A mixed bag in last night’s episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (as opposed to the 100% rock solid kick-ášš “Smallville.” Holy COW was that a hëll of a show.)
New slayers have been showing up through the expedient of walking in the front door, so spending a whole episode searching for one seemed to stretch things out. Also, the First’s stronghold seems to be in Sunnydale because of the Hellmouth: He’s capping slayers worldwide and he only just now notices there’s one in his backyard?
I had very little problem when the notion of who and how slayers get called was nebulous backstory. Now that it’s become front and center what the show is about, the mechanics of it (or lack thereof) are starting to piss me off.
And…wait. If Buffy dies, a slayer is called? Since when? Buffy’s death activated Kendra, Kendra’s activated Faith. At this point, Buffy’s death shouldn’t be able to activate a toaster oven because the line of succession runs through Faith. If that’s not the case, we’ve got a big honkin’ question: What happened to the Slayer who must/should have been activated when Buffy died fighting Glory? There should be at least one more Slayer wandering around out there. Now who knows, maybe that’s a plot point they’ll get to. But if *I’m* asking these questions, why the hëll aren’t Buffy and pals?
The scene kicking off Act II with the “discovery” of Dawn’s status was just absolutely endless. Would that they’d trimmed it by two minutes so we could see the Wannaslays going head to head with the vamp in the crypt. A major test for them and we see them chatting about it afterward? Whatever happened to the fundamental writing precept of “show, don’t tell.”
Still, the episode was largely worth it for that final scene with Dawn and Xander. I kept waiting for him to refer to himself as “the Zeppo.” Still, whereas last season’s Dawn pity-party seemed unfounded (your sister’s back from the grave! Be happy and shut up!), this season’s similar go-around comes across as far more justified, especially since Buffy promised she was going to be working more with Dawn and suddenly is treating her like out-of-fashion shoes.
And we didn’t have to spend an episode trying to catch Giles touching something.
Now “Smallville” on the other hand–if you’re not watching the following hour on the WB, you are screwing yourself. The show’s firing on all cylinders, and last night’s episode brought a lot of simmering plot lines to a full boil. Everything from Jonathan Kent’s frustration with his wife (I’m sorry, but he had a point; you just don’t blow off your anniversary celebration to work on a Sunday) to Clark’s slo-mo vault from the Daily Planet rooftop (and the guest appearance of comic book’s Maggie Sawyer) just worked as you sensed you were watching something truly mythic unfolding.
PAD
PAD
• 
That depends on what you consider “The Superman we all know,” PAD. Smallville is more like the Byrne remake, which is pretty much still in effect over at DC. Clark was never Superboy, and his powers emerged slowly throughout his life on into high school, just like on the show. The creators of Smallville even admit to being inspired by “Man of Steel.”
I think the Smallville Superman just has to blur his face, or not hang around for interviews much, or something…
Plus, it’s not like the glasses were a very credible dual identity in the first place.
Reminds me of that scene from Mystery Men:
“Lance Hunt wears glasses! Captain Amazing *doesn’t* wear glasses!”
“He takes them off when he transforms.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Then he wouldn’t be able to see!”
Ah-Ha! What if it’s SUPERMAN who wears the glasses?????
Oh, another bug – is kryptonite a crystal or a metal? Lana’s necklace (woo-hoo! white kryptonite!) seems crystaline, but Lionel’s bars sure seem metallic to me.
Anybody else want to see Abin Sur show up sans costume to check on the anomoly that fell to Earth 12 years ago? I could see Clark getting weirded out by the green glow of this strange bald fellow’s ring.
Re: Smallville
This show is quite good — far better than “Lois & Clark,” which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. The acting, the writing, and direction are far superior.
Anyway, I think Smallville can easily morph into the Superman we all know — just that the relationship between Clark and Lex will be different — Lex will probably know that Clark is Superman. I also think that perhaps Lex will be a different sort of villain (he’s certainly not ever going to become the slimeball that Lex is in the comics — maybe more like Dr. Doom).
And what I’d like to see is, once the series ends, for the cast to “spin-off” into an official “Superman” movie series (it might take some convincing from Welling, but really, wouldn’t you love to essentially see the debut of Superman, from the “Smallville” continuity on the big screen?)
What I find interesting about Smallville is that the best things about the show are the aspects which will make it most difficult to segue into the “adult Superman universe.” Lex’s friendship with Clark and Lex’s attempts to be a decent human being are the most prominent examples.
If the show goes off the air around the time Clark graduates from high school, this will all make some minimal sort of sense. We can assume that Clark went off to college and then perhaps to graduate school. He lost touch with Lex, and maybe with his other friends from Smallville. Possibly, he decided Lex had become too evil and ruthless to remain his friend. As Clark grew into an adult, his appearance changed. And, of course, he started wearing glasses and slouching. On the rare occasions when his friends saw him, they thought, “Clark sure has changed. He used to look robust and athletic, kind of like Superman. Now he’s gotten really mild-mannered.”
On the other hand, if the show remains successful, the characters will probably end up going to Smallville U. together, so the show can stay on the air, and it will cease to make any sense continuity-wise.
I agree, by the way, that this is the best episode of Smallville in a while. I just wish the contrast weren’t so obvious. I’d just about given up on the show. I’m glad they’ve finally done an episode this season where the plot twists weren’t obvious far in advance. I was genuinely surprised by most of the second half, and there was some real doubt as to what was going to happen next.
–Daniel
PAD writes: “Notice how Clark always sports primary colors of blue and red? I love that.”
But of course! I love it too! They’ve been making it more and more obvious, too… this most recent episode had *everybody* else wearing browns, greys, blacks… so Clark’s outfit REALLY stood out in comparison.
(There’s also the great line in the red kryptonite episode, when the biker chick sees him and goes, “Who’s the hunk in the primary colors?”)
As far as segue-ing into the classic Superman universe… I have some questions about that, too. For example, isn’t it strange that the Smallville universe already has superhero comic books, and that the archetypal “Superhero” image of a guy in a cape and tights already exists (as we see in the paintings of the high school’s mascot)? How would this be, if this world hasn’t yet had a Superman?
Ah, well… it’s just a TV show! (But one that I adore.)
RE: Comics in “Smallville.”
I also have a problem with this. Barry Allen and Peter Parker can be influenced by comics, but Superman? The Big Daddy of heroes? No way.
Re: Clark’s “secret identity”
I doubt he would even have to slouch. And the glasses would be a logical touch (people asked why Clark in “Lois and Clark” had glasses prior to adopting a Superman identity) — it shows a realistic weakness in someone who doesn’t get sick (eye strain), especially considering his career path.
I don’t believe people would really link Superman to Clark. If Clark is intelligent enough to not be photographed (at least up close) as Superman, he should be fine.
RE: Lex
I don’t have a problem with his not being a rat bášŧárd (I thought the post-Crisis Lex was too much a jerk to even be a worthy adversary for Superman). No, Lex should be like Doom — an almost “honorable” villain.
I’d also like to see their relationship mimic Judas and Christ, but more in the “Jesus Christ, Superstar” since — Judas is disenchanted with Christ, thinks he’s going about things all wrong.
In other words, I see Lex not as Snidely Whiplash but as someone who wants to rule the world because he thinks he could rule it best (again, like Dr. Doom).
I agree. With Rosenbaum making Lex so intriguing a character, the best way to go would be to give him an “honorable” aspect. Dr. Doom is an excellent model; nice thinking on that one.
Jason
There was a hint as to where the Clark/Lex relationship might end up going in “Ryan” – when Lex is telling Ryan the Warrior Angel story, he mentions that WA and Devilicus (I think the name was) fell out because Devilicus wanted he and WA to rule together, and WA was too much the good guy.
I could easily see that happening on Smallville. Lex just isn’t stupid enough to not figure out about Clark eventually – I mean, how many times has he come close already? – and when he finally does, he tries to pull the Darth Vader on him, and when Clark refuses he finally goes bad. Yeah, he’ll know Clark is Superman, but doesn’t that make it MORE interesting?
JLK
Hey, keep in mind that in the post-Byrne continuity, Superman wasn’t the first guy in tights and cape; the golden age Green Lantern was. We’ve never (to my knowledge) ever seen Superman acknowledge that (did he idolize any of these guys growing up????) While the show hasn’t made any mention to the Mystery Men of old (though I think Hourman could fit in pretty well on Smallville) it hasn’t ruled them out, either. People tend to accept the fantastic pretty easily in Smallville.
You know what would have been cool? If they had super-hero comics on Smallville, but they all starred characters like Zorro and the Lone Ranger and the Shadow. At least, I think that would be cool.
–Daniel
Rob: ” Hey, keep in mind that in the post-Byrne continuity, Superman wasn’t the first guy in tights and cape; the golden age Green Lantern was.”
***Really? Well, I could never keep that in mind before, because I didn’t know about it! 🙂
***But that’s really interesting. And yeah, that does make it easier to accept the proliferation of cape-and-tights iconography in the “Smallville” universe.
***Man, I love this blog and its discussions! I always learn so much!
Greetings,
Well…not a major Buffy observation but one thing that clicked with me was one of the SiTs stating that they were fifteen. Does that mean Willow will not only get into another lesbian relationship but get into one with jailbait?
Wizard went with the idea that Lex refuses to acknowledge that “smallville” Clark is Superman. That he hates Supes because deep down he knows the truth, that his friend lied to him for years.
I could see this working. Lex sees Superman for the first time, Clark nervous that Lex is goiing to give away the secret and Lex seems ignorant of the truth, but irrationaly hates Superman.
Smallville:
My thoughts on this show: Everyone wants to bring in Bruce Wayne as a guest appearance.
I personally would rather go with another wealthy, spoiled brat, who also had a talent for stopping bad things happening. I’m talking about a blond haired, green eyed young Ollie Queen.
But that’s me.
Travis
> I personally would rather go with another wealthy, spoiled brat, who also had a talent for stopping bad things happening. I’m talking about a blond haired, green eyed young Ollie Queen.
But didn’t they slip a “Queen Industries Head lost at sea” headline into a newspaper once?
In no particular order:
To Randall Kirby, you brought up *which* exact point a few weeks ago?
To Arthur Cadeaux, the last I heard the Hellblazer movie was still moving forward with Arthur Cadeaux in the lead.
I don’t remember somebody who repeated the rumor that Nicholas Brendan would join the cast of Angel but I just saw a news item on the Sci-Fi Web site that said Brendan hadn’t been approached and wouldn’t be interested if he was. Still it would be interesting since all the characters seem to love Angel to pieces. Xander’s feelings about Angel and his past with Cordelia would make for some interesting story possibilities. (We never got to see the Buffy/Angel x-over *I* wanted to see when both shows were on the WB, a meeting between both shows Scoobies’.)
Also someone mentioned that we always assume characters on these shows are right and accurate when they speak. Kinda reminds me of PAD’s classic story where the Leader told the Hulk he would set off the bomb in one hour, the Hulk got to it before the hour was up so the Leader set it off early.
What struck me about this week’s BTVS that no one has brought up is the fact that the characters continue to labor under the misapprehension that Dawn is deaf. How many times are they going to play that soap opera card that they’re talking about Dawn only later to be shocked, *shocked* that she overheard them while she was in the same house with them. And isn’t it about time Xander the Builder puts bars up on Dawn the Girl Hostage’s window?
Also when Buffy and Co. realize that Plot Contrivance Girl is the other potential, they just add her to the sorority house. Um, doesn’t this girl have parents or other family? I guess this is just one of those Sunnydale quirks that keeps the neighbors from calling the largely inexisting police force when a group of demons in monk’s robes smash through the windows of the Sommer’s house or when Buffy or one of her friends starts marching down the street with a battleaxe or broadsword.
I like the idea of Xander as a watcher. I’m surprised that no one has mentioned the parallel that Giles seems to have had a less than sedate past himself and was probably once quite the screw-up.
It would also be nice to see a character grow and change. Comic book fans in particular seem to love stories about The Future like “Kingdom Come” where characters have evolved or changed but when any changes are made in monthly in-continuity books, they stomp their feet and hold their breath until everything is changed right back to the Way It’s Always Been (Yes, I’m talking to you, Byrne and Larsen….) In many ways, Xander has already been the character who’s grown and matured the most. The very fact that he would not be the most obvious choice would be interesting. He would be, symbolically as well as literally, the first American watcher.
As for Smallville, a few thoughts as well.
Someone asked why Clark would be afraid of heights if he was invulnerable. Think of it this way, compared to you and me, the Terminator is indestructible but that doesn’t mean it can’t be destroyed. Clark is still learning the limits of his powers. Really, how *would* someone find out that he was bulletproof? “Well, I seem pretty tough. Tell you what, why don’t you pick up that .357 Magnum over there and aim it at my head?”
To Aaron, why would they kill off Whitney? I think that’s the smartest thing they’ve done. The one thing that bothered me about Smallville through the first season was how creepy Clark Kent was portrayed as being. How many episodes ended with Clark watching someone else’s girlfriend secretly with his telescope? Change that from Tom Welling to, say, Crispin Glover and let’s face it, the guy’s a stalker. Whitney was portrayed as being a bit of a jerk but not really a bad guy so the fact that Clark was constantly trying to make time with his girl seemed really slimy to me. I guess that he served some function as a reason to keep the Romeo-Juliet thing going (otherwise you look at these two pretty actors and say to yourself, “Yeah, like these two *wouldn’t* get together…”) but while Lana seemed to be basically happy, Clark could only be a loser or a playa trying to steal someone else’s girl.
Has anyone considered this: Giles and Anya go to see the Oracle, which says the anomaly in the Slayer Power was caused by the Slayer. Everyone assumes this anomaly is Buffy returning from the dead, but just minutes later, Anya is bemoaning the fact that it’s her fault (and Willow’s, and Tara’s, and Xander’s) that Buffy came back from the dead, and therefore their fault that the First has this opening to strike. Coming back from the dead wasn’t really Buffy’s doing, either time, so I don’t think the Oracle is talking about Buffy’s resurrection. When the Oracle is referring to the Slayer, I think it’s talking about Faith, and not Buffy, and that the anomaly was Faith killing an innocent and turning bad. At that point, she was the “official” Slayer, and turning bad was her doing.
When the Oracle is referring to the Slayer, I think it’s talking about Faith, and not Buffy, and that the anomaly was Faith killing an innocent and turning bad. At that point, she was the “official” Slayer, and turning bad was her doing.
That’s possible. The anomaly could also be Buffy’s summoning of the First Slayer or…any number of other things. However, keep in mind that Buffy’s second death was a conscious decision on her part, and involved mystical energy.
On another topic, I’m getting really curious about Amanda’s…male acquaintance. Amanda (the newest Slayer-in-training) keeps going on about how this guy’s been picking on her and she picks on him back and does that mean he likes her? Maybe the writers have been emphasizing this point because of the obvious parallels to Buffy’s relationship to Spike, but I’m getting a feeling that they’re setting up a new plot thread. Any guesses on who the mystery man will turn out to be?
–Daniel
Screwing myself? I wish…if I could do that…
But seriously, and I don’t take offense at the comment because it was made in ignorance (and I know Peter David won’t be offended by this comment because he knows what the word actually means), but I live in very rural America. I don’t have a WB station I can watch. In fact, I have CBS and NBC. No ABC, no FOX, no nothing else. I’d love to watch “Smallville”, but it simply isn’t happening. As soon as the budget permits, I’m hoping to ad it to my satelite programming.
Please don’t write me that I’m insulting the site’s host. I know the “screw” comment wasn’t made in anything but an entertaining vain. Actually, it’s a very entertaining visual if you try to picture it in your mind.
buffy rocks i sure hope sarah wants to come back for an 8th season i would do anything to see spike and buffy rreunited