Smallville 5.18: "Fragile"
Written by Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin
Directed by Tom Welling
In which a young girl with a dangerous ability to shatter glass with her thoughts is befriended by Clark, while Lex and Lana discover that their feelings are mutual…
Based on the descriptions for this episode, I wasn’t expecting much. Sure, Tom was directing, but how often have such directing debuts gone horribly, horribly wrong? Too often, they are fairly mediocre and completely devoid of a particular style. I’m not going to claim that Tom’s direction was unique or distinctive, but it got the job done. The only person who failed to get good direction in many cases was Tom himself; too often, he was overly giddy and smiling like an idiot.
As far as the story goes, it worked for me, at least for the most part. Clark really is the right person to reach Emily and get her to open up, though it happens remarkably fast to meet the demands of the episode. But a lot of pitfalls were avoided, and I wasn’t rolling my eyes most of the time, even when Emily’s and Tyler’s powers made automotive glass shatter in shards instead of little glass beads!
That said, one problem with the main plot is perhaps the most obvious. A lot of people knew that Emily’s ability was to shatter glass, and that those abilities went out of control when she was upset. Even those unaware of Emily as the probably source should have figured out what was going on quickly enough. So why were so many people standing there, when the glass started rattling right next to their heads, as if waiting to be killed? The teaser was the worst offense, because the idiot stood there and waited for the mirror to rip her apart!
I was expecting the Lex/Lana subplot to annoy me to no end, but it actually wasn’t so bad from where I was sitting. Then again, I’ve always felt that Lex wanted his shot at Lana, going back to at least the second season, so it felt like natural plot progression to me. I was a little annoying that Chloe couldn’t figure out what was happening, considering how observant she usually is, but it was a minor source of irritation.
The most annoying and unnecessary problem with the episode had nothing to do with Tom’s direction or the plot itself. It was that ridiculous “Hunt for Fine” sponsored by AOL. First of all, I hate overt product placement, especially when it clashes with common sense. Why in the name of hell would Lex be using AOL for something he wants to keep secure and private? Wouldn’t someone like Lex have a secure network of his own, or at least something he could use?
The worst of it is that it didn’t mesh at all with the plot as a whole. It felt like the AOL references were out of nowhere and tossed into the story without any thought. It made the whole mess far more egregious, and if I were Tom Welling, I’d be pissed that my directorial debut was completely compromised by needless corporate shilling.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 7/10
Directed by Tom Welling
In which a young girl with a dangerous ability to shatter glass with her thoughts is befriended by Clark, while Lex and Lana discover that their feelings are mutual…
Based on the descriptions for this episode, I wasn’t expecting much. Sure, Tom was directing, but how often have such directing debuts gone horribly, horribly wrong? Too often, they are fairly mediocre and completely devoid of a particular style. I’m not going to claim that Tom’s direction was unique or distinctive, but it got the job done. The only person who failed to get good direction in many cases was Tom himself; too often, he was overly giddy and smiling like an idiot.
As far as the story goes, it worked for me, at least for the most part. Clark really is the right person to reach Emily and get her to open up, though it happens remarkably fast to meet the demands of the episode. But a lot of pitfalls were avoided, and I wasn’t rolling my eyes most of the time, even when Emily’s and Tyler’s powers made automotive glass shatter in shards instead of little glass beads!
That said, one problem with the main plot is perhaps the most obvious. A lot of people knew that Emily’s ability was to shatter glass, and that those abilities went out of control when she was upset. Even those unaware of Emily as the probably source should have figured out what was going on quickly enough. So why were so many people standing there, when the glass started rattling right next to their heads, as if waiting to be killed? The teaser was the worst offense, because the idiot stood there and waited for the mirror to rip her apart!
I was expecting the Lex/Lana subplot to annoy me to no end, but it actually wasn’t so bad from where I was sitting. Then again, I’ve always felt that Lex wanted his shot at Lana, going back to at least the second season, so it felt like natural plot progression to me. I was a little annoying that Chloe couldn’t figure out what was happening, considering how observant she usually is, but it was a minor source of irritation.
The most annoying and unnecessary problem with the episode had nothing to do with Tom’s direction or the plot itself. It was that ridiculous “Hunt for Fine” sponsored by AOL. First of all, I hate overt product placement, especially when it clashes with common sense. Why in the name of hell would Lex be using AOL for something he wants to keep secure and private? Wouldn’t someone like Lex have a secure network of his own, or at least something he could use?
The worst of it is that it didn’t mesh at all with the plot as a whole. It felt like the AOL references were out of nowhere and tossed into the story without any thought. It made the whole mess far more egregious, and if I were Tom Welling, I’d be pissed that my directorial debut was completely compromised by needless corporate shilling.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 7/10
posted by John Keegan | 17:53
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