Apocalypse-When Clark wonders if the world would be better off if he never came to Smallville, Jor-El shows him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
Most series don't even make it to a 100th episode, let alone a 150th episode! But thanks to strong fanbase and Superman longevity, Smallville hits another milestone in it's now 7 year run. But I wish the episode leaved up to higher expectations. While there are moments of excellence, the flaws that have Smallville all season drag the episode down a couple of notchs. "Apocalypse" promised us something epic and truly remarkable hour of telvesion, yet it feels more like a decent filler thanks some strong acting from the regulars and nice anvils from the Superman mythology. "Apocalypse" may seem like one hell of a ride at first, but after watching, the more you realize it wasn't nearly as good as you'd hoped.
First off, Tom Welling is becoming such an exceptional director (he should really consider it as an alternative career!) The scenes througout the episode look quite stunning and more polished than how Smallville usually looks. The best sequence of Tom's directing is when Clark wakes up in the alternate reality and the scenery around him lights up one at a time. It looked so skillfully done and Tom impressed me. Yet at the same time, I felt his acting suffered for it. Not that Tom was awful, he just didn't have that same intensity in his performance that he had in "Descent". But who can blame him when the writers keep shoving horrid lines about Lana down his throat! One of the reason why the episode suffers is because Clark is focused on saving the world at one point then the next his obsessed with Lana again...like wtf?
The whole cast does a fine job in their alternative roles, especially Micheal Rosenbaum! Seeing Lex as the cruel President he was prophecized be all the way back in Season 1 was great, too. Erica Durance finally gets to ACTUALLY play the Lois Lane we all know and love. She looked and played first class ace reporter so well that is almost makes when to hit the writers for developing Lois in an alternate reality then rather develop her in real time. It shows how the lazy the writers are as they know how the characters should be portrayed yet they rather play around with them, arrgh! Tom and Erica worked so well in their scene together. The dynamic between them was electrifying as we get a taste of how Clark and Lois will interact in the future. The scenes of Clark rescuing Lois and Lois creating Clark's mild mannered reporter persona were priceless. Even Jimmy was the Jimmy Olsen of the comics, bow tie and all! Also, I loved how happy Chloe was in her alternate life and that Clark was happy for her. The only less convincing alternate character was Kara, who is like Lex's special agent. While Laura looked gorgerous in her suit, her alternate backstory and reasons for her actions had plotholes in it. Like if Lionel found Kara's ship, then wouldn't she be much older and why would Kara be sent to kill Kal-El if he never even existed on Earth? Maybe Jor-El had a little animosity against Kara while creating his "It's A Wonderful Life" senario.
The alternate storyline is quite good and felt well paced. James Masters is always great as Brainiac and Lex shooting Clark then Kara with kyrptonite bullets was pretty bad-ass(Even though we have already been introduced to the concept of kryptonite bullets in "Extinction"!) Brainiac's mater plan in the alternate reality was reasonable yet slightly predictable. Releasing Zod again? But impregnanting Kara, so she can re-populate the world to make a new Krypton sounds a little sketchy, I see a lot of inbreeding and Kara's poor hips, lol. From there the episode falls to pieces as after Jor-El makes Clark understand why he brought him to Earth, Clark quickly gets the key, goes to Krypton, fights Brainiac, Kara kills Brainiac, Clark saves his baby self, puts himself on the ship, sends him off to Earth and both cousins escape from Krypton as it explodes! What could have made for an amazing follow-up episode is rapped up in 5 damn mintues! Why is it when the writers create superb storyines with tons of potential, they rap them up an episode later!? That's pretty much has been Season 7's biggest flaw, the writers have been creating great storyines yet they are rapped up way too soon! Why couldn't the writers have made an episode called "Krypton" where Clark goes to Krypton, is over-whelmed and amazed to see his home world for the first time, maybe see both his parents alive and see that Jor-El was a cool dad after all, maybe help his parents save himself, then stop Brainiac and escape with Kara...something! I mean Clark is finally on Krypton, moments away from it's destruction, where his real parents are from, where his cousin is fighting for her life to protect him, and all Clark can say is, "Your gonna fix what you've done to Lana"! Are you f*@#!^$ kidding me? Also, there's a really awkward scene between lex and Clark in the barn that feels out of place, especailly after "Descent". Why is Lex still concerned with Lana? What about Veritas? At least we got a great Clois scene and a shocking twist that Brainiac maybe (or possibly inside) of Kara at the end. All and All, "Apocalypse" is disappointing as it could have been incredible, but it's an average effort with some stunning directing, good acting, yet a poor conclusion. Let's hope with the last 2 episodes being very plot heavy, this season can go out with a bang!moreless
EDIT
Episode Summary
When Clark wonders if the world would be better off if he never came to Smallville, Jor-El shows him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
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Erica Durance
Lois Lane
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Allison Mack
Chloe Sullivan
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Aaron Ashmore
Jimmy Olsen
Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions
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Trivia
ADD TRIVIA- It is stated but never clarified why Brainiac needs Kara to travel back to Krypton's past. It has been previously established that he has all of a Kryptonian's powers. It also never explained why he allowed Kara to add to Jor-El's transmissions once he did take her back into the past with him. Edit
- Jor-El and Lara are nowhere to be seen, despite the fact that it's established that Lara placed baby Kal-El in the spaceship before its departure. Edit
- For some reason, with the destruction of Krypton imminent, Brainiac doesn't kill baby Kal-El immediately. Instead he picks the baby up, places him on a pedestal, looks around for a crystal dagger, and then finally gets around to killing him. It would be simpler and faster to simply crush in his skull or strangle him. Edit
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Notes
ADD NOTES- Music: Fetish (REDANA and M1) Edit
- International Airdates: Norway: Monday, May 12, 2008 10.50 pm on TVNorge Denmark: Monday, June 16, 2008 on TV3 Australia: Thursday, July 31, 2008 on TEN HD Israel: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 on Yes Stars 2 UK: Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 10.00pm on E4 Sweden: Friday, September 26, 2008 on TV6 Greece: November 16, 2008 on Star New Zealand: May 29, 2009 on TV2 Czech Republic: March 10, 2010 on TV Nova Slovakia: August 26, 2010 on Markiza Edit
- Photos of Kristin Kreuk, Annette O'Toole, and John Schneider are seen although they don't actually appear in the episode. Edit
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Quotes
ADD QUOTES- Jor-El: You disappoint me, my son. You cannot question your destiny on this planet. Clark: It was you! You wanted to show me what the world would be like if I wasn't here. Jor-El: The disc in your hand revealed your misguided intentions. I was forced to show you the error of your ways. I sent you to Earth for a purpose, Kal-El, one that cannot be taken lightly. Clark: Send me back! Jor-El: You must stop the Brain InterActive Construct from altering history and taking your life. You cannot fail. This time, there will be no second chances. Edit
- Clark: I'm not in this picture. You're their son. "Clark": Yeah. And lucky for you, my dad didn't find you in the barn, 'cause he'd be pulling out his 12-gauge right about now. Edit
- Clark: Nice bowtie. Jimmy: Oh, thanks, yeah, it's a present from an old girlfriend. She might have taken my heart away but she left me a sense of style. Edit
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Allusions
ADD ALLUSIONS- Brainiac: (to Clark) You're not in Kansas anymore. This is an allusion to the famous book series, The Wizard Of Oz, created by Frank L. Baum, that was made into a movie in 1939. This quote directly refers to a line spoken by Dorothy to her dog Toto after they find themselves in Oz. Edit
- Chloe: Clark, if they made the quantum leap, there must be a way you can too. This is a reference to the TV show Quantum Leap. Quantum Leap involves scientist Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) leaping to various points in time, and into the life of a different person, usually constrained within the period of his own lifetime. Edit
- Lois: Even if you White Tornado your way in there... Referencing the Ajax Cleanser commercials which showed a white tornado sweeping into housewives' homes and cleaning for them. Edit
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