Interstitial Moments

Cinematic Loneliness and Space Age Isolation

2009-04-29T04:50:00.004-04:00

They still exist in culturally and cinematically-specific ways...

In Tokyo Sonata, a troubled father loses his "administrator" position at a company, and begins to pretend that he is still going to work every day, to save the shame of telling his wife and children. A somewhat "traditional" drama emphasizing cultural, societal, and emotional rituals in contemporary Japan, Tokyo Sonata still builds an interesting boil under the surface, before (in this humble writer's opinion) it veers wobbly off-course in its final act. I enjoyed the film for what it was, and was moved at certain points, but was left with a distinct feeling of isolation from most of the film's protagonists (and despite my love for Koji Yakusho, I even wondered about his character's purpose during the actor's brief appearance in this film).

The Wrestler deals with similar issues of isolation and contemporary societal melancholy, but in middle-class American society. Mickey Rourke's searing performance as Randy "The Rod" Roberts is so devastatingly heavy-hearted -- both psychologically and, err... medically -- that I found the film physically hard to watch. Randy tries to connect with a local stripper, and re-connect with his estranged daughter, but is pretty unsuccessful at either. As he is living out his "has been" days physically and emotionally separated from the famous professional wrestling life he once knew, Randy struggles to reconcile who he wants to be with the nature of what he was born to do. Bruce Springsteen's closing credits song makes the message clear -- we all hear of, or experience stories such as this, but rarely do we understand them in the simple manner in which we should. The Wrestler is the story of us all.

Seen at a recent festival screening, Moon is an altogether different kind of narrative, futuristically and dramatically separated from all that we know in contemporary media and society, yet relying on the same dislocated sense of isolation that human beings can all feel, especially when they are physically isolated from loved ones, and more importantly a daily existence that they know well. At times stark in atmosphere and emotion, often concentrating merely on the whirring sound of the robotic computer as it moves its levers to "communicate" in response to its commander's wishes, Moon nonetheless finds a very interesting balance between chaotic emotional trauma and the silence and ghostliness of space. I couldn't determine which I found more fascinating -- Sam Rockwell's expertly tuned performance as the station's lone "presence," or his character's desolate, repetitive trips outside across the surface of the moon, during which he investigates technical problems which in fact facilitate some of the movie's greatest mysteries. Directed by David Bowie's son, Duncan Jones (in his feature debut), Moon is a structurally and generically distinct cinematic object; while numerous nods to past archetypal film narratives are apparent, they are (re)arranged and brought forth in such interesting and offbeat ways that one anticipates there could be an equally rich follow-up story conceived and filmed. Indeed, the concluding moments of the movie had this normally cynical scholar wishing for a sequel more than any recent blockbuster I've seen.

"Doomsday" or a New Beginning? Smallville, Part Two

2009-03-24T15:56:00.006-04:00

Continuing a discussion of "Odyssey," Smallville's Season 8 opener from September, 2008, a mid-episode cliffhanger shows a non-Super-powered Clark Kent close to a "mortal" death, when watchful guardian J'onn J'onzz appears and lifts him off into the sky. A quick final shot shows them speeding up out of the Earth, into space and towards the camera, finally surrounded by white/yellow heat (we come to find out that they are speeding towards the sun).

A commercial break holds the tension, and we arrive back at the Kent farm, introduced by a signature shot that still appears in one form or another in every single episode of Smallville, even though the majority of events on the show now take place in the city of Metropolis.

Clark awakes in the barn, the scene of so many iconic moments throughout the show's history, and as he sits up and is able to crush a football, he realizes his superhuman abilities have returned. He and J'onn have a discussion about power and destiny, during which Clark begins to ponder a dual identity, and J'onn reveals the tragic consequences of his heroism.

J'onn: How does it feel to be whole again?

Clark: I was dying -- you saved me! You brought me to some white light...

J'onn: The healing effect of the sun...brought you back from death. I promised Jor-El that I would only be a watchful guardian -- but I could not stand by and let you die.

Clark: You shouldn't have had to...

J'onn: Jor-El knew he was sending you on an impossible odyssey -- to be given the power of a God, yet exist among humans.

Clark: Sometimes I feel like I need to be two separate people... Either way, I can't keep expecting you to save me.

J'onn: That was the last time. The burning sun may strengthen you, but it has the opposite effect on me. It stripped me of my powers... We both know that yours' is a greater destiny -- but with the Fortress destroyed, you'll have to do it without Jor-El's guidance.

Clark: ...Or anyone else's.

During the last couple of seasons, Smallville had gradually begun to dramatize the idea that exposure to the Earth's sun can restore Clark's extraordinary abilities in moments of weakness. The basic notion that Superman's powers are gained from our yellow sun has existed in his comics for many decades, but it became a primary factor in the character's re-emergence following the 1992 "Death of Superman" storyline. It was explained that Superman's body stored solar energy, and though seemingly appearing "dead" after an epic struggle with the monster Doomsday, he was in fact only in a coma-like state, recharging his body's resources. That Smallville is now directly incorporating the sun's importance in Clark's life energy on Earth, coupled with the introduction of the Doomsday character throughout this season, hints at where the show may be heading for Season 8's finale.

Continuing their conversation, Clark describes his life flashing back before his eyes while he was dying, seeing his father, mother and Lana. "I've written eulogies. I've seen people walk away from me. But I've never really said goodbye -- I've been holding onto a life on this farm that hasn't existed for years," again here echoing what many longtime viewers of the show have been feeling for the past few seasons. J'onn asks Clark what he is going to do. Clark turns around with conviction, and replies, "Let it go." J'onn smiles, and picks up Clark's signature red jacket. He throws it to Clark, who, accompanied by familiar Smallville musical themes, puts it on dramatically, as if he were donning the iconic red cape of his future heroic persona. Clark nods confidently.

Clark's new proactive nature affects the way he acts both with the yet-to-be Justice League, and with Lois Lane herself. At the conclusion of the episode, Clark meets up with Oliver, A.C. (Aquaman), and Dinah (Black Canary), and Clark's more positive attitude prompts Oliver to tell him: "Pretty soon, you'll be sporting a homemade costume and leading a double identity, just like the rest of us." When Clark then goes to meet up with Lois at The Daily Planet, he surprises her with news that not only has he secured a job at the revered metropolitan newspaper, but also that he will be sitting right across from her.

Clark's beaming smile as he walks towards camera and out of the office, satisfied that he has suitably outwitted the intrepid reporter, displays a kind of boyish, optimistic expressiveness that actor Tom Welling hasn't shown in the role in years.

After Clark leaves, Lois discovers that "Smallville" wasn't lying.

One of the few dramatic faults of Clark's storyline here is that, despite making a life-changing decision to pursue a "day job" so that he can be "closer to the action" in the city, it is never actually explained precisely how he scored such a plum spot working right across, and seemingly at equal rank, with the already-employed Lois Lane. Viewers are also left to wonder just how the producers might decide to develop and make plausible Clark's "disguise," as in Smallville's continuity, Lois has now known Clark for nearly five years, and there are no eyeglasses in sight (though the show has displayed Clark flirting with a pair or two before). The producers and writers are way ahead of us, though, as they continue to blatantly and wittily acknowledge how Smallville's own success has forced them to slow Clark's growth into the hero we know: In an episode entitled "Legion," three superheroes from the future visit Clark to help him stop Brainiac, but to their surprise, they also find a superhero that isn't yet fully formed: "No glasses, no tights, no flights? So far, he's nothing like the Man of Steel!"

Smallville's take on the The Daily Planet newspaper building.

As the season presses on, Clark starts dressing in business attire for work at The Daily Planet, and (secretly) begins taking a more direct, active role in the emergencies in Metropolis. On his first day of work, Clark comes in ill-attired, and in a lighthearted moment, Lois borrows a co-worker's extra dress shirt and forces Clark into an indoor phone booth to man-up (Later in the season, Clark will use this same phone booth as he perfects his iconic "quick-change" into familiar red and blue colors).

Clark with a new, but familiar, shade of blue.

In the second episode of the season, Smallville again surprisingly touches on the sobering realities of terrorism, as the episode opens with a bus explosion which affects many bystanders.

While Smallville's narrative choices here clearly don't constitute an embrace of the deep complications of, and meditations on, the "war on terror" that have been prevalent in many other contemporary television series, there is still a noticeable shift in dramatic tension in Clark's world, which subtly reflects everyday problems with a more astute and pointed sensibility than in the show's previous seasons.

A promo shot for Season 8: a much more adult Clark dressed for work...can you spot the eyeglasses?

As time progresses, it becomes much harder for Clark to keep his "Good Samaritan" deeds under-wraps, even with the powerless J'onn J'onzz covering for him (as local detective "John Jones"), and Oliver Queen donning a second costume (with red & blue themes) in order to keep Jimmy Olsen from linking the mysterious "red & blue blur" to Clark's use of the red jacket and blue jeans. J'onn strongly urges Clark to find a way to keep his true identity a secret: "You are not in Smallville anymore, Clark. Metropolis has millions of people walking the streets -- every one of them watching for a miracle, to change their lives, to give them hope. You are that miracle -- and it's just a matter of time before someone discovers that."

Though Smallville's characters continue to mention many pivotal events from previous years of the show, there is one notable exception: the treatment of Kara, Clark's cousin, who was introduced by Gough and Millar in the beginning of Season 7 with the intention of spawning a spin-off show. Gough and Millar had attempted this before: after a Season 5 episode featuring Aquaman drew very high ratings, they produced an Aquaman pilot with a different actor, but when it failed to spawn a series, the actor joined Smallville to play Oliver Queen/Green Arrow -- who has also apparently also been considered for a spin-off numerous times. Kara arrived in Smallville with a bang, but soon landed in limbo creatively and narratively. Her character arc topped off midway through the season; she disappeared, showed up with amnesia, and then was sent to the Phantom Zone (a virtual wasteland created by Jor-El to house intergalactic criminals). Kara is interestingly not mentioned once throughout the first seven episodes of Season 8, and is brought back only for a one-off return appearance in the eighth episode, wherein Clark and Lois get trapped in the Phantom Zone. The show's ability to have fun with its own mythology knows no bounds: Oliver, upon learning of the existence of the intergalactic prison from Chloe, chides, "Phantom Zone, huh? Seriously, who names these things?" But Clark clearly takes his mythology seriously, as he tells a distraught Lois in the Zone that "No one's going to mess with Lois & Clark."

Kara lends a hand (on the familiar "House of El" crest) to help Lois and Clark escape from The Phantom Zone.

Despite a few powerful scenes between Clark and Kara, one gets the painfully obvious feeling that this episode is merely meant as "closure" for a character that perhaps never should have been written into Smallville in the first place -- and it is knowingly related in the show's dialogue itself. In a touching conversation at the Kent farm at the conclusion of the show, Kara tells Clark, "I don't fit in here -- my journey is somewhere else." Even in essentially admitting that the introduction of Kara into Smallville's universe was a mistake, the final scenes between Clark and Kara evoke a bittersweet sadness that is more affecting than any of Kara's prior appearances in Season 7.

Davis Bloome is a paramedic by day...reverse his last and first name, and it may sound familiar...

This year's creative direction has also been greatly enhanced by the introduction and development of a character named Davis Bloome, a paramedic who spends his days saving lives, but who has secretly been developing destructive tendencies in his unconscious at night. Gradually, he begins to discover that he may not be who he thinks he is -- but in fact something much more disturbing. This is the producers' new vision of Doomsday, the supremely powerful Kryptonian monster (in)famous in the DC comic universe for being the only character to essentially "kill" Superman. Producers tapped Battlestar Galactica vet Sam Witwer to play Bloome, and the actor's previous attachment to the critically-acclaimed sci-fi show has helped bring additional critical and cultural credibility to Smallville this year. The show's take on Doomsday smartly ties multiple Superman mythologies together: in the eighth episode, it is revealed that the Kryptonian villain General Zod and his wife, Faora, genetically engineered Doomsday because they could not have a child of their own, and they attached his DNA matter onto Clark/Kal-El's ship so that he would arrive on Earth to destroy the "Last Son of Krypton" (one of the later episodes of Season 8 will showcase flashbacks to Davis Bloome's early years on Earth).

Doomsday makes his first appearance in Smallville, in an episode tellingly-titled "Bride."

Bloome's tragic evolution into the creature who will eventually "kill" Superman, a narrative created by the show's producers, is dark and disturbing, and has added another interesting thread to an already rich tapestry of contemporary superheroic mythology that keeps Smallville alive (This year's season finale is, not surprisingly, entitled "Doomsday"). At the beginning of the season, producers hinted that recreating the iconic comic book death scene would be "quite an exciting cinematic moment;" fan buzz seems to agree that such an event may be the focus of this year's finale. Television critics have hinted that the "Doomsday" carnage may cause other significant character deaths as well -- permanent ones (In "Legion," the heroes from the future tell Clark rather ominously: "We've heard of Lois Lane, Lana Lang, even Jimmy Olsen -- but we've never heard a thing about any Chloe Sullivan."). This is where we can see that "Odyssey" was indeed framed as an introduction and preparation for such an event: Clark's near-death in the season opener could mirror his "death" in the finale -- except this time, J'onn J'onzz can't save him. In the comics version of the story, Superman is memorialized, buried, and disappears for a year, while four potential replacements show up, all claiming to be him. What will Smallville's take on this story be in Season 9?

While the season so far has included a couple of "filler" episodes with "magic time reversals," and a few tragically off-putting plot lurches (a brief return for Lana that took the season on a backwards-left turn into oddsville), the missteps and discrepancies have been surprisingly few. Ultimately, once gets the sense that the overall creative direction behind the new season is more cool, calculated and logically plotted than in years past; in fact there is an overriding feeling that a much clearer plan has surrounded all of the major production decisions, which has arguably given Smallville new life, a rebirth in a television market that is increasingly fragmented by changing network viewing habits and cable television's continuously strong competition in ratings. As the show's actors and characters have "grown up" throughout the past eight years, so also has the global television market matured into something very different, and much more complicated, than it was in 2001. In this sense, Smallville, Clark, and the hero he will eventually become (but in most ways, truly already is) are interesting metaphors for the transforming television industry, just as the show continues to convey Superman's core values, and his longevity, strength, and lasting sense of purpose throughout history. As the world changes, it seems Superman will always be there for us in one incarnation or another, but Smallville has successfully endured trials equal to those of its central hero, and like him, the show continues to surprise its observers with its consistently creative combination of classic mythology and contemporary narrative storytelling.

"Doomsday" or a New Beginning?

2009-03-19T15:50:00.000-04:00

Smallville's Continued Survival Amidst Changing Television Trends

The characters of Smallville, Season 8 (pictured, from left): Lois Lane, Davis Bloome, Jimmy Olsen, Chloe Sullivan, Clark Kent, Tess Mercer, and Oliver Queen.

"What have you been doing all this time, building snowmen?"

This line from Tess Mercer, a newly-introduced character on this (the 8th) season of Smallville, the continually evolving, enormously successful contemporary take on Superman's origins, is both a nice in-joke for the shifting creative direction of the show itself, and a suitable metaphor for my re-entry into blog-land on more academically-oriented terms. I have to thank my good friend and colleague Bob Rehak for inspiring me to begin laying out my thoughts for a wider, interactive audience in a (hopefully) more concise and compelling manner; his constant acceptance and encouragement of, and intelligent responses to, my frequent (and often passionate) comments on his own blog, and in our conversations in general, have compelled me to further focus my thoughts through my own venue. I can only hope that this blog will become an equal part of the always growing global online network of film & media scholars who continue to offer thoughts, ideas, and questions about the medium.

In lieu of building snowmen -- as it is physically impossible due to the weather where I am currently living -- I have been watching more television programming, and due to a variety of circumstances, have been slightly less engaged in regular filmgoing, so future blog posts will reflect this variance (For those not interested in the subject of this essay, I will be posting some thoughts on Watchmen soon...)

Now that brief introductions are out of the way, I'd like to spend the rest of this post (and the next one) discussing how Smallville continues to renew and re-invigorate itself, despite network transformations, creative upheavals, cast shake-ups, and even character ownership/rights entanglements, remaining one of the most stable, reliable genre hours on television for audiences worldwide. Though the top four U.S. networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX, continue to compete for national ratings in a time of changing viewing habits, very few shows from the "big four" have survived the past eight years as consistent successes in creative content, audience demographics, and marketplace share. Smallville has now outlasted Buffy The Vampire Slayer and all of the Star Trek television series, among many other shows, to become one of the most successful genre productions ever made for television.

While Smallville retains criticisms of its own from both genre fans and critics of so-called "quality television," the show has been redeemed through constant critical and cultural re-appraisal, and perhaps most importantly for its investors, its DVD season sets are consistently found among the top sellers on Amazon.com and in physical stores. The show is regularly featured in the top ten in data surveys of in-home digital video recorders, and retains a significant international following, both in DVD sales and download activity. Smallville's distinct mix of heroic mythology, romantic melodrama, and sometimes playful comedy retains old fans and constantly attracts new followers; and while it's surely had more than a few plots which stretch the premise of its universe, the show continues to showcase impressive production values, unusually consistent direction and editing, and high-quality visual effects, all of which help create a unique aesthetic style and attitude that appeals to a worldwide audience of many ages and cultural backgrounds.

A shot from Smallville's Season 8 opening credit sequence.

What inspired me to write about the show was the premiere episode of its eighth season, broadcast in September, 2008. Titled "Odyssey," the episode re-situates, and in certain ways, creatively reboots the Smallville universe surrounding young Clark Kent, an alien sent here from the doomed planet Krypton and raised in fictional Smallville (essentially, Kansas), who is destined to become the "world's greatest protector," Superman (this post is populated by bolded Wiki links explaining background mythology for the unitiated). DC Comics' Superman story, begun as a proper comic book by Jerry Siegel and Joel Shuster in 1938, has inspired numerous television shows, animated productions, radio serials, and film series, all placing their unique stamp on the culture of their respective generations, but Smallville's survival and cultural impact is a compelling story all its own. Given that the show is still, eight years in (and having just been renewed for a ninth), constantly and passionately discussed and consumed by fans, critics and scholars worldwide, it is safe to argue that Smallville's impact on genre television and popular culture is continually worth analyzing.

The show's first three seasons concentrated heavily on the small town genesis of Clark Kent, as raised by his adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha. While Clark struggled with his new-found superhuman strength and abilities during his all-too-human teenage years, he helped solve the ever-growing mysteries of a town physically and psychologically impacted by the meteor shower which brought his ship to Earth. Throughout the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh years of the show, the world around Clark matured and darkened, Clark lost his Earth father to a heart attack, and his mother to Congress, but interestingly the show began to introduce well-known characters who would traditionally play a big part in the future of the Man of Steel: Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen. Complicating the adventures and mythology of past, present and future, Smallville became something entirely different, significantly veering off from what seemed its natural trajectory, morphing into, as certain fans (and now DC Comics personnel) asserted, an "Elseworlds" show.

Having explored all manner of twists and turns in the relationships of its central characters throughout its first seven seasons, and having slowed Clark's journey to adulthood as far as meaningfully possible, Smallville's story seemed as if it was moving towards a natural -- perhaps even belated -- conclusion during its seventh year. With the introduction of Clark's cousin, Kara (who later becomes Supergirl), as a potential spin-off property, and the departure of original cast members Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor), John Glover (Lex's father, Lionel Luthor, created for the show), and Kristin Kreuk (Lana Lang), as well as -- according to industry buzz -- the near-departure of Allison Mack (Clark's trusted friend Chloe Sullivan, also created specifically for the show), coupled with rumors of cast frustration with storylines, and network-mandated budget cuts, Smallville was seemingly ready to fly up, up and away into franchise history. But some surprising developments off-screen -- a writers' strike resulting in a shortened season, the out-of-left-field departure of the show's creators, Al Gough and Miles Millar, and again, importantly, continually strong ratings and DVD sales for previous seasons -- prompted the small fourth-place network The CW (formerly The WB) to renew Smallville for an eighth year (star Tom Welling had already committed the previous year to a contract with an option for Season 8).

Many of the show's fans had found the last couple of seasons difficult to swallow, due to stagnating characters (particularly Clark) and questionable relationship pairings (Lex Luthor romancing Lana). Clark's noticeably unchanging blue shirt-red jacket-blue jeans wardrobe, while obviously meant to reflect the primary colors of the Superman costume, became more of a metaphorical straitjacket, a signature of the restrictions the show's producers were forced to adhere to, both because the characters were a victim of the show's own extended success, and because the studio, network and creators had never planned on turning Smallville into a full-blown Superman narrative.

Season 7 ended with a whimper, its last few episodes spent tying up loose ends from seasons past in an attempt to wrap some sort of conclusion around a saga that was at its natural creative end, but forced to continue because of the demands of the marketplace. The season finale was a strange downer: Lex, having finally discovered the full nature of Clark's abilities, confronts him at the Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic, activating a device which triggers the destruction of the Fortress, and buries both under the icy rubble. Chloe is arrested by the "Department of Domestic Security" for her hacking activities (which had often helped Clark save lives), and Lana, Clark's first love, abruptly awakens from a coma caused by Brainiac and leaves Clark a video goodbye message ("I need you -- but the world needs you more."). Rather than any compelling desperate situation or significant tactical or social conundrum, this season finale left audiences (including myself) feeling quite depressed and pessimistic about what the show had become, and where it could possibly go next...

Frames from the first television teaser for Season 8.

Many were therefore skeptical about what Smallville could offer as it jumped into its eighth year, but from its opening moments, the first episode of the season shows and tells us that this interpretation of Clark's journey is different than anything that has come before, in a very satisfying way. Gough and Millar's departure from the show seemingly opened a creative freedom for the writers that hadn't existed before. Through scripting, cinematography, dialogue, and editing, new showrunners Todd Slavkin, Darren Swimmer, Kelly Sounders, and Brian Peterson (all previous writers on the show) use "Odyssey" to playfully and quite brilliantly free themselves from the last few seasons' disappointing creative turns and plot constraints.

The opening shots of "Odyssey": the Arctic and the introduction of Tess Mercer

The show begins in the Arctic, at an outpost where agents are searching the spot of the demolished Fortress for clues to Lex's disappearance. Tess Mercer, a cold but very attractive redhead with killer eyes and instincts, walks into the tent and aggressively assumes command, claiming her "access is unrestricted." Straightaway, there's a sharp exchange of dialogue, which distinctly brings to mind a certain Alaskan vice-presidential candidate from last year's election. The camp's leader scoffs at her: "You're nothing but an obscure regional VP, do you actually believe you're qualified?" Tess replies: "Lex believes it, and that's all that matters." When the same executive later again raises his suspicions about her motives, Tess cuts back: "Nobody questions my loyalty [to Lex]." (And in a future episode, Tess proves her mettle by personally offing the questioning exec, on screen and in graphic bloody detail.) The similarities in look and dialogue may have surprisingly been by chance, as "Odyssey" was written and filmed at least six weeks before Sarah Palin was announced as the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate on August 29th, 2008. Nonetheless, the evolution of the character since retains an attitude and demeanor that is undoubtedly Palin-esque...

At one point in "Odyssey," Tess comments to Lois Lane, "I have to admit, it's difficult to imagine a mini-Lois running around." Has she seen Superman Returns?

But in fact, "Odyssey" makes numerous comments on recent political and cultural divides in the United States, themes that the show had never before been brave enough to tackle. Since Clark has been missing for over a month, his friend Oliver Queen (who is already masquerading as Green Arrow) has organized a search party which includes Smallville's versions of Aquaman (not played here by Vincent Chase) and Black Canary (who can release deafening sonic screams). For their covert actions as the yet-to-be-named Justice League, they are referred to by Lexcorp employees as "terrorists," and when a couple of them are captured in a Guantanamo Bay-like facility where Chloe is also being held, they are hung by chains and interrogated, the implication clearly alluding to torturous tactics.

However, the most telling and compelling moments in Smallville's eighth season premiere are those that comment on the show's own recent history, both on screen and behind the scenes. While forging a new creative direction, "Odyssey" also features many revealing, almost snarky lines of dialogue that seem to be directly referencing the show's troubled past few years -- and perhaps the program's former showrunners. Upon discovering Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane spying in her office, Tess Mercer (knowing something's up) comes on like a critical audience member, chastising producers for failing to deliver significant character evolution: "And the floors, they've lost their sheen...you're not getting lazy, are you?" Smartly preempting the fanbase's possible criticisms of the Tess character as a replacement for Rosenbaum's highly-regarded performance as Lex Luthor, Chloe calls Tess a "Luthor-wanna-be." Additionally, it is revealed that Oliver Queen has a "history" with Tess, and he calls her by a nickname: "Mercy." The name "Tess Mercer" was created by the show's new producers in reference both to Superman: The Movie's "Miss Tessmacher," and "Mercy Graves," Luthor's chauffeur-with-stilettos from the 1990s Bruce Timm-produced Superman animated series. Tess also immediately joins the show's tradition of playfully verbalizing Superman's many famous associated phrases: "Mr. Luthor is a firm believer in Truth and Justice, Ms. Lane."

In the episode, Oliver Queen locates a powerless Clark in Russia (!), and we discover that he has been slaving away with a crew of caviar peddlers (!), but it is when Oliver and Clark relax on the plane ride home that they have their most interesting exchange, commenting on the inherent ridiculousness of Clark's Season 7 finale scenario:

Clark: How does an ice fortress just disappear into thin air?
Oliver: I feel like there's a punchline in that question...

(ba-dum-pish!)

Clark: It all must be part of my father's plan -- it turns out that his idea of 'controlling' me was taking away my powers...

...And with a wink and smile, we have a very simple twist and throwaway explanation of Season 7's dead-end plotline. But Clark remains "mortal" throughout the rest of this episode, and after running into Lois and saving Chloe, he encounters his own mortality in a scene that may in fact prefigure the events of this year's finale. After Clark and Oliver arrive at the "Gitmo"-like complex in an attempt to rescue their friends, Oliver is briefly overtaken by a mind-altering injected serum from a Lexcorp employee, and in demanding to know where Lex Luthor is, he begins to shoot arrows (his signature weapon) directly at Clark. Here, the show begins to play with viewers' expectations, and plants interesting twists within its narrative and signature visual effects moments and iconography. Oliver's first arrow hits Clark in the chest, right near his heart. He is stunned, bleeding and in pain, and as he struggles to pull the arrow out of his body, Oliver shoots a second arrow. A slow motion digitally-enhanced effect shot (an aesthetic style familiar to viewers of Smallville) closes in on the arrow and follows it toward Clark's chest.

The visual effects style displayed here is normally used to create the expectation that Clark will superspeed (conveyed in slow motion to us) out of danger, or somehow stop the offending object. In this case, Clark, still sans powers, is not able to use his superhuman abilities to either catch the arrow(s), or speed out of the way. The second arrow impales him and runs straight through, blowing out the window behind him.

As Clark falls to the floor, Chloe and Oliver, whose mind-controlling serum has just worn off, come to his side. Seemingly near a "mortal" death, significant people in Clark's life are visualized in the form of a brief flashback montage which relates moments from throughout the show's history, accompanied by a melancholic music cue and the sound of Clark's slowing heartbeat.

Clark's first love, Lana, a shot from Smallville's very first episode in 2001.

Clark's Earth parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent.

Martha Kent at Jonathan's funeral, a shot from Season 5.

This very brief montage has two functions: narratively, it is of course meant as a visualization of Clark's inner thoughts as he believes he is close to death, but seen in the context of the episode (and perhaps Season 8) as a whole, the moment is a key component in the new producers' attempt to subtly re-situate and creatively reboot the Smallville universe in its eighth year. This montage serves as a brief introduction and/or re-introduction to Clark's Earth parents and his first love, all central characters who had a significant impact on Clark within the Smallville universe, but who are no longer regularly involved with/cast in the show.

Clark's flashbacks fade into a God-like image of J'onn J'onzz (a shapeshifting alien known in the comics as the Martian Manhunter), who, in Smallville's incarnation, has been "watching over" Clark for many years, as a promise to his Kryptonian parents. J'onn began appearing in Smallville during Season 6.

In a moment that visually and emotionally brings to life the extraordinary nature of what it might be like to witness the display of super-heroic abilities, a dramatic score builds as J'onn lifts Clark over his shoulders and bursts through a window into the sky, leaving a red blur trail as Oliver and Chloe watch in wonder and worry.

J'onn flying Clark towards the sun.

What has happened to Clark? And how does this contribute to the evolution of Smallville in its eighth year? Just as the episode "Odyssey" pauses here for a dramatic commercial break, I, too will pause for a short time, to give my readers some breathing room. Like the episode, I am hoping that I hold your attention and create some suspense! I will continue the discussion of this episode and Smallville's current season in my next post. Stay tuned.