"Arrow" By Chad

When Smallville first aired, we were given a promise; “No flights, no tights.” Fortunately for us it seems they meant only when it comes to Clark himself. Through the seasons, we have seen vestiges of flight, but never Clark willingly doing it. In season one, we saw him floating above his bed during a dream. In season two, we have Clark dreaming that he is flying again, and suddenly wake up in the middle of the road where Lex finds him. In season three, Clark has a vision of his Jor-El floating with Lana’s great aunt. Plus in the finale, Kara floats with Clark. In season four, we have Jor-El possessing Clark and giving us our first glimpse of full blown flight. In season six, we got to see Lex/Zod take flight with Lana. So even though, they promised “no flight,” periodically we still saw the power through other means, Clark never once using it knowingly.

I know, I know, I left out the fact that in season five we saw Clark “Super Jump” to a rocket and to the top of the Fortress of Solitude. Some will argue this was flight, but I am still under the belief that he knows he can defy gravity, but still is unsure enough to try full blown flight. Thus we get a periodic super jump.

In tonight’s episode they break rule number two: “no tights.” Once again, there is no Clark in a Superman costume or anything like that, but they do treat us to some superhero action; costume and all. This is done with the introduction of Oliver Queen’s alter ego, The Green Arrow.

For those who are spoiler wary, I wouldn’t proceed if I were you.

“The Emerald Archer”

Let’s start off by talking about the star of tonight’s episode, The Green Arrow. The episode starts us out by looking at the always beautiful Annette O’Toole. Martha is at a party being thrown by Lionel Luthor to introduce her to other bigwigs in the political community in preparation for her stab at the U.S. senate seat. They focus for a moment on a necklace she is wearing that is being borrowed from the LuthorCorp vaults. This little side plot with Martha and Lionel still bothers me, mostly because I don’t think Martha would be so quick to trust a man that has done nothing but hurt her family in one way or another, but they seem to think it’s a good idea, so let’s see where they take it.

After arriving at the party with Lois, and watching her flounder in conversation, Oliver has her stand to the side at the party and takes his leave for the moment. Then like Emeril Lagasse, BAM, we get an arrow into the power supply. The lights go out; Green Arrow rushes in, snatches the necklace off of Martha’s neck, and hauls booty out of there. Lois, being Lois, chases after the thief. She doesn’t end up catching him, but does get a ring that was on a chain around his neck. While nothing spectacular, it was a good introduction to the character.

We are then blessed with many such instances of Super heroics by Hartley’s character. Not only did we see how well Hartley can play the man in green, but we also got the chance to look into his bag of goodies. First is his compound bow, which after using it, transformed into a grapple gadget. Then there are his trick arrows, which there were many. First, he had an arrow with a crystal arrow head, which diverted the security lasers, then he had the arrow that spewed gas out of it, then we also got a glance at a crossbow bolt with an electrical charge at the end.

Clark’s first meeting with Green Arrow was very well done. I found it very funny when Ollie tried to punch Clark only to be thrown across the room. Some of the best scenes involved these two though. When Lois was going to attempt to unmask Green Arrow, but Clark distracted her by heat visioning the billboard, making it spark something fierce. That led to the ending scene in the loft, where Ollie tells Clark that while it’s admirable to use his abilities to save those close to him, there is a whole world of people out there who need them. It was a powerful conversation that will have a lasting effect on what Clark ultimately decides to do with his life.

How this story will end I’m not sure, but I’m hooked.

On a side note, I loved that they showed us Lois’ knack for naming superheroes, since we all know that it is her who comes up with the name Superman.

Lois was great in this episode. Her characterization was spot on, with her sarcastic comment about Ollie and Clark marking territory, to her fighting tooth and nail against her kidnappers. This is the future Lois that we all know and love, the one that can fend for herself, but will never argue when Superman is there to save the day.

Now onto the more curious part of the episode:

“Lana Luthor?”

Lana Lang has had a rough time the last few seasons on this show. Her fan base is pretty much split in half, either they love her or hate her. Her characterization can be questionable at times, where it seems the writers don’t quite know what her personality is supposed to be. But for once I am interested in what they are doing with her now.

Lex has the ships power source from the premiere, and he is having it studied. Well it seems Lex has Lionel test her loyalty by trying to talk her into destroying the “black box.” Lana sees this as Lionel wanting his hands on the devise, which is a logical deduction. But then she decides to take matters into her own hands, and her method has me confused.

She threatens the livelihood of the scientist in charge of the black box, and his family. Now, this could be an act; maybe she knows she’s being tested. Or maybe it’s the bad apple theory, where the Luthor personality is starting to rub off on her, and they are slowly turning her evil. Whatever their thoughts, I’m interested. I want to know her motivation right now, and how this will play into the grand scheme of things.

I’m just not sure I buy that she would stoop to Luthoristic threats. We shall see.

The final scene between Lex and Lionel reminds us why these two are so great together. Lex tells his father that “he is so busy trying to convince the Kents that he is a good man that he is starting to believe it himself.” Interesting, I wonder if this means the evil Lionel is returning. Personally, I think Lex should take him out soon, just to complete his journey to darkness.

“In conclusion”

There wasn’t much to complain about in this episode. Green Arrow doing the superhero thing in costume. Clark and Ollie discussing the importance of having abilities like Clark. Then we had Lois continuing her career as a reporter for the Inquisitor, naming Green Arrow, and doing what she can to discover the man behind the shades. Also we were able to see how tough Lois can be when things go wrong. Lastly we have what could be an interesting story behind the Lex/Lana relationship. The acting was top notch throughout the episode, everyone bringing their A game. “Arrow” really hit the bulls eye, a definite 5 out of 5. ~ Chad.

Picture from SVfan.com

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