’t they being shot at? They could have been acting in self defense. But, Lana had already judged and condemned them. What will that do to her perception of all aliens? How will Clark ever be able to reveal to her the full truth about him? He won’t be able to. He already knows how she judges “meteor freaks”, and now her opinion on aliens will be the same. What chance does the boy have? I think Lex is a better companion for Lana, because he’s the complete opposite and could balance her out. However, I wonder about his devotion – look how long it took for him to help her on the road. I was about ready to slap the man upside his head going “Can’t you see she’s about to collapse – are you just going to stand there?” Also, how many times is the poor girl going to hurt her leg?

Lois – I love her, I really do, but I didn’t see a need for her in this episode. Yes, she helped out the Kent’s, but other than that she left no impression. She still chided with Clark with her bantering and insults (which I love between those two) but I thought that had she not been there, it wouldn’t have changed anything in the story.

The Kent’s – I think I’m going to name them “Super Mom and Super Dad”. Who gets beat up and thrown around more than Jonathan Kent? The man is a superhero unto himself. Their love and strength for one another is amazing. If I were a scientist, I’d be checking out their well water. There must be some meteor rocks in the well that gives them resilience.

Lex/Chloe – How in the heck did Lex find Chloe? If I were Chloe, I wouldn’t leave with a Luthor. I think it’s a nice twist, and I can’t wait to find out what happens, but this was one of the surprises in last night’s episode - that, along with ‘Braniac” surfacing from the dark ship. So, Lex now finally has his spaceship, but it seems he’s lost the ‘key’ again. Will he think that ship was the same one his father and Dr. Hamilton had found, and that houses that key – or will he know that it’s a different ship?

The Aliens - What? No fight, no great battle, no - nothing? I loved the spinning rings, the Phantom Zone and the prism prison - those were priceless. But, I was dissappointed by the lack of action and battle. They were weighed and measured and found wanting.

Overall, I was glad to see my Smallville back. I’ve missed them. I found many things exciting about Arrival, and it reminded me so much of the Superman that I fell in love with as a young girl. I look forward to the rest of the season.

This has been Crazy4Smallville’s weekly review. Till Next Time!