Smallville – Crossfire review

Crossfire has the entire cast in the episode and as usual, so much has crammed into it. We have the Clark/ Lois relationship, Oliver taking on his sidekick Mia Dearden, Chloe battling Tess’ minion, Stuart, the introduction of Cat Grant, and the mindgames between Tess and Zod. This episode ends Oliver’s arc of redemption as well as his relationship with Lois once and for all. It’s also the beginning of the Clark/ Lois relationship in a big way. Four sets of relationships have begun – Clark/ Lois, Oliver/ Mia, Chloe/ Stuart, and Zod/ Tess. With these relationships, the writers can now establish and evolve them as the season progresses. 

It’s clear that the first 6 episodes are about Lois’ feelings for Clark and Oliver. This was one of the reasons she had the most screentime. Another reason is that she will not be in the next episode, Kandor. The same thing happened last season with Committed and she didn’t appear in Prey afterwards. This will be Lois’ final episode before her break in-between.

If there’s one thing that both Clark and Lois have in common, it’s jealousy – Clark is jealous of Oliver when he saved him, Lois, and Mia while Lois is jealous of Cat because she got the TV show host gig over her. Clark didn’t do much, except dating Cat Grant, the aforementioned rescue, and seeing that Chloe has an equal in terms of computer hacking.

Chloe may have found her new love interest in Tess’ minion, Stuart, and I’d rather accept this relationship than her and Oliver. This could work in a way that her relationship with Henry James Olsen didn’t.

The introductions of Cat Grant and Speedy Mia Dearden were well-handled and I can see both being recurring characters in the second half of the 9th season. The casting was good and their storylines aligned with the mythos.

The Tess/ Zod relationship has taken to another level where Tess shows Zod what she’s made of and Zod now realizes that Tess knows the Blur’s identity. Unfortunately for them, this episode and the first 5 were about Clark, Lois, and Oliver over them. They need to move the main storyline of the season along because this has been rather a slow build.

This was a solid episode for Henderson and Whitehead. I can’t wait for the next episode Kandor because we needed a break from Lois.