Bulletproof

DVD, Smallville S8 (Bulletproof)

Aside from the soppy and wrongheaded ending where Clark expresses his wish that it was he and Lana together again, as they stand in the Talon coffee shop (I think that's what it was called, it's been so long…), which concluded the episode on a worryingly backwards-looking note, this story was a nice surprise with some genuinely strong character moments. Ironically they were generally from the guest cast, specifically the cop who's gotten in too deep with some corrupt fellow law enforcers who see vigilantism as the only way to get what they want, whether that's vengeance on outsiders like Detective Jones, who do a good job, but keep themselves to themselves and don't belong, or summary 'justice' for those that killed their brother cop. Clark and the Green Arrow (acknowledging their lack of success in cooperation for once!), pull the guy back from the brink where he'd become confused with it 'all turned around' in his head. Together they offer redemption ('ask yourself why you put the uniform on in the first place?'), and it is a success. It was much more 'no flights, no tights' (unless you count the cop's little kid dressed as the Red-Blue Blur or Robin Hood!), than the previous episode which actually referenced this former edict, being a much more realistic take on Metropolis, or at least, the life experienced by its police officers and protectors.

There weren't easy ways out, Clark didn't just rush in and push everyone's lights out as he could have done (and partly did), it was left up to the one good cop to make the right decision and falter in his descent into evil that the others had embraced. It had a strong theme of justice versus revenge, and the ability of those in authority to keep sharp, yet not be ruled by their emotions, as well as the human reaction to 'capes' (as he called them), coming out of the darkness and doing their own crime-fighting, ostensibly getting in the cops' way and taking all the credit, aspects that made it akin to the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy: seeing how the police on the ground work, regular fellows who have all the paperwork to do but not the luxury of special powers, superior technology, or the choice of long, boring shifts. Maybe that's why this was elevated above the standard loose affair of the series, and the simpleminded, messy screen violence that tends to take the place of story and character. If only this approach were taken on a regular basis the series could become good again. To its detriment I was thinking this was going to be the usual type of episode we tend to get, as minutes rolled by without any strong story actually beginning, just scenes of people talking about stuff (like Chloe bringing up the old Clark/Lana triangle and inserting Lois at the third point - please, we don't need to go there again, in fact we didn't need to go there the first half dozen times!), but once Clark started breaking the law (impersonating a police officer, calling himself 'Joe Fordman' in what I assume is a reference to Whitney!), it got a whole lot more interesting.

I was actually thinking a series based on Detective Jones (as he calls himself while on Earth), might have worked quite well, although Phil Morris doesn't have a great deal to do, being only in the teaser and the end cap, but he's a good actor, and an alien having infiltrated the Metropolis PD as a member is a good concept. Unfortunately it's something that hadn't been used up to this point, as usual left to hang, so that I'd completely forgotten what he was doing, but it provides all three of the heroes (Clark, Oliver and Jones), with the reminder that pride, which makes them stand alone, can also make them fall, another theme that could be applied. Two themes in one episode? Wow, and that wasn't all that worked. On a simpler level there was a good fight between Tess Mercer (returning, after having been absent from the recent Doomsday stuff), and Lana, the two meeting for the first time. The flimsy-looking Isis Foundation offices, full as it is of glass and other breakables proved the ideal place for a martial arts face-off between the two dames, and thanks to the episode reminding us of Mercer's Luthor-like desire to spar in the Mansion, the idea of her and Lana having a barney had already crossed my mind before she showed up at Isis, so I was pleased that it happened. It wasn't 'The Matrix' (what is?), but compared to the usual style of punching people ten metres into a wall that we see most often, it was nicely detailed and fluid action.

More than the fight though, was the revelation that Tess knows Lex is alive and has been protecting him, though how long she's known and whether she's been to see him was not revealed. It was a great twist to discover that Tess had actually been used as a pawn, literally being his eyes and ears to see what's going on via her optic nerve (wonder if 'Marvel Agents of SHIELD' got the idea from here?). Will we see Michael Rosenbaum return to the series this season? I doubt it, but it's certainly given credence to a resurgence in Lex' involvement with the series, as I kind of expected, eventually. What's just as interesting is Tess' reaction, talking to herself in the mirror so Lex can see her speaking, and admitting how she'd trusted him, and now doesn't. Even going as far as proposing a merger of some kind with her former acquaintance Oliver Queen. Whether her power-mad tendencies will turn her into a villain for her own aggrandisement, or whether she can truly be trusted against Lex is something to see as the season winds down. Sadly, I don't have any optimism that the kind of real drama and interest successfully implemented in this episode will be sustained as the good episodes are few and far between. Still, all this and a 'Peanuts' reference (The Great Pumpkin), means this one does little wrong!

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