I know that someone will probably give me one of those “If you think you can write a better show” shout outs but after watching last night’s Smallville, I was very disappointed with the creative folks behind the scenes.

Obviously it was a vehicle to give the new evil tyrant, Tess Mercer, a more human face, establish her background after throwing her at us in the first episode, and ground her in with the existing characters. It helps to give new characters some connection to the existing ones but this time around the whole episode felt overly forced. Not to mention too heavily paced in an attempt to give everyone some screen time.

So Ollie starts the show poisoned, falling about like a drunk. No time wasted here. No setup. No “hey, whatcha up too”. He’s sick and doesn’t want to go to the hospital. Why? He apparently knows he’s poisoned but can’t give anyone the slightest clue as to the origins and antidote. Of course if he did then the episode would end before it started… not really. As the poison takes its course Ollie experiences flashbacks of the island he was stranded on after his parents died. We see him foraging for food and the inevitable making of his first bow, which by the way is followed by the obligatory “Robin Hood” shot of Ollie splitting and arrow in the crude bull’s eye he carved into a tree. Did they have to? Couldn’t we have done without that abused archery trapping?

Remember one of the earlier Ollie episodes from several seasons ago when he was shooting against Lois for a kiss? He was supposed to hit a pop can but looked as if he missed. When Lois walks off we see that he stripped the can of its tab and pegged it to a wall. Now that was cool, showing off his skill and gentlemanly flare without pandering to something unoriginal. That’s good TV.

And did I miss a beard? I know I was in and out of the room several times but for being stuck on the island for two years shouldn’t he have had a bad case of stubble?

The whole Tess thing with her coming across as very caring and compassionate didn’t sell me at all. In fact, her performance was dry and bland as stale toast. I lost interest far too quickly, even though I enjoy the Ollie character plenty. They could have done without the sappy melodrama or gotten deeper into the Ollie/ Mercer relationship but it hit in sporadic jolts that left no time to believe they were more then allies in an act to survive.

We learned how deep their relationship went at the end of the episode, almost like an after thought. Ollie and Tess meet and snap a few lines that let you know they were involved but he cut the ties and now she’s the spurned lover. A little too trite for me.

The one bright spot (Spoiler Warning for anyone not wanting to know or hasn’t already figured it out!)…

Davis Bloom! He’s going to put Clark to the physical test as well as see how far the boy has come. Without naming names, Bloom will evolve into the ultimate threat to Clark and humanity. And the writers are playing it out subtly. Bloom is buddying up with the gang. He’s compassionate. He’s decent. He’s cool and personable. And when he starts to flip it will rock their world!

He puts it to Clark at one point about how Clark is scared, afraid of going too far or letting go. Back in an episode of the Justice League cartoon they explored that notion when Superman confessed about who he felt he lived in a world of cardboard that he feared to knock over. When he finally had a chance to fight a villain that could stand a beating he left all worries behind and kicked some ass! Maybe they’ll travel down that road in Smallvlle. If so, it will be worth the wait.

More episodes like Toxic will surely poison the series.