Shield (1 Oct. 2010)

Oliver tracks down his tormentor Rick Flag, learns he exchanged him for Chloe, who died poisoned, and informs Clark, who helps him work out Chloe actually staged her fake death. On her ... See full summary »

Director:

Glen Winter

Writers:

Jerry Siegel (character created by: Superman), Joe Shuster (character created by: Superman),

Stars:

Tom Welling, Erica Durance, Cassidy Freeman

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Tom Welling	...	Clark Kent
Erica Durance	...	Lois Lane
Cassidy Freeman	...	Tess Mercer
Justin Hartley	...	Oliver Queen / Green Arrow
Keri Lynn Pratt	...	Cat Grant
Bradley Stryker	...	Deadshot
Jessica Parker Kennedy	...	Bette Sans Souci / Plastique
Ted Whittall	...	Rick Flag
Michael Shanks	...	Carter Hall
Michael Karl Richards	...	Reporter
Sahar Biniaz	...	Shayera Hall

Storyline

Oliver tracks down his tormentor Rick Flag, learns he exchanged him for Chloe, who died poisoned, and informs Clark, who helps him work out Chloe actually staged her fake death. On her Daily Planet assignment in Egypt, Lois meets archaeologist Carter Hall ans soon suspects his story about a reincarnated Pharaonic prince is autobiographic. Clark dislikes her staff replacement Cat Grant, but saves her from never identified, yet infallible assassin Deadshot and learns he was the actual target, actually hired by Flag, knowing Superman's weakness is his noble need to protect.

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Plot Keywords:

egyptology | africa | poison | torture | false identity | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 October 2010 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tollin/Robbins Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

42 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Shanks, who plays Carter Hall (Hawkman) is no stranger to playing the role of an archaeologist. He portrayed Danniel Jackson in Stargate SG-1 throughout most of its 10 year run, as well as made guest appearances as that Character in the two spin-off series, Atlantis and Universe.

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Goofs

In the newspaper article about Lois, Perry White's name is incorrectly spelled as Parry White.

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Quotes

Lois Lane: I have to admit, this assignment... a little out of my strike zone. I mean, I was raised by a very grounded 4-star general who believed in what you can see, touch, blow up...
Carter Hall: Things that can be explained.
Lois Lane: It's just... you can live your whole live without any prove of something, like a god or whatever, and then one day you look up and realize the guy sitting across from you is... Ra.
Carter Hall: You think the guy sitting across from you is an ancient sun god?
Lois Lane: No, of course not. But what if he were? One ...
[...]

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Connections

References Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

User Reviews

Shield

"Shield" was both one of the best episodes of the season as far as character development goes, while at the same time being among the worst for overall stories. I'll explain my opinion on both.

Season 10 did what should have been done many seasons before. It was time to scale back the full time cast and spend more time focusing on fewer characters. Look back in the history of Smallville. In any given season you can find characters that were constantly being forced into the plots just for the sake of using a permanent character. There was no need for Pete during most of his run. Lana was around at least a few season longer than she had to contribute as a character. Even Lois spent at least a season or two just floating in the background with no purpose. In season 10 there are only 4 major characters from start to finish. I love that the producers allowed for more time on fewer characters. Just to fill the gaps, they brought in a handful of recurring characters that ended up being used only as needed. Cat Grant is the main one, who appears here in the same type of role as she had in the comics, but the actress portrayed her in a perkier way. The character is slightly different from the comics, but a lot of her backstory is here, and she still succeeds as a new character to interfere in the Clark/Lois relationship, without making it a love triangle. Hawkman returns here with his back story being told properly. I wasn't a fan of how he was portrayed the first time around in "Absolute Justice" but Shanks does a much better job here. I not only thought Hawkman was an improvement, but now he's become one of the best characters on the show. Finally, there are many villains introduced here. I hated how seasons 8 and 9 wasted the entire seasons on just one villain. We already know Darkseid will be the villain focused on this season, but instead of dragging him out all season, we have several minions to fill out the season.

With so many great characters introduced, and all of them introduced so well, it's disappointing that the story is so uninspired. There's just too much going on, and no real hook to keep the story interesting. There's too much of a divide between the two stories as well. It sometimes gets frustrating when you have multiple stories with no connection. When the action is light as it is here, it plays out too soap opera like.

"Shield" is forgettable in the end, but the season would continue to get better from this point on, thanks in part to the character introduced here.