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Rambling thoughts on "Luthor"....
Wow… so this episode really has a polarizing impact on people. It seems that folks either really hate or really enjoy it. I’ll straight up say that I’m in the second category. I really loved this episode. It’s such an odd situation to be in, because – normally – I feel like I’m a Debbie Downer. The rest of the world will watch an episode and go, “Huh… fun.” And I’ll come in and go, “But here’s the one million plot holes! God damn it!!” It’s nice to be Miss Mary Sunshine for a change.
So…. Moving on to the review. I will say that even though I really enjoyed watching this episode and I also loved it, it’s not like I fully turned my brains off and I didn’t notice a lot of glaring issues with it. So while I kind of want to go, “Who cares about plot? Who cares about dialogue? Welling was DAMN hot as Evil Clark Luthor and I just want to stare at the pretty!!”, I shall stop myself and actually try to be somewhat coherent.
The episode opens with Tess. This should really have been an indication of where the episode was headed. This was an incredibly Tess-centric episode. I honestly think that Freeman got more screen time in this one episode than she had in the first half of S9 combined. Now, I’m not a Tess fan. BUT… I do think she’s been rather less pointless lately. And has had some semblance of character development in S10.
And… really… I love Cassidy Freeman. The woman is hilarious. She seems like a genuinely nice person. And she’s a total “Smallville” fangirl and I like that. You can tell she’s proud of being part of the SV legacy & that she is thankful for this opportunity. So… all that to say… I’m not going to begrudge her this episode. And I do think she brought it. This was, in a way, kind of like what “Idol” was for Erica Durance. An opportunity to really showcase her acting and to show her range. As well as give her an episode where she got to step up to the plate and be a focal character who was integral to the plot. (Durance did a better job with “Idol”, but that script was MUCH stronger than this one.)
Anyway… so this all leads to Clark getting even MORE pissed when he finds out that Tess has the box. And then he decides to open it (seriously, Clark, when will you learn??). You + Kryptonian Artifacts = BAD IDEA.
And so he’s off to the AU world!!
He ends up in bed with a couple of girls and is like, “WTF?” This leads to the revelation that he’s now Lionel’s kid and they have this really freaky exchange where they fence and John Glover chews scenery.
A few things about this scene:
A few things I didn't like about this scene:
Clark heads to the Kent farm… where AUTess is waiting for him. WHAT.THE.FRAK??? I’ll take plot hole number ten for 500, Alex. There is no reason for AUTess and AUClark to be hooking up at the Kent farm. They have NOTHING to do with the Kents. They shouldn’t even KNOW them. But… I’ll stop with the rant before my brain hurts more than it already does. Turns out AUClark and AUTess have a weird affair thing going on. Clark is much more concerned about the idea that Tess is a Luthor than the idea that – in this world – his counterpart is into incest. Now, yes, technically they are not related by blood. But AUClark sure as hell did like saying “sis” a lot.
Oh… and… oh, yeah… they kiss. Well, AUTess attempts to kiss Clark. I’m not going to say he looks horrified (which is how he looked when Lucy kissed him, with good reason), but he definitely has a “WTF?” expression on his face. This leads to what I consider to be a good conversation, as far as exposition conversations go. He thinks it’s some kind of frakked up version of time travel. He’s immediately trying to figure out how he can fix things. AUTess reveals the real drama.
I thought Cassidy Freeman did a great job with this scene. She made AUTess kind of slutty in a desperate kind of a way. A woman who had no self-esteem (because of her huge daddy issues) and was even willing to be used by AUClark, because she was just looking for a scrap of affection from someone in her family. The unkempt hair, the way she talked so desperately and the look in her eyes when she thought AUClark had betrayed her. I thought she did well. (I also kind of laughed at the line that AUClark is the “more fun version” of Clark. I think that Lois and Tess – in our world – would beg to disagree.)
Once Exposition Time was over, Clark sped off the Daily Planet. Where AULois, literally, runs into him. This has clearly become a thing between Clark Kent and Alternate Loises. Well, I guess, even his Lois, since she almost hit him with her car when they first met. We, very quickly, along with Clark, learn that AULois hates him. And that
she’s engaged to AUOliver. There’s some random shot of a woman trying to get a statement from AUOllie and AULois stepping in to take care of it.
My facial expression was mimicking Clark’s at that point, because I couldn’t tell what the frak that was about. I was too busy going, “Oh… Clark’s engagement ring for his Lois is so MUCH prettier than that one.” Apparently, Clark was thinking much the same thing, because he just uttered, in complete disbelief, “You’re engaged?” And that’s the point, ladies and gentleman, that the Alt World officially became HELL for our Clark.
Then we find out that Ultraman isn’t as nice as the Blur. While the Blur just does things like throw soup cans at criminals’ heads, Ultraman actually kills them. Clark’s not exactly happy about this and decides to go off and talk to Jor-el… and we find out that Lionel is there. At that point, I was asking my TV screen, “Um… Clark… really? It’s not like your AIDaddy is any better. If he’s crazy-pants in the real world, then he’s probably even CRAZIER in this one.”
But… hey… I got it. Poor Clark was going everywhere in the hopes that he could get some answers. In point of fact, I thought Clark’s steps in this world made a lot of sense. He first goes to the farm (to get a connection to his family), then the DP (presumably to find Lois), and then finally his Fortress of Solitude. I think it’s a very predictable way for Clark to behave. The only thing I think is a little of out of whack was that he didn’t make a pit stop to Watchtower before the farm.
(Although, maybe he just wanted to wash the crazy off of him, as Dean Winchester would point out.)
So… Clark comes up with a plan that involves kidnapping Lois. Impeccable timing on his part. He managed to scoop her up right before she plants one on AUOllie. Now… a little bit of a side rant about this. We are “treated” to the sight of Clark kissing random women every other episode or so. And, yet, they don’t let an AULOIS kiss an AUOLLIE, even though they’re engaged? Furthermore, Lois had to WITNESS Clark being kissed by Lucy, but they couldn’t have Clark witness an AULOIS kiss an AUOLLIE? What’s with the double standards, show? (This has nothing to do with me being an ex-Lollie shipper. OK, maybe a little.)
Not to mention, they didn’t even allow AULois to tell AUOliver that she loved him. What, are we to believe she’s settling for him? Well… that’s just kind of crappy and sad. It’s “Superman Returns” all over again, with poor Ollie being Richard White. I don’t like that. Let that Lois be happy in her own little world.
This leads to one of the best scenes in the episode and probably a scene that I will list as one of my most favorite Clois scenes ever. (Even if it’s not Clark’s Lois.) I am one of those who DID NOT enjoy “Apocalypse”. I also did not enjoy the “Lois, I died when you left.” scene in “Pandora” (not a fan of “Pandora” in general).
In both of those episodes, we got AU versions of Clois that were really intense and there seemed to be this idea that they had a connection. But it rang hollow.
In the case of “Apocalypse”, it rang hollow because it was a complete outlier and had no impact on either Clark or Lois. He was dating Lana at the time and it would be a long time before he looked at Lois that way.
In “Pandora”, it made no sense for Lois to jump into bed with Future!Clark right after the declaration. I went along with it (because, hello, Clois sex), but it always bothered me that Lois’s response wasn’t to just bust out laughing.
Now, though? Every single line Clark said? It made sense. Lois is his soulmate. He knows she’s his soulmate and Lois knows. They are together and they know each other intimately. They share a connection that they’ve never shared with anyone.
Lois: Stay away from me, Clark. Or Ultraman. Or whoever you are. I know what happens when someone sees your face.
Clark: Lois. Lois. Hey! Look, where I’m from....Lois Lane. You and I. We’re allies. And you always have my back. How else would I know that you’re brave and loyal? And a force of nature?
Lois: Anyone could have told you that about me.
Clark: Look, you misspell words. Simple words. At an alarmingly frequent basis. And you never admit when I’m right, even when I call you on it.
Lois: Why would I?
Clark: And you can always tell when I’m lying. You can see right through me. Straight to my soul. To my heart. Lois, there’s got to be a part of you that knows that I’m telling the truth.
Lois: Who are you?
Clark: My name is Clark Kent and I promise, Lois, that I will never let this happen to us. I can’t live in a world where you don’t love me.
The AUOllie scene with Clark was… um… well. I just gotta ask. Does Oliver have to be whiney IN EVERY UNIVERSE? Seriously… “Blah, blah, blah… farmers hate me because I’m throwing them off their land… blah, blah, blah… I hate being hated… blah, blah, blah… I’m so misunderstood and I’m so sad about that, even though people are starving and I drink expensive champagne…..” Oh my LORD. STFU, Ollie. No wonder AULois is kind of settling for you.
I don’t understand why Clark told Oliver that he’s not a murderer. Because Oliver flat out murdered Lex. And he didn’t even have a good reason. AUOliver, though, actually has a good reason to murder AUClark. Because the guy is kind of an unstoppable evil monster. But… okay then.
While Clark gets a beating, I’m going to take a moment to talk about AULionel. As I’ve said before (and on DI), I am not one of those fans who extolls rapturously for hours on the magnificent nature of the Magnificent Bastard that is known as Lionel Luthor. I’ve always felt that John Glover was over-rated and that he hadn’t met a scene that he couldn’t chew with the ferocious nature of a bulldog attacking a steak. He is heavy-handed and a bit of a melodramatic over-actor. For the most part, it works for a character like Lionel, so I wont’ say I hate his scenes, but I never felt he was a linchpin in the SV-verse, either. I certainly didn’t mourn his loss (especially since they frakked up his character with all the ret-cons).
BUT… yeah… he really pulled me in with this version of Lionel. He was Lionel on Evil Crack. (Still an major over-actor, though.) I understood how this man (who wasn’t that great to begin with) could just go out of his mind with power when he got his hands on a little boy who had the powers of a god. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and that’s what this Lionel is all about.
I also understand how a Superman raised by THAT LEVEL of evil turns out to be so incredibly evil himself. He had no one to show him the difference between right and wrong. All he saw was wrong and wrong. And they made it clear that if Clark were ever to try to get out from under AULionel’s thumb, then AULionel would make sure he paid for it. I am a bit confused as to why AUClark didn’t just give AULionel a lobotomy with his laser vision, but I do think that a lot of abuse victims find it hard to take that extra step. There’s always that layer of fear there.
Anyway… the part where AULionel beats the living shit out of Clark was hard to watch. Flashbacks to “Superman Returns” and Lex beating up Superman. I felt like I felt every single blow. When AULionel pulls out the belt, even my husband turned to me and went, “Oh… shit. Superman’s about to get his ass kicked.” Poor Clark.
A lot of people had a problem with the convo between AUOllie and Clark.
Clark: Oliver!
Oliver: Yeah, I know. I know. You’re the good one. Just go the hell home already, will you?
I’m torn about this. First of all (as you'll see below), I’m not convinced that AUClark actually did show up at Watchtower, anyway. Secondly, I would think that AUClark has enough brain capacity to be able to get out of the situation (Lord knows, our own Clark has been in hairier situations and managed to survive). Thirdly, I’m not exactly sure that Clark was sanctioning murder, as much as he was saying, “Prepare yourself. Make sure the meteor rock is in place.” Would I have liked Clark to flat out say, “Remember – you’re not a murderer. Go find some handcuffs. Call for back-up.” Sure, I guess. But I also understand why he didn’t. I think he may have just assumed (or hoped) that Oliver’s moral character would win out and AUOllie would not commit murder. That AUOllie would find an alternate solution.
But, let’s say, for a moment, that Clark WAS sanctioning murder. Is that… in this case… the wrong solution? AUClark is a monster who kills people without thought. He’s an almost unstoppable monster. Between him and AULionel, they’ve caused nothing but devastation to an entire world. This world is living in the world that Zod would have created in his own world, had he not stopped Zod. Now, for Zod, Clark tried every means necessary rather than killing Zod. Because it was his own world and he had the luxury to take the time to do so.
Now, though, he’s leaving an entire human race helpless in the face of this evil monster. Can Clark really tell AUOliver that AUOliver should not use any means necessary to protect his own world? Is Clark really in a position to do that, when he knows that the people going up against AUClark are merely mortal? I don't think there is a clear black-and-white answer, although I'm sure mythos Superman fans would say there is, because Superman doesn't kill or sanction killing. Ever.
This is something that should have been addressed, I think, in the final convo between Clark and Lois in the Real World. But I’ll get to that when I get to that.
And then Clark goes back.
We begin with the reveal that the AUClark has ended up in our world. Now… I’m going to just flat out say it… what the hell? Let’s take a step back for a minute. CLARK goes to their world and he ends up in bed with two women without a shirt on. Meaning, he basically entered AUClark’s body. But AUCLARK comes to our world and he ends up on a random street fully clothed in some sort of purple/black get up that involves paisley? Say what? Now… skipping to the final scenes in the episode. Clark comes back to OUR Watchtower and goes back to his own body. Meaning, he’s now the one wearing the purple/black/paisley get-up. At the same time, we know that AULionel hitched a ride and ended up someplace OTHER than Watchtower.
So… why on earth are we to assume that AUClark went back to his world and showed up at Watchtower for Oliver to trap him? Clearly, there are no rules here. (And since our Clark took over AUClark’s clothes, are we to assume that AUClark went back naked? Hhhhmmm….)
You know what this tells me? They just really wanted to show naked Clark having a threesome. That’s pretty much it. And that’s annoying on a lot of different levels, because even as a fanfic writer, I sit there and obsesses about what makes sense in a story. The writers – who get PAID to write this shit – didn’t take two seconds to do the same thing.
They completely disregarded coherence of plot to get a gratuitous shot of shirtless Welling in bed with two women. It was unnecessary. They could have had Clark pop up in Cadmus Labs in the other universe (in his own clothes) and then have him super-speed over to the Luthor mansion to hunt down Tess. And – there – he could have bumped into Lionel.
So… now… due to this plot-hole, I am now going to assume that AUClark went back to his own bedroom and AUOllie was actually NOT able to trap him there. And, therefore, AUClark will now wreck havoc on his own world, since he doesn’t have AULionel there to stop him. Hhhmm… I sense a drabble coming on.
Anyway… so AUClark shows up in Tess’s office, looking all hot and sexy as he leans against the door jam. At this point, I don’t know how evil he is, so I feel it’s okay to drool. (Who am I kidding. I proceeded to drool for the rest of the episode.)
The dialogue was a little weird here. AUClark says, “It’s adorable watching you sitting at my desk like you own the place.” Instead of responding with a, “WTF? Since when was this YOUR desk, Clark?” Tess responds with, “How can you be so flip when I’ve been looking for you all over the place?”
Um… okay, then. We proceed to have the requisite Cless scene for the series. *sigh* First of all, I will say that this scene was directed and acted very well. You could tell that Welling probably had a blast filming this scene, because he very rarely gets to act all suave and smooth like this. I can imagine that playing 200+ episodes of the same character must get boring and he probably leaps at a chance to stretch his acting chops a bit.
And Welling… I gotta give the guy props. There was never ANY point where I saw Clark Kent in his Clark Luthor. He sold me in the idea that these two are NOT the same person. And I think that this is a very hard thing to do. Honestly, I think it is. For example, if you watch “Fringe”, you’ll note that the actress playing Olivia does not always pull this off. It’s hard to see the difference between her two Olivia’s and the only reason you can sometimes is because one wears a horrible red wig.
The Cless kiss was interesting. I’m a Clois shipper, but hey, I’ll admit it was a hot kiss. As far as very forced kisses go ( in the sense that Clark was PHYSICALLY FORCING the kiss on Tess.) Much different from the AUTess/RWClark kiss, which was just very uncomfortable and flat.
I think Welling and Freeman did a good job with these two different kisses, because you could see the difference in the context and tone very clearly. One was between a desperate woman who is in love with a man who is only using her, but the guy she's actually kissing is not into it at all and is quite confused & doesn't react. The other one was between a highly arrogant man who is used to abusing this woman & the woman in question is actually a much stronger version of the weak-willed girl he's used to dominating.
Poor Tess does try to resist. She is quite properly wigged out in the beginning. She even tries to pull away in the middle, but AUClark kind of grips her neck and forces her back into the kiss. I’m sure this was her inner thought process:
“Oh, hell, he’s on Red K. Oh… hell… he’s a good kisser. Damn it, Lois is so lucky. Oh… Lois. She’s going to kill me. Must.Stop.Kiss.”
Then she feels up his arm, finds the horrible burn and then comes crashing back down to reality.
That burn, by the way? VERY intriguing. Apparently, AULionel used Gold K to make sure that it stuck. (Is this the first time Gold K has been mentioned on the show?) If I remember correctly, Gold K is the one that permanently removes Superman’s powers. (Kind of like the ultra-version of Blue K, I guess.) So… does this mean that if applied to Clark’s skin, it just means that portion of the skin will never heal, as it would had Blue K been used? Am a bit confused by this, but I’m assuming it either doesn’t matter or we’ll find out in the back half what importance this has.
So… yeah… back to Tess and hot Clark. I mean, um… EVIL Clark. There’s some interesting choices with angles and how the set is used that is not typical of “SV”. Clark goes the window and looks out, his arm up on the jam in a negligent manner, his silhouette outlined against the window. They show Tess’s reaction of horror when he makes the comment about their father. I liked that shot and the subtle widening of Tess’s eyes while she became very still.
I also liked how AUClark insolently lounged on the chair and made the cold comment about not having blood on his hands before lunch. I feel like this was the point where you went, along with Tess, “Yeah… this is WAY worse than Red K. DAMN IT. Must find the Justice League. Must also figure out a way to get out of this alive.”
I loved the Tess/Lois scene. First of all, I loved that poor Lois was trying to get an afternoon off and that she is oblivious to how that is completely impossible when you’re dating the Man of Steel. Oh, boy, is she gonna learn. She’s gotta keep that phone on AT ALL TIMES if she’s Clark’s link to humanity. That girl will never be able to go off the clock.
Anyway – yeah, I’m really enjoying this new dynamic between Tess/Lois. They’re not exactly BFFs, but they’ll work together and actually give a damn about each other, because they kind of HAVE to. They build-up up of the dramatic music was nice. A bit of an overkill, but still – I like that Tess would even say to Lois, “Get over here. We have a problem.”
I kind of adored that Lois was in on everything. Let’s just take a moment to soak that in for a moment, okay? In previous seasons, chances were quite high that Lois wouldn’t even BE in this episode. (Chloe would have been in it and Clark would have been hunting down AUChloe for help; while Chloe – as Watchtower – hunted down Tess for help in the Real World.) So… now? Not only is Lois in this episode, but the world is as it SHOULD be. Her future husband has been sent to some alternate universe and swapped out with his evil twin and – GASP – the other characters actually think that Lois should KNOW!! (Pinch me. Is this “SV”?)
Man… that Justice League is damn near impossible to get ahold of when you need them, huh? The back and forth between Tess/Lois was handled perfectly here. The shot was cut back and forth very quickly, to add to the urgency of the situation.
I loved the line, “Okay, I’m not sure what you’re doing, but I’m perfectly willing to run around and frown at technology if it’ll lend a hand.” What I loved about this is that it showed us that Lois might be in on the Watchtower/Justice League side of Clark’s life now, but she’s not that active of a participant. It’s Clark thing and she’s happy to pitch in when needed, but she’s not suddenly quitting her day job to become his sidekick/hacker/personal assistant. She also didn’t develop magic computer skills overnight that rivals Bill Gates. And she perfectly happy to admit it. Lois Lane, I love you. (As a shallow aside, Durance looked gorgeous in this scene.)
The horrified way that Freeman uttered, “He found us!” was sheer gold. AUClark sure knows how to make an entrance!! The “Get up, Tess.” followed by the shout, “GET UP!” was… um… terrifying. I might have actually thought that Evil Clark was not hot for a second there. Because he freaked the living shit out of me. (It didn’t help that he’d just tossed Lois across the room without even blinking.)
I gotta give props to Tess that she actually tried to be brave and said, “And if I don’t?” even though it was clear that this was not a Clark to mess with. The way he squats down in front of her and says, “Give me the box, Tess.” made ME want to give him the box, so kudos to Tess for being braver than me. I think, though, she was on the same page with me when he replied, with a CHILLING SMILE for frak’s sake, “Then I’ll kill you.”
Unfortunately, this is the last we saw of AUClark. There is a LOT of stuff that must have gone down between this point and the point that Clark comes back to his own world. First of all, Oliver showed up. Lois lost her jacket. They all managed to get themselves weaponed up while AUClark tore the entire place apart.
Man, I really wanted to see this scene. Give me THIS instead of a stupid AUTess and AULionel scene.
To see Oliver’s reaction to Clark Luthor. And, frankly, AUClark’s reaction to Oliver with the Green Arrow equipment. And also just to see how AUClark would react to a very strong Tess (since his own was so weak and needy) and a Lois Lane who was in love with Clark.
Add in that all of these people were working together to take him down? You have to believe that he was probably like “WTF” at the idea of a Justice League working together against him. I’m sure he doesn’t have that in his world. It is a huge contrast to him and this world’s Clark, because AUClark was completely isolated from the rest of the world by AULionel. Doubt that the guy ever had any friends. (Which begs the question, where was AUKara? Did AULionel kill her as soon as she arrived?)
So… anyway… we fast forward past what could have been an awesome fight to the point where Clark Kent returns. This is a pretty epic moment where all of them are standing there, ready to kill Clark Luthor (or at least shoot him with an arrow, I guess), all of them beaten up and breathing hard.
Tess says, “Oliver do it! Now!” Ollie says, “Nighty night…” and Clark then says, “I’m me!” And then turns to Lois, who is the sanest person he knows, and says, “Lois. Please. Tell them. I’m me.”
Lois, who looked like she was more than ready to give Clark Luthor a few extra holes, immediately realizes that it is Clark and she lowers her weapon with a sigh of relief. Then she says, “Stop. Stop. Stop!” as she pushes Oliver’s arrow aside and then rushes to Clark, falling to her knees as she gazes into his eyes searchingly. And then says, “It’s him. It’s you.” And then they hug and all is right with their world. (Yes, they should have kissed before the hug.)
Clark exchanges a look with Tess and Oliver, who both look like they need Dr. Hamilton to swing by. I loved that shot… where all of them are standing in the devastated Watchtower trying to take deep breaths and recover from what just happened. If AUClark could do THIS in only a couple of hours in the Real World, then I shudder to think about what awaits THAT world when he gets back. At least in this one, he had about ten people around to hold him in check (including Supergirl), but that one? Lord have mercy.
Moving on… the Lois/Clark scene at the hospital was very sweet. (Yes, they should have kissed.) I missed the banter between these two. And this was great Clois banter.
Secondly… they had Clark walk down with Lois with his hands behind his back. I would have liked it if he had wrapped his arm over her shoulder on the way to the elevator. Or maybe thrown his arm around shoulder when they got into the elevator. Or put his hand on the small of her back. The peck on the lips was well and good (and perfectly acceptable for the public setting), but I think there should have been more gestures of affection between them. (As a random aside, this was a great mirror to the scene back in "Arrival" when Lois steals Clark's flowers that he'd gotten for Lana. This time, they flowers are actually FOR Lois.)
It was nice, though, to see Clark acknowledge how awesome Lois Lane is in EVERY universe. When Lois makes the comment about how he’s doing well with the first chance, I did kind of roll my eyes. I was like, “Ah… yeah… this is already his second chance. Remember? He kind of left you to go break beds with Lana.” But, since Lois did not witness the Arc of Suck like I did, she clearly has forgotten about it. I wish I was just as oblivious as her.
I felt bad for the AULois, though. That she got to meet an awesome Clark and had to watch him race off to his own Lois Lane. It’s not the first time this has happened in the mythos, of course. I think even “LnC” featured this. An episode of “Superman: TAS” had the opposite: A Clark Kent loses his Lois Lane and then starts working with Lex Luthor. When Lois Lane pops up in that AU, he has to lose her a second time when she goes back to her own Superman.
We then get the Clark/Tess wrap up scene. I did kind of sleep through this scene. I think this was the point I hit Tess over-load. I guess he apologized? And I guess Tess realized she could have been even more frakked up than she is? Anyway… it was nice to see Clark acknowledge that he’d been wrong and shouldn’t have been that mean to her (since he was wrong and he had been mean to her). I have nothing more to say about this.
The final shot of Lionel in the real world? NICE. I know a lot of people think that this episode was utterly pointless and that it didn’t serve to progress S10’s plot in any way. And that if the whole point was to bring AULionel into the Real World, that this whole episode wasn’t needed to set up such a simple premise.
But… um… I disagree. I think that this episode was VERY much needed to set up that premise. The fact is that if a Lionel from an alternate universe simply popped up in the back half of S10 and then we had about 10 minutes of exposition while Tess (or Chloe, if she’s in that episode) TELLS the audience how evil AULionel is and what it’s like in THAT world? Think about that for a second. The fandom would have been in an uproar. We would have been all like, “What the hell? This sucks. Where’d this guy come from and what is SV’s problem? They don’t actually think that this huge twist is important enough to have some sort of backstory? Some sort of explanation? We’re just supposed to accept this random Lionel popping up out of nowhere?”
They’re damned if they do and they’re damned if they don’t. In this case, I would damn them if they DIDN’T and I’m happy they did. (Damn… that sentence… brain hurts.) Anyway. My point is: I think this episode was very important in establishing the how much of a mother***er AULionel is. This is not a Lionel who will try to redeem himself. He will do everything in his power to take over this world and - if rumors are true - Glover is in at least a few episodes in the back half, then I needed to know this stuff about him. I needed a context to put this character in and it was imperative I know the differences between him and the Lionel Luthor I saw between S1-S7. And, even more importantly, it as important for CLARK KENT to see the differences.
Final note: I thought Souders did a great job directing. This was not an easy episode to direct, since it featured two parallel universes, but she did well with the transitions. I was never confused by it. It’s like she sat down and watched a marathon of “Fringe” or something. The way she used the sound effects to showcase the transition, as well as the differences in color. I also liked that she used different types of camera angles… like when we saw a shot of the buildings from below and it slowly switched into the Metropolis skyline. She used every single set they possess (except the inside of the DP and the coffee shop) and she did well with juggling it all.
Each actor, also, sold me on the differences between their AU version and themselves. I think the least different was Lois. But that’s mainly because she was playing Lois pretty much the same (that was the whole point). The two that were the most different, of course, were Welling and Feeman & I think they sold it.
So… yeah… I loved this episode. I know I’m in the minority (especially amongst Clois fans), but I don’t mind. I think I’m getting used to it, because I tend to dislike episodes that others think are awesome. I think the major reason I enjoyed this episode was because it when down EXACTLY like I pictured (except my version had less Tess). A lot of people were speculating that AUClark was going to be redeemable and good, but I never thought that. I expected him to be a monster. In fact, we’d gotten a comment from Glover that Red K was involved in keeping AUClark in line, and I was glad that they cut that out (or Glover misunderstood?) because that would have added a layer of complexity to the situation with AUClark that they just didn’t have time to explore.
I’m one of those people that thinks that nature can only take on so far and nurture plays a huge factor in who you turn out to be. And I also don’t have a problem with the idea that – out of a gazillion parallel earths – there can be at least one that has a very evil Superman. Why not? In fact, it would be amazing to me if there wasn’t. I do not need every version of Clark Kent to be innately good to believe that MY Superman (the one on Earth I, I guess) is innately good in part because of his nature, but also in large part to the Kents raising him. That is a HUGE theme in Superman (the idea that Kents were perfect for him) and I have no problem with seeing that play out.
I do wish that our Clark had been a little bit more conflicted about leaving an Earth behind him that was at the mercy of Ultraman. Had some sort of conversation with Lois at the hospital where he told her that he was worried that AUOllie was going to kill AUClark, but – at the same time – he couldn’t see what other choice AUOllie would have. And that he wished he could have saved them. It would have been nice to see that convo instead of the one about how awesome Lois is in every universe. (Because we already know that.) Then Lois could have responded with some sort of comment about how humans are more resilient than he thinks and that he at least gave them a fighting chance. And, also, some hope.
But… anyway…. Next week is “Icarus”!! And then we have no Smallville until 2011. How am I going to survive???
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Thank you to tvpix.com for the screencaps!
So…. Moving on to the review. I will say that even though I really enjoyed watching this episode and I also loved it, it’s not like I fully turned my brains off and I didn’t notice a lot of glaring issues with it. So while I kind of want to go, “Who cares about plot? Who cares about dialogue? Welling was DAMN hot as Evil Clark Luthor and I just want to stare at the pretty!!”, I shall stop myself and actually try to be somewhat coherent.
The episode opens with Tess. This should really have been an indication of where the episode was headed. This was an incredibly Tess-centric episode. I honestly think that Freeman got more screen time in this one episode than she had in the first half of S9 combined. Now, I’m not a Tess fan. BUT… I do think she’s been rather less pointless lately. And has had some semblance of character development in S10. And… really… I love Cassidy Freeman. The woman is hilarious. She seems like a genuinely nice person. And she’s a total “Smallville” fangirl and I like that. You can tell she’s proud of being part of the SV legacy & that she is thankful for this opportunity. So… all that to say… I’m not going to begrudge her this episode. And I do think she brought it. This was, in a way, kind of like what “Idol” was for Erica Durance. An opportunity to really showcase her acting and to show her range. As well as give her an episode where she got to step up to the plate and be a focal character who was integral to the plot. (Durance did a better job with “Idol”, but that script was MUCH stronger than this one.)
Anyway… after that long aside… so the episode opens with Tess and we quickly get into the Clark/Tess dynamic. Apparently, Clark has been researching stuff on his own (I was a bit confused here… is he looking into Lex or the “dark force” or what? I seemed to miss what exactly the “lead” was supposed to lead him to). And Clark finally gets the reveal that Tess was keeping one last little LexClone alive.
I’m so glad we’re done with this load of crock. I think the LexClone stuff is ridiculous and I hate that they’re doing it when they don’t have Rosenbaum locked in. I swear to God, if we end S10 with one final shot of a random bald guy and MR never comes back? I will detest every single frakkin second we wasted on this stupid storyline. Anyway… I digress. When Clark finds out what Tess has done, he’s pissed. Understandably so. Honestly, I don’t think he’s as pissed off at her actions as he is that she HID it from them. This leads him to make some sort of comment about how Luthors have dirty blood.
Oh my goodness. Clark Kent? Are you on crack? I could have understood if he made some random comment about how all the LEX CLONES have dirty blood (because they’re all programmed with Lex’s hatred) but the idea that Luthor BLOOD is dirty? Seems a little odd, given that Lionel Luthor was actually Clark’s ally towards the end there. Of course, this is the set-up for the whole frakkin episode, but I really wish BQM had figured out a better way to do that line. It’s not that I’m opposed to Clark being a jerk or saying something he regrets in a heated moment (I realize other Supermans are not like this, but this Clark Kent has been like this for 10 years, so it’s not OOC). It’s just that the thing he said didn’t make sense. I’m so glad we’re done with this load of crock. I think the LexClone stuff is ridiculous and I hate that they’re doing it when they don’t have Rosenbaum locked in. I swear to God, if we end S10 with one final shot of a random bald guy and MR never comes back? I will detest every single frakkin second we wasted on this stupid storyline. Anyway… I digress. When Clark finds out what Tess has done, he’s pissed. Understandably so. Honestly, I don’t think he’s as pissed off at her actions as he is that she HID it from them. This leads him to make some sort of comment about how Luthors have dirty blood.
Anyway… so this all leads to Clark getting even MORE pissed when he finds out that Tess has the box. And then he decides to open it (seriously, Clark, when will you learn??). You + Kryptonian Artifacts = BAD IDEA.
And so he’s off to the AU world!!
He ends up in bed with a couple of girls and is like, “WTF?” This leads to the revelation that he’s now Lionel’s kid and they have this really freaky exchange where they fence and John Glover chews scenery.
A few things about this scene:
- I really like how it was directed. The way Clark puts on his clothes really quickly. Lionel comes in and then walks down the hall talking about expensing the hookers. Then they enter the study to fence. I liked that there was a lot of movement.
- I liked how Welling showed Clark’s confusion and the reveal that the fencing equipment was made of Blue K.
- The dialogue really worked here, because it made SENSE to me that Clark started sifting through all the various reasons he was in a nightmare. I especially loved the whole, “Is this part of my trials?” And Lionel’s like, “Um… no.” LOL
- I also like that Clark quickly caught on and started playing along.
- I liked how Welling showed Clark’s confusion and the reveal that the fencing equipment was made of Blue K.
- The dialogue really worked here, because it made SENSE to me that Clark started sifting through all the various reasons he was in a nightmare. I especially loved the whole, “Is this part of my trials?” And Lionel’s like, “Um… no.” LOL
- I also like that Clark quickly caught on and started playing along.
A few things I didn't like about this scene:
- He should not have been in bed. I'll talk about that more later.
- Souders missed an opportunity to take a very dark episode and make it a lighter by having Welling react with a comically horrified look. Instead, we got a quick cut to him pulling his clothes on.
Moving forward, I’m breaking down the review to what is happening “Over Here” vs. what’s happening “Over There”. - Souders missed an opportunity to take a very dark episode and make it a lighter by having Welling react with a comically horrified look. Instead, we got a quick cut to him pulling his clothes on.
Over There
Clark heads to the Kent farm… where AUTess is waiting for him. WHAT.THE.FRAK??? I’ll take plot hole number ten for 500, Alex. There is no reason for AUTess and AUClark to be hooking up at the Kent farm. They have NOTHING to do with the Kents. They shouldn’t even KNOW them. But… I’ll stop with the rant before my brain hurts more than it already does. Turns out AUClark and AUTess have a weird affair thing going on. Clark is much more concerned about the idea that Tess is a Luthor than the idea that – in this world – his counterpart is into incest. Now, yes, technically they are not related by blood. But AUClark sure as hell did like saying “sis” a lot.
Oh… and… oh, yeah… they kiss. Well, AUTess attempts to kiss Clark. I’m not going to say he looks horrified (which is how he looked when Lucy kissed him, with good reason), but he definitely has a “WTF?” expression on his face. This leads to what I consider to be a good conversation, as far as exposition conversations go. He thinks it’s some kind of frakked up version of time travel. He’s immediately trying to figure out how he can fix things. AUTess reveals the real drama.
I thought Cassidy Freeman did a great job with this scene. She made AUTess kind of slutty in a desperate kind of a way. A woman who had no self-esteem (because of her huge daddy issues) and was even willing to be used by AUClark, because she was just looking for a scrap of affection from someone in her family. The unkempt hair, the way she talked so desperately and the look in her eyes when she thought AUClark had betrayed her. I thought she did well. (I also kind of laughed at the line that AUClark is the “more fun version” of Clark. I think that Lois and Tess – in our world – would beg to disagree.)
Once Exposition Time was over, Clark sped off the Daily Planet. Where AULois, literally, runs into him. This has clearly become a thing between Clark Kent and Alternate Loises. Well, I guess, even his Lois, since she almost hit him with her car when they first met. We, very quickly, along with Clark, learn that AULois hates him. And that
she’s engaged to AUOliver. There’s some random shot of a woman trying to get a statement from AUOllie and AULois stepping in to take care of it.My facial expression was mimicking Clark’s at that point, because I couldn’t tell what the frak that was about. I was too busy going, “Oh… Clark’s engagement ring for his Lois is so MUCH prettier than that one.” Apparently, Clark was thinking much the same thing, because he just uttered, in complete disbelief, “You’re engaged?” And that’s the point, ladies and gentleman, that the Alt World officially became HELL for our Clark.
Then we find out that Ultraman isn’t as nice as the Blur. While the Blur just does things like throw soup cans at criminals’ heads, Ultraman actually kills them. Clark’s not exactly happy about this and decides to go off and talk to Jor-el… and we find out that Lionel is there. At that point, I was asking my TV screen, “Um… Clark… really? It’s not like your AIDaddy is any better. If he’s crazy-pants in the real world, then he’s probably even CRAZIER in this one.”
But… hey… I got it. Poor Clark was going everywhere in the hopes that he could get some answers. In point of fact, I thought Clark’s steps in this world made a lot of sense. He first goes to the farm (to get a connection to his family), then the DP (presumably to find Lois), and then finally his Fortress of Solitude. I think it’s a very predictable way for Clark to behave. The only thing I think is a little of out of whack was that he didn’t make a pit stop to Watchtower before the farm.
(Although, maybe he just wanted to wash the crazy off of him, as Dean Winchester would point out.)
So… Clark comes up with a plan that involves kidnapping Lois. Impeccable timing on his part. He managed to scoop her up right before she plants one on AUOllie. Now… a little bit of a side rant about this. We are “treated” to the sight of Clark kissing random women every other episode or so. And, yet, they don’t let an AULOIS kiss an AUOLLIE, even though they’re engaged? Furthermore, Lois had to WITNESS Clark being kissed by Lucy, but they couldn’t have Clark witness an AULOIS kiss an AUOLLIE? What’s with the double standards, show? (This has nothing to do with me being an ex-Lollie shipper. OK, maybe a little.)
Not to mention, they didn’t even allow AULois to tell AUOliver that she loved him. What, are we to believe she’s settling for him? Well… that’s just kind of crappy and sad. It’s “Superman Returns” all over again, with poor Ollie being Richard White. I don’t like that. Let that Lois be happy in her own little world.
This leads to one of the best scenes in the episode and probably a scene that I will list as one of my most favorite Clois scenes ever. (Even if it’s not Clark’s Lois.) I am one of those who DID NOT enjoy “Apocalypse”. I also did not enjoy the “Lois, I died when you left.” scene in “Pandora” (not a fan of “Pandora” in general). In both of those episodes, we got AU versions of Clois that were really intense and there seemed to be this idea that they had a connection. But it rang hollow.
In the case of “Apocalypse”, it rang hollow because it was a complete outlier and had no impact on either Clark or Lois. He was dating Lana at the time and it would be a long time before he looked at Lois that way.
In “Pandora”, it made no sense for Lois to jump into bed with Future!Clark right after the declaration. I went along with it (because, hello, Clois sex), but it always bothered me that Lois’s response wasn’t to just bust out laughing.
Now, though? Every single line Clark said? It made sense. Lois is his soulmate. He knows she’s his soulmate and Lois knows. They are together and they know each other intimately. They share a connection that they’ve never shared with anyone.
Lois: Stay away from me, Clark. Or Ultraman. Or whoever you are. I know what happens when someone sees your face.
Clark: Lois. Lois. Hey! Look, where I’m from....Lois Lane. You and I. We’re allies. And you always have my back. How else would I know that you’re brave and loyal? And a force of nature?
Lois: Anyone could have told you that about me.
Clark: Look, you misspell words. Simple words. At an alarmingly frequent basis. And you never admit when I’m right, even when I call you on it.
Lois: Why would I?
Clark: And you can always tell when I’m lying. You can see right through me. Straight to my soul. To my heart. Lois, there’s got to be a part of you that knows that I’m telling the truth.
Lois: Who are you?
Clark: My name is Clark Kent and I promise, Lois, that I will never let this happen to us. I can’t live in a world where you don’t love me.
GAAAHH… I was a blubbering mess by the end of this conversation. Say what you will about the rest of the episode, but THIS? It was… it was what I expect Clark’s love for Lois to be defined as. You have these episodes like “Isis” and “Harvest” that are - for the most part – crap, but then have these fantastic scenes tacked on in the end. In this case, “Luthor” had it’s script flaws, but this scene was perfectly written.
And, might I add, perfectly acted and directed. We actually saw Clark move closer to Lois in moments where he was supposed to. We saw Lois go from being incredibly scared to being slowly swept away by his words. We saw the moment she stared at him and realized that he wasn’t Clark Luthor. And the way he made vowed to her that this would never happen (which I also saw as a declaration on a grander scale that his world would never suffer what her world was suffering) and then concluded that he can’t live in a world where Lois doesn’t love him? BE STILL MY BEATING HEART.
And, might I add, perfectly acted and directed. We actually saw Clark move closer to Lois in moments where he was supposed to. We saw Lois go from being incredibly scared to being slowly swept away by his words. We saw the moment she stared at him and realized that he wasn’t Clark Luthor. And the way he made vowed to her that this would never happen (which I also saw as a declaration on a grander scale that his world would never suffer what her world was suffering) and then concluded that he can’t live in a world where Lois doesn’t love him? BE STILL MY BEATING HEART.
The AUOllie scene with Clark was… um… well. I just gotta ask. Does Oliver have to be whiney IN EVERY UNIVERSE? Seriously… “Blah, blah, blah… farmers hate me because I’m throwing them off their land… blah, blah, blah… I hate being hated… blah, blah, blah… I’m so misunderstood and I’m so sad about that, even though people are starving and I drink expensive champagne…..” Oh my LORD. STFU, Ollie. No wonder AULois is kind of settling for you.
I don’t understand why Clark told Oliver that he’s not a murderer. Because Oliver flat out murdered Lex. And he didn’t even have a good reason. AUOliver, though, actually has a good reason to murder AUClark. Because the guy is kind of an unstoppable evil monster. But… okay then.
While Clark gets a beating, I’m going to take a moment to talk about AULionel. As I’ve said before (and on DI), I am not one of those fans who extolls rapturously for hours on the magnificent nature of the Magnificent Bastard that is known as Lionel Luthor. I’ve always felt that John Glover was over-rated and that he hadn’t met a scene that he couldn’t chew with the ferocious nature of a bulldog attacking a steak. He is heavy-handed and a bit of a melodramatic over-actor. For the most part, it works for a character like Lionel, so I wont’ say I hate his scenes, but I never felt he was a linchpin in the SV-verse, either. I certainly didn’t mourn his loss (especially since they frakked up his character with all the ret-cons). BUT… yeah… he really pulled me in with this version of Lionel. He was Lionel on Evil Crack. (Still an major over-actor, though.) I understood how this man (who wasn’t that great to begin with) could just go out of his mind with power when he got his hands on a little boy who had the powers of a god. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and that’s what this Lionel is all about.
I also understand how a Superman raised by THAT LEVEL of evil turns out to be so incredibly evil himself. He had no one to show him the difference between right and wrong. All he saw was wrong and wrong. And they made it clear that if Clark were ever to try to get out from under AULionel’s thumb, then AULionel would make sure he paid for it. I am a bit confused as to why AUClark didn’t just give AULionel a lobotomy with his laser vision, but I do think that a lot of abuse victims find it hard to take that extra step. There’s always that layer of fear there.
Anyway… the part where AULionel beats the living shit out of Clark was hard to watch. Flashbacks to “Superman Returns” and Lex beating up Superman. I felt like I felt every single blow. When AULionel pulls out the belt, even my husband turned to me and went, “Oh… shit. Superman’s about to get his ass kicked.” Poor Clark.
A lot of people had a problem with the convo between AUOllie and Clark.
Clark: Oliver!
Oliver: Yeah, I know. I know. You’re the good one. Just go the hell home already, will you?
Clark: Lionel’s son. He’s appear here in my place. You need to activate the meteor rock as soon as I leave.
Oliver: Why are you telling me all this?
Oliver: Why are you telling me all this?
Clark: You said you wished we could save the world together. We do.
I did like Ollie’s sense of humor. But I think the problem people had is the idea that Clark was sending AUClark back to his death. That Ollie was, essentially, going to trap the AUClark and then murder him & Clark was not doing a damn thing to stop it. In fact, he was facilitating it.
I’m torn about this. First of all (as you'll see below), I’m not convinced that AUClark actually did show up at Watchtower, anyway. Secondly, I would think that AUClark has enough brain capacity to be able to get out of the situation (Lord knows, our own Clark has been in hairier situations and managed to survive). Thirdly, I’m not exactly sure that Clark was sanctioning murder, as much as he was saying, “Prepare yourself. Make sure the meteor rock is in place.” Would I have liked Clark to flat out say, “Remember – you’re not a murderer. Go find some handcuffs. Call for back-up.” Sure, I guess. But I also understand why he didn’t. I think he may have just assumed (or hoped) that Oliver’s moral character would win out and AUOllie would not commit murder. That AUOllie would find an alternate solution.
But, let’s say, for a moment, that Clark WAS sanctioning murder. Is that… in this case… the wrong solution? AUClark is a monster who kills people without thought. He’s an almost unstoppable monster. Between him and AULionel, they’ve caused nothing but devastation to an entire world. This world is living in the world that Zod would have created in his own world, had he not stopped Zod. Now, for Zod, Clark tried every means necessary rather than killing Zod. Because it was his own world and he had the luxury to take the time to do so.
Now, though, he’s leaving an entire human race helpless in the face of this evil monster. Can Clark really tell AUOliver that AUOliver should not use any means necessary to protect his own world? Is Clark really in a position to do that, when he knows that the people going up against AUClark are merely mortal? I don't think there is a clear black-and-white answer, although I'm sure mythos Superman fans would say there is, because Superman doesn't kill or sanction killing. Ever.
This is something that should have been addressed, I think, in the final convo between Clark and Lois in the Real World. But I’ll get to that when I get to that.
And then Clark goes back.
Over Here
We begin with the reveal that the AUClark has ended up in our world. Now… I’m going to just flat out say it… what the hell? Let’s take a step back for a minute. CLARK goes to their world and he ends up in bed with two women without a shirt on. Meaning, he basically entered AUClark’s body. But AUCLARK comes to our world and he ends up on a random street fully clothed in some sort of purple/black get up that involves paisley? Say what? Now… skipping to the final scenes in the episode. Clark comes back to OUR Watchtower and goes back to his own body. Meaning, he’s now the one wearing the purple/black/paisley get-up. At the same time, we know that AULionel hitched a ride and ended up someplace OTHER than Watchtower.
So… why on earth are we to assume that AUClark went back to his world and showed up at Watchtower for Oliver to trap him? Clearly, there are no rules here. (And since our Clark took over AUClark’s clothes, are we to assume that AUClark went back naked? Hhhhmmm….)
You know what this tells me? They just really wanted to show naked Clark having a threesome. That’s pretty much it. And that’s annoying on a lot of different levels, because even as a fanfic writer, I sit there and obsesses about what makes sense in a story. The writers – who get PAID to write this shit – didn’t take two seconds to do the same thing.
They completely disregarded coherence of plot to get a gratuitous shot of shirtless Welling in bed with two women. It was unnecessary. They could have had Clark pop up in Cadmus Labs in the other universe (in his own clothes) and then have him super-speed over to the Luthor mansion to hunt down Tess. And – there – he could have bumped into Lionel.
So… now… due to this plot-hole, I am now going to assume that AUClark went back to his own bedroom and AUOllie was actually NOT able to trap him there. And, therefore, AUClark will now wreck havoc on his own world, since he doesn’t have AULionel there to stop him. Hhhmm… I sense a drabble coming on.
Anyway… so AUClark shows up in Tess’s office, looking all hot and sexy as he leans against the door jam. At this point, I don’t know how evil he is, so I feel it’s okay to drool. (Who am I kidding. I proceeded to drool for the rest of the episode.) The dialogue was a little weird here. AUClark says, “It’s adorable watching you sitting at my desk like you own the place.” Instead of responding with a, “WTF? Since when was this YOUR desk, Clark?” Tess responds with, “How can you be so flip when I’ve been looking for you all over the place?”
Um… okay, then. We proceed to have the requisite Cless scene for the series. *sigh* First of all, I will say that this scene was directed and acted very well. You could tell that Welling probably had a blast filming this scene, because he very rarely gets to act all suave and smooth like this. I can imagine that playing 200+ episodes of the same character must get boring and he probably leaps at a chance to stretch his acting chops a bit.
And Welling… I gotta give the guy props. There was never ANY point where I saw Clark Kent in his Clark Luthor. He sold me in the idea that these two are NOT the same person. And I think that this is a very hard thing to do. Honestly, I think it is. For example, if you watch “Fringe”, you’ll note that the actress playing Olivia does not always pull this off. It’s hard to see the difference between her two Olivia’s and the only reason you can sometimes is because one wears a horrible red wig.
The Cless kiss was interesting. I’m a Clois shipper, but hey, I’ll admit it was a hot kiss. As far as very forced kisses go ( in the sense that Clark was PHYSICALLY FORCING the kiss on Tess.) Much different from the AUTess/RWClark kiss, which was just very uncomfortable and flat.
I think Welling and Freeman did a good job with these two different kisses, because you could see the difference in the context and tone very clearly. One was between a desperate woman who is in love with a man who is only using her, but the guy she's actually kissing is not into it at all and is quite confused & doesn't react. The other one was between a highly arrogant man who is used to abusing this woman & the woman in question is actually a much stronger version of the weak-willed girl he's used to dominating.
Poor Tess does try to resist. She is quite properly wigged out in the beginning. She even tries to pull away in the middle, but AUClark kind of grips her neck and forces her back into the kiss. I’m sure this was her inner thought process:
“Oh, hell, he’s on Red K. Oh… hell… he’s a good kisser. Damn it, Lois is so lucky. Oh… Lois. She’s going to kill me. Must.Stop.Kiss.”
Then she feels up his arm, finds the horrible burn and then comes crashing back down to reality.
That burn, by the way? VERY intriguing. Apparently, AULionel used Gold K to make sure that it stuck. (Is this the first time Gold K has been mentioned on the show?) If I remember correctly, Gold K is the one that permanently removes Superman’s powers. (Kind of like the ultra-version of Blue K, I guess.) So… does this mean that if applied to Clark’s skin, it just means that portion of the skin will never heal, as it would had Blue K been used? Am a bit confused by this, but I’m assuming it either doesn’t matter or we’ll find out in the back half what importance this has.
So… yeah… back to Tess and hot Clark. I mean, um… EVIL Clark. There’s some interesting choices with angles and how the set is used that is not typical of “SV”. Clark goes the window and looks out, his arm up on the jam in a negligent manner, his silhouette outlined against the window. They show Tess’s reaction of horror when he makes the comment about their father. I liked that shot and the subtle widening of Tess’s eyes while she became very still.
I also liked how AUClark insolently lounged on the chair and made the cold comment about not having blood on his hands before lunch. I feel like this was the point where you went, along with Tess, “Yeah… this is WAY worse than Red K. DAMN IT. Must find the Justice League. Must also figure out a way to get out of this alive.”
I loved the Tess/Lois scene. First of all, I loved that poor Lois was trying to get an afternoon off and that she is oblivious to how that is completely impossible when you’re dating the Man of Steel. Oh, boy, is she gonna learn. She’s gotta keep that phone on AT ALL TIMES if she’s Clark’s link to humanity. That girl will never be able to go off the clock.
Anyway – yeah, I’m really enjoying this new dynamic between Tess/Lois. They’re not exactly BFFs, but they’ll work together and actually give a damn about each other, because they kind of HAVE to. They build-up up of the dramatic music was nice. A bit of an overkill, but still – I like that Tess would even say to Lois, “Get over here. We have a problem.”
I kind of adored that Lois was in on everything. Let’s just take a moment to soak that in for a moment, okay? In previous seasons, chances were quite high that Lois wouldn’t even BE in this episode. (Chloe would have been in it and Clark would have been hunting down AUChloe for help; while Chloe – as Watchtower – hunted down Tess for help in the Real World.) So… now? Not only is Lois in this episode, but the world is as it SHOULD be. Her future husband has been sent to some alternate universe and swapped out with his evil twin and – GASP – the other characters actually think that Lois should KNOW!! (Pinch me. Is this “SV”?)
Man… that Justice League is damn near impossible to get ahold of when you need them, huh? The back and forth between Tess/Lois was handled perfectly here. The shot was cut back and forth very quickly, to add to the urgency of the situation.
I loved the line, “Okay, I’m not sure what you’re doing, but I’m perfectly willing to run around and frown at technology if it’ll lend a hand.” What I loved about this is that it showed us that Lois might be in on the Watchtower/Justice League side of Clark’s life now, but she’s not that active of a participant. It’s Clark thing and she’s happy to pitch in when needed, but she’s not suddenly quitting her day job to become his sidekick/hacker/personal assistant. She also didn’t develop magic computer skills overnight that rivals Bill Gates. And she perfectly happy to admit it. Lois Lane, I love you. (As a shallow aside, Durance looked gorgeous in this scene.) The horrified way that Freeman uttered, “He found us!” was sheer gold. AUClark sure knows how to make an entrance!! The “Get up, Tess.” followed by the shout, “GET UP!” was… um… terrifying. I might have actually thought that Evil Clark was not hot for a second there. Because he freaked the living shit out of me. (It didn’t help that he’d just tossed Lois across the room without even blinking.)
I gotta give props to Tess that she actually tried to be brave and said, “And if I don’t?” even though it was clear that this was not a Clark to mess with. The way he squats down in front of her and says, “Give me the box, Tess.” made ME want to give him the box, so kudos to Tess for being braver than me. I think, though, she was on the same page with me when he replied, with a CHILLING SMILE for frak’s sake, “Then I’ll kill you.”
Unfortunately, this is the last we saw of AUClark. There is a LOT of stuff that must have gone down between this point and the point that Clark comes back to his own world. First of all, Oliver showed up. Lois lost her jacket. They all managed to get themselves weaponed up while AUClark tore the entire place apart.
Man, I really wanted to see this scene. Give me THIS instead of a stupid AUTess and AULionel scene.
To see Oliver’s reaction to Clark Luthor. And, frankly, AUClark’s reaction to Oliver with the Green Arrow equipment. And also just to see how AUClark would react to a very strong Tess (since his own was so weak and needy) and a Lois Lane who was in love with Clark. Add in that all of these people were working together to take him down? You have to believe that he was probably like “WTF” at the idea of a Justice League working together against him. I’m sure he doesn’t have that in his world. It is a huge contrast to him and this world’s Clark, because AUClark was completely isolated from the rest of the world by AULionel. Doubt that the guy ever had any friends. (Which begs the question, where was AUKara? Did AULionel kill her as soon as she arrived?)
So… anyway… we fast forward past what could have been an awesome fight to the point where Clark Kent returns. This is a pretty epic moment where all of them are standing there, ready to kill Clark Luthor (or at least shoot him with an arrow, I guess), all of them beaten up and breathing hard.
Tess says, “Oliver do it! Now!” Ollie says, “Nighty night…” and Clark then says, “I’m me!” And then turns to Lois, who is the sanest person he knows, and says, “Lois. Please. Tell them. I’m me.”
Lois, who looked like she was more than ready to give Clark Luthor a few extra holes, immediately realizes that it is Clark and she lowers her weapon with a sigh of relief. Then she says, “Stop. Stop. Stop!” as she pushes Oliver’s arrow aside and then rushes to Clark, falling to her knees as she gazes into his eyes searchingly. And then says, “It’s him. It’s you.” And then they hug and all is right with their world. (Yes, they should have kissed before the hug.)
Clark exchanges a look with Tess and Oliver, who both look like they need Dr. Hamilton to swing by. I loved that shot… where all of them are standing in the devastated Watchtower trying to take deep breaths and recover from what just happened. If AUClark could do THIS in only a couple of hours in the Real World, then I shudder to think about what awaits THAT world when he gets back. At least in this one, he had about ten people around to hold him in check (including Supergirl), but that one? Lord have mercy.
Moving on… the Lois/Clark scene at the hospital was very sweet. (Yes, they should have kissed.) I missed the banter between these two. And this was great Clois banter.
Lois: I swear, the number of times I’ve signed one of those. Lucky for us, the Planet’s got great coverage. Lucky for me, anyway. I bet your deductible's through the roof.
Clark: Something like that. *hands her flowers*
Lois: What are these for?
Clark: Nothing says “sorry my doppelganger from a parallel earth tried to kill you” like flowers.
Lois: I think there’s a card for that now.
Clark: Store was out.
Hee hee. I love it when they give Clark zingers. And a sense of humor. The way Souders directed this scene was interesting. First of all, though, I have to point out: When did Lois get time to straighten her hair and put it up in a pony-tail? What, is super-grooming one of Clark’s super-powers? And why would Lois even need him to make her hair on the way to the hospital? I would have understood if her hair was up, loosely, with a hair claw or something, but the straightened pony-tail was a little too much styling. Continuity glitch. Also, I don't think that's the way deductibles work... as in, you don't go to the hospital and they suddenly go up. The deductible is the amount you have to pay out of pocket before the insurance company starts pitching in. It's a set amount per year. And, in Clark's case, it's irrelevant, because he never pays for hospital bills, period. I think they were trying to say that Clark probably has a really high deductible that never gets touched (vs. Lois, who probably eats hers up in the month of January alone), but it was worded really weird. Clark: Something like that. *hands her flowers*
Lois: What are these for?
Clark: Nothing says “sorry my doppelganger from a parallel earth tried to kill you” like flowers.
Lois: I think there’s a card for that now.
Clark: Store was out.
Secondly… they had Clark walk down with Lois with his hands behind his back. I would have liked it if he had wrapped his arm over her shoulder on the way to the elevator. Or maybe thrown his arm around shoulder when they got into the elevator. Or put his hand on the small of her back. The peck on the lips was well and good (and perfectly acceptable for the public setting), but I think there should have been more gestures of affection between them. (As a random aside, this was a great mirror to the scene back in "Arrival" when Lois steals Clark's flowers that he'd gotten for Lana. This time, they flowers are actually FOR Lois.) It was nice, though, to see Clark acknowledge how awesome Lois Lane is in EVERY universe. When Lois makes the comment about how he’s doing well with the first chance, I did kind of roll my eyes. I was like, “Ah… yeah… this is already his second chance. Remember? He kind of left you to go break beds with Lana.” But, since Lois did not witness the Arc of Suck like I did, she clearly has forgotten about it. I wish I was just as oblivious as her.
I felt bad for the AULois, though. That she got to meet an awesome Clark and had to watch him race off to his own Lois Lane. It’s not the first time this has happened in the mythos, of course. I think even “LnC” featured this. An episode of “Superman: TAS” had the opposite: A Clark Kent loses his Lois Lane and then starts working with Lex Luthor. When Lois Lane pops up in that AU, he has to lose her a second time when she goes back to her own Superman.
We then get the Clark/Tess wrap up scene. I did kind of sleep through this scene. I think this was the point I hit Tess over-load. I guess he apologized? And I guess Tess realized she could have been even more frakked up than she is? Anyway… it was nice to see Clark acknowledge that he’d been wrong and shouldn’t have been that mean to her (since he was wrong and he had been mean to her). I have nothing more to say about this.
The final shot of Lionel in the real world? NICE. I know a lot of people think that this episode was utterly pointless and that it didn’t serve to progress S10’s plot in any way. And that if the whole point was to bring AULionel into the Real World, that this whole episode wasn’t needed to set up such a simple premise.
But… um… I disagree. I think that this episode was VERY much needed to set up that premise. The fact is that if a Lionel from an alternate universe simply popped up in the back half of S10 and then we had about 10 minutes of exposition while Tess (or Chloe, if she’s in that episode) TELLS the audience how evil AULionel is and what it’s like in THAT world? Think about that for a second. The fandom would have been in an uproar. We would have been all like, “What the hell? This sucks. Where’d this guy come from and what is SV’s problem? They don’t actually think that this huge twist is important enough to have some sort of backstory? Some sort of explanation? We’re just supposed to accept this random Lionel popping up out of nowhere?”
They’re damned if they do and they’re damned if they don’t. In this case, I would damn them if they DIDN’T and I’m happy they did. (Damn… that sentence… brain hurts.) Anyway. My point is: I think this episode was very important in establishing the how much of a mother***er AULionel is. This is not a Lionel who will try to redeem himself. He will do everything in his power to take over this world and - if rumors are true - Glover is in at least a few episodes in the back half, then I needed to know this stuff about him. I needed a context to put this character in and it was imperative I know the differences between him and the Lionel Luthor I saw between S1-S7. And, even more importantly, it as important for CLARK KENT to see the differences.
Final note: I thought Souders did a great job directing. This was not an easy episode to direct, since it featured two parallel universes, but she did well with the transitions. I was never confused by it. It’s like she sat down and watched a marathon of “Fringe” or something. The way she used the sound effects to showcase the transition, as well as the differences in color. I also liked that she used different types of camera angles… like when we saw a shot of the buildings from below and it slowly switched into the Metropolis skyline. She used every single set they possess (except the inside of the DP and the coffee shop) and she did well with juggling it all.
Each actor, also, sold me on the differences between their AU version and themselves. I think the least different was Lois. But that’s mainly because she was playing Lois pretty much the same (that was the whole point). The two that were the most different, of course, were Welling and Feeman & I think they sold it.
So… yeah… I loved this episode. I know I’m in the minority (especially amongst Clois fans), but I don’t mind. I think I’m getting used to it, because I tend to dislike episodes that others think are awesome. I think the major reason I enjoyed this episode was because it when down EXACTLY like I pictured (except my version had less Tess). A lot of people were speculating that AUClark was going to be redeemable and good, but I never thought that. I expected him to be a monster. In fact, we’d gotten a comment from Glover that Red K was involved in keeping AUClark in line, and I was glad that they cut that out (or Glover misunderstood?) because that would have added a layer of complexity to the situation with AUClark that they just didn’t have time to explore.
I’m one of those people that thinks that nature can only take on so far and nurture plays a huge factor in who you turn out to be. And I also don’t have a problem with the idea that – out of a gazillion parallel earths – there can be at least one that has a very evil Superman. Why not? In fact, it would be amazing to me if there wasn’t. I do not need every version of Clark Kent to be innately good to believe that MY Superman (the one on Earth I, I guess) is innately good in part because of his nature, but also in large part to the Kents raising him. That is a HUGE theme in Superman (the idea that Kents were perfect for him) and I have no problem with seeing that play out.
I do wish that our Clark had been a little bit more conflicted about leaving an Earth behind him that was at the mercy of Ultraman. Had some sort of conversation with Lois at the hospital where he told her that he was worried that AUOllie was going to kill AUClark, but – at the same time – he couldn’t see what other choice AUOllie would have. And that he wished he could have saved them. It would have been nice to see that convo instead of the one about how awesome Lois is in every universe. (Because we already know that.) Then Lois could have responded with some sort of comment about how humans are more resilient than he thinks and that he at least gave them a fighting chance. And, also, some hope.
But… anyway…. Next week is “Icarus”!! And then we have no Smallville until 2011. How am I going to survive???
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Thank you to tvpix.com for the screencaps!
You're probably the one person who actually GETS Clois!
Re: You're probably the one person who actually GETS Clois!
This is why I think he was redeemable. I don't think he was as much a monster as he wanted people to think he was. I really believe he wanted them to believe this because it's easier. It's easier to be hated and to be the villain in people's eyes. That way they have no expectations of you at all. I really feel like I can look at alternate Clark and see Damon Salvatore from Vampire Diaries.
He too is a character that chooses to be the villain and pretends he has no soul because its easier to be that way. But Elena sees past that and knows its crap.
Just like Lois can see through to Clark to the inner most parts of his soul. RWClark tells her that she can if she just looked. And she realizes that its true. People seem to forget that she'd just met that Clark that day, but she's been dealing with Clark Luthor every single day before that. And for who knows how long.
Besides, RWClark tells RWLois that he too believes that her alternate self was ready to give him a chance. Why can't we?
It saddens me that the Smallville fandom is so negative. And even people I've met through Smallville and have talked to throughout the years and have forged friendships with have disappointed me with their negativity.
Because at the end of the day, it's not even about the episode itself. It's about them and their way of thinking. Its an age old debate of nature vs nurture. And some people are just so unforgiving. Everyone deserves a second chance. Including Clark Luthor.
And Sana you should definitely write a post Luthor fic in Earth 2. I'm working on one right now. But you know I'm a huge fan of your work so I'd definitely read yours too.
:)
Re: You're probably the one person who actually GETS Clois!
Re: You're probably the one person who actually GETS Clois!
Re: You're probably the one person who actually GETS Clois!
That's an interesting point you raise about AUClark not being a total killer. But I figured that the reason that he never killed Lionel was because he was too afraid of Lionel. (As victims of abuse typically are of their abusers.) I think he did kill other people.
But... yeah... I do wonder if he's redeemable at all. I may have to write a fanfic about this to give myself some closure!
And thank you for the subject line... that is so sweet!
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But, let’s say, for a moment, that Clark WAS sanctioning murder. Is that… in this case… the wrong solution? AUClark is a monster who kills people without thought. He’s an almost unstoppable monster.
He's not unstoppable, though. OverThere!Lionel demonstrated the ways in which he could be contained. OverThere!Oliver clearly knows how he can be restrained. The moral utilitarian position, which Oliver (and Chloe and Lex) favors, holds (in part) that there are three things that must exist for premeditated murder to be a righteous form of justice: (1) the perpetrator must be dangerous, (2) the perpetrator must be recidivist in that dangerousness, and (3) the perpetrator must be unable to be contained by any appropriate means. The reason OverHere!Oliver's decision to kill Lex was a bad one, even by morally utilitarian standards, is because Lex could be contained by appropriate means. Both he and Lionel spent time in prison, so it was possible to put them there.
Over There, Clark Luthor is (1) and (2), but the episode itself demonstrates that (3) is actually not true of him if you know his weaknesses/the ways different types of kryptonite affect him. He can't be contained by ordinary means, but he can be contained. So, IMO, it's not okay for OverThere!Oliver to kill him outright, or for our Clark to sanction or facilitate that. So, yeah, I think I would have liked it better if the screenplay had had our Clark explicitly express that idea to AU!Oliver. Yeah, the choice still ends up being on AU!Oliver whether he incapacitates Clark Luthor or kills him when he shows back up, but at least Clark Kent would have actually presented to him the idea that he did have options.
ETA: There's one other thing I disagree about and that's Lionel. IMO, OverHere!Lionel didn't try to redeem himself. He switched sides, which is different. And I think that had Lex not killed him, he would have put a lot of effort into trying to isolate Clark so that he could exert more and more influence over him. He was already doing it, or trying to, post-S4 and his time as Jor-El's vessel. His fight with Jonathan in Reckoning was premised, in part, on Jonathan chafing at the idea of Lionel having any kind of influence on Clark. Once Jonathan died during that fight, Lionel proceeded to systematically split Clark from his other sources of emotional support. He championed Martha taking a job that got her out of Smallville. He blackmailed Lana into marrying Lex -- thus cleaving her from Clark -- at almost exactly the same moment Lana decided to reaffirm her love for Clark. He put Clark in a kryptonite cage so Patricia Swann couldn't have any access to him. And he did all of that after serving as Jor-El's vessel, which was allegedly the thing that marked the start of his 'redemption'.
The only real difference between the two Lionels is that OverThere!Lionel didn't have to deal with the senior Kents running interference for 18+ years before he ever had a real opportunity to pull Clark into his sphere of influence. But OverHere!Lionel showed the same desire to control and contain Clark as his AU counterpart and if Lex hadn't killed him, he would have continued that insidious encroachment into Clark's life.
OverThere!Lionel is more monstrous than original recipe Lionel, but original recipe Lionel was monstrous in his own right and would have, IMO, wreaked his own brand of havoc on Clark if his capacity for manipulation hadn't been stunted but Lex's decision to commit patricide.
I agree
Earth 1 Lionel was not perfect. He was flawed. And all the points you made about him are right. But I when I look back on past seasons, especially post-Transference, I see Lionel more as a followerer. He was always looking for Clark's approval. But at the same time he was selfish. He wanted Clark for himself. That stems back all the way to before the pilot when Veritas was first created. Lionel Luthor wanted The Traveler. Its no secret. Its why he killed The Queens and The Swann's. It's also why he was in Smallville on the day of the meteor shower as we saw in that season 8 episode, "Eternal".
And I find it interesting that in Earth 2, Clark Luthor is the one Oliver accuses of murdering The Swann's.
Which is why I also can't believe that Clark Luthor was in fact a murderer. But I can see Lionel pinning the murders on his own son. Earth 1 Lionel had no problem framing Lex for plenty of crimes he committed. Why not make the world believe that Ultraman killed The Swann's and possibly The Queens.
And Clark Luthor, who was always trying to survive as a Luthor, went along with it. He thrived on the fear. Because his father didn't fear him but the rest of the world did. It was "kill or be killed" in the Luthor household.
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Also, excellent points about OverHere!Lionel. I didn't think of all that, mainly because I was too busy being annoyed by S6 and S7. I like your take on things and it helps me get over a lot of the issues I had with how they presented Lionel Luthor. I particularly like you line about how he "switched sides". Definitely a lot of food for thought.
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Interestingly, the "lesson" Clark learned via going to the alternate universe just validated for me that my assessment of OverHere!Lionel as someone who just switched sides rather than someone who was making an active play for redemption was a reasonable assessment. Because OverHere!Lionel didn't ever take any responsibility for the way Lex turned out, even after his supposedly life-changing experience of being Jor-El's vessel. Someone truly seeking redemption? Would have owned his track record as a horrible father and would have tried to make amends for that track record. Not completely wash his hands of the child he'd damaged because he'd traded up for a better model. I will never forget (or forgive) the way Lionel, at the end of Fracture (I think) said something to Lex about how he "lost" Lex, and did it within a context of suggesting that he'd "lost" Lex to the darkness in Lex's heart. Because if Lionel was truly striving for redemption, that would have been the moment to admit that he "lost" Lex not because Lex was inherently evil (which was the implication underlying his statements in the scene), but because he'd failed Lex as a father. He would have owned his role in forming the worldview that contributed to how dangerous Lex became. But he didn't. Once he decided he was on Team Clark, he also decided that he didn't have to take any responsibility for or acknowledge that he had any role in why Lex made the kinds of choices that he made. That's not the behavior of someone who's truly seeking, or trying to walk a path of redemption.
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I was texting Sarin about it and saying that I loved the concept of this world being a dark mirror for Clark and Lois being the one beacon of hope for him because she was consistent. It also got me to pose a question about the possibility of my own dark mirror existing elsewhere. I mean, here now, with the life I've had and my upbringing, I'd like to think I'm a better person. But what if I didn't have the kind of mother I have in this world? What if, elsewhere, I was born into different life where I didn't know love? Clark's struggling with darkness and his judgmental tone at the beginning was an implication for me that he hadn't totally overcome it. I think that as Superman, he would still try to understand Lex and be eternally confused why Lex doesn't want to be saved.
I had expected Clark Luthor to be a monster. When you have a psychotic father like AU Lionel raising you, any hope of goodness will eventually shrivel up. Being that Clark Luthor was also physically abused by his father, I'm sure that his hatred for Lionel also helped drive away whatever shred of humanity he had as a child and turned him into something loathsome. I liked Glover's theatrical method in playing AU Lionel because it made the entire world that they lived in more sinister than it already was. And I have to say that the monochromatic tones used for the AU world was a freaking amazing touch. I loved it. I got so creeped out by that parallel universe that I didn't think I'd be able to sleep.
My guess with AU Lionel being in RW Clark's world is that he finds LexClone who grows up to become more deranged than the original Lex Luthor. And then AU Lionel is killed in a more devious way by his son and Clark (who becomes Superman) is now LexClone's sworn enemy. Tess is captured by LexClone and tortured for information on the Man of Steel and WT, Tess refuses to budge and is killed as well. As much as some would say Tess was evil in S8, I never really found her to be completely evil. I think she was someone looking for a purpose (and maybe it was also because the writers really had no idea what to do with her). I rather liked her character development in this season. At least her character's moving along at a less convoluted pace.
I loved that Clark acknowledges that Lois is universally consistent in her bravery and loyalty. It was like an indirect callback to Darkseid being unable to possess Lois because she had strong moral convictions. It was beautiful. And their banter at the hospital was adorably funny. Seeing Clark so relaxed around a woman that he can toss jokes back and forth with her is like a huge sigh of relief.
All that aside, I really am confused with how divided fans are. And to be totally honest, I'm a little disappointed in how they've reacted too. Television is such a cutthroat industry that requires one to have the patience of a saint and to be quick on their feet and in their thinking. I am sure that for whatever issues people have with each scene, it was a lot worse in the editing room and in the writers' room and I do speak from experience. I remember how 4 out of 5 promo ideas I came up with for a show would be axed and it would take me three whole days to cobble together a good promo that would only run for 30 seconds. And whatever idea that got approved by the bosses didn't get well-received by viewers or by sponsors. Sometimes I'd have to redo everything from scratch the day before the promo was to be aired because the sponsors changed their minds. I can only imagine how rough it can be on actual episode writers. If my stress levels were already high doing 30-second commercials, I think I'd go on a shooting rampage if I had to write a whole episode.
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I know that if I came across the more hateful rants that fans have thrown, I would be less generous with my patience. I'd be all "I'VE GIVEN UP TEN YEARS OF MY LIFE FOR THIS SHOW, YOU FUCKING INGRATES! FUCK YOU ALL AND THE SHEEP YOU RODE IN ON! I'M WRITING THIS SHIT EVEN IF IT KILLS ME AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, FUCK OFF!" (yeah, all in caps and no censors. :P)
Yes, that's exactly how I would respond, were I subjected to the same kind of bashing BQM got for writing this episode. Because I would write Luthor almost exactly the same way he wrote it. And no matter what they say, I would have to have faith in my director and actors to make it happen. Because my job, first and foremost, is to write. Maybe it's a good thing I'm not in TV production anymore, I certainly hated the industry even if it taught me to think out of the box. As much as we wanted to be creative, there were just as many people stifling it.
Can I marry your post?
Re: Can I marry your post?
I suppose that after being immersed in TV production, my stance as a viewer has changed. I would probably still be bitching about anything and everything I can think of in the SV fandom were it not for being given the opportunity to experience things from the other side of the spectrum. And I get it now, how difficult it can be to work in such an unforgiving industry. For a show like SV to have survived that long, it isn't something I would credit the fans for. A lot of the credit would have to go to the writers and producers and the actors who just don't give up. It could have been cancelled at any given time by the CW bosses because they still have most of the power, but given that the show has allowed for so much growth for its cast and crew, I'm glad that SV hung on.
I think it was that copywriter/producer/voiceover talent job I had that made me realize how shallow I have been as a viewer and I began looking at TV shows like SV from a broader perspective. But I won't lie about sometimes falling back into my old ways. It does happen. However, the more I think about it, the more I realize that I have a lot to be thankful for in these writers. SV has had a good run, we should all just sit back and let it finish its course without any bloodshed. After all, it's only TV. ;)
Re: Can I marry your post?
Re: Can I marry your post?
I'd rather just soak in an episode than have all this drama because it can be exhausting. Like this whole shipper debate that plays on and on like a bad record. I never thought that ships were the most central part of this show to begin with, but it has become increasingly difficult to stay level-headed. I mean, I DO love Clois. Always have as a child. But I still would prefer daring ways of telling their story over the usual sappy, romantic scenes. I think that writers should challenge themselves like this and not regret it. 4 out of 5 stories I read and write have Clois in some sappy moment and I want 1 to NOT be constantly happy or mushy. I hate the feeling of sinking into mediocrity, even in writing, so I won't stand for the same blah shit. If I want to write angst that everybody hates, I'll do it.
This episode was pretty daring for me. Very few people can stomach the idea of an evil Clark because for them, he's always been innately good. It's almost as if the Kents didn't need to exist because his innate goodness trumps their nurturing, when I talk to people who aren't open to the idea of an AU Clark. They're all "Nooo! Even AU Clark should have redeemable qualities because he's Superman!"
Well, this is SV. He's NOT Superman YET. Even John Schneider tweeted that the day Clark puts on the suit, it's no longer "Smallville" but "Superman". And the idea of SV in the first place was Clark Kent's JOURNEY to BECOMING Superman. So again, he is NOT Superman yet. The writers have had their ups and downs in dragging this show out and the fans have been extremely unfair in their treatment, but again, this is not 100% our show. It still belongs to the CW and its producers and crew, no matter how much we like to tell ourselves that we own it. I hate to sound like I'm advocating the evils of television, but I got my very own reality check, so I think I can speak as the voice of experience and also be a bit less rabid as a fan of the show.
I did have some minor issues here and there with other episodes, like Supergirl where Kara wasn't utilized very well. But sometimes, I'd rather have an AU ep like Luthor over a hyped up episode that falls flat because of poor character consistency (Patriot, that's you. And Harvest). But S10 hasn't had me as annoyed about the episodes as maybe S8 and S9. Yes, I admit I didn't like S9 as much, especially with the sudden slapping of Chlollie that made me scratch my head and Chloe in general playing God. S10 is probably the only season that's made me breathe a sigh of relief because in spite of all the mentions of Blondie, at least she's not on screen to disrupt my viewing pleasure and make me recall the smell of unwashed socks.
Again, my views differ and are probably more unpopular. I'm well aware of how the vast majority gushes about the epicness of S9, but I wasn't so enthralled by it. I loved the Clois moments we got in S9 but they were often ruined by unnecessary pandering. But then again, that's just me. :P And I don't mind being unpopular. :P
Re: Can I marry your post?
ROFL!!! OMG... I love you!!
Re: Can I marry your post?
Re: Can I marry your post?
Re: Can I marry your post?
Re: Can I marry your post?
Patriot bugged me. But it was most because the script didn't flow like it should have. But once again, Tom Welling to the rescue because he saved that lackluster script with his directing. And the cast brung it with their acting [minus the girl who played Mera because she was just terrible. I mean who was she?? A bikini model they figured would look good half naked all the time???]. Harvest I actually really loved. It was one of my favorites of the season just because its the first time we see Clois after the secret's out. And I really, really love their new dynamic. That scene in car is just SO CLOIS. It took me back to old school when Lois finds out about Clark's secret and they're in the past and driving in the car around Smallville. Its a season 2 episode. Their banter was spot on. Lois would ask something and all Clark would say was "Kryptonian". I love that.
And up until season 10, season 9 was my favorite season. Minus the Chloe the over all arc was damn great. And the Clois was amazing. It felt like we were finally getting out payoff.
But now season 10 is here and it blows season 9 out of the galaxy. Part of that is because all the characters have a new dynamic which I love. I gotta say... I root for the Home Team [Patriot did have one great scene after all. Too bad it was saved for the very end.]
So yeah... I loved Luthor. I've watched it five times. And I'll be watching it all week until Icarus airs. And what? :-P
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You know I'm usually one of those people who think it's ok with not much touching and kissing at moment. But for once, I agree on that count. Clark should've had his arm around Lois as they were walking down towards the elevator. He should've kissed her when he came back to his universe, with his Lois. I mean I loved the peck on the lips. The look on Clark's face then...so cute. They did get some macking in that elevator I know it...it's a Clois thing but I wish we could've seen it. Kind of makes me sad most of that is Offscreenville.
lol speaking of which, totally random here Sana...but are you thinking of writing the Clois kareoke fic from "Abandoned?" You would own that fic, I know it. Just a suggestion...please? *pouts*
Gah cannot wait for next week. Seriously is this SV? The proposal...the pretty. Clark is such a sap, and I adore him for it.
I was okay with the non-kiss at WT
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Everything about AULois' life seemed... sad. From her demeanor to the way she interacted to Oliver (someone who she was in love with), she just didn't seem like a happy person in general. And this is where the episode lost me a little. Was this to show that the whole world more broken and a darker place? Or was it just the Luthors. Because Lois resembled someone living who doesn't live the happiest life and is settling for a guy she doesn't seem to truly be in love with. So her future isn't looking all that bright either. I know that's a lot to take away from only a few scenes with her but this is really the vibe I got from her character. I don't what to think of that. Or the implication if she never fell in love with Clark this is the kind of life she'd end up living. It kinda sucks really.
I love how when Clark makes these big declarations now I believe him. I feel the writers have succeeded in getting them to place where Clark's words to her make complete sense to me. I always go back to the moment in Disciple where Lois asks him, "Lois and Clark. Who would have thought? (Or something like that I writing it from memory)" and his reply was, "I did". And it took me right out of the episode for a moment. I'm mean yeah, it was a cute line but it made no sense. Was he reffering to just recently or was he re-writing history and all I can think is how I love hearing him tell her how he feels and not having to take a few seconds to try make sense of it. His words have so much more meaning to them and the way Tom delivers these lines makes them even more wonderful. And I'm personally loving how open he is about his feelings for her. Gone are the days with the "Lois is so... Lois" type of lines. He knows how he feels about her, how important she is to him, and he has no problem admitting it to himself and anyone else. It's refreshing.
I'm love that scene between AULois and Clark where he tries to convince her that he is not that worlds Clark. Such a fantastic scene and definitely one of my favorite Clois moments now. Along with the dialogue I also think the directing was perfect in that scene as well.
Yes to what you said about Tom's acting in in this episode. I think he's especially great with these episodes. That scene where he was he sitting down on in Tess' office during their first scene together was... wow. It the way he carried himself, the way he talked, or even just a look, everything about him in the entire episode when he was Clark Luthor didn't remind me of Clark Kent at all.
LOL. I had the same reaction with Oliver. His emo and attitude along the lecturing tone his scene with Clark took reminded me so much of real world Oliver. I liked the scene though. By this point I honestly thought they were trying to highlight the fact everything in that world is messed up not just the Luthors. I thought it was interesting that the made a point of talking about him being hated and then the revealing the reason, which wasn't exactly heroic. He was almost somewhere between being a hero and villain. Good intentions but willing to ruin peoples lifes to achive his goal.
I'm not that big of a Lionel fan either. I honestly don't think Lionel coming back was really needed and while I ended up liking him in this episode I'm not sure how I feel about him staying on for few episodes. I'm willing to wait and see on that one.
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I loved that this the second episode we a got some Tess/Lois interaction. And I'm loving that even after that warm welcome she got from in Watchtower in Patriot that they haven't lost the snark between. I didn't want that because I love the dynamic these used to have.
"To see Oliver’s reaction to Clark Luthor. And, frankly, AUClark’s reaction to Oliver with the Green Arrow equipment. And also just to see how AUClark would react to a very strong Tess (since his own was so weak and needy) and a Lois Lane who was in love with Clark. Add in that all of these people were working together to take him down?"
I agree. This is similiar to what the episode should have been like, imo. Because these are things I wanted to see. Both Clark dealing with different worlds they found them selves in. I also think it would have been interesting to watch AULois whose only known Clark as a murder witnessing him deal with the idea that he is anything like AUClark. Maybe it would have required having a not completely evil version of Clark but I would have enjoy that more. In the end I felt like this episode was more just the writers having fun playing around with different versions of the main characters and thought it would be a good way to bring Lionel back too.
Is it wrong that I didn't even care that Clark and Lois were in a public place, I just wanted them to kiss for then two seconds? This is how frustrated I am with this. It didn't even hit me that it might make sense in this specific scene considering where they they were at the time. I just wanted something more so badly.
Overall it was a fun episode and had a lot of great scenes. I really enjoyed it and it's definitely in my top five of the season. And yeah, it has quite a fews issues but it's definitely one of the stronger episode of season ten so far, imo. It interesting, exciting, and didn't bore me. That's always good.
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I actually didn't enjoy the episode.
I know, I know, I'm in the minority in these comments--but the funny thing is? I couldn't figure out why until I read through your thoughts and agreed with all of it. I think my problem was that honestly, I was only really entertained at all by Tom Welling pulling off Clark Luthor--who I can believe is a murderer, although my views are colored by my brushes with Ultraman in exploring the comics and some of the animated stuff--or when I had a moment of going "ohcrap this is bad." But between those points? I was actually relatively bored. Except for the rare snappy line (like about CKent's naivete or the Clois dialogue at the end) I just... honestly? found myself feeling kind of 'blah' about the episode. Not least because while CLuthor was fairly smart, CKent was held back being BDA at some level for an unfortunate amount of the episode. I get really irritated with that in general on SV, because I don't like it, but after ten years they're not really gonna change it, sadly.
It's weird, because there are episodes like, say, "Harvest," which I go "Had some good things but dear LORD that was overall a crapfest" and yet I almost immediately want to go and watch it again. The strange thing for me was that I sat there the whole time remarking on the quality of the episode, but have yet to rewatch anything more than John Glover breaking the fourth wall in the last thirty seconds or so. And I don't want to.
It has nothing to do with being a rabid Clois supporter, or any of the random problems with plot, clunky dialogue, the fact that they had SO much exposition to do in such a short time that makes it hard to actually do much... I think more than anything I would have liked to see Luthor in Earth 1 and how Earth 1 people reacted (and I think he was smart enough to play them if he'd wanted to). But... I don't know. I was bored. So while I agree that strictly speaking it was one of the highest quality episodes of the season? I will play the token devil's advocate and go "Meh, whatever, never wanna see it again."
I will say that it was a good way to get Glover back in--he wasn't the best on the show, but he's a lot of fun for me to watch because he's so unapologetic in his Evil Ways when he does them. And I will add that, cute as the flowers were, srsly, we can have some casual hand-holding/two-second-kisses/kissing-of-cheek. You know, normal couples things. *Sighs* Oh, SV.
Anyway, going away now, having played the token voice of someone on the other side of the fence.
--oh, except for one last comment: Was it just me, or did Oliver have more brains, pants, and balls (and shirts, but that's another matter) when he was with Lois than he's had while moping after Chloe?
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I liked Lois' reaction when Tess told her that it would be safe here and shes like, from who. Clark. My Clark. I did kinda love that Lois said that.
As good I think it might have been, I am happy that we didn't see the WT battle. I don't think I really needed to see Clark beat up his friends, seeing the aftermath when Clark returned was fine and naturally Lois knew it was him.
The only problem I am having and you've touched on it is the lazy writing. You'd think final season it would be well thought out and constructed, but its not. Episodes this season bar one or two eps are generally we have an idea for a scene. Lets get there, details, not important. Clark in bed with 2 women, don't care how just do it! So picturing the rest of the season, he needs glasses. Just throw them on, we don't need an explanation. It just is.
Some stuff just didn't make sense. I had to watch the ep a couple of times to figure out why people hated Oliver. then I was like, really? Move to the Alt World, Kryptonite everywhere, don't go buying up peoples houses, evicting them to mine the stuff. Every man and his dog has Kryptonite. So maybe the extension of that is the Lionel has it all?
But hats off to Tom he did wonderful in this ep.
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I knew before it aired that opinions on this one will be very divided. It’s not an episode that everyone can love. Some people hate dark AUs or any type of AUs at all. Some people don’t like evil Clark, some might have found the violence (esp. the scene where Lionel beats Clark) too much and I completely understand if people didn’t like the episode for these reasons.
The script was great for an episode like this and gotta give it to BQM, it was his first episode that was this dark in tone and he did a good job with the dialogues, even though what he was set out to achieve could not have been achieved in one 45 min episode. I so wish it was a two-parter. So yeah, there were problems, but on no level did I find this episode as loathsome as some people are considering it.
What did it add to Clark’s journey? Well, it didn’t, probably other than the fact that he’s once again very thankful for the fact that Kents raised him and Lois loves him. This episode was primarily set out as a plot device to bring Lionel back, delve into Tess’s storyline a little and then have fun around the way by throwing in Tom looking uber delicious in that evil persona. Even if you call it a filler, well, it was an enjoyable filler, and we’ve had BAD fillers in the past so I’ll take this one any day over some of those cringeworthy ones we had in previous seasons.
The one thing I would have loved to see would be more AUClark, (and not just because he made me drool so uncontrollably with his unbelievable hotness, I mean that too, but..) but to delve into his complex psyche. At first when I saw the episode I was angry over the fact that he was so unredeemable, now some of the arguments I’ve read have made me think about it but to be honest, the show’s continuity itself didn’t establish that AUClark got redeemed or that he had a chance.
Another thing that’s my biggest grudge is the lack of story/history between Lois and Clark in the AU because this episode itself strongly established that Clark didn’t want to live in a world without Lois, therefore it would have made a lot of sense if in the parallel world, they showed that they didn’t end up together and that’s also one of the reasons why Clark is so dark. But then again, I guess they were more interested in the Cless mackage opportunity that they got, so they sidelined Clois for that, but it was weird that they didn’t touch upon that.
Which also brings me to my another whining, i.e., lack of AUClark and RWLois but if they didn’t have history in AU it didn’t make sense in RW for Clark Luthor to stop and say anything to her. So the problem lies in their lack of history, not the lack of interaction in real world b/w Clark Luthor and our Lois.
The fact that Clark/Tess had a sort-of incestuous relationship wasn’t itself weird though, because that’s how they were raised and like you said, that Tess was very easily manipulated so Clark found it convenient to use her. Also, someone pointed out on Twitter that Clark sleeping with Tess could also be because Lionel didn’t approve and Clark did it only to piss him off. For the record, I found that second kiss really hot, even if I forget Cassidy is also there and just focus on (obsess and drool over) Tom only. And while I’m at it, the chemistry comparisons are laughable, i.e., people saying that Tom/Erica don’t have that kind of chemistry etc, or Clois doesn’t click like that? Grow up SV Fandom & go watch S9 and Harvest and Ambush and Isis again! And Clois fans who are complaining about Cless, need to be smacked back to their senses. Seriously? Tess Mercer as an opponent for Lois Lane? Seriously people?
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Last year in the first half especially, fans had a big complain that Clark never articulated his feelings about Lois. This year, we have seen him say so many great lines about why he loves her, why she’s the one for him etc, and he has said that to Lois and to other people, like Sam Lane etc. In this episode there is some great stuff that Clark says about Lois, and then he looks at her when he returns from the AU, they behaved very much like a couple, I didn’t find anything lacking at all.
Another thing – I never liked Tess (even though I’ve always loved Freeman) in S8 and S9 but this year I’ve liked her a lot mainly because she’s part of the JL team and they’ve given her a whole history of her own now, but honestly – STOP now. Enough Tess. She’s almost becoming the Oliver of S9-first half. She had 2 full episodes centered around her and I think that’s more than enough for a supporting character like her, especially since this is the final season.
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AUClark was H.O.T and I feel extremely guilty thinking sexy oops I mean Bad Clark was hot. Can Tom Welling please take up a role in an American Psycho type film. The moment he screamed "Get up Tess" my heart jumped with fear but I was like ahhh look at his lips. Okay I'll stop now. Thanks for the review xo
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I guess I see why so many seem to have problems with the ep, but for me it was wonderful. I guess you always have to have a suspension of disbelief in comics/Smallville, but sometimes it's VERY hard to do. I just read a Lois Lane comic from 1971 that had Superman superspeeding through a time-barrier to save Lois from Jack-The-Ripper back in 1888 or something, so some of the less than stellar moments of this ep I can overlook. LOL
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I also admit that after the episode aired....I was very offended (in a very odd way) about the whole Lois/AuOllie not being able to kiss thing. It just felt like such a double standard and it really soured me so much on the episode at first. I know that's such an odd thing to be annoyed about. But I truly was.
However, in retrospect, I really much agree with this entire review.
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Just kidding... I honestly do get why folks didn't enjoy this episode. But, for some reason, it really clicked with me. And it's odd, because I actually don't like the Luthor arc. Not interested in Lionel, Tess, or the LexClone.
I think - as I look back on it now - I just really liked that it was very Welling/Clark centric. I saw the impact it had on Clark's story. And so many other episodes this season have been about the supporting characters.
And I just really loved the speech Clark gives on the rooftop of the DP in the altworld to AltLois.