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Smallville: Dominion

Oliver: "You should have more faith in your friends, Clark."

Did Clark really just jump into the Phantom Zone without a back-up plan? Good thing Oliver decided to risk eternal imprisonment and jump too, huh?

I'm glad they finally addressed the omega thingy on Oliver. If they'd waited any longer, we'd be seeing it in the Justice League spinoff that will never happen. And we're finally back to the Big Bad, although I'm still unsure of how this Darkseid crap is supposed to work. Is it that Oliver has darkness within him and it has the power to corrupt, but he might be able to resist it? Or is Oliver definitely going over to the Dark Side? I hope we're talking about the former, or Oliver should have told Clark the truth.

And Zod returned! And not only did we get Zod, we got super double clone plus real Zod, complete with chiseled beard, movie minions, and commands to "Kneel!" He did a Darth Vader with Oliver, too, with that "Let us rule the Dominion like brothers." I never thought Oliver would go for it; even an evil Oliver has taste – no cable, no Starbucks, and the place is all gray and blurry. For that matter, I've never been all that clear on how the body versus no body thing works in the Phantom Zone. Could someone enlighten me?

Oliver had a point about the Phantom Zone being Clark's private prison. But with Krypton gone, who else is going to make those decisions? At least Lois made the right decision not to allow Tess to blow up the gate, and Tess (who certainly didn't want to do it) went along with her. Good for them.

This episode was directed by Justin Hartley (Oliver), and as much as I would like to report that he did an awesome job, I'm afraid I can't. There were a bit too many artsy shots and pretty closeups, and the use of the blue bird from Lois's mother to open and close the episode was unbelievably heavy handed. I've always liked the fuzzy drapey Thunderdome look of the Phantom Zone, but slomo spurting blood? I bet Hartley has seen either The 300 or Spartacus Blood and Sand too many times. Possibly both. But hey, first time director, I'll cut him some slack. I've seen much worse.

And he gave us the iconic movie diamond in the sky Phantom Zone shot. That was fun. I always enjoy callbacks to the Reeve movies.

Bits and pieces:

— Slade is now back on earth. Are we going to get a final appearance by Michael Hogan? Please say yes.

— It made sense that Oliver would be a better fighter over in the PZ. And Tom Welling is undeniably very attractive, but Justin Hartley rocked that gladiator look. Or maybe Justin Hartley is just more my type.



— Clark and Lois now have an apartment in Metropolis.

— Tess had a geek look, almost like she was channeling Chloe.

— Clark and Oliver were gone briefly, and three weeks passed in the real world. (I hope Clark had some vacation time saved up.) Ten seasons, I'll admit I can't remember. Did this time distortion thing happen before? Clark was surprised, so I bet not.

— Hawkman's bow? I'm certain Oliver will find it. No suspense there.

— Tune in next week for the penultimate episode. I sort of can't believe I only have two more Smallville reviews to write.

Three out of four painfully obvious bluebirds of symbolism,

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.

2 comments:

  1. I usually hate Callum Blue's interpretation of Zod. He's about as threatening as a wet paper bag. But I though he was excellent here. Maybe it's the semi-beard. Maybe he's not spouting out so quite so much mad OTT rhetoric as in season nine. Or maybe Callum's just playing Zod with more maturity these days. But I really enjoyed him tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've always liked Callum Blue's Zod, actually. Maybe it was just his accent.

    Oh, as for the Phantom Zone body thing - if I'm not mistaken, criminals are usually just put there as they are, but the more dangerous ones (like the real Zod) had their bodies stripped and were left there in a 'phantom' state - hence those Dementor-looking things flying around.

    It was nice but somehow I don't feel like the finale's only two episodes away. Hmm...

    ReplyDelete

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