Well after the complete mess that was part one I have to say my hopes were not high. I think my only real mistake was in not realising just how very low they actually should have been. So, picking up where we left off at the end of part one. Everyone has done a lot of talking about their feelings. Then some more talking about feelings. Then, more talking. Clark has decided he can move on since there is actually nothing stopping him (and never was). One thing to be said for this new approach is that he doesn't whine like spoiled child as much in this episode. But he does spend a lot of time listening to other characters tell him that he has been prophesized as some kind of 'chosen one'. I love religious overtones, ecpecially when they're completely unnecessary and have nothing to do with the story or it's characters. Anyway, let us begin.....
Now that the whole world knows there is a planet hurtling towards the Earth (because they can see it with there eyes) there is some kind of implied panic. We never see any actual panic so I'm left to assume that there was some somewhere. Lois and Clark leap straight into action with her sneaking onto Airforce One to warn the President (because astronomy hasn't been invented in this universe) and with Clark running off to the remains of Lex Luthor's mansion so he can find Luthor's sister because she might know how to stop Darkseid. But really this happens so he can have his final scene with Lex Luthor (played by Michael Rosenbaum doing a fine job despite the atrocious lines). Speaking of Darkseid, I was wondering how they could possibly get this character wrong. Since he's the reason I decided to watch the show in the first place, this character was kind of a deal breaker for me. Well they didn't disappoint, in the writers usual style of ruining what is already established with needless changes, they really went to town on this one. First up, he wasn't a character at all, he was just opposition, a convenient plot device and nothing more. He wants to possess the whole planet for some reason, but also to destroy it. This makes no sense for two reasons, one being we're never told why he wants to do either of these things and two because these goals oppose one another and it makes no sense! If you don't provide even the smallest insight into a characters motives and desires then the audience will not care what they're doing or why they're doing it. All the drama is immediately removed and we're left watching events unfold for no reason. But as I said, Darkseid is not a character here, so the writers probably thought it wouldn't matter. The writers seem to spend a lot of time thinking writing doesn't matter.
If you're thinking at this point that Darkseid is a plot device that will allow Clark to put the suit on, have someone to fight and save the day. You'd be half right. Darkseid's physical manifestation is a dusty cloud! I'm not even kidding! If you want to fight him in this version of the DC universe then all you need is a hoover or a sturdy brush. When I saw him I laughed out loud. The writers ingenuity when it comes to utterly ruining things truly knows no bounds. As for the 'fight' itself? Darkseid confronts Clark in the barn where this episode began (Clark needn't have gone anywhere), He's possessed the body of Lex's father, Lionel Luthor at this point. Probably so the CGI department wouldn't have to bother drawing him that day, when suddenly Clark remembers the last ten series of Smallville in a lazy montage. This teaches him to believe in himself while teaching us that this show is dreadful. Then Clark flys straight through Darkseid encountering no resistance at all and destroying him utterly. Darkseid scatters like the silly dusty-ghosty-cloudy collection of Avid plug-in particle effects he is and we don't see or hear from him again.
After that we see the planet Apokolips getting closer while Clark runs off to the North pole so he can have some emotional Dialogue with his long dead Kryptonian father. Clark really knows how to prioritise! When he gets there both of Clark's dads make some Jesus/Skywalker/Potter/Baggins/Aslan/Arthur references and hand him the suit. Finally we'll get to see him wear it. the suit is iconic and I bet the writers couldn't wait to get him into it. Except we don't see him in it, well not really anyway. That's right they found a way to ruin this too! We see (from a distance) a CGI superman saving Airforce One and then nonsensically flying towards Apokolips before pushing it away from the Earth! The last part at least sounds epic, but it's not. Because we don't see that either. Instead the epic struggle of The Man of Steel forcing an entire planet away from a collision course with our own world is shown in three CGI shots, none of which show this actually happening! Here was the perfect opportunity for him to throw something into the sun! I've seen fan trailers on youtube that look better. I think to be quite honest they ran out of money. They must have. I refuse to believe anyone is this inept at storyboarding or scriptwriting. However given that the special effects in the show generally look like PSone era cutscenes I can only imagine how little money they had to begin with.
In conclsuion it's hard to identify how many levels this show disappoints on. There is the huge misinterpretation of all the characters which seems entirely avoidable to me. I can accept that the characters had to be regressed a little or perhaps even given extra issues to deal with on a personal level. But it seems like the changes that were actually made had nothing to do with character development or storytelling at all. It looks to me like the changes were made in order to save money on production and to justify the need for a library's worth of horrible and lazy emotional dialogue. I doubt the writers knew anything about the source material before they started writing and probably didn't think it was worth finding anything out. This shows every single time anyone opens their mouth to speak. Reinterpretations of popular characters can work out well if you stay true to a characters core principles and motivations, but that hasn't been done here. They've confused core principles with core abilities i.e thinking that making Clark into a whiney girly boy instead of a confident young man is fine providing he can still run fast. Being selfless and compassionate has been replaced with being whiney and self involved. But he's still really strong so it must be the same character right? This process is repeated throughout the whole cast and I cannot bring myself to go into each and every one of them. Suffice to say it's messy and frustrating. The complete lack of care and craft that has gone into this show astounds me, as does its success. Although I don't begrudge it the last part I certainly resent the manner in which it was achieved. I doubt any DC fan above the age of 12 failed to pick up on how much of a compromise this felt like. Whether they liked it or not the problems cannot be ignored or reasoned away. For me personally I'm afraid the problems are insurmountable. The next time someone asks me what I think of Smallville, I'll recommend them something that has better writing, better acting and was crafted to be a true representation of the source material whilst being accessible to the non-hardcore audience. I'll Recommend they watch this.
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