Loved it? hated it, What did you think of Plastique?

[Dagenspear]

Even people who are good will feel tempted to do something bad now and then, if there is no consequences for it. people who fall into the grey area, they would feel it even more.

And I think you fail to realize just how many people out there would really do something if they were told that there would be no consequences for it from society or the law. Even people in clergy feels that kind of temptation and succumbs to it completely because the power they had as a clergyman corrupted them to the point that they forgot that they weren't holy and could get away with anything. That they were only meant to be mere teachers that taught about god, etc.
Google Clergy abuse, and you'll be shocked at the amount of vile stuff that goes on in a church.

Goes to show you, temptation is always everywhere, and not even good people are immune from it.

On the town itself, I tend to head-canon that the town was already hiding some serious dark secrets long before the meteors hit. You had the typical small-town cruelty and small-mindedness alongside all the wholesome small-town feeling. So there had to be some serious abusive stuff going on behind the scenes.... hence more than a dozen of the citizens needed major therapy but never got it because they were too worried about how others would view them.

That says more about them, than people.

Hardly typical to small towns. Bullying, even harshness with carelessness like that is in a lot of places. There wasn't that much small mindedness either, beyond a dislike of the rich. We didn't get the impression that that's the way it was. People had trouble yes, but that wide sweeping? I don't see that. Some of the problems were just based on insecurities.

God bless you! God bless everyone in your life!

[Aurora Moon]

if it was just simple insecurity, then I have to say they dealt with it in highly dysfunctional ways.

[Bally]

8.

The episode carried on the change of vibe which characterised the season premiere. The loss of several cast members meant the new writers had to change tack and by far the best decision they made was to have Clark - and therefore the majority of the action - centred on Metropolis rather than Smallville. Regardless of the questionable manner in which he got the job at the DP, having him there at last really brings the series closer to the comic legend. Who he is working alongside is key to that.

At first, having Clark turn up to work on his first day dressed in his usual farmboy attire makes him seem more than a little bit dim, especially is he's been there so many times in the past so should have had a clear idea as to the DP's dress code. However, this little faux-pas on his part actually leads to one of the best and most significant establishing scenes in the series. We sees Clark's first-day nerves as he's now looking at the DP as a place of employment, so a familiar place somehow looks and feels different. We see him trying to appear confident in front of Lois only to be shot down once she comments on his attire. We see the DP as a busy hive of activity and a semblence of interaction between Lois and others in the form of the colleague from whom she 'borrows' a spare set of clothes. We pretty much never saw Chloe interact with others this way. Then the standout moment when Clark changes in the phone booth and leaves Lois speechless at the sight of the man in front of her. He looks every bit the Metropolis young reporter and gone is the naive farmboy. It's a hugely clever set-up.

Tess Mercer announces herself in this episode and shows more than a hint of Lex Luthor - the Lex of the earlier seasons rather than the vengeful tyrant of the past couple of years. She takes a keen interest in Clark but we know from Odyssey that there will be more to it than that. Her putting together a team of meteor freaks again hints at former Lex projects.

Chloe's purpose in life seems to have changed. She sees herself as some sort of counsellor to the meteor-infected probably because of her own experiences in coping with day to day life while living with something that most people will reject you for having. She had been winging it at the DP for years without making much headway, and then got fired by Lex. While she once had ambitions to be a reporter, it's clear that the profession no longer holds the appeal it once did.

Davis Bloome is an interesting new addition and it's clear that there is a spark between him and the recently engaged Chloe.

Bette is played with plenty of "woe is me" teenage whining and while she clearly has trust issues with people, it needed a bit more depth to explain exactly why that is.

I didn't watch this show when it first began because it was apparent to me that it was aimed at a different demographic. While I like superhero stories in terms of watching movies and so on, I'm far from a comic book nerd or fanboy. I like character interaction but not really of the teenage angst or rom-com variety. For that reason I misjudged Smallville a little because the snippets of episodes I caught from time to time suggested that this is what the show was, but I saw a couple of season 8 episodes not so long ago (this was one of them) and couldn't believe how enjoyable I found the Clark and Lois interaction. The actors have an amazing chemistry together and for a DC product, the fun and humour was not dissimilar to what you usually see in the Marvel character movies. I always thought the DC stuff was more earnest.

Anyway, from that 'phone booth' set-up, we get to see Lois regale Clark on her rules of reporting. She clearly thinks he's wet behind the ears but he still has enough self-confidence to banter back (the cliff notes jibe) and she is secretly starting to become a little smitten. The banter between them while they are out on the job is brilliant. He's so quick with the charming smile comeback plus her swing and a miss. I loved that bit because she was really cocky with her "watch and learn" attempt at flirting information out of the cop only to be shot down immediately. Clark stifles a smirk. Lois conning a quote out of Clark again shows how wet behind the ears he is. He'll need to have his wits about him to deal with Lois' sneakiness.

Since way back in Apocalypse, Lois has been keener to help Clark out or at least provide a friendly shoulder. It was her idea for him to apply for a job at the DP (Arctic) and here she seems pleased that she fought for him to get to write Tommy's obit. Even though Clark seems to think it's a trivial thing, she's quick to point out that rookie reporters don't usually get to do such things. Indeed, she would have killed for an obit! I don't know how true that is in the real world of journalism for rookie reporters (writing an obit, not killing for one!) but in this episode it shows Lois looking out for Clark's best interests even if he himself doesn't feel ready or willing. When she gave him the forms in Arctic, she even told him to think about his future then so there's an element of continuity here. The hospital scene just reminds me of the Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain version of these two characters. The scene had the same vibe as that 90s show.

The episode deserved a final Lois and Clark scene at the DP and it delivered. Lois' face when mentioning Jimmy was very funny but more importantly, she recognised that the truth in the story is more valuable than snagging a headline and she was genuinely grateful to Clark for his help. His reactions made it clear that he was a little bit surprised at Lois' friendly demeanour and lack of snarkiness in that moment. Given how their relationship first started, it probably wasn't easy for her to admit that he's got some talent for the role but she did it anyway and even encouraged him to keep up the good work. That was a nice touch. His interactions with her are so refreshing because he can banter and occasionally be snarky and she'll give as good as she can get, but they also have these moments where they can just be honest and not let their walls get in the way. Chloe is more of a crutch when he needs to make a decision, and Lana would have been offended at the merest hint of snark. Lois winking at Clark is a very cute moment and the final shot of the iconic pair sat at their desks opposite each other with the DP mural in the background presents another moment to suggest the show is moving on from its Smallville origins and closer to Metropolis comic book legend.

[jon-el87]

I like that we were shown Clark's first day on the job. We get to see him showing up, innappropriately dressed for work, then failing to that a source for information, about the bus explosion (I also like that he didn't try to use himself as a source or believe that his word is enough evidence. And that is, of course, a jab at a character on another show). They didn't do a time jump between the season premiere and this one, where Clark has already worked there for weeks and gotten the hang off everything.

Thought Bette was a convincing street kid (not that I can claim to have known many). She's not a bad person. She's just someone, who was locked up at 12, then experimented on for 3 years. Understandably, she'd have trust issues. Given that Plastique is supposed to be a Firestorm villain, I like that they didn't kill her off (in any of her three appearances). It ensures that Bette could one day, run into and fight Firestorm (when he's created, in this universe). While Smallville never did Firestorm, I appreciate that they didn't use villains from other DC heroes' rogue galleries as cannon fodder.

The Bette plotline not only sets up the Injustice League, for later in the season, but is also what inspires Chloe to re-open the Isis Foundation and devote some of her time, toward counseling meteor infected teenagers. Which makes for a nice bit of character development.

[jon-el87]

Recently rewatched this episode, and "Cyborg". Why? I think that there are similarities. Bette and Victor are both black characters, who have recently escaped a Luthorcorp facility (with the Luthorcorp CEO now being after them), and Clark first meets them after a vehicle accident (though, in the case of this episode it turns out to not be an accident). Per the comics, Bette and Victor both becomes superheroes and members of the Justice League.

Frankly, looking at these two episodes back-to-back, this one's better. Bette shows the distrust, that one would expect from someone who've been locked up and experimented on. When the scientist in "Cyborg" frees Victor, he shows no sign of distrust or of suspecting that this might be a trap. This episode establishes that Luthorcorp locked up Bette when she was 12, but her life before that is left vague (even how she acquired her powers is left a mystery). There are stuff about Bette that future episodes could've dugged into. The origin of her powers, and what happened to her family (assuming that she had one). Victor in "Cyborg" didn't have that. They establish everything about him, and set up his whole family as dead.

In fact, I'd say that the Bette character was better handled on the show, than Victor. Bette is someone who wants to become a superhero, but keeps stumbling. Victor came off as a passive victim, whom Clark and Oliver had to rescue (and only became a superhero, because Oliver made him a suit, and gave him a job). I just wish that we had gotten more than three appearances of her. In retrospect, if they had done a Plastique spin-off, back in the day, I would probably have watched it. And there would've been material for them to dig into (starting with the mysteries concerning her origin). Then you have stuff like (if we go by the comics) her future marriage to Captain Atom, and membership in the Justice League.