Smallville – S08E11 – Legion

Tonight’s episode – Legion

That’s a pretty badass preview and it comes courtesy of the Smallville writing debut of Geoff Johns!

And in classic Geoff Johns fashion, he’s brought the Legion of Super-Heroes with him!  How will the transition from page to screen go for Johns?  We’ll soon find out.  I’m not afraid to tell you that I’m more than a little nervous!

During the hiatus we learned that rumors of Smallville‘s demise were premature.  There was a lot of talk about how Tom Welling (who was not under contract for another season) was ready to hang up his red plaid shirts and move on.  And really, who could blame him?  The CW could blame, him, apparently.  Smallville has seen a creative, and more importantly, a ratings resurgence this season and since The CW doesn’t have very much else to hang its hat on they drove the preverbial Brinks truck up to Welling’s front door and now word is he’s going to be back for season nine.

As always, I look forward to your thoughts, opinions, gripes, live-blogging, etc.

Comments

  1. rayclark rayclark says:

    im very excited for this. i LOVE LoSH so this is a very exciting episode for me

  2. reg5000 reg5000 says:

    I got back into Smallvile because of what you guys said on the 2008 wrap up show. I "obtained" the first half of season 10 and was really impressed by it.

  3. OttoBott OttoBott says:

    I’m something of a completists, and I’m kind of ready for this series to be complete.

  4. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    @OttoBot: Looks like you’ve got another season and a half… at least.

  5. Julian Julian says:

    I heard that the season finale could act as a Series Finale.

  6. We!  Are!  LEGION!!!!!

  7. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    @Julian: That was when it looked like Tom Welling was going to leave the show.  Things have apparently changed recently.

  8. reg5000 reg5000 says:

    I know they always said that they’d never have him fly but I wonder if the’re gonna change that? Probably saving it for when they end the show. Now that’d be an ending.

  9. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    SMALLVILLE

    According to CW president Ostroff, "We’re starting to talk about [the possibility of season nine]. Obviously we’re prepared either way. If the show doesn’t go on, we have a series finale that the writers have been thinking about, but I think we’d all love to see the show come back creatively again. We’ve got a new team of writers who are running the show, and they’ve done a great job with the series this year. We’ve gotten great feedback from the fans. It’s interesting because they’ve used more female characters this year, which I think helped it blend in with the theme of the network, so we’d love to see it back."

    Predicted Response to Smallville Cancellation: 7.2 on the fan Richter scale

    Chances of Renewal: Good, assuming Tom Welling is up for it—the show continues to have admirable ratings and has creatively thrived despite the exit of Kristin Kreuk and Michael Rosenbaum.

  10. Julian Julian says:

    one more minute

     

  11. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    And here we go.

  12. reg5000 reg5000 says:

    I hope it comes back. I have precious few TV shows that I watch that are good without being soul-crushingly bleak

  13. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    Sometimes, a scene like that means it’s been a really GOOD wedding.

  14. Julian Julian says:

    yup she’s in Street Fighter

  15. Julian Julian says:

    The Flight Ring!

     

  16. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    Thsat was totally a Geoff Johns moment.

  17. smeeeeee smeeeeee says:

    man the ring looks awesome

  18. smeeeeee smeeeeee says:

    apparently black lightning is white LOL

  19. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    "Hey Kal – where’s your cape?"  Oh, man this is going to be great.

  20. rayclark rayclark says:

    haha great quote from lightning lad. oh and i want that ring

  21. I’m a legionnaire
    Camel in disrepair
    hoping for a frigidaire
    to come passing byyyyyyyyy
    I am on reprieve
    lacking my joie de vivre
    missing my gay paris
    in this desert dryyyyyyyy

  22. Julian Julian says:

    Lol

  23. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    I know very little about the Legion… so Legion experts are going to have to cite references and such. 

  24. Thank you for reminding me through Twitter cuz I completely forgot.

    Came in time for Lightning Lad’s line before commercial. Good start!

  25. rayclark rayclark says:

    oof that wound. is that the persuader? he was from teen titans? and why is saturn girl talking shes supposed to be a telepath

  26. rayclark rayclark says:

    @conor i can help with that

  27. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    "The Levitz Museum".  Nice. 

  28. Crippler Crippler says:

    Oh wow that was great. 

    Continuity error – When last we saw Lana she was having her leg stitched up.  Now she’s running around!  My wife says this has ruined the whole episode already…  (she’s just pestering me because she knows how excited I am for the Geoff Johns action)

  29. Julian Julian says:

    talk about your spoilers.

  30. rayclark rayclark says:

    haha thats funny @crippler i love geoff johns let him take over the smallville series

  31. smeeeeee smeeeeee says:

    looks like a baterang in a rock

  32. rayclark rayclark says:

    rofl agreed. and chloe ur not perfect your like deadish. strength?? im confused

  33. rayclark rayclark says:

    never mind shes brainiac

  34. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    @rayclark: Chloe has been infected by Brainiac for a while now.

  35. rayclark rayclark says:

    @conor wow really? its been too long since i watched the eps before this one. sorry lol

  36. Even in television Geoff Johns is able to make sense of the wonky continuity that came before him.   

  37. rayclark rayclark says:

    oo i just got shivers when she said doomsday

  38. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    @PaulMontgomery: It’s amazing!

  39. rayclark rayclark says:

    haha lightning lad "kal i flunked history and even i know"

  40. rayclark rayclark says:

    @PaulMontgomery agreed he can stay on smallville any time!!!!

  41. Umm..can we greenlight a Geoff Johns Legion series for the CW NOW? 

  42. rayclark rayclark says:

    @PaulMontgomery i completely agree man

  43. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    @PaulMontgomery: I would watch that.  I would definitely watch that.

  44. rayclark rayclark says:

    @conor i completely agree

  45. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    This episode should end with the appearance of just like hundreds of Legionaires.

  46. smeeeeee smeeeeee says:

    i dont want geoff to have his on show. then geoff will leave us like brian K vaughn!

  47. Crippler Crippler says:

    Poor Clark… so very envious of flight. 

  48. rayclark rayclark says:

    so can anyone clarify who the persuader is? teen titans or LoSH villain? my friend and i are having a dispute about that. and why isnt saturn girl talking through her head?

  49. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    "We in the Legion always walk in formation!"

  50. rayclark rayclark says:

    ah clark you need to learn how to fly like NOW please

  51. rayclark rayclark says:

    clark kent just completely brought me up to speed with chloe thanks clark!!

  52. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    Hahaha – NO ONE has ever heard of Chloe Sullivan!

  53. Crippler Crippler says:

    Of EFFING RIGHT… there is no Chloe Sullivan in the comics… and this is the first time in the whole series they addressed it! 

  54. smeeeeee smeeeeee says:

    OMG geoff johns just explained y chloe isnt in continuity!

     HES A GENIUS!

  55. Julian Julian says:

    he is saying what i have been thinking

  56. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    Wow, this is the closest they’ve ever come to talking about Superman.  Other than that one time early in the series when Clark saw that psychic.

  57. rayclark rayclark says:

    geoff johns needs to ret-con ALL of TV

  58. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    @rayclark: Persuader is, originally, a Legion villain.

  59. rayclark rayclark says:

    @conor oh yea i remember that hmmm……what does that signal? and end of the series?

  60. rayclark rayclark says:

    @conor thanks i win the bet you just won me 20 dollars!!

  61. I love what they’re doing here.  I love it. 

  62. rayclark rayclark says:

    @PaulMontgomery i completely agree this makes me love smallville even more.

    we need a vote who wants Geoff Johns on here??

  63. Chloe makes a great villain. 

  64. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    Cosmic Boy’s hair is very close to making him look like one of the stars of SPAMALOT.

  65. rayclark rayclark says:

    rofl agreed and is it me or does lightning lad look like one of the weasly boys from harry potter?

  66. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    Halfway through and this is… *woof* … REALLY good.

  67. He totally looks like a Weasley. 

  68. I…refuse to "raise the woof" for Hotel for Dogs. 

  69. jerichobp jerichobp says:

    chloe/brainiac looks like bettlejuice. just throwing that out there.

  70. rayclark rayclark says:

    phew this is an awesom episode. good work geoff johns!!

    can lightning lad fly on a broomstick?

  71. If they released this episode on blu-ray by itself and with Geoff Johns commentary and maybe a featurette, I’d buy it. 

  72. rayclark rayclark says:

    wow the legion has to kill themselves? thought that was against the legion code?

  73. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    Something tells me that Kal-El is going to show these Legion upstarts what for!

  74. The Clark you know is boring!

  75. DrkN says:

    go geoff!

  76. rayclark rayclark says:

    wow i like that brainiac logo!!!!!!!!!!!

  77. Crippler Crippler says:

    This feels like a season finale.  How can the rest of the season live up to the highpoint we’re sitting at now? 

  78. I like the choice to make Chloe’s Brainiac powers overtly erotic. 

  79. rayclark rayclark says:

    @Cripple agreed this would make an AWESOME season finale!!

  80. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    It’s funny how all the women on this show are interchangable hacker sidekicks for Clark.

  81. Crippler Crippler says:

    Oh oh.. looks like Brainiac has mastered the anti-life equation! 

  82. Guys, seriously.  It’s a screensaver.  Just jostle the mouse. 

  83. rayclark rayclark says:

    @conor agreed i think that a Legion of Super-Heroes spinoff is a GREAT idea!!!!

  84. Don’t agree with Conor that my idea is cool!  Cut out the middle-man!  ;)

  85. rayclark rayclark says:

    @PaulMontgomery ok ok i agree thats a sweet screensaver or was there something else you wanted me to agree to?

  86. Nevermind. 

  87. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    loneliness + alienation + fear + despair + self-worth ÷ mockery ÷ condemnation ÷ misunderstanding x guilt x shame x failure x judgment n=y where y=hope and n=folly, love=lies, life=death, self=dark side

  88. rayclark rayclark says:

    @paul sorry man this episode is just making my head spin

  89. rayclark rayclark says:

    @conor ANTI LIFE EQUATION!!!

  90. smeeeeee smeeeeee says:

    HANG HER!

  91. Ooooooh!  I love that! 

  92. Julian Julian says:

    thank you Mr. Johns

  93. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    These guys are pretty pissy with their idol.

  94. rayclark rayclark says:

    and here we go clark. teamwork good idea and lets save chloe the person no ones heard of….hmmm

  95. rayclark rayclark says:

    they do NOT like clark that much…

  96. Just when us nerds push our glasses up the bridges of our noses and groan that the Legion doesn’t kill…..

    We just got JOHN’D!

  97. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    @rayclark: It’s not hard with this Clark.

  98. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    He just extracted the nanites like John Coffey in THE GREEN MILE.

  99. rayclark rayclark says:

    @conor yea i can see why

    uh doomsdays waken up

  100. rayclark rayclark says:

    well she is dumb lol at least shes back to regular chloe

  101. smeeeeee smeeeeee says:

    "get ready for a techno exorcism!"

    because ur geoff johns i’ll let that go. lol 

  102. cyberauron cyberauron says:

    it had me until saturn girl miraculously decided to check again and found her

  103. That’s totally what Brainiac would look like if he were in ball form.  And you know it. 

  104. rayclark rayclark says:

    lol techno exorcism. thats awesome. so i want these guys to stay here forever. and star city? is starman helping him out or dr mid-nite? lol

  105. Crippler Crippler says:

    Chloe – .. I feel a whole lot dumber.  ….  And like 10 pounds lighter!  Did I just pass a bowling ball?

  106. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    @rayclark: Star City is where Green Arrow is from.

  107. rayclark rayclark says:

    come on clark you know what choice that is

  108. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    It’s nice to see that the grand tradition of no one ever knocking in Smallville continues.

  109. rayclark rayclark says:

    @conor thanks man there are just too many cities in the DC universe.

    maybe sometime you can let me know what city contains what superhero? because im not sure where anyones from cept for supes and bats *no sarcasm intended*

  110. "What’s this shit about chloe forgetting about Clark’s origins?"

    "We thought it would a convenient way to–"

    "Yeah.  No."  

    "What?"

    "YOU’VE JUST BEEN GEOFF JOHN’D!"

    "Oh."

    "Yeah.  Oh."

     

  111. rayclark rayclark says:

    haha you dont read i told you that

  112. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    @rayclark: This episode might help.

  113. rayclark rayclark says:

    awww thats cute clark now you made lightning lads day for lightning lass

  114. rayclark rayclark says:

    @conor thanks man it will i should make a chart or something that helps me.

    CLARK MEET HTE REST OF THE LEGION PLEASE!!!!

  115. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    HOLY SHIT!

  116. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    HE GOT THE RING!

  117. rayclark rayclark says:

    clark why do you always pansy out and not do anything cool??

  118. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    You know what… hair aside, this guy playing Cosmic Boy kinda looks like Geoff Johns.

  119. rayclark rayclark says:

    LONG LIVE THE LEGION!!

    HE GOT THE RING CONOR!!!! HE GOT THE RING!!!!

  120. Julian Julian says:

    he got some bling.

  121. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    @rayclark: Clarkis very concerned with the show’s budget.

  122. rayclark rayclark says:

    lana get off this show…PLEASE

  123. rayclark rayclark says:

    @conor is that why he never does anything awesome??

    ps i want that ring

  124. Clark is the biggest pessimist in the world.  He can turn any cool news into a massive burden. 

  125. rayclark rayclark says:

    clark got that out of a fortune cookie i swear. and oh oh oh DOOMSDAY IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!

  126. Crippler Crippler says:

    ….  I can’t believe he got the ring. 

  127. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    Geoff Johns!

  128. cyberauron cyberauron says:

    now that wasnt twelve days

     

  129. Dude busted out the Agro Crag!

  130. rayclark rayclark says:

    HOLY CRAP!!!! DOOMSDAY!!!!

    ps next weeks episode looks good but why is lana still here!!

  131. Julian Julian says:

    Night Guys time for the Office.

  132. END OF SERIES!

  133. rayclark rayclark says:

    SO good!!

  134. matthaber matthaber says:

    ok this episdoe WAS AMAZING. best line for me was "garth, your acting like a sub." i got a good laugh from that.

  135. Kimbo Kimbo says:

    HOLY CRAP THAT WAS AWESOME!

  136. Kimbo Kimbo says:

    there were tons of Legion references in this episode but they didn’t stick out and flowed with the dialogue really well.  I would totally watch Legion series by this team.

  137. Kory Kory says:

    This episode made me actually consider checking out a Legion comic.

  138. I love how Geoff Johns added that tidbit about the baseball which is something he wrote in teh comics recently.

    Oh, and did anyone else get goosebumps when they said "LONG LIVE THE LEGION"

  139. MikeFarley says:

    Ah, Geoff Johns…how do you do it? How do you walk into a show that’s been on for over 7 years, for a one shot writing gig, and totally upstage every single writer who’s ever worked on the show? 

  140. This was definitely the best episode of Smallville this season by far. Forget television, and i know im certainly not the first to suggest this, but Geoff Johns NEEDS to write the next Superman film

  141. LukeB LukeB says:

    wait? what?! Lana and Lex are back?!!?!

  142. k5blazer k5blazer says:

    More creators in this business should be like Geoff Johns, super nice at all the conventions, always has time for people and puts out the best work, and doesn’t get caught up in his press like certain people, cough, Jim Lee, cough. 

    And in the Legion books Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl had a long running thing, but I can’t this Saturn Girl ever giving this Lightning Lad a shot.  No way. 

  143. Conor Kilpatrick conor says:

    @LukeB: Lana’s been back for a few episodes.

  144. LukeB LukeB says:

    @conor: I really gotta start watching this again…. maybe I’ll wait till it’s all released on DVD, i don’t think the latest episodes are playing here atm.

  145. SuperMoore SuperMoore says:

    Wow! That episode gave me goose bumps………..

  146. BrianBaer BrianBaer says:

    @LukeB – Try the CW.com, or a site like SurfTheChannel.com. I get all my TV through streaming video sites like that.

  147. That was a GREAT episode!!! But it appears that Cosmic Boy doesn’t know how to shave or in the 31 century the Schick company is out of business. :)  

  148. captamerica101 captamerica101 (@Autobot_Hunter) says:

    the legion of substitute heroes and brainiac 5 references made me shriek with happiness! 

  149. Superyan Superyan says:

    This episode was everything I hoped it would be!  Bring back Geoff to write the series finale!!!

  150. LukeB LukeB says:

    @BrianBaer: Thanks man, I’ll try them, but I’m in New Zealand and most of those sites have IP Blocks on them to stop international people getting on, and I really don’t feel like trying to find an IP Blocker or Changer program, feels like cheating :P But who knows :)

  151. Cheezdog Cheezdog says:

    If they made an official Legion ring, like they did with the Phantom rings..  I’d totally buy it.

  152. Personally, I really don’t enjoy Smallville at all.  However, I really enjoyed this episode (watched it on a whim because of Johns)…which is a testament to Johns’ writing. 

  153. Eyun Eyun says:

    Wow! Best – Episode – Ever! This season has been on fire, and this took it to the next level.

    Chloe – shit scary! Clark – Welling has owned this a while now, and this week was no different.

     The writing was obviously outstanding, Johns really cannot do any wrong at the moment. Seriously impressive. But real kudos should go to Glen Winter, as the direction in this episode he was outstanding, realling bringing Johns’ script to life.

    This whole show is catching a second wind, let’s hope for a kick-ass season 9 to send us out.

  154. Matrix Matrix says:

    "lightning lad take your marvel foot out of your dc mouth!" awesome.

    oh wait he didn’t say that….

  155. Mike Romo mikeromo (@rikemomo) says:

    I just watched this last night and I just had to thrown in a "that was incredibly awesome holy crap whoa"

     

    I can’t believe how fantastic it was…Johns’ hit it out of the park–I had forgotten the Legion was showing up so when I reazlied what was happening I literally screamed out loud like a little girl.

     wow.

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