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What a pleasant surprise this episode turned out to be! From the episode description and trailer, I feared this would be a silly story that would just succeed in damaging Lois's reputation as a journalist. But it turned out to be the opposite: Lois realized that her ambition had led her to cross the line in pursuit of the story and learned an important lesson. And we saw Clark, Lois and Jimmy combine to get their very first story on what will become Intergang. I give it a very enthusiastic A(+).
Hurray for Clark, my hero! I love when the script allows him to be smart, which he was in this episode pursuing the leads to track down Chloe's stolen laptop. I love when he shows himself to be a good friend, which he was for Chloe when he persisted several times to find out what was wrong with her. Heartbreaking for both that she felt unable to tell him about Davis, but I give him an A for effort. He was also the moral compass for Lois, helping her to realize she should be above faking a story for the headline. And he was the hero, risking serious injury by stopping the bullet when severely weakened by the kryptonite ink in Bruno's counterfeit lab. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! Towards the end, he seemed to sparkle in the morning sunlight of the scene when he and Lois talk about her reaction to finally getting the headline. I loved his line, "I didn't know there was room for introspection under that costume." ♥ ♥ And then the final scene melted my heart, both the part where he trusts her to come up twith a better name than the awkward "Red Blue Blur" - and his closing promise that when he's ready to share his story, she's the first he'll tell. ♥ ♥
Hurray too for Lois, who makes a bad mistake and learns from it. She starts the episode angsting that despite the respect shown to ChloLo in Hex and having written over 100 articles for the Planet, she hasn't got a front page story in far too long. She desparately wants to interview the Red Blue Blur who she clearly admires - "He's reinvented the American superhero!" - but is discouraged that he would have no reason to talk to her. Then Chloe gets attacked and Lois intervenes with a high heeled kick, and in a moment a ridiculous scheme is hatched. Lois calls herself Stiletto and writes a story, then designs a costume and contacts Jimmy to arrange for photos. She explains her scheme - use one superhero to establish Lois Lane's reporter credibility with her real target. Jimmy is dubious but takes the pictures for the money. I love Lois's touch of bringing along a fan to make the cape billow heroically. But when she tries to track down the RBB at a crime scene, the costume doesn't fool Clark for an instant. She tries to justify herself but Clark's disappointment in her actions makes her see the light. She starts to bury the story and I love how she apologised to Chloe, who passed up a second chance to tell someone about the Davis mess. She then finds out both Clark and Jimmy are in grave danger and, after trying unsuccessfully to call the police for help, realizes she has to take matters into her own hands. So she swoops in and saves Clark's life, then combines with Clark and Jimmy to take out Bruno Mannheim. She later awkwardly thanks Clark, and as her pennance does his photocopying - four times because she didn't know how he wanted it! She admits her ambition got the better of her and you can see her resolve to be better. But IMO, the best scene is the last, where she tells the RBB that she doesn't want his story; she just wants to know what he needs. "If you ever want to talk, totally off the record, I'm only a phone call away." ♥ ♥
I also really enjoyed Chloe in this episode, a much welcome change from my irritation over her attitude in Eternal. Its Chloe's story that turns this episode from enjoyable "filler" to a compelling well rounded story. Chloe is utterly haunted by her decision to hide Davis's presence from Clark - and later Lois. She needs to be at home to keep the beast at bay, but that leads to her Watchtower data being stolen. I can't help but wonder if Bruno was deliberately sent after her for just that reason - could he be working with Tess? And is Ollie really in Syria, or is something more sinister going on - after all, Ollie was supposed to have taken care of Doomie's body, so may have got an unpleasant surprise. Regardless, Chloe is in a horrible position when Davis makes her complicit in the murder of her attacker, and you sense her despair when she throws out the man's squishy remains - where will it all end?
One scene that did feel out of place was when Chloe shows Clark a website that is shipping "Bluretto." (If so, I'll be willing to bet there are even more BlurArrow shippers.) Anyways, at least the scene informed us that Clark hasn't mentioned Lana since her departure and gives Clark the opportunity to express his lack of interest in hooking up with a superpowered substitute.
I also enjoyed Jimmy's return. He had two quick scenes where he asked Bruno for money and then later spent it on - ???? - drugs I assume. These were the two weakest scenes in the episode for me, but at least they were short. On the other hand, the longer scenes involving Lois, Bruno and then the climatic battle all were very enjoyable. I do like Jimmy when he's not being the love interest.
I also really enjoyed our first glimpse of one of Superman's perennial foes, Bruno Mannheim, who in this episode shoots his way to to the top of the proto Intergang. The old boss wanted to move away from the streets, and his first scheme involves counterfeiting money, using green K for the magnetic strip. OK, whatever! Bruno though wants to control the streets as well and take out the "wannabe heros." Bruno is a ruthless villain and I hope his lawyer gets him out of jail to create lots of mayhem in Season 9.
I quoted a few favorite lines above - here are some others:
Hurray for Clark, my hero! I love when the script allows him to be smart, which he was in this episode pursuing the leads to track down Chloe's stolen laptop. I love when he shows himself to be a good friend, which he was for Chloe when he persisted several times to find out what was wrong with her. Heartbreaking for both that she felt unable to tell him about Davis, but I give him an A for effort. He was also the moral compass for Lois, helping her to realize she should be above faking a story for the headline. And he was the hero, risking serious injury by stopping the bullet when severely weakened by the kryptonite ink in Bruno's counterfeit lab. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! Towards the end, he seemed to sparkle in the morning sunlight of the scene when he and Lois talk about her reaction to finally getting the headline. I loved his line, "I didn't know there was room for introspection under that costume." ♥ ♥ And then the final scene melted my heart, both the part where he trusts her to come up twith a better name than the awkward "Red Blue Blur" - and his closing promise that when he's ready to share his story, she's the first he'll tell. ♥ ♥
Hurray too for Lois, who makes a bad mistake and learns from it. She starts the episode angsting that despite the respect shown to ChloLo in Hex and having written over 100 articles for the Planet, she hasn't got a front page story in far too long. She desparately wants to interview the Red Blue Blur who she clearly admires - "He's reinvented the American superhero!" - but is discouraged that he would have no reason to talk to her. Then Chloe gets attacked and Lois intervenes with a high heeled kick, and in a moment a ridiculous scheme is hatched. Lois calls herself Stiletto and writes a story, then designs a costume and contacts Jimmy to arrange for photos. She explains her scheme - use one superhero to establish Lois Lane's reporter credibility with her real target. Jimmy is dubious but takes the pictures for the money. I love Lois's touch of bringing along a fan to make the cape billow heroically. But when she tries to track down the RBB at a crime scene, the costume doesn't fool Clark for an instant. She tries to justify herself but Clark's disappointment in her actions makes her see the light. She starts to bury the story and I love how she apologised to Chloe, who passed up a second chance to tell someone about the Davis mess. She then finds out both Clark and Jimmy are in grave danger and, after trying unsuccessfully to call the police for help, realizes she has to take matters into her own hands. So she swoops in and saves Clark's life, then combines with Clark and Jimmy to take out Bruno Mannheim. She later awkwardly thanks Clark, and as her pennance does his photocopying - four times because she didn't know how he wanted it! She admits her ambition got the better of her and you can see her resolve to be better. But IMO, the best scene is the last, where she tells the RBB that she doesn't want his story; she just wants to know what he needs. "If you ever want to talk, totally off the record, I'm only a phone call away." ♥ ♥
I also really enjoyed Chloe in this episode, a much welcome change from my irritation over her attitude in Eternal. Its Chloe's story that turns this episode from enjoyable "filler" to a compelling well rounded story. Chloe is utterly haunted by her decision to hide Davis's presence from Clark - and later Lois. She needs to be at home to keep the beast at bay, but that leads to her Watchtower data being stolen. I can't help but wonder if Bruno was deliberately sent after her for just that reason - could he be working with Tess? And is Ollie really in Syria, or is something more sinister going on - after all, Ollie was supposed to have taken care of Doomie's body, so may have got an unpleasant surprise. Regardless, Chloe is in a horrible position when Davis makes her complicit in the murder of her attacker, and you sense her despair when she throws out the man's squishy remains - where will it all end?
One scene that did feel out of place was when Chloe shows Clark a website that is shipping "Bluretto." (If so, I'll be willing to bet there are even more BlurArrow shippers.) Anyways, at least the scene informed us that Clark hasn't mentioned Lana since her departure and gives Clark the opportunity to express his lack of interest in hooking up with a superpowered substitute.
I also enjoyed Jimmy's return. He had two quick scenes where he asked Bruno for money and then later spent it on - ???? - drugs I assume. These were the two weakest scenes in the episode for me, but at least they were short. On the other hand, the longer scenes involving Lois, Bruno and then the climatic battle all were very enjoyable. I do like Jimmy when he's not being the love interest.
I also really enjoyed our first glimpse of one of Superman's perennial foes, Bruno Mannheim, who in this episode shoots his way to to the top of the proto Intergang. The old boss wanted to move away from the streets, and his first scheme involves counterfeiting money, using green K for the magnetic strip. OK, whatever! Bruno though wants to control the streets as well and take out the "wannabe heros." Bruno is a ruthless villain and I hope his lawyer gets him out of jail to create lots of mayhem in Season 9.
I quoted a few favorite lines above - here are some others:
- Lois about the RBB - "If you want to get an interview with a rock star, you don't start with Springsteen." ♥
- Clark on being told about a new hero called Stiletto - "Must be some sort of knife expert."
- Jimmy chiding Lois about not knowing the asterisk in her rules that says "Just make it up"
- When a police alert comes over the scanner at the DP- Clark: "I have to go feed Shelby." Lois: "I have to go the gym."
- Lois is response to her squeaking costume and the difficult to walk in stiletto heals - "Very stealth Lois. Next time I call myself Nike."
- Clark to 'Stiletto' - "Lois, you could have a bag over your head and I'd still recognize you."
- Lois on being asked what she'd say to the RBB - "I wouldn't say anything. I'd listen" ♥ ♥
- Lois about RBB needing a friend - "Super powered or not, every Fred needs his Barney."
- Lois to Chloe - "I get it. I messed up. Like you've never gotten in over your head?"
- "Smallville, if you hadn't been there to..." "You're welcome, Lois"
- And after Lois starts babbling to the RBB (very reminiscent of the hospital scene from way back in Crusade) - Clark: "You're nervous?" Lois: "You read my mind?"
- Clark to Lois - "You don't need a hero or some gimmick to make a headline."
