It’s been a while since I put on the spurs. I missed a couple of episodes, got behind, didn’t even know where to start to catch up, and then just kind of backburnered it. But let’s start climbing back in while we’ve still got some season left of stuff, shall we?
Spoilers:
SMALLVILLE: It’s been an interesting season thus far, and stronger than the one before, even if it fell victim–yet again–to the infuriating reset-to-status-quo-no-matter-how-much-it-hurts syndrome after the first couple of episodes.
As one of the foremost advocates of the Chloe-is-Lois theory, I’m not too proud to say I’m happy to be wrong. Opinion seems divided on Lois, but personally, I like her. There’s any number of females on TV that have guts, determination, drive, etc. But Lois has got spunk. The last time I saw a female on TV with spunk, it was Mary Richards. I like spunk. If you’re Lou Grant, then you probably hate Lois, and she’s a welcome addition.
I am somewhat torqued over the demise of Clark’s teleporting girlfriend. She threw herself into harm’s way to save Clark, and I thought, Man, how cliched that they’re killing her off just when she’s getting interesting. And lo and behold, they DIDN’T kill her off and I thought, Marvelous! Brilliant! They avoided the cliche! Better yet, they stood it on its ear. Well done. And then she’s dead the following week. Cliche wins.
Still, the one good to come out of it was that Chloe has now become Pete Ross of the comics; the boyhood friend of Clark who knows his identity and doesn’t let Clark know about that awareness. So that’s cool as Chloe has a new role in the series, yet it’s organic in the way that it happened.
Inorganic, on the other hand, is the only way to describe Lana, the human plot device.
Here’s the problem with Lana: Clark? Never gonna get laid. Not gonna happen, kids. Absolutely never. If they were making Superman II today, Clark would give up his powers and then he and Lois would go and take in dinner and a show. The DC of today places far too much value on the family-friendly importance of the “S.” Witness “Lois and Clark,” in which not only didn’t they have sex until they were married, but it was made explicitly clear that Clark was a virgin. Which means that Lana is by definition a dead-end character because the relationship can only go so far and no further.
So she’s there instead to serve whatever function is required. She’s the girl who Clark pines after but is involved with a swaggering jock…until that dead ended. So the jock vanished and now Clark could pursue her. Until that dead ended for the reasons stated above. So now she’s…I dunno what. A refugee from a “Charmed” storyline. I have no clue what the hëll is going on with her. It’s certainly not the actress’ fault. It’s not even the writers’ “fault” because the situation as it is is problematic. There’s a constant sense of “What do we do about Lana?” in the same way that one worries about a problem child. But, geez, now she’s a combination of Endora and Xena as she and Clark play “Romancing the Krypton Stone?” And the palace is guarded for centuries by an idol with Kryptonite in the eys, except Kryptonite was created by the explosion of the planet which didn’t happen until centuries later, so what the fork is up with THAT? It’s total breakdown in interior logic such as that that makes me worry they’re really just kinda making it up as they go and praying nobody notices. Guys? We’re noticing.
Nice send off to Doctor Swann though.
WEST WING: Y’know, a lot of people are claiming the current season is better than the last one. But I’m watching last season’s on Bravo and, y’know, that one is starting to look better in comparison, and I wasn’t that wild about it during the initial run.
This week was definitely a nadir. Personally, I had no problem with Leo having a heart attack because, hey, šhìŧ happens. Nor, after some initial thought, did I have a problem with CJ as COS. The problem is that the campaign episodes in particular have been impressively one-note. For a show that benefits from an interweaving of complex an and challenging storylines, this season oftentimes seems dumbed down and simplistic.
Sometimes it’s downright painful. Bartlett becoming increasingly marginalized. Abbey looking like she’d rather be back at Rydell High or anywhere else.
And my God, did they go off the rails this week. It’s like they’re coming up with scenes specifically for insertion in promos. Josh and Toby in a FISTFIGHT? Are you freaking KIDDING me? Bad enough that the episode looked like it was directed by a drunken carousel horse. But this…? I can’t help but wonder if Schiff and Whitford read the scripts, called each other and said, “You wanna call in sick this week?” I mean, yeah, okay, it was a mildly interesting twist that the woman Toby was talking to was the new candidate and you didn’t realize it because they never assigned a pronoun to her when talking about her earlier. But, y’know, so what? So the candidate’s a woman. To quote the leader of the Black ‘Lectroids, “So what? Big deal.”
There have been some bright spots. AnnaBeth is a marvelous addition, but I suspect that’s largely because Kristen Chenoweth is one of those rarest of commodities, a writer-proof actress. Her voice, perkiness and physicality are an irresistable blend, although kudos must be given to whoever thought up the notion of putting her and CJ together in a walk-and-talk. Having her fall into step next to CJ, start talking, and CJ literally not seeing her at first–“My God, voices at my elbow”–followed by the hilarious, “It’s hard to believe we’re the same species,” was just brilliant. That was the funniest scene in “West Wing” since Will found a goat in his office.
You want to know how dire “West Wing” has become? If it were happening in the real world, I’d be giving serious consideration to voting for Alan Alda, despite the fact that it would mean having a president who is (a) Republican and (b) named Arnold.
PAD
• 
>> “how unfair is it that Jimmy Olsen got laid
>> before Superman???”
> And how realistic? I may be wrong here, but
> I always got the impression that Jimmy was
> younger than Clark. And even a couple of
> years makes a big difference in high school.
> Yet he ‘did it’ before Clark? Yeah, right.
My thought on seeing that scene was that perhaps they were planning on bringing back the dropped-in-the-second-season smart-ášš, streetwise, may-or-may-not-have-served-time-in-reform-school Jimmy Olsen from the first season of Lois & Clark, although the “cute in a bow-tie sort of way” description somewhat contradicts that.
As for the fact that Jimmy has always been younger than Lois and Clark, either that’s not true on Earth-Smallville, or the writers just didn’t think of the contradiction with established canon when throwing in that in-joke — or Jimmy is just a sexually precocious ninth-grader (see above), which is hardly impossible.
I have nothing to say on this topic; I’m just getting a cookie for this site on my new computer.
West Wing has definitely jumped the shark for me, though I still am watching it.
I remember when the show used to be about the people who worked in the White House. How they interacted with each other, with the plots and the politicing and the plots often being a secondary concern. Remember when a potential war between Pakistan and India was handled with a off camera phone conversation, while Leo and President Bartlett talked?
Well, now the show is about the events and the plots and how everything gets solved. Personal interaction only exists to further the plot. But the plots are for the most part good. That’s what keeps me watching, even though no one is acting the way they should (except maybe CJ).
I mean, Amy Gardner was brought back (wasn’t she still Abby’s COS?) just because she and Josh have a past, and someone needed to further the “someone is helping all the candidates” plot. And wasn’t Will flirting with Donna last week and now Mary McCormack? Huh? And the fight? Ughhhhh… Maybe I should stop watching. I am not doing a good job convincing myself it’s still worth it. 🙂
The following is a presentation of Tongue in Cheek Productions:
Speaking of “Lost”, it’s pretty obvious who’s responsible for everything that’s going on. Look at the evidence. Earlier in the season, minutes after “Lost” ended, Terry O. Quinn, who plays Locke, shows up over on “The West Wing” as General What’shisname.
No doubt about it. President Bartlett is behind everything on that island.
Rick
Wecome back, Cowboy Pete!
I think the plotholes in Smallville are actually becoming kind of fun in and of themselves. There are some really goofy things happening in this show besides the good ol’ “I can’t remember anything that happened” bit-
I was wondering- Does Lana have a section in her closet of clothes to wear when she gets taken over by someone or something, like the mini-skirts she wore during the Red Kryptonite stuff,or this week’s “Kill Clark Volume 2” outfit or for that matter, did Lana, Lois and Chloe all go out shopping together for the Charmed episode?
Does Lex keep a Luthor Corp contractor on
speed-dial for when his house gets wrecked all the time?
I know this goes against everything but shouldn’t Clark just tell both Lana and Lex
about his identity. After all, he knows their
secrets. They both know some of it anyway, so what would be the big deal? I never did buy Pete’s exit either.
I stopped taking this show seriously when Jonathan Kent was driving down the road sing along with the Dukes of Hazard theme
In terms of Smallville, I only tend to catch about half an episode at a time. I grew kind of bored with this show. Though, I must say that I really love this show’s version of Lois Lane. It seems some people disagree, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the “spunky girl with a smart mouth” characters out there. And consideing how much I’ve always disliked Lana, I’m just glad to have her around. All that said, I ‘m not quite sure what to make of the current season. I liked seeing them visit China, it was a nice change of scenery, but where is this “three stones” plot going? Oh well. I suppose I’m the only one who wants to see some of Superman’s future enemies show up in Smallville. I actually like the Superman Rogues Gallery. So, I don’t suppose it would be too much to want a teenage Toyman or Prankster to show up as long as they aren’t as frelled up as the Smallville version of Mxyzptlk.
Ok, I saw my tape of this weeks Smallville. For me, it illustrates the good and the bad of this season.
The bad: Clark is an idiot.
Clark runs at super speed and grabs the object from the Countesses hand — and then stops 10 feet from her to look at it! Why didn’t he keep running till he was out of sight? When the object was missing, why didn’t he do a quick x-ray vision scan of the area to make sure that it actually was gone? I am not asking for him to figure out how to defuse an atomic bomb (which he would be able to do if the writers decided he needed to do so), but to simply use a modest amount of common sense.
The good: While I don’t think the possessed Lana is all that interesting, at least they have a running plot line this season that involves all of the characters and that seems to make some progress.
Sidenote: I understand PAD’s commnent about the Kryptonite eyes, but felt they did throw in one comment to indicate perhaps Kal-El’s father did not set up the stones in the first place. In addition, there is the possibility that the same person who may have one of the stones may have put it there to keep Clark/Kal-El away. What if the person found the “shirt-map” but counldn’t figure it out. So he/she left the Kryptonite there to keep Clark away?
I agree with PAD that they have a lot of explaining to do, but I am willing, for the moment, to give them a little more time to do so.
Iowa Jim
Clark runs at super speed and grabs the object from the Countesses hand — and then stops 10 feet from her to look at it! Why didn’t he keep running till he was out of sight? When the object was missing, why didn’t he do a quick x-ray vision scan of the area to make sure that it actually was gone? I am not asking for him to figure out how to defuse an atomic bomb (which he would be able to do if the writers decided he needed to do so), but to simply use a modest amount of common sense.”>
Well, you see, someone with Superman’s powers can do just about anything. So, Clark has to have a certain amount of stupidity just to be challenged in the first place.
I don’t really think that the west wing has “jumped the shark.” It hasn’t done anything ridiculous to boost raitings, it just isn’t very good any more. As i understand it, there is a difference. If now, that they’ve realized the ratings are poor, they do something outragous to bring back an audience – starting a nuclear war for instance – then I would say they jumped the shark. Until then, it’s just a show that’s slagging due to bad writing. They don’t need Aaron Sorkin back (though it wouldn’t hurt), they just need some better writer’s than they have currently.
I’m still disapointed that they tore apart Donna and Josh’s relationship so quickly and suddenly, it felt very contrived and completely out of each of their characters. Thou I would like to say that the writers are keeping a certian sense of continuity. For instance I think it was two episodes ago when Donna helped Josh use his hotal card key, it was very reminiscent of a very similar scene in the first season when josh has the same exact problem.
Re: Smallville….looks like I picked a REALLY good time to go back and watch THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY…
So what if it’s a bit corny? At least I get Bizarro, Metallo, Mr. Mxyzptlk (the real one), and more.:-D
~Gary
Hooray for the return of Cowboy Pete! And I’m glad I’m not the only who thinks this is a good season so far.
Regarding the kryptonite eyes thing — as someone above suggested, I think that’s the work of someone who found the “shirt map” but couldn’t read it, so she set up the kryptonite-eyes trap to keep Clark away from the statue. I say “she” because it’s surely Margot Kidder’s character.
Interesting thing they’ve set up there, with Reeve and Kidder both playing similar roles in the Smallville universe, except that Reeve is good while Kidder is apparently evil. Very cool.
I’m also enjoying Lionel’s new role in the series, as someone who still has a finger in all the various pies, and who is still trying to foil a lot of Lex’s plan … but for entirely different reasons than he used to have.
And I even like Lana’s role now … she’s got almost a She-Hulk thing going now … every time you piss her off, her eyes glow and she transforms into a powerhouse who kicks ášš. Yeah, it’s corny, but then … so was Superboy.
I also thought the kung-fu episode was great, in that it finally brought so many plot threads together, at least for one week. Clark’s plot and Lex’s plot have been running parallel for months now, so it was cool to finally see them both come together, along with Lana and Jason. Ironic that after weeks of being in the same small town and never seeing each other, it took a journey to a country of over a billion people for Clark and Lex to finally bump into each other again. 🙂
Jason