Smallville (TV Series) Identity (2008) User Reviews

Wonderful episode to establish further the purposes of Clark

[Rcwilkinson123 · 9/10 · 24 August 2010]

The seventh episode of this season brought a major Superman feel to a great season thus far. When Jimmy Olsen takes a picture that captures the "red-blue blur" in action, he begins to increasingly realize that Clark fills the description, though Lois still doesn't know. It's for this reason that Clark reaches out to Oliver Queen, the partying Oliver Queen who tries to shirk from his Green Arrow calling a bit, to help him protect his identity. The way in which Green Arrow is portrayed in protecting Clark's identity is thrilling. A great way to help the audience see how Clark is realizing how he must dress and act in Metropolis in order to keep his heroism acts continuing. There was also wonderful connections to past seasons in this episode, tying in great continuity to the earlier seasons of this series when Clark was still with his mortal parents, not really knowing yet who he was or what his calling would be. Perhaps the only personal disappointment in the episode was Chloe being written to do something that is completely out of her character. It ended an otherwise fun episode on a low note.

Identity

[Colcatron · 10/10 · 27 April 2011]

Of all the season 8 episodes of Smallville, this is the one that's closest to a comic book story. That's probably one of the reasons why it's one of my favourites of the season. One of the few things that was done right in season 8 was to push Clark closer to being an actual superhero. The Superman persona in some ways is introduced in this episode, as for the first time ever Clark can't just bluff his way out of his heroic actions, or pass it off as someone being crazy. It's important every once and a while to have Clark's identity in question, and "Identity" handles it more creatively than many past episodes. The climax where Clark and Green Arrow have to team up to fool Jimmy is probably the most entertaining scene of the season.

A few negatives here are the guest star who played Sebastian Kane. His character was written well, but the actor was a little bit boring. Also, while Oliver Queen was a fantastic addition to the show, and could easily carry an entire episode on his own, he is definitely at his worst here, and in many of the season 8 episodes. I haven't yet known of a single person that didn't hate the Oliver the angry drunk story. It not only made him an unlikeable character (which was a problem that the writers made with almost all of the characters this season) but it also felt really out of place. If he was going to be a depressed and angry drunk, the logical place to start that would have been at the beginning of the season, not more than a half dozen episodes in. Seeing as Oliver was completely normal for the first few episodes, it's a huge stretch to have him this run down here.

Still this episode is so solid in its strengths that all the negatives can be completely forgiven.

Identity Episode

[maggiemay1 · 10/10 · 7 November 2008]

Loved the show. To be honest I hadn't really watched it that much until I knew that Kyle Schmid was going to be on. I'm familiar with his other work and thought he and Aaron Ashmore and the rest of the cast did a great job. I think he did a great job and would love to see him on more shows.

I'd like to think that Chloe wasn't successful in killing him as I think he'd make a great addition to Smallville. Has anyone heard one way or the other whether this is REALLY the last season for Smallville. It's a great show and I'd hate to see it go but unfortunately when someone produces a great show that happens more often than not.