No, really, did you see that? I wasn't just imagining things was I? Did Smallville --

Well, they did and they probably didn't. Smallville has given us these moments with characters before. They are very fond of the "omg, they didn't!" moment. They just fall down on the follow-through.

Let's backtrack for a moment shall we?

For a standard 'Superman's identity in jeapordy' story, Identity had a lot going on. The theme of former-Blood Ties alumni appearing continued with Kyle Schmid. Dare I hope for a Christina Cox or Dylan Neal appearance? Pity they've already cast Maggie Sawyer, Christina would make a kicking version. As good as it was to see him, I found his storyline with Lois to be a little superfluous to the plot. More there to give Lois something to do (unlike the most previous episode) and fill some time. Time that could've been better served, I think, by expanding the Clark and Oliver confrontations. They need to hash out the character issues between them. One half-assed conversation on a plane isn't enough. There's a lot that's been left unsaid between those characters that needs to come out.

Yes, Smallville, I am asking you to do some character work. Tough. On other shows, I would think that there was a payday coming. That Clark's real secret (does Oliver even know Clark is an alien and not a meteor freak? Given his reaction to J'onn, I'm inclined to think not.) and the truth about Oliver's parents involvement in Veritas is going to come out in a glorious display of fantastic writing. That we'll finally get the kind of honesty that, well, legendary friendships are built on.

There needs to be actual building of said friendship. We've seen Clark start making moves toward being Superman, he needs to also start making moves toward his future position as the leader of the Justice League. I don't have the confidence right now to believe that Clark's silence on the matter is a conscious choice. On other shows, I might think that it's a character decision. Clark trying to protect his friend. I want to believe that's what's going on with Smallville, there's certainly a lot of evidence of that within the episode itself.

On the surface, Identity looks like that standard story I mentioned. It's a favorite of almost every Superman series. We've seen it crop up over and over, but Identity actually became something else with Smallville. If we believe Clark's silence about Oliver's parents is about protecting his friend then it dovetails neatly with Chloe's actions at the end of the episode.

How far would you go for a friend? What would you sacrifice in yourself to protect someone you love?

If Smallville doesn't back down, if this doesn't turn out to be Brainaic manipulating Chloe, then we're in an interesting position. At the very least, Chloe physically harmed someone to protect Clark. She induced amnesia. If he died of his stroke, then she committed murder. (That one's highly unlikely, I can't see Smallville going that far.)

Clark's actions aren't quite so drastic. The only person he's hurting with his silence is himself. He's keeping Oliver safe from the realization that his parents weren't so sainted as he thinks. That they were actively involved in a conspiracy with Lionel Luthor. A conspiracy which, as we know, involved the 'control' of a child. Whether the Queens truly realized the innate menace in their actions we don't know. Smallville hasn't given us that information, but it doesn't really matter. If Oliver finds out, if he looks at the evidence, he can infer that maybe they did know. He can't be sure that they didn't.

Smallville has demonstrated quite admirably that Oliver does not have much emotional distance on the subject of his parents. He doesn't look at them through the eyes of an adult, the eyes of a child. Finding out the truth could potentially devastate him.

Clark's silence on this is very much a Superman trait. Chloe's actions aren't quite so easily defined, but that's the brilliance of it. Or, rather, the potential brilliance of it.

We know Superman would sacrifice himself for the world. How do we deal with the idea of Chloe sacrificing herself for Superman? If this is, indeed Chloe, acting of her own free will, then this is her moment of atonement. She's got a lot to make up for, at least in her own mind.

I'm excited about this possibility. Really excited. If Smallville doesn't chicken out, this could go somewhere amazing. This isn't about a character's path to the dark side, that would be too easy, it's about how far good people will go to do the right thing. Or, rather, the wrong thing for the right reasons.

I would love to see Allison Mack play that. She's certainly got the acting chops to do it. I just wonder if Smallville will give her the chance.

That said? There wasn't much about Identity to dislike. Some ill-used screen time aside, it was a strong episode. I'm hoping we get to see some more along these lines.