Smallville: Absolute Awesomeness

I think it is fair to say that The CW doesn’t have the greatest reputation for quality or maturity in the vast world of television programming. Yet you can’t deny those in charge points for standing by their shows in a big way. This statement was never more appropriate than last Friday night when they turned over their entire primetime bloc to an uber-budgeted, guest-star filled, film length episode of Smallville – a show that has been on the air now for a solid nine years.

Titled “Absolute Justice”, this epic, two-hour episode brought on famed comic book writer Geoff Johns to pen a script introducing viewers to the famed team of heroes known as the Justice Society of America. Johns, who also wrote last season’s stunning episode “Legion”, brings a fantastic geek element to the show making each episode he writes feel like a living, breathing issue of a Superman comic book. Sure, there are elements of cheese involved but you have to be pretty stodgy not to admit how fun it is.

“Absolute Justice” begins when Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) is confronted on the streets of Metropolis by a mysterious man wearing a rather dorky blue shirt with white stars all over it. His name is Sylvester Pemberton, who seems to have control over light with the large glowing staff that he carries, but before Chloe can elicit any information out of him they are attacked by an unseen assailant and when all is said and done Pemberton lies dead of a series of wounds from icicles of all things.

Soon enough another body turns up with similar wounds. The second victim’s name is Wesley Dodds AKA Sandman (Ken Lawson) and the circumstances are such that Chloe calls up her team of heroes to figure out what’s going on. Clark Kent (Tom Welling), the Green Arrow (Justin Hartley), and a currently powerless John Jones (Phil Morris) hit the trail, which leads them to two long forgotten heroes and their young protégé who wants to restart their old team known as the Justice Society. Dr. Fate (Brent Stait) wears a helmet that can look into the future and see people’s destinies, Star Girl (Britt Irvin) takes on the powers of the deceased Sylvester Pemberton who was formerly known as the Star-Spangled Kid, but it is their leader, Hawkman (Michael Shanks), who really steals the show here. Hawkman as a visual element alone is something to behold with his massive feather wings spreading behind him, the golden mask on his face, and the slightly blood-stained mace in his hands. Shanks did a fine job bringing this iconic character to life for the first time in live action even though his vocal quality at times sounded a bit too much like Christian Bale’s growling raspy Batman.

With the two groups of heroes working together they figure out that the son of one the Justice Society’s nemeses, Icicle, is hunting down the former members of the group and murdering them with his wonderful comic booky ability to wield super sharp shards of ice out of thin air. But while the good guys try to hunt him down, the intrepid Lois Lane (Erica Durance) is receiving secret files on the Justice Society under the suspicious eye of her shady boss, Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman). We eventually learn that the woman supplying these files to Lois is none other than another DC Comics character named Amanda Waller played with sass and toughness by the great Pam Grier. Waller is running a covert operation called Checkmate (of which Tess is also secretly a member) that is apparently controlling Icicle in his quest against the Justice Society. He is, of course, no match for the group of superheroes as witnessed in a fairly stunning climactic battle in their Watchtower headquarters.  The final scene of the episode though reveals that under no circumstances did Waller expect him to succeed. Rather, it was her goal to use Icicle to bring the Justice Society out of retirement suggesting that we will need them if we want to survive the coming apocalypse…

Whether Waller means this in reference to the presence of Zod and his army or something else entirely, I think I can speak for most Superman geeks when I say I got a few goose bumps when she welcomed Icicle to the Suicide Squad and promptly shot him in the head at episode’s end. As I’ve said before, this ninth season and its storyline is shaping up to be one of the best and I will be eagerly anticipating every Friday night if this well-written and executed episode is a good example of what is to come.

If you by some chance missed out on this event due to other Friday night activities, I highly recommend checking it out via iTunes and jumping on the bandwagon this Friday night as new episodes continue. If you’ve ever been a fan, or just want to try it out for the first time, you won’t be disappointed.

Season 9, Episode 11: Absolute Justice (originally aired February 5, 2010)

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Photographs courtesy of The CW, Jack Rowland.