What I’m Watching: Smallville

Smallville: Season 9, Episode 12 “Warrior” (D+)

This episode manages to take two things that have been extraordinarily problematic for this show and explore them both at once, which is nearly not a positive thing. Like last week, the notion of amazement that comes with legendary superheroes is cool, but the execution is unbelievably flawed. This whole Warrior Angel business bears a striking similarity to Clark’s own story, but it’s not as if Clark has gone anywhere. The quick shot of one guy seemingly dressed up as the Blur was fun, but devoting an entire episode to Warrior Angel is inappropriate. The ways that his childishness is referenced are painful at best, starting with his request for a glass of milk instead of coffee at a street stand and ending with his use of a wedgie to deal with the bullies that were tormenting a kid. It may all be in the service of Chloe coming to grips with her role in this world of superheroes, but it’s all too much. The ending of this episode was the sole bright spot of this episode, suggesting the pairing of Chloe and Oliver, which would really be a good thing. What served to counterbalance it, however, was the second problematic issue for this show. The incorporation and use of witchcraft is simply unbearable, and it reminds me of some of the truly awful episodes from seasons three and four, which is not a good thing by any stretch of the imagination. I’ll ask the same question I asked last week – what happened to the Kandorians? Isn’t that more pressing than a kid with superpowers?