A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 10-7

First off, congratulations to the cast and crew of Smallville for receiving a stellar B+ grade in a recent edition of Entertainment Weekly. Hell, a mention in the publication is pretty impressive – EW doesn’t tend to recognize you unless you’re a power player or have a vocal cult following (when was the last time “the best show you’re not watching” was actually a show nobody watches?), but to be regarded so glowingly is not something to scoff at. Congrats, and very well deserved!

Speaking of Entertainment Weekly, their reader’s mail section featured yet another person who believes that Tom Welling should be the next Man of Steel in the movie franchise. It’s a bit of a pipe dream, but it’s really too bad that the Smallville series can’t simply transform into the upcoming movie. I mean, you have a talented group of actors that have become their characters, and the story is already there. But, as I’ve said in a prior column, there’s no way they’re going to bank a multi-million dollar movie franchise behind a CW series.

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You know, it wasn’t until this episode that I realized how much Smallville has spread itself thin in the villain department. We’re, what, seven episodes into the season and we’ve already had a number of episodes building up Lex, Darkseid, and the Suicide Squad. This isn’t necessarily a criticism, because I am curious o see if these three courses interconnect – and the collision would likely be loads of fun – but I can’t help but wonder if this is a dangerous method. If I’m not mistaken, we haven’t seen or heard of anything Darkseid-related since the third episode. And the last Suicide Squad reference, I believe, was the second episode. More casual viewers (which includes those that don’t follow the comics – and therefore really have no idea who Darkseid is and where that story is going – as well as those who perhaps aren’t paying full attention) may completely forget about these villainous characters when they are reintroduced. I’m not saying they should dumb down their product (on the contrary – as I said earlier – I’m actually eager to see if and how these various stories come together), but I do wonder if they’re needlessly trying to squeeze everything in because it’s the last season.

Again, though, not a criticism. I’m going to wait to see how this all plays out before I officially make my judgment.

So this episode stepped away from “filler” territory and got back on track on building towards the season’s story arc – and they did this through a very entertaining Lane family reunion (which included Lois’ hot sister!) Of course, the Lanes attempted to place a wedge between Lois and Clark, but they ultimately failed. By the way, I was disappointed in Lois bringing up the fact that Clark’s father is dead, and thus he couldn’t possibly understand what she was going through. I’m not upset because it was cold – just that it was so lame and clichéd. First off, it’s not a fair argument, as Lois and Clark are essentially in the same boat. Their same sex parent is dead, leaving them only with their opposite sex parent. Thus, there’s a special need to bond with or protect that remaining parent. Likewise, Lois’ follow up that Clark is independent and on his own and thus doesn’t understand her situation was equally bad. I mean, we’ve seen Clark with the Kents far more times than we’ve seen Lois with her father (and they never gave us the impression that she’s visiting him off screen either). If anything, Lois should’ve gone with the “you’re adopted” approach. Then at least she would’ve had a leg to stand on.

Anyway, we also discovered that Sam is an advocate of the Vigilante Registration Act, earning him the ire of the Suicide Squad (which, in a strange way, is actually fighting “for” those with special abilities) and setting him at odds with his future in-law, Martha Kent (now that’d be a fun argument to sit in on). Sam ultimately relented on this issue – as well as his hazing of Clark – when the Blur saved Lois’ life. Side note, but I’m glad that they didn’t go the route of Sam slyly acknowledging that he knows Clark is the Blur. I mean, let his identity be secret from SOMEBODY! I also enjoyed the hinting at Clark and Lois getting married. Despite what I might have said in the introduction, I actually do believe certain things can be rushed for the sake of this being the final season. Maybe we don’t need to see Lois and Clark get married quite yet, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Clark pop the question.

Oliver, enough with the damn Chloe sobbing already. It’s getting unbearable. But I am glad that he (and the writers) brought up that elephant in the room – if everybody knows Oliver’s the Green Arrow, and everybody knows that there are more vigilantes out there, aren’t the people in Oliver’s life now at risk of having their identities revealed? I mean, I’m kinda shocked that people on the show – those not “in the know” – haven’t gone to Clark and talked to him about Oliver being the Green Arrow. Or that those who are obsessed with unmasking these guys aren’t following him around due to their known friendship.

Next week’s episode looks pretty kick ass, with Teri Hatcher (Lois Lane from Lois & Clark) appearing as, apparently, Lois’ late mother. And it also looks like we’ll meet Granny Goodness, which means more Darkseid build. And I’m down for that!