Loved It? Hated It? What did you think of "Shield?"

[vantheman77]

Shield saw the debuts of Cat Grant and Deadshot as well as the Suicide Squad. While Clark was protecting Cat from Deadshot, Lois was in Egypt where she meets Hawkman Carter Hall. The highlight of this episode was Clark debuting a new prototype suit with the trademark symbol emblazoned across it.

[ck123]

good

[actaeon]

Watching "Shield" again, I'm impressed with how carefully S10 was planned. This episode brought up important themes for later in the season: Lois worried about how she could be with a man who is practically a god, and Carter's reassurance. He tells her that not only will he not be a burden to Clark, but she will make his life easier; she is even necessary to him, enabling him to carry on the life he is destined to fulfill. Also, via the Cat Grant story, the theme of coming out into the light is introduced. She, in her anti-superhero stance, is an illustration of how elements of the public view the clandestine heroes. With mistrust. Thus, Clark-- as Superman-- eventually makes the decision to go public as a superhero. This is setting the stage for the spectacular 10-22 Finale.

[BoyScout-ManOfTomorrow]

Amazing episode. Clark and Lois were awesome in this episode. On repeated viewings it does lose points because the rest of the season didn't give payoff to this incredible premise episode.

[jon-el87]

One of those episodes, that's a lot better than you remember it. Especially, when you've seen the rest of the season. It allows you to see just how much of the season was set-up in this episode: the VRA storyline, the Suicide Squad, Carter Hall's death, the Isis episode and Tess becoming involved in the team's activities (eventually joining the league).

Cat Grant's a little annoying, but it's clearly the intent of the writers. She's not one of those characters, that the writers set out to get everyone to love, only for the viewers to hate them. I really like that they acknowledged the Catherine Grant from season 9. Makes this character not so much a retcon as she's simply another person, with the same name. Metropolis is a city of millions. There are bound to be a few people with the same name. This is an aspect that I really appreciate about the show. They introduced Kara Zor-El in season 7, but acknowledged the Lindsay Harrison character from season 3. Even after the infamous "Henry James Olsen" reveal, they had Chloe acknowledge his existence (even having a photo of him at Watchtower) and had Lois talk about him, while she was talking with the grown Jimmy Olsen in 2018. They didn't simply retcon these three characters out of existence.

It's a lot better than what we got on The Flash, where they mentioned several DC characters in season one (Al Rothstein and Ralph Digby being two), then just retconned the whole thing in season two or later. Not here. A girl, who went by the name of "Kara", showed up in season three. And her existence was acknowledged, when another girl named "Kara" showed up in town. My only real problem with it, is that they went with Cat Grant, rather than mining Superman's roster of supporting characters a little deeper. They could've gone with Lola Barnett (a pre-COIE character, who largely played the same role as Cat Grant). I often feel that Superman adaptations don't dig very deep into the material. When it comes to supporting characters; Lois, Perry and Jimmy (and Cat Grant) haven't been the only people in Clark Kent's life.

An aspect I liked about Cat Grant as a character, is that she starts the episode as anti-vigilante/superhero and remains that way for much of the season. We didn't see a cliché change of heart, after just one episode.

Like I mentioned above, the episode sets up the VRA-plotline, with different characters representing different aspects of the issue. You have the Suicide Squad, who thinks their (and all metahumans and vigiltantes) best alternative is to stick to the shadows, as it keeps them safe. Unfortunetly, sticking to the shadows allows for people like Gordon Godfrey to spread lies and misinformation about the folkgroup in question, which then people like Cat Grant accepts as the truth. So, while staying hidden offers a degree of protection from the world's hostility, it also ensures that the hostility, that prompts the need for protection, will never go away.