Metropolis' New Heroes: Booster Gold and Blue Beetle? Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Television Review: Smallville, "Booster"
by R.J. Carter
Published: April 19, 2011
There's a new hero in Metropolis, and he's anything but camera shy. With a winning smile and a confident swagger, Booster Gold (Eric Martsolf, Days of Our Lives) flies into town intent on becoming the brightest and best hero Metropolis could ask for. But he also has a more personal agenda: he's from the future, and he believes that if he can be on hand for a few key moments, he can usurp the legend that will soon be Clark Kent's.
Blue and Gold: Booster Gold and Blue Beetle.
©2011 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved |
History changes, however, shortly upon his arrival as he rescues young Jaime Reyes (Jaren Brandt Bartlett, Da Vinci's Inquest) from an automobile accident. The car just happens to be carrying an alien superweapon confiscated by Kord Industries -- a blue scarab that slips into Jaime's backpack and later transforms the awkward teen into the destructive dynamo, the Blue Beetle! As Booster signs deals (and autographs), Jaime seeks help for his new condition, eventually leading him to ask for assistance from the new superhero in town -- who nonchalantly blows him off.
As Booster Gold continues to build his image, Lois Lane (Erica Durance) is busily working to help Clark Kent (Tom Welling) tear down his own, in a sort of reverse-Pygmalion effort to make Clark a more forgettable person so that his alter ego, The Blur, can start showing his face unmasked. Thus begins the klutzy, bespectacled, somewhat weak-stomached Clark, and a quick-change scene in a phone booth that will have long-time fans clapping.
Phone Booth: The most amazing
thing here: the handset is still
attached!
©2011 The CW Network, LLC.
All Rights Reserved |
Coupled with the over-the-top antics of Booster Gold and the light-hearted tone of the soundtrack, it's easy to view this episode of Smallville as another episode of The Adventures of Lois & Clark. That's not necessarily a good thing, but it may just be the infusion of optimism that heralds the coming of the hope and change Metropolis is looking for, and which fans know is literally just around the corner as the season goes through the process of straightening its tie and giving its breath one last check before waltzing off into the sunset. And given the pantheon of DC Universe heroes we've seen show up in the past year, this reviewer can't help but wonder if these last few seasons of Smallville haven't been a proving ground for a potential live-action DC Universe series, a la the animated Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
Keri Lynn Pratt appears as Cat Grant in this episode, hot for the exclusive interview with Booster Gold, and Sebastian Spence (Battlestar Galactica) takes on the role of Ted Kord in a nod to fans of the second generation Blue Beetle (don't worry, purists, Dan Garrett gets his minimal due as well).
Smallville, "Booster" debuts Friday, April 22 at 8:00pm/7:00pm Central on The CW Network.
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