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Smallville 8.03 Toxic

The version of this I watched was very glitchy and missing a chunk out of the middle so it made even less sense than it might otherwise. A full write-up will have to wait until I've obtained a more reliable version. I loved it again! I found my zen with it. Also: TORSO-RAMA! Wow, they really pimped Justin's physical assets in this didn't they. *blinks* It was old-school Smallville objectification in the best of ways.

And Tess is Mercy! And COOL! Or at least somewhat cooler than she has been. I saw a flicker of chemistry between her and Oliver which was good, because while I heart the sizzling slashy vibes with Lois, the plot seems to demand that she be able to carry some sexual tension with boys as well. I loooove that she gave Oliver the info about his parents. And wow, I'm impressed the show went there and didn't just whitewash over the issue. Much angst between the BFFs!

Oliver's childhood trauma is... mosquitoes?! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I was in stitches over that. Oh, Ollie, I do love you and it is absolutely APPALLING that Clark did not tell you about your parents, and I really do sympathise with your angst overall, you bore up terribly well on an island for two years, but ... mosquitoes? Dude. Could the writers not think of anything more dreadful? Er, what about the lack of food and shelter, the loneliness or the fact that someone stole his clothes at some point? Or did the mosquitoes eat them? :) Ah, Smallville.

Lois stole Clark's coffee even though he had written his name on it! HEEEEE. I love it! And why oh why do we not get to see Clark report on kittens? That is a crime! Tom + cute kitties? Surely the most adorable concept ever invented, yes? *sulks at not seeing it on screen* They're just teasing us, I tell you!

Overall, this ep (what bits I glimpsed of it) seemed very Season 4 level of crazy--the combination of male nudity, implausible plotlines of craziness yet moments of sheer brilliance... And I liked Season 4. So: *happy*.

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Oliver's childhood trauma is... mosquitoes?! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I was in stitches over that. Oh, Ollie, I do love you and it is absolutely APPALLING that Clark did not tell you about your parents, and I really do sympathise with your angst overall, you bore up terribly well on an island for two years, but ... mosquitoes?

Thank you so much for mentioning that, because I laughed like an insane thing after he said that line, but I forgot it completely when I was writing up my response to the episode.

I agree with you on the wonderful shirtlessness--it was something I commented on in my review, too--though honestly, as much as I love Ollie (and I LOVE OLLIE, unlike many many other reviewers of this episode) I thought the first 2/3 of that whole island adventure was dopey in the extreme. Crawling around on all fours? RLY? Not to mention to dopey arrow montage. Only when Tess arrived did it get watchable.

I'm afraid I've had a virulent recurrence of Lois/Ollie love as a result of this episode, though, which may hinder my Clois tendencies for the near future. (Maybe I just have a thing for doomed love? The fact that Lois and Clark actually get a happy-ever-after is just so--unSmallvillian.)

And I love that Tess=Mercy. That redeems so much of her plotline so far!

I thought the first 2/3 of that whole island adventure was dopey in the extreme. Crawling around on all fours? RLY? Not to mention to dopey arrow montage.
OMG! I think I missed that whole bit! It must have been the bit that got cut out.

I've had a virulent recurrence of Lois/Ollie love as a result of this episode
Oh, I KNOW!!! I know just what you mean about the Clois being un-Smallvillean, even though I like it. I am a sucker to the doomed love, and Erica is just so amazing at bringing the beauty and emotion where that plot is concerned. Clois is so... un-angsty! It's hard for it to compete. Especially know that the Clana is gone.

I honestly started to like Tess in this ep. She played Lois beautifully, and I am glad she had (some) actual ability to save herself from scaryislanddude when he rocked up in Metropolis.

I thought the first 2/3 of that whole island adventure was dopey in the extreme. Crawling around on all fours? RLY? Not to mention to dopey arrow montage.
Ok, I just got a proper version of the episode and saw that montage and omg, it made me CRY with laughter! I love it! *whimpers* I am helpless to it's OTT melodramatic B-grade movie charm! It matches Lex's island horror story so perfectly too! And Oliver really had a hard run of it with all that insect life. *giggles*

I can't pass this up, it's too funny. When I heard "montage" I couldn't help but think of the absolute hilarity that would result from Oliver's montage to the song "Montage" from Team America. Here's one I found on youtube of the song I'm referencing that makes Rocky IV extra amusing - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOUMIzN9FVU

Anywho, you found your SV love! Yay!

I gotta say though, when do the guys get some love regarding the nudity quotient? I know we got French Maid Lo in the opener and it was much appreciated, but prior to that we haven't had much since mid-S6. Where's the equality, dang it! ;)

Oliver's montage to the song "Montage" from Team America.
*rotfl* Ohhh, I want that so badly! I might have to make it... even if it's been done before, it could never not be funny, right? Oh, I do love a good (bad) montage!

I hear you on the nudity equality scales... I remember back in season 6 there was a bit of a fuss about Lois in particular wearing not much quite often and everyone was all 'eeek! subjection of women!' And while I obviously didn't want Lois to become only about that (as if she could!), I gotta say I found it a bit absurd given that Smallville had given us a good three seasons where there was about four times as much male nudity as there was female nudity.

I say equal-opportunity nudity for all! :)

I would love to see the screentime totals for Justin's chest. *giggles* It would take a looooot of Lois-showering or Lois-in-a-bikini or something to tip the scales back the other way. But I'm happy to sit through it! ;)

Oh you should so make an SV comedy montage video to that song! It definitely couldn't help but be funny. And I, like Lois, have an adoration of the chesse-filled wonder of all things '80s, so this would be perfection! lol. And remember, "always fade out in a montage...." =)

Yeah, I know what ya mean, I definitely am not looking for exploitation of Lois/Erica. I'm just sayin, c'mon, a little balance? ;) I mean I heard people whining her maid outfit was so horribly gratuitous in the premiere and then in the same breath they rave about how awesome it is that Tom's drenched and scruffy or AC's in the shower or something. Gimme a break, double standards much? And look at the demos, it is like #1 in males 18-49 I think for Thursdays. Where's the love, man? =P

Equal nudity rights! LOL. By the way, I converted all my DVD sets to iTunes and noticed that Seasons 1, 3 & 5 each had an episode that spent time at Crater Lake. Seeing as they goofed the pattern last year, I vote a 4th Crater Lake episode for S8 with gratuitous Lois in a bikini. But don't make Erica get in the water 'cause it'll be cold the rest of the season, just have an off-screen hot tub for her to warm up in and big high-powered sun lamps out there. ;)

"always fade out in a montage...." =)
Oh, yes, I want to milk that! OK, when I'm done with the bitch of a (actual) vid that I'm making at the moment (not SV), I'll let myself play with that one!

Gimme a break, double standards much?
Yeah, totally! I hear that Justin's chest clocked in at 14 minutes of screentime--that's a hell of a lot of bikini from Erica to make up!

don't make Erica get in the water 'cause it'll be cold the rest of the season, just have an off-screen hot tub for her to warm up in and big high-powered sun lamps out there. ;)
Aww, that is very considerate! Crater Lake did always look rather freezey. ;) Perhaps they can work Tess's marine-biology background in as well... though then I'm thinking Aqua would have to show up and it's never good when they give him lines. Hmm. Erica is so wonderfully good-natured about these things--I'm sure she would not mind.

Yes, the parallels with Lex were clear (though I don't know enough about comics canon to know if they made this up entirely or if GA canonically does end up on an island). At least Ollie didn't end up hanging out with a psycho projection of his fractured mind, though.

I guess I should just embrace the B-movie aspect of it, hmm? It was quite OTT.

I think the island origin myth is canonical... I recall hearing fans saying Lex's island story kind of ripped off GA. But I'm going to read up and find out more. :)

At least Ollie didn't end up hanging out with a psycho projection of his fractured mind, though.
And also, Ollie didn't actually eat the insect life on screen. :D

Lex's pants were lower though. Just. ;)

Embrace it! You know you want to! :p

Yup, it is canonical. Found this through

theclexfactor. GA had this story back in 1992 apparently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Arrow#Fictional_Origins

Do you think it's possible Oliver meant "mansquitos"? Because then I could understand the awful trauma....

Possibly! He was certainly very upset about them. I did wonder whether the terrorists/smugglers/evil dudes that captured him (I am a bit foggy on that plot because chunks of it were missing) were referred to as the 'Mosquitoes', as in 'Mosquito gang'. Yeah, long shot...

*starts petition to see Tom and kittens onscreen together*

I tell you they cannot put that idea in our minds and then snatch it away again! That's a CRIME!

Or they need to at least write and post the article that Clark had to write on kittens.

*imagines Giant!Tom holding Teeny!Kitten*

YES! With photo! It would fit in the palm of his hand! :D

And why oh why do we not get to see Clark report on kittens? That is a crime! Tom + cute kitties? Surely the most adorable concept ever invented, yes? *sulks at not seeing it on screen* They're just teasing us, I tell you!

Can I tell you how much joy the "rescued kittens" story gave me? Because kitten-rescue is such a running joke in pretty much all incarnations of the Superman story — the fact that they gave Clark a story about RESCUING KITTENS as his first onscreen-assigned story for the DP (as opposed to the obituaries), and that he was so pleased with it ... just JOY. OODLES of JOY.

Yes! Superman kitten-rescuing! So perfect! :D He did look pleased.

Clark wrote his name on the coffee? LOL, I missed that. How adorably dorky. And of course, futile.

The whole Tess=Mercy thing is confusing. TPTB claim she's a mix of Mercy and Ms. Tessmaucher. But the portrayal is quite similar to DCAU Mercy. And beyond the name, I don't see many similarities to Tessmacher.

Yup, the cup had 'CLARK' in dopey big capitals on the side. ;) So cute!

I too am confused by Tess. If TPTB had said nothing about her, I would have assumed she was Mercy, with no other influences, but what do I know?

Wow, they really pimped Justin's physical assets in this didn't they.

I know. That's why I love Smallville. :) And I laughed and laughed about the mosquitos.

As for Tom * kittens - I would happily watch an entire episode of Clark (and Lois, too) doing their regular job of reporting, getting coffee, arguing about Lois' corrections, etc.

Yes! I love that Lois underlines his typos! I want to see more of that silliness!

Before I actually *saw* the arrow montage, I thought maybe he trained to be the Green Arrow by practicing to shoot mosquitoes at a hundred yards...

And Tess is Mercy! And COOL! Or at least somewhat cooler than she has been. I saw a flicker of chemistry between her and Oliver which was good, because while I heart the sizzling slashy vibes with Lois, the plot seems to demand that she be able to carry some sexual tension with boys as well. I loooove that she gave Oliver the info about his parents. And wow, I'm impressed the show went there and didn't just whitewash over the issue. Much angst between the BFFs!
I thought Cassidy and Justin has great chemistry together, considering they haven't worked with eachother at all this season until now..a big WOOT for the 'Lionel killing Oliver's parents' continuity! And the scene with Clarkie and Ollie!! I must say, I was especially impressed that they even brought up Lionel at all! Normally when a character dies, they seem to vanish into thin air, so KUDOS Smallville!

Oliver's childhood trauma is... mosquitoes?! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I was in stitches over that.
So I wasn't the only one that snickered? Really, writers..really?

Lois stole Clark's coffee even though he had written his name on it! HEEEEE. I love it! And why oh why do we not get to see Clark report on kittens? That is a crime! Tom + cute kitties? Surely the most adorable concept ever invented, yes? *sulks at not seeing it on screen* They're just teasing us, I tell you!
Heee! I was grinning through this whole scene..I would love to see a fanfic with Clark writing a story on kittens..
*imagines Tom rolling in a box full of kitties*

he scene with Clarkie and Ollie!! I must say, I was especially impressed that they even brought up Lionel at all! Normally when a character dies, they seem to vanish into thin air, so KUDOS Smallville!
Absolutely! And it was such an amazing scene (mosquito hilarity notwithstanding). Both Tom and Justin played wonderfully and I love this angst between them even though I hope they make up and be BFFs again soon because they are too awesome a team to be otherwise... but waah!

I would love to see a fanfic with Clark writing a story on kittens..
*imagines Tom rolling in a box full of kitties*
:D What a pleasing thought!

Yay, you liked it! I was so happy with it myself and I didn't know why. I hate to say it but it was TORSO-O-RAMA! Yay! It doesn't take much to make me happy. :-)

Could the writers not think of anything more dreadful? Er, what about the lack of food and shelter, the loneliness or the fact that someone stole his clothes at some point? Or did the mosquitoes eat them?
Shhhhh! If it results in bare chests it's ALL GOOD. :-)

this ep (what bits I glimpsed of it) seemed very Season 4 level of crazy--the combination of male nudity, implausible plotlines of craziness yet moments of sheer brilliance... And I liked Season 4. So: *happy*.
I'm glad you're happy. Maybe I need to actually watch season 4. Nah. I'll just hope season 8 is as good. I finally figured out how to watch this show. Not think too much, and be distracted by the pretty.

Yes! Happy! This (crazy) is the Smallville I know and love! It pleased me immensely while also making me cry with laughter. And I'm so glad you've found the SV-viewing groove too. ;)

It was old-school Smallville objectification in the best of ways. haha! ITA, & it's good to have it back. Hartley is more than capable of pulling it off.

the mosquitoes! yes, that was hilarious. i think he might have sold the line too well, in addition to it being a really crappy line.

but Tess is Mercy! yay! and this episode kind of made her more sympathetic, which is a nice callback to old-school SV as well. Because before this, i was already not liking her and her villainous ways. so i'm glad they've humanized her. i only wish she could have been on with lex--it would have made her inheritance more valid, and it would have been awesome to see her kicking ass for lex, while lex was in the background, all "mm."

i think he might have sold the line too well
And some! I could see his soap-opers background showing there. ;)

i only wish she could have been on with lex--it would have made her inheritance more valid, and it would have been awesome to see her kicking ass for lex, while lex was in the background, all "mm."
That would have helped me a lot with her, I've got to say. It was her appearance from nowhere that I really struggled with. And while their was implausability in her having backstory with Oliver, I am prepared to roll with it because it made her more sympathetic. And cooler!

I very much appreciated Ollie and his shirtless ways. I think

jeannev already calculated the numbers. Ollie was on screen for 24 minutes and 14 of those he was either partially shirtless or shirtless. :D

I've decided that his secret power is to stay gorgeous no matter what the circumstance. Really, it's the only explanation to how he barely grew a beard on the island and his hair was short. ;)

Oliver's childhood trauma is... mosquitoes?! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I was in stitches over that.

It was ridiculously funny! I saw that clip when watching one of Justin's interviews and even he made fun of it. He was all "Mosquitoes? REALLY?"

Lois and Clark were adorable. And Lois was just win in this episode, period.

Tom should so be on screen with cute kittens! Even though we all may die at the adorable!

I liked s4 too and I enjoyed this episode. :)

Yay for

jeannev! I was so hoping she would do that. :) 14 minutes! It may be a record. :)

I've decided that his secret power is to stay gorgeous no matter what the circumstance. Really, it's the only explanation to how he barely grew a beard on the island and his hair was short. ;)
It was even funnier when I watched the version of the ep without the montage... when he revealed he'd been on the island for two years I burst out laughing... the only sign of it was the slight stubble. Also, it made it seem like he just suddenly decided to be awesome. 'It starts now!' Hee.

even he made fun of it. He was all "Mosquitoes? REALLY?"
He did?!! *hearts* I must try and hunt that out. One annoying thing about being spoilerphobic is that I miss out on interviews and have to go back to them later.

we all may die at the adorable!
That is true. But it would be the best of ways to die.

I found the interview for you! I remember posting it on my LJ so I just went and looked.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rt5TiIaNyc

Aww thank you so much! He is very charming, but looked kind of embarrassed that they'd chosen to air the worst line in the whole ep as the sample clip. ;)

Thanks for posting that! I hadn't seen it before. Justin is SO charming.

NP! I have no idea who posted it on YouTube but I'm so grateful. :D Sometimes, I think half the reason I love Oliver so much is because of Justin. He is rather charming and very humble too. :)

"TORSO-RAMA" - Hee!

Oliver's childhood trauma is... mosquitoes?! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Poor Justin. I can't believe the actors didn't question the total goofiness of that line when they filmed it. I can just imagine Tom making scary buzzing noises at Justin. LOL!

Lois stole Clark's coffee even though he had written his name on it!

Was his name on it? I didn't notice that. LOLOL! That's perfect.

Tom + cute kitties?

I've been lacking for artistic inspiration lately.. Hmmmm...

I fanwank that Justin has copped some worse lines in his soapie career, so he just ran with it (rather than call the producers Michael-like). But yeah, I'm so sure Tom wouldn't have resisted teasing... and I just watched an interview (linked in the comments here) where Justin mocks the line (gently). ;)

If you made a Tom + kitties manip I would be seriously JOYFUL!

And Tess is Mercy! And COOL! Or at least somewhat cooler than she has been.

The revelation that Tess is Mercy makes me forgive a lot because it actually does suddenly render her plausible in a way she wasn't until this episode. As Nora noted in her review, if anyone could plausibly swoop in and literally take over for Lex -- including iterating his ideologies -- it would be Mercy Graves, who's the closest thing canon!Lex has to a best friend, confidante and lieutenant. As a character, Tess just makes more sense now that I know she's really (supposed to be) Mercy.

Lois stole Clark's coffee even though he had written his name on it! HEEEEE. I love it!

*nodnodnod* I love how he starts to protest and then just realizes how futile it would be to do so and starts talking about more important things. I really enjoyed that whole scene, actually, Clark and Lois bonding over their broken love lives, once again saying things to each other I can't imagine either of them being comfortable saying to anyone else.

Edited 2008-10-06 01:42 (UTC)

As a character, Tess just makes more sense now that I know she's really (supposed to be) Mercy.
Yeah she does make more sense and the revelation also coincided with a week in which she became more sympathetic and well-rounded as a character in other ways. Also, her coolness quotient went up with that numberplate. ;)

Clark and Lois bonding over their broken love lives, once again saying things to each other I can't imagine either of them being comfortable saying to anyone else.
Yes, absolutely! I actually really want to get time to make a more solid meta post about this episode, to discuss that scene among other things. I feel Lois wouldn't have opened up that way to anyone else! Oh, and Clark watches the farewell video again and again?! Of course he does!! *pictures the woobie*

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Smallville 8.03 Toxic

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