Smallville Review – “Bizarro”

The newest season of “Smallville” kicked off last night. UPDATED: I’m back in town, and have changed the placeholder into the actual review.

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 Kelly Sounders and Brian Peterson.

Directed by Michael Rohl.

Original Airdate

Bizarro
originally aired on Thursday, September 27, 2007.

Synopsis

Clark deals with the final phantom and the apparant death of several friends.

High Point

“Don’t you think you should get on that one?”

Low Point

If that character cheats death again, they might as well change the character’s name to “Jean Grey.” (I’m not talking about the obviously fake death from the season ender, I’m talking about the more convincing one.)

The Review

The originality exists almost entirely in this take on Bizarro. The show has done the rest before. I give it 3 out of 6.

The effects were pretty darned impressive. This is one aspect of the series that rarely disappoints. I give it 5 out of 6.

The story did what it needed to do, but it also did some things that weren’t needed. (As you might have guessed by the Low Point, I think that some of the tougher decisions would have made for a better show.) Frankly, it didn’t have the same pacing or gravity as the previous season openers, despite the introduction of the new cast member. I give it 3 out of 6.

The acting was fairly well done. As usual, Welling is more convincing in an evil persona. I give it 4 out of 6.

The emotional response had its moments, but I’m usually glued to my seat from start to finish when they end or start a season. Compared to those, this was weak, though it was better than many of the mid-season episodes. I give it 3 out of 6, due to a big irritation in the low point. (Don’t get me wrong; I love that character, I just think there should be a limit on how often one character should cheat death.)

The production was well done. The new score by Louis Febre was impressive, particularly following Mark Snow’s work. The moment in the light featured some great accents. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, it’s a decent episode, but it’s not as good as the season premiers tend to be. This season may be an uphill battle, or it may just be going through a slow build. Either way, I have lower expectations for next week. I give it 4 out of 6.

In total, Bizarro receives 27

out of 42.

9 replies on “Smallville Review – “Bizarro””

  1. Weak
    I was really pumped for this show but at the end I felt that I had just watched a stronger episode from the middle of the season, rather than the premier. Too many of the story lines were wrapped up which could’ve been drawn out for a few more episodes. It really felt like a glorified meteor freak episode. Even the previews for the upcoming episode were rather boring. I think there needs to be a significant jump in the direction the show is going. Or maybe I’m just getting old.

  2. I liked it
    Thought they did a good job, it did bounce around a lot, but that didn’t detract from it for me. They opened up a lot of story lines that can be worked on this season.

  3. Decent premiere
    A little reset button, a little setup, a little resolution. Nothing outstanding, but it’s given me enough interest to see where it goes. I did like Tom Welling as Bizarro. He seems to have that "I’m flipping nuts!" look down from his practice with the red Kryptonite episodes.

  4. High Point
    My high point of the episode:


    When Chloe talks about Bizarro being able to fly and then says something like, "You should get on that" to which Clark rolls his eyes.

    My low point:

    Kristen being listed in the credits pretty much gave away that Lana wasn’t really dead. I know this is probably some SAG rule thing but it can ruin storylines. :(

    • Re: High Point
      Yeah, listing the actor in the credits can be kind of a spoiler. Though I was sure that Lana wasn’t dead and had staged her own death when I watched last season’s finale. As for Chloe, I wasn’t so sure that she would come back from the dead. I’m waiting to see how they explain her kryptopower.

  5. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaakkkkk!!!!!!!
    The highlight was the new character introduction, assuming it’s the woman I’m wondering if it is.

    The low point was how all Clark needed as a slight prompting from John to suddenly realize that a tan is better than years of vitamins. And since when can Clark suddenly be cut, and get a Logan styled healing factor just because he was in the sunlight, when we’ve had a couple other seasons with him in the sun but weak? Weak like this episode.

    Though, I’m still watching. I did enjoy the ‘distorted’ look, but I think they could just show the characters I like in short scenes, and I’d be satisfied with that.

    Also, if you look at the same moon for either side of the planet, wouldn’t at least one side not be able to see it because, ya know, there’s a planet in the way?

    • Re: Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaakkkkk!!!!!!!

      The highlight was the new character introduction, assuming it’s the woman I’m wondering if it is.

      I did a little research, my 9 year old soon-to-be-step-daughter was right about who it was. I thought the bracelet she was putting on, the hands on hips pose, and the color scheme, were going to be indicative of Wonder Woman more than Kara. Ooops.

      • Re: Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaakkkkk!!!!!!!

        The highlight was the new character introduction, assuming it’s the woman I’m wondering if it is.

        I did a little research, my 9 year old soon-to-be-step-daughter was right about who it was. I thought the bracelet she was putting on, the hands on hips pose, and the color scheme, were going to be indicative of Wonder Woman more than Kara. Ooops.

        That was my first thought when I saw the bracelet.

        • Re: Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaakkkkk!!!!!!!

          The highlight was the new character introduction, assuming it’s the woman I’m wondering if it is.

          I did a little research, my 9 year old soon-to-be-step-daughter was right about who it was. I thought the bracelet she was putting on, the hands on hips pose, and the color scheme, were going to be indicative of Wonder Woman more than Kara. Ooops.

          That was my first thought when I saw the bracelet.

          New and old women of Clark’s life
          Martha: she’ll be a bit skeptical after the last super-powered blond in Clark’s life.
          Chloe: She will treat the newcomer with her usual aplomb and paranoia.
          Lois: How the heck are they going to sell the newbie to her? This will either suck or be fun ;-)

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