Smallville 8.06 (Prey) and 8.07 (Identity)
I don't care what anyone says, this is the best fucking season of SV in a really long time...if not my favorite ever. Quite a few people didn't like last week's episode (and a couple complaints I thought were nitpicky), but I enjoyed it for a variety of reasons. And this week was awesome too. I never got to review last weeks, but in light of the fact that the two episodes are connected, I’m going to squee about them simultaneously. And be warned that this isn’t completely coherent
I've noticed a bit of a trend in this seasons episodes...all of the episodes are actually connected in an almost linear back to back fashion so far. Odyssey led into Plastique with the dismantling of the Blackcreek 33.1 facility, along with Clark's decision to work at the Daily Planet. Toxic and Instinct led into Committed, which aspects of led into Identity. In Toxic, we learned that Oliver had a past relationship with Tess (told you she was Mercy) Mercer, although we didn't learn yet how deep it ran, which was hinted at further in Instinct and then made explicit in Committed. In Instinct, Lois had a revelation that perfectly set up Committed and Clark's reaction at the end setup his jealousy in Identity. But the most obvious setup was from Prey to Identity, which are two episodes that are made better when viewed back to back because, thematically, they are almost one episode. I think this was one of those subconscious reasons (that just became more conscious, apparently) that this season is so enjoyable and re-watchable.
Quite a few people didn't enjoy Prey, which I found boggling, especially after I read the reasons. I found it far from boring and was glued to the set waiting for commercial breaks to end. Not that the episode didn't have problems, but this is Smallville and I want people to quit acting like it’s a surprise when there are plot holes, plus I'm wearing my rose-colored glasses this season and I think the positives outweigh the negatives.
Considering I do read spoilers, I don't have much to say about Davis except that I think the actor did a good job of making me sympathize with him. Oh, and good job to the PTB on the double fakeout. They got me, I'll admit it. And this may be the one time that knowing the spoilers actually aided in my fakeout because I totally thought it was Davis, and then we learned it was one of the Isis kids...but then we learned that it really was mostly Davis...cool.
The best thing ever was Clark not only actively going out and saving people, but the fact that he was SO overzealous was AWESOME, and this is why: Clark needs to find a balance (which will lead to the need for the secret identity) and that the PTB decided to show us the two extremes of Clark (one being too cautious and this version being a bit reckless) rather than have him either have a revelation or just being preached to by the supporting cast without precedence was the best way to go about this object lesson. I love that he was unjustifiably hard on himself for not getting to the Ace of Clubs in time because that is quintessential Clark. I also love that J'onn was there as a mentor because I love him and Clark needs him. I also love that he's a detective, especially considering how Kansas is next door to Colorado.
And another "best thing", and I'm probably in the minority, was the Clark-Chloe split that wasn't. It was the beginning of things to come but the pointss that both sides brought up were interesting for several reasons. Clark was wrong on some points, but mostly I thought he was right...especially since his original theory wound up being right. Chloe made some good points, but like Clark, I had a problem with her automatically shooting his theory down considering she was the one with the, as the late Alicia Baker called it, poison pen. In the end, they apologized to each other, but Clark is a lot bigger person than I would've been...because I'm petty and like to say "I told you so". However, like voldything noted in her review: hey Chloe! An alien is a long way from a meta. Especially considering that you've seen first hand what the government would do to an alien (from a race of aliens that tried to take over Earth a couple years ago) if they caught one...a little perspective is all I'm sayin'.
And a final note about Prey: Jimmy's investigation on the Red Blur was the final direct lead-in to Identity. This is a Jimmy I can get behind because this is iconic Jimmy, future Superman fanboy.
And speaking of Identity.
Awesome episode. Nobody annoyed me, not even Jimmy. How awesome was it (at least to me) that he figured it out simply by putting all the "facts" together along with Clark's protestations. I liked most that even faced with the denials from both Clark and Chloe, he didn't take it personally. When he said "You don't trust me", it didn't sound like rejection but a challenge. He wanted to prove that they can trust him with this huge secret, because who doesn’t want to personally know a superhero. I don't want to like Jimmy, but this episode made that very hard.
I mentioned the jealous!Clark, and what I'm loving about the Clois on SV is exactly why I'm not a comics!Cloiser (and definitely not a movieverse!Cloiser). The fact that Lois is falling for Clark before Superman is redeeming the character so much in my eyes. This is my problem with comics!Lois, that I'm not convinced she would love Clark if he weren't Superman. But if she falls for Clark before she even meets Superman means that it's not the powers and the general awesomeness of Kal-El/Superman that she loves about Clark, but Clark himself. And when she finally does meet the Man of Steell, she'll have a dilemma with being in love with two different people...who are actually the same man. So it's not that she falls for heroes, which someone noted as being the rea on why Lois loving Clark is OOC. The logic is backwards--Lois falls for guys that are turn out to be heroes...so it's totally in character for her to love Clark. She's just following her M.O.
And Lois, I love that she was out to get the story the entire time and it had nothing to do with any attraction towards that Memory-Swipe guy. She was all about her job and I thought that she was “playing” him rocked. But she did get a few zingers in to Clark, but she always likes to mess with him. But the kicker is that Clark is slowly catching on to his own feelings for Lois , which makes this more enjoyable because now we get to see a more organic evolution of Clark falling for someone rather than his M.O. which is to fall head first. I like it this way because now we also don't have to watch Clark pine for someone who doesn't deserve him. And I think this Lois totally deserves him.
Plus, how cute was the way he zipped up her dress. *snort* Please don't change, Clark.
Oh, and the Clark-Oliver scenes. Thank you for letting Clark give a little back to Oliver. I also liked that Clark used Jimmy, an innocent bystander, to get Oliver to act. Canon!Oliver is all about standing up for the little guy, and Clark played on that, and I’m not mad at all. But it was nice that Oliver apologized and Clark returned with that “piece of friendly advice” to show there were no lingering hard feelings.
So anyway, we have Clark’s nighttime activities catching up with him. I liked that Chloe and Clark (and Jimmy and apparently everyone else that wasn’t Clark) had such different views of how people would perceive a literal superhero. Chloe says that people knowing he’s out there would give them hope, but Clark is afraid, though he doesn’t say so explicitly, it’s obvious this is his fear, that revealing himself would stoke fear. Apparently the only one afraid is Clark, but that’s not a condemnation because it’s a well-founded fear. But you could see it in Clark’s eyes after everyone looked up and saw the superhero on the rooftop, and then the literal buzz around the newsroom at the front page story. It was sinking in that maybe this wasn’t a bad thing to be a known hero rather than an elusive one.
And evil!Chloe…*yikes*. I’m wondering if that look on her face was “what the hell did I just do” or “what the hell am I doing here.” Either way, this is the first time I actually cared about what’s going on with Chloe…like ever.
Sidebar 1: I don't hate the character of Jimmy Olsen per se, I just hate in the comics when he calls himself "Superman's best friend" because I can just feel Bruce silently bristle at the audacity of this kid (even while calling Clark a fool to his face, because that is Bruce's way)...or maybe I'm projecting because I bristle at the statement. James dear, Bruce and/or Diana (or, hell, Lois) you are not. And Clark/Jimmy squicks the hell out of me because no way is he good enough for Clark to even look twice at. Clark has his choice of Amazon princesses, billionaires, and hot reporter partners...so, please.
Sidebar 2: As a law enforcement/corrections officer, I think too many people are underestimating that little kid that got "mugged". He was probably a juvie stat waiting to happen. And he obviously has horrible parents, which adds insult to injury.
Sidebar 3: I have a laundry list of reasons why I’m not a Chloe fan, and most of it is because of seasons 1-3 and then more recently season 7. Go ahead and wank on me, I can take it.