Oliver: "Hard to imagine why, when you're taking it so well."
I think I just put my finger on why I haven't been that crazy about season seven.
The Kents have been gone for awhile and Clark is an adult, but he's still on the Kent farm playing house with Lana. He's still not flying, and he's still not Superman. The straitjacket rule of "no tights no flights" means that Clark can't move on to Metropolis, the Daily Planet, Lois, and his ultimate destiny. Clark is in character limbo, and it just doesn't feel right to me. This situation was made even more obvious by the entrance of yet another costumed crime fighter running around saving the world. Costumed superheroes. Flying. Everyone's doing it but Clark.
I know that Lois is supposed to fall for Superman, not Clark, and since we can't have Superman yet, Lois can't fall for him. But they've changed so much of the Superman canon already. Why not this? Lois found out that Oliver was Green Arrow and she broke up with him. She said that dating a superhero wasn't for her, that she couldn't share her honey with the world. And we all got the irony. But is this all the Lois and Clark we're ever going to get?
And the Clark and Lana yo-yo dynamic just goes on forever. They get us believing that Clark and Lana are finally going to break up. Then they don't break up and we're still back at square one. Again. Okay, I'm ranting. I'll stop now.
All that sounded like I didn't like the episode. I did. It was exciting and fun to watch. I like Oliver, and it was good to have him back. I liked Black Canary. (Especially her eye make-up and attitude. Hated the fishnets.) Lois and Clark did connect emotionally for a moment, which was sweet. And I particularly loved that fight scene in the Luthor mansion where superspeed Clark had to make multiple life and death decisions in a millisecond. He chose Black Canary over Lex. Clark has finally stopped saving Lex's life. That was big.
I also thought it was intriguing that, as suspected, Lana really did prefer Bizarro to Clark. Especially considering that Lana once fell for Lex Luthor, too. Part of her had to know that something was wrong with Clark. Maybe subconsciously, Lana prefers bad boys. I wish she'd move on to another one.
Bits and pieces:
— Lois and Grant were lovers. And yet, they barely mentioned his passing, and all of the focus was on Lois and former boyfriend Oliver. How did Lois react to Grant's death? How did she find out? It felt like a big piece of the story was missing.
— In the comics, Black Canary and Green Arrow are a couple. I could see that. Color-coded names. And they even had the same hairdo.
— In the teaser, Black Canary was throwing knives at Chloe. That seemed a bit extreme.
— The actress who played Black Canary/Dinah Lance had green eyes, like the rest of the cast. (Note from later: Alaina Huffman! Who becomes a big favorite on numerous shows.)
— Chloe isn't really blonde? I'm shocked, I tell you. Shocked.
— Is Lana truly attempting to save Lionel because she's trying to be a better person for Clark? Or does she have another motive?
Quotes:
Chloe: "No, no, no, it was just internet interception... that ended up having a vicious ninja-lady attached to it who chased me onto the roof, and then almost beheaded me and went rappelling over the side of the building. Which I've got to admit was really smoking cool."
Clark: "This blonde woman. Chloe said she shattered your arrows."
Oliver: "Not my proudest moment, but yeah."
I could certainly assign some sexual symbolism to that.
Lionel: "I've been calling the farm, but no one answers. It's as if the place has been abandoned."
Lana: "Or we have caller ID."
Lois: "If you think that a glistening-muscle answering-the-door-in-your-bare-chest routine is going to work... you are dead on."
Chloe: "Maybe we should call her the Yellow Raven."
Clark: "Black Canary has a better ring to it."
Isn't it usually Chloe who comes up with the superhero names?
Lois: "Can you believe this guy? Hydraulic walk-in closet? You're not going to find that in a Sharper Image catalog. Must be laundry day. I mean, who picks archery as a hobby? That's embarrassing. I'd keep my quiver in a closet, too." That was sweet. Lois was trying to cover for Oliver. With two people who already knew.
Lois: "Enter at your own caloric risk."
Lois: "We're not you and Lana. We're not the perfect couple. We're not destined for each other."
Lois: "Besides, why settle for hot, rich and famous when I can hang out with you?"
Dinah: "I'm not really much of a team player."
Oliver: "Really? That's perfect. You're going to fit right in."
Three 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.
Superman reference? Oliver said "like when? When the earth cracks open and time ticks backwards,". Which is exactly what happens in the first Superman movie.
ReplyDeleteI've been really struggling with season 7. I abandoned the show after a half-dozen episodes and have only returned out of boredom, but I'm still not sold. Not liking the character directions much. They've finally made Lana interesting, but she doesn't feel consistent from week to week and the transition from an inexplicably alluring teenager to a woman capable of faking her own death and keeping Lionel Luther captive for months didn't feel organic. And though I suppose Lex becoming irredeemably evil had to happen, he's much less interesting.
ReplyDeleteAnd I just feel like the plotlines aren't going anywhere. The way the season started, it seemed like Kara was going to be a huge focus, but that plotline's been dropped. I didn't really buy Lex's motivations for creating Grant and now the character's dead and I don't see that he had much of a narrative function beyond emphasizing how evil Lex now is. I hated his romance with Lois because I felt she should have seen he was working for Lex much, much earlier and didn't think they had any chemistry anyway. I like Oliver and would have been fine with Oliver/Lois continuing, but now he's gone again and while this episode was entertaining in its own right, it just feels like a random "let's-bring-a-fun-character-who-used-to-be-a-regular-back-for-one-episode" move rather than something that's moving the show forward.
magritte, I clearly agree with you. Seven was frustrating.
ReplyDeleteLoved the Oliver-Lex fight. Those moves were ridiculous lol.
ReplyDeleteLois telling Oliver she just can't share him with the world was pretty intense, I'm shocked and kinda disappointed she shut him down again.
I guess that's it for the Kent house as a main hub?