Smallville Review – “Fallout”

Clark faces another escapee this week.

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 Holly Harold.
Directed by Glen Winter.

Original

Airdate


Fallout
originally aired on Thursday,

November 2, 2006.

Synopsis

Raya finds Clark at the same time as Baern, one of the Phantom Zone prisoners. Meanwhile, Jimmy Olson takes compromising pictures of an exchange in Lex’s car.

High Point

Here comes destiny.

Low Point

The remarkable un-Superman-like behavior of our Superman. Spoilers protected: First of all, not only did he not show remorse when he killed the last Kryptonian, but now that he knows there was probably a perfectly innocent human trapped inside, he’s still not guilty. In fact, he plans to either recapture or destroy the other escapees! Throw in his idiotic decisions, such as training after fighting the hardest fights he’s ever fought, or revealing that he knew there was a six week lapse in memory while pretending he just happened to find the guy unconscious somewhere, and it just doesn’t add up to the Superman I’ve read in comics.

The Review

This doesn’t feel original. I know that there are a few elements we haven’t seen, but apart from Jimmy’s actions, everything else was set up so obviously so long ago that we all knew it was coming. I give it 3 out of 6.

The effects were all things we’ve seen before (with a size increase and change in colour palette from Clark’s heat vision.) At one point, the effects even obscured what Clark was holding, which made it hard to tell why the effects on him were so different from the effects on Raya. I give it 4 out of 6.

The story served its purpose to get things moving, but as I mentioned above, it did it in ways that had Clark acting in ways that don’t really match up with Superman. I give it 4 out of 6.

The regular cast did a good job with their acting this week. Bow Wow did a decent job in a simple role, though Pascale Hutton wasn’t terribly impressive. I give it 4 out of 6.

The emotional response should have been much better. Sometimes giving a lot of time to prepare can build excitement, as I suspect may happen with the training Clark will eventually go for. (He should, after all, be able to completely control all abilities, including flight, when the training is done.) However, the actual event here was so similar to what’s been happening since Clark faced off against the bug boy that there was no suspense when it actually happened. There’s some tension based on the side plots, but the main plot was flat, particularly because the “big fight” had more McGuffin than fight. I give it 3 out of 6.

The production was well done. They continue to deliver in this category week after week, with some subtle touches. For example, check out Lana’s hairstyle and how she’s lit in her final scene. The hair and shadows form a physical, visible barrier positioned to reflect the emotional barrier that’s just come up. That was a very nice touch. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, this seems to mark the return to the mid-season medicrity this series has a habit of delivering. Perhaps it was the lack of subtlety in the foreshadowing, or perhaps the lack of Ollie and Lois just made it feel more like what the show was doing three seasons ago than a new episode, but it just didn’t pull me in like it should have. It’s not a bad episode, but it’s not a particularly good one. I give it 4 out of 6.

In total,
Fallout
receives
27
out of 42.

7 replies on “Smallville Review – “Fallout””

  1. outfall
    I agree about the foolishness of not getting the training first.

    However, Clark did not kill the last Kryptonian – she was killed by the bad guy, who Clark sent to the PZ (I guess).

    In the earlier conversation between Clark and Raya, they say that Pa Kent could not appreciate what it was like for Clark. But, there was an episode where Jor-El sent Pa K after a Clark-turned-evil with Pa K being given Kryptonian powers. Remember Clark’s comment "Wow Dad. You’ve been working out!"?

    Also, Jimmy seems too much of a fool, and Chloe is incredibly patronizing towards him. After all, the info Jimmy provided was extremely important, though his explanation was understandably wrong, since he was one of the few who hadn’t seen Kryptonian writing.

    I feel that much more could have been done with these premises. I am sorry that they killed Raya.

    • Re: outfall

      However, Clark did not kill the last Kryptonian – she was killed by the bad guy, who Clark sent to the PZ (I guess).

      I was referring to the plant woman Clark vaporized a few weeks ago.

      • Re: outfall

        However, Clark did not kill the last Kryptonian – she was killed by the bad guy, who Clark sent to the PZ (I guess).

        I was referring to the plant woman Clark vaporized a few weeks ago.

        Actually though, she wasn’t kryptonian. Either way, she was pretty obviously not compatible with earth’s indigenous population and she didn’t seem to be willing to get outta dodge, so what is there to feel guilty about? She brought it upon herself.

        • Re: outfall

          However, Clark did not kill the last Kryptonian – she was killed by the bad guy, who Clark sent to the PZ (I guess).

          I was referring to the plant woman Clark vaporized a few weeks ago.

          Actually though, she wasn’t kryptonian. Either way, she was pretty obviously not compatible with earth’s indigenous population and she didn’t seem to be willing to get outta dodge, so what is there to feel guilty about? She brought it upon herself.

          If you read the Death and Life of Superman, they make it pretty evident that Superman even had reservations about killing Doomsday. Superman, like the pre-Ultimates Captain America held life to be sacredIt doesn’t matter who or what you are, neither man would resort to lethal force unless it was an absolute last resort.

          • Re: outfall

            If you read the Death and Life of Superman, they make it pretty evident that Superman even had reservations about killing Doomsday. Superman, like the pre-Ultimates Captain America held life to be sacredIt doesn’t matter who or what you are, neither man would resort to lethal force unless it was an absolute last resort.

            Sure, but that was also the adult and fully mature Superman. Here, we are dealing with a young Superman who has not fully developed into who he is going to be. He wasn’t born with those ideals, just like all of us he is a work in progress. His parents have laid the foundation, but life experiences will build bridge to his future on that foundation.

  2. more questions
    If Raya is from Krypton, what house is she from? Kal-El is from the house of El, so if Raya’s full name is Raya-Blues, she is from ….

    Will the kid from Oakland be in any further episodes?

    Will Jimmy get some smarts?

    Will I spend less time on this?

    Tune in next week for the exciting confusion!

  3. Jimmy Olsen – Out of Place here?
    Forgive me as I didn’t read the comics religiously, I mainly watched the movies, etc.

    Jimmy Olsen being the same age as Clark now, wasn’t he much younger ‘newb’ when Clark is finally working at the Daily Planet as his mild mannered ego? Isn’t Jimmy the young whippersnapper then instead of the same age? I mean that’d be creepy.

    Or did I miss something?

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