Smallville 10x05 Isis
For a coherent review of Homecoming that doesn't involve me flailing about, read audrey229 's beautiful take here and tariel22's awesome review here.
As for Isis...
I know it's weird to start reviewing 5 episodes in, and after the awesomeness that was Homecoming, but I just had a few things to say about last night's episode.
The actual Isis plot was cheesetastic with a side of cheese, but what it did was act as a catalyst for the wonderful charcter interaction we got between everyone of the main cast + Cat Grant. I loved the Tess/Ollie/Clark scenes and that they are willing to give her a chance to earn their trust. These are the heroes I’ve looked up to, and Clark foremost because from Ollie’s question about trusting her, it’s obvious that it was Clark’s idea to bring her into the team. That’s my Superman right there. I also loved how Clark was urgently patient with her to get them the answers they need, and she came through. Her reaction to their invitation made me feel for her because I do believe this is the first time that Tess felt that people were accepting of her, and then she got it again with little Alexander when he told her he loves her (cue tears).
Clark/Lois/Cat was great comedy and I so want to see more of it throughout the season. It’s like we get little glimpses of how these relationships will play out even after the series is over (cue tears). But when Cat stabbed Lois in the hand and Lois went for the punch…Clark would’ve had to do more than stop my fist; he would’ve had to physically hold me back, lol. But I loved all of their scenes together.
Speaking of Cat, I know some ppl don’t like her and it’s completely understandable, but she’s almost like a breath of fresh air. Besides Lois, she adds a level of lightheartedness to the episodes she’s in the way Lois does, but in an opposite way. She’s like the bubbly side of the hero-haters, which is a good thing because instead of just casting her off as an evil bad guy, we get to see her POV about everything in the same way as if we were to interact with co-workers that don’t share the same world view. We don’t like it, but we can accept it for theirs without some outside agenda. I hope I explained that well. Anyway, she annoys me, but in the same way she annoys Clark. He’s been very patient with her, lol.
Also, the way Tess laughed at Cat’s Blur Theory was awesome. I would’ve laughed too. And Tess not only laughed at the ridiculous thought of Lois being the Blur, but at the fact that she has the real knowledge, so she’s laughing at both the theory and at Cat…and so was I.
I can’t say anything more about the Clark/Lois scenes, all of them, that hasn’t already been said. But let’s just say that I was both crying and laughing at the reveal. Crying because Clark’s confession was so heartfelt and raw and open and he’s said EVERYTHING about why he kept it from her, but then I laughed at Lois’ reaction because it was perfect and perfectly Lois. BEST REACTION TO THE SECRET REVEAL EVER! I love that she was willing to accept that he might never tell her, and it broke her heart, but she was willing to let him have that instead of spilling that she knew. She gave him plenty of openings, but she let him have that moment. She didn’t steal his thunder, she didn’t guilt trip him or leave him doubting her love for him, and she still let him know that she already knew. And her letting him know that in so many words gave Clark the chance to think about everything she’s said to him since he came back from the dead and see that she stuck by him, protected him, and loved him, all while giving him the time to come clean on his own. All of that you could read on the smile on his face before the fade to black.
So yeah, cheesy premise with some of my favorite character driven storytelling. It’s not always about the supernatural/apokaliptic/world-shattering plot. And I agree that this episode on the heels of Homecoming was a good move as a bit of a wind down from that event, and it also followed up on the lessons Clark learned in Homecoming (loving/opening up to Lois, forgiving past mistakes with Ollie and with Tess) and so that we could see it wasn’t a one episode deal.