Smallville 7×11: Siren

Original U.S. Air Date: February 7, 2008

I had a hard time getting this one finished, I think because there was a lot of good mixed in with a lot of bad (mainly some long-running themes in Smallville that just won’t die). It’s easy to describe the good – I’d love to write reviews that consisted of nothing but “squee!” The bad takes more time because I actually have to think out why something bothers me instead of just rambling on and around it endlessly. I have such a problem with rambling ;-)

Spoilers follow.

THE GOOD

- The first glimpse we get of Black Canary is of her mask, and it’s really cool. Also, those knives are wicked. Yum.

- Shorts! She’s wearing shorts! Not a high rise panty or that painful-looking leather butt floss that Ed Benes draws her in, but totally plausible shorts. I’m in love.

- I can’t get over how georgous Black Canary’s mask is. On the one hand it cleverly solves the perennial problem of your adversaires trying to peel back the mask – try removing that makeup. On the other hand, who’s got the time and skill to apply it/remove it afterwards for all those quick changes. There’s gotta be a compromise: something like the Robin mask in Batman Forever, but not glued on (ouch).

- They kept the fishnets! Teehee.

- The repeated loving shots of Green Arrow’s stompy boots (and green tights). Why can’t Black Canary get sweet boots like that? Spike heeled boots bite.

- The sonic scream: the finished version used in the episode is much better than the high pitched sound heard in the previews.

- I laughed when I saw that Dinah Lance wears a black wig in her civilian life. It’s pretty obvious. It’s a fun twist, but I can’t decide which would be more difficult (and harder to explain if found out): wearing a wig while superheroing, or wearing one all the time during your normal life.

- Chloe fangirling Black Canary (“Repelling down the side of the building…really smokin’ cool.”)

- Oliver Queen: he’s just such a fun character. And Justin Hartley is just as good looking as ever. Mmmm. I want a Green Arrow/Black Canary spin-off now.

- Lois finds out about Oliver! Yay! But she breaks up with him for it, BOOO! But she covers for him, yay! They should so totally be a couple.

- The wicked cool Lex/Green Arrow fight: no words. Wow! (Ami, you were totally right! That was WILD!) They should have fights like that every week. But did so many redshirts have to die? =( Also, Clark really needs to learn how to save both people. And for all the talk about Lex having surveillance cameras everywhere, I still don’t know how Clark gets away with what he does.

THE BAD

- Spike-heeled boots, followed by insanely high heel shoes as office wear. As if to imply that it’s a purely personal choice and not a misogynist cultural imperative that women with power be physically hobbled in exchange. Also they look stupid. Minus points to the costume designer.

- I was rather appalled at the characterization of Dinah Lance as a “right wing hawk of the airwaves”. Do they think it’s funny to compare Black Canary to Rush Limbaugh and his brand of hate mongerers? Because it’s really not. It’s offensive and irresponsible. The producers probably think they’re being clever and edgy by reinventing a classic hero as a confused social conservative with a “hard-line view on crime”. (I don’t think Black Canary’s ever been portrayed that way.) Yes, one of the defining qualities of social conservatives is a rigid sense of justice coupled with a lack of empathy or grasp of context. Hand in hand with that are racism, misogyny, and classism. You can’t use that kind of political shorthand to describe a character who’s supposed to be (or become) a hero.

(I couldn’t help remembering the awful racist “illegal immigration” episode and wondering just how clueless some of the creators are to matters of social privilege.)

They can’t possibly expect us to believe that someone like that would radically change their worldview after one instant of discovering that (shock! horror!) one powerful, rich, white man has lied and done terrible things out of a misguided sense of his own rightness – is she a conservative or isn’t she? The creators can’t seem to make up their minds. She switches her loyalties to another powerful white man a little too quickly for my taste.

- Lionel and Lana: it’s understandable that Lana would not want to help Lionel in anything, but it seems awfully selfish of her to not care at all about Grant’s death. Lionel certainly goes about it the wrong way by attempting to blackmail her once again. Doesn’t that guy ever learn? The reason she gives in their second conversation, in Lionel’s office, is bizarre: “Sometimes justice comes at too high a price. Like sacrificing my relationship with Clark because I wanted to see Lex pay for his sins.” Yet earlier we had Oliver telling Clark that sacrificing being with the people he loves is part of being a hero. Which is it? And just how controlling is Clark that Lana has to give up her ambitions, and arguably doing the right thing (taking down Lex) to maintain a relationship with him? If that’s the case, he’s not worth it, and Lana’s choice is anything but admirable. But that’s not how the show spins it. Why does the definition for being a “better person” for Lana involve inaction, while for Clark it means pushing him towards action (getting off the farm and becoming Superman)?

Lana’s giving up of her pursuit of Lex bothers me a lot. Is everyone just going to keep rolling over for him and Lionel? Her motivation for it is so disappointing. There’s such a double standard going on: Green Arrow and his gang are working to stop Lex, through wholly illegal means, but when Lana tries to do the same thing in less showy but potentially more effective ways, cleverly using Lex’s own paranoia against him, she’s condemned for it. We’re repeatedly hit over the head that her actions are “extreme” and her motivation “obsessive” and somehow unhealthy and wrong; thing is, she’s doing just what Clark and his gang do on a regular basis. Except Clark never really follows thru and solves the root of the problem, does he? His is always a temporary fix. I think the real problem is that the show can’t have Lana seen as being more aggressive, more ambitious, and definitely not more effective than her boyfriend: Lana can’t ever outshine Clark (and the show would crumble with Lex eliminated). All these men – Lionel, Lex, Clark – keep telling Lana that she’s crazy for daring to have such ambition, for wanting to make a difference (Chloe questioned it too, in “Wrath”). Why is everyone so against Lana taking this initiative? She’s right: everyone was so eager to villainize her, except when it suits their needs. They all want her to be this supportive little woman who does whatever they want, and never questions what the big important men are dong. Never show ambition of her own, never be angry, never disagree. Be a “better person” by not acting against Lex. But if not Lana, who? Waiting around for Clark to do something about Lex has proven fruitless.

Nevermind that it was Lana’s pursuit of Lex that made her interesting this season. This “redemption” arc bores me to death.

- Clark’s self-absorbed whining about Lana and Bizarre is amusing because of the way it’s played, but it’s actually pretty disturbing that Clark is thinking only about himself and not at all about what a horrific experience it must have been for Lana (or should have, if the show had been remotely realistic in how they handled it). If you think about it clearly, and not thru the lens of bad soap opera romance, Lana was violated. I hate how they’ve turned the Bizarro situation into a betrayal on Lana’s part, when she never even met Bizarro before. Radical changes in behavior are par for the course with Clark Kent, why wouldn’t she take it in stride? After all the times he’s been hopped up on Red K or possessed by Lionel Luthor or acted wildly out of character for some other reason, with nary an explanation afterwards, he has no right to be angry at Lana now.

You’d think someone would have suggested to Clark that maybe he should be comforting Lana instead of blaming her. But even Chloe is all too happy to jump on the victim-blaming bandwagon: it’s so much more comforting to think that she brought it on her self, that it’s a reflection of her personality. That she asked for it.

I’m not at all satisfied with Clark’s apology at the end, his assertion that he wants to make sure they can trust each other again. How about apologizing for victim-blaming? For suggesting that there’s something flawed in Lana’s very nature that leads her to relationships with men like Lex and Bizarro? That’s a horrible message for the show to send. On Smallville, when someone says something cutting and shocking in the heat of emotion, it usually turns out to be some Great Truth about the other person. Clark’s angry at Lana for falling for the manipulative Lex and for “that killer”, but the latter is something Lana could not possibly have seen, and she tells him this. He expects her to be a mind reader, literally: “You’re supposed to know me better than anyone”. Based on what experience, pray tell: six years of never knowing who he really is? Of having to constantly adjust to someone who blows hot and cold? Somehow Clark, and the show, twist it around into being a betrayal on Lana’s part that she didn’t recognize that the real Clark Kent could never be such an attentive boyfriend. It wasn’t that Bizarro was just that good at fooling her. It wasn’t that he made up for Clark’s lack. It wasn’t that Lex has fooled many people including Clark (beyond belief, actually). It wasn’t that Jor-El imprisoned Clark, allowing Bizarro to take his place. It wasn’t that Martian Manhunter is lousy at keeping an eye on his prisoners. It wasn’t indirectly Clark’s fault for failing to shut down Jor-El by now. The real victimizers in the situation, the men, are magically disappeared. Women victimize themselves.

- Smallville’s continued warped definition of selfish and heroic. Heroism is coded very male: it’s harsh, lonely, uncompromising. There’s not a lot of room for feminine values; domesticity is devalued. Clark calls Oliver selfish for inviting Chloe into the superhero gig and thereby putting her in danger (ironic in light of how selfish he’s being over the Bizarro thing). Oliver rightly replies that Clark puts Chloe in danger every week (just a thought guys: maybe it’s up to Chloe what she does). But then Oliver goes on the now standard Smallville rant that Clark is being selfish by having a girlfriend. I’m so sick of this idea, which is prevalent in our culture and has been the theme this season, that women have no room in the life of (usually male) heroes, that men have Important Jobs To Do and women need to support them from a distance or get out of the way. Unless you’re the exception, like Lois Lane (but not with Oliver, because apparently she’s too selfish at the moment – “I don’t want to share you with the world”). Women hold men back from doing what’s *really* important: what they want to do. Women who venture into the hero game usually get it wrong: see Lana, Dinah.

- The final scene between Dinah, Oliver and Clark in their civvies had some dialogue that made me wince.

Dinah: “I think I was a little out of my league; I’ll just stick to being the word of justice. At least I can’t hurt anyone over the airwaves.” *headdesk* Yeah, try telling that to all the people targeted by real-world conservative shock jocks who are oblivious to class, race and gender inequalities in America.

Clark’s “Oliver and his boys could always use a den mother.” Just like that, she goes from being recognized for her skills and superpower, to being The Girl.

- Dinah bonding with Oliver by bashing another woman (Dinah bashes Lois quite a bit in competition for Oliver in the episode). Not cool.

OTHER

The Painful: The ending to last episode was just heart-breaking. The aftermath of that scene is perhaps even more painful to watch, as Clark and Lana try to live in the same house while being unable to even look at each other.

The Silly: Lana in glasses. Did I miss the episode where she suddenly develops long-sightedness?

The Funny: Clark blurting out that stole a Lamborghini. And broke into ATMs. Actually…that was pretty bad, and he’s never had to account for his actions under Red K. Huh.

The Meta: Lana’s “I just wish we knew how we ended up here.” It’s the writers! Your life doesn’t make sense because the writers are idiots!

The Twist: Lois’s explanation for breaking up with Ollie. Her reasoning is flawed but understandable, and very interesting for what it means for her and Clark’s future. Clark’s protestation that Oliver’s job shouldn’t have to require Lois to take second place is heartening, but it’s undercut by the heavier message throughout the series that she or any other woman does have to take second place: they get in the way or hold the hero back. It’s very sexist. Anyway, Lois’ reasoning introduces a new kink into their future relationship. She’s basically telling Clark that she can’t have a relationship with him if he’s Superman. That’s gonna cause complications…