Review
I think the test of a good Smallville season, as a whole,
is the performance of its weakest plots. The hyped-up episodes
are always going to be good. The season premieres and finales
are always going to be good. Superhero guest stars will
raise episodes up.
But while the writers have done better since season one,
they still rely pretty heavily on Freak of the Week stories.
Every once in a while, they have to bring in someone affected
by kryptonite for a one-shot deal.
In this case, an attractive alien plant-like creature
who impregnates men. And yes, that’s seriously what
happened.
And, all jokes aside, they actually handled it relatively
well. I would still like to be a part of the writers’ meetings,
just to see where an idea like that comes from. But, in
episodes like these, all I’m looking for is a sense
that something meaningful happened. That the story progressed
and that if I missed this episode, I’d miss something
from this point on.
I think they accomplished that mission this week. If only
for the true introduction of Oliver Queen. Much more on
that.
One of the things that makes a “freak of the week” story
work is something original. Making the plant lady an escapee
from the Phantom Zone works. If this story is done in season
three and the villain is simply a Krypto-freak, I don’t
think it works as well.
But we’ve seen the first ramification of Clark’s
escape from the premiere. That incident had consequences;
we’ve seen the first one now. Hopefully more will
come.
It also gives the Smallville universe more of a DC feel.
It’s a follow-up on the acknowledgement in the premiere
that life exists outside Earth and Krypton. Clark is going
to have to face extraterrestrial forces in his future occupation,
and here’s his first challenge. Although I can’t
really say he fared too well.
Speaking of Superman, I thought Clark’s “I
don’t like costumes” line was nice. Although,
with Superman just a couple years away, it might be time
for Clark to start embracing his destiny. But that’s
where Oliver Queen comes in, doesn’t he? Again, more
on that later.
It looks like they’re going to use Jimmy in the
same way Lois was used in season four. “Oh no, Lois
is in trouble. Clark, save her!” I hope not; Jimmy
needs to be used to expand on Chloe’s character and
to bring more journalism to the show. Not as a, for the
lack of a better phrase, damsel in distress.
Of course, the writers have been looking for a new damsel
in distress thanks to the new and “improved” Lana.
She’s not hanging around with Clark anymore, so Clark
can’t save her anymore. And, I have to say, I think
Lana’s character is beyond repair now.
I know what they’re trying to do. Put Lana with
Lex and make it seem like Clark has lost her forever. The
problem? It pretty much seems like he has. Because I basically
feel the way about Clark and Lana as I do about Clark and
Lex. The friendship is over and all the bridges are burned;
there’s no turning back.
I know Clark and Lana go their separate ways in a couple
of years, but is Lana supposed to be a villain now? She’s
basically been nothing but a heartless bitch for the last
several seasons, and I’m very tired of her act. And
all of the Lex/Lana scenes are absolutely irritating. But
maybe she’ll quit her pity party now that she’s
apparently put Clark behind her.
But I often wish that Clark hadn’t re-done the events
of the 100th episode. I would much rather have Pa Kent
than Ms. Lang.
Another weak part of the episode was the resolution to
the “plant lady” story. We’re supposed
to believe that this creature was angered by the technological
advancements on her planet. And she was able to do enough
damage to the planet that she’d be imprisoned.
And yet, a little bit of electricity is able to completely
destroy her? Was the technological advancement done without
the aid of electricity because a relatively small amount
of it completely disintegrated her. It’d be odd that
she’d be able to accomplish anything without anyone
figuring that out and accidentally defeating her.
And while I’m always happy to see Clark use his
heat vision (which I’ve thought has been underutilized
in the past), I thought it was much too easy considering
how well she fought him up to that point.
As for the good stuff, I have two words: Oliver Queen.
I think he can bring a new dimension to this show, and
I think, like I said earlier, I think he’s going
to bring Clark closer to becoming Superman. We’ve
had DC heroes on the show before, but I think this is going
to be the first significant one. I’ve read some spoilers
for future episodes, and it sounds like they have a good
thing going.
First of all, I like the casting. Alfred Gough and Miles
Millar found a diamond in the rough when they created their
Aquaman series, and it seems like they jumped at the chance
to bring Justin Hartley over to Smallville. And while I
thought he was a great choice for Aquaman, I think he’ll
succeed even better as the billionaire superhero-in-training.
Second, they’re going along the “Lois is in
love with heroes” idea. Granted, she doesn’t
know that Oliver is heroic yet, but it still goes by the
idea that Lois is attracted to superheroes, whether they’re
in their costume or not. I think it’s kind of a fun
concept, and it lends more idea to the fact that Lois would
be in love with Superman. I mean, heck, she even falls
for Batman occasionally, so it works completely.
And the arrow through the can was really cool. A very
cocky move by Queen but something that makes perfect sense.
But the coolest thing about Oliver Queen? The fact that
the Smallville writers, after two attempts, have finally
brought their version of Batman to their show.
As you probably know, Batman is off-limits on Smallville,
stuck under the strict control of Christopher Nolan’s
movie series (no complaints here, by the way, if that’s
what it takes to get great movies). And yet the Batman/Superman
relationship is so cool, so iconic, and so important to
the mythos, the writers keep trying to squeeze something
in.
The first attempt was Adam Knight in season three (attractive,
dark character from a similar background that could compete
with Clark for Lana). However, that was a very weak attempt
that ended up falling apart completely. Not sure if the
idea was abandoned or if it was all coincidental, but it
certainly didn’t work.
Another instance that might’ve been coincidental
was last season’s appearance by the Angel of Vengeance.
She seemed, at least to me, to be the best chance to see
Batman in costume. She had a very “Birds of Prey” feel
to her, and I think they were trying to fit Batman in.
This time, though, they’ve found a perfect angle.
Again, I’m not sure if that’s the way they’re
going, but it works.
Billionaire playboy who works behind the scenes to take
down Luthor. An attractive man who moves in on Lois Lane?
Someone who seems too athletic and too skillful to be a
corporate giant?
Sound familiar? It should….that could easily describe
Bruce Wayne. Heck, Oliver Queen is a poor man’s Bruce
Wayne with a quiver.
If Gough and Millar could get Bruce Wayne on the show,
I don’t there would be anything different in the
plot. Wayne would be quarreling with Lex, secretly trying
to take him down, and moving in on Lois. And, yes, he’d
certainly be making a multi-episode appearance.
And the really cool thing is that they can legitimately
get away with it because they’re honoring a true
character in the mythos. When I first heard that they were
going to bring in Green Arrow, and that he’d be in
a huge arc, I thought it was an odd choice. Why not Flash,
Aquaman, or some more established character. I mean, if
they wanted to go with a green theme, why not Green Lantern.
Now it makes perfect sense. And even if it ends up just
being a coincidence, I think it’s genius because
it appears they’re doing exactly what they would’ve
done with Bruce. Kudos to them, coincidence or not.
And the true introduction of the Queen storyline (I consider
last week to have been a tease) gives this episode major
points. And, in the scheme of things, Wither ends up mattering.
And, for a mid-season episode with a freak of the week,
that’s all I can really ask for.
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