RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Media Smallville's been really bad lately

Son of Mxy content User BLASIAN
7500+ posts Mon Oct 13 2008 12:35 AM Reading a post
Forum: Media
Thread: Smallville's been really bad lately

seriously??

He's being super duper serial.

I hope we get to see Chun-li's wet ass

haduken!

Smallville sucks more cock than Erica Durance.

SOM, your teeth look like shit.

Jeremy happy Moderator Hangin' out like double D's
15000+ posts Tue Oct 14 2008 01:56 AM Reading a post
Forum: Media
Thread: Smallville's been really bad lately

a good episode tonight. no Oliver Queen, no Tess Mercer. Just a Superman story with a mysterious killer and Clark trying to be a hero. Martian Manhunter as a Metropolis detective is a good idea, this Davis guy as some version of Doomsday also might work out, and they actually addressed Clark needing to cover his face to avoid being recognized and how people in Metropolis are looking for inspiration. Maybe it just took the new producers a few episodes to get good or maybe this was a fluke, but it was a good episode.

I saw the preview....what did they mean by Doomsday is coming? The actual beast Doomsday?

basically the way they've said it'll play out is that this paramedic guy is Doomsday and his story will unfold over the season. so far he's just been a nice guy friend but tonight they started to reveal the darker aspects.
Clark was up late at the Daily Planet listening to the police scanner and super speeding around the city stopping crimes when he heard about some violence at a night club. he gets there and it's a bloody carnage. the survivors describe only some guy with bones sticking out of his body. the paramedic is found by Clark under some debris covered in blood, but it turns out not to be his own blood.
Martian Manhunter has taken the John Jones identity and managed to get a detective rank with the Metropolis PD to help Clark and they investigate the murders. Meanwhile the paramedic (i forget his name and just think of him as Doomsday) confides to Chloe that he has blackouts and they've been getting worse, and Clark confronts him about how he always is the first responder on scene but the paramedic turns it around and points out how in the initial crime scene photos Clark is often there when there is no way any reporter could get there so quickly.
Turns out there's some shadow villain guy who killed a few people, is captured, and confesses to all the killings but at the end they mention a necklace from one of the victims that is missing and wasn't in the shadow guy's apartment and they show it in the paramedic's car.

it could turn out to be a pretty good storyline afterall. But they need to ditch Green Arrow and Tess who weren't in this episode and it was the best so far this season.

I may try and watch the next few episodes....I should DVR them. Do you think they are going to try and make a CGI Doomsday?

i don't know, but they have pretty good FX on the show so I'm not too concerned. in season 6 they had a sort of proto-Doomsday and the fight was pretty cool, especially for live action TV (remember how cheap Lois and Clark fights were?).

the Zod fight was cool.

the Bizarro fights were great.


and the powers FX have been upgraded this year so hopefully it'll be a cool fight, especially since they'll be building up to it.

looks cool!

you mean "looked" cool. those were all past episodes. you could say "sounds" cool since we're speculating on future events.




stupidity like that is why the Romans beat your people.

So, uh, Lex wasn't the only arch-nemesis who used to be Clark's friend? So was Doomsday? When this guy (his name is probably something like Dooms Davis), when Dooms gets bored and leaves after 7 seasons, they'll probably introduce Brian Niac, a friendly well-meaning guy... with a disturbing dark secret.

if his name was Dooms Davis is it any worse than any of the other silly comic book names over the years?
and he's not Clark's friend, he's Chloe's. Clark met him only a couple of times briefly and wasn't really comfortable with him before this stuff happened that makes Clark distrust him.
And I think Doomsday might be some kind of Hulk-like transformation, which could work. I just hope they tie it to Krypton.

mxy, all of your criticisms of Smallville have always overlooked the fact that it is BASED ON A COMIC BOOK and unlike a lot of adaptation shows it follows the comic book rules of storytelling. The first 7 seasons were pretty damn good if you compare it to any other Superhero adaptation (most of which burn out after 2 or 3 years) and while I hated the first few episodes of this season this one had enough to reignite my faith in the show and I'll give the team a chance and see how they play things out through november sweeps (which is often when season arcs hit a peak and can be judged).
I think my biggest problem this year was Tess, Green Arrow being a regular instead of a guest star, and that Clark was just using his powers so blatantly. The fact that neither character was in this episode and Martian Manhunter lectured Clark on his power usage makes me think they're actually going somewhere. And the talk about Clark needing to hide his face but not wanting to wear a mask (glasses) and how people in Metropolis are looking for hope were great ways to shift things towards Superman.
I've enjoyed Smallville for 7 years now. I've had a lot of bad times and good and quite frankly Smallville was one of those shows that I knew would entertain me for an hour each week. It started when I was 19 and lived with my mom and continued through just some real shit in my life. It's a unique take on Superman and I think people who don't like it either are fanboys with no patience or aren't really fans of the genre to begin with.
The last bit was to explain why I defend the show so much. Even though I'll insult it sometimes, it ranks as a favorite.

also mxy Brainiac was on the show already in years 5 and 7. his name was Milton Fine (comic book name), he was a Krpytonian AI (TAS concept) who worked to release Zod from the Phantom Zone (original concept).

What works in one medium doesn't necessarily work in another. That's why the best superhero adaptations are the ones who subvert the rules of the comic (like Iron Man and DK).

Besides, what kind of excuse is that? It's based on a superhero comic so it's allowed to be utterly idiotic? When have I said that all superhero comics are good? In fact, I think most of them are mediocre, and I've said so many times (I love that word, apparently). I prefer superhero comics that have a twist to make them intereting, or over the top self-aware stuff that's allowed to be silly because it doesn't take itself more seriously than it should (the exact opposite of what I've seen in Smallville: the fact that those characters never stop to think how repetitive and unlikely the situations they're in are completely disqualifies them as rational thinking people. Unless those meteor rocks also made them retarded.).

As I've said before it's the soap opera aspect what annoys me the most. I've seen how those things are done: the people who make those shows don't give a shit about what they're doing. They're only concerned with stretching the concept as much as they can, beyond the point where things stop making sense (hence, you know, countinuing the show after the characters are older than the logical age the initial concept allowed, and after most of the cast and even the creators have wisened up and left).

I don't know for sure 'cause I haven't watched the new season, but I think Doomsie Davis Jr. is an example of that. The idea of Lex going from nice guy to evil bastard is obviously very appealing and one of the main draws of the show (even if him being childhood friends with Clark is one of the silliest ideas to come out of the Silver Age, one that never should have found its way outside brightly colored comics). So the actor is gone? Fine, let's just replace him with another nice guy who'll do the same thing. Maybe he's not Clark's friend and he probably isn't as psychologically complex as Lex, but he's still got the same Anakin thing going, just in time to replace Lex's arc.

Ooh, I forgot Brainiac was already on the show! Yeah, that convinced me to watch a full episode. I had diarrhea for a month.

Well, let me just replace that example with Metallo or Parasite... or have they already used those guys? With the inclusion of Jimmy and Lois and the JLA, the show's gone from a prequel story to one of those generic "Kids" cartoons from the early 90's.

I don't read Iron Man but Dark Knight worked because it, like Batman Begins, was true to the spirit of the comics. As is Smallville, it's just true to the spirit of Superman books. But at the same time it is a weekly show with 22 episodes to fill each year. Some episodes are padded, like any other show. When I watch a show I judge it based on what it is and what it's trying to be. Smallville succeeds at being a good superhero show that is also truly original (no one has ever tried to do the pre-Superman/secret identity story).
I also look for a show to evolve, and Smallville has. Clark's powers have steadily increased, the character has matured and moved towards the Superman role, and the villains went from krypto-powered teens with metaphorical issues to supervillains. Lex started out as a decent guy and slowly morphed into a villain in a very fluid and organic way.


i don't think it's idiotic at all. it's a sci-fi/fantasy show. if you find aliens idiotic then you can't really fault the show for it because that's what the story is about. i say it's based on a comic to justify the soap opera element and the fact that change is slow and that sometimes they have to just throw in a freak of the week story. Superman books have always had him pining over Lois or worrying about their relationship, fighting random villains who only appear once, and have changed less in a decade than Smallville does each year.
Also you have to keep in mind the character's age. They were whinier in the beginning because they were teends. Clark and Lana were played pretty well all things considered. He matured and their relationship matured and then eventually fell apart in a very adult manner. I appreciated that.
But I enjoy the soap opera melodrama in superhero shows. Batman and Iron Man are really not in the same storytelling style as Superman. His story specifically is meant to be grandiose and melodramatic, a modern version of hercules and jesus and moses etc.


1984, Denver.

Superhero comics are often cliches. But Superman originated the cliches, he doesn't really need twists because he is what he is. He is the original.
Yet at the same time Smallville has added those twists. THey've avoided retelling the same stories over and over again. The Lex/Clark relationship, Lana and Clark, Lana marrying Lex and faustian deals she made, Bizarro, Brainiac, Zod, Jor-El, Kara, Lex and Lionel's relationship, The Kents, Doomsday, Chloe. All are either original creations or unique takes on old characters meaning you can know every comic book ever and still not know what's coming. This Doomsday story is a good example. It's a fresh take on it instead of just another adaptation of the Death of Superman where he breaks out of the ground and they fist fight for 20 minutes.


Again, it's Superman. Superman is allowed to have the cliches because they're his cliches. And as I said they have lots of original twists. And quite frankly few shows ever stop to wonder why they have 22 adventures per year, that's just how television works.
BUt at the same time there is a change in how things work on the show. Characters originally ignored the strange freaks, then they feared them, then some accepted them (Lana, Chloe) while others experimented or recruited them (Lex). Clark has actually noticed that he seems to just keep fighting bad guys but that has also made him mature as a hero. Remember in year 1 he whined about missing out on fun stuff, now he wants to be out there helping people.


that's not fair to them. just because you don't like it doesn't mean they're just phoning it in. i like it, i watch it weekly, and whatever story they're telling they do care about it. you may not like their best effort, but it doesn't mean no one does.
and the soap opera aspect is more in the vein of the classic tragedies with stylistic touches. I watched 90210 and Melrose Place in the 90's. This show is higher quality melodrama.


the initial concept is a young Clark Kent growing up. They did 4 years of high school and now they're adults. From the beginning they've said the show is about him going from a teen to Superman. now Clark is pretty damn close to taking up the identity so hopefully this will be the last year and will be wrapped up nicely.
And just because you don't like it doesn't mean it was just being stretched out.


maybe. too soon to tell.


Lex was a psychological character, very well acted and the father/son dynamic was great especially compared to Clark/Jonathan.
Doomsday is more like a werewolf/monster story. It's a classic storytelling device to have the villain hide in plain site. Brainiac was Clark's college proffessor who revealed himself to be a kryptonian ally of Jor-el and then later revealed to be an AI servant of Zod.
Just because they all were friends on some level with Clark doesn't mean it's the same story repeated.

This thread convinced me to vote for Obama

He kills babies SoM.

does that include whomod's babies?

DAMMIT! We cant handle another raid right now!

I blame Obama. He's the one who murdered whomod's babies.

i'd probably agree with ray somewhere in there, but there's just too much text.

smallville is a good show as long as you're willing to accept its a live-action tv series based on a comic book with soap opera-y type storylines. there's corny moments that (barely) fly only in this type of production (also seen in spider-man movie franchise, to name a relative comparison). but, overall, there is a good sense of character development and storylines and such (again, keeping in mind the plot is intentionally drawn out over weeks/months/years). really cool special effects for a tv series.

typically, there are at least 3 episodes every season that are great -- they tend to be the first, last, and winter-break episodes. its very likely you could just watch those three every season and think the show was fantastic.

way too many quotes rob. way too many

great episode, this season is definitely turning around. they're now fully in to the superman origin and not just little hints.
the ending with chloe was a pretty good twist, she crossed a line and it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Sincerely, the last seven seasons.

At least Tess lasted a few episodes without throwing herself onto a random guy's lap. A female character not acting like a complete whore in this show is definitely a change of pace. It took them years to try this, but better late than never and all that.

Still no glasses for Clark either, now that so many would recognize him if Superman doesn't get a mask.

finally caught up with the season. the last few episodes were pretty good. im actually looking foward to watching some more...

They're actually bringing doomsday into the show.


As much as I make fun of it I really wish they would put the whole series on hulu or something. I watched it for years, might as well finish it.

years

Smallville has really picked up this season. The clip that the YTVP posted is awesome, that episode should be good. With Lana coming back I'm wondering if she'll have her memory erased of Clark's secret identity also. Either that or she'll end up DEAD. I'm betting on the latter.