Chloe: "It isn't, is it?"
After an episode as heavy as "Descent," this one felt like substandard filler. Jimmy as James Bond and Chloe wanted by Homeland Security? Okay, but that's a B plot. Clark trying to find Brainiac was more like an A plot, and that was all set-up for the next episode. Not that I hate Jimmy. And some of the story was about Chloe, and I love Chloe. Maybe I just feel like every episode should be centered around Clark or Lex.
Jimmy and Chloe have revived their romance. But how long can it go on? Let's face it – Chloe is the keeper of many superpeople secrets; she can't keep dating and living with someone as curious as Jimmy Olsen. At least there was some cuteness over the idea that essentially, Chloe has a secret identity, too. And Chloe's mad skills have always been a bit too mad to be believable. This episode at least acknowledged that fact.
Special agent Vanessa Weber, Dept. of Domestic Security, felt like a fake. When she started beating Chloe, I was sure hoping she was a fake, mostly because I have a problem with my own government torturing people. I guess that ship has sailed. I really miss the whole living-in-America-and-having-civil-rights thing.
"Save Lana at Fortress." So Kara is on Krypton back in 1989, and Brainiac wants to kill baby Kal-El? (Shades of Terminator.) So Clark is going to Krypton in the past, and that certainly sounds like fun. There were hints that this was coming, what with them casting his mother and his uncle and all. Will Tom Welling get to play Jor-El, too, but with Terence Stamp's dubbed voice? That would be cool.
When Lex found out he was on the no-fly list, I didn't believe for a moment that that would stop him. Hey, if Lex Luthor couldn't find an illegal way to get to Zurich, then he's not the criminal mastermind I thought he was. What was that little wheel thing in the safe deposit box? A star chart? A map to the fortress with a key to Clark's heart?
Bits and pieces:
— My poor dead Lionel is still in the cast.
— No Lana or Lois. Or even Kara, except for a garbled voice. That might be a first.
— Lex did a huge favor for Jimmy (and Chloe) so that he would eventually get something in return? How Godfather of him.
— Chloe has taken over Lana's Isis Foundation, and was using it to help the invisible Oliver and his invisible Justice League. This actually fit well. Although it's sad to think that Chloe's journalism career may be over. It's so much a part of her.
— Jimmy and Chloe both, improbably, know how to tango. It sort of fit into the whole James Bond/Mata Hari plot. And Jimmy got to wear his comic book bow tie, but with a tuxedo. And there were even fiber optics in the tie.
— Why does Chloe sit with her back to the door at the Isis Foundation? People keep coming up behind her and blindsiding her. I'd move those computers. Wouldn't you?
Quotes:
Lex: "Zeus' right hand couldn't muster a storm that could keep me from Zurich."
Now, see, this is why I love Michael Rosenbaum. Who can say lines like this and get away with it?
Chloe: "You do realize that your greatest superpower is your ability to win me over with just one look, no matter how ridiculous you sound, right?"
Two stars?
Billie
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Billie Doux had a love-hate relationship with Smallville, which is why some of her reviews are briefer than they should be.
The cute little dance with Dirty Laundry by Bitter:sweet was great to revisit, but otherwise damn I am so tired of both of Clark's bros having a complex about him and Chloe. Can't he just have a guy friend to whomst he doesn't have to feel kinda guilty?
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