The Toyman, Winslow Schott, returns to Metropolis to exact revenge on Oliver Queen for being framed for the (alleged) murder of Lex Luthor. But since Oliver is on a path to self-destruction, is he too late? Also, what will Clark learn from his new power?
The show begins in a Queen Industries textile factory, where a masked man with bombs strapped to his chest holds several people hostage. After Clark whisks the hostages away as the Blur, he rips the bomb off the saboteur’s chest, knocking him to the ground. But what Clark doesn’t see is that the man in the mask is another bound and gagged hostage. As the timer goes off, Clark hugs it close to him to stifle it as best as he can. After the explosion, when he steps out of the phone booth as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, he starts to hear other people’s thoughts.
Lois may play tough, but her thoughts give her away to Clark, as she is usually thinking about what underwear she should be wearing, and how hot her partner is. In the midst of all this flirtation, we are treated to a little gag involving a maple donut and some coffee. However, what the show really wanted to get across to us was how much Metropolis runs on Dunkin’. The product placement was almost as bad as Pete Ross getting stretchy powers because he was chewing kryptonite-infused Stride.
At the Fortress, Jor-El tells Clark that the power is temporary and will be one of his trials. Clark must learn why humans act the way they do because ”perception can be the difference between life and death.” At Metropolis General, Clark uses his power to find out that one hostage would not speak because she was worried she would be deported, while another hostage was just trying to get attention and did not see anything. During these scenes, I really liked how we were starting to see Clark flex his reporter’s intuition, even though he had a little help. But then he overhears how much Lois wants some company afterward and how she wants to catch dinner at a Monster Truck rally. I cannot imagine the food is really that great there.
Chloe is not amused whatsoever to find Clark had abused his powers to score a date with her cousin. But Lois has started to really understand her own emotions recently and how much she does not want to be alone. As she cuts up her jeans, she proclaims to Chloe that it may soon be ”Clark and Lois versus the world” and she is starting to welcome it fully. The tenderness that Erica Durance sprinkles across the hardcore snarky demeanor of Lois Lane is really lovely to watch at these moments. It reminded me of the last time she was like this, right before Doomsday struck last season in ”Bride”.
Meanwhile Tess has found Oliver somewhere in Mexico I can only assume, knee-deep in the bottle and getting into fights with the local criminal element. She begs him to tell her what he did that he is punishing himself over. She manages to get Oliver to well up before he tries to push her away again. She demands that he come speak at a gala in Metropolis so the shareholders see he is still working. She spits at him coldly that he can ”fall down drunk in a gutter as soon as he’s done.”
By now, Clark has discovered that the bombing suspect was a hostage himself, and the Toyman Winslow Schott is responsible. Since his prime motivation is to get revenge on Oliver, Clark plans to stop him at the gala. Chloe calls Clark out for using his power to woo her cousin. She is especially upset that since he is now standing her up to go after the Toyman. But Clark does not want Lois to be in harm’s way. When Lois finds him at the gala, she accuses him of scooping her. In order to make her leave, Clark tells her firmly, ”This is my headline.” Lois tells him he can fly solo for this story then, and Clark hears her think as she walks away, ”They always leave.” Single tear, Erica Durance. Single tear.
When Oliver steps up to the podium, he finds that his speech is riddled with a few too many harsh self-deprecations. When it tells him to put an earpiece in, he hears the voice of the Toyman, ready for some payback. When the earpiece is turned on, it sends a shrill noise through the crowd, and Clark loses the power he has been scanning the crowd with. ”Thanks Dad,”he murmurs. It’s very strange to hear Clark call anyone but Jonathan Kent that name.
The Toyman tells Oliver to read the speech or the pressure plate beneath him will detonate a bomb that will destroy everyone in the room. The speech is littered with confessions about how privileged his life has been and how he does not deserve it. Clark senses something strange and x-rays the podium. He sees that the teleprompter is calling him a murderer and he is standing over a bomb. Clark calls Chloe and has her set off the fire alarm. As the crowd clears, Clark meets the Toyman, who is mad that Clark interrupted his game.
Meanwhile, Oliver struggles with his conscience. He believes what the teleprompter had him say. He is debating stepping off the pressure plate. Clark argues with the Toyman, but when he realizes that he is merely a robot, he melts its face off to reveal a timer. The pressure plate is a fake; the Toyman wanted the bomb to go off at a certain time. By now, Oliver has stepped off. Clark asks Oliver how he knew the bomb would not go off. Oliver didn’t. He doesn’t know who he is anymore. He believes that the Queen name and the Green Arrow were just masks with nothing underneath. Clark gives him one of his classic Superman speeches and says there is, but he is afraid to face it. When Clark leaves, he sees Lex Luthor’s ghostly face reflected in a window. He throws his drink at it.
Tess catches up with the Toyman on Stryker’s Island. She shoots him in the kneecap and says she bribed the guard to say he was only defending himself when he shot the Toyman. He is worried that he will be put into solitary. She says not to worry, because it will give him plenty of time to work on a new toy. She opens a case, and inside is Metallo’s kryptonite heart! She tells Winslow that he has to figure out how it works. Do you think the Toyman is smart enough to figure out what is essentially alien technology?
Back at the Daily Planet, Clark apologizes to Lois and says that he is not ready to fly solo just yet. He gives her his article to proofread. He tries to get her creative input, but she covers the paper with her red pen. They start to banter back and forth again more comfortably, and Clark hypothetically asks her for a second date. She says they will when they have a slower news day. He replies that slow news days don’t happen very often hypothetically speaking. In a nice little red bow to the conversation and the episode, Lois replies, ”My thought exactly.” Ha! I see what they did there.
