*Originally published on 11/9/10
After sharing a night together, Clark and Lois go downstairs for breakfast. Both seem to be in a good mood and are eager to continue reveling in their newfound level of commitment and intimacy.
The amorous honeymoon phase of their relationship is drawn to a complete halt when Sam Lane, Lois' father and long time member of the military shows up (played by Michael Ironside). You gotta feel bad for Clark, things were going so well.
As it is in the comics, General Lane and Clark don't hit it off and end up butting heads. This time around, it's because General Lane is a major supporter of the Vigilante Registration Act, which Clark vehemently opposes. The two butt clash and things get off to a rocky start from the get go.
Am I the only one who thinks that General Lane has a point about the vigilantes' actions? Lane brings up the towers that Clark leveled, and while we know they were weapons intended to be used by Zod, it still goes to show what metahumans, and vigilantes in general, are capable of. Clark's penchant for vandalism and the fact that he refuses to show himself would instill a sense of worry in almost anyone.
The General suspects that Clark is hiding something, and uses his resources to try and dig up dirt. This, along with the attempted interrogation, make it feel slighty reminiscent of Meet The Parents, though that's not necessarily a bad thing.
I'm still not sure how I feel about Clark dragging Lois into the middle of their fight. I know it makes sense to try and find a third party to settle the argument, but putting Lois in a tough situation like that, and forcing her to choose between them was a rather low move if you ask me.
Unbeknownst to any of them. The farm house is being monitored by Rick Flagg, who has an interest in the General.
Tess discovers a sub-dermal tattoo on Oliver while tending to his wounds and explains that it's the mark of the Suicide Squad. Oddly enough, they're not targeting Oliver, but are more likely to try and recruit him. They manage to remove Oliver's, but I'm unsure about Clark. One would assume they got it off, though given his invulnerability, that would be trickier for him. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
It's revealed that Rick is targeting the General because Flagg himself supports the vigilantes and thinks that taking out the General will help their cause. He unveils a missile which he has programmed to lock on to the General's position.
The episode was enjoyable overall. Michael Ironside is always fun to watch, though he's far better at playing intimidating than he is at playing tender. His cry of "Lois!" when the apartment blows up did not come off well at all.
Speaking of the apartment blowing up, that's another thing that bugged me. How many villains are going to operate on the faulty assumption that Superman (or The Blur in this case) can't out run a missile? We've seen this idea used so many times, it's ridiculous. I know, these are his early years, so they don't know, but seeing the same villainous plot used this frequently vexes me.
As the episode ends, Oliver hands in his JLA membership card as he feels like his outing has drawn attention to Watchtower and heroes go there for sanctuary. This would be a good point if any of the other heroes ever showed up. As it is, it seems like it's just Green Arrow and The Blur. OK, Clark's identity is still secret, but where are all the other heroes? Martian Manhunter, Flash, Aquaman, Black Canary, they seem to have vanished. Hawkman has been showing up from time to time, but that's about it. It's pretty sad that their hero club has dwindled down to one constant member. I suppose you could count Tess, but she's not a super-hero so I'd put her in a seperate category.
The story does end up becoming a Lois/Clark ship episode as both declare their love for one another during different confrontations with the General. Clark is also revealed to be the first man to pass Lane's test. General Lane tells Clark that he treated the others so hard because he wanted to see Lois stand up for them to show that she really cared, which she did for Clark.
All in all, it was an enjoyable episode, though to be honest, I'm looking forward to next week's more. It's been a while since we touched on the Darkseid plot and with Granny Goodness being name dropped, I figure we're going to be getting back to that. Hopefully, they make Granny Goodness as creepy as the cartoons and comics have. Though it'll be interesting to see how they fit her in considering Apokolips doesn't seem to exist in this take. I guess we'll find out in a few days.
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