Enterprise: Storm Front, Part 1
You can almost imagine how the conversation went between Brannon Braga and Manny Coto at the
Enterprise offices.
Brannon: So, Manny, you get to take over day to day running of Enterprise, having shown last year that you can tell some good stories and that the fans really seem to like.
Manny: Thanks, Brannon, that's great.
Brannon: Congratulations. Oh, by the way, you have to come up with some way to resolve that whole alien Nazi thing Rick and I pulled out of thin air to be our cliffhanger last spring. Good luck with that.
Manny: D'oh!
Given what he has to work with, Coto works hard but comes up a bit short in terms of the season premiere. Certainly it's not the travesty that Robert Bianco would have us believe, but it's also not the solid B+ work that Sci-Fi Wire talked
about on Friday. Instead, it's an episode that's firmly in the middle. Coto seems to pay homage to classic
Trek by combining elements of two episodes--"Patterns of Force" and "A Piece of the Action." So what we've got here is alien Nazis being battled by gangster revolutionaries. The only thing of interest is that the Siluban are back with Silik up to something. And the temporal Cold War plotline looks as if it's finally moving toward some sense of resolution. And again, this is an epiosde that is part one of a two part story and I've got hope that maybe, just maybe Coto is putting some things in motion that will have a big payoff in episode two--and by big pay off, I don't mean huge action sequences with lots of guns and explosions. Last season did a good job of finding a balance and having some intensity--especially in the later half of the season. I had hoped some of that momentum would carry over into season four, but so far it doesn't appear like it has.
Smallville: Facade
You know, I've really got to stop watching the promos the WB produces. Have they EVER previewed an episode of any show in a way that actually represents what will actually happen in the storyline?!? Watching this one, you almost think it's going to be
Smallville does its take on
Cruel Intentions, what with hot, steamy shower scenes and two girls exchanging spit. Instead, the much-hyped woman to woman kiss is in no way what is advertised, but instead the freak of the week passing along her curse to Lana in an attempt to destroy her.
I now know why Lana moved back to Smallville...it was easier only have the entire population of Smallville obessessed with you than, say, Paris. (Because every where she goes, people get obsessed with Lana!) I mean, honestly...the other girls at Smallville high must be getting pretty upset since Lana seems to attract the attention of everyone she comes into contact with--from her buddy Clark to that guy or gal she passes in the hall. I'm telling you, there's something in the water over in Smallville and apparently only Chloe is immune.
Four years in and this one felt like a season one episode. About the only real diffrerence here was that instead of Lana getting in danger (though heaven knows she tried), Lois gets herself in hot water for Clark to bail her out at the last second. And then we get a semi-tragic scene where Chloe realizes that she is not number one in Clark's affections. (Wait a minute--didn't Clark say last week he wasn't into Lois, but here he seems to be?!?) I do like that we see Clark attempting to have a normal life by playing football and his conversations with Jonathan about it rang true. Too bad that's really the only intelligent character situations we have going on this week. OK, so I watched Lois and Clark and I guess from my expereince there I can accept that for being portrayed as a smart woman, Lois can really blunder into some stupid situations that are completely over her head...but on that show she KNEW Superman would save her. But as for Lana's new boyfriend, Jason, taking a job at her school and meeting her for secret dates/make out sessions during the school day and on school grounds...this makes no sense at all. Maybe it's just that I live in a county that had numerous teacher/student "incidents" last year, but surely he has to be a bit smarter than that. Also, the whole concept of forcing Lois into Smallville High--oh yeah, she forgot she hadn't passed some classes and the college is just now getting around to telling her?!?--just felt like a lazy way of keeping Lois around on the show. Surely the writers can come up with better than this.
posted by Michael Hickerson at 10/10/2004 01:25:00 PM |
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