Like many filler episodes that have preceded it, tonight’s Smallville session “Fortune” did little to usher Clark (Tom Welling) towards Man of Steel status and saved all the story arc and Easter Egg stuff for the last ten minutes. The first fifty? A romp clearly inspired by the likes of The Hangover, making it seem as if the writers also entered a drunken stupor while crafting this mess. If they had their sights set on taking Smallville to wacky heights not yet achieved, then Fortune gave them success in spades.
Don’t get me wrong; holding the stance that a ten-year old show should be completely void of filler is a tad naive. Nevertheless, I’m a bit peeved that the producers are pulling these shenanigans this late in the series run (with a mere seven episodes remaining), especially following last week’s obligatory unveiling of Clark’s iconic spectacles. Last time I checked, this is still the story of Superman and there’s enough source material to thrill straight through to the finish line. So unfortunately, tonight featured no flights, no tights or anything pushing Clark closer to his destiny. Instead, it was yet another film ripoff (with The Matrix and Date Night also being borrowed from in recent weeks).
That said, here’s the scenario: Zatanna crashes Lois’ (Erica Durance) bachelor party by hitting Clark, Lois, Chloe, Oliver, Emil and Tess with a serious round of whammy-zammy in some spiked champagne. They all blacked out and had themselves a night that they couldn’t remember. When the smoke cleared in the morning; Emil was arrested, Chloe and Clark were seemingly married and Oliver and Lois were passed out on train tracks. While this all sounds like fun, it was, for the most part, tragically unfunny.
Ok, enough complaining. Now that we’re all on the same page that this is a subpar filler episode, let’s get to the important points:
Now, on to the conclusion, which was pretty shocking, but for different reasons. Chloe fans got a payoff for their years of dedication and loyalty to her character. In a heart-felt conversation with Clark, she announces that she’s leaving again, this time off to Star City (home to Green Arrow in the comics). She’ll return to her journalist roots and work for the Star City Register. But that’s just her day job. At night, she’ll continue to discover potential heroes who just need a little prodding to become super. As an unexpected throw-in, she mentions Batman and confirms the existence of Wonder Woman in the Smallville universe.
“You’re not alone Clark Kent. In all my globe-trotting, I have met several other like you. A billionaire with high tech toys and a wondrous woman who is going to throw you for a loop.”
Clark and Chloe then mention that they’ll always be there for each other as they have (presumably) their last conversation we’ll see. This was a fitting tribute to the only relationship that has lasted all of Smallville’s seasons.
But they saved the real shocker for the end. Oliver and Chloe are revealed to be the ones who actually got married during the Zatanna-induced blackout and Oliver plans to move to Star City as well. An inebriated wedding doesn’t scream picture-perfect romance, but compared to her wedding with Jimmy (thanks Doomsday), this seems preferable. I would’ve preferred Chloe’s sendoff to not be tainted by the drunken tomfoolery, but it looks like she got the happy ending she needed (and deserved).
For the most part, Fortune was bad, but now that it’s behind us, it’s time to ramp up for a crescendo into the finale. And with next week’s episode, Scion, it appears things will do just that. Expect Alexander to re-enter the the picture and make things quite interesting in Smallville.
