man of steel chapter 7

WE'RE FINALLY TO THE MODERN DAY GUYS!!!! can u believe it? i can't. let's jump right in.

so we begin on a ship called the Debbie Sue in the middle of the Bering Sea. we're in the pov of the captain of the ship as he looks over the deck from the wheelhouse, which is a convenient way to justify all of the paragraphs about what crabbing is like up near the arctic circle. they're actually pretty well written too. the narrator takes particular pains to mention how dangerous it is, which is a good lead in to the part where he mentions that everyone is an experienced veteran, except for one.

that's right, everyone, baby is all grown up!! and he's a cast member on the deadliest catch, apparently!!! yay!!!

the captain is worried because the 'greenhorn' kid (that word is used, like, six times) is, well, green, and this trip is particularly dangerous. clark is just winding up ropes out of the way of the big business though, so he's okay. OR IS HE??? because he almost gets smashed by a falling cage. some guy pushes him out of the way, though.

the captain is confused because, after almost dying, clark just goes back to his lines. completely reasonable. he wonders why he signed clark on in the first place, seeing as dude never talks and knows nothing. that captain wonders where he came from anyway.

and then there's a flashback.

we rewind to 1981, when martha and johnathan kent take baby to the doctor because he hasn't stopped crying since they found him in baby ship. the doctor says it's colic, and tries to do a routine check up, but when he puts one of the machines into baby's ear and clark fucking shrieks and breaks every glass surface on the street.

now, i like this flashback, because it's a good preview into the problems of adopting an alien, but why is it here, in the middle of another chapter?? that's not how you do flashbacks!! flashbacks should be relegated to their own chapters (see batman begins for the way to do this right).

after some ***, which are used correctly this time, we're back on the ship. it's getting late, but the ship still has a quota to fill so they gotta work it. the captain gets a radio that there's an oil rig on fire and they have to stop anyway to go help. the scene as they approach the rig is written well; i especially like the description of fireballs blooming from the upper levels. the captain tells clark to get his binoculars, but when he turns around he's gone. !!!!

so, it seems like what we have here is the best written chapter so far! the arrangement is a bit off, but still, good writing! if there is one thing to come out of the flashback, it's that it forced the author to use the *** properly. hopefully the next one will go this well.