Smallville’s "Justice" Was Pretty Damn Good
It’s been a long while since I caught a full episode of Smallville, but there was no way I was missing tonight’s episode, “Justice”, even if it meant skipping my latest addiction, Ugly Betty. (One year after “Code Black“, Grey’s Anatomy remains my numero uno!)
Bart Allen is the only one of the nascent Justice League I’d ever seen before, and while I still didn’t particularly like him, I think the kid who plays him does so perfectly, because if I did like him, something would be wrong. Victor Stone was cool, a rare combination of brains and brawn (even if the former is computerized) for a minority character, but Arthur Curry seemed as lame as one would expect Aquaman to be, and I still can’t believe someone thought he’d make a good character to base a spin-off around.
Oliver Queen, though, was a revelation. It’s almost like Warner Brothers wouldn’t approve the use of Bruce Wayne, so they used him anyway, simply changing his name and costume. They even had Chloe, still my favorite supporting character, playing Oracle in the Watchtower! There’s your spinoff right there!
I loved the costumes, a nice compromise between colorful tights and capes and the X-Men’s subdued leather duds, and the code names were a hoot, especially Clark as “Boy Scout”. That’s the kind of fan service that makes me break out in a big old stupid grin. Michael Rosenberg was as menacingly good as I remember him ever being as Lex; Erica Durance, though, looked like she’d aged 10 years since I last watched and got a boob job. Weird…
By the end of the episode, I wanted either a Justice League or Green Arrow/Cyborg spinoff to launch next week, and I’m now really tempted to pick up some Green Arrow next time I’m at Midtown. I’m thinking either the Showcase reprints or Mike Grell’s Longbow Hunters story arc. Any G.A. fans out there with suggestions?
UPDATE: Check out this great behind-the-scenes video of the episode, courtesy of New Mexico’s CW network.
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I both loved and hated the “Justice” episode. I loved it because I always think it’s cool to see other DC superheroes make appearances in Smallville and the references to things like the Watchtower. I also loved that Chloe was involved in this and love it even more reading how she was the “Oracle” of the group. BUT, I also hated this episode because it just rearranges everything I know about the Superman mythos. If Green Arrow were a young Bruce Wayne, then I probably wouldn’t bother me as much. It’s just this idea that there are now all these heroes out there before Superman. For me, it just takes a bite out of the symbol of Superman really is.
So, I’m at a quandry because I totally enjoyed it, but I’m annoyed at the same time.
Maybe I’ll blog about this later on…
I see what you’re saying there, though for me, having never been a big Superman fan, that rearranging of the mythos is what’s always appealed to me about Smallville.
I was a bit surprised about the romance between Ollie and Lois, though, but after seeing they’ve hooked up Lana and Lex, too — which I don’t particularly like because it makes Lana seem so flighty, though I haven’t seen any of those episodes, so that’s just a gut feeling — I figured all bets were off and it was best to just enjoy the show on its own merits.
Best thing is Jeph Loeb apparently had no direct connection to the episode. It was his coming onboard that coincided with my rapidly declining interest in the show a couplafew years back.
Anyway, looking forward to your post.
And, I have thus posted:
http://lorenjavier.com/adventuresofagaygeek/?p=542
Loren (who’s word verification is OWTHFK which, if you say that really fast, sounds like “WHAT THE F$#%!”)