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This episode was far from great and the "A" plot felt like an immense waste of time to me, but I enjoyed the other elements enough to give it a rather tepid B.
Some stray thoughts about the characters, from the bottom up.
Ollie - I wasn't happy with the way the writers brought him out of his funk in Roulette but felt it was utterly pointless to rehash the issue this way. If Ollie HAD been shattered by Chloe's treatment of him and Clark WAS needed to pick up the pieces, that would have been worthwhile, but instead it just felt like the same tired storyline, with a whole bunch of retcon-itis thrown in for no particular reason. One thing that really bothers me is Ollie's sudden undying love for Lois, which didn't seem all that strong to me back in S6 when they were really an item, and which has been closed down several times since then. I can accept Ollie's emotions as a sort of false nostalgia for the good old days when he was on top of his game, but this episode asked us to believe even more. We're asked to believe the Dark Archer targetted Lois amongst all the women Ollie has been with because she was the only one that mattered. Well, how would the Dark Archer know that and why did he wait for 3 years to swoop in? And what about Tess? IMO, she should have been the DA's target.
The Dark Archer (aka BoredAgain) looked good but the actor couldn't carry off the admittedly ponderous lines he was given. Mia was more interesting this episode but for me it was a near fatal mistake to have her miss out from interacting with Clark.
Chloe is really starting to get on my last nerve. Her attitude to Clark is one of contempt, and she's carrying one heck of a grudge for the mistakes SHE made last year. She accuses Clark of running away rather than making a decision but that couldn't be farther from the truth - SHE is the one that went running away with Davis last year. Granted Clark walked away from her last year, but he didn't do so to escape from his destiny but rather to explore a new way to pursue it. Since his return, Clark keeps trying to get her to open up but she shuts him down with a breezy "nothing's wrong", convinced that she's just doing what Clark does - gag me with a spoon. Now if we could trust the writers to take this situation to its logical conclusion, I might not be quite as nauseated at the whole scene. But I don't, so I can't. I did enjoy Clark speaking up for himself and trying to break through her barriers with the truth. We'll see what kind of payoff we get.
I found Zod quite interesting, though I can understand those who find Callum Blue's performance too over the top. I just shrug and remind myself that Zod is an alien after all, so of course he's not going to display typical mannerisms. Zod is a man obsessed with power and used to the deference of others. He is not comfortable having to charm his way with Clark, and finds it almost beneath his contempt to do so with humans like Lois and Tess. He's tyring to adapt, but is far easier to read then he thinks. That's why I believe him when he said he didn't kill Jor-El, certainly not before having obtained all the information he could about recovering their powers. Which kind of leaves Tess, unless one of the Kandorians went rogue.
Lois didn't have her best outing but far from her worst. Her opening scene with Clark was my favorite of the episode by a considerable margin. I like how she's modifying her usual, impulsive behaviour to avoid rushing her fences, yet is still very much herself - snark and all. The only thing I didn't like about the opening scene when she started running down the street to escape the archer rather than ducking for cover. An army brat would definitely know better! Later, I also enjoyed her fencing bout with Zod - she knew something was off but didn't want to openly antagonize him. Very wise. A little more puzzling was her attitude when talking to Clark afterwards, where she seemed to accept Zod's story at face value. I don't know, maybe she was trying to pass on a warning without setting off a red alert in case she'd read the situation wrong. I just can't stay mad at Lois when she refuses to throw crap at Clark for "letting" her get shot, and also for the way she gently but firmly shut down Ollie's obsession at the end.
Which of course brings us to Clark, who I thought was pretty darned wonderful. While he was on screen, I was interested. When he wasn't, I wasn't. I love how he didn't jump to conclusions about Ollie's guilt - that's Chloe's job - but did his best to figure things out and did manage to save a few lives along the way. I adored how sexy he was with Lois, even if I'm as mystified as most by his failure to disclose his super powered status to her. I can only chalk this up to a deeply held conviction that knowing the secret is bad, ignoring the fact that NOT knowing the secret is almost as bad. The practical difference in this situation is that Zod sees Lois as a lever to use against Clark, but not a threat. Lois is worth more to him alive, whereas if he finds out about Chloe, he might well try to kill her. Anyways, I enjoyed Clark's scenes with Zod, which for me were a much more mature version of his confrontations with later-day Lex. Both sides distrust the other but the bad guy pretends that its all Clark's fault for his inherent dishonesty. But Clark has no reason to trust Zod and basically says as much with his statement about trust needing to be earned. I was a little disturbed at Clark's vehement warning about Lois being out of bounds, but perhaps it is necessary to spell out the rules with someone like Zod. I'm also a little dismayed that Clark doesn't seem to have a plan for stopping Zod from building the solar tower, but maybe this just wasn't the episode to get into that. Tess strikes me as the key, but how can Clark work with her given the fact that she kidnapped his father? Interesting days ahead.
All told, not the best way to come back from hiatus. On the other hand, the extreme dysfunction of the "Justice League" is a good set up for Friday's big event. Can't wait! PS - I'm leaving next week for Vancouver-Whistler and the Olympics. If you'd like a postcard, please send me a PM with your address. Thanks!
Some stray thoughts about the characters, from the bottom up.
Ollie - I wasn't happy with the way the writers brought him out of his funk in Roulette but felt it was utterly pointless to rehash the issue this way. If Ollie HAD been shattered by Chloe's treatment of him and Clark WAS needed to pick up the pieces, that would have been worthwhile, but instead it just felt like the same tired storyline, with a whole bunch of retcon-itis thrown in for no particular reason. One thing that really bothers me is Ollie's sudden undying love for Lois, which didn't seem all that strong to me back in S6 when they were really an item, and which has been closed down several times since then. I can accept Ollie's emotions as a sort of false nostalgia for the good old days when he was on top of his game, but this episode asked us to believe even more. We're asked to believe the Dark Archer targetted Lois amongst all the women Ollie has been with because she was the only one that mattered. Well, how would the Dark Archer know that and why did he wait for 3 years to swoop in? And what about Tess? IMO, she should have been the DA's target.
The Dark Archer (aka BoredAgain) looked good but the actor couldn't carry off the admittedly ponderous lines he was given. Mia was more interesting this episode but for me it was a near fatal mistake to have her miss out from interacting with Clark.
Chloe is really starting to get on my last nerve. Her attitude to Clark is one of contempt, and she's carrying one heck of a grudge for the mistakes SHE made last year. She accuses Clark of running away rather than making a decision but that couldn't be farther from the truth - SHE is the one that went running away with Davis last year. Granted Clark walked away from her last year, but he didn't do so to escape from his destiny but rather to explore a new way to pursue it. Since his return, Clark keeps trying to get her to open up but she shuts him down with a breezy "nothing's wrong", convinced that she's just doing what Clark does - gag me with a spoon. Now if we could trust the writers to take this situation to its logical conclusion, I might not be quite as nauseated at the whole scene. But I don't, so I can't. I did enjoy Clark speaking up for himself and trying to break through her barriers with the truth. We'll see what kind of payoff we get.
I found Zod quite interesting, though I can understand those who find Callum Blue's performance too over the top. I just shrug and remind myself that Zod is an alien after all, so of course he's not going to display typical mannerisms. Zod is a man obsessed with power and used to the deference of others. He is not comfortable having to charm his way with Clark, and finds it almost beneath his contempt to do so with humans like Lois and Tess. He's tyring to adapt, but is far easier to read then he thinks. That's why I believe him when he said he didn't kill Jor-El, certainly not before having obtained all the information he could about recovering their powers. Which kind of leaves Tess, unless one of the Kandorians went rogue.
Lois didn't have her best outing but far from her worst. Her opening scene with Clark was my favorite of the episode by a considerable margin. I like how she's modifying her usual, impulsive behaviour to avoid rushing her fences, yet is still very much herself - snark and all. The only thing I didn't like about the opening scene when she started running down the street to escape the archer rather than ducking for cover. An army brat would definitely know better! Later, I also enjoyed her fencing bout with Zod - she knew something was off but didn't want to openly antagonize him. Very wise. A little more puzzling was her attitude when talking to Clark afterwards, where she seemed to accept Zod's story at face value. I don't know, maybe she was trying to pass on a warning without setting off a red alert in case she'd read the situation wrong. I just can't stay mad at Lois when she refuses to throw crap at Clark for "letting" her get shot, and also for the way she gently but firmly shut down Ollie's obsession at the end.
Which of course brings us to Clark, who I thought was pretty darned wonderful. While he was on screen, I was interested. When he wasn't, I wasn't. I love how he didn't jump to conclusions about Ollie's guilt - that's Chloe's job - but did his best to figure things out and did manage to save a few lives along the way. I adored how sexy he was with Lois, even if I'm as mystified as most by his failure to disclose his super powered status to her. I can only chalk this up to a deeply held conviction that knowing the secret is bad, ignoring the fact that NOT knowing the secret is almost as bad. The practical difference in this situation is that Zod sees Lois as a lever to use against Clark, but not a threat. Lois is worth more to him alive, whereas if he finds out about Chloe, he might well try to kill her. Anyways, I enjoyed Clark's scenes with Zod, which for me were a much more mature version of his confrontations with later-day Lex. Both sides distrust the other but the bad guy pretends that its all Clark's fault for his inherent dishonesty. But Clark has no reason to trust Zod and basically says as much with his statement about trust needing to be earned. I was a little disturbed at Clark's vehement warning about Lois being out of bounds, but perhaps it is necessary to spell out the rules with someone like Zod. I'm also a little dismayed that Clark doesn't seem to have a plan for stopping Zod from building the solar tower, but maybe this just wasn't the episode to get into that. Tess strikes me as the key, but how can Clark work with her given the fact that she kidnapped his father? Interesting days ahead.
All told, not the best way to come back from hiatus. On the other hand, the extreme dysfunction of the "Justice League" is a good set up for Friday's big event. Can't wait! PS - I'm leaving next week for Vancouver-Whistler and the Olympics. If you'd like a postcard, please send me a PM with your address. Thanks!
