Starkville’s House of El Podcast

What did Tim think of Siren?

This episode was really good. I thought it was real refreshing seeing Justin Hartley as the Green Arrow. I think he really brings something really new and fresh to the role, and also to the show, as well. it’s amazing that with all of this, the CW hasn’t picked up a Green Arrow spinoff series (there is potential there, y’know.)

This episode mostly focused on the Green Arrow’s return to Smallville. Like with some of the Green Arrow-centric episodes of last season, this kind of put Clark’s story somewhat to the sidelines. However, it doesn’t mean that Clark is not involved with the main storyline. His own story just kind of takes a backseat. But that’s okay. We had a Clark-centric episode last week so I think we can take a break. :)

Having said that, I think Justin Hartley did an awesome job with the Green Arrow this episode. I had read reviews saying that Mr. Hartley stole every scene he was in

We also saw the Smallville debut of fan-favorite heroine, Black Canary. I thought she looked great. What I love about Smallville heroes (or heroines in this case), is that they’re given fresh new origins and still tying them to the Smallville universe. Having her work as a vigilante for Lex against the Green Arrow was a great twist on her character, as she would be well-known for being the Green Arrow’s greatest ally in the future. The episode really allowed her journey to be seen through her eyes and it made for a much more interesting episode.

Another reason she was probably introduced was, like I said, because she is known to one of the Green Arrow’s greatest allies. This episode really got to see the beginnings of that relationship betwen Dinah Lance and Oliver Queen. Now, I am NOT a Black Canry fan. So I went into this episode, with very little knowledge of her character. So, I was pleasantly surprised with this fresh new origin. I was able to catch all the subtle references to Black Canary and Green Arrow. I think Alaina Huffman did a great job, portraying Ms. Lance onscreen. She really seemed to capture what Black Canry is, but then again, I’m not a fan, I don’t know.

We also saw a glimpse of a possible future for Chloe. In this episode, we got to see her pulling off several odd jobs for Oliver (hacking into computers, extracting files etc.) and was obviously still under Oliver’s payroll. I think that this is where Chloe’s future lies. I have saud before, in previous reviews, that I believe that Chloe’s future lies not in the upper levels of the Daily Planet but in the halls of the Justice League as “Oracle.” She already acts as an “oracle” for Clark in many ways. I think Chloe weill eventually pass that torch of reporter to Lois. She will however being helping Clark and his “amazing friends” by navigating their missions behind the scenes, like she did in Justice.

This episode also focused on some of the relationships that have been in the air for a while. Those relationships being Clark and Lana, Lois and Oliver, and Lois and Clark.

I would first like to talk about Clark and Lana. This relationship has always been pretty rocky, as far things have been the last few episodes. But I think that Lana and Bizarro’s relationship may have put a nail in that. But I think it runs deeper than that. Lana said it best when she said that he believed that Lana was not who he was going to end up with. This is not the first time somebody had said that. Martha had said as much two seasons ago. That is the reason that Clark took so long to tell Lana his secret. Because maybe he didn’t want to let her in. Their relationship has always been an interesting one to watch onscreen, because you know that Clark and Lana are not going to end up together at the end of the series. It’s going to end very tragically for them. But I think it is Tom and Kristin’s onscreen chemistry that meks the relationship work onscreen. I do think that this was a step into what their relationship in the comics and in Superman’s future is: that of close friendship. I think that is what we will see in future episodes.

The next one relationship that was obviously focused on in this episode was the relationship of Lois and Oliver. I have been a fan of Lois and Oliver, ever since they first got together in season six. When I first heard of it, I wasn’t excited about it, but when I saw it onscreen it worked for me. Aside from the chemistry that Justin Hartley and Erica Durance have, their relationship is in a lot of ways foreshadowing the relationship Lois will have in her future with Clark and Superman. I think it worked on that level for me in season six. Now, when I first heard about this episode, I thought Grant would still be around and there’d be some romantic tension-triangles going on there. But, alas, Grant is dead. I thought, tho, too that Oliver would maintain some sort of long distance relationship with Lois, that would allow him to return for a couple of episodes, too, but alas, that is not to be either. So their relationship is now dead, and can’t explored further, which is a shame.

I think Lois finding out Oliver’s secret of Green Arrow was a great skill of writing, in regards to this. It could’ve been handled another way, but it was handled in the way that was good for the overall Smallville story and for the character of Lois Lane. She really felt that with Oliver’s big secret and superhero lifestyle, that he wouldn’t give as much attention to her as she would’ve liked. She also felt that she couldn’t handle Oliver’s “big” secret. I thought this was great fror the character, as she has a lot of growing to do before she can accept that great secret of her future spouse. I wish that Smallville were on the air long enough for us to actually watch that growth in her character. But, sadly, we can’t.

That brings me to the next relationship: the relationship of Clark and Lois. All of these other two relationship seemed to strengthen this relationship. This relationship has been interesting to me from day one when Lois first got to Smallville. When Lois was lamenting about her lost relationship to Oliver, who was there but Clark? I think that these two actually really like each other, and have a deep connection that many in Smallville (not even Clark and Lois) see. I would love to see this relationship blossom and continue. In fact, it was the Clark and Lois scene at the end that made me want to see it. I think we are seeing the beginnings of that right here in this episode.

Another thing this episode did was further the growth of the character of Lex Luthor. It seemed after murdering his supposed brother in cold-blood last week, Lex has since washed his hands of the dirty deed by covering up the evidence and moved on back to his old habits: secret projects under the guise of Luthorcorp’s best interests. In my view, Lex has regressed in this way. In TV Shows, Movies, or Books, when a character regresses, we tend to frown because they ignored all the changes that happened to them previously. But I think this kind of regression makes us smile because it leads Lex closer and closer to accepting his great destiny as one of the great villains in DC Comics history.

This actually makes me wonder, what secret project was Lex trying to cover up now? He obviously hired Black Canary to retrieve the information so it could lead back to his hands. I once believed that the secret project was Operation: Retrieve Kara. But if that was the case, he wouldn’t have gone to great lengths to make sure t stayed hidden. Because it was about finding Kara, he could always makes that under the guise of concern for a shining jewel in an otherwise dark society or something like that. I think, though, it may be a more darker, more sinister project than even Project: Ares was. But who knows?

We also got to see a bit darker side when Lex learned from Black Canary that Green Arrow had returned. He was able to manipulate her to believe she was fighting for the right side: his. I think he was able to do that in a way only Lionel could do before. We also saw a bit of his darker side when he fought toe-to-toe with Green Arrow. This fight scene is probably one of the coolest non-superfight scenes in Smallville. I think the Green Arrow-Lex dynamic proves great foreshadowing to what Superman and Lex will be. In fact, if we ever get to see another Superman movie, I would love to see Superman and Lex go toe-to-toe like this, But due to Superman’s powers, he’d probably get his butt kicked. But still, it would be awesome.

This episode also saw the beginning of a new arc for Lionel. In the aftermath of Grant/Julian’s death, Lionel is looking for ways to being Lex down. At first, he tried manipulating Lana to do it. At first, he seemed very nonchalant about it, as if was just normal business. But near the end of the episode, he seemed desperate to have Lana help him bring down Lex, as she had no problem doing it before. This was a big turning for Lionel, as Lionel is in the same position Lex was in season 3. In season 3, Lex was working to bring Lionel down, and Lionel was the one who needed to be behind bars. I think it is very interesting how the tables have turned. Lana’s warning to Lionel, however, was very cryptic, though. What will happen to Lionel if he pursues this path of destroying Lex?

Also, we were treated to a view of things to come. When Lana entered Lionel’s office, she saw a letter with the seal “V” on it. What could this possibly mean? Well, we know from spoilers, that this is “V” is Veritas. But that brings up the question what IS Veritas? And how is our elder Luthor connected to it. Only time will tell . . .

One thing gripe I did have with the episode was how come Green Arrow didn’t have his voice modulation when he returned? I hope I’m not the only one who noticed that. In earlier episodes with the Green Arrow, he seemed to have voice modulation to make his voice differ from that when he was Oliver Queen. Without these, it would make Lex more viable to discover Green Arrow’s identity. It wasn’t a big thing, just a little thing that caught my attention

This episode was written by Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson. They wrote the episode where Green Arrow in all his glory debuted on the small screen. I think it only fitting that they write Green Arrow’s return to the small screen. They really wrote a great episode, and I hope they write more Green Arrow-centric episode, should we have any of them.

All-in-all, I thought it was a great episode. I thought the Green Arrow’s return was a welcome one, and look forward to more returns if the story (and Justin Hartley’s commitments) allow him to. The episode really moved the characters in new direction and the story of Smallville in new directions. While i thought this, I did not think it was great an episode as Persona was. I thought the Clark and Lana stuff seemed to drag. It was good, just not as awesome as last week’s.

RATING: 4/5

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 1:08 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.