Alias: Welcome to Liberty Village
I'm sure I'm not the first to say this and I probably won't be the last, but
The X-Files did this episode and they did it a whole lot better. (I think that's because it features one of those great Mulder lines to Scully, "Get out there in the kitchen and make me a sandwhich, woman.") Syd and Vaughn are forced to pose as a spy couple (gee, that's a stretch) and infilitrate a group that has stolen a EMP weapon. With it they will-well, they'll do something really bad. I'm not quite sure what the overall plan was to wreak havoc and destruction with this thing. So, they go to the wacky gated community where you get into a running gun battle over a convertable to prove your worth (yes, but what was that interest rate?). And people keep telling Syd and Vaughn they're "cold" and "boring." So, let's have some hot-steamy-spy sex in the shower. Yeah, that'll take care of it.
My whole thing with this episode was how unevenly paced it was. We spent a lot of time with Syd and Vaughn trying to fit into the suburbs from hell. So much so that the final five or so minutes feel like--holy crap, we've gotta finish this up, how are we going to do it? (And this epiosde was written by former
Buffy and
Angel scribe, Drew Goddard, who I KNOW can write better than this with one arm tied behind his back!) Syd somehow gets hold of the EMP device, sets it off and then next thing we know they're on a plane. Huh? I think we missed some stuff about how they got off the base or were rescued or whatever in the world happened. Either that or I made the mistake of blinking during that second and missed it.
Far more interesting was the plotline with Jack giving up the books to his Russian contact to try and get info about the base Syd and Vaughn were taken to. Also, do you get the feeling that Jack and Sloane are up to something? I guess subtle plot development has flown out the window here. And am I just grumpy or is anyone else ready for them to just get on with whatever evil plan they've come up with already? It seems like every week we get a scene where they sit together and cryptically talk about this plan or agenda they have, only we never get any idea of what it is. At this point, they could be plotting nothing more sinister than what to get on their three pizza from Dominos for all we know.
Smallville: Unsafe
To tell you how far off my radar this show has fallen, I had no idea we had a new episode coming up until I heard a commercial on the radio for it Monday morning. And this is coming out of an almost two month hiatus without a new episode. (It just sort of shows how much Lost dwarfs everything else that is on Wednesday nights...and pretty much the rest of the week).
In this
week's after school special episode of
Smallville, Clark is feeling kind of lonely. Of course, the fact that he's become the biggest stick in the mud EVER certainly ain't helping things. "Oh I can't go to a party with two beautiful girls because my secret might get out." Ummm, Clark they weren't proposing marriage--they just wanted you to come and have some fun. So, insane obsessed girl Alicia is let out of the looney bin just in time to waltz back into Clark's life..oh yeah and she knows his secret but hasn't told anyone. (Again, like they're going to believe her in the INSANE ASYLUM!) Anyway, she shows up and uses red Kryptonite to bring unhibited Clark. They rush off to Vegas to get hitched and them consumate the marriage...but crazy girl wants responsible Clark to be her first time and removes the red Kryptonite. Respoonsible Clark is pissed and goes for a cold shower and heads home.
And just as all of America braces itself for the yelling that is to come by Ma and Pa Kent, we never see it. I was really wanting to see the scene where Clark tells Ma and Pa--oh yeah, by the way, I made a slight error last night and got married to the crazy girl you forbade me to see. We get to see Martha weeping about the sanctity of marriage and hasn't Clark learned anything, but I really wanted to see the scene where Pa flips out and drives off in the General Lee...oh wait, sorry...wrong show.
Meanwhile, Lana decides she wants to find out why Jason broke up with her. She figures that since he's in college and she's a senior in high school he wanted to go to the next level and broke up with her when that didn't happen. OK, why did this little point never come up before now? Turns out Jason dumped her because he is afraid that there are other forces at work behind his meeting and hooking up with Lana and by golly, he doesn't want to play their little game. Oh yeah and he turns down Lana throwing herself at him....
As if this weren't enough, we get a public service message at the end about the dangers of having sex if you're a teenager. Apparently one of them is you'll have to sit through this episode again because the subtetly is like a two by four to the head.
Meanwhile, the interesting plotline--and the one we only get about two scenes of--is Lionel's release from prison and his new found inner peace. Seeing Lionel and how Lex reacts to him was nicely done and I really wanted more of this. But instead, we the after school special going on. Oh yeah, and the other good part--obligatory Jimmy Olsen refernence. Apparently he was Chloe's first love...if you know what I mean. And if you don't, just go back and re-read what the theme of this episode was all about.
posted by Michael Hickerson at 1/27/2005 01:54:00 PM |
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