In the great litany of Smallville ups and downs, good episodes vs. filler eps, “Beast” ranks somewhere in the middle.
A string of Doomsday like serial killings has surfaced, raising Clark and Oliver Queen’s suspicion that Doomsday might still be alive. Of course, we all know where Doomsday, aka Davis, has been. He’s lying in hiding in the Talon’s basement – courtesy of Clark’s plucky sidekick and Oliver’s Watchtower operator, Chloe.
.
What’s with Clark’s ex-flames always going for the bad guy? We’ve heard the sob story before. “Oh, Lionel Luthor blackmailed me into marrying Lex. I thought I was prego.” No excuse, Ms. Lang. Get in bed with a villain, get caught up in the villainous lies. Now, Chloe is singing a familiar tune in an ode to Davis Bloome. Staying with Bloome is her way of “helping Clark.” With Chloe around, Davis won’t transform into the destroyer Doomsday. Say what you will, Chloe, but in season 8, you snuck behind your fiancé’s back to grab a kiss from Bloome. Not to mention that once you married Olsen, you doubted his theories on Doomsday, claiming it was the drugs. What happened to “for better or for worse?” First sign of sickness you jump ship? For shame, Ms. Sullivan. For shame.
After years of friendship and loyalty with Clark, Chloe is duplicitous enough to bury the truth about Davis behind lies. Stick with someone for nearly eight full seasons and you think you know them. Now she’s plotting to run away with Doomsday. Can you say psycho?
Jimmy’s gone drug fiend in Smallville. The up and coming photographer hasn’t been able to salvage his life after his marital breakup. He tries to approach Oliver for a quick handout under the auspices of needing to fix his car, but Oliver knows a dope fiend when he sees one and quickly suggests a discreet ten step program. It was only a matter of time before nice guy Aaron Ashmore turned to drugs. Ashmore did play rich kid Troy Vandegraff on Veronica Mars, a apparently similar nice guy, who ended up having a taste for illegal substances.
Clark wants to send Davis to the Phantom Zone, so that he won’t be able to hurt anyone – well, anyone except all the criminals Jor-El sent there. This is a throwback to the Justice League Unlimited episode “The Doomsday Sanction.” After Batman “takes a bullet for Clark” to help him beat Doomsday, Superman sentences Doomsday to the Phantom Zone.
Oliver, however, believes Clark should kill Doomsday. Moral compass aside, he’s become the show’s Batman – urging Clark to make the tough decisions. Is this another callback to the Justice League Unlimited arc “The Justice Lords?” The story arc was all about the Justice League playing “god” by serving as their own private judge, jury and executioner – much like they did in Identity Crisis.
When Jimmy shows up at the Talon to “borrow” some money from Chloe’s purse, Oliver catches him in the act. Unfortunately, for both of them, Davis catches them in the act, and decides to tie them up in the basement to satisfy his blood lust. Clark shows up, in nick-nick-of-time fashion, to drag Davis to the Fortress where he can ship him off to the Phantom Zone. And, in one of the soppiest endings to a climax ever, Chloe shows up to stop the fight between Clark and Davis. Instead of manning up and stopping them, Clark just let’s Chloe and Davis walk off.
In the end, Oliver confronts Clark about his choices in life. “Clark, I know you want to save everybody. But, eventually you’re gonna have to make the tough decisions. It’s what heroes do.” There Oliver goes trying to be all profound and Batman-like again. I half expected the writers to quote Batman’s introduction to Infinite Crisis by saying, “Face it, Clark, you haven’t inspired anyone … since you were dead.”
On a side note, the use of the word “hero” in Beast and prior episodes of Smallville has become as monotonous as its use on NBC’s Heroes.
Oliver offers Jimmy a job, saying that he’s seen what Olsen can do in action. To which, Jimmy responds, “You make it sound like I’m some kind of hero. Trust me I’m not.”
In episode 19, “Stiletto,” when Lois puts her heel on Chloe’s mugger’s face, the mugger says, “What are you some kind of superhero?” Can you say lame?
And, as was previously stated, Oliver said, “It’s what heroes do.” I think they’ve all been watching a little too much Hiro Nakamura. Soon, they’ll be celebrating through exclamations of “Ya Tai!”
Battlestar Galactica fans got a treat by seeing Alessandro Juliani, aka Mr. Gaeta, on Smallville.
Will Smallville Season 8 have a comic book ending: Doomsday and Superman going head to head and both “dying?” Followed, by Clark’s “surprising” return: because just like on Heroes and in the comics, heroes never really die. It might work, if it’s executed correctly, but I for one won’t hold my breath.
- No Comments
