Rebecca’s “Prophecy” Review
One episode left. As I write this review, just a little over twenty-four hours until it is all over. The end of the journey, the end of the beginning. What a long, strange trip it has been, indeed. But before we say good-bye to Smallville (and I’ve been told we must), there is still “Prophecy” to deal with.
The episode was but a mish-mash of ideas, a farewell, and a few remarkable scenes. “Prophecy” likely won’t go down as one of the best episodes of Season 10, but it was full amazing moments. The episode set up parallel stories.
Running on side were Clark and Lois, a day before their wedding, getting an unexpected gift of a day in each other’s shoes, thanks to the always curious Jor-El. On the other side were Oliver and Kara, both hunting for the Bow of Orion, but for different reasons.
Oliver was looking for the bow, once the possession of Darkseid’s son, to cure him of his pesky little “marked by darkness” problem. Kara wanted it to defeat Darkseid. Unfortunately, once it was found, after first a few trials by the out-of-costume heroes (and Kara was forced to return to the Clark’s Fortress by her dastardly AI uncle), Granny Goodness stepped in and destroyed the bow. Gone was what Oliver believed to be his only chance at a cure. What more, Oliver was now completely under Granny Goodness’ control, and therefore, Darkseid’s control. With a callback to Luthor and Kent, Oliver was last seen in “Prophecy” digging for gold…gold Kryptonite. Best man. Gold Kryptonite. This can’t be good.
Meanwhile, after abandoning Oliver during the search for the bow, Kara had a heart to heart with the always (read: never) helpful Jor-El. It seems that while he originally wanted her to stop Darkseid because Clark “wasn’t ready,” the AI finally believes his son is ready and wants Kara to leave. Clark must forge his own destiny, according to Jor-El’s plans, apparently, and Kara mustn’t interfere. So, with a tear in her eye as she floated above Watchtower, Kara slid on a Legion ring and…poof. I bet Brainiac 5 is waiting for her.
While all of that was going on, Clark and Lois were having a rather chaotic day. Lois had Clark’s powers, Clark had no powers, and all of the B-league villains had formed a gang, “Marionette Ventures,” stolen up all of the property along the aquifer and were looking for world domination. Ok, city domination. Have to start somewhere. The Toyman, still in prison, had organized a virtual Who’s Who of baddies. Not that they did much but sit around a table. Among the group were Metallo and Roulette, curious additions since neither were really all that villainous the last time we saw them.
Before even getting powers, Lois was hot on the story of the land grab. But nothing is ever simple on Smallville, so it wasn’t just going be an episode about Lois and Clark cracking a big story (though, really, I wouldn’t have complained about an episode about Lane and Kent’s journalistic endeavors). Clark took Lois to the Fortress to announce his intentions to marry Lois, Jor-El gave them the world’s oddest wedding present, and for a few hours Lois got to play Burgundy Blur.
This little plot device did lead to one of the most remarkable moments on the series, a scene that spoke of exactly why Clark Kent is the only person who can really be Superman. Lois, using super hearing for the first time, became overwhelmed by all of the cries for help, unable to distinguish who needed her and who didn’t. Clark, having dealt with this for years, quickly talked her through the process he makes in a matter of seconds—is it urgent, can the police/EMTs/fire respond, etc. This showed the stress that Clark must go through, the split second decisions he must make and live with, in order to be the hero he’s meant to be. It’s an overwhelming thought and one that left a lasting impression on Lois.
Not only that, after realizing Toyman was using mind controlling diodes to get others, including Stargirl, to do his dirty work, Lois visited the demented toymaker in prison. During their conversation, as the sun was setting and Lois was about to lose Clark’s powers, the Toyman threatened Clark’s life if Lois didn’t put on the diode. Panic and fear drove Lois to put on the diode to protect Clark—her greatest weakness. Unfortunately, the Toyman sent Lois off to kill The Blur. The sun set, Clark got his powers back, and the bad guys were stopped. But Lois, clearly, was not ok.
At Watchtower, just as they are about to leave for their rehearsal dinner, Lois realized two things about Clark: just like he is her greatest weakness, she is his and the weight of his responsibilities makes their lives seem shallow. Not wanting to rob the world of its hero and afraid someday an enemy will use her against Clark, Lois decides to call off the wedding.
And that’s how we head into the finale. I don’t presume to know what will happen in the finale, the series finale, but one imagines that Clark Kent will finally get his happy ending—and Lois is just going to have to accept it.
“Prophecy” was an interesting an episode for the themes it presented, but maybe it was a little too full. It would have been nice to see the power swap storyline fleshed out even more. I, for one, would have enjoyed seeing Clark get a taste of what Lois goes through every time he “whooshes” off to save the day—the worry, the concern, the pride. In the end, though, “Prophecy” set up the finale, said good-bye to Kara, and delivered some interesting character moments. Not a bad hour of TV.
