Smallville: the obsessive line-by-line, part 2
Woohoo! Another line-by-liner. We'll see how well this episode goes. Episode 1 I've already line-by-lined, episode 2 was decent, episode 3 was *dreadful*, a freak-of-the-week, pathetic-Lana-filled filler of an episode. Here's hoping for better. As usual, spoilers from the start, so stop reading now if you intend to see this show.
- Ok, so... Clark's on the team. Fans of nerdy-Clark are going apeshit.
 - Mmmm. Football team == cute.
 - Ok, so the cheerleaders are evil and have kryptonite-laced gatorade love potion. Haven't people in Smallville learnt to be wary of that particular shade of green by now? Because, honestly, *we* all know that colour means trouble.
 - Okay, so insanely jealous lover goes apeshit with shotgun! This is entertaining, if totally whacked out.
 - Wow, more slow-mo bullet-time action than strictly necessary, and heat-vision in the first 2 minutes! Still ambivalent, but this might be a good episode.
 - Credits.
 - You know, Annette O'TOole looks really good for her age. Assuming she's old.
 - Whoa, great excuse for Lana-boy (I have yet to come up with an effective nickname) to get his shirt off.
 - Too much exposition in your apology, cutie. Mmm, implied sex.
 - Lois continues to be a pain in the ass. Good!
 - LOL @ the colours joke, but really, he *shouldn't* wear yellow.
 - He's v. cute though.
 - Okay, these cheerleaders are ridiculous. As is the guy holding the mirror.
 - Running gag! Running gag! Colours all the way.
 - Tight-end joke too obvious.
 - Does the crazy boy have amnesia? That's a bit early in the episode, surely.
 - Chloe is in full hurt-and-vulnerable mode. What's with the soft focus?
 - Oh my *god* these team members are hot.
 - That was the least convincing "angry" look ever.
 - Lex looks totally out of place. Why is he donating to the football team?
 - PHWOAR at Lex surrounded by hot naked men! This is *so* homoerotic it's unreal.
 - How does a multimillionaire have time to give a pep talk to a hick football team?
 - My favourite shot this episode: Lana's uber-cute boy, framed by a hottie's nipple. Oh yes, we love this show.
 - Did somebody oil down the entire team? Are the showers full of crisco?
 - Oh, it's a pathetic attempt to buy friendship. Lame.
 - If he's the assistant coach, where the hell is the coach coach? How come we never see him?
 - Chloe drinks evil green shit and... falls in love with Clark! Oh, FFS.
 - And quits the torch. And admits her love for Clark. And devotes herself totally. Okay, this episode is lame.
 - Crazy, CRAZY Chloe!
 - Lois continues to be very good at wearing low-rider jeans, mediocre at acting.
 - Crazy cheerleaders versus Lois! What is it about all of these girls that reminds me of Christina Aguilera?
 - "The love molecule"? Oh jesus. I can see this episode's pseudo-science is going to be particularly hard to swallow.
 - Chloe is going to jump Clark! This has cringe-potential.
 - She's coming across as totally pathetic instead of seductive.
 - Whoa. Did they get permission to include 20% more sex this season?
 - Hang on, did I miss something? What did he do to her?
 - Oh, and sometimes we *also* think you'll never be over Lana, Clark. But we live in hope.
 - Did Bo and Martha go to a marriage-counselling session recently, or is Smallville just on heat?
 - "Save the day" for this episode's dose of foreshadowing.
 - Bo and Clark attempt to bond. Unconvincing.
 - Ooh, Ken-doll! I'll call him Ken-doll!
 - Ken-doll is coming on too strong *now*? Now you think it's too strong, and flying *around the world and taking a different job* for you wasn't too strong?
 - Oh, great set-up for tension between Clark and Ken... not.
 - Whooooooooooooooooooa cringeworthy Chloe! And whoa chubby arms!
 - Lois still == sexy.
 - Clark drinks kryptonite and... decides to continue?
 - So you go *near* kryptonite, and you nearly die, but you *drink* it and you're okay?
 - Clark gets ass kicked in photo-montage while Chloe remains totally annoying.
 - Feeder plays the soundtrack while Clark remains slow to catch on.
 - Clark gets ass kicked by crazy-jealous ken doll. Kal-El bleeds, folks! This only happens every 3rd episode!
 - Oh, FFS. What the hell is Lex doing in the barn?
 - Oh, so his body rejects the kryptonite? Good.
 - Hmmm, too much exposition again, but a nice summary of why Lex loves Clark so much.
 - Martha Stewart joke! HA!
 - Wheee! Pseudo-science! Ridiculous.
 - Lois fails to catch on to the fact that Clark somehow knows they added meteor rock, but she *does* pick up that Clark's not got sick? Yay selective blindness! I hope it works when Clark starts wearing glasses.
 - HUGE THUMBS UP to Clark in a swimsuit!
 - Um... hula-ing guys are bizarre. And Clark's not sexy in a t-shirt. Take it off! Take it all off!
 - Worst opening line ever. And the worst fake-acting ever. Mmmm, Clark's abs.
 - Yay for sudden teenage sex. Yep, they've definitely upped their rating for this season.
 - Heee at Clark actually falling for the compliment! Funny.
 - This is funny. Very funny.
 - AWWWW at the virgin clark! Wait, when does Superman have sex for the first time?
 - Oh, this acting is terrible. Quick, get naked to distract from it!
 - Yeah, like Clark isn't enjoying this at all.
 - Oh, we're not bored at all. Clark is having sex in one room, and Chloe is wailing on Lois in the next!
 - He doesn't look that happy to be rescued.
 - Great, heat kills it! We should have worked it out earlier.
 - Meanwhile, during exposition-hour, the bad guy has escaped.
 - Mmmmmmmmm Clark versus the sexy meat. Apart from that fat one in the bad shirt.
 - Wait, did Lois just *ask* Clark to use his powers?
 - Cue the beginnings of Lois's suspicions!
 - And Lex continues to be lame and conciliatory. I preferred evil Lex.
 - What, so it just *WORE* *OFF*? No dousing the team in hot steam?
 - Ken doll is *really* hot.
 - And Clark has suspicions.
 - Look, it's a token non-white person! Why, that was nearly 2 seconds!
 - Oh boy, heroic football shit. Why the hell is Lex there?
 - So, when exactly does it become impressive that he can throw the ball that far? *HE'S SUPERMAN*, people!
 - Lamest celebration "woo" ever.
 - Mmmmm, blue. Totally his colours.
 - More "superhero" foreshadowing shite.
 - Chloe apologizes for being crazy... and we're trying to forget this ever happened.
 - She's trying honesty! Novel.
 - Same stupid crushed expression we've got too used to.
 - "Superhero and journalist" is *good* foreshadowing.
 - Awww, the tears and the smile... Chloe in a single expression.
 - And Lois is buggering off!
 - Oh, the chemistry. It's so pathetically obvious.
 - But she does call him "Smallville", which will satisfy the purists.
 
Okay, in summary: pretty neutral. Lots and lots of hot boys, which they seem to have identified as a popular ingredient, positive. "Kryptonite makes X super-effective" cookie-cutter plot, negative. Character development: nothing to speak of. Nobody got amnesia: positive. Pseudo-science not egregriously offensive: positive. Minimal Lana time: positive. But having a lack of bad things doesn't make it a good episode.