Monsters of Television

“Krypton will rise again. And all humankind will kneel before Zod.”

Season 9 has been one very long crawl to an endgame that we all know is coming. Chloe, Oliver, the audience. Everyone knows Zod is evil and that Clark is gonna have to man up and kick his ass. As lines become drawn and the endgame creeps nearer, Superman-to-be may finally be catching up to everyone else. And he’s the one with the super speed.

This episode took a very “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” approach to relationship forging between the characters. Old rivals and foes having to sacrifice their pride and set aside their differences for a grater goal. We saw Chloe and Tess working together to break out of a lock-down at Watchtower and escape the clutches of Checkmate’s White Knight.What began as a Tess Mercer attempt at data thievery turned into a very sexy remake of Panic Room. While the two ladies had to team up to break out as Checkmate bared down on them, that didn’t stop them from tossing the usual witty quips at one another. Chloe won for the night: “I knew you were the Kandorians lapdog but I didn’t know you were Zod’s little bitch too.” But at the end of the day, an uneasy alliance between the two was formed. How long will that last?

Once again we saw Waller trying to convince Clark to help against the threat of Zod and his army but Clark’s not so ready to jump into bed with the Devil yet. I mean, he hasn’t even jumped into bd with Lois yet! Clark does however try to rally other Kandorians against Zod, who is still lying about having his powers back. Everyone may have different agendas and very different ways of going about things but they all want the same thing: to stop Zod and save the world.

All of this is leading to an inevitable showdown between the Kandorians and the Clark led band of misfits and old enemies. So my question is: what the hell is taking so long? This season has felt primarily like filler. We’ve been given storylines we don’t care about: the Chloe/Ollie relationship (I can’t be the only one who doesn’t buy it), R.A.O Industries, comic books that grant children super powers. But unfortunately for us comic nerds, the writers have ingeniously sprinkled in enough nerd fodder to keep us hooked: Justice Society of America, Checkmate, Metallo, even the Wonder Twins.

But the fact of the matter is the show has slowed down. It’s traded good arcs and coherent storylines for comic book fluff. Don’t get me wrong, I love the fluff. But it’s existence seems to prove that the writers knew they wanted to add Zod to the Smalville mythology but didn’t have enough material to sustain it for an entire season and make it interesting. Episodes have been redundant. Zod’s good. Oops, he’s not. Clark trusts him. Oh wait, no he doesn’t. On and on all season. God only knows what they’ll do if Zod is still around next season. Apparently Callum Blue is still under contract. Allison Mack is the only main cast member whose contract is up at the end of this season.

I love Smallville. I’m going to keep watching. Stubbornness? Maybe. Nerd pride? Definitely a factor. But I do want to see everything come together in the end. I do want to see the epic Clark vs. Zod finale fight. I just wish that the journey was as interesting and fulfilling as the destination.

Important plot points from the episode (if you’re into that sort of thing):

• After a brief run-in with Zod, Ollie’s in the hospital, the mark of Zod heat-visioned into his chest.
• Watchtower is destroyed. After the attack by Checkmate and Tess and Chloe’s escape, the hero homebase has been rendered useless.
• Zod killed Faora (who was pregnant with his child) and uses it as a way to rally the Kandorians and prepare them for war.
• Checkmate isn’t doing too hot either. Zod burned down The Castle and killed a bunch of agents. On top of that the Black Knight is still missing.