Season 10, Episode 2: Shield

"Shield"

Episode 2

Air Date: October 1st, 2010

Oh boy! I forgot about Cat Grant this season! O_O lol And we just got rid of Chloe! :P  Anyway, Cat is definitely......a unique addition to the show and I have to admit as annoying and grating as she can get she provides some hilarious moments throughout like when her and Clark first meet at the Daily Planet; only for Clark to be horrified by the fact that she's his new partner since Lois is in Cairo in definitely.  Oh Tom....that dead pan face was sublime! HA! But I loved Clark throughout tho, even with Lois gone and Jor-A$$ putting him down severely, he still steps up and continues to do what he can as the city's hero, especially when Clark becomes the target of an even more annoying assassin.  Smallville was always hit or miss with its adaptions of DC characters and unfortunately, Deadshot is in the pile of "fail!".  I think the problem is the character is far too cowboy and the persona becomes somewhat of a gimmick that stops him from being a legitimate threat to me.  It's definitely not the actor's fault because the writers and crew definitely wanted to emphasize the western outlaw theme with the character from the tumbleweed inspired music to Deadshot's wild west lair...oh boy! But I did enjoy the escalation of the threat of the Suicide Squad as Rick Flagg is leading the team in tagging the superhero community like Deadshot tagging Clark and Flagg himself going up again Green Arrow when Oliver is tracking Chloe down.

Sigh....I guess this will be his thing for the season, trying find Chloe, who apparently doesn't want to be found by erasing her interior existence.  As much as I enjoy Oliver going back out there, I hope he doesn't become consumed with Chloe's whereabouts.  She has seemingly faked her death (Aww man! :P) and went off the radar for a reason.  I love during the last scene Clark is encouraging Oliver to trust in the women who left them because of their callings as heroes.  Once again, so Supermanly! But Oliver does make a huge point about heroes coming out from the shadows and making themselves more public.  Uhhhh ohhhhh. Wow this silver age that Dr. Fate was talking about seems to being coming to pass as Oliver believes that superheroes should come out of the light.  It actually appears to be one of the central themes that not only should Clark step into the light and become the world's greatest superhero, but the rest of the community need to become more involved with society instead just saving their lives.  It makes absolute sense and while Cat Grant maybe annoying so far, her character makes a very convincing argument about showing themselves instead of being in the shadows.  Something that needs to be at the forefront for the final season indeed! :)

Meanwhile, Lois is off in Africa, doing her reporting thing when she runs into Carter Hall, who apparently is there to keep an eye on Lois.  I love seeing Carter and Lois interacted even if their scenes did drag on a bit too long.  It does give us some tremendous insight on both characters from Lois' serious reservations of being in Clark's life now that she knows he's a superpowered savior while Carter is growing closer to his death to be reincarnated with his beloved Shayera. Too bad trying to kiss Lois was the wrong move dude! But I do especially enjoy their last scene where Carter convinces Lois to go back home by quoting Nietzsche and once again hearing Superman's name on the series.  Makes it seem like Lois won't be forgetting that name anytime soon and will be needing it in the future.....;)  Lastly, Tess' arc of redemption is being established this season as she must earn Oliver and Clark's trust to aid them during their missions.  It makes sense but Tess has a A LOT to make up for to earn that trust and I'm not surprised both Clark and Oliver rather not deal with her. But she already proves that her skill set would be a nice replacement for Chloe.  That's all I'm saying! Shield is pretty good in the season's progressive arc with the Suicide Squad as well as pushing the themes of the season forward.  Clark, especially is getting more Supermanly by the day.  That very pulled punch he gave Deadshot to knock him was awesome as well as taking Cat's words to the heart by donning a new suit! AHHH!!! :) ....or red jacket rather. :P Tho I wish the S Shield was blue to give it a nice contrast and make it more prominent on the jacket but that last shot is so inspiring and indicative of Clark's final step of becoming THE red blue symbol of justice that Superman is all about! :)

Final Kryptonite: C+