This is shaping up to be a tremendous television season for comic book fans. NBC’s gritty fantasy Heroes is achieving unexpected distinction as the coolest and most talked-about new series of the fall, while The CW’s Smallville is creatively advancing itself in vibrant and exciting ways that are revitalizing this long-running superhero saga.
But while Heroes is generating much-deserved buzz, poor Smallville is going largely ignored by the media, this despite the fact that ratings this season are building week by week in the 18-34 and 18-49 demographics against bruising Thursday night competition from CBS, ABC and NBC.
It seems viewers are discovering that Smallville is completely re-energized this season and is evolving into something new. This is no longer a series about high school kids, one of which is a super-powered being from another planet. Instead, most of the characters on Smallville are now young adults pursuing higher education, careers and grown-up romantic relationships. The one growing up the fastest is Clark Kent, the man who should be Superman.
Indeed, Clark in last week’s episode recognized that he is becoming a different person following recent losses in his life, including the death of Jonathan Kent, the man who raised him, and the end of his bizarre ongoing guidance from his long-deceased father, Jor-El. Clark has also lost lovely Lana Lang, who has fallen for and moved in with the increasingly sinister Lex Luthor. (The two are really hot together, as evidenced by that scorching fireside sequence last week.) Meanwhile, Lois Lane is clearly smitten with the dashing new tycoon in town, Oliver Queen, and girl-nerd Chloe, after years of pining for Clark, is falling for boy-nerd Jimmy Olsen, now her colleague at the Daily Planet.
But this Thursday’s episode suggests that, going forward, Clark won’t have much time to mope about the sorry state of his love life. It marks the official arrival on Smallville of the Green Arrow, and unlike past characters from the D.C. Comics universe who have turned up on this show, including Aquaman, the Flash and Cyborg, the Arrow appears to be one that will bring about significant changes in Clark’s life. Actually, it is Oliver Queen, the man behind the Arrow’s modest mask (sunglasses and a hood), who is bringing about those changes. (Last week we saw Queen dressed as a colorful archer during a costume party sequence, but that doesn’t count.)
It will spoil none of the fun of this episode to reveal that while Oliver and Clark don’t exactly bond they grudgingly respond to each other as two people with extraordinary abilities determined to put their gifts to use in the service of mankind. Where Clark is humble and insecure, Oliver is conceited and self-impressed, but he is nevertheless the more mature of the two. When he tells Clark there is “a whole world of people out there who need us,” and that a man with Clark’s potential “can’t wait for them to come to you,” Oliver’s words hit young Kent harder than any assault by a Kryptonite-fueled evildoer ever could.
Oliver’s words also set the stage for what should be a rewarding season ahead, because he clearly has the drive and the resources to seek out and bring together other super-beings who are capable of helping others. (Two words: Justice League.) Though not explicitly stated, Clark can see his adulthood beckoning, his days on the farm with his mother coming to an end as he further explores his abilities.
On the surface, Oliver is one of those dashing, suave, self-impressed billionaires so common in movies and comic books who can effortlessly sweep women off their feet. (When he at one point tells Lois he can have her “in Cancun in time for the sunset, sipping margueritas,” the headstrong Miss Lane resists the conceited Mr. Queen’s charms, but the rejection isn’t effortless.) He puts up a brave and bold front, but he is actually a complicated fellow, seemingly driven to prove something to himself, if not to the world. The Arrow is similarly complex, first coming off as a criminal, later revealed to be a hero who doesn’t adhere to Clark’s rigid code of ethics. Significantly, the Arrow has accepted and embraced his identity and his responsibilities. Clark is still conflicted and uncertain about what to do next in life, and how to proceed.
Formerly a forgettable himbo on the loony NBC soap Passions, Justin Hartley is surprisingly engaging as both Oliver and the Arrow, and it is great fun to watch him simultaneously develop two entertaining personas. After only three episodes Oliver/The Arrow is fully integrated onto the Smallville canvas–he’s an old boarding school acquaintance of Lex Luthor’s (something in their past pit them against each other), he has captured the heart of Lois Lane (setting up a terrific potential triangle between Clark, Lois and Oliver) and he has begun a complicated relationship with Clark (that may result in Clark becoming increasingly involved with other super-beings).
If there isn’t enough for the Arrow to do on Smallville, the character seems a fine candidate for a spin-off that could include frequent appearances by other D.C. heroes. (Perhaps The Green Arrow could become the sizzling superhero saga that the failed Birds of Prey was supposed to be. As indicated by the success of Heroes, there is an audience for such stuff.)
Interestingly, Hartley was cast in the title role of Aquaman, a Smallville spin-off based on a character introduced last season. (Hartley did not play Aquaman in that memorable episode.) Developed for The WB, the pilot for Aquaman was not picked up by The CW, but that may be for the best, because Hartley is sensational as the awesome archer. A series centered on this character may be exactly what The CW needs to begin building its own identity as a fresh and exciting new network, rather than one that is home to a mix of veteran shows from networks that no longer exist.
Visit the Smallville gallery in MediaVillage for more photos of the Green Arrow.
