Who's dumber, Chloe from Stargate Universe, or Chloe from Smallville? Before you answer, read on.
I remember the days when every episode had its own thread here with plenty of posts. It's funny, I always thought the show was spinning its wheels back then when it was popular. But now folks only mention it to state how unwatchable it is, and so of course I'm watching it faithfully, if only for the occasional cameos by other DC characters.
Anyway, I just finished watching the latest episode, "Sacrifice". Man, the bar for Smallville's writers may not be high, but unless I really missed some major details, this has to be one of the most non-sequitor-packed episodes of any TV series ever. If anyone else watched, see if you can help me out here.
The premise is a well-worn little chestnut where you take two main characters who can't stand each other and trap them together so they're forced to look past their differences and find common ground. They cooperate, seem to gain mutual respect, and then after they're free they more-or-less revert back to the old antagonism. Whether you're a fan of Star Trek or The Jeffersons, you've seen it before.
In this case, the characters are Tess and Chloe. How do the writers decide to trap them together? No, not a defective elevator. They have Tess invade the Watchtower, and after Chloe shows up, the whole place goes into lockdown. It seems that Checkmate is hacking the Watchtower mainframe, and Chloe is shut out by her own security system. So the clock is ticking as Checkmate starts cracking firewall after firewall and the air starts running out.
Now, the first thing that seems improbable is the idea that someone would design a security system for their network that they can't override. No backdoor password, no keypad to open the blast doors. There's a DNA scan to let you in, but nothing to help you get out. But even less sensible than badly designed infrastructure, Chloe can't even stop the Checkmate hack by physically disconnecting her modems or simply powering the whole mainframe off, even though her last-second solution--using the liquid nitrogen cooling system to shatter the steel door--clearly demonstrates she can get inside its guts. Come to think of it, shutting off the cooling system should force a shutdown in and of itself. Instead, it stays on until it all melts over the next couple of minutes.
And beyond all of the techno-stuff, it seems a little harsh for Chloe to design a security system that would suffocate would-be intruders to death if she was too indisposed to let them out in a timely manner. Green Arrow and the other members of the team don't get an IM or anything.
So I ask you. Who's dumber? Chloe from Stargate Universe, who, after seeing a hole cut in the ceiling of a hallway, dumbly walks right under it and is promptly captured by aliens, or Chloe from Smallville, who is trapped and nearly killed by a backdoorless security system of her own design?
I remember the days when every episode had its own thread here with plenty of posts. It's funny, I always thought the show was spinning its wheels back then when it was popular. But now folks only mention it to state how unwatchable it is, and so of course I'm watching it faithfully, if only for the occasional cameos by other DC characters.
Anyway, I just finished watching the latest episode, "Sacrifice". Man, the bar for Smallville's writers may not be high, but unless I really missed some major details, this has to be one of the most non-sequitor-packed episodes of any TV series ever. If anyone else watched, see if you can help me out here.
The premise is a well-worn little chestnut where you take two main characters who can't stand each other and trap them together so they're forced to look past their differences and find common ground. They cooperate, seem to gain mutual respect, and then after they're free they more-or-less revert back to the old antagonism. Whether you're a fan of Star Trek or The Jeffersons, you've seen it before.
In this case, the characters are Tess and Chloe. How do the writers decide to trap them together? No, not a defective elevator. They have Tess invade the Watchtower, and after Chloe shows up, the whole place goes into lockdown. It seems that Checkmate is hacking the Watchtower mainframe, and Chloe is shut out by her own security system. So the clock is ticking as Checkmate starts cracking firewall after firewall and the air starts running out.
Now, the first thing that seems improbable is the idea that someone would design a security system for their network that they can't override. No backdoor password, no keypad to open the blast doors. There's a DNA scan to let you in, but nothing to help you get out. But even less sensible than badly designed infrastructure, Chloe can't even stop the Checkmate hack by physically disconnecting her modems or simply powering the whole mainframe off, even though her last-second solution--using the liquid nitrogen cooling system to shatter the steel door--clearly demonstrates she can get inside its guts. Come to think of it, shutting off the cooling system should force a shutdown in and of itself. Instead, it stays on until it all melts over the next couple of minutes.
And beyond all of the techno-stuff, it seems a little harsh for Chloe to design a security system that would suffocate would-be intruders to death if she was too indisposed to let them out in a timely manner. Green Arrow and the other members of the team don't get an IM or anything.
So I ask you. Who's dumber? Chloe from Stargate Universe, who, after seeing a hole cut in the ceiling of a hallway, dumbly walks right under it and is promptly captured by aliens, or Chloe from Smallville, who is trapped and nearly killed by a backdoorless security system of her own design?
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