Episode 820 - Beast Review




"Beast" Review

Written by Babaluwee

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.

"Beast" filled me with sense of foreboding and dread because it seemed to be no more than a set-up for future encounter between Clark and Doomsday that I fear will leave loyal fans in a world of hurt. Davis' question to Chloe is prescient: "What did you think was going to happen?"

The episode was so riddled with inconsistency, insanity, inanity, and lapses in reasoning and common sense, that it was insufferable! The only explanation could be that this set-up was deemed necessary at all costs for the future episodes.

The Good

Tom Welling: I suspect that the script for "Beast" called for both, little on-screen time for Tom and an understated performance. If the objective of the episode was for Doomsday to escape imprisonment in the Phantom Zone, so that he could return for an anticipated encounter with Clark, Tom could not continue to portray Clark as the more proactive and decisive hero that we've seen in season eight. Tom can deliver a more subdued performance when called upon to do so. Even so, Clark is still heroic in being faithful to his values (of not taking life) and in devising the smart solution of the PZ. Tom is always able to portray Clark's innate goodness.

Justin Hartley: Oliver is portrayed exceedingly well by Justin Hartley; he's a decent and clear-thinking genuine hero who sincerely strives to do the right thing. He would do anything for the well-being of his friends, and would spare no resource to help even strangers. Oliver's first thought upon regaining consciousness in the Talon basement was for Chloe's safety. When he mistakenly thought Jimmy had a drug addiction, he sincerely wanted help him overcome it, not feed it, by offering to pay for rehab. He was able to see all the good qualities in Jimmy, and in the end, offered him a job.

Aaron Ashmore: Aaron gave, perhaps, the performance of his SV career in this episode! He was terribly convincing playing a character strung out by life, if not by drugs. Opposite an equally able Sam Witwer in the Talon basement scene, Aaron was heartbreaking as he goaded Doomsday to kill him; his performance was a riveting mixture of despair and courage. Was Jimmy giving up on life, having been seriously injured and having lost his love, his marriage, his job? Or was he trying to sacrifice himself to spare Oliver?

The Bad

Serious Inconsistency: Chloe agreed to stay with Davis because her company prevents the murderous Doomsday from reemerging and harming anyone, and ultimately, she prevents him from fulfilling his genetic design to destroy Clark. The thoroughly tragic Davis had tried everything to stop his evil alter ego, even a lethal saturation of kryptonite. There was absolutely no alternative to Chloe's pacifying presence, but Clark came up with the morally legitimate and viable solution of imprisoning DD in the Phantom Zone. It is absolutely inconceivable and unconscionable for Chloe not to agree. What does she think was going to happen?

Oddly enough, Clark's killling DD is repeatedly presented as though it were a third alternative. When did destroying DD become an option? Chloe, Oliver, Clark, and even Davis himself all explicitly acknowledged in this episode that Davis returned to life after a successful suicide. Why then does Oliver directly tell Clark to kill DD? Or that Clark should have killed him when he had the chance? Why does Chloe assume that Clark would be able to kill DD, except that he doesn't want any "blood on his hands"? To present DD's destruction as a third possibility is a glaring inconsistency and makes no sense at all. And to try to make the episode about a moral dilemma between Clark's abhorrence to killing and justifiable homicide is specious and contrived.

Inanity and Lapses of Reason and Common Sense: That Chloe prevented DD from being imprisoned in the PZ makes no sense for the following reasons:

It was clear to both Chloe and Davis that Chloe's intermittent presence was no longer enough to contain DD. Davis needed progressively more and more of a "Chloe fix," until she would no longer be able to able to leave his side at all. What did she think was going to happen?

It is not inconceivable that there would come a day when Chloe would no longer be able to "keep Davis human" no matter what she did. What does she think is going to happen?

Didn't Chloe even consider the possibility that something bad may happen to her? What if she became ill or injured or comatose or involuntarily separated from Davis? The last of which is exactly what happened and nearly cost Oliver his life. As Oliver himself asked her, "How did you think this was going to end?" DD cannot die; that which kills him only makes him stronger. Chloe is not invulnerable and she will die one day. What if Davis gives up the struggle because it's too hard? What does she think is going to happen to the rest of the world?

It is morally right and imperative to side with an innocent victim against an unjust aggressor. Not taking a side and claiming a cowardly neutrality would give an advantage and a moral equivalence to the unjust aggressor. Chloe has absolutely no morally defensible choice, now that it may be possible to incarcerate DD. What does she think is going to happen?

Chloe prevented Clark from incarcerating DD because she did not want to condemn him to a "life of hell for all eternity" in the PZ. Why was it Chloe's choice now? Wasn't she condemning Davis to continue a life of hell for all eternity on earth in a futile battle to control DD? She knows that the battle, waged every minute of every day, would be overwhelming and that the stakes are way too high for humanity and ultimately for Clark. At least in the PZ, Davis would have been granted the peace and consolation of knowing that he would never again murder or harm anyone. Isn't that what he wanted above all else? Wasn't Davis willing to die to insure that? Well, now he knows that death is not possible; the PZ is the only alternative.

Insanity: After eight years of meteor empowered criminals, near death and actual death experiences, apocalyptic scenarios, Brainiac possession, fighting evil people, and suffering loss of every kind, Chloe Sullivan finally snapped. No human could endure the cosmic stress and strain of being the only person in the universe to restrain a murderous alien with the power to kill Clark and destroy the earth. Her thinking became delusional and out of touch with reality. She believes that she had "never really saved Clark" in all the times that she removed meteor rocks from him. She has some sort of martyrdom complex in believing that she is now saving and protecting him by running away with Davis. (She knows full well she'd overload Clark's baseless guilt.) She also has some sort of savior/messiah complex in believing that by her saving and protecting Clark, she alone can allow him to fulfill his destiny to save the world. It's all about her now.

How noble of her to say that it is never a sacrifice to choose the greater good. She has not chosen any good for anyone else, not when there is a more permanent, viable, and morally defensible alternative to her stopgap choice. You want to be noble, Chloe? Convince Davis to go into the PZ voluntarily by offering to accompany him. What does she think is going to happen when DD becomes immune to her or she dies? She wasn't far from the truth when she joked about being fitted for a straightjacket. The writers have warped and twisted yet another beloved character of Smallville.

Clark: Clark seemed scarce in this episode, but to his credit, it was he who devised the PZ solution for DD. However, Clark was uncharacteristically weak and morally impotent in this episode. If there was ever a time for him to have been assertive and decisive, it was in the FOS when Chloe prevented him from incarcerating DD. "I'm not going to let you," she said as she pulled the crystal key that unlocked the PZ portal. Who put her in charge?? But again, in her mind, this situation is all about her. Clark could have harmlessly overpowered her, or super-sped the key from her. Where was some of the passion and strength that Clark later unleashed on that innocent file cabinet in the Isis Office? Instead, Davis super-sped Chloe away, leaving Clark just standing there looking sad. He didn't even look stunned, angry, or cognizant of the magnitude of what he had just allowed to happen. But fear not, he will soon blame himself fully, thoroughly, and baselessly for Chloe's delusional choices. What did she think was going to happen?

The Chloe who knows of his burden of baseless guilt, and once tried to alleviate him of it, is now the same Chloe who phoned him to let him know that, whether right or wrong, everything she had ever done was for him. I fear that Chloe's grand and noble "sacrifice" is going to result in some unbearably evil and sorrowful outcome, with far reaching repercussions, especially for Clark. What did she think was going to happen!

I give "Beast" 0 out of 5 stars (especially for ruining beloved Chloe).

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