Plastique

The season didn't lose much at all from its action-packed 'Odyssey' episode with the season's second episode, 'Plastique.' The crew was smart to introduce a DC Comics villain, Plastique, into the season so early. She is younger than she would appear in the comics, but for that reason has a tendency to use her power that otherwise might be better controlled as an adult. The foreboding character of Davis Bloome (stay tuned) was also nicely introduced in a creative way. Clark is also progressed nicely by being portrayed as a full-fledge investigative journalist for the Daily Planet, something fans have long been awaiting. It was so exciting to see, especially since he competes directly with Lois for the stories, as he did in this episode. The dialogue and chemistry between Lois and Clark actors Erica Durance and Tom Welling was again phenomenal, improved upon Welling's chemistry with Lana Lang actress Kristin Kreuk, who didn't return for this season. Also smart with the character of Plastique was to connect her immediately to LuthorCorp through Tess Mercer. It served to increase Tess' standing as a threat and an evil character. This plot device, along with an introduction of a DC character to this particular universe, and to see Clark in action as a Daily Planet employee, not to mention the foreshadowing of Davis Bloome earns big pluses.

I have a lot of problems with season 8, and I mean A LOT of problems, but most of what we see in "Plastique" is a perfect example of where the show should have gone. This is all about having some fun pairing Lois and Clark together. Welling and Durance have a lot more chemistry than any Lois and Clark combo since Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder. They've had many episodes together in seasons past, but for the first time ever, they're working together in a way that comes straight out of the comics. Tess Mercer has a much better presence in this story than she did was the pointless tacked on introduction in "Odyssey". I would have rather they saved Tess's introduction for this episode. It's too bad the writers are still duplicating Lex's character from previous seasons instead of instantly differentiating her. Davis Bloome is the second new character introduced. While I think the actor is fantastic in the role, I'm not a fan of how the writers chose to portray him, and I'm definitely not a fan of the extremely forced relationship between him and Chloe. Their lack of chemistry drags the show down followings scenes from Lois and Clark. DC comics character Plastique is the focus of the plot. Like many comic characters shown on Smallville, her character is very different in this adaptations. While I liked how her character played out in the first half of the episode, I thought the direction the story took her by the end was a bit disappointing.

Putting the negatives aside, the appeal here is all about Lois and Clark. After 4 seasons of teasing, this episode brings us a giant leap closer to the relationship from the comics. Like I already said, everything that was right about the first half of season 8 is set up here, and it's just a shame the creative team couldn't keep this kind of momentum up for the whole year.