Smallville: Absolute Justice

After the idiocy of last years season finale it would have taken a lot to generate renewed interest in me for this show. Bringing back Green Lantern scribe Geoff Johns, who penned my favorite episode from the '09 season (Legion) was a step in the right direction. To start, I’ll point out that I’ve got a love/hate relationship with Smallville. I like it when it’s heroic; I hate it when it embraces the overwrought soap opera. It’s fun when it’s adventurous and mysterious, ponderous with its contradictory stabs at the philosophical. Overall, I find it damn schizophrenic.

Thankfully "Absolute Justice" zeroes in on action and intrigue. With a Watchmen-esque mystery about an old school crime fighting team -the JSA- whose members are being killed off one by one. As Clark and his crew try to suss out what’s going on, they collide with this old guard, before the two put aside their differences for the greater good.

The 2-hour episode spends its first half on the mystery and introduction, which I liked. The second half focuses on the adventure, which was equally as cool as. Add it all up and I got something that was entertaining and held my interest from start to finish.

A lot of talk on this episode involved the costumes. Would they work or come off cheesy? For me they were hit and miss. This is TV and it doesn’t have the budget of a blockbuster Hollywood production so I wasn’t expecting Spider-Man levels. Sometimes they did well - as with Doctor Fate, whose helmet and glowing eyes were very effective. Sometimes it was split down the middle. Stargirl, a favorite of mine -and someone close to Geoff Johns' heart- looked good; apart from the overlarge facemask (something about superwomen and their eyes flummoxes this show… ala the ugly black makeup they’ve put around Black Canary’s peepers). With Hawkman, his headgear has always looked goofy, so there's not much they could do there. The wings were tricky and the chestpiece was ill fitting and clunky. And speaking of clunky…

The actor-playing Hawk (Michael Shanks) was decent at first but once he donned the uniform and zapped into hero mode –Phew- It was like he was doing a bad Clint Eastwood impression. Over enunciating on some of the worst dialog of the episode. Hawkman and Green Arrow were paired as combative allies; Arrow was hilarious and delivered his lines like a pro. Hawk snarled and sputtered and made me wince with every lame quip he uttered. The rest of the JSA was serviceable and kept pace with the regular cast. Stargirl (Brit Irvin) and Chloe had some good bonding moments together and I liked Brent Strait as Fate (who sounded like James Earl Jones once he put on the helmet)

I’ve heard complaints that the villain Icicle was not a worthy foe. The actor does ham it up but the character did exactly what he was meant to do. He’s a puppet of Amanda Waller (Pam Greer) and the shadowy Checkmate organization - and that’s a nice set-up for some future stories.

Other pluses: The episode is packed with goodies that comic book fans should appreciate. You’ll spot items from Flash’s helmet to the Green Lantern’s battery. It was nice to see many of my old favorites, like Ted Grant (Wildcat in civilian dress). And there was a quick peak at Martian Manhunter’s true form in all its green glory -- as well as a nod to his love for Oreos.

All in all a –mostly- satisfying event. It cleansed the pallet and served to wash out the bad taste of the 2009s season finale and got me back to the show.

Next week: The welcome return of Zatanna (pitch perfect casting there. You couldn’t do any better than Serinda Swan). And a way we go…