Holy Gleek! Wonder Twins' Smallville is Actually a Wonderful Episode

When I heard the Wonder Twins were coming to Smallville people in the next county could hear me scream. My dread got even worse as Season 9 of the show progressed, since this is proving to be one of the best and most enjoyable years on Smallville yet, which is saying a lot. Every one of the first six episodes this year ranked 8 or higher on my scale, which has never happened before in a season.

I wasn't worried about grade inflation though, since in the back of my mind I knew the Wonder Twins (and probably their damned space monkey Gleek) were coming to ruin at least one episode. So I began watching last night's "Idol" with a sense of both dread and horrid fascination, like it was a car wreck I somehow knew was going to happen right in front of me.

It turned out to be much ado about something, but a wonderful something. Smallville pulled off the appearance of the Wonder Twins with aplomb (and left Gleek on a cell phone, where I like him). Played as star-struck kids trying to imitate the Blur the wonder twins were...well, let's face it-pretty cute. I actually liked them and the almost old-school "golly gee wow!" attitude they brought onto a show that's become quite serious. By the end I found myself kinda hoping we'd see them again. Who would have thought it?

The real surprise was that the show wasn't about the Wonder Twins at all but revolved around Clark, Lois and Chloe. The Wonder Twins were just a plot device (although, in the end, a fun one) to get at the heart of the issues surrounding the three main characters (the only top-billed characters actually in the episode). We got wonderful development out of both Clark (Tom Welling) and Lois (Erica Durance) and very logical, albeit sinister actions out of Chloe (Allison Mack).

In fact, it was great to see Chloe's continued spying on Clark have a direct and potentially dangerous effect outside of Clark's offense over invading his personal space. It knocks out Clark's voice masking and Lois figures out that he is the Blur. It was both funny (you don't let a Wonder Twin on the Watchtower computer!) and, I believe, a foreshadowing of the danger Chloe's actions may ultimately put them all in.

The idea of Superman and modern technology has always been an uneasy alliance. After all, Clark Kent hiding himself under glasses seems a bit silly in an age where everyone has a camera on their phone, access to the internet permits quick background checks, and the police use facial recognition software.

Smallville handled these issues pretty awkwardly for awhile, although I've noticed they've gotten better in the past few seasons. They've even started making it into a running joke. Here during a blackout Lois looks ridiculous (and...yes, pretty cute) trying to figure out an old typewriter and Clark expresses shock that the Wonder Twins have taken him online. "The Blur has a blog?" Clark asks, in an almost hurt tone. Later he tries on those iconic glasses for Lois. She implies he looks ridiculous. I thought so too, but I was smiling the whole time.

I have a lot of thoughts about Chloe Sullivan, so many I'm going to have to put them in a separate article. Chloe has always been my favorite character on Smallville and I love the place they're taking her, despite the fact that it is a place filled with temptations and danger that will most likely get her killed. Some Smallville fans have come to "hate" Chloe the same way they came to "hate" Lana Lang. I always liked Lana but eventually I could sort of see their point-the problems with Lana involved inconsistencies of character and in many cases poor writing and characterization.

I don't think either has happened to Chloe-in fact I'd argue strongly that Chloe is the most consistently and logically developed character on the show. Despite her ominously dark turns I still love her. I'll just have to argue it outside this review, because it's too much to go into here.

For now, suffice to say the electronic malfunction gives Durance another chance to shine as Lois this season, and she runs with it beautifully. In scenes with a therapist and with Clark himself, Lois lets loose on how she feels about the Blur, Clark Kent, what she'd feel if they are the same person and what she'd be worried about feeling if they aren't.

I've never seen or heard the internal hero-complex of Lois Lane more emotionally or convincingly stated anywhere, not in comics, film or TV. Given whole seasons to build us up to this moment Durance's emoting (which could have seemed very contrived in a comic book or a feature film) comes across as beautiful and tragic. She says too many things which get right to the heart of Lois Lane for me to list them here, but more importantly she makes the conflict seem so personal and raw that she herself is surprised at times by what she's saying.

The therapist doesn't add much, but what can you add? Watching Lois work it out by asking herself questions and groping for the answers is enough. I love it that she doesn't cry until after she is convinced Clark isn't the Blur, and decides that perhaps that doesn't matter. With the wrong actress this could lead to some oversimplified soap-opera moments. Durance draws on her previous work as Lois, never bad but never THIS good, to make the affairs of her heart seem not melodramatic but real and urgent. No comic book ever took Lois Lane to the places Durance takes her in this episode.

Lois' conflict is counter-pointed nicely by the continued development of Clark. We've gotten used to a one-step up, two-steps back approach to Clark becoming Superman, but now Welling and the writers are stepping back less and with more visible reluctance. When the DA calls out Clark we can see in his eyes that, even if it is a self-interested corrupt politician making the claim, the idea that the Blur needs to step up and take responsibility for his actions weighs heavily on him. He is clearly about to do just that when Lois intervenes.

Lois thinks she is doing the right thing by telling Metropolis that the Blur needs to be "a light in the shadows". But we know she's wrong and so is Chloe, who feels the same and practically preaches it to Clark. I love that in Clark's reaction to both Lois' speech and Chloe's preaching we see huge chunks of doubt in his eyes. Both times he seems about to contradict them, but Clark is by nature such a thoughtful, reflecting person (which is why Chloe is a such great foil for him-she's neither of those things) that he backs off, not yet absolutely sure.

Of course, Lois and Chloe aren't talking about Superman when they speak of a hidden hero striking from the dark. They're talking about Batman. Writer Anne Cofell is fully aware of this (that's WHERE we are going with this-to the eventual point where Superman realizes he's not just a vigilante but a symbol of hope and steps out of the shadows) and she spices the episode with Batman references.

I lost count of them, but the point was clear. In the end the Wonder Twins are right. The Blur doesn't have a lair. We just aren't there yet. Welling has begun to play the place he is in, between vigilante for justice and symbol for hope, as a kind of purgatory he is longing to escape.

Some other great "Idol" moments: the Wonder Twins doing the fist bump (which I think they invented) and Clark suddenly appearing between them and sending them sprawling. Lois dangling from a flagpole at the top of the Daily Planet, facing death, and pausing to have an earnest conversation with Clark while he's looking down at her (tell me THAT'S not a Lois thing to do!). The Wonder Twins doing something right and helping save Lois while protecting Clark's secret.

"Even after all this you still can't tell me," Lois says to Clark after her rescue. But we can see he's about to. Once again Chloe's intervention stops him. But it's written on his face that he's tired of the darkness.

The best scene is near the end. Clark confronts the Wonder Twins as the Blur, telling them to use their powers not in imitation but to be heroes themselves. He begins in the shadows but he keeps moving out of them, in three series of shots, until he is finally standing in front of them in the light.

Now, these are cyber-crazy kids who have just played on the front pages and whose first impulse is to tweet. But without anyone around to counsel or manipulate him Clark relies on his own judgment and decides to trust them, adding a bond to his message that makes it all the more effective.

The message to us is clear as well. Even Clark Kent's friends won't keep Superman in the dark forever.

Smallville "Idol" Episode Score (1-10): 10

For my other Smallville reviews and writing see my blog A Dash Of Salty