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

I haven't seen a Smallville thread going on here for quite a while so I thought I'd start one for once. I kinda miss the Daddy Mac and Mac Daddy debates.

Anyway, with this episode, I thought it was awful and sub par for an otherwise decent season. Did the writers just have a problem figuring out what to do with Clark this episode so they had to have him run off to Seattle for no good reason? Since it was so Lana-centric, he'd be too awkward? He saved a dock worker, yes, but he didn't do a thing to the bad guy. And just what was that thing that saved him there at the end? Was that a villain or hero? He looked awfully villainous to me. He could fly, too. Maybe Clark will FINALLY fly on his own without being possessed.

As for the title plot, why does every science fiction show have to have an invisibility episode? Whether they're trapped in another dimension, stuck as static, or separated by a nanosecond of time-shifting, almost every show has one of those.

Why doesn't anyone ever fall through the floor? Or on a starship, why don't they get left in space the second the ship changes speed or direction since they can't touch anything?

It is interesting that Lana's slowly going over to the Lex side of the force. The old Lana would never tolerate deceit on Lex's scale. Neither would she ever sanction experimentation on live humans, even ones that were changed by meteor rocks.

This "thing" was Smallville's version of the Martian Manhunter. You surely noticed the two Oreo cookies Clark found

ITA with you on everything by the way, Statis was the reason to convince yourself why you should stop watching the show.

Thank you! What the heck was all that about? Not to mention it was a FotW episode, but with Clark out of the picture, it was solved by Jimmy. Jimmy! The show is supposedly about a young, pre-Superman, Clark Kent! And the people around him, yes, but *how those people interact with Clark*. Speaking of which, Lex and Lana don't talk to Clark anymore, so they are practically a separate show unto themselves. So why are they still there and why are there whole eps devoted to them?

When this ep ended, I just sat and stared at the TV for a minute thinking, what the heck was that?! And there wasn't even an Ollie/Lois moment to make this pill go down a little more smoothly. (I don't like this Lois as Lois, but I do like Lois and Ollie together.)

Has anyone else noticed that this season seems to switching back and forth between stories that fit into a larger PZ arc and stories that seem to be one-off FotW eps? I wish they'd just pick one. Consistency, people!

end rant.

Yeah, I think it must be written into the contracts. Along with the 'stuck in a time loop aka Groundhog Day' episode. (Although, I have to say I'll be forever grateful to that tradition for producing SG1's Window of Opportunity. Wouldn't have missed that hilarity for the world. )

Ah, the age old questions. Have to say I hugely enjoyed SG1's take on that one, too. <g>

Okay...that was a huge bit of wasn't it? Sorry about that.

LabRat

I thought it was an okay ep. I loved the 33.1 stuff - I've been waiting for it to come back for a while. I was glad to see Jimmy do something impressive - he is a future Pulitzer winner, you know. Plus it makes the match between Jimmy and Chloe less lopsided.

Also enjoying the return of the MB. I hope Lionel is really, openly bad and not supposedly playing Lex. Because I've never bought his redemption.

Well, this was originally supposed to be episode 9 and Tom Welling is directing episode 10, so I presumed he was just busy preparing for that.

Absolutely NO Lois and barely any Clark at all... I spent the whole hour wondering if I was watching the wrong show... (and yelling "we don't care" at the tv)

I hated it.

The only thing that was worth seeing was the 3 and a half seconds of Martian Manhunter - especially if you could fast forward through the rest of the show and see just that. *lol*

This is one ep that I'm zapping from the HD of our video recorder. I've kept all the others (much to my boyfriend's dismay cause it takes up space *lol*). I won't even watch the rerun on Sunday night. pfff!

Well, I don't mind no Lois because I don't like their Lois as Lois (which is why I Chlois) and don't think she contributes much to the show. I don't mind the occasional Clark-lite ep. I just didn't think this episode was very good. But I didn't think it was horrible, either. But most people seem to have.

I remember that Crystal Skull episode of SG-1 where Daniel disappeared. I don't remember much about it, but I do remember not liking it a whole lot.

I also loved Window of Opportunity. Great for the Sam and Jack shippers. I liked ST:TNG's Cause and Effect.

Here's a list of time loop shows:
Wikipedia: Time Loop shows

I liked the shows, Tru Calling and Seven Days, which were all about time loops.

The funniest time loop show had to be the Xena show where Joxer got killed in just about every conceivable way. The look on Gabrielle's face when Xena chakram'ed Joxer in the belly was priceless.

Sorry, I hijacked my own thread.

What do you mean?
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Scary hero. J’onn J’onzz aka The Martian Manhunter or The Manhunter from Mars. (I also didn’t recognize him at first. I didn’t recognize the oreos. Thanks for pointing that out to me, Lara Moon.) Last living Martian. Powers similar to Clark’s. Usually a big green guy. Shapeshifter. Can appear human. Can pass through objects. 100's of years old. Telepathic. Fire can kill him, but not much else. Likes oreos - a lot. They rather seem to be his calling card.


Martian Manhunter - Wikipedia




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Clark has flown on his own without being possessed. I can remember two times right off:
1. Saving Smallville and Chloe from a nuclear explosion.
2. When he asked Lana to marry him (before Jor-El reset time.)
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I always thought she had it in her and that this was the way the show would eventually go. After all, Lois and Clark have to get together.
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I’d like to know why Clark was out of the picture (in Seattle), too. Maybe that will be resolved in another episode.

What does PZ and FotW mean?
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Does seem like they ought to have seat belts, doesn’t it?
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Uggg… I’d still like to see at least one little Clark and Chloe twist. Get rid of Jimmy for a while so that can happen.
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What’s MB mean?
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Well, I tried to watch it again. I managed to watch the part where I was trying to figure out if Kristin Kreuk is pregnant and the oreo bits. Does anyone else think Kristin Kreuk is really pregnant. Parts of the episode looks like it was filmed at different times. I wonder if parts of it had to be refilmed / rewritten to include a pregnancy. She definitely looks heavier in parts. And at one point she had a suit on that was was either the most shapeless, ugly thing I've seen or they were definitely trying to cover a pregnancy. Check it out. In the bit where Lana is at the Planet talking to Jimmy and Chloe, I think she definitely looks pregnant.
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Some have said they don’t like Erica Durance as Lois. I think she does a good job with what’s been given her. I hate it that they have made her a near do-less high school / college dropout. At least now she is trying to do a little better, but really can you imagine Lois Lane ever writing for a rag like the Inquisitor?

Phantom Zone and Freak of the Week. I am using all sorts of weird acronyms this evening.

I personally would love to make Jimmy go away. I am still a Clark/Chloe hopeful. Well, not really hopeful since I know it won't happen, more like wishful thinker. Chloe *is* Lois, just with a different name. And, no, Lois would never write for the Inquisitor.

I actually have no idea where the nicknames came from but Daddy Mac and Mac Daddy were the nicknames for LynnM and CC Aiken. For the life of me I can't keep straight which one is which, though. But that's what they called each other.

For a while, they debated each other on lots of Smallville episodes right here in the Off Topic forum. I haven't seen them around in a while, which is a shame. I miss their Smallville debates. Oh, and their stories, too.


I've never even heard of the Martian Manhunter. I'm guessing comic book character?

Hey, Mac Daddy here! No promise Daddy Mac will show up...she's off doing fabulous things.

I've been watching Smallville this season but I haven't been around much to remark on them. I thought Static was pretty "meh". As my husband remarked while we were watching it, they seemed to waste two good possible story premises on one episode. That whole "bone eater" thing was terrifically gruesome and could have made a great hour-long episode. Then the Static FotW could have had his own slot.

I have a confession. This season, I find myself enjoying the Green Arrow episodes the most. Maybe it's Ollie (yeah, he's kinda hot and all that green leather doesn't hurt!), but I just love watching him be a superhero. I guess I'm just getting tired of Clark's "poor-me I'm a freak and must hold myself apart" routine. I'm ready for him to embrace his hero-ness and get on with it.

I think the problem could be that they're starting to run out of things to do with Clark. They've run through all of his potential storylines within the parameters of the show. He's already done the destiny/alien thing, the high school sweetheart big secret stuff, even the death of Jonathan Kent. These new phantom "zoners" are simply replacements for the FotWs of the past. If TPTB aren't going to move him to Metropolis and let him start working at the DP and begin something with Lois, we end up with a guy who's kind of boring. Been there, done that.

Too, TPTB have royally screwed up any possibility of some kind of Lois/Clark relationship. Unless they're willing to go at it with Lois knowing from the get-go who Clark is (i.e., Clark = Superman), these two have to spend some significant time apart so Clark can change enough for Lois to remain clueless when he comes back in glasses. Not to mention the fact that they have absolutely no sexual tension humming between them right now. For me, Lois and Clark never had that friends-into-lovers relationship but something more sudden and immediate, at least on Clark's part. Both the LnC and movie incarnations of Superman show Clark falling head over heels for Lois pretty much on sight. Smallville isn't even close.

I can't even go near the whole Lana-is-pregnant/Lex stuff. Just...can't.

I am looking foward to what they do with the Justice League. And I will say that I do like this season better than the one when Lana was some kind of mystical witchy-woman with mythological importance. As long as they sign Green Arrow for as many epis as possible, I'll show up.


Lynn

Maybe they could go with the idea that Lois is so fascinated with Superman that she couldn't possibly think that Clark was Superman even they looked alike. I'd kind of like to see a glassesless Clark, too. That's not much more of a stretch than to think you wouldn't recognize someone with glasses on. (Although some times, Dean Cain did such a good job of portraying two different people that he made me believe.)

You really think so? Well my opinion might be influenced by the disappointing way the writers handled this episode by carelessly shipping Clark off to Seattle where he's not even trying to put up much of a fight only to need a save from another superhero.

Like you I was fed up with the FotW episodes back when they were still airing week after week and now they use the exact same concept again: PZ-fugitive can hurt poor Clarky-baby and it's either a stroke of luck, a sacrifice from some martyr or any other cast member who got to save him and earn the hero-of-the-day-sticker.


It's quite the opposite, actually. In my opinion (and I'm definitely not alone with that) Clark has yet to complete any quest that has been mentioned so far in the show. TPTB have shown us some interesting storylines but what has become of those is discontenting.

Clark may have "done" the destiny/alien thing but very little has changed in fact: he still feels like an outcast and especially in the Arrow-episodes this season I got the impression that his heritage and powers are like a burden that keep him earthbound and void of any aspiration or ambition. Also, there's the open promise that Clark will continue his training towards his destiny with Jor-El some time later this season.

The death of his adopted father was a valid topic for very few episodes following Reckoning and after some time it looked like it was forgotten. Every now and then we get a single line about his father, but the important things like Clark taking his father's death as the reason to grow out of his mopey farmboy attitude were not done at all.

The one thing I grant you is the "high school sweetheart big secret stuff" because Clana definitely ended once and for all and his secret(s) caused Lana to fall in the willing arms of Lex who is able to manipulate her like the mastermind strategist he's been aspiring to be. That is one topic which is still running strong though the focus changed from Clark/Lana to Lex/Lana. Might be a good thing, yet I can't stand it.

Well, for now Clark is deeply commited to the farm, something he sees as Jonathan's legacy he stubbornly wants to continue. Also, Clark has never show a real interest in journalism - we get the weekly comparison between Clark and Chloe and each time I walk away with the realization, that he does not have the mindset to be a journalist nor does he show any interest at all. Lets be realistic here: Chloe's been his journalism buddy since forever and Clark has had lots and lots of stuff happen to him. Have we ever seen him write a story since Chloe interned at the Planet or has he ever been proactive in writing one before that time? No and no! Guilt is his only motivator and his drive stops as soon as he isn't feeling all that guilty anymore - that's how it has always been.

Lois' take on an aspiring reporter is entirely different but just as flawed.

Too true. We saw hints of affection, like Clark holding Lois hand in the season 6 opener but that was just awkward (rather: was MADE awkward). We get episodes that show us intentional sibling-like teasing that it would almost feel like incest were anything ever happen between Lois and Clark on this show.

Of course there seems to be at least something on the horizon for them and spoilers say to watch out for the first episode in 2007. Nevertheless, what we get in Smallville are lots of teasers taken out of context. Lois has a relationship with a (super)hero and his secret identity creates a problem, only this time it's Clark standing at the sidelines watching both Lois and Oliver dance to this dangerous tune.

While seeing at least one hero - namely Oliver Queen aka The Green Arrow - from both his personal and hero side is mostly a pleasure, it's disturbing that TPTB also compares them shamelessly. Clark is not ready yet for any of that and while that makes me sad, I'm also mad with them for dragging the evolution of Clark Kent and Superman out so damn slowly. He's no 15 year old boy anymore but often still behaves like one. Each and every time we get a quote about him being or becoming somebody great etc I feel hyprocritical because it doesn't sound true at all. I can for the life of me not figure out what Oliver Queen sees in Clark that he's able to talk about him being the greatest thing since sliced bread. Maybe it's just the powers and he's jealous of them, who knows?

And on that note I'll go and prepare some supper,
Bettina

True...but you have to take what I said about running out of things to do with Clark along with the second sentence I wrote - given the parameters of the show.

TPTB have made no secret about the "no tights/no flights" credo they plan to follow. This means that Clark can only evolve so far toward his Superman personae before they have to enter that territory. If we look to canon for guidance (HA! HA! Ha!), Clark grows up in Smallville (something we've been watching for 6 years now), goes off to college/explore the world/the Fortress of Solitude for some intensive training, then shows up at the DP where he meets Lois Lane and becomes SM.

Problem is, they've gotten him through high school. Now it's time for him to go off to finish off his "becoming", be that at college or exploring the world or hanging out at the FoS. Except the TPTB can't leave behind the characters they've been using so far - Lana, Lex, Chloe, and even Lois. When they try to shoehorn these people into Clark's mythology (see the disaster that was Lana-Witch) it just doesn't work.

They either need to let Clark move on and meet new people or find a way to retro-fit the people on the show into Clark's future. Otherwise we're stuck with the same FoTW and Lana/Lex/Clark triangle garbage we've seen for the last six years.

Lynn