Sorry this is later than usual; I just got back in town. I’ll be spending most of the month out of town, so the other reviews this month may be just as late.
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 Brian Peterson and Kelly Sounders.
Directed by Tom Welling.
Original Airdate
Hydro
originally aired on Thursday,
January 11, 2007.
Synopsis
A reporter with special powers reveals secrets she shouldn’t, and Lois tries to learn a secret that Oliver wants to keep.
High Point
Chloe gets Lois to tell Clark her story.
Low Point
Tori Spelling can’t act.
The Review
This originality was certainly lacking in Lois’ Silver Age-esque quest, and the Rita Skeeter mutant wasn’t much better. I give it 3 out of 6.
The pond-side effects weren’t the best, but they were a small part of the episode. Most of the physical effects, and the windshield shot were very well done. I give it 5 out of 6.
The story involved lots of potentially useful setup, particularly with the ambiguous end to the villain. There’s not a lot of plot just yet, but it’s a good prelude to sweeps period. I give it 4 out of 6.
The acting was good from most of the regular cast. Durance had here weak moments, and Spelling didn’t have any strong ones. I give it 4 out of 6.
The emotional response was strong, in spite of the episode’s other weaknesses. It may be derivative, but the comic geek in me doesn’t care. I give it 5 out of 6.
The production was fairly good. Welling is a decent director, and Mark Snow’s music was right on cue. I give it 5 out of 6.
Overall, in spite of its failings, I really enjoyed the episode as a whole. I give it 5 out of 6.
In total,
Hydro receives
31
out of 42.
Tori Spelling can’t act
Her acting ability or lack of, is nothing compared to how ugly she is
Low Point
While I agree with the reviews low point, my low point was when Lana confronted Chloe about the "secret" and got all whiney "why won’t Clark trust meeee" again. Ugggh, just get it over with already. The innuendo and raised eyebrows with Lois was brilliant in comparison.
Re: Low Point
At least they’ve given up any pretense that there isn’t a secret to be keeping.
My low point was the convoluted contortions they went through to convince Lois that Ollie isn’t the Green Arrow. You’d think that after all the mistakes Clark made with Lana, he’d be recommending to Oliver that he just tell her, or at least accidentally let it slip, which is what I *thought* they were setting up (which is why I’ve spoiler tagged this). I can say from first hand that leading a double life is a royal pain, and virtually impossible in such a relationship. That’s one of the reasons I came out long ago, scary as that can be. Hiding it would be a festering sore that destroys the relationship like it did between Clark and Lana.
And then there’s the low point of going to all the trouble of taking off Justin’s shirt, but not giving us a very good look ;-)
Re: Low Point
Wow vanyel that comment just really turned around the show for me! I could no comprehend why they were injecting so much angst and emotion into the secret double life thing, I’ve been thinking of it from the "kid"s perspective, "Sweet I have a secret to keep and I can tell people that i’m special or I can let them think I’m not specual because I know I am"
I think the writers of the show are obviously going for the more sophisticated paralells that exist between having a secret identity as a superhero and having a secret identity as a gay person.
if I’m not giving the writers too much credit, that is ap retty valid dimension to the superman character that i had never considered, not that he’s gay of course but maybe that having a double identity really isn’t as cool as it seems to a kid.
But seriously the Lana angst, "Langst"
can we not resurrect it?
I kind of feel like this entire episode was to finally solve the problem of Lois trying to figure out who the Arrow was. We all knew that with her character she wouldn’t let it go, having Ollie date here was an unwise decision, if i were a superhero protecting a secret idnetity i’d stay the hell away from lois, or tell her up front, there’s no point in trying to hide it.
Re: Low Point
That explains a lot…
While it is an all too common thing for adult shows to retread where they’ve already gone, that doesn’t make it desirable. One sign of maturity is learning from your mistakes, and one would hope that a budding role model like Clark would do so. He might even hash it out a bit with someone he’s buds with who’s facing the same predicament. At the very least, that might give some semblance of justifying making the same mistake twice.