Clark (Tom Welling) and Oliver (Justin Hartley) in SMALLVILLE:SIREN(2008).
© Michael Courtney/CW

Mania Grade: D
Episode: Siren
Starring: Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Kristen Kreuk, Allison Mack, Annette O'Toole, Erica Durance
Created by: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar
Network: CW

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SMALLVILLE: Siren

I didn’t get a chance to review last week’s episode but let me say the best thing about it was seeing Lex get really evil by killing his brother, or having him killed. Some of you that read my Torchwood reviews know that I’ve complained that the show was getting too much like a soap opera. Well, that series looks like a real life drama or documentary series compared to Smallville. This week Clark and Lana are not doing well after Lana having a relationship with Bizarro Clark for over a month. Clark is mostly upset that Lana couldn’t tell she wasn’t with the real Clark. This episode also finds Oliver Queen returning to Metropolis and Lois again being hurt by him.

The main story of the episode introduces us to the Smallville version of a classic DC Comics character called Black Canary. The creators of the series feel like they are forcing her into an edgy role, it doesn’t feel natural. She now throws knives and she can jump around like Spider-man. She also has the ability to emit sonic waves from her scream, which is the only ability she had in the comics. Seeing her throw knives reminded me of Wolverine in the older Marvel Comics. He had these metal claws but he never stabbed anybody (I know that eventually changed). She throws knives but there’s never any feeling of danger because she doesn’t hit anybody, not really. She does still have the fishnets though. She’s working for Lex trying to track down terrorists that have been blowing up his labs. When Chloe gets secret files from Lex’s computers for these terrorists, aka The Justice League Black Canary shows up at The Daily Planet to hand out a beat down and get the files back.

There’s just not a lot of story here this week. Basically, Clark and the gang convince Black Canary that she’s working for the wrong side and it appears that at the end she’s going to work for the Justice League. There is a pretty good action sequence between Lex and Black Canary though. I liked seeing him actually in the fight a bit even if he did manage to kill some of his own security people in the process. The core of the episode is the love interest changes. Wow, does that sound bad, but it’s true. Lois and Ollie get closure, especially after she learns that he’s The Green Arrow. She can’t play second to him and worry about him every night too. So they are permanently split up. When Lois tells Clark what happened Clark realizes what it must be like for Lana so he cuts her some slack just as she’s about to leave him. Damn, welcome to the night time soap opera. You could read into this as a part of Clark’s evolution as a hero and it is but that theme plays second fiddle to the melodrama.

I don’t know why I still watch this series. Is it worth it for one good episode out of every three or four? I guess I’m still with it because I was there from the beginning and I just have to see it too the end. This episode was 90% melodrama, 5% actual story, and 5% super hero action. If that balance is good for you, then you probably liked this episode.