|
Home | Show Index | Blog | Movie Reviews | Site Updates | About Me | |||
 |
||||
|
 |
1.1 Pilot Jonathan: "Kids don't just fall out of the sky, Martha." This pilot episode started at the beginning, with the kindly, childless Kents finding a small boy in a cornfield. The big difference from the traditional version of the Superman story was the deadly meteor shower, which killed Lana Lang's parents and left nine-year-old Lex Luthor bald. The mythical Smallville always seemed like such a wholesome place before, but with Clark's "crucifixion," the meteor shower, and first "scarecrow" Jeremy electrocuting people, it was obvious right away that this version of Smallville would be a much darker and scarier place. Tom Welling as Clark is very handsome and Superman-like. Perhaps too Superman-like. He's so tall and well-developed that he looks a lot older than sixteen. Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Clark desperately wants to be normal, and never can be. At least he has great parents who love him. I like that Jonathan and Martha are much younger than the Kents are usually portrayed. Jonathan does the earnest, honest, forthright father figure very well, imparting wisdom as needed. Martha is a good mom but appears to constantly defer to Jonathan. Not a feminist, I guess. Lex met Clark in this episode when his car went off a bridge and Clark rescued him. I'm not into slash at all, but hey... eighteen minutes into the pilot episode, and Clark was giving Lex mouth-to-mouth? Hmm. Lana Lang, the prettiest girl in school, made Clark appear awkward... not because he was in his "Clark Kent" persona (clearly too early for that) but because she wore a Kryptonite locket for luck. Interesting twist. Lana has questionable taste: she has a steady, square-jawed boyfriend, Whitney, who was nasty enough to string up a kid in a cornfield. Intrepid high school reporter Chloe was obviously filling the role reserved in the future for Lois Lane, and reminded me of Willow on Buffy. Here, she introduced us to her secret Wall of Weird, her exploded scrapbook of the oddities of Smallville. Chloe and Pete appear to be attached at the hip. It's funny, but next to Clark, they both look tiny. Note the primary color scheme, especially the use of the color red: red truck, Martha's red tulips, Lex's red hair. Red is the school color. The Kent farmhouse is yellow, with huge yellow sunflowers in the front. Clark nearly always wears red and/or blue, which are, of course, Superman's colors. The color scheme gives "Smallville" a unique, comic book feel. When I first got into Smallville (and it took me awhile because I didn't like the first season at all), I noticed that several things happen a lot: car crashes, broken windows, and people getting thrown around. So I decided to count the "hits," or the number of times one of these things happens in each episode. This one had six car wrecks: the Langs' and two other vehicles, the Kent truck, Lex's car off the bridge, Jeremy crashing a truck and Clark into a brick wall. Jeremy also broke a shop window. That makes seven points for the pilot. Not a record, but impressive. Bits and pieces: -- The meteor shower took place in October 1989, twelve years ago. That makes Lana fifteen, Clark possibly around sixteen, and Lex a legal twenty-one. -- One of the first shots in the series is of Lionel's newspaper with the headline: "Queen Industries CEO missing, presumed dead." Green Arrow's father, right? Clark and Lana lost their natural parents and Lex his mother. Lots of orphans in this story. -- The Superman story has always included a lot of Jesus imagery. The scarecrow is so obvious that I feel silly pointing it out. -- Jonathan won't let Clark play football, for obvious reasons. -- It's just fun that bald Lex has a father with so much hair. Ironic, you might say. -- In the flashback, the Smallville sign said it was "the creamed corn capital of the world." In the present, it was "the meteor capital of the world." -- Clark spied on Lana with his telescope. Yes, Superman is a peeper. Quotes: Lana: "So what are you, man or superman?" Clark: "I haven't figured it out yet." Groaner. Pete: "How do I look?" Clark: "Like a tackle dummy." Chloe: "It started out as a scrap book and it just kinda mutated." Good pilot. Three out of four stars, Billie |
 |
|
Home | Show Index | Blog | Movie Reviews | Site Updates | About Me