Smallville 9x01: Savior
O hai, show! Welcome back! I miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissed you!!!


So it was a premiere and therefore a lot happened. The minor stuff:

I like Emil. I'm glad they're keeping him around and he and Chloe seem to have a good connection and are like minded. I loved that he feels right at home using Oliver's money for whatever he wants. Clearly, Oliver gave him that access prior to his taking off so Emil taking advantage of it was amusing and appropriate. He can stay. Corben, eh. He did nothing for me and I don't find BAG all that interesting so far. I'm not really sure why they bothered to include him in this episode when he basically did nothing that couldn't have been done next week.

Oliver wasn't used terribly well, either, aside for us to a) not forget about him (since he's not around next week) and b) get the picture that he's railing against the hero side. If I didn't know what was coming, I'd be more ticked off that this is just a re-do of his "loss of faith" arc last year. Which it still is, but this appears to be worse and dealt with in a more satisfying manner, but we'll see. He did make me laugh, and this is always a plus with Oliver, so he gets that.

They got me with Alia. Yes, I'm completely dying to know who she really is and how she goes from looking at Zod like he's sex on a stick to wanting to kill Clark - and obviously caring for him, too - to save the world. And Im thrilled they let Monique use her stunt skills. Both her fights were awesome.

The first time I watched the episode, I was really pissed off at Chloe. Really. Now that I've seen it a second time, I'm not so much. I actually was totally fine with her up until her final scene with Clark. And honestly, the last scene didn't bug me all that much either this time. I do understand where Chloe is coming from. MY only problem with it all still is that Chloe didn't show one ounce of upset or grief until Clark told her he wouldn't go back and save Jimmy. Not one. I don't need her to be weeping constantly, but one little moment would have been nice to indicate that Chloe iosn't completely repressing, which is how she came across for the rest of the episode. Her emotional response to Clark was understandable, but it almost seemed to come out of nowhere given how she acted up until that point. I'm also not convinced she's really taking responsibility for her part in what happened - and it was major. Saying she (and Clark) screwed up, that she (and Clark) made a mistake, but that Clark had to fix it clearly shows me that Chloe blames him for most of it and she's not willing to do one thing to help herself, Clark needs to because he's really the one who put her in the position she's in. And that doesn't fly with me. Thankfully, it didn't for Clark, either. All that said, I am interested to see where Chloe goes from here.

TESSOD. What can I say? I'm giddy like a schoolgirl. Not only was Zod flat out awesome, but the chemistry between him and Tess is smoking. Seriously. All they needed to make it any more plain that they're ridiculously enjoying trying to one up each other was to have them stick their tongues out at each other and throw in a few 'nyah nyah's. BRING IT! Zod's army? Eh. The two who actually spoke were annoying and by rights, they should have been killed. Perhaps that's yet to come. I can hope.

Lois was... interesting, but she seemed very all over the map. I suspect they'll settle her down, but she was doing way too much in this episode - another reason I wish they'd have left the Corben stuff just for next week. It wasn't necessary here for Lois, either. Alia using her to get to Clark could have been done better, but their fight scene at the beginning was pretty cool. I liked giving her a connection back to Oliver as a friend and that Lois was able to use how well she knows him to find him when Chloe couldn't just based on technology. But really, this was all about Lois and the Blur and I thought it was a perfect continuation of Lois' feelings from last season. She's found "her hero", a hero who saves her, saves her family, saves the city, but also makes time for her and makes her feel special. And yes, that's what Lois wants. That was what she wanted from Oliver and didn't get. It's what she wanted from her father and didn't get. The Blur gives her the emotional connection in a relationship she's never had, wrapped up in a hero package to boot. And sure, she's overreacting a little, but that's what happens when you're, yes, in love.

Oh, Clark. ONce again, it felt like there was so much going on that didn't include him. And I know that's more because this was a premiere and there was so much story that had to be introduced that it couldn't be ALL about Clark, but I can't help wishing there'd been a little more. Still, I was very happy with what we got. A Clark who stands up for himself, but hasn't cut those emotional ties with anyone anywhere near as much as he thinks he has. He has grown up. He has taken responsibility for what happened and is trying to do something to make sure it doesn't happen again. A Clark who is drawn to Lois, but doesn't know why. This is a great starting point and I can't wait to see how he further develops throughout the season.

Finally, Lois' future vision. Well. We've got a Clark who is on Zod's side, which means it's either not Clark, or something very drastic happens in the next year. We've got Tess in army garb being given dog tags and kneeling before... someone. Is it Zod, or is it Clark? We've got Oliver with blood on his hands digging what appears to be a grave. We've got Chloe on the run and then dead. And of course, we've got Clark and Lois having sex. My take right now not knowing anything about any of this? It's not Clark. How it becomes not!Clark I have no idea but I'm hooked to find out if I'm right and how it all gets sorted out.


Overall, I think it serviced very well as an opener and setting things up for the rest of the season. Not my favourite season premiere ever, but it still did a good job.

Next week: looks boring, based on the previews. But I'm holidng out hope given the excitement from advance reviews.