Smallville TV Show - Icarus - Smallville Recaps, Smallville Reviews, Smallville Episodes | TWoP

Recapped by Tippi Blevins · Aired 2010-12-10

Two weeks in a row with no "previouslies"? Merry Christmas to me! We open on the nighttime streets of Metropolis, where Clark Kent is standing around, ogling the ring he's been waiting to give to Lois for weeks. He looks around, looks at his watch, looks around some more. Lois runs up behind him, apologizing for being late. "I was hung up on a phone call with the mayor, then Tess pushed my deadline but I know we said eight, so I'm--" "Right on time, for you," Clark finishes for her. time, try picking up a phone, lady. She makes a joke about Clark running any faster in her heels. He's modest about how much better she looks in them than he would, but I think he's selling himself short. All that super-zipping around has probably toned the hell out of his calves. He gets back around to why they're meeting: "What do you say we take your shoes and my sport coat and go get a nice dinner?" When she points out he's not wearing a sport coat (it looks like his regular navy blue jacket), he whooshes away then whooshes back a moment later, now wearing his natty dinner attire. "Show off!" Lois teases him. He steers her toward a fancy restaurant that Lois doesn't think they can get into without reservations. We get to see what she doesn't -- that a table has been reserved for them by the window. A haphazard scattering of Hershey's Kisses decorates the table. You couldn't spring for some Vosges or at least Godiva? Clark tries to get her inside, but Lois has noticed a sign posted nearby. The VRA has instituted a "mandatory curfew" from midnight to 7:00AM. No more getting to work early for you folks with a Puritan work ethic! Anyway, Lois thinks they wouldn't have enough time to eat even if they did get a table. She goes over and covers the sign with another that says "BELIEVE IN HEROES." The capital letters exhort you!

Clark tries to convince her one more time to go into the restaurant with him. She would prefer to just go home and "pretend for one night that the world hasn't gone totally crazy." "The government has taken a tougher stance," Clark says in a strangely enthusiastic way. He says they've been upgraded from vigilantes to terrorists. While Lois goes on about how awful the VRA is, Clark notices a man walking into the restaurant, holding a big bouquet of white roses. Lois takes Clark by the arm and leads him away from the restaurant, telling him she'd love to just snuggle up with him for the night. "Yeah, we should probably just go home," Clark agrees. "But wait a second!" He stops in his tracks. "I think I hear a situation that needs saving!" He zips away, leaving Lois staring at air. A moment later, the pay phone behind her rings. She answers it: "Did you save the day?" "I don't know yet," he says, then tells her to look up. She does so, just in time to see thousands of white rose petals drifting down from the sky. Did Clark... steal that guy's roses? As the petals continue to fall, Clark walks towards her. He says he wants to spend the rest of his life with her. He goes down on one knee and presents the ring to her. "Lois Lane, will you marry me?" Of course she will! He slides the ring onto her finger and they hug and kiss while sweet music plays. Somebody save the street sweepers who have to clean up all those flowers!

By Tippi Blevins

There's a line to get into the building when Lois shows up for work the day. VRA agents are scanning people with hand-held metal detectors before allowing them inside. How is that supposed to stop vigilantes? The steel from which the Blur is made is metaphorical, not metallurgical. [Also, why have they established a checkpoint deep in the basement of a privately owned office building, whose value as a terrorist target is dubious and whose owner doesn't like them? - Zach] While Lois waits for her turn, she leaves a message on Oliver's voicemail. She's been dying to tell someone her big news, but no one is answering their phones. She signs off by saying the "gestapo" is on the other line, by which she means the VRA agent who's currently telling her to put her keys, coins and phone into a little tray while he scans her. "Oops, I forget to give you this," Lois says, showing him the ring on her finger. "I hope it doesn't set off any alarms." To her disappointment, he ignores her bid for attention.

As she walks into the office, there's a "threat advisory" sign posted on an interior door. It advises everyone of the high risk of terrorist attacks and the even higher chance of being groped by the TSA. Er, the VRA. Lois is too busy cheerfully admiring her ring to pay it much mind. When an office drone hands her a stack of mail, the first item she opens is an orange envelope. The card inside reads "Lois, They say you never know what fate as in store for us, but I say you can see some happy endings coming from a mile away." Lois flashes back to the day before she left for Africa. She finds Chloe in their apartment and asks her about her relationship with Oliver. She introduces the topic thusly: "You're busy with work and he's really busy with work, and then there's... well... all those other responsibilities." "As a rich playboy?" asks Chloe. Why are they both being so coy about his responsibilities? Does Lois not know that Chloe knows about Green Arrow? Does Chloe not know that Lois knows that she knows? God, it's so confusing trying to keep track of who knows what on this show. Anyway, all of that was Lois's way of asking how Chloe and Oliver make things work when things are so complicated. Chloe knows that's not really what Lois is asking about, so Lois asks instead about what happened between Clark and Lana. Chloe looks sad. Isn't she in the middle of planning her own faked death? Maybe she's sad that she has to talk about Clark and Lana for the millionth time. "She couldn't make the sacrifices he needed, could she?" Lois asks. "Let's just say Lana wasn't the one fated to be in Clark's life," Chloe says with a smile. That, and she turned into a walking, talking blob of vomit-inducing Kryptonite.

By Tippi Blevins

Lois flashes back to the present. She reads the rest of the note: "For the big day, here's something borrowed. I'm there in spirit. Love, Chloe." She's not trying very hard to pretend to be dead. "I don't know how you do it, Chloe," Lois says. "It's like you can see the future." And yet, she uses her powers for... this. The "something borrowed" are two necklaces with some kind of silver medallions. As Lois is looking over them, Cat Grant comes into the office, mewling about how people are complaining too much about the new security measures. Her voice... the frequency... I feel like my eardrums are being microwaved every time she talks. She zeros in on Lois's ring and chirps, "Oh my, God, Lois Lane, are you expecting?!" Lois just as cheerfully threatens to punch Cat in the face if she spreads that rumor. Do it, Cat! Do it! The annoying clown music plays. Everything about this scene is an aural assault. Cat simpers about how her own "storybook romance" didn't have such a happy ending, but then immediately perks up again because Lois will have more time to be domestic now that she doesn't have any heroes to write about. Lois looks like she wants to make good on that punch to the face, but Tess interrupts and sends Cat away. "The VRA is not the only one increasing security," Tess says to Lois in a hushed voice. "I'm reprogramming Watchtower's retina scan tonight and you're up at nine." Lois looks vaguely suspicious.

Nonetheless, she shows up at the designated time, as does Clark. They're surprised to see each other there at the same time and think Tess must have made a mistake. It's all just a silly pretext to get them there for a surprise engagement party. Carter Hall, Courtney Whitmore (Stargirl) and Emil are in attendance, along with Tess and Oliver. "Surprise!" Clark and Lois grin and look appropriately surprised. There's a big silver cake that looks about as appetizing as a foil-wrapped cinder block. Later, as the party progresses, Lois is off talking with the other gals, telling them about the proposal. Oliver offers Clark his congratulations and moral support for committing himself to a "lifetime of Lois Lane." A chill just went down my spine. Oliver then apologizes because he thinks he shouldn't go to the wedding, now that the government's after him for blowing up one of their facilities. So after he got free, he didn't immediately go to the media and blab about being held prisoner in an evil government plot? These people suck at being proactive. Anyway, Clark wants Oliver to be his best man: "You're the guy who stands to me on the worst days of my life; I want you there for the best one, too." Aw. His proposal to Oliver was a lot more skillfully worded than his proposal to Lois. Oliver is touched, too, and eagerly agrees. Carter joins them, with the sage advice of letting Lois do whatever she wants where the wedding is concerned. The clowny music starts up again as Emil and Oliver joke about Carter marrying Shayera a hundred times. It's... not really a clown-appropriate situation.

By Tippi Blevins

Clark goes over to see what the ladies are up to, leaving Oliver and Carter to wax serious. "Even though I married Shayera a hundred times, I had to lose her that many, as well." There's a happy medium between doop-dee-doo clowning and soul-crushing depression that these folks have apparently not found yet. But it's Carter's way of trying to find a segue for the thing he says: "I know I don't usually get all warm and fuzzy, but I am sorry about Chloe." Oliver nods his thanks and looks sad for a while. Then he gives a little smirk. "You're not gonna hug me now, are ya?" "No," Carter says quickly. Aw, hug him! Carter says he understands how, it's at times like this you most miss someone you love. Oliver hopes Lois and Clark never go through the same loss, but Carter logically points out that there are no ways to avoid that possibility. Unless y'all die at the same time, it's pretty much guaranteed. Carter says he's learned that fear should never decide love. They look at each other for a while. Hug! Hug, damn you! Oliver offers the happy couple a toast: "You two are destined to be together." They're engaged now -- quit selling it so hard! Everyone cheers and claps.

By Tippi Blevins

After the party, Oliver's walking down an alley when he sees a "wanted" poster bearing a sketch of his face. They didn't have a photograph of this famous dude? [He held a press conference like, three episodes ago! - Z] Oliver gives the poster a mild look of annoyance. He should probably go into hiding, but he hears a woman screaming for help. He springs into action and finds the damsel in the clutches of some foul miscreant. Oliver yanks the guy off her and she flees to safety. Oliver throws the guy to the ground. The guy gets up and runs for it, Oliver hot on his heels. He tackles the thug to the ground, right in the middle of the suddenly crowded street. "That's Oliver Queen, the outlaw!" someone shouts. Oliver tries to point out that he's not the bad guy, but the actual bad guy claims that Oliver attacked him. Someone punches Oliver and that's all the signal the angry mob needs to join in. In moments, they have him down on the ground, kicking him. Carter and Courtney show up to break up the fight. People start picking up rocks, so Courtney summons her staff and zaps them away from the mob.

LuthorCorp building, night. A VRA SWAT team descends on Oliver's office. That distractingly huge and obvious jar of lemons and limes is still there, just being distracting and huge. That's really all that happens before we cut to...

...Lois and Clark, returning to the Kent farm the morning. They're carting armloads of presents. Do you really get presents at an engagement party? And then also later at the wedding? I clearly need to rethink my anti-marriage stance. Apparently, the happy couple are just now getting in because they decided to watch the sun come up on the Daily Planet building's roof. That's one way to avoid the street curfew. They reminisce about the party and how nice it was not to have to hide anything from anyone for a while. Lois lets Clark know that she's fine with taking a back seat to his responsibilities as a hero when the need arises, but Clark says they'll handle the responsibilities together. "I promise we will," he says, giving her a smooch. "Then nothing can stop Mr. and Mrs. Kent," Lois says. She heads for the kitchen, thinks about it for a second, and wonders if she should keep her name or hyphenate. Take his alien name! That'll confuse everyone. She digs into some ice cream for breakfast, which earns her a silly look from Clark. "Hey, I signed up for a double life," she defends herself, "you signed up for news with ice cream." This is their clunky segue to Lois turning on the TV and seeing a news report about Oliver's attack on an "innocent man." Lois hands Clark his fugly red leather jacket: "Guess the honeymoon's officially over." You didn't even get married yet. What a dumb thing to say. Clark whooshes off while Lois watches her man with pride.

By Tippi Blevins

Tess is sitting at a café, frowning at a tabloid paper with the headline "Queen Without a Country" and a photo of Oliver in mid-scuffle. Cat pitter-pats up to Tess's table and hisses, "We should have run that photo, and we would have if you hadn't played judge, jury and executioner with my article!" "Not, executioner, editor," Tess reminds her. "Your facts weren't verified and your writing is juvenile." So fire her! From her job or out of a cannon -- take your pick! Cat all but stamps her feet and tells Tess she needs to "get with the majority agenda" before somebody notices. Cat flounces off, leaving Tess looking not especially worried until two VRA agents approach her table. Their uniforms are clearly meant to evoke Nazi officer attire, which is a cheap but quick way to evoke menace and conformity. One of the agents, a guy who's all smirky smiles, leads Tess away for questioning. At the same time, two other agents wordlessly approach Emil at Met Gen. Just as wordlessly, Emil seems to realize he's screwed. Meanwhile, a VRA SWAT team busts into the Kent house, machine guns at the ready. Finding no one home within five seconds, they move out. They're not very persistent, are they?

Watchtower. Courtney tends to Oliver's wounds while Carter jabs at a computer. What nicely groomed hands he has for an archaeologist. Maybe having perpetually manicured hands is one of his powers. Clark whooshes in. "You gonna stitch that up yourself or call Emil?" he asks. His fugly jacket is nowhere in sight. Did he ditch it on the way? Clark is upset that Oliver didn't call him for help. Oliver says he wanted to give Clark and Lois some time together. They have their whole lives to be joined in the irrevocable bonds of holy bliss; the world going to crap is a little more immediately pressing. Carter tattles on him: "I told the human speed bag you'd want to know he got his bell rung." Heh. Courtney interrupts further manly teasing by turning up the volume on one of the TVs. Slade Wilson and his funky metal eyepatch are giving a press conference. "Like so many of you, I am a victim of a vigilante attack," he says. [Aside from last night, have we been shown a single testimonial from someone who's been "attacked"? Or are we meant to imagine this army of innocent bystanders and wronged criminals? - Z] "And while I'm lucky enough to have survived the explosion caused by Oliver Queen, it came at a terrible cost." He gestures at his grody eye. He incites the public to make the vigilantes pay for their crimes, which would kind of make them vigilantes, too. But fascists aren't really known for being enemies of hypocrisy. Clark turns off the TV. Black Canary has been watching the whole thing via video connection. "With Slade alive, we can't exist," she says. "He knows too much about us." Carter: "So until he's been dealt with, it's gotta be radio silence between us." Are they making plans to kill him? I'm personally not opposed, but I'm not a superhero. Clark says they have to go underground. They'll live like gophers, subsisting on roots and tubers. He shuts down Watchtower and closes the window's metal iris. Heroic music plays, but the plan sounds kinda half-baked.

By Tippi Blevins

Daily Planet. Lois looks over a "wanted" poster bearing photos or sketches of the super gang. Kara is among them, begging the question "where the hell is she?" Don't bring characters back if you're not going to use them, show. The Blur is represented only by one of his S-shields, which seems odd, considering Slade could have told them what he looks like. Lois stomps into the elevator. A female VRA agent is waiting there for her. She compliments Lois's engagement ring. "Now let's talk about the extraordinary man who won your heart," she says with a sneer. She leads Lois into a reception area upstairs where Tess, Emil and Cat are already waiting. Lois takes out her phone and starts to text something to Clark. While VRA agents are watching her. Dumb! Emil and Tess both surreptitiously let her know that the phones are bugged.

The lady VRA agent, who we'll later learn is named Lieutenant Trotter, questions Emil in one of the Daily Planet's offices. Why there and not in some government place? Perhaps the VRA spent all its money on uniforms and couldn't afford an office of its own. She asks Emil about his "erratic hours" at the hospital. He hints that he's been working in clinics, helping the poor. But what of his rich benefactor, Oliver Queen? Emil starts to deny being involved with the so-called terrorist activities, but Trotter cuts to the chase: she's more interested in Oliver's friends. She wants their names, but Emil stays mum. Trotter questions Lois , this time in Tess's office for some reason. She wonders if Clark is jealous of Lois's "close relationship" with the Blur. Lois says she never even speaks to the Blur, but Trotter points out that Lois's articles about the Blur have quotes. Maybe they text each other. "I want the Blur, Lois," Trotter says. "You're not leaving this room until I have Clark Kent." Lois doesn't say anything.

By Tippi Blevins

Slade's office. An Army officer leaves a classified file on top of Slade's desk and then leaves the room. Clark whooshes into the room and goes right to the file. A moment later, Carter comes in through another door. "So much for going off the grid," he says when he sees Clark. Somehow, this turns into Clark talking about how worried he is that he won't be able to have a relationship with Lois. Oliver sneaks into the room just in time to hear Clark giving voice to his romantic woes. "Don't tell me you're thinking about cancelling the wedding," he says, "because I gotta tell you, I started working on the speech, and it's looking good!" I have to give Justin Hartley props for trying to make the best of the clunky dialog he's given. Carter and Oliver chastise each other for even being there and not being able to follow the rules they set. Oliver brings up Slade's "mega mark of darkness" which Carter impatiently corrects to "omega." Anyway, Oliver thinks the darkness is driving everything: "Because I've seen hatred before and I've never seen anything like this." That seems... unlikely. Carter mentions the Spanish Inquisition and the Third Reich, which makes Clark realize the darkness has been there before. Right now I'm feeling a pretty good level of hatred for tying humanity's awfulness to some otherworldly force. Carter offers a glimmer of hope, saying that a "much brighter" force always arose to fight back the darkness. "And you had something to do with that?" Clark asks. Carter doesn't say anything, so Clark says they need to stop Slade. Carter doesn't think the authorities are going to be any help but Clark says he might have a place to put Slade. Stick him in a department store customer service counter the day after Christmas. That should just about do him in.

Back to Lois's interrogation. "If you think you know the Blur and the other vigilantes," Lois says, "then why aren't their faces all over the news?" Their faces are all over those posters. Trotter chides Lois, a general's daughter, for not knowing anything about strategy. She says public opinion is on their side. Lois guesses that the tide would turn if the VRA targeted civilians without proof. Since when do angry mobs need proof? Lois makes some vague threat to write about the truth, but Trotter isn't scared. She just threatens Lois right back, which seems to basically come down to cooperation or death.

By Tippi Blevins

, Trotter questions Tess in the archive room. Did she just want to try out all the different rooms in the building? Tess says she doesn't know where her coworker Oliver is: "You see, I work and he plays." She moves to leave the room, but Trotter blocks her. "And once upon a time, he played with you," Trotter says. She refers to Tess and Oliver's past relationship. Tess tries to convince her that it's all business with Oliver now, but Trotter's not buying it. She presses Tess to give up the vigilantes. The corner of Tess's mouth twitches in the barest hint of a smile. If I were Trotter, I'd be sure to update my will.

Lois, alone in Tess's office, pokes around for something she can use. She finds a remote control stuck to the underside of Tess's desk. She pushes a button and a bookcase slides away from the wall, revealing the secret escape chute that Tess once used to spring into Checkmate action. Seems like you'd want to make more of an effort to hide the controls to something like that, but whatever. Lois slides down and ends up in a storeroom in the basement, where she runs into Cat. Cat is surprised to see her: "I thought you were still -- " "--being questioned by Trotter and her goose-stepping goons?" Lois finishes for her. "Nope, cleared of all charges." Lois pretends she's just trying to get back to work, but Cat accuses her of escaping. Lois realizes Cat's the one who ratted them out. Cat flounces off to rat them out again, but Lois grabs her arm. She begs Cat to see sense. "The people that the government is targeting, they are not villains," she says. "They are honest-to-God heroes and they are putting their lives on the line to protect us." Cat looks doubtful. Lois compliments Cat's reporter instincts. That doesn't convince Cat, either, so Lois brings up Cat's son. Doesn't she want him to believe in heroes? "You're asking me to change everything I believe about the world," Cat says. Lois says that the Blur has saved Cat twice (damn him!) and her son wouldn't have a mother otherwise. That seems to get through to Cat. When one of the VRA agents comes around looking for Lois, Cat lies and says she hasn't seen her. When the agent is gone, Lois thanks Cat and turns to go. Cat calls her back. "I overheard Trotter say Slade's found a way to take care of the vigi -- the heroes," she says. They're going to use Oliver to find the others.

By Tippi Blevins

Speaking of Oliver, he's still hanging out in Slade's office with the lads. He's worked his way into Slade's laptop and found plans for "Operation Icarus." Carter expresses curiosity, so Oliver explains, "The Icarus myth is about fallen heroes who reach too far." I think the 3000-year-old guy with wings has probably already heard about the Icarus myth, Ollie. There's a file listing known vigilantes and their supporters, including Tess, Lois and the rest of their friends. A few more clicks and Oliver finds a video feed of Trotter questioning everyone. Clark zips away. Carter jabs at a few keys on the laptop. "I miss my typewriter," he grouses. "You miss the telegraph," Oliver snarks. He shoos Carter away: "Just get away, 8-track." There are even funny little shooing hands. There's also video feed of the agents ransacking Oliver's office. He should have booby-trapped that place. Like, replace those lemons and limes with green and yellow hand grenades.

The permanently full moon watches over the Daily Planet building. Inside, Trotter is pissed that Lois hasn't been found yet. She tells one of the agents to take Tess and Emil to "the secure location." As he leads them outside, Clark's trademark whoosh is heard followed by the telltale sounds of a clobbering. The agent thus dispatched, Clark enters the scene and asks, "Where's Lois?" Emil and Tess just sort of gape helplessly at him.

She's currently skulking into Oliver's office. Seems like a bad idea to go to one of Oliver's known hangouts when the government is after him. Indeed, Slade almost immediately finds her. "Where's Clark Kent?" he asks. "I don't know," she answers. "Besides, you're way off target if you think--" He whacks her across the face with his gun before she can finish. The blow sends her reeling. "G.I. Joe, when are you going to accept you can't beat the real American heroes? The last time you tried, you went down with the ship!" She grabs a vase off Oliver's desk and aims for Slade's head, but he blocks her hand. He says he failed to take out his target. "Luckily, fate and Uncle Sam's advanced military tech gave me a second chance to do it." He uses his gun to gesture at the metal plate welded over his eye. Uncle Sam couldn't come up with something less yucky? Lois refuses to betray the Blur, so Slade puts the gun to her forehead. Her voice thick with tears, she says, "No, wait, you win." Slade, who must be fairly new to this villain thing, believes her. As soon as he lowers the gun, Lois whacks him in the head with another vase. He grabs her by the hair and shoves her face-first into the desk. There's a loud thunk that makes me cringe and she falls to the floor., unconscious. As Slade aims his gun at her, there's a flapping sound and the silhouette of a winged man outside the stained glass window.

By Tippi Blevins

Carter, in his Hawkman guise, crashes through the glass and lands in a crouch before Slade. His wings spread prettily before he withdraws them into his armor. Slade shoots at him, but Carter deflects the bullets with his gauntlets. Slade whips out a sword and charges at Carter. Carter fights back with his mace. So much decor is destroyed in the ensuing battle. Carter manages to club Slade in the back, but it doesn't slow the old guy down much. Lois comes to and stares in horror. Slade moves to slice Carter in half, but Carter ducks and the sword cuts through an exposed pipe. Gas billows out. Carter flinches away and doesn't see Slade coming up behind him. Slade skewers him like chicken satay and he falls to his knees. Slade unmasks him and pulls back his sword for the killing blow. Lois staggers to her feet, shouting "No!" Carter's wings unfurl from the armor just as a spark from a destroyed lamp ignites the gas. The explosion blasts Lois through a window and sets Carter's wings aflame. Lois plummets earthward with Carter and his burning wings fast behind her.

Slade walks out of the LuthorCorp building, not much worse for the wear. Clark whooshes up to him in the conveniently abandoned loading docks "I was wondering how long you'd hide and let your friends take the fall," Slade says. He wasn't hiding; he was rifling through your desk! "I heard the explosion," Clark says. He doesn't understand how Slade survived. "Let's just say the reaper can swing his sickle at me," Slade says, "but I'm beyond death's stroke now." "Where's Lois?" Clark asks. Instead of answering, Slade goes off on some tangent about how Clark lets other people define him and how people get in the way. "A soldier can fight for others, but he cannot afford to love them," Slade says. He invites Clark to join him. Clark RSVPs a "never." Slade doesn't spend a lot of time trying to recruit Clark. He moves onto the reasoning behind the "Operation Icarus" name, that he thought Clark's fall would come from his hubris. I thought it would be the heavy-handed symbolism weighing him down. Slade laughs: "But then, to actually see a maaan with burning wiings plummet from the sky! Gaaaawd, I dooo enjoy the ironyyyy!" I don't know if it's Michael Hogan's acting choice or what, but it takes Slade about three seconds to say each word. He turns and walks away from Clark, but Clark zips around in front of him. "Where are they?" he asks. Did he not see the explosion? It's just on the other side of the building! Slade says they're dead. Clark says he's lying. Slade says a soldier always finishes his mission, so Clark decides to finish his own by jabbing a Kryptonian doohickey at Slade's chest. A flash of light sucks Slade into the whatsit. It's a small S-shield and it's either black and white or the lighting is making it look that way. Clark looks mildly sad because the commercial break is upon him.

By Tippi Blevins

After the commercials, he zips around to the other side of the building. Debris litters the ground, much of it still burning. Carter lies on the ground, wings wrapped around himself. "I have something for you," he says to Clark. He opens his wings with obvious pain and reveals a trembling Lois. Clark pulls her up into a hug. "He saved me," she tells him. She turns her attention to Carter, telling him she'll get him help. He's resigned to his fate, even joking that he's "an old pro at dying." Aw. Clark kneels beside him, wishing he'd been there to help him. "It can't always be you," Carter says. "This is all of our fight." He says he'll be with Shayera again. They clasp hands as Carter tells Clark to hold onto Lois: "Because there has to be a balance, Clark. We can't do what we have to do if there's an emptiness in our heart." He just wishes he could be there to help Clark fight the darkness. "But you have all the help you need," he says with his dying breath.

The heroes take their fallen comrade to Egypt. Everything is somber and slow. A lovely mystery song plays; my Google-fu has failed to find the artist. Stargirl leads the funeral procession through an ancient temple, holding Hawkman's mask and mace. The others, including Lois, carry Carter's body on a gauze-draped raft. Everyone wears their hero gear, and even Clark has put on his red leather jacket. There are stand-ins for Zatanna, Victor, Arthur and Bart, with shadows and hoods hiding their faces. They place Carter's body gently in a stone tomb, then lay his mask and mace on the cover. Nearby is Hawkgirl's sarcophagus, with her mask and weapon similarly laid out, waiting for her rebirth. Clark takes Lois's hand. Stargirl leans her head on Dinah's shoulder. Wisely, there are no clunky goodbyes in this scene -- no dialogue at all, actually. As the heroes bow their heads in a show of respect, Lois notices a glowing obelisk rising up out of the sand beside them. A brilliant light flares out, blotting everything from view. When the lights dim, all the heroes lie unconscious on the ground, strewn about like dolls. They're in completely different positions than they were a moment ago; important fact or directorial brain fart? Guess we have to tune in January 28 to find out.

By Tippi Blevins

Discuss this episode in our forums, then see what other superheroes need showrunners ! And see what our vlogger thinks about the show, below.

What are people saying about your favorite shows and stars right now? Find out with Join the conversation now!

Tippi Blevins hopes everyone enjoys the hiatus. Go outside! Rejoin civilization for a while! You can reach her at b_tippi@yahoo.com or http://twitter.com/tippib.