Smallville Review – “Tomb”

The first episode of sweeps just isn’t as good as the
ones from a few weeks ago.

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

Erica Durance as
Lois Lane

Allison Mack as
Chloe Sullivan.

Written by Steven S. DeKnight.

Directed by Whitney Ransick.

Original Airdate


Tomb
originally aired on Thursday,
February 9, 2006.

Synopsis

The spirit of a corpse in the wall of the Talon makes
contact with Chloe.

High Point

“I’m a writer, Clark.”

Low Point

The inconsistencies in the conclusion. Namely
(highlight to view):
The Kryptonite only bothered Clark
when the girls
were in danger, and Chloe’s hand suddenly wasn’t tied
down.
End
spoilers.

The Review

A haunting? That’s original territory for
this show. It’s
also nice to see Clark as a minor player for once.
(The show is named
after the town, after all, and not him. I’d like to
see more of the
rest of the town, perhaps doing an episode from the
perspective of
Lex, Lois, or someone else close who doesn’t know his
secret.) I give
it 5 out of 6.

The effects had some funky glowing, and stuff
we’ve seen
before. I give it 4 out of 6.

The story had not one, but two deus ex
machina moments.
(Highlight: First the guy happens
to be in the
photo, and then Chloe’s restraint just
vanishes.
) Those
glitches just couldn’t overcome the novelty of the
five act structure
they’ve been using this season. I give it 3 out of 6.

The acting wasn’t thrilling this week. It
almost feels like
the actors are getting bored with things, and that
they’re just
depressed lately. (Maybe they are depressed; perhaps
John Schneider’s
loss is felt that strongly on the set. If that’s it,
it says great
things about the man behind the camera.) There should
have been much
greater concern here. I give it 4 out of 6.

The emotional response was excellent in the
first half. Up
until the halfway mark, this felt like a really tense
story, with some
creepiness and doubts about Chloe. Then came the
reveal, and a
complete shift into something reminicent of the Lana
story arc I
didn’t care for last season, which wrapped up too
easily. The payoff
wasn’t on par with the build-up. I give it 4 out of
6.

The production was, once again, great for the
first half, but
then weak in the conclusion. I give it 4 out of 6.

Overall, the first half is a really good
episode, but the
second half doesn’t maintain the quality or momentum.
I give it 4 out
of 6.

In total,
Tomb
receives
28
out of 42.

8 replies on “Smallville Review – “Tomb””

  1. OT…. Spoiler Tags?
    Why do spoiler tags in the story use the old "highlight to reveal," while spoiler tags in comments use "mouse over to reveal?" Is that intentional?

    • Re: OT…. Spoiler Tags?

      Why do spoiler tags in the story use the old "highlight to reveal," while spoiler tags in comments use "mouse over to reveal?"

      The reviews still use html, so we’re limited to the old-style spoilers. That may or may not change in time.

      • Re: OT…. Spoiler Tags?

        Why do spoiler tags in the story use the old "highlight to reveal," while spoiler tags in comments use "mouse over to reveal?"

        The reviews still use html, so we’re limited to the old-style spoilers. That may or may not change in time.

        I think it would be a good idea if it stayed the way it is in the reviews. After all, anyone who scrolls down to look at the messages probably knows ahead of time that they’re taking the chance on plain-view spoilage. On the other hand, when I’m scrolling down a page I tend to have my mouse right in the middle, scrolling down with the wheel; a short spoiler (like one in the review this week) could easily be revealed to me by accident with the mouse-over system. With the highlight system, of course, I have to make an effort.

        Just a couple of my cents…which I can ill afford. :)

  2. More crankiness
    What was the point of this episode?

    Also, how come Clark took so long to recover from the K when, in the last episode, he recovered as soon as he was rolled of it?

    Also, aw, the heck with it – let’s have an episode that actually contributes SOMETHING!

    Martin Cohen

  3. Dead freak of the week
    Ok, er, did the green K have anything to do with the ghost story? I mean, aside from having something around to mess with Clark?

    I did love the knife throwing though : )

    • Re: Dead freak of the week

      I did love the knife throwing though : )

      I was actually hoping that Lois and Chloe would get out of there without any help from Clark – I would think that an army brat of Lois’ caliber would be able to throw a knife with more accuracy than that.

      • Re: Dead freak of the week

        I did love the knife throwing though : )

        I was actually hoping that Lois and Chloe would get out of there without any help from Clark – I would think that an army brat of Lois’ caliber would be able to throw a knife with more accuracy than that.

        Right In The Heart Wasn’t Accurate Enough?

        It Just Didn’t Have Enough Force, I Figured.

        Overall, I Didn’t Like This Weeks. It Felt Like It Was Only A Filler Episode. Unless The Whole ‘Cloe’s Mom Turns Out to Be Livewire’ Thing I Was Joking About Turns Out To Be Accurate, You Could Skip This Episode And Miss Nothing.

        • Re: Dead freak of the week

          Overall, I Didn’t Like This Weeks. It Felt Like It Was Only A Filler Episode. Unless The Whole ‘Cloe’s Mom Turns Out to Be Livewire’ Thing I Was Joking About Turns Out To Be Accurate, You Could Skip This Episode And Miss Nothing.

          Yes, It Certainly Was A Boring Episode. I Even Fast Forwarded Through Parts Because It Was So Boring.

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