Smallville Digs Into Green Arrow's Past
Smallville delved into the past to show us how Ollie came to be Green Arrow, how Tess and Ollie met, and how incredibly hot Ollie is without his shirt on. OK, that last bit may not have been the point of the episode, but we appreciate it nonetheless.
When Ollie nearly passes out at a big charity 'do (staffed with half-naked waiters and waitresses, natch), Chloe and Clark are there to catch him. The press thinks he's just drunk, but Clark and Chloe know better. Ollie refuses to let them take him to the hospital -- he knows what's doing this to him, and he knows that conventional medical treatment will kill him. How does he know this? Because it's happened before.
Years ago, Ollie washed up on an island after a shipwreck, and developed his awe-inspiring archery skills (it took him a while, but hunger is a great motivator). Then, after two years of lonely exile, he hears other human voices -- and immediately manages to scratch himself with an incredibly toxic plant that he'd somehow avoided up until now. Whatever -- it leads to sweaty, shirtless Ollie scenes, so we're ok with it.
Fortunately, Ollie is rescued by someone who recognizes the plant and knows how to treat it -- with leeches (ew!) That someone is ... Tess Mercer. Poing! This Tess is a lot different than the stern, driven woman we've come to know. She's timid, frightened and in the thrall of a couple of thugs who are looking to hold Ollie for ransom. When Marcus, the lead thug, shoots Tess' friend, she falls apart. But that just strengthens Ollie's resolve -- he fashions a makeshift projectile and infects Marcus with the flower poison. Then the two of them leave Marcus, telling him to take a dip in a leech pond if he wants to live.
Apparently, Marcus did just that, because he's back, he's pissed off, and he's got the poison. Chloe convinces Davis to come in and help out, and resists his entreaties to bring Ollie to the hospital. That's a good thing -- Ollie's date is treated with adrenaline, which initially seems to cure her, but then kills her. Lois, who was tracking Ollie down to write the "drunken playboy makes a fool of himself" story, helps minister to him and begs him to survive. She's not over him yet.
Chloe uses her enhanced brain and computer skills to figure out what poisoned Ollie, and determines where they're likely to find an antidote. Clark is wigged out -- her super-brain powers happened after her encounter Brainiac, right? Yes, Chloe admits, but she's choosing to think of it as the one good thing that came out of a horrible situation. Clark reluctantly lets it go because he needs to find the antidote. Clark goes to Tess, who initially denies knowing anything about poisons or antidotes, but relents when she finds out it's Ollie who needs help. But it doesn't matter, she says -- the lab with the antidote is in Brazil, and they'll never get it in time. Clark uses his super speed to to get the vital drug and saves Ollie at the last minute.
When Ollie recovers, he realizes that Marcus must be going after Tess -- who he calls "Mercy" -- next. And Marcus is -- but the the scared girl he remembers is very, very different now. She's willing to fight back. Marcus eventually gets the upper hand, but Clark shows up in time to use his heat vision to take out an electrical pole and knock Marcus out. Marcus gets out of jail, and Tess is there to meet him. She scratches him with the poison flower, then tells the cab driver to take him to the hospital. She just killed him.
Ollie goes to Tess and tells her she's not the woman he remembers -- and it sure seems like they had some kind of romantic relationship, and that Ollie walked out without saying goodbye. She gives him a file, which contains evidence that suggests Lionel Luthor killed his parents.
Finally, Davis ends up at the Isis Foundation, where he sees Chloe's massive computer set-up and evidence of her mega-brain intelligence. Chloe wigs out, but he tells her not to be ashamed of being smart. Everyone has a side they don't show anyone else, he says -- even me.
Comments
you guys didnt even mention Lois!
she was amazing, Erica rocks every scene!
and the amazing tender clois moments,
and the anvils in their last scene.
cant wait for next episode!
Posted by: JR | October 6, 2008 10:35 PM
I enjoyed the episode. It was different than our usual SV, but I liked it. I do hope that Ollie centric episodes won't become too frequent, because this is still a show about Clark. But as he's a series regular now, it was good to see his back story.
I liked the island montage, the slow transformation into an archer.
I laughed at his conversation with that bug, I was freaking out that he was going to eat it. Luckily, a pig saved the day. lol
I especially enjoyed all the back story we saw, and all that was hinted, about Ollie and Tess.
Tess really got to shine in this episode! She's Mercy!!! *squeee*
And what a transformation from the girl on that island to today's bad ass woman. I love love LOVE how she dealt with that guy who tried to kill her.
"Jail's too good for you."
\o/
How cool and devious was that?
This was the first episode where that character really grabbed me, so I hope they'll continue to write her like this.
"NOMERCY" plates. Heh. So true. >:)
Tess and Lois continue to be great in their scenes together.
"Lois Lane, I haven't fired you yet? "
"Guess you're too busy printing my stories."
Please sir, can I have some more?
BTW what was that about Metropolis having its very own Jack the Ripper?
Ollie/Lois scenes were gold.
I always enjoy seeing more emotional and vulnerable side of Lois, especially because it doesn't happen often.
I loved Lois/Ollie relationship, but I also loved how they did the break up. In my opinion it's still the only relationship that Smallville got right. So I was worried what they might do this season. I really didn't want to see Lois/Ollie turn into Clana vs 2.0.
But I'm happy with how they dealt with it. They acknowledged the relationship. But they also had Lois voice that there was a reason why they broke up and that she's aware of it. Because yes! Feelings aren't enough to make relationship work. It takes work, and sometimes there are issues you can't ignore. So I'm happy we won't be going back to Lois/Ollie.
BTW how awesome was Erica in that scene where she's talking to Ollie while he's unconscious, and then Clark walks in? Great scene!
Speaking of Clark and Lois, I enjoyed their mini heart to heart in that last Daily Planet scene.
It was great to hear Clark say that "just because relationship's over doesn't mean that feelings go away" and to have Lois explain how "you just have to trust your gut and realize you broke up for a reason."
This gives me hope that they'll deal with Clark and Lana properly when she comes back, because I think Clark will come to the same realization.
And I enjoy watching these two let go of their romantic past and move forward.
Plus, the "(He's) the Man of Tomorrow and I'm just Lois Lane, the woman who writes about it." anvil was a nice bonus. :)
Speaking of Man of Tomorrow.
How cool was Clark in this episode? ♥ Not one, but two saves! You go Clark!
But. That is also the reason why that last Clark & Ollie scene annoyed me.
One of the reasons why I always liked Oliver was that he always told Clark off when he deserved it. He called him up on playing house at the farm, not doing everything he can to help, and so on. And while all that was true for season 6 and 7 Clark, it can not be any less true for season 8 Clark. He's been more heroic this season, helping people whenever he can, he even started working at the Daily Planet to make it easier to help.
So to have Ollie start accusing Clark like that, and telling him that he's afraid of everything, it makes me sad to say this - but it made Ollie look a bit like an ass.
And no amount of alcohol and tragic news about his parents can excuse his behavior.
I do hope it was intentional and the writers know what they're doing. Because there's no chance in hell that Clark looked worse than Ollie in last night's episode.
Posted by: Cris | October 3, 2008 11:30 AM