Rambling thoughts on "Luthor"....
Dec. 4th, 2010 01:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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???
_______________
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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???
_______________
Thank you to tvpix.com for the screencaps!
Re: Can I marry your post?
Date: 2010-12-06 12:36 am (UTC)