Starkville’s House of El Podcast

We’ve got Angellwing’s latest review of “Apocalypse” here, and are once again glad to have her writing for the site - check out the article after the jump to see what she has to say. And how did you feel about the episode? Check out our forums to weigh in on the events of this past Thursday night.

Also, feel free to send Angell feedback here.

Here we are again with another review. I apologize if this one is slightly abbreviated. This week has been insane, but what this one lacks I will make up for with “Quest” and “Arctic”. First of all, SHoEligans I need to tell you that I am going out of town today (Thursday), and have decided (upon the suggestion of Derek) to make “Quest” and “Arctic” one giant monster review.

But back to this week…I cannot wait to talk about this episode. Let’s get right into it:What else is there to say about “Apocalypse”? It was outstanding. Tom Welling did a remarkable job of handling double duty. Neither of his performances suffered. The script for this week’s episode was excellent, and brilliantly brought to the small screen by Mr. Welling.

This is the closest to Superman Clark has been so far. Everything about it was aimed more toward classic Superman. Even Jimmy.

Every performance seemed to amaze me. Laura did a wonderful job. Her performance improves with every episode. Aaron Ashmore was quite amazing this week as well. This alternate Jimmy more closely resembled the Jimmy we’re all used to. Allison was outstanding even though her screen time was significantly less than what we’re used to.

The performances I want to talk the most about though are those of Erica, Tom, and Michael.

I was very impressed with Erica. I enjoyed seeing her play the Ace Reporter Lois. I was thrilled by every single one of the Clark and Lois scenes. The rate in which that relationship is growing only makes me more excited for season eight.

Michael Rosenbaum will be sorely missed next season. His portrayal of Lex Luthor is one of the deepest darkest portrayals to ever hit any screen (big or small). He’s allowed Lex slowly develop into the role of the villain, and yet still managed to keep him human. It takes an amazing actor and an awesome person to successfully pull of the bald head, white suit, and black glove. Michael managed to do that. And, by the way, how wickedly cool was that gun with the Kryptonite bullets?

I sincerely hope that James Marsters is brought back in a larger capacity next season. He adds so much to the show and the tone it takes. Brainiac has always been one of my favorite Superman villains. He’s just impossible to destroy, and he’s very manipulative. Not only did he deceive Lex in the normal Smallville continuity, but he deceived him in the alternate reality as well. It’s very important to see that Clark is the only one who can truly fight Brainiac. If Clark is not around Brainiac pretty much has the run of things. He would achieve whatever goal he deemed necessary with no trouble what so ever and in this case his goal is the revival of Zod. Marsters is a masterful actor who portrays Brainiac beautifully. He never fails to impress me whenever he is on screen.

Last but certainly not least, let’s talk about Krypton. I was personally surprised to see it so soon. I felt for sure they were going to explore that in “Quest”, but I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw on the screen. The visual effects and general look of Krypton was amazing! The fight between Kara, Clark, and Brainiac was phenomenal. I loved seeing Clarks’ ship again, and seeing it heading away from the exploding Krypton.

All in all, “Apocalypse” was a wonderful side step from the show’s building tension. It didn’t step too far though, and in the end was able to slightly resolve one conflict (although it more than likely caused another one for Clark and Kara). It was entertaining, and a wonderful breath of fresh air. Tom Welling should be extremely proud of himself. I give this episode five Kryptonian crystal daggers out of five.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 8th, 2008 at 1:57 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.