Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Smallville - Transference

Oh.
My.
God.

I think my head is too full to think properly. Holy smokes! That was ... amazing.

Let me go on record as saying that both Tom Welling and John Glover are far better actors than I gave them credit for. (OK, than I gave TW credit for; I never really gave much thought to JG as an actor until this episode.) This is how L&C's IGYUMS should have been. Not the plottline, but the acting -- *this* is why we were so bummed with that episode, because of how the guest star flubbed the acting and didn't seem anything like Clark. (Dean did a great job, as he did in VD when he was Jaxon.) Both TW and JG did a supurb job of becoming the other character. I'm blown away.

There was so much in this episode, I think it might take a few posts for me to get it all out, LOL. I can't even think of what to type! This might be a first ... even stream of consciousness isn't working for me. This episode may have rendered me speechless.

Let's see .. in no particular order ...

1) Lionel coming on to Martha in Clark's body ... OMG and ROTFL and CREEP ME OUT!!!! LOL!!!!!! That was just ... just ... OMG! I was laughing so hard, but I still felt like I should be chemically hosed.

2) The scene with Clark and Martha in the prison was so touching ... I wanted to cry with her at the "my sweet boy" line. Sniff, sniff. JG made me believe he was Clark! I'm still in awe.

3) Lionel was trying to do this to Lex!!! My poor Lex!!! And using the "I love you" as a weapon -- the man is evil incarnate!!

4) Love that Lex was the only one to figure it out on his own. (OK, having "Clark" try to kill him and talk to him like Lionel was a big clue, but at least he verbalized his suspicions before that. <g>) Loved all the hugs and smiles between them, and loved Lex's reaction at the end, when the real Clark came back, both the panic with the gun and the question with an answer only they would know. God, I could eat that man for dinner. And breakfast and lunch. (Dessert, too. With lots of lots of whipped cream ... ahem.)

5) Lionel being "healed" by Clark being in his body. OK, the artifact might have been able to do that to his liver, but his soul? I don't trust him as far as I can throw him, but I'm sure that's exactly what they want us to think. He lied about being blind, so he can clearly do anything ... but does he really feel different inside? And more importantly, does he *really* not remember the last few days? I'll believe it when I see it ... and maybe not even then.

6) The ending, with Margot Kidder's character ... WTH??? My god, as if the episode wasn't heart stopping enough, they have to throw that in?? What a cliffhanger!! I'm delighted they have her as a character, especially now that Chris Reeve has died (the passing of the torch seems so appropriate) but is she a good witch or a bad witch? Never saw that one coming in a million years.

OK, that's all I can think of for now, but I'm sure more will come to me. I'm still reeling.

Kathy

Well.

I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this episode. I mean, I can't decide if I liked it or not.

First of all, I watched the entire thing from between my fingers, wincing and cringing as Lionel!Clark pretty much destroyed Real!Clark's entire life and all of his relationships. Talk about watching a train wreck.

But I do have to give all kinds of credit to both John Glover and Tom Welling because they did totally kick a*s in this episode. Tom even managed to make his evilness completely different than his Red K Kal version. He was smarmy and skanky and scary and very much Lionel. I wasn't quite as impressed with JG because I didn't think he had as much "acting" to do. Just kind of walk around wide-eyed and terrified, but he did do a very good job of it.

Kathy, I agree with you about the two Martha scenes. Total creep out moment when Lionel!Clark was copping a feel!

Could barely stand to watch the scenes with Chloe and Lana because I knew there was no way that Clark could ever undo the damage. I wonder how they all will proceed - will the two girls be mad at him forever? And I gotta wonder - if Lex figured out the truth and Clark supported it, why couldn't Clark just tell Chloe and Lana what had happened? I mean, heck, Lana now has a humongous tattoo on her back that she can't explain. She could afford a little latitude if Clark tells the real truth this time.

As for Lionel, two questions I have:
1 - has he really forgotten what had occured the past couple of days, and therefore no longer knows Clark's secret?
2 - is he faking this I've-seen-the-light thing? I can't imagine why he'd fake it with his doctor, which is why I have a tiny crumb of uncertainty. Otherwise I'd figure he was lying out his...unless they truly do want to pass the Evilness reigns along to Lex.

Again, this episode didn't thrill me as much as the past four. Which I think goes to show how much I'm not a Lionel fan - when he's a major player in an episode I never seem to enjoy it as much. Honestly, I'd rather watch Lana and Jason. /me ducks before the lightning bolt can strike her dead for such blasphemy.

Lynn

I actually got to watch this episode in a timely manner so I can at least throw my 2 cents in!

I agree with Kathy, I loved this episode. Even though the premise was a rip on IGYUMS I thought JG and TW did a very believable job acting as the other. Buuuuut I will say I too was like 'Why do they have to have rip poor Chloe apart yet AGAIN??' Leave the girl alone already, she's been emotionally tortured by Clark too many times! I guess b/c she has the whole past with Lionel they had to throw that in?

I also think you're right Lynn, they could have used the opportunity to show Lana giving Clark some slack since a really weird thing just happened to her that she can't explain. Jeez. But then again he was pretty over the top in the barn so I might have been a tad pissed too!

Overall a thumbs up, I really enjoyed the whole thing and TW was great..man is he gorgeous or what?

~Liz

PS. Yay Margot!

Clark and Lionel change bodies. Best part of the episode, to me, was that it demonstrated that Tom Welling can act. He was truly chilling as Lionel in Clark's body in some parts.

My biggest criticism was that both Chloe and Lana should NEVER talk to Clark again. He didn't explain his actions except for the lame "it wasn't me" excuse that he always uses...I would write him off as a friend *and* a potential boyfriend.

Margot Kidder in the limo was a surprise, although I had read she would be in episode #6, I had forgotten about it. Kind of a cliff hanger of sorts.

At least TPTB are bringing the Crusade issues up now. Lana's family was from France? What side? Her mother's or Henry Small's??

What happened to Henry Small and Lana's aunt? They never come and check up on her? A 17 year old living by herself above the Talon?

Lana has outlived her usefullness in this series, I'm afraid.

See, I told you it would take me a few posts to talk about this one.

Chris, Lana said that her mother's family is from that village in France. I think it's safe to say that this witch/martyr woman was a blood relative. (I also found it interesting that Lana's tattoo is the symbol for water and transformation -- a clue for future episode, perhaps?) As for her aunt and biological father, I guess we should just assume that any family members do their checking on her off screen.

Lana also said that she and Jason are both adults, so I guess that's our cue to say, "Oh, Lana's 18 now; it's ok if she wants to boink the teacher."

Liz, we're in total agreement about Chloe. What in the world do these writers have against her?? She is constantly getting kicked in the teeth when she has done nothing wrong. It would be one thing for TPTB to feel the need to "punish her" while she was spying on Clark for Lionel, but for 99% of the series, she has been nothing but a wonderful, neat person, and doesn't deserve what they keep doing to her. I think someone on that writing team has issues ...

And I agree with all of you that Clark should have told Lana and Chloe about the transfer. In his defense, however, he did see them *before* he saw Lex, so he didn't know yet that Lex knew and would support his version of the story. There is no reason why he can't go back and tell them now, though, so if they do start talking to him again by next episode, maybe we can assume that he did so.

Kathy

Didn't weigh in on last episode, but I'm with Kathy here...

OH!
MY!
GOD!

And if all else fails, hopefully TW will take his shirt off in every ep so we'll have decent eye candy! )

I would have loved it, wouldn't I?

Just from reading here I'm assuming it was Luthor-rich. Lots of Lionel, lots of Lex. I just like the sound of that: lots of Lex...

And I see references to TW shirtless, which, if you like that sort of thing, sounds nice.

And Clark-as-Lionel hit on Martha? Love that. Love when the writers remember the little things, such as Papa Luthor's obvious affection for her.

But what did he do to Chloe?? Tell me!

Did I forget to mention the VCR Incident which led to this episode being missed entirely?

<Insert small, despairing sob here, as I work, once again, to remind myself that I'm an adult, it's only a television show, and I am most likely never going to meet MR...though we are so obviously made for each other...>

So, come back here, women, and fill me in, please!!

Did ClarkLionel kiss Chloe? For revenge? Because he was hoping to make her suffer for being a major player in his being jailed? Or because she's so darn cute?

Did he put the moves on Lana? <groan>

What did he do to Lex?

And how did they get switched? How did they switch back? How many times did TW take off his shirt? How did Lex know it wasn't Clark?

Toss me some details? I would be indebted.

Love the idea that Clark being inside Lionel healed his liver, and maybe his black, black soul??

Did I mention I missed it?

CC

Poor CC! Never fear, my fellow MR worshipper, I have it on tape. I'll mail it to you if you want.

But to summarize, if you don't want to wait that long (close your eyes now if you don't want to be spoiled) ...

Lionel tracked down another Kryptonian artifact (like Lex had in the season opener) and figured out (by framing some guy good at deciphering codes and getting him put in Lionel's cell) that it can do the body switching thing. His goal was to switch with Lex (ah, that parental love just shines through) but Clark intercedes and gets touched instead.

While in Clark's body, Lionel gradually figures out all the various powers (strength, speed, heat vision, xray vision, hearing). He's trying to get access to money that he'd had stashed away, but discovers Lex has found it all and transfered it to his own accounts. He's also having a great deal of fun using Clark's body to mess up Clark's life -- for revenge, he comes on to Chloe, then tells her "don't you wish" when she's melting into his arms; he also catches Lana and Jason kissing, then tries to seduce Lana when she comes to beg him to keep it a secret. (Lana slaps him when he aggressively kisses her and tells him never to talk to her like that again when he implies that she and Jason are having sex.) He also provokes Lex by telling him that all he has is really his father's, tells him he should feel guilty for betraying Lionel, etc.

Meanwhile, in prison, Clark gets the story of what happened from the genius cellmate, learns Lionel's body is dying, and realizes that he's about to get the crap kicked out of him by another inmate who likes to beat on Lionel. He also is forced by Lionel to read Lionel's bank account numbers into a tape recorder (to get past the voice recognition system); Lionel tells him he'll kill "your good friend, Lex" unless Clark helps.

Clark finally gets word to Martha to come visit him in prison and convinces her that he's really her son in an emotional scene. (Martha has already noticed that "Clark" is acting odd, but he cinches it by telling a story from when he was 6; no mention of whether she realized her "son" got turned on by hugging her in the loft.

Switch to Lex at the castle ... "Clark" walks in, acting and talking exactly like Lionel. At first Lex is amused -- he never took Clark for a Scotch drinker -- but it soon becomes apparent that it's not really Clark when he demands Lex give him back the $57 million he stole from Lionel. He figures out it's his father when Lionel starts choking him and threatens to kill him unless he gets the money put back. Lex tells him to go ahead and kill him (my boy!) but suddenly Lionel goes down -- Martha is behind him with a meteor rock.

Lionel escapes while Martha is tending Lex, and he goes to the Kent farm for Jonathan. Martha tries to call to warn Jon, but she wastes too much time berating him for not answering earlier and he wastes too much time not believing her immediately, and Lionel soon has Jon around the throat, demanding info on what can hurt him. Before he can finish the job, the genius cellmate leaves a message on the Kent's machine for "Clark", saying that Lionel needs to get back to the prison ASAP since he did more research and "the news isn't good". Turns out the transfer isn't permanent, but it might become so if Lionel murders Clark, thus ensuring there is no body to get switched back into.

Now we move into what can only be described as a prison riot themed music video. Clark is attacked by the evil inmate who has been tormenting him and exchanging several punches, he somehow gets the upper hand and bashes the guy's head against the metal railings of the stairs several times, taking him down. This sparks a prison riot -- the inmates seem to have declared "Lionel" as their new alpha-male and are cheering him on, maybe to have him finish the job and kill the other guy. The guards order a lock-down and the battle is on. We get violent scene after violent scene, all set to loud rock music, as the guards are turned into dog-food and the inmates start beating on each other for even more fun.

In the middle of all this, Lionel shows up to kill Clark. In their previous meeting, Lionel x-rayed Clark's hand to see that he had the Kryptonian artifact with him and told him there was no way he was going to let him touch him with it. This time, Clark holds up his hands to show they are empty and tries to taunt Lionel. ("What are you going to do? Go back to high school? Bail hay for the rest of your life?") Lionel grabs him around the throat and tells him he has "big plans for this Clark Kent". Just then, Clark lifts his arms slightly -- he'd hidden the artifact in his armpit and lets it drop into his hand. He then grabs Lionel's hand with it and they switch back. We end with Lionel looking scared and stunned, waking up in the middle of a prison riot and seeing a "angel" in the mist (tear gas mist; how poetic). Clark tries to find the artifact, but it has disappeared. He races off.

The final segment is the clean-up -- Clark trying to piece together what Lionel did while in his body. M&J fill in some of the blanks -- he quit the football team and Chloe and Lana both came over looking for him with blood lust in their eyes. He tries to apologize to Chloe (though he has no idea what he did) and she tells him to seek professional help, implying he might even be on drugs. Lana is even more furious, and she demands he keep her and Jason a secret. (Clark is stunned to learn that there *is* a her and Jason but promises to keep it to himself.)

Clark then goes to Lex at the castle. Lex pulls a gun on him (in an oh-so-drool-worthy MR scene) and demands he answer the following question -- when Clark saved Lex's life in the pilot, he asked Jon what he could do to repay him. What was the one thing Jon asked for, that Lex and Clark always joke about? (Excuse me for a minutes while I squee over the fact that Lex and Clark have personal inside jokes. Ahem. ) Clark answers, "He told you to drive slower." Lex smiles, lowers the gun, and gives Clark a hug. "Welcome back." Lex questions Clark a bit about how Lionel had such amazing strength while in his body, and Clark plays dumb ("must have been a side effect of the transference"). Lex doesn't really believe him, but he can't resist when Clark asks a favor -- will Lex help get the genius cellmate guy out of prison since he was framed by Lionel? Lex agrees.

We end with two big shocks -- first, we see Lionel in the prison hospital with his astonished doctor; the liver damage has miraculously disappeared. Lionel is nearly in tears -- he says he has no memory of the last few days, but he knows that something profound has happened. He is a different man now, not just physically but emotionally. Second, we see genius guy get out of prison and get into a waiting limo. We assume it will be Lex, but it's Margot Kidder's character, Dr. Swann's assistant. She asks if he has what she's asked for and he hands her a box. Inside is the artifact! We close having no idea what her and Swann's plans for it are. <insert cliffhanger music here>

So there you go ... I think I hit most of the important points. Still think you'll want to watch the tape, though. I think it will have everything you love in an episode.

Kathy (post number 3 ... )

Dear Kathy,

I love you.

I think we've reached that point where I can tell you that, right?

Love you, love you, love you.

The tape isn't necessary. You summed it up so beautifully, I can just see it.

(However, if you were to send me the tape, I would be your new best friend, dance at your childrens' weddings, share MR with you on the odd weekend...)

Oh, poor Chloe. Why don't they just kill her already?? Can't wait to see if our Lionel has really turned towards the light. That could be fun.

And TJ, thank *you* for the link!

CC- feeling the love