Good episodes deserve long reviews. So, here’s a long review ;D

BEWARE!

Wow. I actually stayed up until midnight last night watching it (my brother hogged the TV prior), and I must say, it was totally worth it.

The teaser with Chloe, Black Canary, and Green Arrow- I practically squealed when I saw Ollie again. And then kick-ass action sequences within the first five minutes of the episode? Now that’s awesome. The non-screech sort of annoyed me, but otherwise it was quite awesome. Especially all of Dinah’s Matrix-like knives. I’m sorry, but I had to laugh at that.

Credits. Boooooring. Except, for some reason, the cast just struck me as extremely young that moment, despite having the entire season to get used to to title sequence. And I also noticed that four of the eight regular cast members aren’t in more than 13 episodes- that’s half the cast right there. Maybe that’s why its gotten so tedious, since they have so few characters to actually work with, barring any special guest appearances or FOTWs.

Anyways, back to the episode. Lana wants attention! And she wants people to think she’s smart- she suddenly decides to wear glasses despite not having any history of bad eyesight. Umm, good luck with that. And I must say- those extremely high-necked turtlenecks distracted me for most of her scenes. They made KK’s neck look really, really long- not the best wardrobe choice.

But, well, the glasses seemed to have worked with both Lionel and Clark going to her. Except I think that’s mainly because she obsessed over Lex enough that she spied on him with secret cameras- which, with Lex’s security force being so incompetent, wouldn’t seem that hard at all. Especially if she started before she divorced Lex. And then, Lionel also has blackmail material on her, and she is supposed to be Clark’s girlfriend. And she was Lex’s last wife, and therefore could have seen in person the Black Canary.

Which brings up this point- Lana was quite hypocritical when she called Clark hypocritical. When had Lana NOT held Clark to higher standards, to double standards even? And all that nonsense about Clark holding her to higher standards that he couldn’t even reach- oh, yeah. Right. I’m pretty sure Clark’s living up to MUCH higher standards than he’s expecting of Lana. Especially since he basically just expects her to know the difference between him and a Phantom, to not spy on her ex-husband, fake her death, embezzle millions of dollars, or kidnap someone- correction, MULTIPLE someones. And, this might just be my imagination, but I don’t remember Clark doing any of that.

While I was sort of dissapointed by the last scene with Clark and Lana- where they decided to try and work through their many problems yet again- I couldn’t help but feel that this was just the boulder speeding up down the hill faster and faster, until it reaches the bottom and kills Clana once and for all. Strange metaphor, I know, but its all I could think of.

Hey- and the writers are keeping up the streak of having Chloe being something other than Clark’s backpocket girl! I really do wish that they show her helping Ollie and the JLA some more- IMO, that suits her much more than being a reporter or anything. Especially since she never seems to really go out of the newsroom. Even if Clark did go to her in her Chloogle capacity, Chloe was much more involved, being attacked by the person Clark was searching for and all. Although it still annoyed me that Lana, in her recent revelation of being a computer geek, was able to “get one up on Chloe” or something like that. And I’m not such a big fan of Chloe anymore.

And that line- “Maybe she’s as blonde as I really am”- I’ve interpreted it in a different way than most. I’ve noticed a lot of people saying that it means Chloe is coloring her hair, but I took it as, maybe Dinah isn’t a brunette as her picture shows, but is blonde like Chloe. Because Chloe knows that the Black Canary has extremely short hair, unlike the rather long-haired Dinah. Therefore, Dinah could be wearing a wig and actually be blonde.

I was so glad that it was Clark who finally named someone, rather than Chloe. It shows that he is, actually, creative. And can think.

The thinking thing Clark had recently discovered also came in handy when he faced down Dinah and convinced her to look into Lex’s ventures more, instead of just taking him at his word that Ollie and his band of merry men were terrorists. See Clark- violence and brooding aren’t the answers to everything. Despite what you might have assumed in the past.

The return of the Green Arrow was so refreshing. Finally, action and justice in a show that should be full of it, but has been strangely devoid for the past season or so. Seriously, any scene with Ollie= full of awesomeness. I did not realize how much I missed him.

I have stated, wayyyy back in season six in the aftermath of Justice, that Lollie is the only full-blown relationship that was ever written well. And I maintain that position. Its the only ship that I’m really okay with before Clois, simply because both Ollie and Lois are written in likable ways that make it seem like they are in a functional relationship. Its quite refreshing compared to all the dysfunctional relationships on the show.

Lois slapping Ollie was an awesome moment- he totally deserved that, and I love how Lois promised she was going to hurt him again when he least expected it. You simply do NOT mess with Lois Lane. But her realization that she still cared deeply about Ollie just made the end, when she decided that she and Ollie were just not meant to be together, all the more poigant and beautiful. She knew that she wasn’t ready to have a boyfriend who she had to share with the world, and that makes Lois stand out from all the other girls in the series- she knows when to end a relationship.

Lois berating Ollie about him being the Green Arrow was the second-best scene in the entire episode (the absolute best is quite obvious, lol). But even as mad as she was at him for keeping that a secret from her, she still tried to keep it from Chloe and Clark, recognizing that despite her unhappiness with the secret, it was still her duty to try and protect it.

The best scene in the episode… It can really go unsaid. Clark comforting Lois after she finally ends things with Ollie, even after knowing his secret- that was so moving, so perfect. Tom Welling was great in that scene, but Erica Durance really hit it out of the park, to use a sports metaphor. And that last line was perfect.

This episode just proves that Persona was the turning point of the series- no longer does Clark view Lana as this perfect figure, or the one that he’s supposed to spend the rest of his life with. He’s starting to see that she has a dark side, and unlike in Wrath and Blue, the fallout from Persona wasn’t just smoothed over in Siren, but explored more. Hopefully that boulder will just keep rolling down the hill and kill Clana once and for all.

Oh, and I believe that the show has officially un-jumped the shark. If that’s possible. Just imagine Fonzi jumping in reverse over the shark, and hopefully that will work.