BY Review
Rachel L Smith
Hey all...I just wanted to add my voice to the ones already piping up here:
I'm giving Brutal Youth a 9.9 out of 10.0--I mean, you can't have a *perfect*
ep, right? :)
I think that *everyone* did a good job on this episode. It was well-rounded,
well-written, didn't have campy villians which were hard to watch, had some
really *good* stuff for Jimmy (let's not forget that nice gray tee that showed
the 'lowered percentage of body fat', eh? :)...Jack Larson was a nice touch.
I think JW's a good actor, but in the last few eps, he's never really had a
chance to work with any serious material. Had to be the fall guy for the
humor, with tasteless jokes and the like. Well, I'm glad to see this
Emmy-winner *finally* getting a chance to show *why* he won that Emmy! Kudos,
Justin!
Tim Minear's writing was good. Good storyline, glad to see L&C acting like
reporters, and not a couple of waffling chess pieces for the dumb villians to
more around. He had humor, tugging-on-the-heart-strings, serious moments, some
really good, memorable, *quotable* lines, each character said something more
than a little 'let's move the plot along' kind of thing. A good scene between
Lane Smith and JW with the story-assignment.
I think the directing was good, I liked the shot of the city in the morning,
with the sun coming up behind the skyscraper and the bridge. It was a nice
establishing shot, and it really put a touch of reality into the episode. We
were reminded that L&C is not just supposed to be shot in a couple of inside
sets...that they really do live in a--dare I say it--a city! Not just an
immaculate WB lot someplace in LA... :)
The FX did a good job. Except for a couple of times, I've never really thought
about how well (and how much!) the L&C special FX ppl have to do to just keep
the show marginally believable. When I saw that x-ray vision shot, though,
when we saw those crossing, undulating lines of his vision cross the camera
dead-on, I actually went "Wow! Neat job!", and being a computer-science/
animation nerd, myself, I realized how much work they put into it. Kudos,
guys! :)
Good sets--I think I'm looking forward to some nice scenes taking place on that
townhouse's large windowsill. We've already seen one good one...just think
where they could go... I like the townhouse. It's tasteful, period, large and
airy (as compared to Clark's little 'fencing stolen merchandise' flat), and I'm
also looking forward to some nice winter scenes in front of that open
fireplace. I can see the Christmas tree standing next to it already! :) Nice
job there, too...
I liked Teri's hair in this ep--no gripes there...there was a little piece
sticking down in front of her ear in one scene...it was just right. (Wondered
why Dean's hair seemed to be slicked back the whole ep ('cept for you-know-when,
but that doesn't count, 'cause it's *supposed* to look like that, then), I
liked it like it was in season two, a little longer, allowed to flop around a
bit. But it's his hair, and it *is* hot in LA for a large part of the year,
so why gripe? :)
Ah, and last of all (see? I save the *BEST* for last! :), Dean and Teri blew
the fuses out of my VCR *this* time...and I've seen those fuses heat up before,
too... :) I *loved* that elevator scene, especially before the guy who was
standing right behind them had gotten out. I can't figure out exactly what
Teri had done to him, but the looks on their faces were *priceless*... :)
Then, they get out of the elevator, Lois holding Clark's triple-sugar-lumped
coffee, Clark holding Lois's half-eaten donut with his tie pulled of to one
side, and Lois's briefcase left behind them on the elevator floor. Somebody
had better give Minear and wink and a slap on the back. :)
Both Lois and Clark had some really good lines--I liked watching them work out
the insecurities, the problems, giving us a taste of what's to come--and Dean &
Teri really did a good job. I'm noticing how much better both of them, Dean
especially, are getting at looking like they're still the character, even when
they don't have a line or a close-up reaction shot. The whole
'newlywed-grinning-constantly' was WAFFing me all over the place... I've never
seen another acting couple who has *SO* much chemistry. Both of them did a
good job, funny and serious, hurting and caring...Teri is really doing a good
job with working out the parts of Lois that still feel insecure. I'm starting
to see a partner-pattern here: Lois has a lot of married/children/independence
/success fears to cope with and conquer and Clark's strong(er) in many of those
areas--he'll be his caring, patience self and let her have her time and room,
while he has to fight with being so different from everyone else, not being
able to fix/save everyone, being a target all the time, and (right now),
treading on very unpredictable ground when it comes to Lois...he knows her, but
not as well as they'll both come to know each other after years of living every
day right next to each other. I'm looking forward to seeing episodes where
it's Lois comforting Clark sometimes, and not always Clark trying to have
patience with Lois...this is two-way...
Well, I have never written a review anywhere *near* this long before, so I'll
just wrap it up with a
THIS IS JUST ABOUT THE *BEST* EPISODE THAT I HAVE SEEN!
Keep up this level of excellence, and L&C *will* throw the whole
'married?-down-the drain!' idea right out with the morning trash! :)
My $20.00,
Rachel der UMASS studenten (who knows her German's probably inaccurate)
cla...@student.umass.edu
My name
I agree!! It was a great show! I loved it too! They are
so great married! I as LOL so many times, smiling to
myself, sighing! It was great. They were great. Way to
go TPTB!
A fan in EAST Lansing MI
Lynnie
My name
McInnes
This is the first time this season that I've had any regrets about
not having the eps sent out. I sure hope we're going to get more
eps like this!
I've got to admit, even tho I don't usually like the mad scientist plot
device, I'm willing to put up with them when the villain is credible as
an individual and as a threat and when there is at least a
grain of truth to the idea . Maybe not the way it was done in the
ep using booths/boxes, but the idea itself does have some basis
in things being researched at the moment. Any idea like this one
that makes people think about consequences and moral issues of
use and abuse just adds that extra dimension to an ep, especially
when the writing seems to be as good as I've been hearing.
Maybe Nancy Lemieux, if she's still reading this group, could fill in
more details on the process. What I saw had to do with telomeres on the
ends of chromosomes, and cancer research. Cancer cells could keep
replicating because they had some way to repair the telomeres, which
eventually break down and stop cell division. Find a way to regulate
that, and cells wouldn't "age" and lose the ability to replicate,
so the body could keep itself up and repair itself longer/indefinitely.
I think it was in Scientific American, but I can't find the issue
just now.
Louette
Zoomway
Before the romannce began in The Phoenix, there were already rumors that
the romance was coming, and some were scared that the show couldn't
possibly be as fun or engaging with Lois and Clark in love, and with Lois
in on the secret. Many episodes since The Phoenix forward have disproved
the naysayers, but Brutal Youth went one step beyond (with apologies to
John Newland ;) It said that with Lois and Clark as husband and wife, they
can be extraordinary even when they are doing the ordinary (interacting
with each other, their friends, and doing their jobs) I know there have
been episodes where plot and villain were not over-the-top, and Lois and
Clark interacted well, but rarely did any of them weave together the A
plot (villain) B plot (Lois and Clark) and C plot (supporting characters)
into the same theme. We had the villain (well played by Caroline
McWilliams) who was obsessed with youth, we had Lois obsessed with aging,
and Jimmy trying to prove he's old enough to handle real reporting. A
similar interwoven theme episode of old would be I'm Looking Through You.
The villain was literally invisible, the inventer of the stolen suit had
felt invisible at work and at home, and Clark felt invisible to Lois. The
A plot was resolved (the bad invisible man captured, and Alan no longer
felt invisible to his wife) The B plot, and this is what marks the
difference, could not have resolve. Clark would remain invisible to Lois
for some time to come. There was a difference in tone as well. I'm Looking
Through You was played for laughs, while Brutal Youth took a serious
route, but with humorous moments. This gave the episode a lot of impact.
By serious I don't mean grim or somber, but rather true to actions.
reactions, motivations and implications of the plot. Jimmy, who started
out as an involved bystander, becomes a victim of the villain, and Lois,
an objective bystander, gets pulled into the plot by the circumstances of
the theme. Clark gets pulled in both directions by Jimmy and Lois. This is
where the husband/wife element adds a poignancy not possible before.
A newlywed couple with a lifetime ahead of them discover that "lifetime"
is a relative term for one of them. Lois's insecurity here is not like the
insecurities of her past, which were mostly inwardly generated and had
their roots deeply imbedded in a social and romantic history that left her
disenchanted, wary and self-doubting. Here, however, she has no doubt of
Clark's love or fidelity, but rather she'll be advancing chronologically,
and he will not. That not only creates a feeling of separation and
eventual loss, but after a time she will advance to a point that
regardless of how much he loves her, or ironically because he loves her so
much, he'll shift into the role of a companion and attendant to the needs
created by advancing years. He'll have to don a new disguise. He'll have
to make himself look appopriately older, but the lie will be apparent
every time he must turn into Superman. Then, as Flynt once put it, "a
taste of dust"...Lois will die, and perhaps Clark technically as well, and
so Superman will be all that's left to him. I think that is why Clark's
expression at the realization of Klein's theory was one of astonishment,
because he has a much sadder reality to face than Lois. It also serves as
a reminder of Clark's alien nature, and how little is known of it even by
Clark himself.
We move forward in the story with thoughts of mortality and immortality,
and youth itself stolen from Jimmy. Great job by Justin full of youthful
enthusiasm at the beginning, and then becoming more lowkey as his body
begins to "allign with the event". Jack Larson, as the elder Mr. Olsen
evoked more pathos than might have been achieved by simply aging Justin
via make-up. Using the actor who portrayed Jimmy Olsen nearly 40 years ago
reinforced the youth/aging theme. Speaking of the orginal Adventures of
Superman, there seemed to be some nods to the original series, "great
metropolitan newspaper", "the American way" "powers and abilities far
beyond those of *mortal* men" Watching Dean Cain (as Superman) carry Jack
Larson in his arms was a pleasant bit of deja vu ;) The interaction of the
current cast with a former Superman alumni was very touching as well,
particularly Lois. Lois and Jimmy had quite a history on the old show, and
so having one Lois reach out more than a generation to another Jimmy Olsen
was moving. It also served to show that Lois was coming to understand that
despite outward appearances, Jimmy was Jimmy, and was loved no less due to
his altered form.
A word about the villains. Caroline McWilliams did a very good job as the
imbittered woman who feels the abandonment of her husband was due to her
lost youth. She gave a chilling and effecting speech to Lois about success
making men attractive and youth making women desirable, fanning the flames
of Lois's insecurity. I loved too that she said she "targeted certain
demographics" for her experiments ;)
John D'Aquino, as some have pointed out, has the ironic distinction of
being from two shows that have been in direct competition with Lois and
Clark, seaQuest, and 3rd Rock from the Sun. We would have only needed
Angela Lansbury in the old folk's home with an angel hovering over her bed
to complete the tableau<g> Wait, they could have called the ep Mad About
Youth ;)
The main conflict of the B plot was resolved in one of the most touching,
understated scenes the show has ever produced. The directing, use of
lighting and music enhanced an already well-written scene, and Dean and
Teri sold every word of it. Dean Cain could not have done this scene in
this way 2 years ago. This isn't a put down of Dean, it just shows how
stunning his acting has become, and in such a short amount of time. Teri,
who seems to have no limit to her acting range, is so wonderful here.
Lois's worry had turned from her mortality to Clark's:
"Compensated? Then you have lost something."
"My friend is healthy. I'm sitting here with my wife. I haven't lost
anything."
This is Clark. You know he's not saying this just to make Lois feel
better, this is honestly what means the most to him. He's been Lord
Kal-El, and is Superman, but *husband* seems to be the title he cherishes
most. This is another theme in the episode that is so prevalent. Clark
Kent seems downright high on being married to Lois. The scene in the
kitchen is charming, because I'd *expect* Clark to gush a little at
finally having Lois completely in his life. The boy can't kick the smile
off his face<g> Speaking of... ;) The afterglow scene on the ceiling was
nice, and for those wondering, in the comics, anything Clark touches while
levitating, levitates with him. The objects become weightless, in a sense.
I don't know if that applies on the show, but it's either that or Joey
(static hair) Valone rubbed Lois and Clark on his head and stuck them to
the ceiling. The elevator scene was my favorite in the passion vein.
This "I can't keep my hands off you" passion seemed so real. They've
waited a loooong time, and now can "vent" so to speak, and vent they do.
They stand in the elevator sharing conspiratorial grins, just waiting for
the extraneous guy to leave. When he does, they waste no time. Lois,
accostomed only to "federal disasters" is now enjoying the pleasures of a
"wow" intimate partner, and Clark, who's been waiting since before men
landed on the moon, is just "enjoying". Breathless, hungry, just perfect.
Lois and Clark are finally lovers...wee hoo ;)
Another great scene is where Lois is out to protect her mate. Geez, what
nice dagger eyes she had, "if anything happens to either of them, you
won't have to worry about getting any older."
Funniest scene of Lois's aging obsession is Superman visiting her at the
old folk's home delivering a forest fire of candles atop a birthday cake,
"Happy birthday, Darlin'."
And, my man, Dr. Klein is back! Love that guy,
"Stabilizes...and....slows."
Lastly, a big hooray for Tim Minear, and the new writer's virgin effort,
I'd say he's a "wow" ;) For those who've been asking, Tim's work was
mainly in syndication prior to Lois and Clark. He was a coproducer on High
Tide, worked on The New Adventures of Zorro (family channel), a Spelling
project called Robin's Hoods and a show this year titled Two. He was hired
because of an X-Files spec script, of all things ;) Brad and Eugenie hired
him based on that script. Chris Carter wanted him too, but WB was quicker
signing him. So, a big thanks to Brad and Eugenie as well.
"His last meal was salsbury steak, strained carrots and tapioca pudding.
What does that sound like to you?"
"It sounds like he didn't know it would be his last meal."
Yasmine L. Gourdain
As usual Zoomway, I totally enjoyed your review.
It captured the essence of BY and then some.
Oh, and I totally agree with you on how far Dean
Cain has come in his acting. He finally lost that
restraint that kept him from "being" Clark/Superman.
It was an amazing scene to watch and one of the
WAFFiest i've seen on L&C! :)
Yasmine
*Go Yankees!*