#9.6 “Crossfire” Review

SPOILER WARNING: If you read this before seeing the episode, you’ll be sorry if you learn important stuff ahead of time.

NOTE: I’ve been pondering the move to Fridays; the reasons the show is doing well ratings-wise in spite of the move; and how exactly I feel about the direction the show is moving in this season, so this review is going to start with some commentary on the state of the series as I see it. The Review itself will start below, I’ll put ‘REVIEW’ in all caps below so it’ll be easy for you to skip the ranty bit if you want to.

When the schedule change to Fridays was originally announced, a lot of people were worried that the show was going to die there. It’s typically where the major networks send their shows off to die. Moving to Fridays hasn’t done ABC’s “Ugly Betty” or NBC’s positively ancient “Law and Order” any favors, for example.

While a lot of people online worried, I wasn’t. Maybe I was partly in denial, but I also know that “Smallville” has survived schedule changes before. I also thought that their stated reason (wanting a strong show to help them finally build a strong presence on Fridays) also made sense. Up until this season, “Smallville” was their highest rated scripted show.

The show had originally started out on Tuesdays before it then went to Wednesdays. It did real well there for a couple of years, then The WB needed to build their Thursday line-up, which had no doubt stunk at the time, and “Smallville” seemed like a good show to finally give them a presence on that tough night. Then, as now, it was one of their strongest performing shows. Added to that, Thursday’s the best night for certain types of shows because it attracts certain types of movie advertisers (which makes the network more money). That night can be particularly appealing for genre TV shows because of the sorts of movie ads that will make sense for them, horror movies, perhaps thrillers or sci-fi, since most films generally open on Fridays. Placing ads for sci-fi/fantasy or action movies makes sense if you place the ad in a similarly themed show.

Despite that, at the time, moving the show to Thursdays had seemed to have been a questionable decision. The competition then, as now, was killer. There was “Survivor” and the Thursday night comedies from NBC, which were more ‘must-see TV’ than they are now. So, there were real reasons to worry. It had looked like the show was going to be killed off quickly with that move.

It wasn’t and they were probably right to move the show. Not only did it do what The WB wanted at the time, it finally gave them a presence on Thursdays, it also eventually made for a great lead in for one of their newest shows, “Supernatural”. They kept that up for years and the shows did well there, even despite change in network a few years back.

Now on The CW, along came “The Vampire Diaries.” A show that was sure to be popular with the most desired demo for The CW since anything nowadays that looks or acts like “Twilight” is sure to be a hit with young women. So, they moved it to Thursdays to replace “Smallville” because they thought it’d be a better match with “Supernatural”. Damn them, but it looks like they were right. “The Vampire Diaries” is doing very well and is doing better in some of The CW’s key target demos (young women and teen girls) than “Smallville” ever did.

As skeptical as a lot of people were with the move to Fridays, I wasn’t all that worried. I knew that the very loyal “Smallville” fanbase would follow, but would the more casual viewers? That I wasn’t sure about, but the numbers are looking good so far. They must be doing something else right, I don’t think it’s only because the show is really the only thing worth watching on Fridays in that time slot. The show has also started out strong, with perhaps the strongest start the show had ever had, so maybe some of the more casual viewers have heard and started to watch again. Was Tom Welling getting promoted to Co-Executive Producer a factor? I dunno, maybe, but the show is in fact doing so well the show may very well get a 10th season, but I’m not sure how I feel about that.

As strong as the episodes have been, I’m a bit torn because there just hasn’t been very much Clark Kent in the show this season. Considering he’s the leading character, as he should be in a show about Superman, that’s a huge problem.

If the rest of the season is going to be like this, even as strong as the episodes have been, maybe they just need to end it this season. They need to end it strong without cutting out the heart of the show, Clark Kent.

Yet Clark’s had other seasons where he wasn’t emphasized in the opening run of episodes, the 6th season sticks in my mind, but those seasons had far more regular characters to service. Now there is no Martha, no Lex and no Lana and we all know Jimmy is also gone. Before the start of the season, I would have thought with fewer regulars and the place that Clark finds himself in, on the cusp of becoming the hero that will later be known as Superman, that he would have had a bigger presence in the show rather than a smaller one.

Yet Clark’s had less screen time than Lois several times this season. The emphasis I hope will swing back to Clark with the next few episodes, which look to be more Clark-centric from the little I know about them. However, Clark getting seen less than Lois in this episode, one that was supposed to deal with their growing relationship, gets me worried.

Maybe it has to do partly with the fact that Tom Welling is just so damn busy right now. Not only is he the lead of the show, he’s also now a Co-Executive Producer and has his own production company. His company’s first project is a drama series for which The CW had picked up the Pilot.

I am really, really glad that Tom Welling has expanded his horizons. He’s certainly got a lot of things on his plate right now. I hope he is getting a lot of fulfillment from all this new work he’s doing, yet I know he’s only human. He can only do so much in a day and there must be huge demands on Tom’s time, but I hope the show doesn’t forget that Clark is the reason a lot of people, including this Superman fan, are watching the show to begin with.

His presence needs to grow, not shrink. If they can’t do that, despite the show’s general improvement and stronger than average start to the season, they need to end the show with a strong ending this season. I would prefer that to them doing a possibly weak 10th season with even less Clark.

REVIEW:

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this episode, especially since the trailer tacked onto the end of ‘Roulette’ was almost all about the final dozen or seconds of the episode (with Clark and Lois kissing). That was misleading. That promo setup the expectation that Clark and Lois were going to be emphasized in this episode and they really weren’t…

As much as I loved their part in this episode, no one is as cute as Clark and Lois when they get to verbal sparring, but there was also quite a lot of Oliver and his new maybe-sidekick, Mia Dearden/Speedy. So, this definitely wasn’t all about Clark and Lois being cute and romantic together.

I’m not sure how I feel about the show, and writers Don Whitehead & Holly Henderson, digging into the DC Comics portfolio and finding a side-kick for Green Arrow. Their choice does makes sense (Mia probably worked better than the first Speedy, Roy Harper, would have), and I generally did like her character, but somehow I found Oliver’s life-coaching Mia about fixing her life had been laid on a bit thick. Her street walker origin here pretty much follows the comic canon and I know that Oliver is now back on the straight and narrow, but is it realistic him taking it upon himself to fix Mia’s life only a week or so after Chloe had helped fixed his? I would think that he’d still have some things to learn instead of trying to teach others all of a sudden. I find that a bit of a stretch…

Maybe it is not a big stretch that I loved the Clark and Lois parts. It is always terrific when Tom and Erica can show off their comedic acting skills. They were adorable and I found their part of the episode highly enjoyable.

I think part of the problem with this episode was that Oliver’s and Mia’s story had an almost completely tone from Clark’s and Lois’s and Chloe’s and Stuarts… Oliver’s and Mia’s story, like Tess’ and Zod’s, was both darker and far more serious. I suppose you could say the tone felt a bit uneven in this episode because of that.

I did like the Tess and Zod little side-story, though, even as dark as it was. I thought it was a terrific choice that they had Zod in charge of, RAO Incorporated.

‘Rao’ is the name of the Kryptonian sun and it also the name of the Kryptonian god. Nice touch. Zod would of course run a business named for his language’s word for ‘sun’ and its deity, but is it really realistic to think that Zod could arrange for all that without Tess knowing who the chairman and CEO of RAO was? I don’t think so. She might be only human, but she’s not stupid.

I loved that despite being only human that Tess was still capable of taking down Zod’s minion all on her own. Right after she worried about not being respected, she proved through her actions that she is more than a worthy adversary for Zod as an Overlord Wannabe. I loved that Tess can face down a big guy like that and come out on top.

I also really liked that Zod is still working so hard to find the Blur, but I’m not really surprised that Tess is keeping him from doing just that. She is to blame for the Kandorians being on earth so she wants to stop them from doing any harm, but she’s working to keep them from running rampant and maybe hurting Clark too.

I liked that Stuart had been beefed up a bit in this episode into being more of Chloe’s opposite. It was cute how much fun he was having with Chloe as he tried to beat her at her own game, yet I’m not sure just how realistic all that really was. I’m not a computer security expert, I know very little about how firewalls exactly work, but I don’t think anonymous proxies and firewall layers and ACLs (Access Control Lists – you know I had to look that up) really work like that or can be rewritten on the fly that way. I don’t know what on earth he could have been doing that could put new defenses into effect so quickly or what Chloe could have been doing that was just as fast that kept breaking through them.

So I’m not sure that was realistic, but I did like the affect it had on both Chloe and the adorably geeky Stuart. I liked seeing that side of Chloe. Her tenacity was terrific to see. Stuff like her trying to get through a whole bunch of firewalls (realistic or not) probably could get really dry, but the way they wrote that and the way it played out, it was almost like a duel, but more playful filled with geeky glee when each one would triumph over the other. That was a very cute series of scenes, including the surprise that Stuart had at the end when he realized that the pretty girl standing in front of him was in fact was his ‘estimable foe’.

I liked how Cat Grant, a rival for Lois for Clark’s affections in the comics, was handled. She’s sexy and conniving in the comics and very ambitious. Her taking Lois’ job at the TV station was perfect.

What wasn’t so perfect was Oliver still holding a torch for Lois. I thought she had laid it all out for him when she told him at the end of ‘Roulette’ that she loved him only as a friend. So, I’m not sure I bought that, it seems like it was just contrived to give Clark an excuse to be jealous and ready to step aside for his friend’s happiness. You know, I’m with Chloe on this one: Clark needs to figure out what he wants and not sacrifice what he needs for others. The only reason I liked that part of this episode was because it gave us the excellent save on the roof top and the subsequent very romantic kiss at the end.

So, I’m not sure this episode was the best outing for Holly Henderson & Don Whitehead ever, but overall it was still a very enjoyable episode. It had great act breaks and rising stakes for all. They even managed to get in some great continuity, some wonderful action and cute romance.

Tom Welling did a terrific job as Clark. I swear the man has to get a job in a romantic comedy film after the show is over. When that producer said that Clark and Lois had terrific chemistry, she was right. They’re awesome together.

Tom has Clark be so cute when he’s flustered and befuddled like Lois can make Clark seem sometimes. I loved the first scene in the tease when Clark was confused and trying to show Lois that he’s trying hard to make up for what happened when he stood her up in ‘Echo’. But probably my favorite scene was the final scene with Lois. The loving look that crossed his face as he first saw her was terrific.

Allison Mack was awesome as Chloe. Possibly my favorite scene of hers was the one with her trying to break through the firewalls. I loved it when she got angry. She had given Chloe a wonderfully determined look on her face as she cracked her neck and hunkered down to beat her rival.

Erica Durance was fantastic in this episode. She was so good throughout, but probably my favorite scene with her was the scene with Oliver in the Ace of Clubs. She went through such a wide ranging variety of emotions and everyone was played perfectly.

Cassidy Freeman was fantastic as Tess. I really liked how she played Tess when that minion of Zod’s tried to shake her down for info on the Blur. She was upset before he came in, but when he confronted her I believe that Tess was capable of taking down a big guy. I also liked the end when she stood on the street as Zod realized that Tess was so easy to defeat. I adored the look on her face. One word for her performance: perfect.

Callum Blue was barely in this episode, but he made me love Zod even more. I loved it when he poked Tess in the hip so she’d turn around and look at him. I also liked it when he had Zod calmly sip an espresso and sit in the sun, almost like a lizard basking on a rock. He plays Zod as so arrogant and sure of himself, yet his ass keeps getting handed to him. I like it how Callum has Zod deal with that, like it’s anyone’s fault except his own.

Justin Hartley had Oliver Queen back to his usual charming self, even when he was preaching to Mia. I liked what he did here a lot.

Guest Star Elise Gatien was cute as Mia. She made it believable that Mia could kick a guy’s butt, yet still be so vulnerable at the same time. She had a few rough spots, but in general I liked her a lot. I hope she comes back.

Emilie Ullerup was terrific as Catherine Grant. She was pretty and smart and I hope she can have a more meaningful storyline if she gets brought back.

Glen Winter did a beautiful job photographing this episode. I liked the way the rooftop scene was shot. The one shot at the end of the scene shifting from Oliver holding Lois then the focus getting pulled to show Clark all broody in the distance was terrific. I liked the depth of that shot. But probably my favorite scene was the final scene with Zod and Tess. I liked the cool colors in it: it fit the tone of the scene which also contrasted nicely with the warmer colors of the next scene with Clark and Lois in the Daily Planet basement.

But you know, speaking of the roof top save: I wish the show would pick one way of handling bullets hitting Clark’s chest and stick with it. Last year in ‘Infamous’, when the cops shot Clark in the Kent Farm the bullets ricocheted off of his chest like how bullets would ricochet off rocks in an old 50’s Western: sparks and the sounds of the bullet whizzing by as they flew off everywhere, destroying the kitchen.

Yet, in this episode they impacted on his chest and smashed flat more like they were hitting a bullet proof vest, making an almost thunking sound. That’s more like the bullets acted earlier in the series, like the first time Clark got shot back in Season 1’s ‘Hug’. They impacted his chest and smashed, only leaving bruises behind (his invulnerability not being as strong then as it is now). They’ve gone back and forth on this a few times, bullets had ricocheted off of Clark’s chest before, and they’d impacted and smashed other times since ‘Hug’… They really need to decide which way they want to go with this.

I personally like the smashing bullets better. It makes more sense. Clark’s skin has some give to it because he seems like a normal human under casual observation. If he had hard skin, like a robot with metal plates instead of flexible flesh, the ricochets would make sense, but since his flesh does have some give and feels human to the touch then the bullets smashing against him seems more realistic. So, I’d think they’d smash flat, not ricochet.

Oh, and I used to work in a local TV station as a studio camera operator/production assistant. (I was a glorified gopher/slave; I got paid next-to-nothing, which is why I don’t work there anymore.) So, I know first-hand what a TV studio and TV studio cameras generally look like and they didn’t really look much like what the TV Station in this episode had. I also realize for expedience’s sake that they didn’t have the control room and technical actually be in another room like it would be in reality, but why didn’t the cameras in this episode have TelePrompTers? Even before I worked at that TV station, I knew what those were and had seen them dozens of times in TV and in movies. Why were these studio cameras missing them?

Maybe it’s a budgetary thing, not sure how much those things cost to rent. Even though I can maybe buy there not actually being a control room for the producers and the director and editor and sound guy to sit in, that would require building a new set or going on location (which budgetary restraints perhaps wouldn’t allow for), but the TelePrompTer is a key thing for a TV studio camera to have. The cameras just looked weird without them, but maybe that’s just me.

I loved the fight scenes in this episode, so Stunt Coordinator Jacob Rupp did a very good job. I enjoyed Mia’s fight in the fight club and the later fight with Lois and Mia against Rick and his thugs. They were fast and very acrobatic, but still believable.

I loved Melanie Williams’ costumes in this episode. Tom Welling looked handsome in the darker colors he wore early in the episode. I loved the dress that Tess wore when she was presenting the new sun powered power station to the group. The color was good for Cassidy and she looked great in it. I also liked the dresses that Lois wore in the tease and later in the scene at The Ace of Clubs. They suited her figure well and were good colors for her.

Louis Febre did a remarkable job. I loved the local morning show music at the start of the show for the ‘Good Morning Metropolis’ Intro. It was awesome because it sounded exactly the way that sort of music sounds, mostly generic yet bright and snappy. I liked the almost martial strains of music when Zod was in that scene confronting Tess. I also really loved the final scene and that it started with no music at all and then slowly built as Clark tried to talk with Lois. Then, when he couldn’t get in a word in, he kissed her almost more to shut her up than to show her how much she means to him. As the music built after he kissed her, and she started kissing back, it was perfect.

One last thing: “End of the World” by Dead By Sunrise was a terrific choice for the song that played toward the end of the fifth act. The lyrics were nearly a perfect fit.

Not a perfect episode, as much as I loved parts of it, I think it just misses getting a 5 (too much Oliver/Mia). So, I will have to give this episode 4.5 Cardboard Cutouts of Clark and Lois out of a possible 5.

Note: The views of Triplet don’t necessarily represent the thoughts and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite. Send her feedback.