Smallville 9.05 "Roulette"

[emeraldstag]

Oliver's story arc on his downward spiral reaches its peak, and another DC character gets their introduction/reinvention into the Smallville Universe. What more could you want right? Something I can mention here before the cut is that I wish the visual direction of the show would return to its roots from the earlier seasons, it's been a slow transition but this season it is pretty noticeable how much Smallville is starting to look like a typical CW drama and I think that takes away from the unique feel the show had from the beginning. It's clear its come from trying to give it a more adult/serious direction, but I don't know how much that helps Smallville. I don't like the dark! D:

• Oliver. This is the first episode this season where he is the main/only focus, similar to last season's early episode, "Toxic". Unlike "Toxic", however, this wasn't an intriguing story and had zero amount of Tess/Mercy. I had no interest in Roulette at all and I really think they're being way too flippant with how many people know about Oliver's involvement with Lex's death. I'm thinking the white suit Oliver was dressed in was to mirror something Lex would wear? Because that was just an odd thing to be dressed in unless you were wanting the blood and dirt to really show through. Best part of the episode is we are done with Oliver's drama, and he's remembered how to be the hero he is. What I'd like now is if he'd have his tailor take care of Clark and bring some color back into the wardrobe.
• Chloe. I miss the days where there would be brainstorming between the friends and figuring out how to solve things together. Instead we get more of Chloe scheming to get Oliver back onto his feet and keeping it away from Clark's attention. I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing Chloe let out of the Watchtower in future episodes and be more than an 'Oracle'-type character. With all the secrets and one-on-one conversation scenes we keep having it feels more and more like I'm watching a prime time soap/drama. Where's Jonathan and Martha Kent to smack all these young adults around back to sensibility? D:
• Lois. The opening scene with movie night at the Kent Farm was cute but went way too long to reveal why she was forcing her attention into a night with Clark and her worries about Oliver. It's nice to see some closure on the whole Oliver/Lois thing (never was a fan of that romance during Season 6) and to see how close they still are. The only other thing is more of a picky visual thing but I miss how Erica looked as Lois in her first few seasons (4-6), I miss the ponytails and the hair is just so dark and huge at times.

I'm getting a little tired of the lack of substance to the episode previews. I have no idea what's going on in the episode of "Crossfire" outside of what's clearly a moment between Clark/Lois (also know this because of those stills that were going around last week, lol). And I thought the "Echo" preview was obscure.