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Smallville 9-6 Crossfire
I've seen a lot of great reviews for this episode, mostly positive, some neutral and others negative. The odd thing about it is I can totally understand all the differing points of view. Crossfire has something for just about every Smallville fan to like, but it probably had something for just about everyone to dislike too. For me, the positives definitely outweighed the negatives so I give it an A.
I was nervous when I saw the episode was written by Whitehead-Henderson, a team that has delivered some solid episodes like Metallo, Traveler and Descent, but also some absolute garbage, namely Requiem. Their episodes also tend to be a little Clark light - last year's Plastique and Abyss are the only ones with more than 20 minutes of Clark time and those aren't exactly great Clark episodes. The screentime minutes from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jeannev confirm the validity of this fear and underscore the major weakness of the episode and season in general for me - there simply isn't enough Clark. For example, it's like Ollie is a supporting character for Lois (and Chloe to a lesser degree) who barely interacts with Clark. In setting up Ollie as a rival for Lois's affections, they leave no one for Clark to talk to about his feelings. Well, other than Chloe who barely lets him get a sentence out before she jumps to telling him what to do. So different from the touching conversations we had with Martha in earlier seasons about his confusion over Lana. We need someone who can just be Clark's friend - exactly what Jimmy could have been. Sigh.
Instead, this episode introduces us to a potential sidekick for Ollie called Mia, who in comics lore becomes the second Speedy (the first Speedy, Roy Harper, is now the Red Arrow and replaced Ollie as a member of the JLA). I'm sure some Green Arrow fans out there are interested in this development but I sure as heck wasn't. The story just didn't flow organically at all from Ollie's so-called redemption in Roulette. I would probably have been slightly more on board with that if Oliver's return from the depths had been caused by the concern shown by Clark in Echo, rather than Chloe's ridiculous mind games. Then it would seem more like Ollie trying to give Clark payback by trying to save someone else who's fallen into the depths. But in any case, I think they needed to set up more of a connection between Mia and Ollie to show why he picked HER out of all the thousands of exploited youngsters out there. Have him talk to her BEFORE she goes into the fight ring for example. Or cut out the staged fight entirely and show her trying to help a stranger and getting in over her head but still struggling. Something to show that she's hero material and isn't just someone with a chip on her shoulder.
The Oliver-Mia collaboration is echoed by Chloe deciding to recruit Stuart as her partner in computer hackery. First off, I have to say that this was my favorite Chloe outing since Hex, even though her screentime was surprisingly low. For the first time we could see that her Watchtower job is a fulfilling one for her - she was having the time of her life fighting through the endless firewalls. And when Stuart's arrogance causes him to make a make a mistake, she turns the tables on him with glee. I'm half hoping though that her decision to recruit Stuart via implicit blackmail will wind up causing her grief - it's all too reminiscent of Lex recruiting Roger Nixon in season 1 for me.
Speaking of relationships built on shaky ground, Tess and Zod really rocked my world as their cat and mouse games turned deadly. The first time I watched the episode, the name of Zod's corporation didn't register but when it did - R.A.O. - I let out a huge fangirlish squee (Rao is the name of Krypton's sun). It all makes sense now - if the proposed solar towers are enough to power all of Metropolis, they're surely enough to jumpstart the Kandorians' powers. And we know from Lois's visions that the towers are tied up in the apocalypse to come, as is the question of Tess's allegiance. I loved how Zod mockingly called Tess a saviour, and then told her she could never be his equal. Tess is playing a dangerous game by trying to earn Zod's respect while still protecting her knowledge of Clark. She's a true wildcard, since she's a villain whose primary allegiance is to the Earth. I can't wait until Clark gets involved in this story!
Instead we saw more of the "human" side of Clark this episode courtesy of his relationship with Lois. I'm no shipper but the banter between Lois and Clark this episode was absolutely top notch and I was so happy to see Clark happy. That's why Clana never really worked for me - in seven seasons of angst, there were precious few moments that showed me WHY Clark would want to be with Lana, while any number of moments showed me the opposite. By contrast, Lois consistently brings out the best in Clark - caring, courage, self-sacrifice, sexiness, boldness - all leavened with strong doses of refreshing humour. I loved every minute of the audition for Good Morning Metropolis, not to mention the byplay during Clark's date with Catherine. I adore that Clark is trying so hard to atone for his past mistakes with Lois that he puts himself into situations we know are miles outside his comfort zone. He even went so far as to buy a new tie - one that was notably not a primary colour. In fact, the orange pretty much shreaked to me of the colour of Lois's dress in Bride - a shout out to the almost kiss back then. I must also mention that I love how Clark wound up getting a great date by telling the truth about himself - for once, the writers mangaged to get the moral of the story right.
By contrast, Lois lies on her date profile, then is further undermined when Ollie arrogantly sits down at her table after paying off her real date. Besides revisiting territory that had been gone over several times in the past, Ollie's actions serve three purposes. On a professional level, they essentially lead to Lois being fired from her new job - see why I'm not exactly sold on his redemption? His resurgent interest in Lois is all about HIM and a false nostalgia for the way they were. Having said that, it was a nice scene when Lois told him once again that they were over, and Ollie realized just how much she cared for Clark. I'd rate that exchange as one of Justin's best moments ever on the series. And because Lois turned off her earpiece before replying, it sparked a fire in Clark's heart that would lead to regret, confusion and ultimately resolve to fight for her. In the final scene, he tries to talk to her but she won't let him get a word in edgewise. So he steps up and gives her a mind blowing kiss. Has he ever initiated a kiss before (red K episodes aside?) Oh Clark, I love the man you're becoming.
Actually though, my favorite part of the episode was the rooftop save. Lois, Ollie and Mia all took their shots at the thugs to no avail. Oliver and Lois make the prime mistake by running up to the roof top and getting trapped. Ollie can only try to block the final hail of bullets when Clark shows up, alerted to the situation when Lois's earpiece is accidentally reactivated. My fangirlish heart was in total heaven when he zoomed in to save the day with his heat vision. And I enjoyed the shout out to one of the only moments I truly enjoyed in Superman Returns - when one stray bullet flies towards the eye. Here, they upped the ante by having the bullet targeted at Ollie - I got a great kick out of seeing his reflection in the bullet - and having Clark see it just in time to snatch it out of mid air. The final look between Clark and Ollie was awesome. Clark obviously wasn't amused by Ollie going after Lois, but the situation was complicated by the fact that Ollie had been her boyfriend first. Meanwhile, Ollie is stewing in the realization that he is so outclassed that there isn't anywhere to start. I totally loved it.!
So all told, it was a very good episode that could have been great with a little shift of focus on the Mia front. Next week's Kandor has me totally psyched as Clark will finally get involved in what I assume will become the season's major arc. I can't wait!
I was nervous when I saw the episode was written by Whitehead-Henderson, a team that has delivered some solid episodes like Metallo, Traveler and Descent, but also some absolute garbage, namely Requiem. Their episodes also tend to be a little Clark light - last year's Plastique and Abyss are the only ones with more than 20 minutes of Clark time and those aren't exactly great Clark episodes. The screentime minutes from
jeannev confirm the validity of this fear and underscore the major weakness of the episode and season in general for me - there simply isn't enough Clark. For example, it's like Ollie is a supporting character for Lois (and Chloe to a lesser degree) who barely interacts with Clark. In setting up Ollie as a rival for Lois's affections, they leave no one for Clark to talk to about his feelings. Well, other than Chloe who barely lets him get a sentence out before she jumps to telling him what to do. So different from the touching conversations we had with Martha in earlier seasons about his confusion over Lana. We need someone who can just be Clark's friend - exactly what Jimmy could have been. Sigh.Instead, this episode introduces us to a potential sidekick for Ollie called Mia, who in comics lore becomes the second Speedy (the first Speedy, Roy Harper, is now the Red Arrow and replaced Ollie as a member of the JLA). I'm sure some Green Arrow fans out there are interested in this development but I sure as heck wasn't. The story just didn't flow organically at all from Ollie's so-called redemption in Roulette. I would probably have been slightly more on board with that if Oliver's return from the depths had been caused by the concern shown by Clark in Echo, rather than Chloe's ridiculous mind games. Then it would seem more like Ollie trying to give Clark payback by trying to save someone else who's fallen into the depths. But in any case, I think they needed to set up more of a connection between Mia and Ollie to show why he picked HER out of all the thousands of exploited youngsters out there. Have him talk to her BEFORE she goes into the fight ring for example. Or cut out the staged fight entirely and show her trying to help a stranger and getting in over her head but still struggling. Something to show that she's hero material and isn't just someone with a chip on her shoulder.
The Oliver-Mia collaboration is echoed by Chloe deciding to recruit Stuart as her partner in computer hackery. First off, I have to say that this was my favorite Chloe outing since Hex, even though her screentime was surprisingly low. For the first time we could see that her Watchtower job is a fulfilling one for her - she was having the time of her life fighting through the endless firewalls. And when Stuart's arrogance causes him to make a make a mistake, she turns the tables on him with glee. I'm half hoping though that her decision to recruit Stuart via implicit blackmail will wind up causing her grief - it's all too reminiscent of Lex recruiting Roger Nixon in season 1 for me.
Speaking of relationships built on shaky ground, Tess and Zod really rocked my world as their cat and mouse games turned deadly. The first time I watched the episode, the name of Zod's corporation didn't register but when it did - R.A.O. - I let out a huge fangirlish squee (Rao is the name of Krypton's sun). It all makes sense now - if the proposed solar towers are enough to power all of Metropolis, they're surely enough to jumpstart the Kandorians' powers. And we know from Lois's visions that the towers are tied up in the apocalypse to come, as is the question of Tess's allegiance. I loved how Zod mockingly called Tess a saviour, and then told her she could never be his equal. Tess is playing a dangerous game by trying to earn Zod's respect while still protecting her knowledge of Clark. She's a true wildcard, since she's a villain whose primary allegiance is to the Earth. I can't wait until Clark gets involved in this story!
Instead we saw more of the "human" side of Clark this episode courtesy of his relationship with Lois. I'm no shipper but the banter between Lois and Clark this episode was absolutely top notch and I was so happy to see Clark happy. That's why Clana never really worked for me - in seven seasons of angst, there were precious few moments that showed me WHY Clark would want to be with Lana, while any number of moments showed me the opposite. By contrast, Lois consistently brings out the best in Clark - caring, courage, self-sacrifice, sexiness, boldness - all leavened with strong doses of refreshing humour. I loved every minute of the audition for Good Morning Metropolis, not to mention the byplay during Clark's date with Catherine. I adore that Clark is trying so hard to atone for his past mistakes with Lois that he puts himself into situations we know are miles outside his comfort zone. He even went so far as to buy a new tie - one that was notably not a primary colour. In fact, the orange pretty much shreaked to me of the colour of Lois's dress in Bride - a shout out to the almost kiss back then. I must also mention that I love how Clark wound up getting a great date by telling the truth about himself - for once, the writers mangaged to get the moral of the story right.
By contrast, Lois lies on her date profile, then is further undermined when Ollie arrogantly sits down at her table after paying off her real date. Besides revisiting territory that had been gone over several times in the past, Ollie's actions serve three purposes. On a professional level, they essentially lead to Lois being fired from her new job - see why I'm not exactly sold on his redemption? His resurgent interest in Lois is all about HIM and a false nostalgia for the way they were. Having said that, it was a nice scene when Lois told him once again that they were over, and Ollie realized just how much she cared for Clark. I'd rate that exchange as one of Justin's best moments ever on the series. And because Lois turned off her earpiece before replying, it sparked a fire in Clark's heart that would lead to regret, confusion and ultimately resolve to fight for her. In the final scene, he tries to talk to her but she won't let him get a word in edgewise. So he steps up and gives her a mind blowing kiss. Has he ever initiated a kiss before (red K episodes aside?) Oh Clark, I love the man you're becoming.
Actually though, my favorite part of the episode was the rooftop save. Lois, Ollie and Mia all took their shots at the thugs to no avail. Oliver and Lois make the prime mistake by running up to the roof top and getting trapped. Ollie can only try to block the final hail of bullets when Clark shows up, alerted to the situation when Lois's earpiece is accidentally reactivated. My fangirlish heart was in total heaven when he zoomed in to save the day with his heat vision. And I enjoyed the shout out to one of the only moments I truly enjoyed in Superman Returns - when one stray bullet flies towards the eye. Here, they upped the ante by having the bullet targeted at Ollie - I got a great kick out of seeing his reflection in the bullet - and having Clark see it just in time to snatch it out of mid air. The final look between Clark and Ollie was awesome. Clark obviously wasn't amused by Ollie going after Lois, but the situation was complicated by the fact that Ollie had been her boyfriend first. Meanwhile, Ollie is stewing in the realization that he is so outclassed that there isn't anywhere to start. I totally loved it.!
So all told, it was a very good episode that could have been great with a little shift of focus on the Mia front. Next week's Kandor has me totally psyched as Clark will finally get involved in what I assume will become the season's major arc. I can't wait!