What was wrong with the writing on Rabid?
It was a very enjoyable episode.
Not all of my problems were with the quality of the writing I'll admit, just my own personal preference in some cases, but there was still enough lazy writing going around to turn me off from the good moments this episode had.
First off, though well shot (very 28 days later, good homage), I disliked the teaser on principle. Not a big fan of flashforwards at the beginning of episodes, it's a cheap method of catching your audience's attention by dropping them in the middle of the action and leaving them to ask questions they will already have answers to when it reaches this point in the action again.
The Clois banter was fun. I liked the very quick coffee, the superbreath, and the way TW said "No" to whether he could smell smoke. That last one has always gotten a chuckle out of me whenever I rewatch the scene.
Back to Clark causing unnecessary property damage. Couldn't he just have grabbed Ollie off of his bike? Didn't enjoy this convo at all, especially the overdone JC references and Clark giving an undeserved apology. Plus, how terrible are the Metroplois PD to only be catching up to him now? I guess we get the answer to that in his next scene.
Doesn't the mansion have a panic room? And I like how these zombies somehow care about turning off the lights. They're eco-zombies! Tess' henchman is a bit of an idiot here, finding some guy mauled to death outside her office, but everything's ok because the tapping on the window was only a tree (hurr hurr). Tess is no better, thinking an unlocked door will somehow protect her. But at least we get some decent zombie slaying. It's the only time we're gonna get it this episode.
Don't like how Lois is instantly on the "nervous breakdown" train. Can't say I blame her all that much, but I wish she hadn't written the story off right away. And stop calling Clark gullible (I liked his comebacks with the Blur). BTW, who didn't guess what was gonna happen when Tess rolled over? Good makeup, and acting from CF though.
Emil certainly is trying to get cozy with Chloe (romantic or not). It's maddeningly stupid that Clark is giving Chloe the blood sample, completely bypassing a fully qualified,
actual doctor/scientist who is standing right there (and when it ends up with him anyway). Emil technobabbles a bit, then it's off to the races, er hospital, in another cool moment. Didn't get the point of Chloe's "Really?" though. She said it like she just found out Clark watches Big Brother religiously. Or that he enjoyed the Mulana arc.
Even I don't think Tess is such a hardworker that she'd go to the office maybe an hour after having her staff slaughtered and her neck bitten, but the plot demands Lois get in trouble so...
Speaking of, Zombies Against Climate Change have indeed made their way to the DP and are now turning the lighting a flickering green to highlight their message. After a spirited fight in which Clark throws people 10 feet (they're indoors, so he can't punt them his usual 30) and does his bare superhumanly minimum to protect a promptly bitten Lois, they make with the googleys and Clark channels his inner Baywatch.
Metropolis PD, now extra ****ty. Of course, no fall from grace is complete without one night stands with strangers. A little hint of the pity party to come and then the most obvious camera ever falls off his belt (seriously, how could he have missed that thing?). Idiot cop pulls a hissy fit, Ollie is an ass, and scene.
Babble Babble Technobabble. Only interesting part in this scene is the callback to Davis. And if the Zombie makeup is supposed to evoke Doomsday, then that's a great idea from the crew. Thumbs up to continuity.
Oh great, Lois is getting melodramatic
again. Still, get rid of that, the WTF writing of Lois "saving people" with the Blur last year (thumbs down to lack of continuity) and my own personal pet peeve of words that are repeated unnaturally ("connection", in this case, "now" in Ollie's apartment), it's kind of a touching confession about her obsession with Clark's alter-ego. Ruined of course by Ollie sending a poor virulent security guard crashing through the door, dead by shotgun blast. I wonder whether Oliver will write to the guys family? And why is he bringing a shotgun to see Tess? Oh, so he can have his big dramatic entrance, right. I like that he sees the googleys between Clois, and is instantly all "Ok, Bye Clark!".
And now, for the return of the Deus ex Machina that is Clark's blood. I think it has more uses than Dragon's blood at this point. Emil is awesome here, still reacting to Clark's entrances and being a voice of reason. And I like how caring Chloe was for Clark here, even if she did go a bit overboard.
Ollie, you ass. Then again, I'm pretty sure even he isn't as much of an idiot as is he's portrayed here. The writer just needed him to be one so Lois could fall asleep, which is lame. Especially when all she does after becoming a Zombie is go explore the lift shaft instead of ripping Oliver's guts out. She sure became a Zombie quickly too.
What? Is my recording repeating? Nope, just wasting my time showing me stuff I've already seen. Hurry it up will ya?
"That's fine for everyone taking a shower..." Yes, because every zombie likes to start their day feeling clean and fresh. Ew at all that blood. Sure, you can say it's antidote all you want, it's still red. Poor CGI, and disgusting. I can't tell here whether Emil wants to get himself a little Chloe luvin' or matchmake her with Oliver. Either way, we lose. I can see Chloe's point in spying on the league, especially with Oliver, but she's talking about them in such a condescending way that I'm a bit annoyed with her. Of course, I find it highly unlikely that she would have actually been able to plant tracking devices and cameras on each and everyone of them when 2 episodes ago she couldn't even find Ollie when he was in the same city. But the plot demands so...
The rain scene really was quite good. Clark's struggle as he holds on to her just makes me feel proud of how Supermanly he is. But then Lois wakes up and it turns out Zombie's really do like being clean and fresh because she's suddenly a vision of beauty again. Smallville, you can still have Clark find Lois attractive even with black gunk all over her face. I would have actually found that more endearing. Points for the intimacy and hug though. Minus points for a bunch of people wandering out where previously there were none. No points for only having the cure released in rain in some terribly shoddy science, even for Smallville, so you could have this scene.
"Here we go." Too right Ollie. Didn't have a single problem with this scene.
And I liked Clark putting Lana away in the album, despite how girly said album was. But seriously, shut up Lois. I'm tired of how many times she's seen the "new" heroic side of Clark Kent. Once again, he makes a great Blur comeback with his "red and blue" line, and the rest of their banter is pretty good.
Zod is badass. That is all. Ok, no it's not. This scene brings up a good point in that our heroes should be looking for the virus' origin. They know it was Kryptonian in origin afterall. But no follow up.
In the end, because of it's mix of good scenes, bad scenes and merely average scenes, I'd give this episode a 3, maybe 3.5 out of 5. Not terrible, but certainly nowhere as good as Savior or Metallo (the latter I would give a 6 out of 5 to if I could).
