Smallville Review – “Rage”

I apologize for not having this up yesterday. I had an unavoidable family commitment. Next week’s review may be a day or two late as well.

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 Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer.

According to the website, it was directed by James Marshall, but I could swear the on screen credit was given to Whitney Ransick. I’ve really got to start writing these down before I tell the PVR to delete the episode.

Original Airdate


Rage
originally aired on Thursday,

November 9.

Synopsis

Ollie starts taking a drug that accelerates healing while increasing rage. Clark has to find a way to deal with this a few days before Thanksgiving.

High Point

The visual metaphors continue with Lana and Lex. So much can be said with furniture and lighting, while simultaneously paying homage to Tim Burton’s Batman.

Low Point

The potential storyline set up between Martha and Lionel. They know he’s a murderer, starting with his own parents. Why is he being accepted into the fold so readily?

The Review

The drug addiction story is not terribly original, though the motives are not like those seen on other shows. It’s also a take I haven’t seen on the less powered heroes; I’ve never heard of Batman getting envious of the other League members. I give it 4 out of 6.

The effects are those we’ve seen before, and were actually quite minimal. Apart from the slow motion and X-ray, there wasn’t even much need for CGI this week. That may be a choice to save budget for a bang-up show to end the sweeps period, but I could be wrong. I give it 5 out of 6.

The story was far from unpredictable, but it works well enough. I give it 4 out of 6.

The acting worked well, too. The scene between Clark and Lana in the Luthor mansion is one in particular that worked well, with convincing pain from each person involved. I give it 5 out of 6.

The emotional response could have been a lot stronger. The problem with using established characters like this is that nobody can be convincingly placed in danger. It was kind of cool to realize that the only person at Thanksgiving dinner who doesn’t know Clark’s secret is his future wife, but I’m not sure that’s something the writers planned for. I give it 4 out of 6.

The production is still well done, as it has been for most of the series. I do like the way that the props and lighting are telling the viewers about the relationship between Lex and Lana, particularly since this accents the level of meaningless drivel in their actual conversations. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, it’s a decent episode, but not a great one. I give it 4 out of 6.

In total,
receives 31

out of 42.

4 replies on “Smallville Review – “Rage””

  1. mjcohen writes…
    User mjcohen submitted the following to the sub queue before the late review was posted:

    My usual list of questions: Why doesn’t Green Arrow (or any other non-super-powered hero) wear a bullet-proof vest? How can an arrow be as fast as a bullet? Why did Lex sit Lana so far away? How come the crook didn’t have to take the drug to survive the fall? Will there be a future effect on Lex of the drug (maybe making him a little psycho)? (Big cheese: if you don’t make this an article, please make it a comment to the article. Thanks)

    My own responses: Good question, the arrow was over half way there when Lex pulled his trigger, for the visual metaphor, he may have had a lot in his system already, and I doubt it as it seemed to wear off of Ollie pretty quickly.

  2. Nit
    Now, I’ve never really liked Lana as a character, but what really bugs me about her relationship with Lex is that trust doesn’t really seem to be an issue anymore. I mean all Clark had to do was give her the wrong look and she’d be ready to throw out there relationship because he didn’t "trust" her. But Lex betrays her trust over and over and basically gets a pass.

    Its really ridiculous. As far as I’m concerned, this show doesn’t need Lana anymore and hasn’t needed her in a very long time.

    • Re: Nit

      Its really ridiculous. As far as I’m concerned, this show doesn’t need Lana anymore and hasn’t needed her in a very long time.

      Well, we did have that excellent half-episode where she was dead and Pa Kent was alive….

      I’m actually finding myself enjoying Smallville less and less this season, and most of the scenes that Lana is in I find almost unwatchable (due to the point that J_W_W brings up about her trust issues with Lex vs. those with Clark).

      I think the only reason I’m still watching is that I’m getting a kick out of spotting locations around Vancouver where they’ve shot scenes (now if I can run into Allison Mack, my move to the West Coast will have been worthwhile!)

      • Re: Nit
        Allison Mack is a good reason to watch.

        As for Lana, yeah I think her character has run its forseeable course. The ending to this episode does raise some interesting questions but I’m kinda sick of her…

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