Smallville 9.11-12 "Absolute Justice"

[emeraldstag]

A once in a season opportunity proving lightning does strike twice again, Smallville fans were gifted with a return dose of Geoff Johns for season 9 in "Absolute Justice" Now I can understand why they wanted "Disciple" to air before the two hour event because it did straighten Oliver up completely but it would've been something if they had chosen to come back from hiatus with this episode.

• JSA. I thought the representation and casting for the JSA members was fantastic. And with Geoff Johns writing the episode, that should be expected. Seeing the other members represented in flashbacks, Alan Scott, Ted Grant and others. Amazing. Obviously they did their best with the special effects and costumes as they could with a limited TV show budget but I thought Dr. Fate looked spectacular, and Hawkman was very impressive. And it was great to see Stargirl in live-action form, a character Geoff Johns himself created in honor of his sister. And while Martian Manhunter is not a JSA member, it's been a season since we've seen him and I liked the nod to his comic self with not only the green shirt and red vest/cross thingy and the shot of him in his green martian form when Dr. Fate returned his powers to him. (Another Geoff Johns trait is being able to smartly return a character to how he's supposed to be - giving John his powers back he lost in the S8 premiere saving Clark).
• Chloe. Easily her most time on screen and as a result her best episode of the season. They actually let her out of the Watchtower for once, and have her investigating with Clark for the first time in several seasons (not to mention Clark visiting her in the hospital, something non-mission like interaction for the first time in ages as well). And I liked how Stargirl, Dr. Fate told Chloe how staying in the watchtower isn't healthy for her, and how to make it a more inviting place, and then the end with her going out to eat with Oliver and John was great.
• Oliver. After last week's "Disciple" that saw his character turn back towards the better with his mentoring, I loved his interaction this week with Chloe, and then with Hawkman. The friction from the comics brought to Smallville. One thing that Smallville has been missing with a smaller cast that are all about the same age is the different age groups interacting and learning from each other - one reason I like the idea of Mia becoming a regular, as it puts Oliver in a different role, relating and mentoring someone, and why the interaction between Stargirl and Chloe or Hawkman and Oliver was so fun to see.

Next week is "Warrior", which is Allison Mack's S9 directing debut. Hour 2 of "Absolute Justice" (Legends) was directed by Tom Welling, and now we see his co-star get her second crack at directing. Allison directed last season's "Power", and would have done one in S7 had it not been for the writer's strike. It looks like the first Chloe-centric episode of the season, and I'm interested to see what goes on. I'd like some Chlo-Lo action, I don't think there has been much if any onscreen this season, which is sad. Also Zatanna, who is always a plus. ♥