Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Lois & Clark I want my $40 back. (My review so far of Season 4)

There are episodes of S4 that I love (Soul Mates, BY, AKAS, MJD & LACS, The Lex Files) and episodes I find thoroughly disappointing or just plain boring or that make me cringe because they are just so bad in places (STGTTWNK, Ghosts, IGYUMY, TS, FH...). I usually find at least a few scenes I like about an episode, but most of the time those will not make me rewatch the episode in its entirety (the conference room scene in FH comes to mind). Other episodes in S4 fall in neither category for me, they're just kind of "meh" (SLV, BACALAC, StP...).

To me it was a very uneven season. They seemed to be getting back on track with The Lex Files, but then we got those awful three episodes at the end where the only good thing about them is Teri's hair.

I also felt that the NK episodes were a wasted opportunity: after all the angst they should have opened S4 with a "three months later" or something and shown Clark on NK, fighting Nor in battle, and then have him return. It was just so pointless the way they resolved it. I did enjoy TAGD and BGDF, so LOTF and BE were even more disappointing to me.

STGTTWNK was just such a WTF episode that I can't really rewatch it, which is too bad because it's The Real Wedding, for crying out loud. I should have loved that, but I didn't.

Just wanted to reply to something Classicalla said in regard to that episode:

Not everyone believes in God or guardian angels. That's not to say that a show can't incorporate them (especially a fantasy show), but seeing as how we had never seen Mike before and we never saw him after, I felt it was just so random and silly. Combined with the absurdity of the Wedding Destroyer A-plot, it made for a very disappointing episode. I would have been perfectly happy with a wedding at City Hall. No fantasy island, no guardian angel, no Wedding Destroyer (urgh), just a wedding. I don't think that would have been too much to ask.

Could you elaborate on that? I don't feel that way. Characterization was something I felt was good pretty much throughout the series (HoL, BatP, and the Clone arc excluded).

P.S. That was totally Dean and Teri. The campfire scene in OP, too--not the making out part, but before, when they get the fire going. The way they interact during that scene is just different enough that you realize they're not really acting, they're just being themselves (IMO).

Yay! Thank you, Sara. My mental house is back in order after reading that.

As for Paul, he is my new hero and will be taken care of, diabetes or no. I can totally bake with Splenda.

And here's the thing I don't get about that (should really go back and check, though, because maybe there's a good reason): After Delta electrocutes Lois at Fake Wedding #2, we see the bad guys taken off to jail, yadda yadda. I know Lois was woozy after being shocked, but I'm thinking she was mostly all right at that point. What kept Lois and Clark from walking right back into the church and getting married? Everyone was there, Perry was ready and willing, they presumably had the marriage license (and I think all you really have to do is sign the marriage license to be married). Why did they go home and mope about it instead of just doing it?

The good news is that I didn't have a nightmare about Mike last night. But him smiling in that picture is still just...*shudder*.

Caroline

His smile reminded me of a frog.

While respecting your beliefs, Nancy, they aren't mine. I don't believe in any god and so would personally prefer that TV shows remain ambivalent about such things rather than hitching their star to one particular god or belief. It tends to alienate me as a viewer if they don't so I prefer them to be a little more ambiguous about such notions.

IIRC and unless I've forgotten something obvious - which is always possible - part of my problem with Mike and the whole God thing in this episode was that LNC always had been ambiguous in the past and never overtly partisan like this before. Which is why it was all the more irritating for me to have this religious theme suddenly appear so strongly in this episode. If they'd had a history of including the Christian faith in episodes, it might have been less annoying. Although I probably would have given up on the show long before getting to this episode if they had, it has to be said.

And, yes, the egg thing was an out-take that they kept in. I always thought it was terribly cute. <G> Dean's laugh never fails to make me smile.

LabRat

I can't buy the dvd's yet because I am too poor(*sigh*) , but I do have tapes of season 4 and I have to say that I pretty much like the first half. I love soulmates, DLW, Ghosts, I even dont mind StP, TTNBM is one of my favorites, I just love clark in that episode. LW, SLAV, MJD, AKAS. After that I think it gets kind of dumb, although there are moments that I like the episodes as a whole dont really appeal to me. I pretty much love the whole series and have my favorits of each season, but I have to say that season 4 is not one of my favorites. I do like finally being able to see them married though . Also i have kind of noticed that at the end of the season the actors really have no chemistry, they hardly ever touch except for bedroom scenes and I was wondering if there was some sort of fight going on?

What Marcus said.

There were several decent eps in S4 but mostly....
I was especially disappointed in the wedding ep - the whole Mike thing, the unreality of the wedding, etc. Soulmates - interesting idea - but too many really cheesy bits in it. Not sure I'm all that comfortable with the idea of reincarnation - that may have had something to do with it.

Still, I think those eps that were good are worth your $40. Although if you have the tapes...
c.

Season 4 starts off kinda badly, I'll admit, but I do think it gets a lot better -- I think the writers took forever to figure out how to write L&C as a married couple. TPvLL is flat-out awful, but Dead Lois Walking almost makes up for it. The best bits were from about halfway in the season until the last few eps. I remember watching the Lex Files and lamenting to my FOLC friend, "it's the best show on tv, and no one's watching it!" But that stupid wedding w/guardian angel turned off a lot of people, and by then Disney was actively trying to kill the show. <sigh>

It's just as well, I suppose. From what we heard in spoilers, their season five might have been simply dreadful. Fanfic's much better

PJ

Didn't mean to offend anyone. I personally think it's a shame that TV shows have moved away from including at least a mention of religion.

What I really find amazing that not as many people get as upset at the idea of mentioning reincarnation in the series. (Evidenced by the number of SoulMates Stories.) That's also a religious issue. (Yes, CC, I realize that you mentioned this.)

So if you guys get upset about the guardian angel bit, then why aren't you equally upset by the writers telling us that Lois and Clark were reincarnated?

And if some of you were hugely upset about the guardian angel, there are at least a few folks that were upset about the reincarnation.

Just food for thought....

And I'd like to think that you don't get turned off when a writer mentions God, but I suspect that's not so.

Reading through this thread, I was wondering when someone was going to bring that up.

I remember reading somewhere that even as far back as the end of season 2 (I think), the writers of LnC were fighting with the network to get their plots onto the show. I believe that what I read said that ABC (it WAS ABC, right? it's been a while) didn't want Lois to KNOW, didn't want them to get married (which was the "why" for the ARRG), etc.

By "increasingly implausible characterisation" I meant things like the series of obsessions they kept using to drive the plot - e.g. the whole "can they have kids?" thing which seemed to spring up out of nowhere towards the end of S4 - suddenly Lois went from being a professional to being a continuously distracted bag of nerves about something which Wells had already told them was going to happen.

Ooops! Posted in the wrong thread...

Umm, just in keeping with the thread, on disc 5 and still thoroughly enjoying. Going to be bummed when I finally get through them.

-- MR

You didn't offend me, Nancy. I just don't agree with you.

Well, it may not be the case that the authors of those stories objected to the religious element in the episode. Unless they're all individually asked on that question, you can't assume that there's any correlation between the two. Perhaps those authors enjoyed that element. Anything's possible. <g>

Why assume some of us aren't? I hated the whole soul mates thing. I'd spent all this time watching Clark work his little heart out to win Lois...and then Soul Mates came along and told me that he needn't have bothered trying at all because they were destined to be together no matter what he did. Or didn't do. Sucked all the romance out of it for me. Then I decided just to ignore it. <g>

Despite that, I kind of enjoy Soul Mates, although I couldn't count it as one of my favourite episodes. (It guest stars a rat though, so, you know, I have to give it kudos for that ) But then there are moments in STG that I enjoy hugely, also. I tend to just work around the elements in episodes I don't like.

That would depend. I can't recall ever reading an LNC fanfic where God featured in the plot (but that means zip because I have a to be read list like you wouldn't believe), but it would certainly depend how it was treated for this reader. Just as I tend not to read most Next Gen fic because it's not to my personal reading tastes, I probably wouldn't find much to interest me in a hugely religious fanfic either. I can't say I'd object to it, I wouldn't demand authors stop doing it, but it would just bore me.


LabRat

Respectfully, Labby, I have to disagree with you here. The existence of soulmates doesn't necessarily mean that the mates in question have to fall for each other romantically.

An excellent example of this is Long Strange Trip , in which Lois is Lord Kal-El's favored sex slave. His fascination with her was probably due to being soul mates, but he viewed her as a posession and she was terrified of him. They certainly didn't love each other.

Another, thankfully more pleasant, example is Tank's Future series, specifically A Future Rewound , in which Clark is ten years younger than Lois, blond, and in love with the female counterpart of Jimmy Olsen. Clark and Lois had a deep friendship, but they were never in love.

So, soulmates nonwithstanding, I believe that Clark, even *our* Clark, could have failed to win Lois. As it was he almost lost her in season two because he wouldn't be honest with her.

By the by, I love that this group can have calm, dare I say, even *pleasant* disagreements!

ETA: Just realized this post was completely OT. Sorry!

Well, I finished season 4. I had to skip a few classes in the process, but it was entirely worth it.

I really enjoyed the season for the most part. I really liked Lethal Weapon, Meet John Doe, Lois and Clarks, and the entire Lex Jr. thing. I even like 'Twas the Night Before Mxymas, even though Mxyzptlk (think I did that right) annoys me, I thought it was a cute episode.

I felt cheated by Toy Story. It probably wouldn't have been a big deal if it wasn't the second to last episode. But it was. There was very little Lois and Clark, just that obnoxious toy guy. During the little bit showed of Lois and Clark they just seemed distant and not at all like the very in-love couple they usually are. It was a sour note to go out on.

Otherwise I liked the season. Well, except for the cliff hanger. I suppose that's fodder for fan fiction, though.

When I said this I wasn't referring the writers themselves. I was more referring to the SoulMates issue also being a religious issue. I was doing that as a comparison.


I guess I'm finding out more and more that there are a people that don't like this episode so much. I wasn't assuming that about everyone. I was also using that as a comparison, because I don't think I've ever read any fics where religion is really big thing in the fic. But there are several fics based on the SoulMates issue. I also consider that a religious issue, so that's why I mentioned it. (Again, I'm glad to see that some folks didn't like it.)

And yes, there are parts of the episode that are cute. But like you said, I really didn't like the idea that they were going to be together no matter what happened because it has always been that way in every reincarnation of each of them. That's not to say that I don't think some people aren't meant for each other.

What's OT, mean, Lisa? Hmm... I haven't read Long Strange Trip. I'll have to read that. I really like the fics that do something really different.

Well, I went out to buy Season 4, but I didn't have Season 2 yet. So I went and bought that instead.

I'm wondering. I've seen ads where you can buy all four seasons together. Does anyone know anything about those. I suspect those copies might not be quite legal.

off topic

I LOVE Season 4....not so much as better than any other season, but I love all seasons. I love the first two episodes in season 4....Lord Nor is one of my faves. Man, I love Lois and Clark.

If I recall correctly, HG Wells didn't write Utopia&, Sir Thomas More did.

I wrote a long post here about my feelings on S4 and the the so-called "Moonlighting curse" and all that and realized I'd gone horribly off-topic, so I deleted it Another topic for another day

As far as SoulMates and STGTTWNK... I don't really buy into the soulmates concept in real life, but it works for me in fiction. The episode was pretty ridiculous, but I used the soulmates idea in fanfic later, so I can't say I hated it But generally when I rewatch the ep, I watch the last five minutes or so <g>.

The same is true for STG. I love the wedding scene. I love how happy Lois looks when they finally get married-- I don't think we ever see that particular smile in any other scene. I try to ignore the whole guardian-angel aspect and just enjoy the fact that they're finally together.

Classicalla wrote:

Don't get me started on Soul Mates. Just don't get me started.

As a number of people know, this is far and away my most reviled episode of all four seasons. I loathe it. I won't go into all the reasons, but the reincarnation aspect is one of them. Incidentally, I don't see reincarnation as a religious belief, though I know that at least one major world religion has it as a tenet. I see reincarnation as on a par with things like tarot cards and mind-reading - in other words, flaky mumbo-jumbo I don't believe in

(No offence to anyone who does; they're just red-flag no-go areas of belief for me).

Religion in TV programmes can also be a turn-off for me, especially when it's in-your-face. Not everyone has the same religious beliefs, or even has any at all, so I don't like it coming up in series where it's not especially relevant. In L&C, it made no sense whatsoever, as there'd been no sign that either Lois or Clark was especially religious.

Oh, I do. Depends how big a mention, but I can stop reading a story if I feel that religion of any kind, or beliefs I don't share, are playing too large a role. Susan Stone's Aliens and Strangers, for example, isn't a fic I'd revisit for that reason. If I want a 'Christian' story, I'd go looking for one; if I want a fanfic, I don't expect it to be 'Christian' or 'religious' in some way.

But that's just me *shrug*


Wendy

Well, here it is almost midnight where I live... and just the 4th night since I got my Season 4 DVD's... and I'm finished...

<sniffle, sniffle>

It's like reliving the heartache from 1996 all over again. When I found out that 'Family Hour' was going to be the series finale and the promised 5th season was never going to come to be...

I know that some people were disappointed in some of the episodes of season 4. But I loved them all. Truly. There are episodes that aren't my favorite - from each Season. From Season 1, I usually steer clear of "I'm Looking Through You", "Smart Kids", or "Ides of Metropolis". Not my favs. But if I'm on a marathon to watch the whole season... I still watch them. Season 2 - my bottom 3 are probably "The Source", "Operation Blackout", and "Chi of Steel". Season 3 - bottom 3 are - well, I'm actually not going to admit my bottom 3, because (yes, believe it or not) they aren't the clone arc -- I know, I know... put down those pitchforks.

And now we come to Season 4 - the season I just devoured in less than 4 days. This one is a little harder for me - because I am one of the few people who really loved seeing Lois & Clark as a married couple. I know some people have said that they thought the chemistry wasn't there in some eps or the acting was cardboard... but I just don't feel this way. I had an awesome week this week enjoying them. If you force me to pick my bottom 3, I guess I'd go with "Ghosts", "Toy Story", and "Family Hour". But actually I really really like Family Hour because of the tenderness between Lois & Clark. How hurt Clark sounds when he says "he promised he'd never make her cry" - made me sniffly. The only reason it found it's way into my bottom 3 is because it was the last episode. I hate that. I just hate having to say goodbye.

But of course, this time around it isn't so bad. Why? Because of all you dear writers and FoLCs out there that I just so recently discovered. Because of you, I don't have to say goodbye, this time.

Now, to uplift my spirits, I think I'm going to go hit Pam Jernigan's (Hi ChiefPam! Thank you!!!) wonderful site ( Seasons 5 & 6 - once there click on "Propoganda Central" for the HTML versions -- however there are also text versions there if you like those instead) and dive into a second time around helping of Season's 5 & 6. If you haven't read Season's 5 & 6 - I would highly recommend them. They are available on the archive - but at Pam's site they are available in HTML complete with posters and some of them have pictures in with the stories.

I loved reading them the first time around and I hadn't even seen season 4 in 10 years. This time it will be nice and fresh in my mind as I go back to read these stories. A big thank you to all the authors of Season 5 & 6 - and all you other authors out there who keep this amazing TV show and these wonderful characters alive and well.

See you around the boards!

I'm totally verklempt right now so talk amongst yourselves.

-- MR

(Okay, I feel like such a drama queen now - that was fun!)