(S06E04) Lois and Clark both obsess over the identity of Green Arrow -- a mystery approximately as deep as the cleft in Justin Hartley's chin. Eventually they've got to figure out how to get some chemistry going between Lois and Clark, but evidently this is not the week. Green Arrow, by the way, gets his own Danny Elfman/Batman -esque soundtrack theme, which is cool, even though unoriginal. Interesting take on the history of Lois Lane they've worked to put together here. She uses her cleavage (and her cousin Chloe's brain) to mount a meteoric rise in the world of print journalism, and is already filing front-page copy under her own byline. Although, judging from the sketch of Green Arrow in her paper, I guess Lois must have described him as looking like the Unibomber to the sketch artist. Not putting Ollie's Robin Hood masquarade costume and archery skills last week together with the " GA Bandit" this week, hardly speaks well of Lois' investigative skills.
Lana, who each week finds herself put through some creepy test of Lex's devising to test her loyalty, may actually be doing better for herself than Lois at this point. At least Lana only gets mentally tortured by Lex -- while Lois gets beat up for continuing to run around with superheroes.
Cheap shot with Lionel using his previous plan with Lana to kill Lex (as Zod) to try and co-opt her again now -- welcome to Luthor clan, Lana. Maybe she really is where she belongs though, judging from the way she handles Lex's black box research guy in the elevator. When did Lana turn into Joan Collins?
Nobody's brain is exactly firing on all cylinders in Metropolis tonight. Clark dodges an arrow that would have been harmless to him, only so that it can hit a security guard -- allowing Green Arrow to get away. I know it's tough to come up with ways for mortals to beat with Kal-El, but making Superboy stupid is not the best solution. Even Chloe finding it funny and busting Clark's chops doesn't save the bit from ridiculousness.
Fortunately for Clark, Green Arrow stocks his lair with newspaper clippings of his adventures, and a computer that narrates what info it is sending to his blackberry -- so even though Clark apparently forgot he has x-ray vision when he first meets Green Arrow, the jig is eventually up. Ollie and Clark becomes allies of a sort, and Ollie tries to light a fire under Clark's ass, which I suspect Clark will need to ruminate on for, oh, sixty or seventy more episodes.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-20-2006 @ 10:10AM
Vince said...
You know, I love Smallville and have been a Supes fan since I was a kid buying 10 cent DC comics but this how has really gone downhill. I want to like it. I thought they were inventive at first re-writing the legend to attract a young teen aduiance use to teen TV romances. But the inconstancies as pointed out in your article show they treat the viewers as idiots and aren't true to the basic premise. I know its a comic book story but that does not mean it has to be a cartoon. It just shows they have run out of ideas and need to stretch thier reality out of shape to fit lame story lines.
I was even a fan of Green Arrow and hoped this would enhance the series but looks like they "jumped the shark" for good. Too bad. At least Heros and Battlestar Galactica are filling the gap for me.
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10-20-2006 @ 12:34PM
Jonathan said...
Again, i still think your review is missing more opinions! Did you find the Green Arrow cool? Was his costume cheesy? How about the acting in this episode? Lack of action? Too much action? Good dialogue? I know you're not supposed to write a 5000 word essay on the episode but still, i really think you could add more opinions about the actual show. But yeah good work anyways!
As for me, i really enjoyed this episode. If only every episode inbetween the premiere and finale could be this good! There was not chessy villain to drag this one down and i really dug the Green Arrow. I found his costume to be quite cool and modern lookin'. Also his uber high-tech Bow was pretty awesome looking, I could do without his lame Green Arrow voice though. So yeah overall it was a fine episode full of Superhero interaction!
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10-20-2006 @ 1:44PM
Jimmy said...
I really enjoying the whole Green Arrow storyline; although, I grew a little tired of the close-ups in his exaggeratedly codpiece. Justin Hartley is good, he has a great chemistry with Erica Durance and Tom Welling, and I like all the cool arrow gadgets. As a huge former fan of the Green Lantern/Green Arrow comics I'm really enjoying this. Watching Hartley makes me wonder just want his Aquaman series, Mercy Reef, would have been like.
For the first time in a very long time I actually enjoyed the Lana parts of the episode. She's actually adult and interesting playing the love interest of Lex Luthor. Granted, it once again plays fast and loose with established Superman mythology, but it's still a lot of fun to watch. I wonder how long this love nest will last and if she will really be able to deal with Lex's evil tendencies even though she seems to have stepped over to the dark side. I'm also enjoying Lex Luthor again. The writers are setting things up for Lex's future of evil very nicely. As always the interplay between Michael Rosenberg and John Glover is simply wonderful to watch.
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10-21-2006 @ 3:07PM
Barry Allen said...
I'm not a huge fan of the (overlapping) romantic triangles, but it beats the alternative of asexual/homosexual criticisms of superheroes in the 50s/60s. The fact is that all the characters are young and have impulses and the network wants viewing eyeballs. Fine.
I rather liked how they brought Oliver in. Granted I had extremely low expectations, but the final encounter of the episode, when Clark and Oliver debate about vigilantism... well, this was a fine foreshadowing of Dark Knight Returns vision of the bitter Machiavellian Green Arrow and boy scout Superman.
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10-21-2006 @ 3:07PM
Sean Juan said...
Lois' inability to identify the Green Arrow is good foreshadowing for her future inability to identify Clark as Superman.
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11-03-2006 @ 6:46PM
Foreboding Music said...
Lois' inability to identity the Green Arrow was an anvil practically dropped on viewers' heads. Add to that the lightswitch journalism, the slow but steady displacement of Chloe Sullivan and the banal dialogue she continues to get and we've got ourselves one heck of a soulmate for Superman.
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