As I write this, the final episode is still three days away from airing, and I won't get to see it for another week. But by the time this post goes live, it will have already aired. So the observations and speculations I'm going to make may be kind of pointless, but what the heck! I'm going to go ahead and make them anyway.
I was hoping that Clark would get the suit at the end of this episode, and then the two hour finale would be like the two hour premiere of most Superman shows, with him establishing himself in Metropolis as Superman. And for a minute there it really looked like that was what was going to happen, with Clark returning to the Fortress of Solitude and telling Jor-El he's ready. But then he pulls the crystal, the lights go out, and he walks away, leaving the suit behind him. Aww, rats.
And along those lines, it occurs to me that the Fortress of Solitude has been anything but. Clark never gets to be alone when he goes there, he's always got to deal with Jor-El being all over his back!
The story itself was okay, although it does suffer from some classic Poor Smallville Judgment that we haven't seen in a while. Oh what the heck, let's make all the wrong choices, just once more for old times' sake! Lois's fear of Toyman hurting Clark now that he's powerless makes sense, but really, it never occurred to her (a) she could simply woosh over to him and protect him like he always protects her, and (b) once she put herself under his control he wouldn't make her do terrible things?!? I get the emotion they were going for, but the logic just makes it one of those scenes were you yell at the screen, "Are you kidding me?!?" especially since they've been doing so much better avoiding this kind of scene over the last two years.
Now Lois's saying she can't marry him because it's not fair for her to take him from the people who need rescuing, while sad, makes more sense. It's also a bit frustrating because we've already seen it play out in the comics and Lois & Clark, but hey, for a new audience it's something that needs to be shown. We of course know that Clark needs to have at least moments of a normal life and not be Superman 24/7 or even he starts to crack under the pressure and that Lois will learn this soon enough... and it'll have to be soon, since there's only one episode left.
And ohhhh, that wonderful Legion of Doom sequence!!! Captain Cold!! Black Manta!! Solomon Grundy!! Looking comic book perfect!!! Oh, how sweet it is. (Not to mention that Toyman's little mind-control toys looked like Starro.) I doubt we'll see them in the finale; I think this is more to establish that just as the Justice League is coming in to their own (and did you notice that Clark actually referred to them as "the league" this time?), their rogues gallery has come together as well, and the stage is set for the never-ending battle between good and evil.
And lastly, with this episode Smallville beats out Stargate SG-1 to become the record holder for longest running science fiction show in US TV history. (Unless you count the two-hour "Absolute Justice" episode as two episodes, in which case last week's episode was the record breaker.) While I feel Stargate SG-1 was a much better show overall and is far more deserving of the title, Smallville has grown into a great show. Congratulations, Smallville.
Thanks, as always, to Home of the Nutty for the screen capture. And as always, this episode is currently available to view for free (with commercials) at http://www.cwtv.com/cw-video/smallville/. At least it was as of this writing; with "Finale" being two hours, I don't know for sure!
2 comments:
i think you keep setting yourself up for dissapointment with the costume thing. i accepted many years ago that Smallville is going to do a Voyager and have Superman fly off into the sunset in costume and cue Millar and Gough Ink and credits.
Yeah, my head knows you're totally right, but in my heart I can't help hoping.
Only 10 hours before I can watch the finale! (...Assuming they post it when the normally do.)
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