Episode 813 - Power Review




"Power" Review

Written by Scarlett

DISCLAIMER - Please remember that this review does not represent the opinions/viewpoints of everyone; it is the personal opinions of the reviewer only. Thank you.

This episode was so bad, that it's difficult to even think of one good thing to say about it. It was a boring filler episode that derailed the major plotlines of the season so far, and did nothing to progress Clark's journey. It was like watching an entirely different show, for the sole purpose of promoting Kristin's "b" movie. It definitely goes on my list of the worst Smallville episodes of the entire series.

The Good :

Tom's Performance: It's amazing that Tom can continue to turn in good performances, even with such a lackluster script. Tom remains the professional though, and sometimes carries this show on his shoulders. Without him on this show, I would have stopped watching it a long time ago.

Mixed Reactions:

Allison as Director: Allison does a great job as Chloe, but not all actors should be directors. While it was courageous of Allison to try her hand at directing, her effort produced mixed results. Allison's choices for some of the scenes were odd, with extended pauses, bad timing, strange angles, etc. Even the actors looked confused a lot of the time, and the episode felt disjointed.

The Bad:

Bad Filler Episode: How was this episode important or relevant to Clark's journey? It was disgusting the way Clark was reduced to a supporting character in this episode. He was there, to only support other storylines that really didn't have anything to do with his storyline. This would have been tolerable in earlier seasons, but this is season eight now. Clark needs to be the primary focus now.

Disservice to all the Characters: Power did a disservice to all of the characters, primarily Clark Kent. Overall, it was a poorly written, directed, and acted episode. One of the worst of the series for many reasons.

Clark: He seemed confused most of the episode (or maybe Tom was struggling to make sense of the storyline). He contradicted himself more than once. At the beginning of the episode, he called the kiss from "bulletproof" a mistake. He told Lana that she shouldn't have powers because last time it ended badly. He admitted that he and Lana were both living in a dream (nightmare maybe?), but yet at the end of the episode, they are kissing? Huh?

Chloe: Chloe never even mentioned Jimmy's condition, nor did anyone ask her about him. Chloe was shown leisurely leaving a coffee shop, smiling, while her husband Jimmy lay in a hospital bed in another town. Chloe even flip-flopped on her advice to Clark about Lana yet again. Huh?

Tess: She went from trying to be "good", to murdering someone and kicking them to death with blood splattered all over her face, all in one episode. Huh?

Lana: Lana went from talking about getting revenge on Lex, to trying to help save the world, to wanting to be "just like Clark", to praising Tess after she had just tried to murder her. If she was going to try to get powers like Clark, then why did she go to that absurd training in the first place? And, isn't being power hungry supposed to be a Lex Luthor trait, not a Lana Lang trait? Are the writers trying again to show parallels between Lex and Lana? Huh? Even the training scenes with Lana seemed weird, and didn't make much sense.

Clark and Lana: Do the writers really think this was a mature, realistic closure for either Clark or Lana fans? As a non-shipper Clark fan, it is so disappointing to see Clark's integrity and his progress sacrificed again and again for a supporting character. Why couldn't the writers have given Lana a decent send-off that was positive for both Clark and Lana? Why is Clark always sacrificed to try to prop up this supporting character? Why couldn't Clark and Lana have just ended as friends, in a mature, adult manner? Why was it necessary to try to do a 180 and try to turn Lana into something she has never been in the past seven seasons? What a disservice to the continuity of Smallville, and what a huge disservice to Clark Kent/Superman fans.

Lana Drama: Lana Lang is barely more than a footnote in all mythos versions of the Superman story, and that's not going to change, no matter how the Smallville writers try to change it. The more the writers try to shove the Lana drama down viewer's throats at the expense of Clark Kent, the more many viewers detest Lana Lang-Luthor.

My rating for "Power" is 1 out of 5 stars. And that's because Tom was onscreen and Allison had the courage to direct an episode.

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