Smallville 9x06: Crossfire
I will try to make this as coherent as possible. I promise.


It's hard to talk about this episode character by character, because this was an episode very much about pairings, romantic and otherwise. So that's what you're getting.

Oliver and Mia were cute, if you ignore how very forced it was to start with. I can understand and appreciate Oliver wanting to help a kid he sees who is obviously in trouble, but it was pretty damn random. As was Mia's decision to take him up on it. But then, they weren't channeling a platonic Pretty Woman for nothing, so we go with it. The actress was capable enough and I'm curious to see how they now explain her ongoing absence.

Oliver and Lois kind of killed me, in a sad way. I have to agree to some degree with those who say that Oliver's continued feelings for Lois kind of came out of nowhere, especially since they had all of one interactive scene together in all of S8, but on the other hand, I can understand it. It's also been consistent since Savior, so the show gets points for that. My problem with it? It was completely and utterly pointless. Lois never returned those feelings on that level. There was never a hint that she did. Clark didn't see them together until this episode and it all amounted to nothing. It certainly did nothing to further Ollie along anywhere and since his Lois-hangup didn't appear until this season, it wasn't resolution for anything outstanding for his character. All that said, poor Ollie. It takes guts to do what he did and he had to know it wasn't going to work out in his favour. Kudos to Lois for the very adult and mature way she handled it.

I have to admit the Chloe/Stuart (Chluart?) storyline surprised me. Not that I don't like it, but I didn't see it coming. I'm sure they'll make a cute couple, although I am somewhat disappointed this likely means Stuart will be backstabbing Tess. And man, he'd better be watching his ass if he does. And the Chlark almost felt like old times. In a good way. Colour me impressed.

TESSOD. TESSOD. THIS IS WHAT TURNED ME INTO CAPS LOCK STEPH. I love Tess. Love. This episode? MADE ME LOVE HER MORE. Dear god, how kickass can one woman be? There's going to be a downfall, I know, but right now I am reveling in the sheer awesomeness that is Tess Mercer. As is Zod. HAH. Take that, Major. I was worried that perhaps I was projecting chemistry into their scenes in Savior. Clearly, I wasn't, because these two are making some serious evil steam. They killed me so many times I lost count. He poked her. Srsly, show, if there isn't massive amounts of hate!sex coming up, you're doing it wrong.

Okay. Clark on his own first, because it's my review and that's the way it's going. Mainly the save, though. Which was awesome. And Tom seriously needs to stop being so goddamned adorable. I mean it.

And now, the Clois. This will, surprisingly I'm sure, be short. Because there wasn't all that much new here; they bantered adorably, but they've been doing that for some time now. Clark shows his confident, snarky side, which is always fun. Lois puts up a facade that never seems to last around Clark. They have fun and are funny together. Clark is Clark, thinking of others (read: Oliver) before himself. Chloe gives him the figurative smack upside the head he needs and then... we have something new. Clark goes for what he wants, consequences be damned, and it results in one hell of a kiss. A pretty much perfect kiss for this Clark and this Lois, with him trying to have a Serious Conversation with his Serious Voice about Serious Feelings and her having none of it because she's dealing with a personal made-up crisis dammit, leaving him with only one option to kill both birds with one stone: Kiss her to shut her up and to get his point across. Go Clark.

I know there are complaints (surprise!) about this romantic stuff being a waste and having nothing to do with the point of the show, but I beg to differ. Clark can't ultimately be Superman if he doesn't have confidence in himself in every aspect of his life and yes, that includes his romantic one. Becoming Superman is the end goal, the final achievement he reaches and then gets to enjoy. This means he needs to have all his ducks in a row beforehand, and this is just one of them. He still has others to go, and romance won't be easy because hey, this is Smallville, but it's still an important step forward for Clark as a person and he can't be Clark the hero without it.


Next Week: JULIAN SANDS. I still have serious reservations about how plot is going to be handled, but JULIAN SANDS. I'm there with bells on.