SMALLVILLE Minicaps / Season 9, Eps. 9-11

The Smallville season 9 minicaps are still waiting for their JSA application to go through.

Stewart here…

So, we found out quite a bit about Zod and those Kandorians now on Earth, thanks to surprising return of Jor-El. Well, they are all clones (Jor-El included) that Jor-El and Zod helped make in case Krypton met disaster. Things didn’t go well for the two prior to that, and Zod harbors a serious hate for Jor-El. However, clone Jor-El gets killed, before Zod can find out about some book he’s hidden on Earth. And Clark, who is still navigating trying to start a relationship with Lois (who is having more potent flashes of the future), is debating the last words clone Jor-El passed on to him: “Save Zod”. Ummm, wanna read on and see how that goes?

“Pandora”

Lois gets nabbed from the hospital by Tess, who wants to know what Lois saw in the future. Well, we get a good idea of what along with Tess and Clark, and its not pretty: Earth under a red sun, Zod and his Kandorians with superpowers ruling everything, and whatever humans (including a depowered Clark) are left struggling to stay alive. This brief glimpse into the future gives Clark the idea to try a different approach with Zod instead of beating him senseless: try to be his buddy. Considering all those Kandorians and Zod bowing to him at the end of this episode, that may have been a serious mistake.

“A red sun? Well, at least its not a black hole sun.”

–Chloe kills Tess in the future, and really couldn’t give a crap about Oliver’s feelings on that. That’s ice cold.

–Stuart gets killed off by Tess for wanting to not turn Lois into a vegetable. Shows what happens when you get a conscience working for Tess Mercer.

–Lois learned Clark’s secret in the future (along with sleeping with him), but surprise, thanks to all that manipulation by Tess and later by Chloe, doesn’t remember a thing.

–Oliver’s reaction to Clark sending roses to hospitalized Lois: “Five dozen roses? Wow. That’s subtle.”

–Lois sums up Tess’s siding with Zod this succinctly: “You betrayed the entire human race for some crappy dog tags. Way to go!”

“Disciple”

Some more trouble for Oliver rears its head, and for once, its not anything to do with any drinking or self-destructive tendencies. An attack on Lois by a hooded archer that isn’t Oliver leads to the discovery its Oliver’s teacher of archery, Vordigan, who is behind this. So Oliver must stop his former teacher from attacking the women in his life (Lois, Chloe, and even Mia). And Lois gets a surprise visit from Zod while at the hospital, who – surprise, surprise – is interested in persuading Clark to help give the Kandorians superpowers.

Mia: “Man, can’t wait to learn new things and go on new adventures with you, Oliver.” Oliver: “Ye-yeah, about that…”

–This episode does feel like more of a backdoor pilot for a Green Arrow spinoff that didn’t happen. I’m of mixed minds on this if that’s the case. On one end, it would have been interesting to have a spinoff with Oliver being a mentor for Mia in crimefighting untethered to the Smallville plots. On the other hand, we wouldn’t have the currently superior Arrow right now.

–Speaking of Mia/Speedy, hope you liked her, because she is gone from the show after this, never to be seen again.

–So Zod wants some magical kryptonian book Jor-El hid somewhere to help get the Kandorians superpowers. Oh, and that lady Kandorian who had Zod temporarily ousted from command in the season premiere apparently is Faora. Sure, whatever.

–Really, you can transport a giant hedge maze to a dock in full and it doesn’t seem weird at all?

–“Smallville, the only planet you know about is the one you read at the breakfast table.”

“Absolute Justice”

This is what we call a big one, folks (it’s technically a two parter, but hey, it’s being covered here as one episode). Chloe runs into a former member of a defunct supergroup known as the Justice Society of America who gets promptly killed by an icy assassin. Inevitably, Clark and Oliver (and hey, why not add John Jones to the party?) get dragged into this mess, having to find former members of the JSA before they meet the same fate. Can you say “big hero team-up”?

We really drift into cheesy comic book territory big time this episode (noted JSA comic writer Geoff Johns is the writer on this), with the JSA members like Hawkman, Stargirl, and Dr. Fate (and a few more we’ll talk about in the notes below), along with some big comic book name drops and reveals. How big, you ask? Well, there’s Amanda Waller and Checkmate behind the scenes of all of this, for example. You want some more? Let’s go to the notes for that.

Hakwman: “Look, we lost a few JSA members over the years, but I still believe the money we spent on this table instead of getting a health care provider was worth it!”

–How about we get one of the notable minuses out of the way, like the Icicle. The execution of the villain this episode seems a bit off, and I’m not talking about the faux-hawk (which kind of gives the impression of a winter elf, which is not that fearsome). Icicle getting shot dead by Waller kind of solves that dilemma.

–Good call with Michael Shanks (from Stargate SG-1, a – hint, hint – possible contender for the next series of minicaps after Smallville) as Hawkman, if the outfit seems a bit much. And its being really nitpicky to discuss the super gravely voice put on while he’s in costume. I kept wanting to offer him some Ricola.

–Some nice callbacks to DC Comics lore with the JSA members we briefly see, like Wesley Dodds (The Sandman), Wildcat, and Green Lantern.

–There’s Fate himself, who offers some big clues to the future of the series. Yeah, Clark has a destiny, blah blah blah, but wait, what was that about ultimately defeating Lex Luthor? The DEAD Lex Luthor? That doesn’t sound right, does it?

–Let’s get to the smart move of casting Pam Grier as Waller, because you need someone with gravitas for this role.

“Don’t worry, Waller, My plan to hurt the JSA is going perfectly. I’ve left badly written comments mocking them over their sexuality on the JSA YouTube page.”

–And by the way, Tess is a Checkmate agent? This does seem a bit on the incredulous side. You got a character who’s running a massive corporation aligned with an alien bent on conquering Earth who also happens to be an agent for a group wanting to keep a hold on superheroes? A bit much for anyone’s plate, I think.

–Oh, what was that Waller mentioned about an “apocalypse” coming, and why do I think she wasn’t talking about Zod and his Kandorians?

–John Jones got his power back because Dr. Fate made it happen with his last burst of power? Oh-kay, fine, that works for me.

–“Think of me as your parole officer, but with a mace.”

–“I grew up in Chicago, Icicle. The cold doesn’t bother me.”

–“I’m Mars’ sole survivor. There’s a reason for that.”

NEXT TIME: Clark and Zatanna team up to find a boy able to turn into comic book hero Warrior Angel in “Warrior”, Clark’s exposure to rare kryptonite has a odd effect on Lois in “Persuasion”, Clark and Zod team up to find a madman experimenting on Kandorians in “Conspiracy”, and Lois, Clark, plus a couple of unexpected guests go to a B&B, but find trouble instead in “Escape”.