A fannish evening...

[fajrdrako]

I've been very tired all day, but the dizziness that has plagued me since Monday has gone away at last. So I had a quiet, fannish evening.

First I watched last week's Smallville episode, Blank, which I'd missed but which maaboroshi taped for me last night. Or at least, I watched half of it, while eating supper; then watched this week's episode, Ageless, then Lost,then the ending of Blank.

Enjoyed all three. I have the feeling I ought to be appalled by certain developments on Smallville - instead I'm intrigued.



Blank had an intriguing plot. I love the way Chloe was characterized - she seems to have matured more than anyone, and in better ways. I liked Kevin, the semi-villain of the week, and his father the Summerholt scientist. I love the way Lex was characterized, taking Clark down into the caves, coming to see him at the barn - taking his map of the caves. I did slightly wish Lois wasn't around, but that was all right. I had no problem with amnesiac-Clark's reaction to Lana - in fact, the heat-vision trigger was funny, and I figured it would have happened when he saw Lex, too, except that he had more control of it by then. I liked the way Chloe kept discovering more of his superpowers as the episode progressed.

As for the ending... Clark's sudden impulse to take up with Lana again, forgetting all his good resolutions after last time - I suspect this will all end in more heartbreak for everyone.

Ageless reminded me of Ryan, though it wasn't as good. I didn't find the boy - Even - very appealing at all, though obviously Lana and Clark did. I liked Lex's role. I loved the Lionel/Genevieve interplay. I liked the use of Velveteen Rabbit.

What struck me most was that - aside from the bits about Lionel - this struck me as an alternate universe Smallville story. Nobody was quite themselves. Clark and Lana seemed unusually mature, playing house - well, playing parents - to an infant and then even to a teenager as if they weren't only teenagers themselves. Going to Lex for help - that's nothing new, but Lex playing philanthropist? How odd. And Clark formally thanking him and shaking his hand.... okay, okay, being slash-inclined I always want more hugs between them, but this politeness seemed most strange even for the level of friendship and closeness we've seen on the show. And the Kents - they were sweet, but pretty much kept out of the parenting game, acting more like grandparent.

I loved the idea that Lex covered up the death of a child for them with social services, and presumably also that child's involvement in the death of his father. The old Luthor magic - wave a wand and phht, two deaths disappear, not to mention the Brigitte Crosby death from the previous week, another murder that never appeared in the public consciousness.

They never explained Evan's conception or his life. Was it that his mother had been affected by meteor rocks? Presumably - for lack of a better explanatiion.

Lost: The Greater Good was great. I watched it with maaboroshi and maaseru. We were listing times in the past when Jack has lost it; in White Rabbit, in the chase after Ethan... our Jack is not as stable as he would like it to appear. Loved it that Kate drugged Jack. Loved the whole Sayid story - and I love Sayid more every time we see him. I like the way he treated Shannon. Now we know why Sayid was going to the States and what he was in Sydney for.... shiver. What a scary background story, and only a couple of days before the crash.

We all loved the part about Sawyer and the baby. Rolling with laughter. It was so perfectly set up, so nicely handled - especially the scene of Charlie (and baby) chasing after Sawyer to hear him talk.

As for Locke... his role was interesting. Sayid is no dummy.

For all the producers talking about Jack as 'the hero', Sayid looks a lot more heroic to me than Jack does.

I have been wondering if Boone died because Walt was angry that Locke was hanging out with Boone, not with Walt, and Walt was unhappy about it.

Comments

[widget-alley.livejournal.com]

I got home in time to catch the ending credits of Ageless. Obviously the universe wants me to start this show from the beginning.

Smallville

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Agless would be a very strange one to start with - but then, the first episode I saw was Craving, which was strange and not one of the best episodes by any means. Start, if you can, with the Pilot - not only does it set up a lot of relationships and information, but it's a terrific episode.

Re: Smallville

[widget-alley.livejournal.com]

It looks like I'm going to have to, since I'm almost universally gone on Wednesday.

Re: Smallville

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Is Wednesday the only night they show it there? We get it on American stations on Wednesday, Canadian stations on the next Tuesday - which is very handy for those weeks when I somehow miss it.

Re: Smallville

[widget-alley.livejournal.com]

I checked the listings and ha! No! They are, in fact, showing the pilot next Tuesday at seven... when I will also be gone. But I can set it up to tape. (I'm gone four or five nights a week, pretty regularly. Jiu jitsu, family visits... crazy stuff.)

Re: Smallville

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Sounds as if you're as busy as I am! But I'm glad you'll be able to see the Pilot. That's one of my favourite episodes.

Re: Smallville

[widget-alley.livejournal.com]

They seem, also, to be showing them in order after that. Skaa-whee. That should sustain me until summer, when I can actually rent the DVDs.

Re: Smallville

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

What perfect timing! I'm tempted to watch first season again myself. (I have the 1st and 2nd season DVDs.) It was delicious in so many ways.

Re: Smallville

[widget-alley.livejournal.com]

I feel that there is a very obvious joke in the delicious statement, yet I can't quite find an elegant way to twist it, to where said joke doesn't suck. But consider it made. And elegantly.

Re: Smallville

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Just as elegantly as Lymond would say it, I'm sure. Perhaps with a veiled reference to the nature of bald billionnaires.

Re: Smallville

[widget-alley.livejournal.com]

Perhaps with a veiled reference to the nature of bald billionnaires.

Oh, I'm sure I wasn't thinking anything as lascivious as the concepts of "bald billionaires" and "delicious" in the same sentence. I'm really quite maidenly and modest, on the inside.

(I'm also a horrible, horrible liar.)

Re: Smallville

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Funny how being a talented liar is also a fine characteristic of Francis Crawford (and other Dunnett heroes), as well as the aforesaid bald billionaire.

I think you have been corrupted by the fictional company you keep Me too. Badge of pride.

Re: Smallville

[widget-alley.livejournal.com]

Lying is, I think, a skill that everyone should cultivate. Deceit deceiveth and shall be deceived, but it's easier to spot a lie if you've done it yourself. The trick is self-awareness.

People are always surprised at how corrupt I am. They're all, "You're not supposed to understand Darwinian cruelty! You're a homeschooler!" Yes. A homeschooler whose parent-sanctioned curriculum included The Art of War at age eight, and The Art of Seduction last year. Not to mention, as you say, the fictional company I keep.

Badge of pride indeed! I'm certainly proud of it.

Re: Smallville

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

How lucky you are to be home-schooled. I went to school, hated it, and consider myself mostly self-taught. I Should have read The Art of Seduction at a young age. (I suppose it's still not too late....)

I like "truth and lies" as a literary theme, and it's certainly a theme in Smallville, though I'm never sure what to make of their approach to it. What I like most of all is stories about lies that become the truth, reshaping reality with their implications - like The Postman by David Brin.

Another theme I love? Stories in which a lie is believed of the protagonist. Lymond's a good example here, in that in The Game of Kings everyone believed he was a traitor who had killed his sister.

Re: Smallville

[widget-alley.livejournal.com]

"Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and adventures are the shadow-truths that will endure long after mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot." (Aaah, Gaiman. How I adore him.)

Yes. God yes. The antihero no one trusts, including the reader, at moments. That hits me in all the right places. Something about the isolation, I think, appeals to my sadism.

The Art of Seduction (Robert Greene) is a wonderful, fascinating read, chock-full of quotes and analyses and historical examples. It's not just a how-to manual, it's also a really awesome look at sexual psychology-- it's not just about getting them in bed, it's about how elegantly you get there. Fabulous.

Re: Smallville

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It sounds as if The Art of Seduction should be required reading everywhere.

Gaiman is brilliant. It goes without saying.

I'm not sure what the isolation appeals to in me, but it's certainly something. Especially when the said hero or anti-hero risks himself (or something more valuable to him than himself) for the sake of someone else, who may not even know about it.

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

I love Sayid the most. The Sawyer thing was a big laugh.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, isn't Sayid great? I also loved seeing Sawyer reading to the baby, urged on by Charlie.