Prophecy Screentime Totals, and Deepish Thoughts

[jeannev]

 So, here we are, the 2nd to last episode of Smallville ever.  Well, sort of anyway, since I'm not buying the idea that smashing 2 episodes together make it a 2 hours movie, but in the immortal works of Dr Emil, "whateves

Comments

[costas22]

Hey Val. Thanks for the screentimes and your insight on this. In case I forget, I will really miss reading your reviews each week. Just a few key notes I made

[jeannev]

Aww, thanks. Its nice to know some people will miss my long rants, aka reviews. I'm sure there are just as many people who will be happy to see them go.

I just didn't see much BQM in this ep at all.

They have never cared about journalist Clark. But, at least we did get to see some journalist Lois, which should've been a major part of her arc all year. So, that was a plus for this episode.

The Legion of Doom concept is not a bad one, but now? And done on a budget of 10 bucks? You can't do it.

Tess' appearance in this ep was definitely a contractual obligation. And a short appearance wouldn't have bothered me so much if they hadn't made her stupid and useless in one of her 2 scenes.

I like the actress playing Granny too. Just imagine who cool it would've been for Granny, Godfrey and Desaad to be popping up all season long?

Everything about this season feels lazy, and rushed, and incoherent, and sloppy. Its hard not to expect more of the same from the finale.

What a waste of time the Bow of Orion was.

[costas22]

I don't think anyone here will be glad to see your reviews gone. ;)

Kelly and Brian imo were never good showrunners. Good writers, yes. But I don't think they can handle the responsibility of a full season. Particulary on the budget they are working with. Add to that the fact that most of the show's writers are average and you get an incoherent season with the wrong arcs getting the main focus. Prophecy was a great illustration of the entire season really...

Since they reached the point where Tess was just a bystander in Prophecy, she should have been used in another episode in a more meaningful fashion. Some may argue that she wasn't needed, but she should have been in Homecoming. They squeezed in 8 season regulars for Reckoning. They couldn't add Tess to Homecoming in some fashion? That one will always bug me.

[jeannev]

Oh, believe me....there are people. LOL

I don't even think Brian and Kelly are good writers. But they never should've been the showrunners. When Al/Miles left, the show should've tried to pull in someone with showrunning experiance.

I would've liked to see Tess show up in Booster, maybe.

[awehla]

I agree totally with everything you said. This was terrible - Lois putting on the diode for me was the stupidist bit.

What upsets/annoys me is that you and I and many fans can think of better storylines than people who get paid thousands on a big show like this. They seem to miss obvious things to explore on screen like Clark learning to fly, Clark saving normal people, a talk between Lois and Clark about what happened with Lana, a talk between Chloe and Lois about Chloe's power and both knowing Clark's secret, basically talks between any number of characters about what the hell is going on!

Like many shows they've tried to be "Lost" or "Doctor Who" clever and failed miserably when all I want frankly is classic, decent story telling. Give me a beginning, middle, dramatic climax and satisfying resolution any day over all this modern twists and clues bollocks that is popular these days.

Lisa
x

[jeannev]

Its painful when they write any of the characters as hopelessly stupid.

I can only say that I can think of better stories for this show in my head that would appeal more to me. Maybe if I faced the same sort of issues that real writers do, I'd blow it too. But thats the thing, this is their job. Its what they get paid to do. So, when it blows, I think it should be OK to say it blows. When I don't do my job well, people have the right to say so.

Of course, I'm sure we all think we could do it better. LOL

There's an old saying that SV showrunners/writers should've learned a long time ago. "Keep It Simple Stupid". Especially when you have no budget. Instead, they overcomplicated everything to the point of incoherence, and had neither the writing staff, or budget, to accommodate their ideas.

[awehla]

Definitely agree with the keep it simple stupid mentality.

Lisa
x

[tjw_jaypat]

Spot on as always! :)

While until a while ago I felt lots of outrage about the bad writing, I am now sort of exhausted. At a loss of words to describe the awfulness of this season. It really seems that everyone zoomed out of the show aleady at the beginning of S10, concerned to find a new job for the time after SV, and they just turned the kitchen-sink results of their very first brainstorming meeting from last year into a full season without giving it any further thought. Randomness doesn´t make for awesomeness...

Now that I am complaining already, just one as yet unmentioned thing that annoys me: it seems that Lois has now been promoted and is already at her new office, while Clark still works in the basement as a nobody. That irks me badly. How could I ever expect that over 10 seasons this show would give me one important aspect of Clark´s identity as a journalist, so that I could see him succeed in this field too?

[jeannev]

I know exactly how you feel in regards to feeling exhausted. Why do you think I didn't get this review up until monday night? Well, OK, I was busy too, but I used to make it a point to do these quicker, but this season? Its just too depressing.

I also get the impression that a lot of SV's creative team were distracted by their need to find a new writing gig. Some of them (Septien/Meyer) didn't even wait until the season was over to start dividing their time and attention. I think that sort of behavior shows in the work.

I can't get too upset about Lois getting promoted before Clark because the show never bothers to show Clark as an engaged journalist. In fact, I don't know why he still has the job. And thats a real failure of the show. As it is, I'm not quite sure why Lois got promoted, because its not as if they spent a lot of time and effort on her journalistic arc either. They just didn't seem to be much interested in the Daily Planet as anything more then another set for the characters to interact on.

[jeannev]

Clex is what I'm most looking forward to in the finale. And flying, hopefully. Though I know there's no chance its going to look as good as the flying in Crusade.

I am very grateful to have had 10 years of Tom Welling on my screen :D

I'm thinking of doing my finale review in 2 parts. One just about the episode itself, and the other talking about in relation to the show overall, and how they addressed all the questions raised, and relationships forged. But, I guess we'll see. A lot depends on the episode itself.

[anonymous]

Thanks for the screen time numbers... I would much rather have seen Clark on more this episode. OK, I too had higher expectations for this episode and was disappointed

[jeannev]

Oh, I knew going in that Lois would have the most screentime here. I'd have been surprised at anything else.

This idea that the show keeps trying to suggest that AI Jor-El is actually Jor-El is just so bizarre to me. Especially with what they've had this machine do. Jor-El IS DEAD! Not mostly dead. ALL DEAD! Clark no longer has a living father. Not biological. Not adopted. Why can't the show grasp this?

I can't get too upset about Clark not having a mark on him in Watchtower since this show is notorious for that. There's no way any of the major cast members should still be living with all the damage they must've sustained.

I just don't buy that its only occuring to Lois now that there are people dying in the world every second, and Clark can't save them all. I find this whole storyline for her to be ridiculous, a day late and a dollar short. Especially since we know she's not going to stick to it for even 1 episode.