9. Stuart: "Talk to the hand!"

    Chloe: "Hello hand!"

Poker anyone? Just one catch--an understanding of anonymous proxy filters, reinforced protocol encryption, and rewritten ACLs required. Despite spending the majority of this episode opposite a computer screen, Chloe still proved herself fascinating and hilarious. Just the sight of her cracking her knuckles, narrowing her eyes, and that self-satisfied smirk when Stuart erred and gave her the hand? Pure Chloe through and through. Plus, we learned her new motto: If you can't beat 'em, recruit 'em!

8. Oliver: "You can save her. You make sure this future never happens and you'll save all of us!"

Yes. "Pandora" revealed an alternate future that--ideally--never materializes, but can you honestly not admire Oliver in this moment? Willingly sacrificing himself. Facing off against hordes of flying Kandorians whose numbers blackened the sky and blotted out the sun. All for the hope of changing the past and thus preventing that tragic future. This is Oliver at his best, a true hero. (Just please, oh powers that be, NOT a martyr. Let him live!)

7. Emil: "Chloe, these memories are physically damaging. You really want to put their lives in danger?"

    Chloe: "Emil! if you pull Clark out now, it will put a lot of other peoples' lives at stake. When that assassin from the future came back, she told Clark that he would destroy the world. Now he has to know how to stop it."

What I found especially significant about this scene was a certain reversal of roles. During "Rabid," Emil risked Clark's life as he developed an antidote for the virus threatening Metropolis, while Chloe objected. During "Pandora," Chloe recognized and advocated the necessity of risking Clark's and Lois' lives for the sake of saving the world--against Emil's scientific judgment. Shocking? Definitely. But she proved right nonetheless!

6. Victoria: "You kept asking me, 'Who did this to you?' My question was always the answer: 'Who did you destroy?' I hear you're some sort of hero. One that tried to bury that part of himself. You've just proven that hero is still alive, Oliver. Now it's time to resurrect him."

As far as Oliver knew, Victoria utterly manipulated him. Yet despite the little red pills, coffins, three ton trucks, tasers, bankruptcies, shoot-outs, and explosions, he risked his life to save her's when she cried out for help. Oliver might occasionally--when suffering the compound effects of guilt, depression, alcohol, and certain head trauma--declare himself a shallow playboy with tabloid covers galore as proof, but this moment evidenced entirely the opposite. Whatever his faults, Oliver Queen is, was, and always shall be, a hero.

5. Emil: "Now I know why Oliver had such faith in you. He finally met someone who was a match for his confidence. [...] May I ask why you're spying on him?"

    Chloe: "The longer they stay separated the more vulnerable they are."

    Emil: "So you're protecting them?"

    Chloe: "Yes! Someone has to. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the people who are the worst at taking care of themselves are the ones the world actually needs the most!"

For me, this moment defined Chloe and her role as Watchtower completely. No longer merely the girl with the 'wall of weird,' she declared her personal mission and claimed her rightful place as a hero all her own.

4. Oliver: "I would just like to see you do something with your life that you can actually be proud of."

    Mia: "Why would you help someone like me?"

    Oliver: "Because I know what it feels like to be stuck in a place that you feel there's no escape from. My friends helped me find the way out."

Anyone else remember the 'pay it forward' philosophy? Consider Oliver and Mia 'Exhibit A.' My friends saved me, I save you--and so on and so forth, forever and ever, amen. Seriously though, serving your friends may sound grand, but rescuing a stranger and giving them a second chance even after they betray you? Exquisite.

3. Jayna: "So the Blur trusts you, right? I mean, how do you always know the right thing to do?"

    Chloe: "You don't and neither does he. But you stick around a hero long enough and you get your share at saving him--sometimes even from himself."

Oliver may title her a "spunky sidekick," but Chloe defines her assistance as "pro bono work." Interesting. Just further proof that this girl is now a woman. Confident. Independent. And perfectly capable of taking matters into her own hands--please, "pay no attention to the blond behind the curtain."

2. Oliver: "I can't expect [Clark] to know me like you do. The places that I'd sunk to, the depths that you must have had to go to to bring me back. Thank you."

    Chloe: "You proved it to yourself. Even with your face in the gutter, you still had the hero in your heart."

    Oliver: "You saved my life, Chloe--both the myth and the man."

Need I say more?

1. Lois: "Am I glad to see you and your band of merry men."

    Oliver: "It's not my band."

    Lois: "What?"

    Oliver: "It's hers."

    Lois: "Chloe!"

I know, I know. Alternate future. Blah, blah, blah. But Chloe as leader of the resistance? Not Clark. Not Oliver. Not Emil, Dinah, Bart, nor Victor. Just Chloe. Even without Watchtower online, she rules--bursting through ceilings, wielding crossbows and daggers, killing Tess, disabling Zod's big red flashlight, combining Buffy Summers and Veronica Mars all within her own petite blonde self. Excuse me while I cheer!

So, are you satisfied with this 'Top Nine?' Did I forget a significant moment on Smallville? Tell me what you loved about Chloe and Oliver so far this season...

Don't forget to check out the Top 9 Clois moments too!