Idol

DVD, Smallville S9 (Idol)

There were too many ideas and themes in this episode. But they were all good ones, so although it feels like a big bag of assorted sweets jumbled up together, the overall experience is probably to make this the best episode of the season so far! It began and ended slightly iffy, Lois' extreme dream at the start or her vision-of-the-future coma at the end rather jolted the cool narrative, which apart from them pretty much hits all the bits you'd want in its madcap dash at cramming in so much, so they may have felt a little out of place, especially the future vision which Lois continues to see of Chloe dead and other apocalyptic events, which just isn't of interest. What is, is the question of how Clark was going to get out of this one? His reputation is becoming tarnished by someone impersonating him and either getting it wrong or deliberately maligning his good character. Then when he calls Lois to try and set things right, the only mouthpiece he has to the world, she either freezes him out or, the second time, a glitch means she hears his real voice in the last sentence he says! I wasn't enamoured with the idea of someone trying to mess up The Blur's image by using his Father's 'S' shield image as a brand for Twitter, Facebook, et al. (although, for obvious reasons I like the idea The Blur has a blog!), social media would have still been a novelty back when this came out in the late 2000s. It looked all set to be a typical evil villain taking apart the good guy in the most devious and despicable way he could: by subverting the identity for his own ends.

That's one theme, and it makes you realise that, yes, an anonymous, faceless identity does have its limits and weaknesses, because it can be faked and used in a defamatory way (though you'd think the city would notice that this Blur is acting out of character when leaving his symbol in spray paint or lights when before he always did it in fire). That could have been the key theme we explored, but no, we're dashing off to see the culprits before much time has passed, and it appears to be another 'famous' character, or characters I should say, as they came across as a brother and sister, Zan and Jayna, with wacky powers - he could turn in to ice or steam, and she could morph into animal forms. The way they were played and the slamming together of fists to create their powers all pointed to an established mythology, though I'd never heard of them - someone called them the Wonder Twins, and I can imagine their being some sort of badly named duo in the DC archives, but I certainly had no knowledge of them and would have appreciated some kind of context or backstory (for example, who was the Father they mentioned?). They're always dropping in an established superhero here or there and never really explaining them. Not that the episode would have been improved if it had been about them, I think it would probably have taken away from the real story, but I do like a little context, at least. And another theme of The Blur inspiring fans that want to help people like he does, and be heroes, was worth exploring further, showing that guidance is required and they can't just go out and be heroic without any thought or planning.

Their real purpose, apart from pleasing the comic readers, was to cause Clark to inadvertently be revealed to Lois as The Blur, but fortunately she was seeing a psychologist about her dreams at the same time who was able to give her professional opinion about Lois' mind converging the two personalities into one. And because Lois is a bit ditzy and, in the kindest way, simple, she would do that, and it makes sense, and she can believe that explanation herself. It becomes a great sequence of her discovery of the secret, that realisation of Clark as the man of her dreams, leading to a classic 'Superman' film moment of Lois Lane hanging off the Daily Planet building and Clark having to choose between saving her and saving his identity. I didn't get a sense of that choice hanging heavily on him, and I'm sure he would have saved her regardless if the Wonder Twins hadn't arrived to support their idol, both by covering the area in fog, or preventing the dodgy DA from escaping. But it's Lois' self-sacrifice that stands out as one of the best moments ever for her character: she totally believes Clark is The Blur, and is willing to fall to protect his secret - you can't buy that kind of devotion! It almost makes you think Clark should just own up and admit it after she's proved herself, but it's never easy to have someone in on the secret, and their life may never be safe again - then again Lois claimed to know The Blur so it's as bad as if she really did. Which she did. But now she thinks she was wrong.

Chloe can attest to the tribulations involved with knowing Clark's secret, and generally she's been incredibly useful as his sidekick or backup. But another theme that's been dallied with before, crops up again: if she hadn't interfered, Clark's secret would have come out or Lois would have died, but she did it by hacking into the cameras at the Daily Planet (which we're fine with since she's always doing that), but also Clark realises she's been hacking into his phone calls with Lois, too, which was how she could create The Blur's voice to add the proof Lois needed that Clark wasn't The Blur. But it's that kind of control, even though for a good reason and cause, that starts to seem unsafe and immoral. The ends don't justify the means when someone's privacy is violated even though it was for their own good, and that's an ever more important theme in today's world as it was a few years ago when this came out - people are far more willing to sacrifice privacy for the ease of communication or services than they used to be and we're heading right into a Big Brother society more and more all the time. Clark isn't happy about it, and no wonder, as she'd already taken liberties by watching the Kent Farm through hidden cameras and microphones, and now this…

What else can we cram into the story? How about District Attorney Ray Sacks who's dealings with the criminal underworld has put Lois on his scent before now, though unfortunately not in any episode - it would have been beneficial if this character had been introduced in a prior episode, at least so we could start to fear for the city, but he's in and out in the space of a single story. We can forgive his short, sharp turn as the evil villain because it's he that sets up the classic Superman moment with Lois hanging from a flagpole - you'd think some of his DNA would have been on Lois since he shoved her off the building, but the series is never the hottest on realism! His demand that The Blur attend his press conference and reveal his identity to the world so he could work with the authorities, rather than as a vigilante, reminded me of the Christopher Nolan Batman films - is it 'The Dark Knight' where they want him to unmask, or did I imagine that? That film's influence has already been felt in the way the city of Metropolis has been shot, a darker palette and the brooding, Batman-like presence Clark's taken on high above the city this season. Again, it's Lois' selfless desire to help The Blur, and now protect Clark's identity, by giving a rousing speech in defence of him, and why he needs to stay hidden, that is one of many great moments in the episode.

When the phone rang to convince Lois she was speaking to The Blur in spite of Clark hovering nearby, I was really hoping it would be Oliver Queen, repaying what Clark did for him back in Season 6 when Clark pretended to be Green Arrow. It would have given great symmetry to the characters, and would have made sense since Chloe could easily have asked Oliver to do that. Instead it becomes about Chloe's growing lack of concern in her all-seeing, all-knowing tactics. What makes these kinds of episodes work over the ones they used to do, that were similar, is that while Lois is easily duped and quick to forgive and forget, Lana never was. It used to be so uncomfortable and depressing seeing the endless circle of Lana letting Clark down or vice versa, or Chloe doing the same, and then it would play out over the course of a season, or half a season, and was such a downer. Episodes like this show that it can be done in an upbeat, inspiring, hopeful way, making you appreciate the characters more and lifting you up with them. That's probably the best compliment I could say about this episode, how it doesn't do what those middle season episodes too often did. All this and a reference to both the pilot episode (Chloe notes Clark's 10,000 friends status on social media shows he's come a long way from being 'scarecrowed in high school'), and 'Star Wars' (Lois responds to The Blur's protestations about not calling her for so long with "There is no try, Skywalker").

If there were more episodes of this calibre in the season it would be a keeper. Unfortunately the ever-present Sword of Damocles hanging over the season is the Kandorians and their plan, not to mention Lois' dark visions, so I don't hold out hope that these anomalous good episodes will become the norm. But I can't help revelling in the quality of them when they do come along - although there's not a lot of stunts, one simple visual that stood out was when Clark steps in to block the smashing fists of the Wonder Twins as they try to power up, meeting his hand unexpectedly in the middle, which blasts them apart and unconscious, a great example of Clark's own power. And we get the glasses of popular Clark Kent mythology. Although we'd seen them before, it was cleverly woven in to provide the 'secret' he tells Lois. And lastly, how can you have Superman merchandise in a TV series about Clark Kent before he was the Man of Steel? Simple, you just show the symbol that has become a brand and is now turned into memorabilia for people to buy. Simple, but plausible.

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