My rambling thoughts on "Ambush"...

[sanalayla]

On the surface, this was an episode that was SV’s version of “Meet the Parents”. But… deep down… I think it was an episode about relationships. Lois’s relationship with her family. Her relationship with Clark. Clark’s relationship with her family… his relationship with Lois. Even the – dare I say it? – Oliver/Tess relationship. And the world’s relationship with vigilantes. So… I’ve decided the best way to gather my thoughts is to think in terms of relationships.

 

Clark/Lois

Of course, the most important relationship is the one between Clark Kent and Lois Lane. This was a defining moment in their life and definitely a turning point in their romance. (Lately, don’t ALL the episodes have some defining moment? Sheesh… can they get any more epic?)

Anyway, so the episode begins with them coming down the stairs from what could only have been an epic round of sex. And what follows is one of the most sexy and smoldering exchanges we’ve ever gotten on this show. Hell, we’ve gotten on ANY show. There’s giggling. There’s strawberry eating. There’s no juice left in the house because Lois has kept Clark too busy to super-speed to the grocery store. There’s blatant checking out (Lois glances over and checks out Clark’s goods when he gets the juice. Gotta love a woman who appreciates a good view.).

Clark: So… what are you in the mood for?

Lois: I’m in the mood... just not for breakfast.

* Lois dances off *

Clark: Lois. * grins * The bedroom is upstairs.

Lois: Yeah. But the porch swing is out there.
 

 

Oh Lord. * fans self *

OK, now that I’ve gotten THAT out of my system. I actually want to talk about this scene a little bit beyond just the usual drooling and squealing that is expected because I’m a Cloiser. I’m going to try to explain why this scene meant so much to me beyond the whole thing that this is a Clois morning after scene that is now canon.

First of all, I was immediately struck by how naturally and effortlessly sexy it was… and how comfortable they were with each other. But, also, I loved that we got this sense that these two had just spent a week together pretty much having tons and tons of sex - and still weren’t tired and couldn’t get enough. Since we saw how they were last year, it makes perfect sense to me.

(Random aside: They reminded me of the joke my friend told me about marbles when I first got married. The basic idea is that you put a marble in a jar for every time you have sex in your first year of marriage. Then, you could take out one marble for every single time you have sex, beginning year 2 onwards, and you still wouldn’t empty the jar. Meaning: You will never get as much as you do the first year.)

These two couldn’t keep their hands off of each other – Clark couldn’t even wait to get to the porch… he was like, “I’ll just take you against the wall. And we’ll deal with the porch later.” So that was not only natural, it helped to show how bonded – both emotionally and physically – these two are and how they’re just enjoying each other. For those who need a visual reminder, here's a GIF from onebreath: 

What I love about that is that it showed Lois not only in charge of her sexuality (something I think we’ve seen with her before), but it showed us a Clark Kent who was in charge of his sexuality, as well.

And… more than anything… it showed us that Lois wanted him as much as he wanted her.  Remember how, in “Requiem”, poor Clark was trying to go for Round 2 and Lana was super-speeding to get her clothes on as fast as she could and then they dashed off the save the world?

Now… Clark and Lois. They amble downstairs after what you know was probably a great morning in bed. Then they take their sweet time gazing at each other while Clark analyzes Lois’s strawberry eating technique and Lois takes in how good he looks while drinking a glass of OJ. Then… they both get turned on and decide to go for Round 129 outside on a porch! If the General hadn’t interrupted them, you got the sense that they’d spend all of Thanksgiving weekend in bed, with Clark blurring away to save the world occasionally.

So, my point is basically that it’s about time someone realized how damn fine Clark Kent is and that when he looks at you like he wants to eat you then your response should be to go, “Yeah… remember that porch swing? I’ll make sure you never look at it without getting a hard-on ever again.” Lois Lane… gotta love her. She has her priorities screwed on straight.

Also, I’d just like to note how awesome Tom Welling is and how I love that he had Clark cover Clark, Jr. I love it when Welling makes the series acknowledge that Clark is a normal guy. Just like the way he gets that look on his face whenever Lois’s costumes are mentioned. It’s these little things that matter and can really convey the depth to which Clark’s attracted to Lois without having him utter the words, “I want to do Lois.”

Now… moving on… a little. Wasn’t so crazy about Durance’s delivery on the “Daddy?” and “Lucy?”. I felt like she didn’t play it shocked enough. That could be the fault of the director. I just think that if I was making out with my husband and my dad just randomly showed up at my door (when I expected him to be in a different state) then I would have – at least – yelped. Probably even screamed a little. And you would have seen me jump a few feet in the air. There seemed to be a bit of a sigh of resignation in the way Durance played that scene and I didn’t understand why.

Right… so… now that I’m done MINUTELY analyzing the ‘morning after’ scene, I’m going to be a little more vague and random about the rest of my thoughts regarding the Clois in this episode.

• I absolutely adored that they had a fight. I loved it. First of all, Clark was absolutely right. Lois WAS acting like she was afraid of her father and I am so happy that he was honest with her about his feelings. He has high expectations of her and when she disappointed him, he was very annoyed about it. And I love that he just laid it all out of her. That he saw her as someone who stood up for what she believed in and that if she let her father walk all over her, then she was going against her own moral code. And then when she starts to talk about the father thing, he just lights into her and doesn’t let it slide. GOOD FOR YOU, CLARK!!

• Speaking of the father portion of the fight… personally, I think that Lois was trying to convey something that was a little different than just… “Hey, you don’t have a dad.” I think she was trying to say that he didn’t have father issues because this is not the sort of thing he ever had to worry about with Jonathan Kent. But then she cut herself off because pointing out that he didn’t have a dad was just mean. I also think that this was all a set-up for “Abandoned” when Lois is going to realize that Clark actually has massive daddy issues. Probably some that are bigger than her own. Lois, for her part, was trying to get him to understand that all she wanted was to get through the weekend without the General knifing him with Kryptonite and Clark using his laser vision to set fire to the General. And, really, who could blame her? It’s hard being caught in the middle when your dad hates the guy you love. (I’ve been there… it’s not fun.)

• Wow, they really “L” each other! Other than the use of the word all over the place with Clark and the General. Or the use of the word with Lois and the General. Other than that, we get the just the SHOWING of their love by Clark telling Lois that he wants her to be happy. We’ve got the way they look at each other at the very end. The way they look at each other, full of joy and love, in the beginning. There is no question that these two are in love with each other… and they have no qualms telling anyone that.

• And that is probably why I had no problems with them having a fight or that Lois chose to walk off with the General, rather than stick around with Clark. Because I was never scared that these two would break up, because they’re so clearly madly, passionately, and utterly in love with each other. And it’s not like the S9 kind of love where they were both afraid of taking the leap. NOPE. Now… they’ve not only leapt, they’ve slept and rolled around and settled in quite comfortably. There’s no more secrets between them, so they both get and trust each other at a level that transcends the little things that will annoy them or cause friction in their relationship. Their relationship can stand a little heat, every now and then, because it’s that strong.

• That is not to say that I wasn’t heart-broken when I saw Clark’s face as he watched Lois walk away from him in tears. In that moment, he actually DID think that Lois chose her father over him and you could tell he was devastated. Because he’d just put his love for her on the line in front of the General and he couldn’t believe that she didn’t do the same. Of course, he didn’t know that Lois was going to go try to get the General to calm down away from Clark. Some people have said that they think Lois should have given Clark a heads up. I think it’s makes perfect sense that she didn’t tell him. If she had, then the General would have stiffened up and just told her to stay with Clark if she only intended to go with him to change his mind. There was no way to tell Clark without pissing off the General. And her intention was to try to get both of the men she loved in the same room together again. 

• I love the speech Lois gives to the General. Oh… it was fantastic. I think this is one of those examples of why Lois Lane is so perfect for Clark Kent. She has an inner strength and a will of steel that is needed to be Superman’s soulmate. It was clear, in this episode, that she held her father’s opinion at a very high regard in her life. She hated that he didn’t like Clark. But when push came to shove, she told him that she was going to be with Clark and there was nothing he could do about it. It kind of reminded me of that time Lionel threatened Lana and “made her” marry Lex. When I see scenes like this with Lois, I can’t help but think what would have happened if it had been Lois dating Clark back in S5-S7. Could just imagine if Lex had tried to play with Lois’s mind and come between her & Clark? I think Lois would have probably kneed him in the groin. And if Lionel had tried to force her to marry someone? I think she would have laughed and ask if he was on crack. I just cannot imagine that she would have hurt Clark the way Lana did. This episode is an example of how she’s incapable of hurting Clark or leaving him. For ANYONE.

• A lot of people felt they needed a final scene between Clark/Lois where she apologized to him. And they should have cleared the air. I’m going to pose what may be an unpopular opinion. I actually liked that they didn’t. Because I felt the very fact that they fought – in a very real and open kind of a way – and then STILL you had Lois declare her love for him and you still had Clark’s face light up when the General mentioned how much Lois loves him was all the “closure” that I needed. That Lois understood what Clark was saying and her way of dealing with it was to stand up to her father. And that Clark learned that she’d stood up her father was a message to him that she had heard him out and she’d done what she needed to do. Again, I saw the episode SHOWING us the depth of their love and not TELLING us. And, I think, that it’s a very genuine and realistic depiction of a healthy relationship. Not every fight gets wrapped up with a shiny, red bow and a Hallmark apology speech. Sometimes, you get into a fight with your significant other and show them that you take it back by doing the dishes. Or washing the car. Or taking out the garbage. And then you sit down for dinner and with a mere glance at each other, you’ve said a million words of apology and – just like that – you’re on the same page again. It’s you and him and it’s OK. Your relationship is OK and the world is OK.

• I like that “Harvest” told us that Clark didn’t plan on keeping secrets from Lois anymore and this episode SHOWED us that this is the case. When things went south between him and the General, Clark didn’t hide it. He also didn’t hide his ire at Lois and the General for the vigilante stuff. And when he found out that Lucy had planted photos of him and Kara in the loft, he immediately told Lois about it, along with the investigations that the General had made. Lois, for her part, immediately believed Clark when he told her these things. It was all done in a very matter of fact way and you got the sense that these two would always be like with each other. That they wouldn’t randomly keep stuff from each other for the other’s good or something. How many times did we see this contrivance with Clana? I could imagine that if it was Clana, Clark would have suffered in silence, because he wouldn’t be able to hurt the tiny little princess. Or something contrived and stupid like that. So it was great to see Clark & Lois acting like adults and actually talking to each other about what was going on.

• I like the scene where Clark/Lois scramble to cover his Blur duties, but they absolutely suck at it. It just makes you think that – as time goes on – they’ll become so much better. But, now, they’re brand new at it, and so they have NO idea how to read the other person. So, Clark’s got cranberries in his hand… Lois is talking about hoods of cars… which turns into something about a chimney. LOL… You can just imagine the conversation they had later on that tnight. “Sweetheart, if you’re going to cover for me, you need to do a better job.” “Honey… I would if you didn’t say stupid things. The CHIMNEY? Honestly.” “Okay, Lois. Next time, text me the excuse. Seriously.”

The General/Clark

 

 

• I love that the General was smart enough to piece together that Clark was the Blur. So many times, they have Clark use the stupidest reasons in the world and all people will do is give him a vaguely puzzled look. When Clark finished the whole “to-do list”, I was very annoyed because I was convinced that they’d have the General not even blink an eye that Clark completed it so quickly. But they had him mention it!! And – at the end – he pieced together the events of the day and realized that it was more than likely that Clark was the Blur. YAY General!! You deserve those four stars.

• I loved how Clark kept using the military jargon and the sarcastic way in which he used it. The way he said “sir” and “whatever the GENERAL wants” was amazing. Welling put these subtle inflections in the way he said those words that you could get that Clark was kind of mocking him and he was very pissed at the General. I also loved how he was muttering about “Sir. YESSIR!” while he was chopping the wood. Like he was kind of imagining that the General WAS the block of wood. And, of course, I adored how he was tolerating the General’s “interrogation” until the point where the General kind of threatened Martha Kent and then he shot straight up to his feet and showed him how TALL he frakkin’ was and then said, “SAM.” As though… “Listen, bud. I could care less that you’re a four-star general… At the end of the day, I have laser vision, dude. Stop annoying me. And did you just threaten my MOTHER?” I got shivers and tingles at how incredibly IN CHARGE Clark was at that moment and I also thought it was fantastic to see him flat out tell the General that he loved Lois and the General just needed to calm the FRAK down.

• All of that leads me to the final scene where I feel the General flat out tells Clark that he knows that Clark is the Blur. And that he’s giving his blessing. I really enjoyed the part where the General talks about the little things (the “dancing with my wife” comment, in particular, brought tears to my eyes. Especially when I think of next week and how we’ll see Ella Lane). I think Michael Ironside is an amazing actor and he knocked this episode out of the water. Every single line was gold – you could see him being nostalgic in just the perfect balance – reminiscing about all that was good, while acknowledging the things he regretted. He didn’t get overly sappy (which would have been OOC) but he was honest with Clark about his feelings and didn’t hide the depth of his emotion, either. More than anything, he talked as one hero to another – giving fatherly advice to Clark about how to balance one’s hero side with the human side. Since Clark has lost Jonathan and Jor-el seems to be a pyscho, I can imagine Sam Lane’s words must have resonated with him on a very deep level. I can imagine those words coming back to him later on in life and that he will have to remind himself – from time to time – to take a minute out of his busy schedule to dance with Lois. To tuck in their kids (if they have them). Isn’t that something he’s already had to learn? Like, literally, in "Homecoming, he had to learn a lesson about his love for Lois and that culminated in him taking the time to just dance with her. So… I really like that moment. Father-in-law to son-in-law.

• And… of course… the final line. The music in that scene? OH LORD. It killed me. I was one of the ones who totally expected a Clois engagement this year. (Hell, I expect a wedding.) But even I couldn’t believe my ears when Clark stops the General and says that he needs to ask him something. How delightful. How sweet. How so very Clark Kent. And I’m so glad we got to see in onscreen… in a manner of speaking. I would have totally imagined that this would have happened over the phone with no confirmation that Clark actually asked the General’s permission. So… to get this? GAH. It’s like they’re reading our fanfic!! And, okay, was I the only one who was blown away by the happiness and joy in our Clark’s eyes when he looks at the General? And the hope?
 

 

Lucy/Lois

 

• One of the only false steps of this episode was the way they handled the Lucy/Lois relationship. We’re to believe that Lucy has had NO growth since S4? Seriously? Lucy came by in 2005. It’s now 2010. I think it would have been okay to give her some character development in off-screensville. We wouldn’t have held it against you, writers.
 

 

• Did they watch “Persuasion”? The way Lucy screamed when Lois got engaged and the way Lois called her “Sis” didn’t exactly shout out “dysfunctional relationship” to me. And I definitely didn’t get a vibe from Lucy that she was going to hop on the next plane to kiss the hell out of Lois’s fiancé.

• Anyway… I not only had issues with Lucy just randomly kissing Clark, but I’m just sick of women randomly kissing Clark, in general. (Does every guest actress on the show have a clause in her contract that they get to kiss Welling? I’m beginning to think that it’s Article 3, Clause B, Sub-section 5.6.) But… OK… so they had Lucy kiss Clark. Could you take a couple of seconds to tell us why, please!?!? For whatever reason, Lois seemed to think she had a good handle on why Lucy did it. I wish Lois would have shared with the rest of the class. I have a pretty good imagination and I can fan-wank with the rest of them, but even I am having some problems trying to figure out what the frak was going on there.

• The resolution, therefore, rang a little hollow for me. At the end, I expected Lois to say something along the lines of understanding why Lucy tried to save the General, but that she still couldn’t get why Lucy planted one on Clark. Instead… Lucy declared that Lois was a great sister and they hugged it out. I was really disappointed by that pat ending.

 

 

The General/Lois

• Oh, what a rich dynamic. I know a lot of people felt like they went overboard with Lois needed her dad’s approval, but I understood it. Over the years, we’ve seen her utter a gazillion Generalisms. It rang true to me that her father’s approval means a great deal to her. They further cemented it by having Lois point out that Lucy becoming the “trouble-maker” sister ended up meaning that Lois got to the “good daughter” and she loved it. These girls lost a mother at a very young age and turned to the existing parent that they had to fill up the void and to give them the love/affection/attention that they needed. Did the General suck at it? Yes. Do the girls know he sucks at it? Yes. But they still can't help themselves. And that rang very true to me. 

• The period in the beginning where Clark and the General are at odds and Clark turns to her to put her in the middle? Classic. The way Lois was like, “Um… I have no opinion.” Loved the mirroring, where the General had handed Clark and a list and then Lois hands him one. The irritation on Clark’s face when he was handed ANOTHER list from ANOTHER Lane? Awesome. And it goes back to Lois loving lists (which I think I've covered in fanfic before) and I just loved how she's glaring at Clark like, "I understand you're the Blur. Suck it up, dude. Stop rocking the boat." Given that Lois is basically a career boat rocker, it was hilarious to see her try to NOT rock the boat. 

• I completely understood what Lois meant about just wanting to get through the weekend without any fights. From Lois’s POV, she saw the General as a guy who wasn’t going to budge on his stance regarding vigilantes. She had two options. She could spend the whole weekend fighting with him (and not change his mind, anyway) or she could just let it slide, get through the meal in peace, and then they’d go their merry ways. I felt like Lois basically chose to pick her battles. She thought it was more important to get Sam to like Clark Kent and that the Blur part was not very relevant. Of course, she didn’t bank on CLARK actually having problems with that solution. And, so, she was between a rock and a hard place. She could either spend the rest of the weekend fighting with her dad about the Blur (without telling him that Clark was the Blur) or she could just make her boyfriend roll with it. She chose Option B. And it bit her in the ass.

• So… she stood up to the General. And I really liked the angle that – the whole time – Sam had been testing HER. And that Clark ended up being worthy of Lois’s love because Lois stood up for him. It was never about Clark. It was always about Lois. I kind of felt like there was an added layer in there…I think that, through the General, the writers were also showing us that Lois passes these sorts of tests in a manner that no other girl in Clark’s life has. Lois sticks up for Clark in a way that no other girl ever has. (Yes, I’m including Chloe in this. Let’s not forget S8 and S9, people.)
 

Oliver/Tess

I don’t pay attention to these two that much, but a couple of things leapt out at me.

• I totally get why people ship these two. Freeman and Hartley have a very easy chemistry. And I like the brutal honesty thing they have going with each other.

• I really liked that we got reference back to “Toxic” in that final scene between them. “We started out on an island and ended up in the sky over the city.” (Or something like that.) “We’ve survived tax audits and typhoons, Tess.” It was nice to see them bonding and reminiscing about all that they’ve gone through together. (Really didn’t need the Chloe mentions, though.)




I’ll end with just a few random notes.

The opening scene with Clark/Lois/Sam Lane was very well done. Full of comedy and the way they had Lois jumping around in the background was great. It reminded of the way John Slattery directs “Mad Men” – he keeps in mind the set and the actors in the background when he’s directing the people talking in the scene, and I felt like it was very well done. Seeing Lois’s reactions in the background really added an additional layer of nervousness to that scene. And I do love when they allow Welling to display emotion and to stretch his comedic chops. The way he looks at the list and then says, “You weren’t kidding.” And Sam’s response, “I never do.” Just golden.

The Oliver/Clark dynamic was fantastic in this episode. Oliver has really gotten on my nerves lately with all the Chloe worship (for no apparent reason) and it was great to see him acting like Clark's friend and just doing his job as the GA for a change. I feel like - a lot of the time - we HEAR more about how Oliver is the GA than we actually see him BE the GA. So it was a nice change of pace seeing him use that costume for something other than waxing poetic about Chloe. And the exchange in the barn? Where Clark tells him to go through the window? And Oliver says, "What are we? Sixteen?" ROFL... Just so fantastic on so many levels. I couldn't help but think of Lois's comment to Cat where she asks Cat, "First of all, what are you? Twelve?" THIS is why Lois/Oliver are fantastic as friends, but could never be together long term. They're both too alike. 

Lois made Thanksgiving dinner? Really? I am actually a fairly good cook, but I avoid cooking Thanksgiving dinner like the plague. If have to host it, I offer to pay for groceries and help with clean up. But I refuse to help with the preparation of the meal. Having said that, I do like that they had her hair all messed up and she looked like she'd been sweating. 

I also thought that this episode mirrored/paralleled things we’ve gotten in “SV” before in an interesting kind of a way.

One of them was the scene when Lucy kisses Clark. It reminded me of the scene in “Hypnotic” where Lana walks in on Clark making out with Simone. Let’s compare – for a second – what was going on in that episode. That one opened with Clark/Lana having an uncomfortable conversation where Lana is wondering why Clark won’t have sex with her and basically telling him that she’s willing to wait. (Lana spent a great deal of time wondering why they didn’t have a sex life in S5. Then she found Lex and her problems were solved.) Later on, she walks in on him kissing Simone in the loft and then runs out crying.

In this episode, we begin with them about to have sex. And, later on, when she walks in on him and Lucy, Lois just kind of sighs and says, “Really?” And then immediately proceeds to drag Lucy away and then she tells Clark that she doesn’t blame him for what happened.

These two episodes feature shots that are almost IDENTICAL but also SO different: 

 

Lois is all full of joy and sunshine. Lana is all crying and full of darkness. Which, in a manner of speaking, can actually describe the difference between these two characters, in general. 

Now, look… I’m not going to say that the difference in these two episodes proves how superior Lois is. After all, Lois knew Lucy and Lana didn’t know Simone. But I think that it’s interesting… because what I think it fundamentally shows is how well Lois knows Clark vs. how well Lana knew Clark. There is an underlying trust in Clark and Lois’s relationship that didn’t exist in the Lana/Clark relationship.

Clark and Lois are having sex and have a very full and healthy relationship – in the full sense of the word. But Lana and Clark didn’t, so she was easily able to jump to the conclusion that Clark Kent got it on with random blondes, as opposed to realizing that Clark must have been on crack. (That was, ironically, the conclusion that Lois arrived at even in “Hypnotic” which was well before Lois became his girlfriend.)

And, of course, it's to note that both these episodes featured Clark getting into an argument with the woman he loves. In "Hypnotic" the episode ended with them breaking up. In this one, it ends with the foreshadowing that Clark is going to ask Lois to marry him. 

The second parallel that was interesting was the Thanksgiving dinner. The last time we got a Thanksgiving dinner in “SV” it was the weird gathering of random characters. We had Lionel sitting next to Chloe (with not a word about how he tried to kill her) and Martha sitting beaming at the idea of sharing a meal with the man who was at least partially responsible for her late husband’s death. And Clark’s carving the turkey after getting his future wife and her boyfriend (who was recently addicted to a rage-inducing drug) back together again. Compare that to THIS Thanksgiving, where Clark is sitting next to his future wife and his future father-in-law and sister-in-law are sharing the meal with him. If they’d just brought AoT back for this episode and had her at the other end of the table? It would have been perfect.

Interestingly enough, THAT scene had a song playing in the background and this one didn’t.

I’m sick of chasing after things, I’d rather them chase after me
Keeping up is bound to wear me down
There’s a million ways to skin a cat, I’ve put my choices in a hat
Picked a few and threw the bad ones out

I know now

So if you want me you’d better knock me down
Cause I ain’t easy and this ain’t hallowed ground

She said no one will love you more than me
I looked at her; she looked at me
I think she’s waiting for me to believe

I wish that love was all it took
I’d fall into you if I could
Hoping for a graceful recovery

We know now, of course, that Clark has gotten to the point where he actually CAN fall into Lois’s love. And that when they look at each other, he believes that love is all it takes to make everything OK. With Lois’s love behind him, Clark believes he can do anything. And that is why it was so important for Clark that Lois stand up to the General for him. Because he didn’t want to imagine a world where her belief in him faltered and she didn’t think that he was worth fighting for. Because I think he can live with ANYONE having problems with the Blur or staying quiet while people bash him, but he can't handle it if Lois does. Because she's his link to humanity and when he looks at her, he sees the best of humanity. He has high expectations of her and expects her to be awesome all the time, because it's that very awesomeness that makes him love her. (ETA: Someone pointed out below in the comments that Lois did actually LITERALLY knock Clark down in "Isis"... I didn't even make that connection. But how awesome is that?) 

Another thing to note is that Clark looks very much alone in the final shot of that scene. He is watching Lois with Oliver. Martha talking to Lionel. And Chloe getting a text from Jimmy. He was thinking about his father and how much he missed him. (The episode ended with a shot of Lana/Lex having the most miserable Thanksgiving on the planet to further reinforce how far removed Clark was from the woman he loved.) This Thanksgiving? Clark is sitting next to woman he loves and he's having dinner with people are soon to be his family. And sitting next to him is his soulmate. He's not alone anymore. 

 

 

I thought it was nice that they opted to just go with a regular musical score in the background of this scene. (Maybe it was their budget, who knows?) It was a hopeful and sweet score and it worked for me. The way they looked at each other and the family gathered for the meal… it was almost better for not having lyrics imposed on that moment.

Also, there was the parallel and call-back to "Committed". In that episode, we see Lois waking up in Clark's living room (in his jersey) and she's worried that they had sex. Clark's response is to burst out laughing and reassure her that there is no way in hell that happened. That episode dealt with the idea that Clark was a committment-phobe and - at one point - Lois remarks that any woman stupid enough to fall for Clark Kent is in for a world of hurt. They pretend to be engaged and that is something that is very hard for Clark. Lois confesses she loves Clark, but later denies it to him. Clark, for his part, is completely at a loss on how to view Lois. Fast forward a couple of years and now, she's waking up his jersey and they've just had sex. (Lois doesn't need any confirmation.) And Clark is not only committed to Lois, but he takes steps to prepare to propose to her. 

 

 

The other mirrored scenes, of course, were the "parents caught us" scenes. Poor Clark has a lot of problems with parental units. Of course, the first time - EVER - Clark was in this situation was with LOIS. (CORRECTION: Audrey pointed out that he was actually caught making out with Alicia before he got caught with Lois. They really do love putting Clark in this situation, don't they? Sorry for the error... I always lump all of Alicia's episodes into S4 in my head, because I've blanked out most of S3.) 

Back in "Gone", Martha walked in on Clark and Lois in the bathroom, where it appeared that they'd taken a shower together. (As Clark emphasized later, they took "SEPARATE" showers.) However, the damage was done, because both Lois and Clark got hauled up in front of Jonathan and he gave them a lecture. Which was probably something Jonathan would have done anyway, because these two ended up living together and I can imagine that Jonathan Kent would have probably laid down some rules, given that they were both teenagers. When Clark got caught with Lana, I must confess I was a little confused. Since... you know... she had her own apartment. Most teenagers (hell even adults) don't really choose to go around having sex in the house where parents can walk in on them vs. the empty apartment owned by a local billionaire who won't ever walk in on you. Anyway... I guess the point was that they wanted Clark to have that embarrassing moment.

 

Fast forward 5 years later - he's meeting his future father-in-law shirt-less and with an obvious problem that he has to cover with his hands. Same situation, but vastly different, since - now - Lois and Clark are adults and can, therefore, continue on as though nothing has happened. Also, he was defensive when caught by the Kents, because they were afraid that it wasn't about love and it was more about teenage hormones run amok. (Since Clark pretty much jumped into bed with Lana as soon as he lost his powers.) Now, Lois and Clark are in a committed and loving relationship and really worked on their relationship before they got to this point. So, instead of it being some huge moment in the episode, it was just an embarrassing situation that they all promptly forgot. 

Finally, I’ll end with just saying – again – that I absolutely loved this episode. Just in case you couldn’t tell. Cannot wait for “Abandoned”. I have a feeling that I’ll be considering both of those to be two parts of one very amazing episode.
 
_____ 
Thanks to: Onebreath for the amazing GIF. And Snap/Rachel from DI & tvpix.net for the screen-caps. 

Comments

[jadengreen36.livejournal.com]

So much <33333333 for your post! :)

The only thing I disagree with is that the General figured out that Clark is the Blur. IMO the General feels he's in league with helping the vigilantes or a vigilante sympathizer (as he tells Lois duirng their Clark fight), but I didn't get the 100% wink-wink that he knows the truth.

There was so verra much to love and enjoy about this episode...

Thank you for sharing all fo the above. :)

[sanalayla.livejournal.com]

I think the thing that cinches it for me is the way he talked about Lois having her own personal guardian. And how he talks, kind of ruefully, about having been a hero himself a time or two. And... then... he gives Clark advice on how to juggle being a hero and a human at the same time. The whole tone of the conversation seemed to be, "I know... but we won't talk about it." Even Clark gives him that look, as though he's wondering if the General knows. Mainly, though, I think the General would have to be an idiot not to put it together. But, yes, I agree that they probably left it ambiguous on purpose.

[psy-ann.livejournal.com]

Ok, I am a bit of a stalker, I love reading your SV posts!
Anyways,
I agree with you about the General. I also got that impression of him knowing Clark secret. The first time I watched the episode I was doubting, thinking I must have imagined that and later I watched it again and it made me SURE he new. The way he looks at Clark when he says "Personal Guardian Angel" seals it for me. Cause if you look at Clark there is a shock-OMG you figured out look that takes like 5 seconds.

[fates3.livejournal.com]

Oh, so much word! I love reading your thoughts, Sana :)

I'm really pleased with how they used the General here and what they did with him. Because frankly, as much as I love Michael Ironside, I wasn't very fond of the General, LOL! As much as Lois adores him, I have major issues with how he treated her when she first arrived on the show.

That being said, I was really pleased with how they used him. I like that we saw his love for his daughters, and I deeply appreciated that he learned from everything, especially Clark standing up to him. That he acknowledged that he hadn't been the best father, and that he had regrets about his family, and that he had been wrong about Clark. And I loved how he told Clark that Lois had never stood up to him for anyone before, until Clark, and that's how the General knows that Lois really loves him. And I love that after seeing how Lois was struggling with standing up to the General, Clark fully appreciated what he said.

And I loved the fact that Clark got some wisdom from someone who has been where he is. He and the General are vastly different men, but they have similar duties and lives, and for Clark to get that insight on what not to do and the regrets you can have over not enjoying your family life, was a wonderful thing. I was really glad they used the General positively, in the end, for both Clois and Clark.

The Talon scene broke my heart even more, though, watching it a second time, because Lois' fears came true: she stood up for herself and Clark, and the General walked out. I know Lucy was encouraging him, but he picked up his bag and left. Hopefully, he would have come back anyways, but watching Lois stand there and knowing it had ended in her worst fear, losing her dad (I don't think her worst fear was losing Clark, because I fully believe she had NO intentions of losing Clark, period, so it was never a real possibility for her. She was always going to choose him, she just was frantically trying to keep it from getting to a point where she had to make a choice), just broke my heart.

I agree on not having had a Clois ending scene. I mean, would it have been nice? Sure, Clois scenes are ALWAYS a good thing this season, LOL. But what we got was so awesome with the General and Clark, and the smiles that Clois shared over dinner said it all about how they acknowledged that they had gotten over this hurdle and were stronger for it, were enough for me.

I really do appreciate the fact that what angst we got in here, was REAL. It was hard and it was painful, but it wasn't contrived or made up BS just to bring some angst. And it was stuff that could resonate with a lot of us. I mean, I know I was having a hard time with some of this stuff, having similar "daddy" issues to what Lois was dealing with, LOL, and I appreciate that you could see both sides. Both of them made missteps, and both of them had valid POVs, and as painful as it was to see them hurting, it was real and that made it OK.

But the best thing to me was that the writer's used this angst as a way to show how STRONG Clois is. And how committed they are to each other. They didn't use it to poke holes in their love or bring doubt into their relationship, or any of that other BS. They used it to further cement for us (and for Clois) that they are it. THIS is it. Period.

LOVELY!!!

And that question of Clark's...? I STILL feel like hyperventilating when we get to that moment, LOL! I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD HAPPEN!!! And what a perfect way to end that scene, and that episode. And the little puzzled smile Lois gives Clark, like she knows something is up, and he just smiles at her back...glorious!

Oh, Season 10, why so awesome?? WHY?? *hugs Season 10 closely*

Anyways, I've rambled enough, LOL!

[sanalayla.livejournal.com]

That's an excellent point about Lois's worst fear coming true. I didn't even note that because I was too busy waiting for the Talon to go boom.

I do think that it is huge that the General walked away, because it pretty much showed us that Lois wasn't avoiding a fight for no reason. She knew that was going to be the outcome and that's why she kept asking Clark to just let it go. She didn't want to choose between them. If Lois hadn't almost died, who knows what the General would have done? It's possible that he would have just left and not talked to her for weeks. That's happened to me before. It took my husband and me about 2 years to get my parents to come around on him and come to terms with us getting married. I used to have to endure weeks of silent treatments from my mother. And lectures from my father.

So, yeah, I knew exactly how hard that speech was that Lois gave her dad. Her heart was breaking, because it's an impossible choice to put on anyone.

[kanarazu.livejournal.com]

I love you, Sana. I really do. This post echoes a lot of what I felt about the entire episode.

copy-pasting some of what I posted on the discussion thread in DI:

Clark really standing up for himself and for the woman he loves. How many times have we seen him just stand there with a broken-hearted expression while Lana crushes his dreams and walks out on him? Those times, he was really just a boy who had no idea about what real love was like and how worth fighting for it was. He was hung up on an ideal, believing that if he let Lana go, she'd come back to him tomorrow. In this episode, he went up in the General's face, telling him that while he has a right to protect his daughter, he has no right to think that Lois and Clark aren't good together. And damn, but I loved that look of determination on his face when he said "I LOVE your daughter." He was so worked up and barely controlling himself and at the same time, really wanting Sam to see that he truly couldn't bear to live life without Lois. He really wanted Sam to know that he thought of his daughter as the most amazing woman in the universe, the one who meant everything to him. I loved how he could tell right away that Lucy had something planned and he tried to send her off without sounding too rude. He still has that level of respect for her because of her ties to Lois, but he also knows that she can be trouble. His argument with Lois, while sad, really brought out that side of Clark that was dormant. He was asserting himself, expressing his disappointment in his girlfriend because he's always believed her to be strong and uncompromising in her ideals. He clearly wants Lois to be that strong person so her father can accept that she's grown up. It's another way of Clark letting Lois know that as much as he has all these powers, it's her strength that he depends on the most.

I was especially riveted by TW's performance. Really, for somebody who doesn't read the comics, he GETS Clark Kent in a scary way. This is probably my bias, but I think that TW shares a lot of CK's views which would probably explain why he gets so in-character as Clark Kent. Tom has always struck me as a down-to-earth, kindhearted guy who is blissfully unaware of his own attractiveness. That's also what I see in Clark. He's the hometown hero but he has no clue about his own fanbase. LOL.

I do agree that ED's delivery of the line in the first scene was a little off, but I think that maybe Lois was too frozen in shock to really process what was going on. But I would have rather that she sleepily opens the door and then slams it in their faces with a shriek when she realizes who's standing outside. Of course, that was my take on it. ;)

I do love this side of Lois that we got to see. It's difficult to be caught in the middle and here she is, suddenly caught in between two men that she equally loves and adores. It's the worst place for a girl to be. LOL. I'm so glad I don't have that problem since I'm not close to my father. Lois was clearly running herself ragged just trying to ride damage control but god, did I stand up and cheer when she finally told her father that she loved Clark and would stay with him. Then saying "If you love me, you WILL respect that" and crying...UGH...Durance deserves an Emmy. She really does.

I was a little confused with the Lucy sub-plot, but I actually did like their reconciliation. Being an older sister, I kind of have these moments where I tell my siblings that I'm not happy with them when they do something hurtful. It's happened a lot of times, but I can't find it in my heart to bear a grudge against them because I know that in their own ways, they're trying too. I think Lois understood that about Lucy and I was happy that they got it out in the open.

[kanarazu.livejournal.com]

I LOVED Sam Lane here. Ironside was such a genius. I kind of get the feeling that the General suspects Clark is the Blur. He's not stupid. I think he just came down hard on the vigilantes for the reason that they're mostly unknown. But I think he was able to make comparisons to Clark's moral code and the Blur's, so he would know. I loved the advice he gave Clark, about how the simple things in life are what defines you and not the extreme things you do that earns you accolades. It's something that Clark would keep in mind for when he becomes Superman and he makes an effort to always spend time with Lois, no matter how fleeting. Ironside gave the General just the right amount of gruffness and heart, voicing his love for his daughters and his wife. Beautiful. Just beautiful.

I agree with you that the Chloe pining is getting old. Tess and Oliver had a lot more chemistry in their scenes and I love how Cassidy is so wonderful in giving Tess this thoughtful and caring side that people didn't think was there. She's a phenomenal actress and I really hope that her time with SV will give her more exposure and more projects like she deserves. :D

[sanalayla.livejournal.com]

Yes. Tom Welling is definitely MY Superman.

And, yeah, that speech that Clark gives the General is pretty damn awesome. The way is - very forcefully - tells him that he loves Lois and he's not going anywhere.

[emerald-night.livejournal.com]

[i]A lot of people felt they needed a final scene between Clark/Lois where she apologized to him. And they should have cleared the air. I’m going to pose what may be an unpopular opinion. I actually liked that they didn’t. Because I felt the very fact that they fought – in a very real and open kind of a way – and then STILL you had Lois declare her love for him and you still had Clark’s face light up when the General mentioned how much Lois loves him was all the “closure” that I needed.[/i]

I completely agree. I also thought that finding out Lois stood up for him was MORE powerful coming from the General. Because yes, Lois could have told him, but to hear it from the man who'd put him through hell all day, from the man who obviously loves his daughter so much he'd go to these lengths, THAT had to mean something to Clark.

I'll also say that I felt a bit like this was somewhat of a 'reverse Hostage' for Lois and Clark.

In that one, Clark just wanted to get through dinner with his Mom and Perry and have them believe everything was perfect and happy with him and Lois when it wasn't, and Lois couldn't deal with it.

Here we have Lois just wanting a peaceful holiday and to ignore the General's vigilante hating and the friction, and Clark couldn't deal with it.

That opening scene was beyond sexy, and I agree, one of my favorite things about it was the smiling/happiness from them. It was FUN. Oh and that Clark apparently couldn't wait the extra 3 seconds it would have taken him to WALK to the door. No, he needed to superspeed!

[sanalayla.livejournal.com]

Yes - I agree on the parallel to "Hostage"... That time, Lois got mad at Clark. This time, Clark got mad at Lois.

I love that these two don't take any crap from each other.

[homicidalfink.livejournal.com]

Oh, I loved this episode so much. The writing was sharp, the direction even more so, and it really brought to light how good the cast is, especially when given such meaty lines to deliver.

With the exception of the Lucy kiss aftermath, none of it rang false to me. My dad was military, not to the extent the General is, but his weary war/national hero was spot on. Also I love Ironside and will watch him in anything, even Highlander 2 but there should have been only one.

Count me in as one of those thinking that if Sam doesn't flat out know, he suspects Clark is the Blur, otherwise the way Michael delivered the guardian angel/hero lines wouldn't make sense, and if he didn't at least suspect, the comment about the Blur's moral code would also fall flat, considering that vigilante is still a faceless entity to the world at large.

It also meant a lot that the General tracked Clark down to apologize, instead of a random bumping-into, or Clark taking it on himself. I really thought that showcased Sam's self-awareness and his genuine respect for the man his daughter loves. Not ever father, military or otherwise, has the strength of character to admit to his own mistakes.

Man, whoever plays Clark next, big screen or small, is going to have a very large pair of size fourteens to fill, because Tom has him down perfectly.

[sanalayla.livejournal.com]

Yeah - I thought it was pretty cool that the General hunted down Clark to talk to him.

[trackguy25.livejournal.com]

I loved reading your thoughts on this episode. I really enjoyed this episode and I think I would have been good with just the opening scene. I will never understand how someone could see Erica Durance not think she's gorgeous. Sidenote: I was watching with my fiance and she also brought up the fact that Clark (and Tom) don't seem to realize how attractive they are and how that makes him more attractive to her. I'm pretty sure we spent the first five minutes drooling. I also enjoyed the fact that it was clear Clark and Lois have been all over each other since Harvest aired. I always found it unbelievable that it seemed like none of the other couples on the show (except the Kent's) liked to have sex. Of course I never had to urge to see Clark and Lois with other people or any of the other couples having sex, but I still found it kind of silly.

Onto the rest of the episode I really love that when Lois and Clark fight I can usually understand both sides of the situation. They were both right and wrong to me. I've actually been on both sides of the situation when my fiance and I met each others parents. I understood why Lois wanted to keep things quiet because the same thing happened to when me I first introduced my fiance (back then girlfriend) to my mother. My mother never liked any of my girlfriends so I was terrified the same would happen with my fiance and kind of did the same thing Lois did to Clark. Ironically it turned out that she really did like my fiance, but wanted to see if I would stand up for her much like the General tested Lois. I really loved that I could see my situation in Lois and understand where she was coming from. I've seem some complaints about Lois not standing up to the general sooner and I have to say I can see why she didn't. As strong a person as Lois is, she still has insecurities like the rest of that and they are going to come out sometimes. It's part of the reason I love her as a character so much.

As I mentioned before I have also been in Clark's position so I also understood where he was coming from. When I met my fiance's family, I didn't have any trouble with my her mothers side of the family, but I did have trouble with her father. It it is frustrating to try so hard to get someone to like you for the woman you love, but have it not really work out. Thankfully it worked out better for Clark than it did for me.

The one thing I would have liked to see would have been more of what Lucy had been up to since we last saw her. What kind of job she had or something like that. I am glad that Lois and Lucy ended on better terms than they did back in season 4 though.

I agree with you on how Clois was resolved. While I would have liked to see them make up, (mostly because I wanted to see them kiss again)I don't think it was something that was crucial for us to see. Lois has always been the one person on the show (other than Clark & the Kent's of course) that admits when she is wrong. So I knew she would apologize for what happened.

I also agree about the Thanksgiving scene it was nice seeing a believable group of people eating together as opposed to the one in Season 6. It still really bugs me that they had Chloe and Lionel sitting next each other as if he had never tried to kill her. I also think having Lionel there period was a terrible idea considering how much Jonathan hated him.

Not onto the scene with the Clark asking the General for Lois' hand. I love that he's the kind of guy that still does that. I know a lot of people find that kind of thing lame, I think its great. Something that I've found kind of hilarious is the speculation that Clark wasn't asking the General for his permission to marry Lois. I've seen some say he was asking him to dinner (despite the fact that the general mentions them getting to eat dinner) or to carve the turkey (which still doesn't make sense since he prefaced the question by mentioning him and Lois). Anyway while I did think they would likely get engaged this season, I never expected them to address the it onscreen so boldly. Although considering there are still a lot of people that don't believe that it will happen, I guess it wasn't.

I really love that we are finally getting the chance to delve into Lois' past more this season.

[sanalayla.livejournal.com]

LOL... there are actually people out there that think that scene didn't end with Clark about to ask the General's permission to marry her? ROFL. What are they - Lana fans? Chloe fans?

This is why I very rarely go onto other portions of the fandom, anymore. Well... I guess they can dare to dream. But what are they going to do when Clark actually DOES propose to Lois? In either "Luthor" or "Icarus"? (That's my guess.)

Anyway... yeah, I also completely appreciated where Lois was coming from. I've been there. My husband has been there. People think that you can just tell off your parents and that their approval shouldn't mean anything if you're a strong person. Well, I'm a very strong person. And I still get very anxious if my parents are mad at me about something. Their opinion still matters to me, even if I disagree with them about 70% of the time.

[trackguy25.livejournal.com]

Actually they were Clois fans. I think had they been Chloe or Lana fans I would have just written it off as them being in denial, but it did surprise me to see Clois fans speculating that. I'm going to guess that its mixture of people waiting for the other shoe to drop or some hoping that it doesn't happen because they feel its too soon.

[sanalayla.livejournal.com]

Cloisers? Odd. I don't get the "too soon" argument. I really don't. In fact, I've been considering writing an LJ post on why I think the wedding should happen this year. Because I feel THAT strongly that it is not too soon and that, in fact, it's the only logical conclusion.

[brijeana.livejournal.com]

I think partly they are people that want the show to line up with the mythos and on the other hand... personally we've been burnt by the show so often, I don't blame people for considering that the show is jerking us around. LOL!

I always consider the worst just to prepare myself with these writers. That's not to say I'm not gearing up for a wedding, I am. I would LOVE for Clark and Lois to get married by series end.

[shalimarfox80.livejournal.com]

Great minds Sana! I was thinking about writing a post on the same thing, i.e., people calling their relationship/wedding too soon, esp. after reading some absurd explanations of why it shouldn't happen on certain websites. But now I can't wait to see what you have to say, because you'll explain it so much better than I can.

[sanalayla.livejournal.com]

Oohh, DO IT. DO IT.

[shalimarfox80.livejournal.com]

Hehe. I did it. Just rambled through it to be more accurate. Don't have a clue if it makes any sense or not.

[audrey229.livejournal.com]

This was such a great review. Thank you so much for posting this.

One quick correction: "Gone" was not the first time Clark was caught by his parents with a woman. Jonathan caught Clark with Alicia in "Obsession" in Season 3. I figured you probably just forgot that on.

I was hoping to write my own review at some point in the day next or so and I just have not had time yet because we've had so much going on this weekend. I almost feel like I don't have to anymore because you've said a lot of what I wanted to say. But I'll probably still muse a little bit and see what else I want to say about the episode.

Thanks again!

[sanalayla.livejournal.com]

Oh, right! Totally forgot that it took place before S4. (I always lump Alicia in the S4 episodes, as opposed to S3.) Will correct.

[svgirl-203.livejournal.com]

Great review. I loved this episode. The writers did not disappoint. Definitely one of the best of the season so far.

The writers are killing me with the Clois this season. Just when I think they can't possibly get me smiling more they open an episode with a scene like that. I love this couple. And look at them letting Clark be this way without RedK. We've had these kind of smaller moments from Clark in the last two seasons but this one... wow.

I loved the fight. Firstly I loved that they actually had a fight. That it was fight about something that matters, I was able to see things from both sides and I felt for both of them. Secondly... I love that they didn't shy away from letting them be angry and upset with each other. But mainly I love the fact they are not treating the idea of Clark getting to be angry and upset with his girlfriend like it's a crime in the way they treated it when he was dating Lana. That is not Clois to me. They fought, they made up, and not only did it not end them they were in good place at the end. That's Clois and I love that the writers/produces see it too.

I agree with the Lucy and Lois stuff. I guess they just used it to add to the drama. I'm just glad that Clark didn't end up looking bad here. I don't know whether it was the camera angles or what but even though he didn't push her off it also didn't look like he was just standing there and letting it happen to me. And that's the thing I was worried about most. They never seem to realize how bad it makes Clark look in these situations when it happens when he's dating someone. I still liked the last scene between Lois and Lucy though.

The General and Clark stuff was brilliantly done. The best thing about their scenes was that they didn't let Clark be timid, have him just stand there and take it. He wasn't disrespectful but at the same time he wasn't about to sit back and let the General talk whichever way he wants about the things and people that are important to him (The Blur stuff, Martha, and his relationship with Lois). They found a nice balance. Which is why I loved that they had the General warm up to him to in the end. I also love that Clark seemed to respect him as well. I loved every one of their scenes together but that last one was definitely my favorite.

I'm was really glad they didn't go over the top with the General sharing his feelings in their last scene together. It was just right and Ironside was fantastic in that scene. This show has a pattern of going over the top when it comes to talking about family (Lana and Lex being the best examples) and I love that they kept in mind the kind of person the General is when writing this scene. I remember loving that about "Lucy" as well all those years ago. How they dealt with Lois' feeling about her family without making her OOC.

I can't believe he asked him that question or better yet I can't believe they actually put that in there when they had the chance. You'd think with all these amazing things they keep doing with Clois nothing they do would be able to surprise me like this...

I thought about Rage too when I saw that scene. The Committed and Hypnotic ones are really great. I can't believe I didn't see that.

[sanalayla.livejournal.com]

WORD to everything you said. That fight? Was amazing on so many levels. I feel like I didn't even do it enough justice in my review. The idea that these two can fight and be stronger in the end for it is just so foreign in the world of SV-shipping. Either two characters have to look at each other like they're perfect (a la Chlollie) or they have to break-up at the drop of a hat and get into a vicious cycle of secrets/lies (Chimmy, Clana, Lexana). This is the first HEALTHY relationship we've seen on the show where two people are allowed to get annoyed with each other and they still love each other, forgive each other, and move on.

[brijeana.livejournal.com]

This was a defining moment in their life and definitely a turning point in their romance.

Yes. This is true of all the huge Clois moments this season. But Ambush has resonated the most for me; I felt like it gave their relationship more depth.

What I love about that is that it showed Lois not only in charge of her sexuality (something I think we’ve seen with her before), but it showed us a Clark Kent who was in charge of his sexuality, as well.

I love this! It's something I would never think about but it's SO important.

I felt like she didn’t play it shocked enough.

This isn't the first time Lois has been ambushed by the General. And Lois is good at hiding her emotions. I could see the panic in her face.

You are so right about the Lois/Clark fight(s). I loved that Lois' behavior was already making ME think the things that Clark eventually said to Lois.

Because I was never scared that these two would break up, because they’re so clearly madly, passionately, and utterly in love with each other.

I was never scared that they would break up, but time and again there was a perfect set up for some silly soap opera drama and THEY NEVER WENT THERE. I have to say it again SMALLVILLE DIDN'T GO FOR THE CHEAP SOAP OPERA DRAMA!

Lois walking away from Clark really sold her daddy issues to me in a way that ... they've only spoken about in the past. It shed a lot of light on the way Lois had been with the General in the past. She would play the "yes Daddy" to his face and then rebel behind his back. So more than being worried about her relationship with Clark, when Lois walked away I was worried about her. I thought, "C'mon Lois, you can do it! Stand up to the General!" So when she finally did it, I was so proud of her. Then later when the General tells Clark the true nature of the test. It fully sold just how HUGE Lois standing up to the General was. It took Clark to trump the General in Lois' eyes. It took Clark to shift her loyalty that strongly that Lois could tell the General to his face that she was going to stand by Clark. SO AWESOME!

I only started to expect a wedding after "Harvest" so when the proposal came in this episode I was FLOORED! I don't know how much more of this I can take! My heart! I really am looking forward to a wedding. Seriously the series could have ended with the floating in Homecoming and I would have been happy but... WOW! A wedding. I'll be up on the moon.

I think if Lois had gushed to Lucy about all this beforehand, Lucy would have been happy just like in Persuasion. But it's a surprise to see Lois glowing with ... well... basically newly wed joy and afterglow. LOL! And she's doing well with her career. Add that shock and jealousy to the fact that Lucy believes Lois her favorite and... I can see Lucy being vindictive to Lois. My problem is with her methods. Lucy is way too sophisticated to resort to the lemonade seduction and/or fall for the con of a stranger in costume. Her crimes in previous episodes were so much more complex than that. I guess they did go a little soap opera when it came to Lucy's methods of sabotage. But I LOVED the conversation between Lois and Lucy. It would have been better if Lucy's methods had been more in character.

The relationship between Lois and the General was the perfect payoff to all Lois' talk about the General over the years. Now we have a formidable point of reference and it's pretty much impossible to roll my eyes at all Lois' General references. Not that I ever did, I always loved them. AMAZING. Fave moments: Lois standing up to the General, Lane Family hug, the General opening up to Clark about Lois.

Love the comparisons! I agree about the Tess/Oliver moments. Could never ship them though because of their messy history. Oliver/Lois have FANTASTIC chemistry by the way. I will be back to fully marinate in the lovely Thanksgiving dinner and Committed comparisons again. Clark/General was so WONDERFUL to watch. Clark reached new levels of manliness in those confrontation scenes. Uh... loved reading your thoughts.

ETA: The lyrics to that Thanksgiving song...

So if you want me you’d better knock me down
Cause I ain’t easy and this ain’t hallowed ground

Lois DID literally knock Clark down. <3

[sanalayla.livejournal.com]

OMG... You're right! She DID literally knock him down!!

[chrisluvstommy.livejournal.com]

Egads!

I loved this post! I can't add one thing to this.

I just adored Clark/Lois in the opening scene they literally singed my eyebrows off with the hotness.

(Tom's ass was killing me sweet cheesus he's hot)

Loved this episode and agree with the WTF moment of that kiss

sorry to be rambly

[kuchiutsushi.livejournal.com]

Saw the link to this on Tumblr. Great review! I like how you have a certain perspective on the relationships in this episode coming from your own personal experience. Definitely a different perspective from my own, in some ways. This kind of got me looking at the episode in a whole different light, and I suddenly really want to watch it again!

This season has been so amazing so far, I can barely believe it.

[sanalayla.livejournal.com]

Thank you. This may be a stupid question, but what's Tumblr?

[kuchiutsushi.livejournal.com]

It's a blog site. Sorry, I assumed it was your Tumblr since it had the link to this entry, but I actually saw it here (http://ellenemi.tumblr.com/).

[sanalayla.livejournal.com]

Oh, cool. Thanks. I was just curious. I have to say that I checked out Tumblr and it's confusing as all hell. But then again, it took me a month to figure out LJ! LOL

[clois4evr.livejournal.com]

Sana, love your review. Wow my thoughts exactly...even with how ED delivered her "daddy!" line. This is my favorite epi for s10 so far. Also on a side note , I loved that we got to see ck asking the general's blessing but I really don't think I'm ready for the actual wedding on sv . Engagement...ok.

[ma-korda.livejournal.com]

what an excellent post from you on this great episode.

It's maybe kind of funny but after I first saw the scene where Clark had Lois pushed up against the door I actually thought of you - I think I remember reading somewhere from you something about how good it would be to see them just let go and lose control... and well it made me think of your drabble, Six months.

I also, like many others, loved the fight between Lois and Clark. I liked that Lois used the same/similar words to the two most important men in her live (Clark and Sam) that they needed to respect her feelings.
I have to agree with you about all these random women kissing Clark. I figured out from the trailer that something like this was going to happen and just because of that I wasn't so excited about the episode (which turned out to be great except for maybe just that) I really hoped he was going to push Lucy away immediately and say something like: you do realise I'm going marry your sister one day OR you do realise your going to be my sister in law one day :) Anyway I was still kind of upset about the kiss when Lois left with her dad and Lucy but even so felt so bad for Clark.

I hadn't really thought of all these paralells so that was fun to read. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us

[ancarett]

This was a wonderfully detailed review. I love your deconstruction of the relationships that are involved here. As you say, it's a lot more than just "Meet the Parents" in this episode.

With Lois’s love behind him, Clark believes he can do anything.

And knowing that he has that, and the support of her family to boot? Has to be worth a lot.

[shalimarfox80.livejournal.com]

This is a fantastic review Sana and you’ve covered all the reasons why I loved this episode so much!

You know the one thing I love about this episode the most? Despite of being an episode about Lois’s family it was so Clark centric. I mean, I was ready for this to be a totally Lois episode, and while I absolutely love Lois centric episodes (hello, I am crazy about the woman) I really needed a Clark centric episode. An episode where he was right, left and center. And this was the last episode that you could expect to be just that, but it was. And after watching it for like gazillion times, I’m still in awe of how amazing Tom Welling was in this episode. Absolutely perfect in every scene, and gorgeous and beautiful and unbelievably hot and… *ahem* He had so many emotions to convey and he was perfect in every one of them.

Yeah, my Tom worship can go on and on and I still won’t get tired of describing how much I loved him in this, so I’ll get to the next point – their fight. I totally agree with your analysis of it and I’ll go ahead to add, that it was so well written and well acted. Both Tom and Erica are stellar in the scene but what makes it so strong is the dialogue, which is so very articulate. The writers didn’t make them go round in circle with vague and cryptic dialogue. Also, I think the main reason why we all liked that scene so much is that no one expected Clark to come all out and say how he feels in a relationship. He’s supposed to be this over-burdened, guilt-ridden person who is bound to feel that he’s the cause of his girlfriend’s misery and has to mope, whine, and apologize and whatnot, while the audience is banging their heads against the wall. So when he says “What were you gonna say Lois… father” you feel that he finally said something that he felt like, and something that he needed to say, and that felt so good. And despite of all my Lois love, I could see why Clark was bound to be hurt by her implication, and I was perfectly fine with it. I don’t expect him to pander Lois, treat her like a porcelain doll or a princess. No way. When either one of them is wrong, they should say it, that’s the beauty of their relationship. That’s why that scene was so powerful.

I think it was liberating to see Clark so happy, laid back and like you’ve said in charge of his sexuality. I’ll make an inevitable Clana comparison here, by saying that in his relationship with Lana, we always got this feeling that he was suppressed, and it was not just because he wasn’t completely in control of his powers but also because he behaved with Lana in a certain way. It was always supposed to be about her, about what she wanted. I can’t imagine him grabbing Lana and pushing her against the door like he did with Lois because he had to look for what Lana wanted in that moment, not what he wanted, and Lana would probably be offended and run out of the door crying if he did something like that… just because he didn’t understand her, he didn’t care for her feelings and… well, you get my point.

[shalimarfox80.livejournal.com]

Reg. Lucy, my opinion differs a little. I think that she does love her sister very much, and the Lucy we ‘heard’ in Persuasion is still the same Lucy. I mean weeks from now when Lois will call her again and tell her about her engagement with Clark (this time for real) Lucy will be happy. She won’t think about ways on how to break the engagement. Then why did she randomly kiss Clark?

I was reading a review on LJ the other day, and I agree with the reviewer that Lucy was a little jealous of Lois, and the way she has this perfect life and well, a boyfriend that is a dream come true for any girl. Lucy had a crush on Clark even when she came to Smallville six years ago, so now when she saw him and realized that not only has he become 100x more handsome than when she last saw him, but he’s also head over heels in love with her sister, she probably had that moment of sibling rivalry. And how do I validate this viewpoint of mine? Well, their conversation in the end on how everything has always been a competition between Lois and Lucy that they forgot to be sisters. So I really don’t see Lucy as wrong or OOC. She’s always been wild and a little misguided and I think most of it is attributed to the way she has been brought up, but her heart was still in the right place in the end.

Lois did address that she and Clark have a problem with her overall behavior by saying “Kinda like you’re gonna make Clark and I trust you again…” so it’s not that Lois brushed off the whole deal. She was mad at Lucy, but when she apologized, Lois softened because beneath it all, she has an idea what her sister really is, and the motivations behind her actions. I don’t know if it makes any sense at all or not, but that’s how I saw it.

Agree with everything else you’ve said and love your analysis of all the relationships. Thanks for this awesome review!

[anacaro.livejournal.com]

Thank you Sana for the great review.
I love watching and re-watching this episode and also reading everyones reviews.

Season 10 you rock!!

[kingslee.livejournal.com]

I love reading your review. I missed a few of the parallels so thanks for pointing them out. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[psy-ann.livejournal.com]

You forgot to add one tiny itsy bitsy little thing. They FINALLY got rid of the TALON!! I was like...yay! Goodbye Lana Forever!!!
Cause that place, no matter who lived in it, it was always Lana's place, you know?
Chloe and Lois made little change to the apartment and even kept a lot of the stuff Lana had. So I was soooo happy when it finally got destroyed!!

(Sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes, english is not my first language)