Lower Decks

The following review contains spoilers for Smallville through the current episode, “Toxic,” originally broadcast October 2nd, 2008.

Smallville continues its slow but steady crawl towards quality. In the process, though some structural questions arise about the past handling of the future Man of Steel, and whether it’s too late to really go anywhere with Clark. What does it say about a series when its main character is the only one that isn’t allowed to grow?

Our old buddy Oliver Queen gets his back story filled in a bit, and it turns out that he’s got a past with the new head of Luthorcorp. Yes, quickly see how Oliver goes from washing up on a deserted island to master marksman (though do you really need a hood to hunt wild boar?). You can already see why the episode is titled “Toxic,” right? No? I’m getting there. Two years after the shipwreck, Oliver finds new arrivals on his island, but before he can find out much about them, he’s pricked by a poisonous local flower and falls ill (aha! Toxic!). He awakens to the sight of… Tess! She’s nursing Oliver back to health.

Tess is a biologist at this time in her life. She and her ill-fated friend have been taken hostage. Why did I not bother to remember her friend’s name? I’m getting there. Tess tells Ollie that the toxin in his system is from a rare plant (is there a biologist in the house?), and a hospital would have accidentally killed him by treating him with adrenaline.The thugs in charge recognize Oliver as the rich boy he is and figure they’ve traded up, so Tess’s BFF is executed. Oilver and Tess manage to escape, in part by poisoning the head thug with the same toxic plant.

It’s a decent story that’s at least somewhat rooted in DC mythology. Unfortunately, it’s presented as a series of flashbacks to the main story, in which Oliver suddenly falls ill and only manages to tell Clark not to take him to a hospital before Oliver loses consciousness. Things flail about somewhat in the real world, with Davis being brought in lieu of a hospital, Lois dealing with her residual feelings for Oliver, and Tess once again saving Oliver (thank goodness Luthorcorp has a secret lab that has the antitoxin for that plant!).Oh, and Tess makes sure that Mr. Thug won’t be shooting anyone, or poisoning anyone, or breathing on anyone ever again.

Now, I get that Clark is the focus of the series, and he gets to play hero by super-speeding the antitoxin to Oliver, but I’d have spent more time with Oliver on that island. Why? Because there’s still room for Oliver to develop as a character, which brings me to the structural problem with the series: Clark has been written into a corner. Where can he go for development? He’s spent years spinning his wheels, and even though he gives lip service to starting a new life, can he? Can he take that next step toward becoming Superman? Can he become Superman? Will Warner Brothers allow it? If so, are TPTB even willing to try it? Changing jobs is a step, but does it stop there? Can I ask any more questions in a single paragraph?

The result of all these seasons of static Clark is that, in order to have an interesting storyline, we have to look elsewhere. We have to go to Oliver’s back story and develop Tess. We have to wonder what lasting effect Brainiac has had on Chloe. We have to have a modern-day Jack the Ripper in Metropolis. Nothing is wrong with the addition of those threads, except that it makes it painfully obvious that we’re out of ideas for Clark.

So did I say that we’re still getting better, episode by episode? Yes, I did. The storyline as a whole was better than either of the first two episodes of the season, and the acting was largely tolerable. I’m waiting for something to really grab me, but in the mean time, I’ll take improvement, and hope Clark is allowed to grow beyond the farmboy, boy scout, hero-in-hiding.