Smallville – Booster Gold moves in on The Blur’s territory

This week’s Smallville was apparently geared to the real hardcore comic fans because I really have no idea who any of the characters were who were introduced on this episode. And with only three episodes to go before the finale, did we really need what amounted to yet another filler episode?

That’s not to say that the show was bad. In fact, it was pretty entertaining and gave us one iconic moment in Superman lore — Clark Kent changing in a phone booth! Yes, a lone phone booth seemingly out in the middle of nowhere … well, not nowhere but somewhere a phone booth probably wouldn’t have been if phone booths even still existed. It was a cool moment, even if he only changed into the leather jacket and not the actual Superman costume.

I really liked the scenes with Lois trying to coach Clark into becoming the mild-mannered reporter that no one gives a second look. It’s a little hard to believe that Clark’s Daily Planet co-workers could so suddenly treat him like a nobody after all these years just because he’s wearing a pair of horn rims, but I have to give Tom Welling props for really pulling off the klutzy charms of Clark Kent (and for directing the episode as well). At the same time Lois was geeking up Clark, she was trying to do the opposite to a random boy on the street, Jaime Reyes, making him stand up to the other kids who teased and pranked him.  Little did she know what he was about to become – Blue Beetle.

And then there was Booster Gold, a new superhero who swoops in just at the right moment to help someone and pose for pictures, a superhero who would do anything … for a price or the key to the city. Turns out Booster Gold is from the future so he knows when people need saving and he also knows that whoever gets the key to the city of Metropolis will be that city’s savior. Except how could anyone take a superhero seriously who dressed like a NASCAR driver complete with sponsor badges?! Eric Martsolf was perfect as the ego-driven superhero from his corny dialog to his sparkling teeth. It’s too bad Oliver wasn’t in this episode, though. It would have been fun to have a Martsolf/Justin Hartley reunion after their big break on the soap Passions (Hartley’s wife Lindsay, another Passions alum, has also made an appearance on the show).

Even with all of the ‘filler,’ the show was really about Clark’s further development of his and The Blur’s personae. Booster Gold even told him to come up with a name to go with the S-symbol – something ‘super’ perhaps. But with no mention of Darkseid yet again, no Lionel, no Tess or Oliver, I’m beginning to worry that the next three episodes are going to be really rushed, especially with Lex coming back. I’m sure the introduction of Darkseid was made at the start of the season to take the place of the Lex story that everyone assumed wasn’t going to happen, but now it seems that all of the (very slow) build-up is not going to pay-off. I know the producers have wanted to throw as many classic characters and situations as they can into the show before it ends,  but it’s really time to stop teasing us and get down to business. Make the next two episodes count and blow us away with the finale … please!

Clacked by Chuck Duncan
on Apr 23, 2011 @ 01:24 EST5EDT