Posted Feb 6th 2010 1:55AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Smallville, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S09E11) Technically this episode is a combination of episodes 11 and 12 from the season (originally titled 'Society' and 'Legends' respectively). Also, this is a first for the series, as the episode title actually has two words and not just one, although likely that will change back in syndication.
Tonight's story was chock-full-o-comic-book-references. From the very beginning with the appearance of Radu's to the end mention of the Suicide Squad. It was enough to make any loyal fanboy's brain explode.
Admittedly, the episode was kind of light on story and ended up having major plot-holes, the least of which being how exactly Hawkman's helmet stayed on. The beginning of the episode was extremely reminiscent of the 'Watchmen' movie, particularly with the newsreel-style clips of the Justice Society. If you imagine a parallel 'Watchmen' universe in which Rorschach was actually correct with his "mask killer" theory, then you have tonight's
'Smallville' episode.
Continue reading Review: 'Smallville' - 'Absolute Justice'
Posted Jan 30th 2010 11:00AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Smallville, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S0910) This was a halfway decent midseason premiere. I certainly wasn't expecting that.
For
Smallville, things usually start to drag around the midseason point. Then it's like driving with the parking brake on until the season's final three episodes arrive. But not this year.
This week's solid entry and next week's "Absolute Justice" event are signs that
Smallville will sustain the momentum by giving fans exactly what they want – fun episodes that feed into ongoing story arcs, and plenty of geeky superhero action.
"Disciple" smartly nudged a few major plot threads forward, offered some sweet Lois & Clark moments, and delivered an entertaining self-contained story. Spoilers below.
Continue reading Review: Smallville - Disciple
Posted Jan 17th 2010 4:00PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Smallville, Reality-Free
On February 5th, those tuning in to
Smallville will see the DC Comics characters The Justice Society in full costume (see picture). What they forgot to mention is that later on in the season we will see another familiar costume make the rounds in the
Smallville universe.
Spoilers after the jump...
Continue reading Smallville will have more costumes in 2010
Posted Jan 11th 2010 8:35AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Programming, Smallville, Reality-Free
The path is clearing for
Smallville to return for a tenth season. CW president Dawn Ostroff recently dropped some positive comments about the show's creative direction and
hinted at a renewal.
Speaking to IGN, Ostroff seemed pleased with the show's ratings and optimistic about its chances for another season, but the final decision won't be made until May.
Ostroff also told EW that
Smallville producers Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders have yet to
pitch the final episode to the network.
"... We haven't even gotten to how we're going to deal with the last episode and whether it's a season finale or series finale. But right now, I think it's just a season finale," she said.
Continue reading Is Smallville season ten on the way?
Posted Nov 28th 2009 1:35PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Smallville, Reality-Free
Michael Ausiello has posted on
EW.com some first pictures of the
Justice Society appearance in Smallville. A photo of Hawkman had already been released which admittedly I thought was a gag. Now we have another photo of Hawkman laying the smack down on Green Arrow and a picture of Doctor Fate and Stargirl to boot.
Once again Geoff Johns shows his subject matter expertise. In the comics, Hawkman had conservative tendencies while Green Arrow had liberal ones, so they tended to not get along unless a supervillain showed up when they would team up to stop him or her.
These sort of costumes are a step away from the "no tights no flights" rule that was there since the beginning of
Smallville. Perhaps their appearance is marking a policy change for the show. Of course, once Clark puts on the cape and takes flight, the show is pretty much done.
Posted Nov 25th 2009 5:04PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Smallville, Stargate, 30 Rock, Dexter, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free, Glee, Community
To paraphrase
Dexter's Trinity Killer, traditions matter because they give us a sense of history. They also teach us who we are and what's expected of us.
So in celebration of that fiendish character's warped but delightfully old-fashioned worldview, I'm happy to take part in this little Thanksgiving Day tradition we have here at TV Squad. Here are a few things I'm thankful for this TV season ...
Year four of Dexter – Well, duh ... Sure, the Batista-Laguerta relationship is a little dull, and Quinn is a poor stand-in for Dokes, but Dexter's dealings with Trinty and his Dark Passenger are fascinating to watch. John Lithgow's complex and unnerving portrayal of suburban serial killer Arthur Mitchell is sure to earn him an Emmy nod, if not the win.
Community - Here's the thing: It's just so damn funny. And it has the best and weirdest cast of characters on TV. I can't get enough of Señor Chang and Abed.
Continue reading What Mike M. is thankful for
Posted Nov 21st 2009 1:34AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Smallville, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S09E08) The whole alternate timeline or alternate future concept has been around sci fi for ... well, I don't know how long. The most famous example I can think of is the classic
Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror," though I'm sure there are many more. We've already had alternate timeline stories in
Smallville (such as Lana's "death" in the 100th episode), and now we have an alternate future story.
Although it used an old television and sci fi concept, this particular story served a dual purpose: it let the viewer know what happened to Lois between the 8th and 9th seasons and also let us know the stakes of a potential Zod victory (although we probably could have figured that one out on our own).
Continue reading Review: Smallville - Pandora
Posted Nov 17th 2009 9:02AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: OpEd, Smallville, Casting, Reality-Free
I'm sure most of you
Smallville fans have already seen this preview pic of
Michael Shanks as Hawkman, taken from the upcoming Justice Society episode. So why am I posting it here?
Because that photo looks weird, man!
First off, I must say that I'm really looking forward to this
Smallville two-parter, and I think
Stargate's Shanks is a fine pick to play Carter Hall.
Smallville has been a lot of fun to watch this season, and I hope the upswing continues through next year.
Now, back to that photo ... Why does it look like a still image from a video game? Is it a mostly CGI shot? Concept art? Did somebody switch the real photo of Shanks with a fan photo manip? I'm hoping that some of you graphic designer-types can tell me what's really going on here, because ... yeah ... that photo looks weird.
Continue reading Smallville: Let's talk about that Hawkman photo
Posted Nov 14th 2009 12:32AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Smallville, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S09E08) Wonder Twin Powers, Activate! Okay, so it wasn't so much the Wonder Twins as an homage to the Wonder Twins. Or Wonder Twins: The Next Generation. You get the idea. The blingy Gleek cell phone was a nice touch. Hell, the ringtone even sounded like an alien monkey.
Of course, the Wonder Twins were just gravy for the actual purpose of the episode: to further the legend of the Blur and heighten the Lois/Clark relationship. Like her predecessor in the 1990's
Lois & Clark series, Lois is a smart cookie but really blind when it comes to secret identities. Speaking of cell phones, her ringtone for the Blur was very cute indeed.
Continue reading Review: Smallville - Idol
Posted Nov 11th 2009 11:27AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Smallville, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free
Pam Grier, famous for her appearances in '70s blaxploitation flicks like Foxy Brown and later for her appearances in Quentin Tarantino movies, will be
stopping over in Smallville. She'll be playing the character of Amanda Waller for the upcoming two-part episode with the Justice Society of America.
Amanda Waller was created in the comics and has appeared on television already in the animated Justice League series. She was ... how shall I say ... bigger than Ms. Grier. To play the character as she was created, Grier would either have to gain a lot of weight or don a fat suit.
Actually, the creators will probably just leave her as she is.
Smallville is something of its own universe (as proven by the
appearance of the Wonder Twins). Her appearance is slated for the episodes written by comics writer (and writer of the previous
Smallville episode "Legion") Geoff Johns, so I'm already convinced it will be a good episode. Pam Grier is just icing on the cake.
Posted Nov 11th 2009 9:04AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Smallville, Video, Reality-Free
So that silly pair of purple-clad superheroes, The Wonder Twins, are coming to
Smallville this Friday. I can think of worse things that could happen to the show: Kristin Kreuk could return (shudder), for example, or Clark's bare chest could start to sparkle in the sunlight, ala Edward Cullen. Now that would be truly terrible.
But Zan and Jayna nerding up the joint? Sounds like fun to me.
Being a fan of the veteran superhero series, I'm not embarrassed to say that I'm looking forward to seeing the live-action Twins bump fists this Friday. (I wouldn't even mind a cameo from everybody's favorite blue monkey, Gleek, but sadly I don't think that's in the cards.)
Continue reading Smallville: Maybe the Wonder Twins episode won't be so bad
Posted Nov 7th 2009 1:08AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Smallville, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S09E07) If
Smallville continues to produce episodes of good quality like tonight's, I may have to take back some of the things I've been saying about it. Seriously.
Tonight we got a lot of backstory and explanation about some of the stranger aspects of the
Smallville universe. Why is Earth such a magnet for Kryptonians, dead or otherwise? Because Krypton has been observing Earth for a long, long time and designated the planet as a bolt-hole. We also learned more about that Kryptonian artifact that has been a mystery in
Smallville for a few seasons now.
All this and no Lois, too.
Continue reading Review: Smallville - Kandor
Posted Oct 31st 2009 12:03AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Smallville, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S09E06) Tonight's episode had everything but the metaphorical kitchen sink. There was a lot going on. We had the rather amusing attempt by Lois to score a morning show job, the start of Green Arrow finding his sidekick Speedy and a little more Tess/Zod action.
In all the years I've watched or read Superman in various forms, I've never seen him go on an online date. I would have enjoyed watching more of that, particularly with Lois whispering in his ear. Isn't it illegal to tape someone without their permission (unless you're the government)? What would Clark write on his profile anyway? " Can lift cars, run real fast and shoot lasers out of my eyes. No Kryptonite, please. Must love farm animals."
Continue reading Review: Smallville - Crossfire
Posted Oct 29th 2009 9:36AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Industry, Smallville, Reality-Free
Smallville really is the show that won't die.
After more than eight years, numerous cast departures, and countless recycled plotlines,
Smallville might be
headed for a tenth season, producer Kelly Souders told EW. Somehow, the veteran superhero series manages to stay on the air while shows like
Southland and
Trauma can't seem to make it past season one.
Smallville has experienced a drop in ratings since its recent move to Friday nights on The CW, but Souders says the drop off hasn't been that bad. Last week's episode, "
Roulette," attracted 2.5 million viewers, a season high for the series. It shared third place in the ratings with ABC for the 8 p.m. hour. That's not terrible for a CW show in its ninth season.
Continue reading Smallville producers pushing for a tenth season
Posted Oct 24th 2009 2:05AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Smallville, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S09E05) Tonight we get an Oliver-centric episode that finally resolves his issues. Good! Now we can get to the more interesting dramas of the series such as that with Major Zod and his time-traveling Kryptonian army.
I had a myriad of questions about certain inconsistencies of the episode. No matter how wrecked Oliver was, how did he get so stupid as to swallow a pill given to him by a stranger in a casino? How did he get a flashlight while in the coffin? What casino takes car keys as collateral? Fortunately, they wrapped it up all neatly at the end by blaming Chloe for all his troubles during the episode.
Continue reading Review: Smallville - Roulette
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