Monsters of Television

“This is your lucky day kid. The big break most people only dream about. You get to write a story with Perry White.”

Smallville decided to get all philosophical on us this episode and talk a lot about purpose. We all know the Clark’s purpose is to protect the Earth, one day (although we’ll never see it on the show) as Superman. But what of our other characters? What drives them? What gives their lives meaning? “Hostage” broke down and had Lois, Chloe, and a few guest surprises reflecting on their lives and looking for direction.

Lois Lane is more than just the love of Clark Kent’s life. She is a strong, witty, inquisitive, award-winning journalist. Or at least she will be. Right now she’s unemployed and trying to figure her life out. She believes the only way to do this is to find her own way. No Clark. No Blur. So when Perry White comes back into town (last seen in “Perry”) Lois jumps at the chance to help him with his latest scoop. Perry’s hunting down Checkmate and the Red Queen. The chemistry between Durance and McKean is amazing. I definitely want to see more of this duo in the future. The two catch a glimpse of the Red Queen and track her down. During a chase Perry slips and finds himself hanging from a dangling fire escape. “Great Caesar’s ghost!” he exclaims, music to any Perry White fans ears. Lois helps Perry up and even though the Red Queen escapes, she counts it as a victory. Perry wants Lois to accompany him to Nairobi on another Checkmate lead but she says she’s fine now. She just needed to find the hero in herself, to see that she could do good on her own.

Chloe had a similar “no more Clark” epiphany. She wanted nothing to do with Watchtower any longer. For multiple seasons now Watchtower has been very important to Clark, Ollie and the other heroes. It seemed that was Chloe’s purpose. But having all the info did not mean having all the answers and now that she had found love with Oliver she was ready to live that life instead. That was her new purpose. But Clark managed to convince her that Watchtower was bigger than either of them, that it made her just as much of a hero as he is. Selfish? Sincere? Don’t know. But at the end of the day I think Clark’s insistence and dependence on Chloe is only going to breed resentment in the end. This is a peek at that future.

Perry White wasn’t the only familiar face back in town. Martha Kent was on vacation from Washington and came home to surprise her son. The biggest surprise of all was the fact that she is dating Perry! Or is Martha the mysterious Red Queen that’s been getting in everyone’s way the latter half of this season? I dunno, you tell me. A mother’s duty is to protect her children. Martha said that she could not sit by and watch all the opposition that Clark faced so she had to take action. She had to oppose Checkmate. She had to help foil Zod’s plans. She had to have possession of the Book of Rao. She had to help protect Clark so that he too could serve his purpose and save the Earth from the coming apocalypse (or is it Apokolips? Smallville keeps tossing that word around. Could this be foreshadowing of Darkseid’s introduction on Smallville soon?).

A lot of self-reflection and self-discovery for people other than Clark for once. Even Perry got in on the action. He said that after a lifetime of adventure and chasing down stories (and two divorces) he realized that life was about having someone to share it with. And he wanted to share his with Martha. Perry hunting down the Red Queen who is actually the woman he’s in love with? Don’t let this story go to waste, Smallville.

Important Plot Points:

• Lois and Clark broke up. It seemed like they did at the end of the last episode but apparently not. It won’t stick anyway so I’m not too worried about it.
• Perry called in a favor with Stern and got Lois and Clark their jobs at the Daily Planet back.
• Red Queen and Black King played Tess for a fool all episode. Played mind games with her and got her to lead them to the Book of Rao.
• Martha gives Clark the Book of Rao, which contains all the power and knowledge of Rao. Oh yeah, and has the ability to banish all Kryptonians from Earth and to another plane of existence. That too.