DtS Review – Bride
By: Kevin
“I guess you don’t have much need for cuff links when you have a whole closet full of flannel shirts, huh Farmer John?”
~ Lois Lane
The blessed day has arrived – Jimmy & Chloe are getting’ hitched! They’ve gone through a lot to get here; they deserve a day full of joy surrounded by family and friends. And bless their hearts; they almost make it through a perfect day. But, Smallville wouldn’t be Smallville without a little death and destruction brewing right around the corner. It looks like Davis is gonna make good on his “threat” from the previous episode and not stand idly by while Chloe gets married to the wrong guy. Thanks to a little Cloverfield-esque video montage at the beginning of the episode, things get pretty chaotic after the “I do’s”. Jimmy’s gravely wounded and Chloe gets taken by the beast. It’s a pretty quick and intense way to get the episode started and it looks like it’ll be a crazy ride!
Lois is top dog when it comes to the planning & set-up of Chloe’s big day – and The General sure would be proud of his little army brat – Lois doesn’t pull any punches. Quite literally in fact – she won’t even ring that poor guy’s bell. And, as good as this episode is, that just might be my favorite part. Maybe. And that would be saying something because this episode is chock full of goodies, with the brewing romance between Lois & Clark being top of the list. There are tons of awkward moments and a few little gems that give away some underlying feelings & desires underneath both of their surfaces. And, as always it’s such a fun time to watch these two.
Jimmy stumbles upon Chloe getting ready in her apartment, adjusting her garter & I have to say – WOW. I shared in Jimmy’s jaw-dropping reaction. Chloe (and Allison) was breathtaking. I may be bold enough to say that she’s never looked sexier and lovelier than she did in that scene – and that’s a feat in and of itself. Perhaps it was the silky, violet lingerie or that she was full of smiles & glowing, but whatever it was, it was working. And I totally envied Jimmy.
Amid all of this bliss, Oliver Queen shows up at the Kent farm with a dire warning for Clark – Lex is alive. Of course, we’ve all know this for some time, but for Clark it brings a real danger back to the surface – Chloe may not have any knowledge left pertaining to Clark’s secret, but Lex still knows. If they can pin-point a location on Lex from a wireless router that he’s been using to send e-mails to Tess, they can nab him once and for all & Oliver says it’s going down today. It’s a nice tease at this point in the season, but with the real-world knowledge that Michael Rosenbaum isn’t coming back in the role of Lex for the time being, the mention of Lex doesn’t carry the same amount of weight that it might have otherwise carried with the audience. Later, as Ollie is preparing his jet for departure, Clark arrives with the router. But Clark refuses to let Oliver have it if he’s doing this out of vengeance for Lionel killing the Queens. Clark doesn’t believe Oliver when he says that’s not the case, so Clark super-speeds away. Just as Ollie thinks all hope is lost, Mr. Guy of Random Convenience comes out of the cock-pit and says he downloaded the info off the router before Clark left using the Wi-Fi. Now, even though the technology probably exists to do something like that, it did seem awfully convenient. I could almost hear a collective “Yeah, right.” echo from all across the globe from my fellow Smallvill-ians… er… Smallvill-ites…
Now, I know we all have had some issues from time to time with some of the writing on the show, but whatever qualms one might have, something has to be said about the writers’ talent for tying in old storylines into the newer seasons. They do it quite regularly if you really think about it & in this episode, bringing back the flower that Chloe gave Clark at Prom back in Season 1 was a really nice touch. It was doubly effective because I think most people had the same reaction that Chloe & Lois had – it was a very sweet, sentimental moment and it worked really well.
Oliver shows up at a factory in Cuba where Lex is supposed to be hiding out. And after mistakenly dispatching a mannequin with extreme prejudice, he is ambushed and knocked against the wall. Someone with the familiar initials of L.L. is back, only it’s not Lex Luthor – it’s Lana Lang, complete with Kung-fu action grip! She’s been tracking Lex’s movements as well, and she & Oliver are both there to settle scores. Scores that will, unfortunately, have to wait. After Lana inquires about Clark’s welfare, Oliver convinces Lana to come to the wedding and find out for herself. She’s hesitant, but we all know she’ll go & bring her excess baggage with her.
Back at the farm, Lois & Clark are getting all gussied up for the big event. Earlier in the day Lois asked Chloe how she knew Jimmy was the one, Chloe says, “Lois, don’t worry. When you meet your super-stud – you’ll know.” Lois laughs it off, but in the scene in the Kent house, Lois comes down the stairs and sees Clark in his suit and they both pause and look at each other, I’m pretty sure this is that moment for Lois. She’s totally got the butterflies in the stomach, the whole nine yards. It’s priceless. In my opinion, this has got to be one of the best Clois scenes in the history of the show. The usual awkwardness & sarcasm is there, but the part in the scene when Lois turns to walk away and hears Clark say, “It’s really hard for me to put my feelings into words, but ever since the first moment I saw you – I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.”, she turns with a look of such joy & hope, only to realize that Clark was reading Jimmy’s wedding vows for Chloe. Then Clark realizes this and gets a look of “Ohhh, crap. What did I just do?” It lets them both see, really for the first time, that there are feelings there – and perhaps the other person feels them too. Granted, it’s a very quick flash in the pan moment & it ends horribly, but it was nonetheless very touching to watch.
Meanwhile, over in Metropolis, Davis Bloome is having a bad night. He can’t get a hold of Chloe and to make matters worse, it looks like he’s been killing & dismembering people again. Just as he’s done disposing of some dismembered bodies, an unlucky patrolman finds him – and the bags of death. The poor guy, he tries to do his job and take Davis in, but Davis isn’t having any of that and starts to go all Doomsday on him. This is pretty cool because it’s really the first time we, as the audience, have ever seen him start the change. The jagged bones emerging out of his hand was VERY cool.
The now-infamous dance between Lois & Clark was, obviously, almost perfect. And, even though Lana showed up right before they were about to lock lips, it was another awesome moment between those two. It also leads into two interesting scenes with Lois & Clark dealing with some unresolved feeling. Lois finds herself on the porch of the Kent farm when her old flame, Oliver shows up. In a scene that could have made this night even more awkward for Lois, she & Oliver are able to leave their own history in the past & Ollie turns out to make Lois feel better about what just happened between her & Clark. Like maybe all hope is not lost. Erica Durance really shines here as Lois opens up & lets her usually hidden emotions out. Clark on the other hand, gets a tiny bit of closure about his feelings for Lana & her abrupt departure a few months ago, but any feelings that had come to the surface for Lois are pushed way back to the back-burner for now. And, knowing how the next few episodes play out, if the Clana relationship had stayed where it was headed after this scene, I think it would have been much better. It was a good scene, closure wise.
Okay, now we’ve reached the point where Doomsday shows up to crash the party. And it’s pretty sweet. It’s the best view of him that we’ve had to date – his massive grey body, jagged bones everywhere, and red eyes. He makes short work of the wedding party – including knocking Clark back through the barn as if it was a pile of leaves & slicing and dicing Jimmy’s torso. Had Clark not smashed through his desk with the chunk of Kryptonite in it, he may have been able to prevent Chloe from being abducted. But, alas, with all the destruction & chaos, before anyone can do anything about it, Doomsday & Chloe are gone. And everyone else is left to pick up the pieces.
Smallville has had some excellent episode-ending scenes. No dialogue, just music. And the music that T.P.T.B chooses is usually perfect for the emotions of the moment. Season 3’s Covenant having the best one, in my opinion – with Lionel’s head being shaved in prison while all the chaos ensues to the other characters as Mozart’s Requiem Introitus plays on. That was simple awesome – and the ending for Bride ranks just slightly beneath the one from Covenant. Lois is heading to Star City with Jimmy to get operated on, Chloe’s nowhere to be found, Lana’s leg is injured & Clark is helpless to do anything about any of it. Don’t Take Your Love Away From Me by Vast plays & it captures all the feelings that are happening at that moment for the show and all of its characters. We see Doomsday carrying Chloe into The Fortress of Solitude (remember that’s where Brainiac is hiding out) and Chloe wakes with darkened eyes and an evil smirk. The last thing we see is footage from the wedding being played on a TV monitor – Doomsday crashes the party & chaos ensues. Then, it pulls back to show a bald, shirtless man hooked up to several medical apparatuses, watching the footage.
LEX.
