What a clever final season Smallville is having. The series is concentrating on that combination of power and doubt that Clark Kent has always had difficulty sorting out and using it to fuel the final story-lines. This week, Laura Vandervoort’s Kara returned to warn Clark of a coming “darkness.”
We already know it’s Darkseid, but this week, some essence of that dark malevolence invaded the body of Gordon Godfrey. Godfrey is a yammering talk-radio-show host and author who inveighs against “illegal aliens” and confides that he wants to “plant a seed of doubt within people [who will then] be ready to be led down a different path.” Think Glenn Beck crossed with Lou Dobbs with a pinch of Keith Olbermann’s temper, and you’ve got Smallville‘s version of the “Glorious” villain comic-book fans know from Jack Kirby’s Fourth World mythos.
Kara arrived as the bearer of bad news for Clark/Kal-El’s insecurities, telling him that Jor-El had “disowned” him — “He said you’re not ready.” She added her own thoughts on the matter of Clark/Kal’s slow maturation: “You’ve been on Earth all this time and you can’t even fly.” The shrewd script by Anne Cofell Saunders articulated the sometimes-frustrating, sometimes-happy-torture Smallville fans endure, waiting for Clark to fully morph into Superboy or, by now, Superman.
What makes Darkseid’s Smallville presence interesting is the way it throws into high relief the notions that have long floated through the series. As Kara explained it, this evil “can’t possess someone who has pure clarity of purpose,” a quality that Kara, Jor-El, and Clark himself doubt Clark has truly attained, even at this late stage of the game.
The subplots included Godfrey’s threat to expose details of Green Arrow’s life. Intrepid Lois was back from her blessedly brief stint as a foreign correspondent (are we all glad that Cat Grant was nowhere to be seen?), and she helped prevent Godfrey’s plot against GA.
The night’s sauciest moments occurred in a delightfully gratuitous scene in the significantly named Club Desaad, which hosted a “fetish party” to which Godfrey paid a visit. Lois procured compromising photos of the self-righteous baddie by donning a disguise that included a blonde wig and black latex. By the time Godfrey had her trussed up in captivity, comic book fans with a sense of history probably made the connection the script was alluding to: Images of damsels in bondage that inspired Godfrey-like crusaders such as Frederic Wertham, author of the anti-comic-book study Seduction of the Innocent.
Increasingly, Smallville is addressing issues of identity and the misuse of power for its most dramatic moments. The show also uses Lois (in the always snappy, smart performance of Erica Durance) to lighten the mood, as when she fumbled in conversation with Clark for the right word to describe Kara: “Uber-girl? Mega-girl? Your cousin needs a better handle.” The episode was called “Supergirl,” after all.
Ultimately, Kara took on her own sort of secret identity, shrouding herself in a dark wig and black horn-rim glasses, telling Clark, “I’m not going anywhere… Leave the darkness to me; this isn’t your fight.”
And the hour culminated with the abandonment of a secret identity: Ollie calling a press conference to announce that he’s Green Arrow.
All in all, another strong addition to a season that’s making the most of some core characters, don’t you think?
Follow: @kentucker
You are totally right on the money…I also like the connection between each episode. Darkseid didn’t come from out of the blue, but from the portal…and last week there was more added to the Suicide Squad plot. What is the most interesting with this storyline though is that Clark can’t defeat this concept of ds with strength and power…being superman doesn’t save him…being a good man does.
Oh, and I love the Green Arrow/Iron Man thing… I am green arrow, Ollie is such a DC version of Tony Stark
Green Arrow and Ollie date back to 1941. Iron Man isn’t created until 1963. You have it backward. Ollie is the original.
Barbie, the Green Arrow character may have been created before Iron Man, but the press conference scene was a total rip-off of the final scene from the “Iron Man” movie. Personally, I couldn’t figure out WHY he chose to out himself. Oh well.
And in another Tony Stark nod…the entire scene is much like in Marvel’s CIVIL WAR from a few years ago when Tony held a press conference and Peter Parker unmasked himself as Spider-Man while working for Stark & being an Avenger with Aunt May & Mary-Jane living in Avengers Tower !
Also Cat was talking about Godfrey last ep, so at least their was some (unusual) continuation with that.
They’ve always had good episode-to-episode continuity. Lex’s past at Club Zero was teased out through several episodes, the blood plotline was set up and referenced several times, etc.
I HATED this episode! The way this writer sacrificed Clark again and again was disgusting! He’s not “pure of heart”, but Kara is? And, SHE has to try to “teach” Superman how to fly? That’s insulting! And, the AI Jor-El has “disowned” Clark? After Clark risked his life to save Earth last season? Sure, we can fanwank that the AI is “possessed” by Darkseid, but why demean Clark in the process?
Kara has the first public save in the red-and-blue outfit? Kara has the disguise with the glasses, and she is in Metropolis as the secret hero now? SHE is the one who’s going to defeat Darkseid? Is there anything left to take away from Clark? No, the writers have taken everything away from him now, and given it to supporting characters or one-shot guest stars instead.
So, Clark is second on his own show. It doesn’t matter that Superman was the orginal superhero. On SV, he’s just one of a group of them, with everyone else being “first”, having to show him and teach him how it’s done. Kara does NOT come before Superman, nor does she teach him to fly in ANY version! SV once again has it backwards: Clark inspires HER, not the other way around.
This episode did NOT belong in the final season of a show where loyal Clark Kent fans have watched for over 9 seasons to see Clark be the ULTIMATE superhero! When Clark does don the red-and-blue outfit as Superman and go public, he will be second to Kara. Why do this to long-term Clark Kent fans? Much of this episode could have happened without including that scene.
This episode has destroyed much of my excitement for the rest of the season.
Get over it! This show was NEVER supposed to be like the comics. You’re lucky that you’re even gonna see Supes in his costume!(It’ll probably only be in the last minutes of the last episode. So you might wanna start crying about that now too.)
Walker, don’t try to tell me how to feel or what to do. Everyone is welcome to post their thoughts about the show. If you don’t like it, then that’s just too bad!
Too bad that not everyone shared your opinion! But, I will continue to post my thoughts regardless of what you think about them!
Again, this episode was horrible! Long-term Clark fans have waited over 9 years for HIM to wear the red-and-blue, the glasses and the disguise, and go public with the Superman persona. There was absolutely no reason to have a one-shot guest star upstage Clark Kent in the final season of his own show.
I am really enjoying this LAST SEASON so far. I just hope the writers keep it going thru till the last show and not drop the ball so to speak. I loved Erica Durance in tonights show very funny stuff there.
Laura Vandervoort is so hot. Can’t wait to see more of her in V.
It was an AMAZING episode. It felt different from most Smallville episodes. It addressed the moral conflict of Clark, but also addressed intolerance, prejudice, and the faults of man. It felt like this was an episode of X-Men, especially with Godfrey calling the vigilantes “mutants”. It was an incredibly insightful episode into the character that will become Superman. It’s like they’ve waited to do these stories, but had to store them till the proper time. Smallville has gotten extremely better. And I’m glad Oliver revealed his identity to the world. It made me feel like Smallville will start to emulate Marvel’s Civil War. This is epicness at its finest.
Meh the episode was alright but for an episode called “Supergirl” there wasn’t a whole lot of Kara. Not a bad episode but still the title was kind of misleading.
Yup, loving the new season. Oh, and Ken you missed one– Lois also referred to Kara as Power Girl. The Earth-2 identity of Supergirl. Without Jonathan Kent in the picture using Darkseid as the catalyst to get Clark to embrace humanity and remove his doubts is absolute brilliance. And next week looks to be another interesting puzzle piece. Looking forward to seeing Brainiac 5.
I loved the episode and its always nice to see Kara and Clark teaming up because their family and Clark’s never really got to know his kryptonian family all that well and now that Kara’s staying on Earth maybe they can have the chance.
Hopefully if Laura’s not too busy with V she can come back before the show ends.
Great episode, it will be fanboy heaven to see a cameo of Bruce Wayne in Smallville pr maybe the Joker.
WB/Nolan won’t let them use Bruce Wayne or even mention that he or Batman exists. It’s bizarre and stupid that the film division has so much control over this show. When Superman Returns was coming out, the producers had to OK everything they were doing with Lois and Krypton back in Season 5 with Bryan Singer too. Why can’t they let SV just tell it’s own story?
Another great episode. Aside from all of the things mentioned, I enjoyed the flashback to Oliver and Chloe’s first kiss. I thought it was clever that they just extended that scene from last season and showed us what we didn’t see. Since Kara said she’ll be sticking around, I hope she does make another appearance before the show ends. That would make sense. It kinda bums me out, though, when someone like her or Jor-El questions Clark’s ability to handle himself. He may not be Superman just yet, but he’s proven himself time and time again. As for Oliver, I’m curious to see what will happen when everyone finds out that he’s Green Arrow and if that will really stick. Can’t wait for next week’s episode. It looks like it’s going to be absolutely awesome.
I actually like that Jor-El is still Clark’s “Lionel” figure: giving him the toughest of love in order to shape him into something bigger, but blind to what it’s doing to his son.
I also love that they’re finally dealing with this darkness in Clark, which has been there all along–that’s where “Kal” (Clark on Red Kryptonite) comes from.
The AI Jor-El is one of the most inconsistent characters on the show. In one episode, he is proud of Clark and calls him “my son”.
Then, a few episodes later, he “disowns” Clark for some unknown reason. The AI in the Fortress is just a plot device, and changes from writer to writer, as needed to serve the storyline.
Why doesn’t Clark just unplug the #$*& thing? The AI has just mostly given Clark cryptic messages throughout the show anyway. It’s nothing like the AI Jor-El from most mythos versions, and really serves little purpose on the show.
What I’ve taken away from this season so far-with Jor-El taking the suit away from Clark and saying he misplaced his trust in him and “disowning him” and Clark FINALLY realizing he’s not “pure of heart” yet is that they are finally addressing all the dark things Clark did in the past, and especially last season, in the name of heroism (symbolized by the black suit and not wearing any red or blue last season).
The whole point is that it’s less about Clark being able to fly or not and more about him still having darkness inside that can be corrupted by forces like Darkseid, and if they do this season right, which they seem to be doing so far, his journey will be figuring out how to get rid of those dark internal forces (his self-doubts and his ego) in order to be Superman.
Yes, that too. But it’s been there even before last season, manifested in Kal.
Great episode… Am I the only one that noticed Clark flew?? Even if he fell right away, it IS a big step up from the superjumps. Now, he knows he can do it, it’ll be easier. Like the first time you ride a bike^^
He’s been flying throughout the run of the series, simply in short bursts without realizing it. When he saved Lana from a tornado, when he was under the influence of red Kryptonite….They’d better get this “issue” with flight resolved convincingly.
I was amazed and very pleased he made the effort to try. Clark ran off or something the last time Kara tried to teach him.
Brainiac was on the loose and he wanted to find him instead of jumping around the farm.
why weren’t all the past dull seasons willing to actually embrace the superman mythos: you know characters in his life with powers and costumes… notcie teh best episodes always featured guest characters from the comics… i remember when the aquaman episode got huge ratings and a push for a spoinoff… supergirl in costume (all that was missing was the s-shield) awesome.
They weren’t heavy into the mythos because the point of the show is to show us how Clark grew into those mythos elements. And the show is better and more developed with the delayed awesomeness, IMO.
This is Ruining D.C. Universe Big Time. Some comments am reading here is linking what is Happening to Marvel Characters. This just shows they are not leading but following. It is going against what i know from the D.C. Universe. Oliver never revealed his identity. Darkseid reading thoughts and minds? There is always only 2.5mins of action in each episode, then hype and talk for the remaining 39 mins. Look at what happened all season with the Doomsday episode. I know it costs money but they need to fix up real!
Why doe’s she have to have blonde hair? Racism? I grew up on Superman comic books and they stayed away from race but Supergirl makes me say, hmmm?
What exactly are you saying. Supergirl always had blond
hair.Are you one of those people who find racism in everything? Kind of a racist sniffing dog?
lol.. having blonde hair is racism? god.. get a grip
Yeah, why did Cyborg have to be black? Racism? They’ve already gone “race neutral” by casting Phil Morris as the human identity of the Martian Manhunter.
Hmmm an inappropriate comment purely to incite racial dialogue? How original. To turn the topic to more important things this was a great episode. Kara’s expression when walking into that freaky club was so funny, as well as Clark quickly changing the subject. I like Supergirl more this time around.
Supergirl always had blonde hair man. If you really wanna bitch about racism, you should look at all the Tom & Jerry, Looney Toons, and Disney cartoons from back in the day. Now there’s some racism for you.
Supergirl always had blonde hair. Last time I checked, ignorance was the biggest proponent of racism.
y wud dey condense a 10min fight down 2 a 30sec fight?… makes no sense 2 me @ all
If they can’t do a Bruce Wayne episode, it would be cool to hear one of the anti-hero faction reference. “That nut in Gotham City who dresses like a bat.”
Wouldn’t Bruce Wayne still be traveling around the world at this point?
Apparently, they’re not even allowed to say that Batman exists. It’s rediculous.
you not being able to spell ridiculous is ridiculous
and yeah, Bruce is traveling right now.
Oops. My bad.
@Brian
No need to apologise, typos happen and having the grammer police breathing down your neck takes all the fun out of spontaneous discourse.