savingpeople

I won't lie.  I've procrastinated on writing a review for this episode.  Why?  Because this is the episode in which I feel like Smallville has totally failed me as a viewer. 

Here was the chance for them to reach all the way back to Season Two and bring something awesome to the table in regards to Clark's changing feelings for Chloe...and they didn't.  Do I think they won't in the future?  No.  I think that could still come up and I'll be glad to see it, but this?  A completely wasted opportunity for greatness.

And, that saddens me.

TV episodes where one lead character finally wises up to the feelings of another is SO exciting and is usually treated as a big deal on and by the show. 

When Pam finally learns about Jim's intense feelings for her?  To know that he's in "love" with her (7:34 in the video)?  One of THE best episodes of The Office. 

Rachel finally learning that Ross was "in love" with her at the end of Friends Season One?  And, when Ross finds out about Rachel's feelings for him (who later on, when they're together, tells him that he was "worth the wait", just like Chloe in the "Fever" letter)? 

Such classic moments because they change everything. 

In fact, with the examples from Friends and The Office, after the cat's out of the bag about the unrequited feelings, a huge epic kiss occurs.

That's why I'm so disappointed in the way things transpired in "Instinct" in regards to Chlark.  The letter coming back should have been a catalyst in Clark's waking up to Chloe.  Maybe not necessarily resulting in a big romantic kiss, but an AH-HA moment should have happened.

But, instead, we got Maxima and WhinyJimmy.   And, yes, that disappoints me. 

   

Smallville has actually told a great, epic love story between Chlark and to keep resorting back to the same boring things (a.k.a. Chimmy) doesn't make any sense to me.  The letter should have changed things.  Maybe it still will?  I don't know.  I just know that if they never intended to change Clark's feelings, to solidify Chimmy, or to pimp CNois, they could have done all of that without the letter.

Tess Mercer

I love that Tess goes and digs up Dr. Grohl, who is still loyal to Luthorcorp, but has been in hiding (from Lana?).  It's funny to me that she's more skeptical about alien things than Lex was.  I always thought Lex was always a believer in things outside of the world he knew and that he wanted there to be things beyond us.  He was always fascinated with the unexplained.

But, Tess?  She wants to stick to science and not science-fiction.

I love you, Tess, but shouldn't you be doing this crystal experiment in a lab and not in your house?  Maybe that's just me being the lowly peasant that I am, not wanting my things to get destroyed.  If I was a Luthor, or living the life of a Luthor?  I probably wouldn't care as much :)

What exactly where they thinking spinning the crystal would tell them?  Makes me laugh how absolutely ridiculous that whole scene is.  That Dr. Grohl would come in because Tess finds him as the top scientist on Lex's list and all he does is spin the crystal around really quickly...and it just happens to shoot off a big beam of light. 



I guess you have to figure out what it does, but still...big plot contrivance because the crystal ends up not doing anything, but busting a hole through the Luthor mansion and send a Kryptonian Beacon to Maxima, Queen of Streetwalkers. 

Tess' introduction to the weird and alien (a.k.a. Maxima's reveal in the Luthor mansion) is hilarious because all of a sudden, the things she is skeptical about are right in front of her face and quite literally, throw her for a loop.  Doubtful that she'll blow off "science-fiction" again.



I love that Oliver sends Tess a green dress and that she says he "hasn't love his flair for the dramatic".  Oh, Green Arrow references, I love thee.



Tess comes out of the shadows of The Talon (she also sneaks up on Clark at Isis) and calls Chloe "Miss Sullivan" just like the Luthors before her and it's pretty awesome.  Chloe doesn't want to talk to anyone connected to Lex Luthor and it's pretty awesome.  Tess cuts Chloe down for planning a wedding and working at Isis and it's pretty awesome (even if it's to show that Tess knows about Chloe's life).  Chloe says it's not her "first tour of duty on the Luthor Battlefield" and it's pretty awesome.  In fact, that whole freaking scene between Tess and Chloe is pretty awesome.

Tess says "super computer"!  BWAH.  30 Rock reference, anyone?  :)

Tess kickboxes in all black in front of a fire and talks to her trainer in another language.  All villainous Luthorian traits.



A mysterious "X" sends Tess a message that she's not ready yet.  I know the obvious answer to the "who is X?" question is Lex, but it seems the most logical to me because it makes sense that in Lex's absence, Mercy Graves, would try to act like the big boys and think she is capable of being one of them, but Lex would be all "yeah, you're still playing in the sandbox".  Only he would be the one who would be pruning her to be "ready" for something.

Oh, and there is a "X" is "LeX" :)

   

Although, I can understand the argument that is might be Brainiac because the crystal goes missing and the e-mail is from an unknown sender and I could see Brainiac being able to send Tess a cryptic message like that.  My big problem with Brainiac being "X" is why would he want to train Tess?  What use does he have with her?  He's already taking over Chloe, so why would he care about Tess?  I see Lex having MUCH more of a stock in Tess and knowing more about the crystal, but that's just me.

Maxima

Was it just me or was the whole Maxima thing hard to watch for anyone else?  I realize they probably focused on the tongue-kissing to show that she was working her magic on the dudes in order to find out if they were the one for her, but COME ON.  Lay off the porno music, the skanky clothes, and the tongue close-ups.  I AM watching Smallville and NOT late night on Showtime, right? 



I'm not convinced that Maxima MADE the guys kiss her.  I know they tried to play it off like it wasn't Jimmy's fault for cheating on Chloe, but I'm pretty sure I just saw horny guys googly over an almost naked girl who was willing to make out with them.  Jimmy even stops himself from kissing Maxima at first, so he DID have a choice.  If it was her forcing them to do it, it should have been more like the Chloe/Myx kiss in "Jinx". 

I do love that Maxima is braceleted and aschiri_chan always points out, that Clark always has Queens associated with him...and Nois?  Has never been a Queen.  I think that's a really cool point because Maxima talks about how the "the great, gallant men of Krypton" were worthy of standing by a Queen's side. 



How in the world did Maxima figure out Clark's name?  How does she detect the "bond" between Nois and Clark?  Is she psychic?  Can she see the inner-workings of people's brains?

Shelby

Isn't it amazing how much that dog makes a difference in an episode?  Just knowing Shelby around is comfort enough to try and put up with other mess. 

Had things gone a little better with the letter, I would have considered it a brilliant move to have Shelby show up during a big Chlark episode because he's always been sort of a symbol for them.  Chloe loves Shelby.  Clark loves Shelby.  And, Shelby loves them.  He's always in cute moments with them, like in front of the fireplace in "Solitude".  He's Clark's family when he has none.  He's Clark's best friend who won't judge him. 



I thought the moment when Clark almost forgot to feed the poor dog was adorably cute and something I wish they would do more with Clark on Smallville.  Show him with his dog.  Make him more of the All-American, regular Joe.  Even if he's a superpowered being who is more awesome than all of us, he wants to live like us.  He was raised to live as one of us, even down to taking care of and loving his dog.  ComicSupes loves Krypto and a lot of the emphasis in the Superman title in the last year has included Krypto and how much Superman cares for him.  Those simple moments where it's Supes and his dog just come across as more relatable and for some reason, I like Clark more in them. 

Clark Kent

Clark keeps Lana's necklace in the kitchen?  I won't go into how stupid that is, but I'll just mention that it is.



Nois:  I need you, Smallville.  Just got to The Planet and I'm already having the workday from Hell.  What's your ETA?
Clark:  I'm flying into the building right now.

That was the line that made me want to do bad things to my nice, mounted HDTV. 

1)  Since when does Nois ever struggle?
2)  Nois says ETA, which I'm assuming is another stupid military reference because just in case you forgot, she's The General's Daughter.
3)  Clark is "flying" to her?  I'm sure that's an obvious reference to him being Superman, but I hate it because it's supposed to be all Iconic because he's flying to The Daily Planet because "Lois Lane" needs him, but it makes me even MADDER that it's said in the same episode in which the "Fever" letter returns that contains the idea that Clark would actually fly back to Chloe.

So much unbelievable hate from me about that.

Even though I really hated a lot of the Clark things in this episode, I have to say that the slow-motion superspeed through the Ace of Clubs, in which Maxima turns around in realtime was pretty killer.  Not only was that cool to see the slow-mo/realtime aspect, but Clark's suit jacket looked like a cape as he ran in a red, yellow, and blue blur.



I do like that Clark didn't just drop Jimmy off at the hospital, but he stayed with him in his hospital room until Chloe could get there.



Chloe:  You blew it, bud.
Clark:  I just want you to be happy.

HA!  Way to be a walking, talking TV Trope, Clark!

Clark never realized how Chloe felt until the letter.  THIS should have been his AH-HA moment, as much as it was crap for him to say that considering "Devoted" and "Vessel" (the big stand-outs, I think).  For him to go from "oh, Chloe had these intense feelings (otherwise, known as LOVE, Clark) for me, but what if I don't know my soulmate when I see her?" really makes it come across as "yeah, Chloe has these feelings, but I don't consider her my soulmate", which is PURE MESS.

Nois  Lame

She totally invited herself to move in at the Kent farm and it makes me hate her even more.  But, that's not where it ends.  The "builds to a climax" dialogue that just makes me wish she was a real person so I could punch her in the face.

Cracks me up, though, because Nois talks a good game of trying to outsmart Clark with the endorphins, but turns out she hasn't read the whole report because as he's flipping through the pages, he finds out that the dude was fully clothed when he died...and she didn't know.  Gah, she is a freaking idiot.

The ice cream talk?  That's straight out of an episode of Friends when Joey and Chandler talk Ross into dating again after divorcing Carol.

Ross: You know what the scariest part is? What if there's only one woman for everybody, you know? I mean, what if you get one woman, and that's it? Unfortunately, in my case, it was only one woman for her.
Joey: What are you talking about? One woman? That's like saying there's only one flavor of ice cream for you. Let me tell you something, Ross. There's lots of flavors out there. There's Rocky Road, and Cookie Dough, and Cherry Vanilla. You could get them with jimmies, or nuts, or whipped cream! This is the best thing that ever happened to you! You got married, you were, what, eight? Welcome back to the real world! Grab a spoon!

I really hate that Nois doesn't want to work on the endorphin murder article because it was going to end up on the last page.  God forbid you have to start on the bottom, Nois.  I get that they might want to be writing her as a go-getter, but making her come across as the bottom is for losers and having her avoid hard work does not make me like her.  It makes me like her less.  Or, maybe hate her more.

Nois wears black and it makes me laugh, but then she talks about meteor freaks like she was the one who wrote about those in high school and proved that meteor rocks gave people powers and it makes me want to throw things.



What's with Nois' reaction to seeing Clark with Maxima?  She was freaking YELLING.  Even if she has a crush on Clark, wouldn't she be more EMBARASSED than ANGRY?  She was so worked up that Clark has to tell her to "calm down".  That was weird and WAY over the top.  Even Nois admits that she and Clark are "barely friends" and there is nothing romantic between them. 

I get that "Lois Lane" gets out of scrapes.  I get that sometimes, it's because Superman swoops in and saves her and that sometimes, it's her saving herself.  But, being thrown in her car and landing upside down?  How is she NOT dead...or, at the very least, critically injured (as in more than a little cut on her forehead)?  She just walks out? That is some serious suspension of disbelief.  I mean, I can deal with a superpowered alien who can see through walls and shoot fire from his eyes?  But, a human woman walking out of a crash like that?  Kicking out the window to get out, even?  That is some B.S. 

 

Guys with laser guns try to take Maxima down and fail, yet Nois thinks she can take her after Maxima threw her car and witnessed the laser guys getting their butts handed to them.  WHAT AN IDIOT.  Saying "Bring it, bitch" doesn't make you any tougher, moron.  It just makes you come across as dumber than you already were.

Jimmy Olsen

Jimmy listens to Abba, reads love poems, and records bass fishing shows.  Could he be any LAMER?  Or, quite possibly, GAYER? 

Oh, but Chloe thinks all those things she never knew about Jimmy (including the complete collection of Abba music) makes Jimmy a "man of mystery".  Chloe, at this point, I would seriously think about asking Jimmy a few more questions about his likes and dislikes.  He might go from being a "man of mystery" to a guy hiding in the closet.

Nois is mad at Jimmy for lying about Lex's arctic antics, but Chloe is not mad about him lying to her about the whole "he worked with the government to arrest her for being a terrorist" thing?  That is so many kinds of wrong, Smallville.  SO MANY KINDS OF WRONG.

I do like that Jimmy reads Warrior Angel.



"Stumbling into the razorwires surrounding the Clark issue"?  WHO TALKS LIKE THAT?  I swear they have Chimmy say the dumbest things just to make them even more unlikeable.

Jimmy's biggest nightmare is knowing that Chloe loves Clark.  I sure hope that comes back into play to him getting his heart broken a la "Apocalypse" because at this point, I could care less about him having a happy ending.

Jimmy:  Every time I try and leave it in the past, it just keeps making its way into the present.

Hmm...I find that line very interesting.  I can't nail it down, but it makes it seem as if the Chlark issue will never fully go away. 

Jimmy wonders why Chloe has never said things to him like she does in the letter to Clark.  I'm glad you asked, Jimmy.  It's because she doesn't love you like she loves Clark. 

Jimmy doesn't tell Clark that the letter was about him and Clark doesn't tell Chloe that Jimmy cheated on her (thanks for flat out holding out big information that your BFF might want/need to know, Supes), but I guess it was neither of their places to divulge that information and everything came out, eventually, anyway.

Chloe Sullivan

How did Chloe write the "Fever" letter when she was 15-years-old?  She drove her car over to the Kent house to see Clark that day.  Do they have different driving/license rules in Kansas than the rest of the country?  Don't you have to be 16-years-old to drive a car by yourself? 

Chloe refers to her feelings for Clark as a "schoolgirl crush".  Guess that cements the answer of who Chloe wanted to see one more time before Knox cut her in "Cure".

I'm glad Chloe, at least, finally got ill with Jimmy about his insecurities.  Just wish that frustration with him would result into something other than reverting back to the status quo.

Chloe's "jonesing for a Scooby clue"?  Well, how about get out there and GET one instead of pining over pictures of happy times with Jimmy Olsen?  UGH.  What have they DONE to Chloe Sullivan? 

Chloiac talking about Almerac and knowing the effects of the teleportion and burn marks reminded me of Brainiac in "Solitude" knowing all about Martha's problems, without having seen her.

In fact, Chloe being shot by the fire makes me think "Chloe" in those scenes with the fire burning at The Talon is Chloiac, considering the fire imagery that goes along with villains on Smallville.  The fire was on at The Talon during the Chimmy scene when Jimmy finds the letter and the Chlark scene when Chloe knows all about Almerac.



Chloe is braceleted bigtime.



Chloe just HANDING over the letter to Clark seemed so out of character to me.  If anything, I would have thought Clark would have found it on his own, just like Jimmy did and Chloe would HAVE to tell him what it was.  THAT'S the way it SHOULD have gone.  But, her just giving it to him and being so nonchalant about it?  Was weird.  She acted like it was old news and didn't matter to her anymore and even seemed happy when telling Clark about how he responded with "Lana".  THAT has to be Chloiac.  Makes no sense otherwise because that broke Chloe in "Fever".

Chloe saying she no longer feels that way about Clark?  Um, just 11 episodes ago in Season Seven ("Traveler"), she yells at the top of her lungs to his dead biological father that she LOVED him. 

The "Fever" letter as a way to prepare Chloe for the "perfect person" in Jimmy is all kinds of idiocy that I can't imagine the writers expecting people to buy this bullcrap.

Locations

New Isis exterior.  Did we really need that?  I would rather Isis stay as an unimportant thing.

  

Should I know Adamson Prescriptions?  It just seemed odd to show an establishing shot of the drugstore when nothing really happened INSIDE the drugstore.  Just seems random.



"Instinct" was definitely not what it SHOULD have been.  It wasn't what I thought it SHOULD have been.  I'm terribly disappointed with how they handled the letter because those big things in a TV series should be gamechanging pieces of writing.  What Smallville did was use it to keep things the way they were and honestly?  That does not compute.   

It's like having Jim telling Pam he LOVES her and having her still marry Roy.  

It's like Rachel finding out that Ross LOVES her and Ross being all "yeah, that's old news" and not caring anymore.

NONE of which happened nor make sense.

Smallville really dropped the ball on this.