Voice of Reason: Season Five: Fragile

Fragile

Overall

This episode stole the plot of "Stray" without retaining the believability of the Clark-child relationship, the acting ability of the child, a compelling problem to make you feel sympathy for the child, or a coherent structure to the story. In fact, overall, it probably resembled "Ageless" more than "Stray". Clark spending time with a child but developing absolutely no connection with it; a little "sickness in the head" on the part of the tortured child, making it look at times more twisted than compellingly complex; and Clark treating the child with a mixture of condescension and impersonal niceness. Clark never treated Ryan the way he did Evan and Maddy. Ryan he treated like a little brother – played basketball with him without any felt age barrier – enjoyed showing him the town – was protective of him. He loved Ryan: he was nice to Maddy. And once Maddy wasn't in the room, he discussed her as if he was discussing a case. Once he'd conciliated her and the lemonade pitcher stopped shaking, he smiled at his mom without even attempting to hide it from Maddy. He was condescending. There's a huge difference, and we felt it.

Aside from the poorly handled and stolen premise, and the uncompelling relationships, there was a meandering plot structure. Social worker takes girl, father kills social worker and takes girl, Clark captures father, father captures Martha, Clark rescues Martha, girl captures father, Clark persuades girl to let father go. Out of all these events, I personally thought the most climactic one was the social worker taking the girl, and coming in a close second the father taking the girl. Everything after that was very anti-climactic. When Clark casually tossed the father into the glass counter and saved the day, my brother remarked dryly, "Oh boy, this is eventful."

Part of the plot's lack of impact was because we all knew what was going to happen. Once we saw the father in the elevator, we knew he was going to escape and try to take Maddy. Once Clark couldn't find Martha, we knew that the father had her and Clark was going to rescue her and confront the father. Once Maddy turned the shards of glass onto her father, we knew that Clark would have to talk her out of killing him and she would eventually listen. We were a step ahead of the writers at every point, so when the leads were fulfilled we yawned.

And finally, the episode abounded with embarrassingly bad dialogue. The dialogue made the relationships look like caricatures, particularly in Lex and Lana's final scene. See "Bad Dialogue".

The only two things I liked about this episode were: Chloe confronting Lex with the unrelenting, chess-playing, game-for-anything attitude that the intelligent Chloe of Season Three had, and the beautiful transition from the "Stray" ending (car driving away with child inside) to the Daily Planet. The piano music made that moment for me. Other than that, this episode seemed hastily and thoughtlessly written; and there were few scenes where I didn't take notes and write down the word "trite" beside them.

Verdict: 2

Bad Dialogue

"What kind of person would commit such a brutal crime?" The problem with this line is self-evident.
"All Naomi wanted was to help people. She was a foster parent…" And Martha launches into a speech. Directed toward… Clark? Wouldn't he find it self-evident, as we did, that Naomi was a foster parent? Didn't he find it as superfluous as we did to learn that Naomi only wanted to help people?
"Some of these papers are classified." Lex knows that. "You could get into a lot of trouble for showing them to me." He knows that too. Why is Lana telling him these things? They should be put in the form of a question, like this: "Lex, I'm glad you trusted me enough to show me this information…but are you sure you won't get in trouble?" We would pick up that this was secret government information, and it would show that Lana is concerned about Lex's welfare.
"You must really trust me." She sounded like a flirty fourteen-year-old. (Except we saw Lana when she was fourteen, and she would never have said something like that.)
"The way you are with her…your dad would be so proud." The way you are with her? A) That's really, really bad dialogue. Nobody tries to sound profoundly touching while being so fumblingly inarticulate. B) We knew that there was supposed to be a "Clark is so good with her" factor, even if it didn't translate the way it was supposed to. We didn't need to be given that part of dialogue – just that smile at the two of them and "your dad would be so proud" would be enough. We're intelligent viewers. We don't need the context spelled out for us. C) The third problem with "the way you are with her"…would Martha really say it right in front of Maddy? D) Would Jonathan be any more proud of Clark for being nice to Maddy than of anything else Clark does? This whole line was contrived so that Clark and Maddy could talk about not being like their fathers – and the writers should have found a less contrived way to bring up the subject. It's natural that Maddy would bring up the bio-father subject without the prompt anyway.
"Besides, Lois, it's pretty clear your destiny lies far beyond a cappuccino maker." Putting the word "destiny" in a sentence about a main character does not make a statement profound. Sometimes it makes it corny. This would fall under the second category.
"How could there be anything between us?" "Talk is just noise." *kiss* Although the idea of Lex and Lana denying attraction and immediately kissing is a bit corny, I will admit that it showed it was a passion, not an affection leading to love. And the writers did need to show that Lana's relationship with each guy was very different. (Especially after making Clark and Lana's relationship early on a clone of Jason and Lana's.) My complaint isn't about the setup "deny, then suddenly kiss". It's about the setup "deny, then babble, then suddenly kiss". The little dismissive comments they were tossing out were totally unbelievable. Filler. "How could there be anything between us?" "Talk is just noise." Who says that? If they'd been denying it and actually saying something in their denials (once upon a time they were, after all, intelligent people), the kiss after their arguments against it – heart and body triumphing unexpectedly over mind – would have been more startling, more believable, and more powerfully representing that it was passion. As it was, the "talk is just noise" applied more to them than to anyone else, making the whole scene look…to apply the painfully right word…goofy.

Bad Moments

"Here, kid." I'm never sure what the point of making Lois socially clueless is – bringing crayons, suggesting hopscotch, etc. It didn't add any likeability. It only made her The Complication. This habit of making her The Comedic Complication began last season…in "Krypto". Based on the success of that episode, the writers should take the hint and stop using Lois as Clark's hindrance.
"Chloe, I think I'm getting an inkling why you've never had a boyfriend." Right idea, wrong application. Yes, Lex says cutting things…but they're cutting for a different reason. "It's not that. I just don't like you." That, one of Lex's best lines, was funny because it was straightforward. "That would explain their lack of loyalty." "I'm just the key, doctor." Ditto. The impact came from stating facts unrelentingly. The above line did not come from home truths…it came from pettiness. And it showed a reluctance to address the real issue that the real Lex would never have. (I'm not putting this under "Bad Dialogue" because it's not stilted language…it's uncharacteristic behavior.)

Details

Making Maddy's problem "when she gets upset, glass breaks" made it look like her problem was temper tantrums. This impression was strengthened when, whenever she was upset and glass shook, everyone would immediately try to conciliate her. They writers really should have found another problem…as it was, we didn't feel like she was the victim. It felt more like she was a manipulative child.
Maddy was extremely upset when she was frantically calling Clark on the payphone, and must have been upset when she was in the car with her father, and in the Talon with her father. Yet the only glass that broke was the butterfly. Later the suggestion that she stay with her grandmother is enough to set the glasses shaking.




Fragile Overall This episode stole the plot of "Stray" without retaining the believability of the Clark-child relationship, the acting ability of the child, a compelling problem to make you feel sympathy for the child, or a coherent structure to the story. In fact, overall, it probably resembled "Ageless" more than "Stray". Clark spending time with a child but developing absolutely no connection with it; a little "sickness in the head" on the part of the tortured child, making it look at times more twisted than compellingly complex; and Clark treating the child with a mixture of condescension and impersonal niceness. Clark never treated Ryan the way he did Evan and Maddy. Ryan he treated like a little brother – played basketball with him without any felt age barrier – enjoyed showing him the town – was protective of him. He loved Ryan: he was nice to Maddy. And once Maddy wasn't in the room, he discussed her as if he was discussing a case. Once he'd conciliated her and the lemonade pitcher stopped shaking, he smiled at his mom without even attempting to hide it from Maddy. He was condescending. There's a huge difference, and we felt it. Aside from the poorly handled and stolen premise, and the uncompelling relationships, there was a meandering plot structure. Social worker takes girl, father kills social worker and takes girl, Clark captures father, father captures Martha, Clark rescues Martha, girl captures father, Clark persuades girl to let father go. Out of all these events, I personally thought the most climactic one was the social worker taking the girl, and coming in a close second the father taking the girl. Everything after that was very anti-climactic. When Clark casually tossed the father into the glass counter and saved the day, my brother remarked dryly, "Oh boy, this is eventful." Part of the plot's lack of impact was because we all knew what was going to happen. Once we saw the father in the elevator, we knew he was going to escape and try to take Maddy. Once Clark couldn't find Martha, we knew that the father had her and Clark was going to rescue her and confront the father. Once Maddy turned the shards of glass onto her father, we knew that Clark would have to talk her out of killing him and she would eventually listen. We were a step ahead of the writers at every point, so when the leads were fulfilled we yawned. And finally, the episode abounded with embarrassingly bad dialogue. The dialogue made the relationships look like caricatures, particularly in Lex and Lana's final scene. See "Bad Dialogue". The only two things I liked about this episode were: Chloe confronting Lex with the unrelenting, chess-playing, game-for-anything attitude that the intelligent Chloe of Season Three had, and the beautiful transition from the "Stray" ending (car driving away with child inside) to the Daily Planet. The piano music made that moment for me. Other than that, this episode seemed hastily and thoughtlessly written; and there were few scenes where I didn't take notes and write down the word "trite" beside them. Verdict: 2 Bad Dialogue "What kind of person would commit such a brutal crime?" The problem with this line is self-evident. "All Naomi wanted was to help people. She was a foster parent…" And Martha launches into a speech. Directed toward… Clark? Wouldn't he find it self-evident, as we did, that Naomi was a foster parent? Didn't he find it as superfluous as we did to learn that Naomi only wanted to help people? "Some of these papers are classified." Lex knows that. "You could get into a lot of trouble for showing them to me." He knows that too. Why is Lana telling him these things? They should be put in the form of a question, like this: "Lex, I'm glad you trusted me enough to show me this information…but are you sure you won't get in trouble?" We would pick up that this was secret government information, and it would show that Lana is concerned about Lex's welfare. "You must really trust me." She sounded like a flirty fourteen-year-old. (Except we saw Lana when she was fourteen, and she would never have said something like that.) "The way you are with her…your dad would be so proud." The way you are with her? A) That's really, really bad dialogue. Nobody tries to sound profoundly touching while being so fumblingly inarticulate. B) We knew that there was supposed to be a "Clark is so good with her" factor, even if it didn't translate the way it was supposed to. We didn't need to be given that part of dialogue – just that smile at the two of them and "your dad would be so proud" would be enough. We're intelligent viewers. We don't need the context spelled out for us. C) The third problem with "the way you are with her"…would Martha really say it right in front of Maddy? D) Would Jonathan be any more proud of Clark for being nice to Maddy than of anything else Clark does? This whole line was contrived so that Clark and Maddy could talk about not being like their fathers – and the writers should have found a less contrived way to bring up the subject. It's natural that Maddy would bring up the bio-father subject without the prompt anyway. "Besides, Lois, it's pretty clear your destiny lies far beyond a cappuccino maker." Putting the word "destiny" in a sentence about a main character does not make a statement profound. Sometimes it makes it corny. This would fall under the second category. "How could there be anything between us?" "Talk is just noise." kiss Although the idea of Lex and Lana denying attraction and immediately kissing is a bit corny, I will admit that it showed it was a passion, not an affection leading to love. And the writers did need to show that Lana's relationship with each guy was very different. (Especially after making Clark and Lana's relationship early on a clone of Jason and Lana's.) My complaint isn't about the setup "deny, then suddenly kiss". It's about the setup "deny, then babble, then suddenly kiss". The little dismissive comments they were tossing out were totally unbelievable. Filler. "How could there be anything between us?" "Talk is just noise." Who says that? If they'd been denying it and actually saying something in their denials (once upon a time they were, after all, intelligent people), the kiss after their arguments against it – heart and body triumphing unexpectedly over mind – would have been more startling, more believable, and more powerfully representing that it was passion. As it was, the "talk is just noise" applied more to them than to anyone else, making the whole scene look…to apply the painfully right word…goofy. Bad Moments "Here, kid." I'm never sure what the point of making Lois socially clueless is – bringing crayons, suggesting hopscotch, etc. It didn't add any likeability. It only made her The Complication. This habit of making her The Comedic Complication began last season…in "Krypto". Based on the success of that episode, the writers should take the hint and stop using Lois as Clark's hindrance. "Chloe, I think I'm getting an inkling why you've never had a boyfriend." Right idea, wrong application. Yes, Lex says cutting things…but they're cutting for a different reason. "It's not that. I just don't like you." That, one of Lex's best lines, was funny because it was straightforward. "That would explain their lack of loyalty." "I'm just the key, doctor." Ditto. The impact came from stating facts unrelentingly. The above line did not come from home truths…it came from pettiness. And it showed a reluctance to address the real issue that the real Lex would never have. (I'm not putting this under "Bad Dialogue" because it's not stilted language…it's uncharacteristic behavior.) Details Making Maddy's problem "when she gets upset, glass breaks" made it look like her problem was temper tantrums. This impression was strengthened when, whenever she was upset and glass shook, everyone would immediately try to conciliate her. They writers really should have found another problem…as it was, we didn't feel like she was the victim. It felt more like she was a manipulative child. Maddy was extremely upset when she was frantically calling Clark on the payphone, and must have been upset when she was in the car with her father, and in the Talon with her father. Yet the only glass that broke was the butterfly. Later the suggestion that she stay with her grandmother is enough to set the glasses shaking. © Voice of Reason, 2007