"Disciple" SV 9x10
I think I've figured out what to make of this new, not-exactly-improved Chloe, which is that she's suffered psychological trauma and has developed some unpleasant coping mechanisms as a result. It's... not exactly a conventional reading of her character arc, I think? But it makes a lot of sense to me. Plus, embracing Chloe's downward spiral helps me work past my frustration that the narrative doesn't call her on her crap more often.
The first half of this post deals primarily with Chloe's characterisation while the second half deals with everything else that happened in this ep. Spoilers for "Disciple" SV 9x10 and "The Killer in Me" BtVS 7x13:
I'm only halfway through the episode, but dude. GO CLARK for not letting Chloe get away with that "I do what's necessary" crap. JFC, woman, do you even hear yourself? The ego! The sense of superiority! "He pulled his life out of the emergency lane and crossed the finish line a hero again... but he didn't do it on his own. I changed a couple of tires along the way. I set the whole thing up." Leaving aside the atrocious NASCAR metaphor, the massive ego it takes to measure heroism in such cold, bloodless terms is downright appalling. She sounds like Lionel.
...I KIND OF LOVE IT. Wow, go dark!Chloe, embrace it! Be disturbingly amoral! I think I'm going to have to approach her character the way I eventually did with dark!Willow (and S4 Wes, retroactively), which is to simply embrace the fact that she is: (1) in serious denial about the consequences of her own actions; (2) blaming others/circumstances/magic!crack in order to cling to a belief in her innate goodness; (3) taking a utilitarian approach to crime-fighting in order to justify being a control freak.
After Willow completely fails to regret Warren's death in "The Killer in Me", I've pretty much accepted that she totally believes in the death penalty, believes that he deserved to be executed, even if she regrets the downward spiral that led to her being his executioner.
And that's pretty much where I'm at with Chloe, now. (Possibly Oliver too, but I haven't seen the episodes that follow up on "Requiem" yet. OTOH, Oliver seems to have stepped back from his earlier "ends justify the means" attitude.)
I don't mind that Chloe's gone so dark, really, as long as Clark can keep calling her on her shit. I was so afraid from reading reviews that Chloe always got away with it, but she doesn't in "Disciple". Good for you, Clark. Don't doubt yourself when you're coming down on her--you are absolutely in the right and she is absolutely in the wrong. Not that she'll ever admit it, or her elaborate coping mechanisms might come crashing down around her ears.
As for Chloe being justified in her manipulation of Ollie because he does, in fact, return to crime-fighting... No, it simply doesn't work like that. She got the results she wanted, and he can thank her for the kick in the pants. But I give Oliver all the credit for not having a mental breakdown because one of his so-called friends pulled an epic mind-game on him, and for getting back on the horse. Chloe was neither right nor righteous in her actions against him.
Chloe: He was dead hero walking, Clark. I had to do something.
(God, the *ego*. It's delicious!)
Clark: So you went out by yourself, and you saved him?
(Love TW's line delivery, it's just subtly snide.)
Chloe: Isn't that what you do every day?
(Ahahaha! Oh, Chloe. The mental gymnastics you have to do... The judge from Canada awards you 10 out of 10.)
Clark: You should have told me.
(What Clark really means is you shouldn't have done this. Saying "You should have told me" is more about minimizing fallout after the fact.)
Chloe: And this is exactly why I didn't tell you, Clark. Any time you have to pull the trigger on making a difficult decision, you always just walk away.
(Wow, she is *so* in denial. Poor kid. There was a lot of meta about Willow--and Xander, too--suffering PTSD from all the violence and the horrific things they'd dealt with since they were kids. I think a case can be made for Chloe needing *serious* therapy.)
Clark: I do what's right.
(You tell her, Clark!)
Chloe: You're not willing to do what's necessary.
Clark: Pulling the trigger on Oliver, was that necessary?
Chloe: Not if it really shattered him. Where you going?
(Oh, wait, are you actually admitting you might have been wrong about something?)
Clark: To pick up the pieces.
(Heh. *That* wasn't bitter at all.)
Was it "necessary"? We'll never know. Apparently Oliver was way behind schedule on the whole being a hero thing, and Chloe was tired of waiting for him to get back on track! Which is why she needed to stage an intervention. I gotta shake my head in amazed disbelief. This is AWESOME. I kinda love this new Chloe. She's deliciously deluded and spiralling out of control. Reminds me of Lana, actually. Too bad the show never brings her arc to a satisfactory climax.
Now that I've finished watching the whole episode, I have more thoughts on Chloe and Clark.
Even though he's a little bitter over Chloe's recent behaviour (not to mention appalled), Clark still cares about her and tries to reach out.
Clark: Yeah, Oliver's not the only one I've been worried about. You've been looking at the world through a camera a lot lately, Chloe. Maybe it's time you go out and actually live in it.
Chloe: I'm just looking out for people, Clark, same as you.
Clark: That's the problem with looking out for people--sometimes you lose yourself.
Chloe: Don't worry, no one's getting lost, okay? Everything's under control.
I feel like this exchange supports my theory that Chloe is doing a Batman thing where she detaches from humanity to avoid emotional trauma. She's in denial because that's how she copes with the reality in which she finds herself--a reality in which she aided and abetted a serial killer and got her ex-husband killed. The only way to keep from falling apart is to, essentially, retcon her own culpability. Deny, deny, deny.
...oh my God, did Chloe seriously just use "Purple Heart" to describe her flesh wound??
Dear SV writers:
WHY MUST YOU HURT ME SO.
No love,
Scroll
This is a pretty good episode, a few lines of bad dialogue aside.
Okay, now to review the rest of the episode! Because there are, in fact, other characters besides Chloe? *g*
Clark/Lois adorableness: Awww, they're counting PDAs! They're so fun and sweet, with just enough snark for leavening.
Lois yelling at Vordigan, thinking he was Oliver: "Jealous much!" Ahahaha! Oh, Lois. ♥
MIA DEARDEN. God, I love her SO. MUCH. Granted, I'm a Green Arrow fan and was already invested in liking Mia, but this actress really sold me on her. She's feisty, takes initiative, and doesn't let Oliver derail her from voicing her concerns. She and JH have great chemistry. There were quite a few times I just wanted him to give her a big hug and tell her that she's his favourite. ♥ (What can I say, I'm a sap for Ollie not being a total deadbeat dad. He's better than Superman, in some ways.)
Plus, shirtless!Ollie is never a bad thing. :D
Clark and Zod: Honestly? I don't really care. I mean, the actors are doing a good job, the dialogue is decent, but it's just not a plot I care about except as it illuminates Clark's character.
Clark/Lois/Oliver triangle: I'm probably in the minority, but I'm totally fine that Ollie still has feelings for Lois. It's Lois, she's awesome! Of course he's still a bit in love with her. I was good with them just being friends, too, back in Season 8--their scene in "Bride" was lovely. But yeah, Clark/Lois/Oliver is my OT3 anyway, so I'm just looking for an excuse for Lois and Clark to bring him into their relationship. *g*
Vordigan, Oliver, Clark, and skill/ability: The secret society backstory is a bit generic, but what really fascinates me is the theme of the non-lethal shot. This obviously ties into Oliver's actions in "Requiem", where he uses a bomb--someone else's bomb, originally intended for Oliver himself--to kill instead of using an arrow, his own weapon of choice. A bomb is loud, messy, unmistakable. There's no real precision involved, not like killing with an arrow.
And Clark has the ultimate in control. He can avoid killing in part because he's got so much more control over a violent situation than anyone else. He's faster, stronger, has more weapons in his arsenal. He's got the luxury of invulnerability, and his skills will never deteriorate with age or injury (barring green K).
Chloe thinks Lois was lucky because the guy who shot her had poor aim, but in fact she's alive for the opposite reason: Vordigan was so good that he could shoot her in exactly the spot that would NOT kill. He has the luxury of choosing the non-lethal shot because of his skills/abilities--a lesser marksman would have killed Lois. (And a really poor marksman would have missed her altogether.)
Lois and Zod: She is skeeved out by him, you can tell. It might not be completely conscious, but she's not exactly warming up to him either.
Ollie and Mia again: Oh, darling Arrows! I love Ollie's surveillance photos taped up on the wall like a crazy person an FBI white board. I really, really like Mia wanting to stand by her teacher, but still running off upset when Ollie pushed her away. Poor kid. Rejection ain't fun even when you know he's behaving OOC.
Chloe at the Watchtower: I don't really understand Vordigan grazing Chloe's arm simply because she turned--that doesn't really track with how good he is. But I guess then she'd be stuck in the hospital too, and the plot needed her to keep researching.
Mia gets kidnapped, oh noes!
Chloe throws out the Oliver-has-split-personality theory. Clark dismisses it. What is this "dark half" they keep talking about, like it's some kind of alter-ego? (More on this later.) I've covered the Clark-and-Chloe bits above, so won't reiterate.
Ollie and Lois: Don't sneak up on a guy on a hair-trigger! N'aww, they have lovely chemistry. Lois wants to know why Vordigan couldn't have shot the Danish underwear model instead! *g* So damn cute! She also says, "You have to find whoever attacked Chloe and I." Ugh, Lois, please! Well, I suppose bad grammar tracks with her bad spelling. Chloe, of course, said, "Lois and me." Bless you, Chloe. All is forgiven.
And Ollie cracks the case! Kinda. He figures out Mia's next. But he's too late!
Ahaha! I love how, randomly, there's a giant maze shaped like a Celtic symbol. Chloe's satellite imaging is like ~magic~.
Vordigan, Oliver, and sonship: Vordigan's desire to have Oliver kill him because he's beginning to decay is... interesting. Oliver seems to be the character that faces questions about mortality--the frailty of humanity, the vulnerable body. He's not bulletproof like Clark is. Unlike Clark, unlike the rest of the League, he is fully human. No special powers, just a talent for bows and arrows. Unlike Clark, he can have children. Successors. A legacy that's more than a symbol. (He's like the Luthors in that way.)
Oliver: You taught me many things, Vordigan, about the kind of man I wanted to become, and the kind of man I didn't.
Vordigan: Some men don't get to choose who they become. Your heart is dark like mine, Oliver.
First of all, Green Arrow and Batman? Totally choices. Superman, not so much. That's one of the fundamentals of their differing stories. (And why I have serious objections to the Bat legacy as a genetic thing.)
Second of all, if we take Oliver at his word, that Vordigan taught him about the kind of man he didn't want to become (namely, a killer), then "Requiem" was a serious departure. What I mean is, the choice he made then was against his core nature. I'm not excusing Oliver, he still did it, fell prey to his worst personality traits: ego, rage (which is rooted in his fear of death), and enmity of Lex. But there's his "better half", the side of him that rejects killing.
Mia is smart! Good girl, Mia! She's still outclassed, but Ollie dives in to take the arrows meant for her. Clark, thankfully, blurs in front of Ollie and the arrows break harmlessly against him. Ollie then shoots Vordigan in the next instance--if you think about it, he would have been ready to make that same shot even with three arrows perforating his body. The fact that there's less than a second between "I'm gonna get shot" and "hey, I'm not shot after all", and yet he still managed to adjust and fire the arrow perfectly? Proves just how damn good he is. *g*
And his talent with the bow is what allows him to not be a killer. When he shoots Vordigan, it's the non-lethal shot that wounds, but does not kill.
Oliver: (to Clark) You know, he always said that eventually my dark side would rise up and that I would take his life. (to Vordigan) You were wrong.
Given that this is Smallville and not, you know, an attempt at realistic psychology, it makes sense that Oliver's struggles with violence is framed in terms of a shadow-self. It's a way of detaching from his own violence, casting it as an Other, something to be conquered or controlled. But like Clark's abilities, Oliver's violence is also a tool for justice. If he's good enough, if he's controlled and precise enough, he can minimize damage to innocents. He'll stop the bad guys without deadly measures.
(I'd like to hope that Clark believes Ollie has come back from that "dark side", at least. Not to say he should pretend it didn't happen, but I'd like to believe they've settled that between them now.)
Chloe is all about control, too, only she's not doing precision so much as... blanketing? Trying to cover all the bases, plan for every contingency. Ruthlessness as a panacea to human error. Not sure how that's going to work out for her.
Zod wants Clark's abilities. He wants the same power so that he can have the same control, the power to do violence as a means of establishing control.
OT3 redux: Ollie and Lois gazing at one another, then Lois touching Clark's shoulder. Very lovely, poignant moment.
Ollie and Mia, take three: Mia looks awesome, training with the eskrima sticks. :D I really, really like the dynamic between Ollie and her. He needs someone who'll call him on his crap! And ooh, her little face when Ollie says that he's not done with her yet! She's so happy with him, it's sweet. *cuddles them*
In an episode in which Clark expresses concern (not in so many words, but it's how I read it) that Chloe has become dark and manipulative because she's so cut off from humanity, Mia tells Oliver that's why he needs her around--to keep his darker aspect in check.
Mia: There's a dark place inside everyone, Oliver. What we do with it depends not on who our teachers are, but what we do with the lessons learned.
Out of the mouth of babes. Well, she was a sex worker, I guess she'd know better than most about dark places and lessons learned. About making choices about what kind of man, or woman, you wanted to become.
Clark and Zod again: Clark makes an ultimatum. Zod isn't happy.
Oh, hey! That's Amelia Banks from SGA! ...sorry, that was a bit of a tangent, wasn't it.
In conclusion: The deadlier you are, the less of a killer you can be. Ahahaha, that is SUCH a superhero comics kind of statement! I give "Disciple" 9 out of 10. My completely arbitrary score is based pretty much on the fact that I loved every scene except the stuff with Zod. ♥Ollie♥ ♥Mia♥ ♥Clark♥
ETA: I'm trying to decide which Smallville DVD season sets to purchase and I'd love to poll SV fandom. Please vote here!
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comment(s)
The first half of this post deals primarily with Chloe's characterisation while the second half deals with everything else that happened in this ep. Spoilers for "Disciple" SV 9x10 and "The Killer in Me" BtVS 7x13:
I'm only halfway through the episode, but dude. GO CLARK for not letting Chloe get away with that "I do what's necessary" crap. JFC, woman, do you even hear yourself? The ego! The sense of superiority! "He pulled his life out of the emergency lane and crossed the finish line a hero again... but he didn't do it on his own. I changed a couple of tires along the way. I set the whole thing up." Leaving aside the atrocious NASCAR metaphor, the massive ego it takes to measure heroism in such cold, bloodless terms is downright appalling. She sounds like Lionel.
...I KIND OF LOVE IT. Wow, go dark!Chloe, embrace it! Be disturbingly amoral! I think I'm going to have to approach her character the way I eventually did with dark!Willow (and S4 Wes, retroactively), which is to simply embrace the fact that she is: (1) in serious denial about the consequences of her own actions; (2) blaming others/circumstances/magic!crack in order to cling to a belief in her innate goodness; (3) taking a utilitarian approach to crime-fighting in order to justify being a control freak.
After Willow completely fails to regret Warren's death in "The Killer in Me", I've pretty much accepted that she totally believes in the death penalty, believes that he deserved to be executed, even if she regrets the downward spiral that led to her being his executioner.
And that's pretty much where I'm at with Chloe, now. (Possibly Oliver too, but I haven't seen the episodes that follow up on "Requiem" yet. OTOH, Oliver seems to have stepped back from his earlier "ends justify the means" attitude.)
I don't mind that Chloe's gone so dark, really, as long as Clark can keep calling her on her shit. I was so afraid from reading reviews that Chloe always got away with it, but she doesn't in "Disciple". Good for you, Clark. Don't doubt yourself when you're coming down on her--you are absolutely in the right and she is absolutely in the wrong. Not that she'll ever admit it, or her elaborate coping mechanisms might come crashing down around her ears.
As for Chloe being justified in her manipulation of Ollie because he does, in fact, return to crime-fighting... No, it simply doesn't work like that. She got the results she wanted, and he can thank her for the kick in the pants. But I give Oliver all the credit for not having a mental breakdown because one of his so-called friends pulled an epic mind-game on him, and for getting back on the horse. Chloe was neither right nor righteous in her actions against him.
Chloe: He was dead hero walking, Clark. I had to do something.
(God, the *ego*. It's delicious!)
Clark: So you went out by yourself, and you saved him?
(Love TW's line delivery, it's just subtly snide.)
Chloe: Isn't that what you do every day?
(Ahahaha! Oh, Chloe. The mental gymnastics you have to do... The judge from Canada awards you 10 out of 10.)
Clark: You should have told me.
(What Clark really means is you shouldn't have done this. Saying "You should have told me" is more about minimizing fallout after the fact.)
Chloe: And this is exactly why I didn't tell you, Clark. Any time you have to pull the trigger on making a difficult decision, you always just walk away.
(Wow, she is *so* in denial. Poor kid. There was a lot of meta about Willow--and Xander, too--suffering PTSD from all the violence and the horrific things they'd dealt with since they were kids. I think a case can be made for Chloe needing *serious* therapy.)
Clark: I do what's right.
(You tell her, Clark!)
Chloe: You're not willing to do what's necessary.
Clark: Pulling the trigger on Oliver, was that necessary?
Chloe: Not if it really shattered him. Where you going?
(Oh, wait, are you actually admitting you might have been wrong about something?)
Clark: To pick up the pieces.
(Heh. *That* wasn't bitter at all.)
Was it "necessary"? We'll never know. Apparently Oliver was way behind schedule on the whole being a hero thing, and Chloe was tired of waiting for him to get back on track! Which is why she needed to stage an intervention. I gotta shake my head in amazed disbelief. This is AWESOME. I kinda love this new Chloe. She's deliciously deluded and spiralling out of control. Reminds me of Lana, actually. Too bad the show never brings her arc to a satisfactory climax.
Now that I've finished watching the whole episode, I have more thoughts on Chloe and Clark.
Even though he's a little bitter over Chloe's recent behaviour (not to mention appalled), Clark still cares about her and tries to reach out.
Clark: Yeah, Oliver's not the only one I've been worried about. You've been looking at the world through a camera a lot lately, Chloe. Maybe it's time you go out and actually live in it.
Chloe: I'm just looking out for people, Clark, same as you.
Clark: That's the problem with looking out for people--sometimes you lose yourself.
Chloe: Don't worry, no one's getting lost, okay? Everything's under control.
I feel like this exchange supports my theory that Chloe is doing a Batman thing where she detaches from humanity to avoid emotional trauma. She's in denial because that's how she copes with the reality in which she finds herself--a reality in which she aided and abetted a serial killer and got her ex-husband killed. The only way to keep from falling apart is to, essentially, retcon her own culpability. Deny, deny, deny.
...oh my God, did Chloe seriously just use "Purple Heart" to describe her flesh wound??
Dear SV writers:
WHY MUST YOU HURT ME SO.
No love,
Scroll
This is a pretty good episode, a few lines of bad dialogue aside.
Okay, now to review the rest of the episode! Because there are, in fact, other characters besides Chloe? *g*
Clark/Lois adorableness: Awww, they're counting PDAs! They're so fun and sweet, with just enough snark for leavening.
Lois yelling at Vordigan, thinking he was Oliver: "Jealous much!" Ahahaha! Oh, Lois. ♥
MIA DEARDEN. God, I love her SO. MUCH. Granted, I'm a Green Arrow fan and was already invested in liking Mia, but this actress really sold me on her. She's feisty, takes initiative, and doesn't let Oliver derail her from voicing her concerns. She and JH have great chemistry. There were quite a few times I just wanted him to give her a big hug and tell her that she's his favourite. ♥ (What can I say, I'm a sap for Ollie not being a total deadbeat dad. He's better than Superman, in some ways.)
Plus, shirtless!Ollie is never a bad thing. :D
Clark and Zod: Honestly? I don't really care. I mean, the actors are doing a good job, the dialogue is decent, but it's just not a plot I care about except as it illuminates Clark's character.
Clark/Lois/Oliver triangle: I'm probably in the minority, but I'm totally fine that Ollie still has feelings for Lois. It's Lois, she's awesome! Of course he's still a bit in love with her. I was good with them just being friends, too, back in Season 8--their scene in "Bride" was lovely. But yeah, Clark/Lois/Oliver is my OT3 anyway, so I'm just looking for an excuse for Lois and Clark to bring him into their relationship. *g*
Vordigan, Oliver, Clark, and skill/ability: The secret society backstory is a bit generic, but what really fascinates me is the theme of the non-lethal shot. This obviously ties into Oliver's actions in "Requiem", where he uses a bomb--someone else's bomb, originally intended for Oliver himself--to kill instead of using an arrow, his own weapon of choice. A bomb is loud, messy, unmistakable. There's no real precision involved, not like killing with an arrow.
And Clark has the ultimate in control. He can avoid killing in part because he's got so much more control over a violent situation than anyone else. He's faster, stronger, has more weapons in his arsenal. He's got the luxury of invulnerability, and his skills will never deteriorate with age or injury (barring green K).
Chloe thinks Lois was lucky because the guy who shot her had poor aim, but in fact she's alive for the opposite reason: Vordigan was so good that he could shoot her in exactly the spot that would NOT kill. He has the luxury of choosing the non-lethal shot because of his skills/abilities--a lesser marksman would have killed Lois. (And a really poor marksman would have missed her altogether.)
Lois and Zod: She is skeeved out by him, you can tell. It might not be completely conscious, but she's not exactly warming up to him either.
Ollie and Mia again: Oh, darling Arrows! I love Ollie's surveillance photos taped up on the wall like a crazy person an FBI white board. I really, really like Mia wanting to stand by her teacher, but still running off upset when Ollie pushed her away. Poor kid. Rejection ain't fun even when you know he's behaving OOC.
Chloe at the Watchtower: I don't really understand Vordigan grazing Chloe's arm simply because she turned--that doesn't really track with how good he is. But I guess then she'd be stuck in the hospital too, and the plot needed her to keep researching.
Mia gets kidnapped, oh noes!
Chloe throws out the Oliver-has-split-personality theory. Clark dismisses it. What is this "dark half" they keep talking about, like it's some kind of alter-ego? (More on this later.) I've covered the Clark-and-Chloe bits above, so won't reiterate.
Ollie and Lois: Don't sneak up on a guy on a hair-trigger! N'aww, they have lovely chemistry. Lois wants to know why Vordigan couldn't have shot the Danish underwear model instead! *g* So damn cute! She also says, "You have to find whoever attacked Chloe and I." Ugh, Lois, please! Well, I suppose bad grammar tracks with her bad spelling. Chloe, of course, said, "Lois and me." Bless you, Chloe. All is forgiven.
And Ollie cracks the case! Kinda. He figures out Mia's next. But he's too late!
Ahaha! I love how, randomly, there's a giant maze shaped like a Celtic symbol. Chloe's satellite imaging is like ~magic~.
Vordigan, Oliver, and sonship: Vordigan's desire to have Oliver kill him because he's beginning to decay is... interesting. Oliver seems to be the character that faces questions about mortality--the frailty of humanity, the vulnerable body. He's not bulletproof like Clark is. Unlike Clark, unlike the rest of the League, he is fully human. No special powers, just a talent for bows and arrows. Unlike Clark, he can have children. Successors. A legacy that's more than a symbol. (He's like the Luthors in that way.)
Oliver: You taught me many things, Vordigan, about the kind of man I wanted to become, and the kind of man I didn't.
Vordigan: Some men don't get to choose who they become. Your heart is dark like mine, Oliver.
First of all, Green Arrow and Batman? Totally choices. Superman, not so much. That's one of the fundamentals of their differing stories. (And why I have serious objections to the Bat legacy as a genetic thing.)
Second of all, if we take Oliver at his word, that Vordigan taught him about the kind of man he didn't want to become (namely, a killer), then "Requiem" was a serious departure. What I mean is, the choice he made then was against his core nature. I'm not excusing Oliver, he still did it, fell prey to his worst personality traits: ego, rage (which is rooted in his fear of death), and enmity of Lex. But there's his "better half", the side of him that rejects killing.
Mia is smart! Good girl, Mia! She's still outclassed, but Ollie dives in to take the arrows meant for her. Clark, thankfully, blurs in front of Ollie and the arrows break harmlessly against him. Ollie then shoots Vordigan in the next instance--if you think about it, he would have been ready to make that same shot even with three arrows perforating his body. The fact that there's less than a second between "I'm gonna get shot" and "hey, I'm not shot after all", and yet he still managed to adjust and fire the arrow perfectly? Proves just how damn good he is. *g*
And his talent with the bow is what allows him to not be a killer. When he shoots Vordigan, it's the non-lethal shot that wounds, but does not kill.
Oliver: (to Clark) You know, he always said that eventually my dark side would rise up and that I would take his life. (to Vordigan) You were wrong.
Given that this is Smallville and not, you know, an attempt at realistic psychology, it makes sense that Oliver's struggles with violence is framed in terms of a shadow-self. It's a way of detaching from his own violence, casting it as an Other, something to be conquered or controlled. But like Clark's abilities, Oliver's violence is also a tool for justice. If he's good enough, if he's controlled and precise enough, he can minimize damage to innocents. He'll stop the bad guys without deadly measures.
(I'd like to hope that Clark believes Ollie has come back from that "dark side", at least. Not to say he should pretend it didn't happen, but I'd like to believe they've settled that between them now.)
Chloe is all about control, too, only she's not doing precision so much as... blanketing? Trying to cover all the bases, plan for every contingency. Ruthlessness as a panacea to human error. Not sure how that's going to work out for her.
Zod wants Clark's abilities. He wants the same power so that he can have the same control, the power to do violence as a means of establishing control.
OT3 redux: Ollie and Lois gazing at one another, then Lois touching Clark's shoulder. Very lovely, poignant moment.
Ollie and Mia, take three: Mia looks awesome, training with the eskrima sticks. :D I really, really like the dynamic between Ollie and her. He needs someone who'll call him on his crap! And ooh, her little face when Ollie says that he's not done with her yet! She's so happy with him, it's sweet. *cuddles them*
In an episode in which Clark expresses concern (not in so many words, but it's how I read it) that Chloe has become dark and manipulative because she's so cut off from humanity, Mia tells Oliver that's why he needs her around--to keep his darker aspect in check.
Mia: There's a dark place inside everyone, Oliver. What we do with it depends not on who our teachers are, but what we do with the lessons learned.
Out of the mouth of babes. Well, she was a sex worker, I guess she'd know better than most about dark places and lessons learned. About making choices about what kind of man, or woman, you wanted to become.
Clark and Zod again: Clark makes an ultimatum. Zod isn't happy.
Oh, hey! That's Amelia Banks from SGA! ...sorry, that was a bit of a tangent, wasn't it.
In conclusion: The deadlier you are, the less of a killer you can be. Ahahaha, that is SUCH a superhero comics kind of statement! I give "Disciple" 9 out of 10. My completely arbitrary score is based pretty much on the fact that I loved every scene except the stuff with Zod. ♥Ollie♥ ♥Mia♥ ♥Clark♥
ETA: I'm trying to decide which Smallville DVD season sets to purchase and I'd love to poll SV fandom. Please vote here!
I prefer comments on Dreamwidth |
comment(s)