After a
couple of episodes devoted to Oliver, positioning him as a hero again
in time for the real fireworks to start, this seems like a bit of a
transitional installment. It’s focused mostly on the relationships
and setting up subplots, and for that reason alone, it feels a little
bit like filler. If progress hadn’t been made on the Clark/Lois
relationship, it might have been completely unnecessary.
As it is,
there’s not much to the episode. The playful banter between Clark
and Lois does speak to their chemistry. After so many years together
on the show, they’ve fallen into a good rhythm and the verbal
sparring comes naturally. Erica Durance has really settled into the
role, even to the point where she seems to be enjoying the chance to
be more than the eye candy.
I suppose
the writers had to address Lois’ previous relationship with Oliver,
especially now that he is back on the mend. It makes sense that
Oliver would turn to Lois as “the one that got away”, and it’s
a good mechanism for forcing Lois to admit openly that she’s in
love with Clark. Thankfully, the writers didn’t try to leave the
situation as a love triangle, because that would have gotten annoying
very, very quickly.
I noted in
the review for the previous episode that the writers were on the
verge of repeating the mistakes of the past with Clark and Lois.
It’s too easy to have the two of them run hot and cold like a yo-yo
to maintain the tension. For that reason alone, avoiding the love
triangle was a good move.
But it’s
even better when taken in context. For quite some time, it’s been
clear that “Smallville” is not bothering to align with the other
versions of the Superman mythos. While some plot points still
pretend to adhere to expectation, others are a clear departure. I
like the fact that they’ve stopped stalling with Clark and Lois for
that reason alone. I still think the writers undermined the
credibility of this obvious plot progression with the Lana arc in the
eighth season, but at least they’re trying.
The rest of
the episode fell flat, particularly Oliver’s subplot with Mia. A
little research has revealed that this is yet another example of the
writers porting a comics character into “Smallville”, and I
assume that this was supposed to be noteworthy, as it sounds like a
fairly faithful representation. Unfortunately, to the uninitiated,
it felt forced.
If Mia
doesn’t appear in later episodes to give this subplot a point, then
it will feel like an even greater waste of time. The sad thing is, I
think this has potential, if handled correctly. My concern is that
the writers tend to assume that the audience knows the character
history, leading to poor characterization for the “Smallville”
version. (Catherine Grant was also apparently a well-known secondary
character from the comics, but her appearance here seems incidental.)
The business
between Zod and Tess is clearly setup for the long-term story arc. I
was a bit worried that the writers would forget that Tess is supposed
to be deadly in her own right, especially after they kept having Mia,
the underground fighter, forget her skills whenever it was convenient
for the plot. I thought the reference to Krypton’s star was
clever, and I look forward to whatever it is Zod is preparing to do.
Transitional
episodes tend to be all about the setup for future payoff, and I can
see how some of these elements could play into that kind of design.
But the episode itself just didn’t seem to shine on its own. Fans
of the Clark/Lois relationship will be pleased, but now that the
November sweeps period is finally here, it will be good to see the
writers turn their attention to something a little more substantial.