Smallville (TV Series) Collateral (2011) User Reviews

Okay its Cheesy but Kind of Cute and Fun

[ZTrainExpress · 7/10 · 7 December 2011]

I see there's a lot of people hating on this episode and I understand where they're coming from. First, to say that this is a rip off of the Matrix. I really don't think so. There's been a lot of movies, and TV shows that have had that theme of being caught in a virtual world. That twist really did catch me by surprise.

The episode itself. It was cool to see Chloe again. She's just as complex and tough and just... Chloe. I love how she just comes out of nowhere and has all of these technical explanations and just knows how to do a bunch of stuff because, well, she's Chloe.

I like this one because it reminded me of the fun of the first couple of seasons. It was just a good time and had some suspense. Of course at the end it was cheesy and wore out its welcome a little bit. But do you people forget that this is a superhero show on the WB in its 10th season? This isn't Spiderman 4. Just have fun and enjoy the final segment in the twilight of a great show.

Collateral

[Colcatron · 5/10 · 9 May 2011]

There's not much I can say that hasn't already been said about "Collateral" an episode that kills every ounce of suspense, drama and emotion that "Icarus" built before the winter hiatus. This wasn't the first story in season 10 to rip off another popular science fiction story, but it is the one that hides it the worst. They made no attempt to separate this episode from the Matrix at all. Season 10 had been doing a good job of integrating more science fiction like elements into the show, like Hawkman's origins, the mirror box, etc, but this is just too absurd to enjoy. This was a wasted return for Chloe as well. Her explanation of her absence for half of the season not only lacks logic, it makes her come across as a cold and unlikeable character. Every season has at least one infamously bad episode. "Collateral" is it for the final season.

Welcome to Matrixville !

[igoatabase · 2/10 · 6 February 2011]

I didn't really miss Smallville even if season 10 had been great so far. But reading about Chloe's role intrigued me so it didn't take me long before watching Collateral. What a come back ! The worst we could have imagined. Virtual reality is a fascinating theme and recently I found Virtuality mind blowing. However in Caprica most VR scenes were a complete disaster even if The Imperfections of Memory proved the show had potential. In Smallville what could have been a vibrant homage to The Matrix turned into a cheesy and ridiculous spin-off. I have always supported Allison Mack but here I couldn't help comparing her to Monica Bellucci and Carrie-Anne Moss. They made her play way out of her league ! Chloe as a white dove ? Chloe jumping and fighting like Supa Lana ? Mockery ! The references to the trilogy were so obvious and clumsy. From the poor shooting scene to the dialogs I can't see anyone enjoying that over the top masquerade. Still I had hope for the inevitable twist but it never happened. After the Inception incident and other creative bombs the story felt dry and flat. They could have created a virtual world to study their powers for example instead of shutting them down. Despite these numerous issues I still enjoyed the sweet moments shared by our loved birds and some lines were interesting. However it was not enough to hide that most of the episode was filled with disappointing elements. Let's hope the upcoming installments won't be as cliché because it could make the audience meter dive under the 2 millions limit. I don't wish it but after Collateral one can only have doubts. Last but not least we were served with an other annoying subliminal ad for some social network. Do they seriously believe they can manipulate us so easily ?

Smalltrix

[nickwragg43 · 5/10 · 9 February 2011]

I don't know what the makers of small-ville was trying to do here it was like some cheesy version of the matrix small-ville style it did not suit small-ville at all. I was half expecting trinity to pop in half way trough this episode or something like that it was so disappointing. it was that bad even i could come up with a better story then this for an episode. in the small-ville-matrix world Chloe could do things that you would expect trinity to be able to do and if thats its bad enough Clark does not have any powers and oliver/green arrow cant use his skills at all what the hell is with that. I really hope the last few episodes are better then this cos it will be a very bad ending to a very good program.

thanks for reading my moaning review about this rubbish episode Mr.N.G.WRAGG

The Matrix did it!!!

[bhnilsen · 5/10 · 5 February 2011]

I was a bit disappointed that they have copied The Matrix movie into this series.. Its like old!! Chloe comes back as Trinity to wake Clark up from the a computer-program like Neo. And they all have to accept that that world isn't real to get powers to control the computer-program.just like in the Matrix.. Don't get me wrong i love Matrix and Smallvill but i think they should not get crossed in a series or a movie. thats just wrong. Not a good episodes so i hope it take itself up next week. And i wonder if we ever see lex again. well if i let my imagination run wild here i guess the next few episodes gonna play out as Clack and Lois's wedding and Lex/or some other villain is crashing the party..

peace out and live long and prosper

Ugh. Made me glad Chole's been gone.

[firstanold · 3/10 · 28 March 2013]

Every time Chloe punned or alliterated I wanted to punch a writer. It was just freaking painful.

And yes, it's a really blatant rip-off of the matrix, not because of the theme--The old super man series Lois and Clark did a V.R. episode looooong before the matrix was ever around so superman has a pretty solid precedence here--but because of the style. Chloe is dressed like they dressed in the matrix, she has lines similar in style and substance to the matrix (Dorothy, rabbit hole, dreamland, spoken while holding reflective CG objects up to one's face, etc.) and her combat moves are taken right out of the matrix she actually does that one-armed fight scene just like Neo does at the end of the matrix. It was so cheap and predictable--the style similarities were too reminiscent of the matrix, and its scenario, for it to come as even a remote surprise when the big reveal came.

And I just can't overstate how cringe-inducing Chloe was in this. She was the source of some of the sloppiest homage, puns and rag-newspaper-esque alliteration I've ever seen. just revolting.