Smallville - 10x5 - Isis - Review
So this is going to be reeeeally short... I think. (psst: I was wrong!)
I only just watched Isis and I had considered putting it off until I returned from my trip, which will be late next Thursday, but I cheated and checked what others were saying about the episode over on chlollie . So I'm really quite glad I got the time to sit down and give it a watch. I'll be honest and say that I was going to skim through a lot of it for the Chlollie bits, because it's all I usually care for, but I got distracted by some of the sweeter Clois moments, lol.
Thankfully, TPTB (the powers that be) didn't screw us over and we see that Oliver is still very much in love with Chloe. But I was with Tess in the beginning when he was acting like a caricature of himself [[Anybody wondering, a caricature is an exaggerated form of someone, usually shown in a drawing]]. It was weird to see Oliver talk about "Green Arrow Girls" and all that jazz, though we did see some of his usual self come through when he questioned the fan-fare. I appreciated Tess being the proverbial slap in the face though; she can handle her own and its what I like about her.
Is it just me or is Oliver speaking other languages (don't even care what language it is!) hawt!? lol
I felt a little bad for Tess, she starts off with Oliver's cold shoulder and it doesn't let up until the end. Some part of me (the part firmly dedicated to Chlollie/Chloe-as-a-singular) can't help but like that he isn't quite regrowing his old affection for Mercy. Sorry, but I don't want him giving life to any former flames. On the bright side, Tess is like a total Chlollie shipper, lol. Or atleast, she's pro-Chloe.
I didn't care for Cat... There's a couple points that I think nailed it for me - Tess laughing at her in the office (I'm horrible at watching people being embarassed, so I'm surprised I didn't recoil) was oddly awesome and Lois calling her a twelve year old. That is what I feel like doing/saying when Cat is on my screen. She's playing with the big boys here and acting like a kid without her wollipop. (Yes, I meant to spell it that way. It's meant to be read with the wuh. lol) The only time she seems more mature is when she talks about her son... but it's so brief it seems out of place.
Props to Erica for her acting as Isis. I honestly thought it was going to suck baaad. No offense to her but I've seen just about ever female lead take on another personality and it's so hard to pull off without feeling like it was just weird. But I enjoyed her as Isis, her voice got a little huskier and her mannerisms changed and the whole make-up/wardrobe looked great on her. But I especially liked the near-tears but not crying expression she had when speaking of her lost husband... She pulled it off, in my opinion.
I didn't hate Clark this episode, so that's nice. I honestly thought he would never tell Lois he was the Blur, so I was reeeally happy with the ending. When Isis had him tied down, I kept wondering just how powerful she could be that she was subduing this all-powerful alien, but whatever. lol
As usual, my favorite character in this episode was Oliver. Justin consistently carries the Chlollie ship all on his own and makes up for the loss of Allison, although I miss the woman tremendously. We see him grow some more this episode, which I always enjoy. He doesn't go to the dark place, thankfully, although I wondered what time it was when he was drinking in the watchtower window, lol. Is it just me or does it seem like he drinks a lot? Anyway, he has a few awesome lines! None that I can quote right now, because I stupidly closed my took-forevever-to-load-window-of-awesome. Which reminds me, thanks gen717 for those download links - you're a queen!
Oh, oh, thanks to gen717 again!!! for posting an all-Oliver-scenes from Isis vid over on DFN! You doubly rock!
Great quotes from Oliver:
[in regards to Fortifix, his Green Arrow brand cereal]] "And they sent spoons."
Reason: some awesome shippers from chlollie sent spoons to the writers to show our chlollie love!! HOW AWESOME IS THAT???
"Look, Lois and I were never really meant to be together..."
Reason: He doesn't even look upset by that! YES! I'm sorry to Lollie shippers, it could be because I was a Chlollie shipper from "Wow" but I didn't care for the couple... That doesn't mean I have anything against your loving it, but I'm reeeally happy to see that the Lollie ship has very much sailed and that Oliver is good with that!
"Take it from me, living without love is not really living, it's just sort of... (sigh) existing."
Reason: Okay, so this shouldn't actually be a good quote, since it's rather sad... Because he's obviously just so hurt and lonely. But I can't help but think, 'He's sad because he doesn't have Chloe... because living without Chloe is just existing for him.' Therefore, I like it. lol
"The question you have to ask yourself... is what are you willing to risk for love?" (cut to a shot of Watchtower!)
Reason: Oliver risked his entire identity and his hero side-business in hopes that Chloe would return to him. So while he's saying this to Clark, it's clear what he was willing to do.
Oliver, all snarky awesome: "Just typical, y'know... Just when we need a lesson to de-Isis Lois Professor Hawkman takes a sabbatical."
Clark, all non-snarky, non-awesome (what? lol): "Oliver, we need help. And there's one other person we can call... Tess."
Oliver, very serious: "Did you hit your head?" (Did anybody else LAUGH OUT LOUD?) "A. Tess can't be trusted. And B. She can't do what Chloe did. Noone can take Chloe's place." (stubborn awesome!)
Reason: First, I love his rocky-friendship with Hawkman, lol. Second, I love Tess and I'm okay with her helping at Watchtower, but I'm glad Oliver wasn't the one who suggested it first, or who was okay letting her in on, well, anything. He says what we've all been thinking really... Chloe is not replaceable and the last thing we wanted to see was them showing it that way.
Oliver, to Tess, all snark: "I'll make sure I relay your message about Captain Clark. In the meantime he and I can take care of the Blonde and her Bombshell."
Reason: LMAO! Such a way with words!
Annoyed!Oliver: "You stole my thunder there... Tess."
Reason: AGAIN, he's seriously funny. And the look on his face, he's just so irritated with her.
Not really a quote, but Oliver putting Cat in the sarcophagus...? Awe-some.
Lee's word of the day: Yeah, you guess it. It's awesome... You're so smart, you reader, you.
Tess: "You seem far away."
Oliver: "Sometimes, you have to watch things from a distance in order to see them more clearly... (long pause) You were right... About me turning into a caricature of myself." (Hey, at least he can admit when he's screwed up!)
Tess: (shakes head) "I shouldn't have said that..."
Oliver: "The show I was putting on... The, uh... The Green Arrow Girls... It was, uh, emptiness I was trying to fill." (Seriously, Justin does such a good job of trying to explain himself but still showing that human side of discomfort when sharing feelings!) "I was lying to myself, and uh, you were one of the only ones who'd call me on it."
Tess: "Another one of those is Chloe." (Shipper proof.)
Oliver: (sad sigh) "God, I miss her... I miss her laugh and her... her strength. The way her eyes lit up when I entered the room... She really loved me." (turns to look at Tess sadly and then out the window once more) "I gave her a secret that was too hard to hold on to... She paid the price for keeping it."
Tess: "Oliver, when it comes to you, no price was too high for Chloe."
Oliver: "I guess you can still spot real love... I'm sorry for what I said."
Tess: "Don't be." (smiles, sobers) "It's the truth. And there hasn't been a lot of that in my life... Just like there hasn't been a lot of love."
So, a few things I loved about this conversation... if it wasn't obvious. I honestly think Tess supports Chloe and Oliver... She seems to believe, much like me and many others, that Chloe's good for Oliver... and that he's a better man with her. And again, this conversation shows that not only has Oliver moved on (from Lois and Tess) but that he's holding strong to his love for Chloe and not just letting her go. What I also likes, not Chlolle related, is that Tess too seems to be growing into a better person. We see her get welcomed to the team and she doesn't take it lightly, she's actually truly moved that they would offer her a spot on their illustrious crime-fighting team that she gets teary-eyed and has to leave their general vicinity. Props to Cassidy Freeman, she's truly a wonderful actress.
The Tess/Alexander stuff had me teetering; I didn't know if I wanted little Lex to stay with her or not, but to see how much she's grown to love him, to know that she just wants to love him and let him know a family and hopefully become a better person, I thought that was sweet. But we've had a lot of years to know who Lex really is and I worry that regardless of his age, he may be playing her and her emotions. Still, what a cute kid, lol.
Seriously, I thought it was hilarious was Cat stabbed Lois with that pen. When she was nearly clocked, I was leaning into the screen, excited! Agressive-Lois rocks! And I wanted Cat to learn her lesson and butt out.
The finally moment at the end, where he tells her his secret and she jumps him... You guessed it - AWESOME! I was really happy they finally have that out of the way and when he realizes she knew... the look on his face was seriously great.
So overall, I give this episode a 4 1/2 out of 5. It's not getting the whole monte until Chloe is back on my screen! (stubborn-face!)
LOL, and I thought this was going to be short. *snorts*
What do you think?