December 7, 2006: Subterranean
Just a note: If you're not the type to watch the previews for upcoming episodes, you may want to skip the first paragraph and the last sentence of this column.
I love
Smallville, I really do, but that was just painful. From beginning to end. OK, not to "end," not by a long shot. The best parts of "Subterranean" were: 1) Lex's evil strut of doom set to that AFI song; that was just badass, 2) Clark's continuing to think about the world as a whole, not just the precious few he saves here and there, and 3) the sneak peek to what's coming up in the second half of the season - especially that last shot of what I guess is the fledgling Justice League of America (I believe we saw Flash, Cyborg, Green Arrow, Clark and Aquaman). I'm not sure when the next new "Smallville" airs, but it needs to be sooner rather than later.
We haven't had a new episode in about three weeks. So I really thought the show was going to reward us for our patience; especially since this may be the last fresh (oops - that's so WB), the last new one for quite some time. What we got turned out to be the equivalent of a "very special episode of
Blossom." I don't mean to put down the issues the writers were presenting, but there had to have been a more exciting way to tell the story. And don't get me started on the overgrown gopher burrowing underneath the earth, preying on migrant workers. And I implore you, don't even try to tell me that was an actual showdown between McNally and Clark. I know the guy was just a test subject, but I almost feel stupid for complaining about the "tame" smackdowns from earlier episodes.
I'm digging the fact that we're seeing Lex relish the dark side. I'm loving Michael Rosenbaum's take on it, too. Lex is lying his butt off to Lana, getting her conveniently out of town on cute little art trips. I was really hoping that when she realized money wasn't just luxury, that it was power, too, she was going to ask her not-yet-fiancé to give her the million-dollar tour of the dark side. Guess not. Doesn't matter, Lex is playing evil mastermind, and I'm loving every bit of it. When the camera showed the 33.1 on the door, that was great.
What I didn't love was Lana telling Clark
yet again how much Lex doesn't lie to her blah, blah, blah. And how much Clark did lie to her blah, blah, blah. Then there was Jimmy and Chloe, who were trying too hard to be cutesy
again. Just dial it down a thousand, Jimmy "James" Olsen, and maybe I'll start believing she really is "your girl." Although, I did like him bringing up the fact that he thinks Clark is totally in love with Chloe. The Martha speech at the end about Javier being extraordinary was just too corny for words and really a waste of Annette O'Toole's talents. Can you tell that I was not a fan of "Subterranean?" Having said that, it's only the first episode this season that had me wanting to hit the delete button on my DVR; I've really been enjoying Season 6, and I'm looking forward to what we're going to get in 2007. Please tell me I'm not the only one who kept rewinding that last shot of Clark and his slo-mo walking superfriends?
Topics to Discuss:
What are your thoughts on "Subterranean?"
What did you think about the sneak preview?
