The Story is Complete
May. 16th, 2011 01:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sanalaylaI’m not going to get into the nitty-gritty analysis of the final episode. Or do an in-depth recap that explains exactly what happened, shot by shot, and my reactions to it. Needless to say, I feel much the way the majority of the fandom does.
The scene with the door separating Clark & Lois while they talk about their vows and their relationship is – to date – one of my most favorite shipping scenes EVER. And by that, I mean not just SVClois. I mean, all ships in the history of shipdom ever. The way they built up to Clark meeting Lois and walking her down the aisle? Beautiful. And how appropriate for this particular couple, who are – in the true sense of the word – partners in work, marriage, and life. Clark had just told Lois that she is not in his way – she is by his side. And he backed up those words by action – choosing to hold her hand and walk with her towards their future, rather than waiting passively at the front to wait for her to catch up to him.
Michael Rosenbaum’s scenes make me realize how much I missed Lex. How much more I would have been invested in the Luthor storyline this year if he had been a part of it. Was I crazy about the mind-wipe? No. But I enjoyed every single second he was onscreen and was left wanting more.
The 7 year wait has left me puzzled and quite taken aback. But I have reconciled myself to it and – at this point – can jokingly say, “Well, it isn’t Smallville if they haven’t made you at least fanwank A LITTLE for things to make sense.” It’s the last time I’ll ever have to fanwank and fill in the blanks for this couple. And the sadness of realizing that it’s over – that these are the final moments with SVClois - outweighs any frustration I have. After all, I spent years crafting fanfiction to explain all the things that happened offscreen with this ‘ship. One more time for the road, I guess.
Chloe was the only one who said “Superman”. Yes, I am feeling quite cheated by that. That will never change. No amount of fanwank and understanding of TPTB’s choice will make that OK. I waited 10 years for the moment where the entire world saw Clark Kent and uttered the word “Superman” and I will always think it was a terrible creative decision to give that to Chloe Sullivan and to do it in the narrative manner that they chose. The narrative device of Chloe reading her son a comic book that Clark’s entire history in it was poorly done and was a black-mark on the series finale.
The final scene – Clark on the roof; ripping open his shirt. It’s a scene I’ve played over and over again in my mind for 10 years. I think we always knew that this would be the final scene. It’s the obvious choice in how to end the series run. I think, perhaps, I would have liked a final flight (similar to the one we got in “Crusade”) but I understand the show’s limitations and how Welling felt about that.
What I will always remember about that final scene is the music. To have the full-fledged Superman score in the background made that scene for me. This is a series that started out in a town called Smallville where it rained meteor rocks. And that led to a young couple named Jonathan and Martha Kent finding a young toddler, while Lex Luthor – several miles away – became destined for great evil. THAT was a Superman show. And so it’s fitting that my heart was beating much the same way and I had the same grin on my face as I watched those closing credits.
There were scenes I didn’t care for – anything with Chloe in it, really. But that was to be expected. There were other scenes that I felt could be better; arcs that should have closed better. But – for the most part – I was able to say that it really didn’t matter. I have friends who were quite annoyed that the Green Arrow took out Darkseid’s minions in two seconds. Or that Aaron Ashmore was playing Jimmy Olsen. For me? It didn’t matter. They needed to give Oliver a heroic moment to compensate for his recent weakness. By having him kill the 3 minions, they killed 3 birds with one stone (so to speak). Aaron Ashmore playing Jimmy? I’m happy that AA gets to look at the DVDs and not cringe when he sees that he’s in the “Being Jimmy Olsen” featurette. That is no longer a lie for him and that makes me happy for the actor.
I would much rather have seen Perry White, but I appreciate that I at least got to hear his voice. (Did love the whole idea of Jimmy and Lois sensing the level of his ire by the number of “Great Ceasar’s Ghosts” he was on.)
Was it a perfect finale? No. But when has this show ever been perfect? But I’ve loved this show – imperfections and all. So I feel like I should embrace and love the finale inspite of its imperfections, as well. Or, perhaps, I should love the finale BECAUSE of them.
Before the finale aired, I said that no matter what happened, I would appreciate the hard work that went into creating this series ending for us. The love and investment that Welling and Durance felt as they approached those final scenes. That these folks – every single one of them – were thinking of their fans and trying to show their love for the fans in every way that they could.
As a fan, I can say that I saw that. And I acknowledge it and appreciate it. And I mourn what I know will be very hard to accept:
- No more spoilers at this year’s Comic Con. Or any Comic Con for that matter.
- No more hitting ‘refresh’ on the DI page, waiting for episode stills to come out
- No more frenzy of excitement over new Clois spoilers (from the little ones, like them being in the same scene together in S7 to the big ones, like they’re getting engaged in S10)
- No more waiting breathlessly for Durance and Welling interviews. (Welling’s being much more rare than Durance’s.)
-No more heading straight to the spoiler section of K-Site/DI every single morning (as I’ve done for the past 7 years.)
- No more countdowns to the season premiere every September. Some people think of September as the month where their kids go back to school. I always saw it as the month that “Smallville” came back.
More than anything… no more squeeing (and weeping) with the fandom during all the highs and lows.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to share my love of “Smallville” and to read my fics. The comments you all left for me was such a huge confidence booster for me. It’s given me the ability to want to sit down to write my own book. To understand what kind of writing style works for me and what can resonate with an audience. So… thanks for all our years together. Hoping that we all manage to meet again and find a shared love & passion for other shows and ships.
See you around, Smallville fans.
The scene with the door separating Clark & Lois while they talk about their vows and their relationship is – to date – one of my most favorite shipping scenes EVER. And by that, I mean not just SVClois. I mean, all ships in the history of shipdom ever. The way they built up to Clark meeting Lois and walking her down the aisle? Beautiful. And how appropriate for this particular couple, who are – in the true sense of the word – partners in work, marriage, and life. Clark had just told Lois that she is not in his way – she is by his side. And he backed up those words by action – choosing to hold her hand and walk with her towards their future, rather than waiting passively at the front to wait for her to catch up to him.
Michael Rosenbaum’s scenes make me realize how much I missed Lex. How much more I would have been invested in the Luthor storyline this year if he had been a part of it. Was I crazy about the mind-wipe? No. But I enjoyed every single second he was onscreen and was left wanting more.
The 7 year wait has left me puzzled and quite taken aback. But I have reconciled myself to it and – at this point – can jokingly say, “Well, it isn’t Smallville if they haven’t made you at least fanwank A LITTLE for things to make sense.” It’s the last time I’ll ever have to fanwank and fill in the blanks for this couple. And the sadness of realizing that it’s over – that these are the final moments with SVClois - outweighs any frustration I have. After all, I spent years crafting fanfiction to explain all the things that happened offscreen with this ‘ship. One more time for the road, I guess.
Chloe was the only one who said “Superman”. Yes, I am feeling quite cheated by that. That will never change. No amount of fanwank and understanding of TPTB’s choice will make that OK. I waited 10 years for the moment where the entire world saw Clark Kent and uttered the word “Superman” and I will always think it was a terrible creative decision to give that to Chloe Sullivan and to do it in the narrative manner that they chose. The narrative device of Chloe reading her son a comic book that Clark’s entire history in it was poorly done and was a black-mark on the series finale.
The final scene – Clark on the roof; ripping open his shirt. It’s a scene I’ve played over and over again in my mind for 10 years. I think we always knew that this would be the final scene. It’s the obvious choice in how to end the series run. I think, perhaps, I would have liked a final flight (similar to the one we got in “Crusade”) but I understand the show’s limitations and how Welling felt about that.
What I will always remember about that final scene is the music. To have the full-fledged Superman score in the background made that scene for me. This is a series that started out in a town called Smallville where it rained meteor rocks. And that led to a young couple named Jonathan and Martha Kent finding a young toddler, while Lex Luthor – several miles away – became destined for great evil. THAT was a Superman show. And so it’s fitting that my heart was beating much the same way and I had the same grin on my face as I watched those closing credits.
There were scenes I didn’t care for – anything with Chloe in it, really. But that was to be expected. There were other scenes that I felt could be better; arcs that should have closed better. But – for the most part – I was able to say that it really didn’t matter. I have friends who were quite annoyed that the Green Arrow took out Darkseid’s minions in two seconds. Or that Aaron Ashmore was playing Jimmy Olsen. For me? It didn’t matter. They needed to give Oliver a heroic moment to compensate for his recent weakness. By having him kill the 3 minions, they killed 3 birds with one stone (so to speak). Aaron Ashmore playing Jimmy? I’m happy that AA gets to look at the DVDs and not cringe when he sees that he’s in the “Being Jimmy Olsen” featurette. That is no longer a lie for him and that makes me happy for the actor.
I would much rather have seen Perry White, but I appreciate that I at least got to hear his voice. (Did love the whole idea of Jimmy and Lois sensing the level of his ire by the number of “Great Ceasar’s Ghosts” he was on.)
Was it a perfect finale? No. But when has this show ever been perfect? But I’ve loved this show – imperfections and all. So I feel like I should embrace and love the finale inspite of its imperfections, as well. Or, perhaps, I should love the finale BECAUSE of them.
Before the finale aired, I said that no matter what happened, I would appreciate the hard work that went into creating this series ending for us. The love and investment that Welling and Durance felt as they approached those final scenes. That these folks – every single one of them – were thinking of their fans and trying to show their love for the fans in every way that they could.
As a fan, I can say that I saw that. And I acknowledge it and appreciate it. And I mourn what I know will be very hard to accept:
- No more spoilers at this year’s Comic Con. Or any Comic Con for that matter.
- No more hitting ‘refresh’ on the DI page, waiting for episode stills to come out
- No more frenzy of excitement over new Clois spoilers (from the little ones, like them being in the same scene together in S7 to the big ones, like they’re getting engaged in S10)
- No more waiting breathlessly for Durance and Welling interviews. (Welling’s being much more rare than Durance’s.)
-No more heading straight to the spoiler section of K-Site/DI every single morning (as I’ve done for the past 7 years.)
- No more countdowns to the season premiere every September. Some people think of September as the month where their kids go back to school. I always saw it as the month that “Smallville” came back.
More than anything… no more squeeing (and weeping) with the fandom during all the highs and lows.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to share my love of “Smallville” and to read my fics. The comments you all left for me was such a huge confidence booster for me. It’s given me the ability to want to sit down to write my own book. To understand what kind of writing style works for me and what can resonate with an audience. So… thanks for all our years together. Hoping that we all manage to meet again and find a shared love & passion for other shows and ships.
See you around, Smallville fans.
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Date: 2011-05-17 08:53 am (UTC)Exactly. This made no sense at all, especially since that kid was so young which means that in less then say tens years there's going to be comic about Clark himself out there. Unless Clark comes out in the next few years or someone who knows him wrote that, how is this even possible?
This was like a weirder (and more irritating) version of Chloe's random narration in Thirst. When she ended it going on about the DP being the home to future superheroes. It made no sense that she would know that back then and this was ten times more ridiculous. But yeah, I sure the producers just wanted an "awesome" moment so they once again completely ignored everything else and went ahead with it.
He should have been named Superman on the show. There was so much build up to that for a long time now... and then nothing. I did feel cheated by that. Even a shot of a newspaper with Lois' first interview would have done. Just something. Though I guess it makes sense now why they didn't name the finale "Superman".
As for Chloe, her presence there made sense (still didn't like it though), especially with Oliver's situation. I'm still amused by the fact they came up with ten different ways to bring her up before she returned and yet didn't mention her in Dominion when it actually counted. Where was she doing while Tess and Lois waited for them? But Oliver;s storyline and a maybe even the goodbye with Clark should have been it.
Unfortunately I knew they'd find a way to give her more importance then she should have gotten in the episode. The only other character they would do this for is Lana, whose character they were even more obsessed with. It's the exact reason why I didn't want either character back in the finale. I've seen these two characters propped up at the expense of most of the characters on the show for years for me to believe that they could just bring them back for a cameo, without a chance to glorify them once more.
I enjoyed the finale and I think that knowing this was the last episode made me a lot more accepting of a lot of the stuff that happened. But there was a lot to love her as well, especially with Clark, Lois, and Clois. Even with all the nutty things these producers have done, I'm still going to miss this (crazy) show.