Smallville Review – “Krypto”

Clark encounters man’s best friend.

Cast

Tom
Welling
as
Clark Kent

Kristen Kreuk as
Lana Lang

Michael
Rosenbaum
as Lex Luthor

John
Glover

as Lionel Luthor

Annette
O’Toole
as Martha Kent

John
Schneider
as Jonathan Kent

Jensen Ackles as
Jason Teague

Allison Mack as
Chloe Sullivan.

Written by Luke Schelhaas.

Directed by James Marshall.

Original Airdate


Krypto
originally aired on Wednesday,
February 16, 2005.

Synopsis

Lois hits an unusual dog with her car, and brings him
back to the Kent
farm.

High Point

The “we brought my car” speech. Nice!

Low Point

Not picking the name! Grr. I’m told there is a
reason, which I’ll
spoiler-guard: In the current
comics, Krypto is
Superman’s dog as an adult, not as a child.
Therefore, DC told the
Smallville producers that Clark can’t have a dog
named Krypto
yet.

The Review

This is an original version of a comic book
character. The
original version of this character shared Clark’s
point of origin,
which is why he was abnormal. However, even though
it’s not the comic
book origin, it is the standard Smallville
meteor rock lab
rat origin. I give it 4 out of 6.

The effects weren’t as good as usual this
week. The fire
effects didn’t work when the characters were
travelling through the
flames, and the “solid” wall definitely rippled like
a soft matress.
I give it 3 out of 6.

The story was consistent, but it had a lot
of the overused
devices from the series, from the random meteor rock
exposure of a lab
rat to the random meteor rock exposure of Clark. I
give it 4 out of
6.

The acting from most was what we’d expect.
Erica Durance had
a couple of moments as unconvincing as she had early
in the season.
(She can’t sneeze very well, can she?) I give it 4
out of 6.

The emotional response was strong despite
the above
trappings. This week felt like it was meant to be a
fun episode, not
a typical “save the planet” type of episode. I give
it 5 out of 6.

The production was well done, with few
glitches, if any. I
give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, it’s a decent episode. I’m not
sure it’s really a
sweeps week episode, but it’s well worth watching, if
only to see some
glimmer of the old Lionel. (He may have changed his
intentions, but
not his aptitudes.) I give it 4 out of 6.

In total,
Krypto
receives
29
out of 42.

15 replies on “Smallville Review – “Krypto””

  1. Ancestors?
    I had to back the DVR up a few times and turn on close captioning to be sure, but apparently Jason and his mother are Ancestors to someone who lived a few hundred years ago.

    Oops!

    (or is this some really wacky time travel thing? They haven’t been taking lessons from B&B have they?)

    • Re: Ancestors?

      I had to back the DVR up a few times and turn on close captioning to be sure, but apparently Jason and his mother are Ancestors to someone who lived a few hundred years ago.

      Oops!

      (or is this some really wacky time travel thing? They haven’t been taking lessons from B&B have they?)

      No time travel involved, they are descendants of the people that killed the witch. Lana is a descendant of the witch. The witch swore at death that she would return and kill all the descendants of those that killed her. Next weeks preview looks like it will deal with this some more.

    • Re: Ancestors?

      I had to back the DVR up a few times and turn on close captioning to be sure, but apparently Jason and his mother are Ancestors to someone who lived a few hundred years ago.

      Oops!

      I caught that too. I figure either the writer or actor goofed and no one caught it, or it was intentional and will be explained.

      -cb

      • Re: Ancestors?

        I had to back the DVR up a few times and turn on close captioning to be sure, but apparently Jason and his mother are Ancestors to someone who lived a few hundred years ago.

        Oops!

        I caught that too. I figure either the writer or actor goofed and no one caught it, or it was intentional and will be explained.

        -cb

        I seem to recall a statistic that the average movie today has approx. 100 mistakes, ranging from blown lines, reflections/shadows of crewmembers, crewmembers in scenes, visible microphones, incorrect resets between takes to the LA skyline visible in the background of some old gladiator movie.

        If you factor for the smaller budget of a weekly show, you would expect more things to slip by.

        I had an opportunity to speak with Dr. Don Davis, General Hammond of Stargate SG-1, and this issue came up. He indicated that there is a person who’s sole job is to watch for problems like I described above. Even with a dedicated watchdog, the two most common mistakes on SG-1 are actors rattleing off the wrong alpha-numeric planet name, and keeping props and actors consistant when entering/exitng the gate.

        • Re: Ancestors?

          I had to back the DVR up a few times and turn on close captioning to be sure, but apparently Jason and his mother are Ancestors to someone who lived a few hundred years ago.

          Oops!

          I caught that too. I figure either the writer or actor goofed and no one caught it, or it was intentional and will be explained.

          -cb

          I seem to recall a statistic that the average movie today has approx. 100 mistakes, ranging from blown lines, reflections/shadows of crewmembers, crewmembers in scenes, visible microphones, incorrect resets between takes to the LA skyline visible in the background of some old gladiator movie.

          If you factor for the smaller budget of a weekly show, you would expect more things to slip by.

          I had an opportunity to speak with Dr. Don Davis, General Hammond of Stargate SG-1, and this issue came up. He indicated that there is a person who’s sole job is to watch for problems like I described above. Even with a dedicated watchdog, the two most common mistakes on SG-1 are actors rattleing off the wrong alpha-numeric planet name, and keeping props and actors consistant when entering/exitng the gate.

          I wonder if they are wastng money on such a person for the HHGTTG movie… I mean, with an Improbability Drive, all errors and inconsistencies are consistent…er…yeah.

          • Re: Ancestors?

            I had to back the DVR up a few times and turn on close captioning to be sure, but apparently Jason and his mother are Ancestors to someone who lived a few hundred years ago.

            Oops!

            I caught that too. I figure either the writer or actor goofed and no one caught it, or it was intentional and will be explained.

            -cb

            I seem to recall a statistic that the average movie today has approx. 100 mistakes, ranging from blown lines, reflections/shadows of crewmembers, crewmembers in scenes, visible microphones, incorrect resets between takes to the LA skyline visible in the background of some old gladiator movie.

            If you factor for the smaller budget of a weekly show, you would expect more things to slip by.

            I had an opportunity to speak with Dr. Don Davis, General Hammond of Stargate SG-1, and this issue came up. He indicated that there is a person who’s sole job is to watch for problems like I described above. Even with a dedicated watchdog, the two most common mistakes on SG-1 are actors rattleing off the wrong alpha-numeric planet name, and keeping props and actors consistant when entering/exitng the gate.

            I wonder if they are wastng money on such a person for the HHGTTG movie… I mean, with an Improbability Drive, all errors and inconsistencies are consistent…er…yeah.

            Trillian:*sing-song* Planet J23RTX-183 and fall-ling *sing-song*

  2. Krypto!
    I loved this ep! I want a super dog! I’m so glad he kept it, and I agree with the low point, though it’s not like no one ever named consecutive dogs the same. I have an aunt who’s been replacing her deceased poodles with another of the same name for years. So I’m just gonna keep calling him Krypto, DC’s suits be damned.

    • Re: Krypto!

      I loved this ep! I want a super dog! I’m so glad he kept it, and I agree with the low point, though it’s not like no one ever named consecutive dogs the same. I have an aunt who’s been replacing her deceased poodles with another of the same name for years. So I’m just gonna keep calling him Krypto, DC’s suits be damned.

      Damned, indeed. I wonder, though, if this means they want to carry the Smallville world further than we expect. After all, the show has made a ridiculous number of deviations from standard post-Byrne continuity over the years. If they’re nitpicking over this, it seems like a small indication that while Smallville could end, they might want this Clark Kent to keep going.

  3. Now that I’ve actually seen the episode…
    Two points I want to address before I get down to brass tacks, Lois’s truck… Uh, what dash package did she buy? And did anybody notice that somebody put a strip of gaff tape over the GMC badge on her grill after Clark told her to turn left and she critizied his hunches.

    Now On to more relevant bits

      I’ve missed a bunch of episodes, but how long has Chloe been hinting that she knows about Clark’s secret?

      it’s nice to see them hinting at Clark’s future as Superman again. The red towel, draped over the dog, the yellow frissbee…

      What else… Dogs rule!

    • Re: Now that I’ve actually seen the episode…

      I’ve missed a bunch of episodes, but how long has Chloe
      been hinting that she knows about Clark’s secret?

      Since she learned Clark’s secret in “Pariah” two weeks
      ago.

    • Re: Now that I’ve actually seen the episode…

      Now On to more relevant bits

        I’ve missed a bunch of episodes, but how long has Chloe been hinting that she knows about Clark’s secret?

      Spoilers:

      Chloe knows – she found out in Pariah courtesy of Alicia-the-Teleporter. It was at once both a high and a low point – low because I was hoping she would piece it together herself rather than be shown, and high because she found out and didn’t freak out or go to the authorities (or Luthors).

      And agreed, Dogs Rule.

    • Re: Now that I’ve actually seen the episode…

      And did anybody notice that somebody put a strip of gaff tape over the GMC badge on her grill after Clark told her to turn left and she critizied his hunches.

      i noticed this too. my guess is that they didn’t get permission from gmc or they have a conflicting advertising contract with another auto company…

  4. hmm
    Well I’d not had the opp to watch Smallville in a while so last night I watched Pariah to Krypto back to back.

    Having missed the ep prior to Krypto looks like it sucked. Having him walk into the talon with transporter chick was kinda odd, i’ll have to catch that one in the re-runs.

    I must admit, the last three episodes seemed kina ‘light’ compared to past ones. The crouching tiger hidden lana could be really good, or really bad all at once.

  5. Three Words

    Jumped The Shark.

    I could almost here the “na-na-na-na-na” (think “Six Million Dollar Man”) when the dog crashed through the Kent’s window to save Johnathan.

    What the heck happened to Smallville this season? This used to be such a good show. This season has been plagued by horrible story arcs (both the “stones of power” and Lana’s tattoo), lack of good villains, and no new powers introduced. I want Clark to get flight, super breath, or (at the very least) telescopic/microscopic vision by the end of the season.

    Please tell me it will get better! (Not likely considering the preview for next week’s “Crouching Tiger / Flying Daggers” rip-off.)

    –Reaper2K
    The Way of the Last Son
    Church of Krypton (Reformed)

    • Re: Three Words

      Jumped The Shark.

      I’m interested in where they’re going with Lana, Jason and his mom — there’s got to be a Krypton tie-in there somewhere with those symbols matching and all.

      As for next week, it looks like they spent the entire year’s SFX/set/location budget in one episode. We’ll see…if they actually do a good job, *and* answer some questions about Jason and Lana’s ancestry…

      Personally, I’m more of a cat person, but I do like golden retrievers (I *think* that’s what Krypto was) — all the ones I’ve been around have been really nice dogs.

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