Lionel: "I heard what happened. Are you all right, son?"Lex: "Nothing a little dry cleaning won't cure."
I usually love Lex-centered episodes, and I liked this one. But I didn't think it was as strong as some of the others. Maybe because a lot of it was about Oliver, too.
Not that I don't like Oliver, because I do. I liked the insight they just gave us into what a jerk he was as a teenager. Oliver was the only one of the three friends that grew up and became a good person, though, and that says a lot. I'm also enjoying Clark and Oliver as superhero friends, covering for each other. Green Arrow – better than Aquaman. Maybe not as good as Flash.
We got even more insights into teenage Lex, who only wanted to be good to please his best and only friend, Duncan. Duncan wanted to do the right thing, do something positive with his life, while Lex wanted to piss Lionel off and blackmail Oliver. It's easy to compare Lex and Duncan to Lex's current relationship with Lana. Lex wants to be good for Lana's sake, now. Will Lex end up destroying Lana, too?
Even with all the suspects, it was easy to figure out that the villain had to be the supposedly dead Duncan. I didn't even once think it was Lex, since (again) he's being good now for Lana's sake. We're getting less of Clark in this season's episodes than usual, but at least we got quality: I enjoyed watching our future lovers and star reporters investigating the murders together. Wake up and smell the girl reporter, Clark. It's way past time.
Except that Lois might now have some competition in the form of super Raya. Raya will probably turn out to be either (1) another villain, or (2) Supergirl. We shall see.
Bits and pieces:
— The flashbacks took place exactly ten years ago: October 26, 1996.
— The boy who played young Oliver (Ryan Overton) looked a lot like him. The fact that they duplicated the spiky blond haircut to a tee probably didn't hurt. Young Lex (Lucas Grabeel) was a good enough actor, but didn't look much like Michael Rosenbaum.
— The EMP arrow was rather cool. The boxing glove arrow suggestion was hilarious. Yes, I know it was from the comics. Well, only because Dan told me.
— Exploding car: one point. The chandelier light fixture hitting the floor created a bunch of broken glass; one point. Oliver threw Lex into a glass coffee table, which broke, and then threw him a second time, right before the window exploded on them. Six points.
— Oliver's friend Jeffrey lived in Gotham. At least he did before his terrible, flamey death.
— The Queen Industries satellites were the only ones not knocked out by Dark Thursday, we were told again. We still don't know how.
Quotes:
Lois: "Lana! Your billionaire drug you to this thing, too?"
Lois: "I don't get it. You put a bunch of pubescent boys in silly jackets and cram them full of pomp and circumstance, you're just asking for a round of Lord of the Flies."
Clark: "Zoners?"
Chloe: "Escaped supercriminals from the Phantom Zone's a little bit of a mouthful."
Clark: "She wouldn't even be with Lex if it wasn't for me."
Lois: "Lana made that questionable choice on her own. Stop beating yourself up. That's my job."
Three stars,
Billie
---
Billie Doux had a love-hate relationship with Smallville, which is why some of her reviews are briefer than they should be.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.