"Justice"
Advance Review!
Written
by Craig Byrne - KryptonSite Webmaster
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him feedback
NOTE:
Some spoilers might be within. Don't forget to watch "Justice"
Thursday night at 8PM on the CW!
Before the
first episode of Smallville's sixth season ever hit the
airwaves, fans were treated with a very big spoiler - that not
only would the Green Arrow be showing up this year, but the
11th episode of the current season, "Justice," would
feature a gathering of the entire Justice League team.
The episode,
written and directed by Steven S. DeKnight, hits the air tonight,
and I think there is enough within to keep a viewer happy.
Let's start
at the very beginning. Keep in mind I babble a lot, as my thoughts
are just flowing onto the keyboard as they come along:
Before any
other popular super-heroic series hit the airwaves, Smallville
was the first gave us super-powers on primetime TV in the 21st
century. Some of the most popular episodes of recent seasons
have been the ones that have brought in other legendary characters
from the DC Comics. Kyle Gallner as Bart Allen, Lee Thompson
Young as Victor Stone, Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen, and Alan
Ritchson as Arthur Curry were all popular guests in the show's
past and somehow the stars aligned just right to give them all
to us in one helping.
This has
been something I've wanted to see for a while, and seeing these
characters again did not disappoint. While Bart's arrival wasn't
all that much of a surprise, the initial scene where we see
A.C. and Victor again made me very happy. The episode itself
is shot very nicely and I can't wait to see the show with completed
visual effects. Considering some of the innovations in past
episodes like "Run," I think I'll be very happy with
the finished product.
Within
the episode, there's a lot of witty banter going on between
the characters, and for the first two minutes or so when we
hear the heroes bickering, it's fun and I love it. But after
a certain point it stops being funny. This isn't the Scooby
Gang of Buffy, and I think after a while the puns and
the ribbing of one another started to distract from the episode
itself. Humor is good, I like it when Smallville can
have fun; but I think "Justice" got to the point where
you couldn't take the characters as seriously together. If Ollie,
A.C., Bart, and Victor truly hated each other, they wouldn't
be putting their lives in danger together like they did. They're
all great characters; they just need to tone down the punchlines
a bit.
Contradicting
what I just said about the banter, since I'm not humorless and
am okay with it in small chunks, I have to say that Michael
Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor delivered some of his best lines in recent
memory in this one, especially when verbally sparring with Bart.
This Lex is a spiritual twin to Kevin Spacey's Lex of Superman
Returns, and I really hope and wish we see more of him in
the future. Michael has a talent for sarcastic humor and wit,
and it was very nice to see that side of him showcased here.
I LIKE seeing Lex The Bad Guy, almost as much as I love seeing
Lionel The Bad Guy.
Also on
the subject of humor, I was disappointed to have only caught
one or two references to the comics lore - something about a
JL International satellite was nice, but Chloe should know that
Spider-Man, not Superman, is the one with the "amazing
friends." I was sad to not find even a Superfriends reference
in this one. I did, however, love that Bart Allen's code-name
happened to be Impulse rather than The Flash.
Chloe fans
will love this one as their favorite character is given plenty
of screen time, though Chloe's increased role, at the same time,
is beginning to get to me. I'd much rather see Clark use his
brain and come up with solutions on his own without Chloe holding
his hand through it all of the time.
Chloe's
best material in this episode for me came from the incessant
flirting from Bart. The poor kid wouldn't let up and it provided
the episode with some really cute scenes. They need to bring
him back just so he and Jimmy can fight over her.
I'm going
to miss Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen, and the chemistry that
he had with Erica Durance as Lois. While I know some people
didn't like a new character "taking over the show"
at times, I think Ollie and Justin are great and would love
to see him in his own series. It's a shame Erica's already busy
playing Lois Lane, though, because she would make a dynamite
Black Canary, especially considering their chemistry. But again
with Ollie - I really hope The CW decides to do something Green
Arrow-related with Justin before he gets snatched up by another
show or series.
Since Batman
is busy in movie-land, Oliver Queen fit into his positioning
as the brains behind the unit perfectly.
The Lois
Lane character seems a bit more well rounded when interacting
with Oliver, as well. I can't really explain it; it just seems
to work.
While I
was glad that Kyle Gallner had a lot of screen time as Bart,
I felt we didn't get enough of A.C. or Cyborg. This is one situation
where a 2-part episode would have been extremely welcome. Both
of those characters brought a lot to the series ratings-wise
last year so I was surprised that we didn't see more of them.
Maybe and hopefully we'll be seeing them again.
John Glover
as the duplicitous Lionel Luthor was fabulous as always. I was
also happy to see Annette O'Toole's Martha in some scenes. Both
have been seen less than I would like this year, so their presence
here was welcome.
Kristin
Kreuk's Lana Lang does not appear in this episode; perhaps due
to the amount of characters that are already in the show. But,
her non-appearance is made up for by a reference to Aunt Nell
- now let's see that woman on the show again sometime. I liked
that the episode maintained some continuity with episodes from
the past, particularly regarding past episodes with the guest
heroes.
Revisiting
Level 33.1 is a plotline I've been wanting to see on Smallville
since it was first mentioned in "Jinx.". I think
I would have loved to have seen 33.1 as more of a season-long
arc, too; but hey, there might be a Season Seven for that. I
just hope next time we see 33.1, it will be with a Legion of
Doom to fight this future Justice League.
It was SO
nice, as Variety pointed out in their very positive review,
to see a break from the "Smallville Place" of soap
opera blahs. Smallville's best episodes, for me at least,
are about Clark's journey into becoming the world's greatest
superhero. Which girl he happens to kiss this week, or if Lana
will choose Clark over Lex, is irrelevant to me when compared
to the character's ultimate journey. I hope Clark learns from
"Justice," and I hope this isn't the last we see of
the League. Without ruining too much, things end in a way that
really screams "spin-off." I would love to see such
a series, even though financially it might be very difficult
to pull off. Really, though: How cool would it be to have a
superheroic Mission: Impossible? At the very least I
hope we haven't seen the last of these heroes, because every
one of the four guest stars did a great job, and they make me
want to see them all over again.
Will fans
love the episode? Yes, I'm pretty sure they will, and I highly
recommend watching it. But, I can almost guarantee you'll be
leaving the episode wanting more. Smallville has some
of the best toys in television to play with; it's episodes like
these that remind me why, six years in, I still really enjoy
this show.
Say
it with me: Green Arrow or Justice League in Fall
2007! You know you want them.
"Justice"
airs Thursday night, January 18 on the CW network. If you want
to see more episodes like this one, the best way to let your
voice be heard is to watch the show. Encourage friends to watch.
With enough buzz out there the network would have no choice
but to give us more. Smallville is one of the best-performing
shows currently on The CW, so the least the network could do
is give us another show in that "universe." Good ratings
on Thursday night might justify that.
Here are
some extras associated with the episode which you may enjoy:
Longer
Trailer Caps
- Shorter
Trailer Caps - Short
Trailer #3 Caps - Image
Gallery
- January
2007 Trailer Caps -Episode
Guide - Spoilers
- Forum
Read
"The Many Faces of the Justice League"
Note:
The views of Craig Byrne don't necessarily represent the thoughts
and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite.
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