If you're Unsafe, you might get a Splinter and go to an Oracle for a Talisman
Over the last two days, I've watched Talisman, Oracle, Unsafe, and Splinter.
I thought that Talisman was a nice touch of continuity- recalling the Season 2 episode Skinwalker. The episode was directed by John Schneider. I wonder why he never directed another episode? If Tom can manage to direct and be the star of the show, it couldn't have been a time issue. Maybe John didn't like it? Or maybe they didn't like his directing? Anyway...
I find it humorous that Jeremiah starts out looking like this:
But after he gets the Starblade, he suddenly gets better looking:
I get it that with his new abilities, he doesn't need his glasses anymore, but did the Starblade also have the magic power of giving him a haircut? Isn't his hair pulled back in a ponytail in the beginning?
I think it's interesting that during this episode, Clark doesn't have any scenes with the "kids" of the show. He does have scenes with Lex, but I don't consider him a kid. Chloe & Pete have their own storyline going on about Chloe finding out that Pete's parents are getting a divorce and that his mom is moving away. Lana is dealing with getting accepted to the art school in Paris, but not being able to afford it. Clark's scenes are with his parents, Jeremiah, Professor Willowbrook, Lex, and Lionel.
I think all of this is symbolic of the fact that Clark is not like the other teenagers. He has a very real, adult problem that he's dealing with- it's way bigger than a divorce or money issues (although those problems are important too). Clark does mention going to Chloe for some kind of info, but you don't seem them together.
I think the scene between Clark and Lex in Jeremiah's office is kind of funny. Clark claims to be there for help with a term paper and Lex knows he's lying. Then he draws the blinds for some private time with Clark.
Or maybe to look at the drawing on them...
By the way, why in the world would Jeremiah paint on the blinds? They don't seem like a very easy canvas to work with...
Clark makes a copy of the drawing to take to the professor but I don't think they look alike.
Or maybe they would look more alike if Clark had drawn it straight instead of at an angle.
I can't talk about Talisman without showing off a bit of Tom's gorgeous chest:
I can't tell though- is that a scar in the middle of this chest? Is it supposed to be there from the Starblade or is that just one of Tom's tiny imperfections? Even his imperfections are sexy though, so it doesn't really matter...
This isn't the first time that Ma and Pa Kent keep vigil over Clark on the kitchen floor.
I do love how Martha is holding him though. The other episode that comes to mind where they do this is Extinction.
And for whatever reason, this shot just cracks me up:
I bet Michael and John had a hard time keeping a straight face through this scene. :-)
On a completely random note, I really like this clothing combination:
And here's a funny face from Lex:
Onto Oracle. Again, there was a bit of continuity in this one- celebrating Clark's birthday in the second to last episode- just like in Season 2 with Calling.
Kind of a sucky birthday though- Chloe doesn't have a gift for him and his mom gives him a card from his dead father. I think it would have been more appropriate if Martha had given him Jonathan's card in private.
Also, the baseball tickets were for a game in Minnesota, I think. It's not exactly next door to Kansas. Was Clark going to superspeed them there? Were they going to fly?
I feel so bad for Clark at the gravesite.
Chloe says something to Clark to the effect of that there's nothing that would make Clark kill someone. It's just interesting to compare that to what she said to him about Lex in Quest (I think?). I'm not sure I have too much else to say about Oracle. We did see a Lana/Lois bonding moment. These 2 don't have scenes together very often- or at least not just the 2 of them.
Unsafe is an episode that I love because of the Clark and Alicia hotness. I just watched this episode not too long ago, so I fast forwarded through all of the non-Clark scenes.
I started a picspam from Unsafe awhile ago, but I didn't get too much response from it (thank you jeannev) so I never bothered to finish it.
After this episode on my tape, Pariah was on it. I had just watched it though and I couldn't bear to watch it again. It's so sad.
Last from this batch is Splinter. I think this goes on my favorites list as well. Tom did such an awesome job in this episode! I love how his body language and speech pattern changes throughout the episode. The author of Twilight can suck it for saying that no one would ever be afraid of Tom Welling.
In Splinter, when Clark thinks he sees Lana kissing Lex and he accuses her, she says that would "never" happen. That line always drives me crazy because about 12 or 13 episodes later they're making out and totally a couple.
I always wonder- how did Milton Fine know that Clark would touch the meteor rock? Lana told him to open the box for her, but how did Fine know she would do that? What if he had handed her the box and then left right away?
When Clark is yelling at whoever is driving the black truck, he says, "what the hell is wrong with you?" or something like that. He definitely uses the word "hell" though which "normal" Clark Kent would never say.
I like how when he leaves class, he's touching his finger where it was cut. Subtle, but nice.
Tom is just so awesome in this episode. Here he's mad at Chloe:
Trying to choke his dad:
Lana's the only one he trusts:
I guess they had to spray him down with water to give him the sweaty look. I wouldn't mind having that job...
I love how he uses his hands when he goes to talk to Fine and Fine says he hasn't been in class in a week.
He's trying to remember- "no, yes..." It's just so great.
Clark thinks his worst nightmare is coming true- he's being put on display as an alien by Lex Luthor:
I'm always amused by the fact that there's a "Clark-sized" hole in the wall. :-)
There is a shot where Clark is standing right in front of it, but I couldn't find it.
Another one of my favorite parts is when Lex says, "let's get you to the lab," and Clark says, "yes, let's go to the lab..."
Again, his body language and tone of voice are just awesome!
"Lana, I want to...talk..."
I love this!
Tell me you're not scared of this face:
And then everything is supposedly back to normal and peachy keen.
It IS nice to see Clark smiling though.
And see a shot of his enormous hands swallowing Lana's.
And a nice Chlark hug.
Lionel is awful when he says to Lex how Lana already has a boyfriend and isn't in the market "for a spare." Then he says something about Lex running for Senator to change how people perceive him and ends his comments with, "that's why Lana Lang will never love you." What the hell Lionel? I'm not usually on the Woobie!Lex team, but I think some of what Lionel said was pretty low and uncalled for.
If this episode was supposed to trick us into thinking that Milton Fine was one of the good guys, it worked on me. We find out in the very next episode though, Solitude, what he's really up to.
This is a really long post but I thought it might be preferred instead of spamming you with 4 shortish posts.