Mel's Review of Smallville Episode "Disciple"
So the second of the half of the season began, and it was a great start of the season that progressed and showed foreshadowings of what is to come. Oliver's ex-mentor was well casted and looked great in this episode.
Oliver Queen Faces His Inner Demons - Justin Hartley has been doing such a wonderful job at Oliver's journey from the moment he arrived on the show to become the iconic Green Arrow. I really loved his storyline that just downspiraled out of control to his redemption that pushes this character to become Green Arrow. Green Arrow can be a very dark character in the comics, and he had to contruct his life all over again after hitting rock bottom. The show is doing a great job at portraying this darkness in their own fashion. Oliver shows remorse for his mistakes, and he is thriving to become someone great. Oliver's ex-mentor pushed Oliver to the breaking point, and in the end Oliver made the right decision without any heavy influence from others. It was all him in the end, and it was test that showed how much Oliver grew as a character. Oliver faced his demons, and this time he won and he has great support group behind him to help him out.
I know some people are perhaps irked about Oliver's romantic feelings for Lois, but when you truly love someone in that fashion they just don't go away. Granted tv show writers can do that with a swipe of their pen, but I'm glad the SV writers are being emotinally realistic of this. Lois was the first person Oliver truly truly cared for, and it's something he will not have again until he is romantically involved with Dinah aka Black Canary. With Tess I always felt he understood Oliver's darkness because that's someone she can relate too and they had this very traumatic experience on the island. Tess has a spot in Ollie's heart because it's an area no one been able touch, but the problem with his relationship with Tess is that she was afraid of that emotional intimacy. Emotional intimacy is something that is scary, and Lois tapped into that with Oliver. So if there is a way to see Oliver get emotionally intimate with Dinah, whether in offscreenville or in season ten, then I'm all for it. Truly enjoy the writers acknowledging this connection between Lois and Oliver. I like that Oliver is trying hard to respect his friends' relationship, but you can tell his heart stings. All in all what Oliver is feeling is quite relateable and emotionally realistic. On the subject of Oliver's ships I'm one of those people that isn't exactly seeing the romantic chemistry vibe between Oliver and Chloe. That's not to say it isn't there, but for the time being I'm not exactly feeling it. Of course my feelings might change if their relationship ever goes to that next level and I actually see it on my screen. It's just for now I rather they stay friends.
Green Arrow Becomes The Master - This episode we saw a bit more of Oliver's mentorship of young Mia aka Speedy, and what happened this episode was shown in the comics. Ollie pushing Mia away occured also in the comics because he didn't want her to put in harm's way. During this time in the comics Oliver was also building his life back which one of the reasons Mia and Oliver really make a great partnership. They both know and relate to each other, and they are both coming out of the darkness. I really enjoyed Mia's dialogue to Oliver at the end of the episode. That everyone has a darkside to them, but it's what we do with the lessons our mentors/teachers/mentors give us. As a teacher myself and had mentors in various aspects of my life I couldn't help, but be proud of this duo. Plus I couldn't help but geek out at seeing Mia in her comic book colors in this episode. If she wore her iconic colors at the same time in "Crossfire", then I completely missed it lol.
Clark & Lois 5 Dates and 4 PDA's Later - The quote of how many dates and public displays of affection was an interesting way to note how far along we are from "Pandora" and "Disciple". Clois was quite adoreable in this episode because they are in that stage where it's still kinda awkward, and they are trying to find their way. Not to go too fast, but not to go at a snail pace either. It's interesting to see Zod just playing with the Clois relationship in this episode to observe Lois and Clark's relationship. What Lois knows about Clark and his kryptonian hertiage, and how Zod can use it to push Clark's button. Lois was uttering adoreable in her sling throughout the episode, and loved Clark being badass at threatening Zod about going near Lois.
Zod's Moral Codes vs Kal-El's Moral Codes - The scenes with Zod and Clark was just entertaining to watch. Zod pegged Clark right and left from the Clois relationship to not trusting him due to Jor-El's death. The question still remains if Zod is telling the truth on not killing Jor-El. Callum Blue did an excellent job at pointing out why he wouldn't kill Clark's Kryptonian father. He was so good as an viewer you couldn't tell if he was telling the truth or not. Meanwhile, Clark wouldn't cave in to Zod's pushing about the powers and going near the woman he loves. He was full of confidence, but he didn't go to the extent Clark did in "Pandora" that just enabled Zod to wreck havoc on the world. Another reason why I loved their interaction because Zod gave so much foreshadowing of what is to come with Amanda Waller's organization and an upcoming episode (I will not go further in detail due to spoilers).
While listening to the Zod retell the meaning of Book of Rao I recalled lessons from what I learned in my cultural anthropology class. Just because you know the language and can write it yourself doesn't exactly mean you fully understand the meaning behind the symbols. For an example, on Lost in season 3 episoder "Stranger in a Strange Land" we find out half of the meaning of the tattooes on Jack's upper arm mean. However, as Jack put it "that's what it says but that's not what they mean". There is a lot of multi-context Clark still doesn't know about in his own Kryptonian hertiage. Something Kara, Martian Manhunter, and etc have been showing and telling Clark along his journey. Having all that said it was all a facade in Zod getting what he wants....his powers to later control the world. To get what he needs Zod needs the key Jor-El put in the Kent's vent, and that's the last thing he needs to make his solar power towers to work. I'm speculating Chloe has that artifact and has not told Clark about it yet.
Chloe's Decent - Finally, the cat is out of the bag in regards to the events in "Roulette". I'm frankly glad Clark showed concern and was understandablely upset at Chloe's behavior. I was more disturbed by Chloe's justification and her criticism of Clark's tactic in this episode. Not of all Clark's tactics are flawed, and he truly tries to get the job done with the less amount of damage. He also has been doing quite well this past year at making the right choices. Chloe, on the other hand, is going deeper into her delusion of the end justify the means. I really don't think Clark was hard on her, but noting how things aren't going in the right direction. Chloe has been making the wrong choices, but I was glad to see Clark showing concern for his long time friend. I'm a fan of Chloe's character, so I hope if she is leaving this season she departs on a note where she is no longer in this delusion, end justify the means point of view. Hopefully before the season is out Chloe gets help. Plus it sounded like the writers were hinting at the upcoming events in "Warrior".
Overall, I was entertained and overjoyed at Oliver's progression as a character. The Green Arrow is one of my favorite characters in the comics, and I love his cartoon incarnation. So it's nice to see his portrayol done in live action with excellent acting by Justin and writing. Now I'm all pumped for the two hour movie event next week!!!