NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! D*mn WB! D*mn Baseball! How dare they pre-empt Smallville for this! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


DEATH TO THE WB! DEATH TO BASE BALL!!!!

Ok, so I'm overreacting. I know it'll be on this Sunday. Until then, I've got last night's Stargate from Sci-Fi to keep me happy.

I will survive. Really, I will

Marc

Don't ya just love the way little pieces of the movie music are used to punctuate certain scenes?

Clark’s powers can somehow make it difficult to write certain scenes, much like Trek’s holodecks and replicators. When Clark racing home at the end of the second to last Act, rather than running into the barn and just looking around with his normal optical vision, Clark should’ve stopped outside the barn, perhaps a good distance away, and used his X-Ray vision to see if anyone was inside moving around. Instead, Clark only sees Dr. Walden when Walden walks out from behind a doorwary. Okay, fine, he didn’t use his X-Ray vision. The first thing I would’ve done when Dr. Walden showed himself would be to run up to him with my super speed, and then coldcock him. But Clark instead lets Walden knock him right through the wall of the barn, then allows him to blast him again with a levitation beam. While Clark is able to break the levitation beam by flashing Walden with his heat vision, Clark again allows Walden to get off a third shot. Clark does manage to evade it, but you’d think he’d know enough by now to use his speed to his advantage.

Nice to have an episode that begins with a happy ending! Also, good to see that Lionel Luthor now has increased motivation to look at Clark as a tool to be controlled and manipulated. Rather than taking the direct approach and attempting to kidnap/extort Clark, he intends to work through Chloe, the trusted friend. Excellent!

When Clark racing home at the end of the second to last Act, rather than running into the barn and just looking around with his normal optical vision, Clark should’ve stopped outside the barn, perhaps a good distance away, and used his X-Ray vision to see if anyone was inside moving around.- Luigi Novi
At that point, Clark had heard the squeal from the key, but I don't think he was aware of the nature of the problem. He had no reason to believe that Dr. Walden was in his barn, because Lex had told Clark earlier that evening that Dr. Walden was on his way to the hospital. Besides, Clark has a terrible track record with thinking through the problem before rushing in and flexing his abilities.

Wall of Weird Item of the Week: What's with the long, pregnant pause between Clark, Lana, Chloe and Pete in the Talon? When Chloe and Pete leave, Clark frets that Lana told Chloe about their special birthday celebration. No, Clark, you told Chloe everything she needed to know by flashing looks at Lana. And Lana confirmed it by giving her best "deer in the headlights" look. Just tell Chloe the same thing you've been telling her since 3rd grade, you're sweet on Lana and it looks like you'll be dating.

I'm sure you know this already, but just to state it here, that was Terence Stamp, aka "General Zod" from the first two Superman movies as the voice of Jor-El.

Well, I finally got a chance to see the episode tonight. I'll nit it tomorrow. One thing that I recall right off the bat: When the ship begins glowing, you see the beacon of light through the cellar door. Lana had left only seconds before, so why didn't she notice it?


Besides, Clark has a terrible track record with thinking through the problem before rushing in and flexing his abilities.
-Obi Juan

As I understand it, this is a problem he's had all throughout the Superman mythology. It's a perfectly understandable idea. After all, he's invincible, why should he worry? Of course, once you bring Kryptonite and super-villains into the mix, it makes things even more interesting.

Marc

Ok, here's my nits, for what it's worth (though I note that there hasn't been too much discussion on this episode).

In the beginning, Lana comes up to the barn with the cake to surprise Clark and says that she took a chance he'd be up. To me, it seems an awfully big chance. Wouldn't it have been a better bet to have just come over earlier that evening, or even the next day?

While the camera shows Clark with his eyes covered (same scene), the captioning shows the word 'Hey'. I didn't hear anything said, though. Did anyone else?

Clark's 'birthday' is just some day his parents picked off the calendar? What, at random? In most stories like this (a person is adopted without knowing the actual b-day), the birthday is celebrated as the day of adoption.

I find Clark's reaction a little odd in general, since I'd imagine that even if he didn't have birthday parties, his parents still did something special on his birthday. After all, like Lana says, it's nice to celebrate the day someone comes into your life.

I'm a little confused by the whole 'will you stand in as the parents of the groom for me' thing. Jonathan does not like Lex, at all. At best he merely tolerates his friendship with Clark. And yet here, from the moment he walks into the kitchen, Jonathan is all smiles.

Why are Clark and Lana so concerned about Chloe knowing about them? Clark's been in love with Lana since he was three, and it's been obvious from the last few episodes that Chloe knows he still cares about Lana. Lana and Chloe both agreed not to let him come between their friendship. So why all the secrecy?

Why in the world didn't Helen label Clark's blood sample? I doubt she has a seperate fridge, so why would she risk getting it mixed up with other samples? I'm not saying she should put 'Clark Kent' on the vial, but she should mark it in some manner. For that matter, why in the world would she keep that vial right in the office where anything could happen to it (up to someone coming in and stealing it). If it's that important, shouldn't she put it someplace a lot more secure?

Why does Helen think Jonathan broke into her office? It's not like he knew she had the blood sample (since it wasn't labled, even if he'd seen the sample, it's not like he'd know what was in it).

When Dr. Walden blows the glass out, watch carefully. You'll see that Lex is thrown back just before the glass actually shatters.

Speaking of that, why in the world would you put a delusional man in a room with a glass wall? Obviously they considered him a threat of some sort (the padded walls). Most psychiatric hospitals have cameras installed inorder to observe patients. There's a lot less risk of the patient breaking through a window (with or without super-powers) and hurting themselves or others. Also, I'd think given the padded walls, Dr. Walden would be put in a straight jacket as well.

Then there's the security at the facility. Like I said, most psychiatric hospitals use cameras to monitor the patients. That way, if someone escapes from their room, security knows about it and can make some attempt to stop them, rather than just letting them waltz right out of the building (which I have to assume Walden did, given the lack of mention (or sight of) security when Lex is talking to Clark. And we won't even get into the lighting.

In the scene between Lana and Helen, assuming that this is the same chart as Helen was showing Lex at the hospital, how would Lana know what everything represents?

Why would Lana think Helen's having second thoughts about the wedding just because she's concerned about the rivalries between her relatives?

Why is Martha Kent's file in all capitals, when the files immediately surrounding it in both capital and lower case letters?

And of course again, we see the fabled Luthor security in action. Lionel is not welcome at the manor, and yet he seems to have no problem coming or going at will.

The Kryptonian prophecy reads The day is coming when the last son will begin his quest to rule the third planet. Why specify which planet? There aren't too many to choose from in the solar system that the prophecy is written, unless the prophet is referring to a galaxy far, far away. Of course it is possible he thought Clark would get confused and try to conquer Venus...

I have to get going know (Criminal Intent is on), so I'll post more nits tomorrow.

Marc

March Lechowicz: I'm a little confused by the whole 'will you stand in as the parents of the groom for me' thing. Jonathan does not like Lex, at all. At best he merely tolerates his friendship with Clark. And yet here, from the moment he walks into the kitchen, Jonathan is all smiles.
Luigi Novi: I think Jonathan and Lex developed a rapport when Jonathan took him in in Prodigal.

March Lechowicz: Why are Clark and Lana so concerned about Chloe knowing about them? Clark's been in love with Lana since he was three, and it's been obvious from the last few episodes that Chloe knows he still cares about Lana. Lana and Chloe both agreed not to let him come between their friendship. So why all the secrecy?
Luigi Novi: Clark and Lana are now an item, and that change in the status quo is something that could affect Chloe emotionally. They just want to pick the right time to tell her.

Good points, Luigi.

Marc (not March )