Episode 12: Leech (part I)itasheeJune 1 2010, 17:58:47 UTC
Personal Confession: Leech is one of my favourite episodes of season1! :)
*I want to make it clear from the beginning: one of the major reasons why Leech is my all time favourite episode of Smallville is that (surprise, surprise? - not really ;) GB directed it. Another reason why I liked it was because I felt that the script was very strong.
Some random thoughts:
*Random thought 1: Shawn Ashmore playing Eric Summers - HOW WIERD IS THAT??? I was watching Eric’s scenes and I was seeing Jimmy Olsen, who was not really Jimmy Olsen but Henry James Olsen, who had a younger brother whose name was Jimmy Olsen -hey! It’s not THAT complicated…not…really… But it was soooo bizarre and spooky to see Shawn in this episode @_@ // Hey! It's Jimmy Henry James Olson's twin brother. He better watch out because Chloe is close by.// Exactly ;)
*Random thought 2: I’m going to quote you, Natasha ;) //Clark is...seriously prettier than every girl on the show in Season 1, lol.// Yes! Sooo pretty! *_* *I really enjoyed your review, Natasha. If you ask me - the longer, the better ;) You made some really interesting points, which are worth discussing. And I love what you wrote about this episode, and why it’s important not to miss it if you’re a Smallville/Superman fan: //I can't help but think how NECESSARY this episode was to understand the nature, character, and morality of Superman. Give someone else his powers and watch how they use them (this happens twice in the series and both times the acquirers of Clark's powers use them in unethical ways).
(I guess, you were talking about Lana in season 7 Wrath? During a lightning storm, she absorbed Clark's powers and used them to go against Lex. Well, she also managed to hurt Lois - but she never apologized…Wait a minute - did she also fight with Clark??? Yes, she did! - and she felt justified! As for Clark - he just forgave her for her brutal actions because it was Lana @_@ OMG! Season 7 was sooooo wrong on so many levels…Yeah, as you have already guessed, that was my usual Season7 rant -lol) //Take away Clark's powers and see what he does without them (and this has happened three times that I can think of, Leech, Arrival through Hidden, and Odyssey) and all of those times Clark has still acted heroically// I totally agree. And this is what TPTB had in my mind, when they were writing Leech: - “When the writers and producers are devising ideas of Smallville, they often begin with the simple question, ‘What if?’ The question, ‘What if someone had a crush on Lana, and acted on that obsession?’ (me: it happened a LOT in the early seasons! And after some time it became really boring to have episodes based on this recycled idea) and ‘What if someone found out Clark’s secret?’ had been at the heart of ‘Metamorphosis’ and ‘Rogue’, and now the writers asked themselves, ‘What if someone else had Clark’s powers?’ “I like the ‘What if? Episodes’” Miles Millar explains, “because they usually turn out to be really good. They go right to Clark and his problem.” (source: The Official Comapnion1)
It’s really interesting that in the early seasons not many people knew about Clark’s secret. In contrast, in later seasons, like for example season 9, everyone knew about Clark - except for Lois, the closest person to our hero. I thought it was becoming extremely ridiculous…I’m soooo glad that Lois knows now!)
-Miles Millar describes ‘Leech’ as “the last big episode for the first season. The studio had been very generous with us for the first twelve episodes, but when we started the back nine episodes, they really came down on us. But for Leech, we had lots of money to spend, and I think the visual effects are fantastic.” (source: The Official Comapnion1)
-and one more fact from the companion: “the fight between Clark and Eric is deliberately reminiscent of the scene in Superman II, where a de-powered Clark Kent is beaten up by a truck driver.” Me: I would have never guessed! O_O
Re: Episode 12: Leech (part I)theclexfactorJune 4 2010, 16:31:45 UTC
*I want to make it clear from the beginning: one of the major reasons why Leech is my all time favourite episode of Smallville is that (surprise, surprise? - not really ;) GB directed it.
This is completely reasonable.
(I guess, you were talking about Lana in season 7 Wrath? During a lightning storm, she absorbed Clark's powers and used them to go against Lex.
Yes I was talking about Lana. And considering how Clark was still able to empathize with Eric, it's actually completely in character that Clark was able to do the same for Lana. And more so considering he loved her.
Re: Episode 12: Leech (part I)itasheeJune 4 2010, 17:48:40 UTC
//And considering how Clark was still able to empathize with Eric, it's actually completely in character that Clark was able to do the same for Lana. And more so considering he loved her.//
Oh, it wasn't my intention to say that Clark (future Superman) behaved out of character when he forgave Lana for her actions. I just didn't like the way the whole situation was handled.
In season 8 Stiletto - Clark realizes that Lois has "made up" Stiletto in order to get the Red-Blue Blur's attention. And how does he behave towards Lois? He immediately tells her to drop it and doesn't take no for an answer (I liked how the whole Clark/Lois/Stiletto situation was handled in this episode).
Now, with Dark/Lana and Clark - it almost seemed to me that Clark was afraid to tell her what he really thought about her actions, because he didn’t want to hurt her feelings.
*I want to make it clear from the beginning: one of the major reasons why Leech is my all time favourite episode of Smallville is that (surprise, surprise? - not really ;) GB directed it. Another reason why I liked it was because I felt that the script was very strong.
Some random thoughts:
*Random thought 1: Shawn Ashmore playing Eric Summers - HOW WIERD IS THAT???
I was watching Eric’s scenes and I was seeing Jimmy Olsen, who was not really Jimmy Olsen but Henry James Olsen, who had a younger brother whose name was Jimmy Olsen -hey! It’s not THAT complicated…not…really…
But it was soooo bizarre and spooky to see Shawn in this episode @_@
// Hey! It's Jimmy Henry James Olson's twin brother. He better watch out because Chloe is close by.//
Exactly ;)
*Random thought 2: I’m going to quote you, Natasha ;)
//Clark is...seriously prettier than every girl on the show in Season 1, lol.//
Yes! Sooo pretty! *_*
*I really enjoyed your review, Natasha. If you ask me - the longer, the better ;)
You made some really interesting points, which are worth discussing. And I love what you wrote about this episode, and why it’s important not to miss it if you’re a Smallville/Superman fan:
//I can't help but think how NECESSARY this episode was to understand the nature, character, and morality of Superman. Give someone else his powers and watch how they use them (this happens twice in the series and both times the acquirers of Clark's powers use them in unethical ways).
(I guess, you were talking about Lana in season 7 Wrath? During a lightning storm, she absorbed Clark's powers and used them to go against Lex. Well, she also managed to hurt Lois - but she never apologized…Wait a minute - did she also fight with Clark??? Yes, she did! - and she felt justified! As for Clark - he just forgave her for her brutal actions because it was Lana @_@ OMG! Season 7 was sooooo wrong on so many levels…Yeah, as you have already guessed, that was my usual Season7 rant -lol)
//Take away Clark's powers and see what he does without them (and this has happened three times that I can think of, Leech, Arrival through Hidden, and Odyssey) and all of those times Clark has still acted heroically//
I totally agree.
And this is what TPTB had in my mind, when they were writing Leech:
- “When the writers and producers are devising ideas of Smallville, they often begin with the simple question, ‘What if?’ The question, ‘What if someone had a crush on Lana, and acted on that obsession?’ (me: it happened a LOT in the early seasons! And after some time it became really boring to have episodes based on this recycled idea) and ‘What if someone found out Clark’s secret?’ had been at the heart of ‘Metamorphosis’ and ‘Rogue’, and now the writers asked themselves, ‘What if someone else had Clark’s powers?’ “I like the ‘What if? Episodes’” Miles Millar explains, “because they usually turn out to be really good. They go right to Clark and his problem.” (source: The Official Comapnion1)
It’s really interesting that in the early seasons not many people knew about Clark’s secret. In contrast, in later seasons, like for example season 9, everyone knew about Clark - except for Lois, the closest person to our hero. I thought it was becoming extremely ridiculous…I’m soooo glad that Lois knows now!)
-Miles Millar describes ‘Leech’ as “the last big episode for the first season. The studio had been very generous with us for the first twelve episodes, but when we started the back nine episodes, they really came down on us. But for Leech, we had lots of money to spend, and I think the visual effects are fantastic.” (source: The Official Comapnion1)
-and one more fact from the companion: “the fight between Clark and Eric is deliberately reminiscent of the scene in Superman II, where a de-powered Clark Kent is beaten up by a truck driver.”
Me: I would have never guessed! O_O
Reply
This is completely reasonable.
(I guess, you were talking about Lana in season 7 Wrath? During a lightning storm, she absorbed Clark's powers and used them to go against Lex.
Yes I was talking about Lana. And considering how Clark was still able to empathize with Eric, it's actually completely in character that Clark was able to do the same for Lana. And more so considering he loved her.
Reply
Oh, it wasn't my intention to say that Clark (future Superman) behaved out of character when he forgave Lana for her actions.
I just didn't like the way the whole situation was handled.
In season 8 Stiletto - Clark realizes that Lois has "made up" Stiletto in order to get the Red-Blue Blur's attention. And how does he behave towards Lois? He immediately tells her to drop it and doesn't take no for an answer (I liked how the whole Clark/Lois/Stiletto situation was handled in this episode).
Now, with Dark/Lana and Clark - it almost seemed to me that Clark was afraid to tell her what he really thought about her actions, because he didn’t want to hurt her feelings.
Reply
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