Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic A Question About Smallville

I watched the first season of Smallville, but as a Lois and Clark fan, I tuned out when it became obvious that the show was pushing Lana and Clark - since I didn't find her particularly interesting as a character.

But I got to thinking about it today and had a couple of question. Is the show still on the air? And has Clark tired of the cheerleader yet and gone in search of his fiesty reporter?

ML

Quick answers:
1. Yes: The show is still on the air.
2. Lois shows up at the beginning of Season 4. It takes until 2/3 way though season 8 before we FINALLY get done with Lana. It is presently Season 9 and it has the best Lois and Clark relationship I've seen since LnC ended.

So, below is a more extensive discussion that you can consider for background purposes.


Okay, I have to admit it. I've seen EVERY episode of Smallville (mostly thanks to Netflix). I am a fan of all things Superman and I had to find out what it was about.

Disclaimer/Warning: This being Smallville, you have to be ready to ignore canon and resolve yourself not to get too upset when they play fast and lose with almost everything sacred to the Superman mythology.

In my opinion, Season 1 was a mess. Seasons 2 and 3 got better, but not much. The whole thing with Lana was old by S3 but they dragged it on through S7 and brought Lana back in S8 just enough to wreck that season.

Anyway, if it wasn't for Lois showing up in S4 I wouldn't have bothered with this show.

Teri is first in my heart as Lois, but Erica Durance has created a great interpretation given the Smallville environment.

For myself, I watch Smallville for that relationship and in spite of all the ARGH things they do with that show, I manage to enjoy it, especially those Lois and Clark relationship episodes. There are a lot of those in S9.

It you want to get a feel for Smallville at it's best, watch the first few episodes of S4 and then look for the Lois-centric shows. The first 1/2 of S8 and all of S9 so far are, in my opinion, the best of the bunch. (Along with the first 3 or 4 episodes of S4. I love the first encounters between this Lois and this Clark.)

Bob

Smallville made much more of the Lana character than was comic canon (or movie canon for that matter). It developed the relationship bewteen Lana and Clark into both a sexual one and Lana as the forever love of Clark's life.

Although Lana's character has disappeared from the Smallville screen (the actress's didn't wnat to renew her contract), there has been no contradiction of that story line. As far as the viewer knows, Lana still is the love of Clark's life, and Lois is, well, whatever, handy I guess, with Lana's absence. So although there is now a change in the physical relationship between Lois and Clark, it's not a relationship to be taken seriously on his part.

The other thing , too, for me anyway, is the character changes that Bobbart mentioned. The series has changed Clark Kent's personality as well as Lois Lane's, and also really never took the character of Lois Lane especially seriously until this season, and perhaps some of last. At any rate, for me, when the primary personality traits of key characters have been changed it's as difficult to buy into the show as if they had decided to physically alter the characters -say, for example, Clark Kent was short, had red hair and freckles.

btw, I'm betting, that the Smallville writers will bring Lana back in a "guest appearance" cliffhanger, that makes it pretty clear that Smallville Clark Kent is still and will always be love-of-life smitten with Lana.

carol

Two very different takes on the same show . Thanks, guys. Interesting that the decision to get rid of Lana was not on the part of the writters but because the actress didn't want to renew her contract. Guess I'll wait until the series ends before deciding whether or not to watch.

If it ends with Lois, let me know. It might make it worth taking a look at - although what Clark could possibly see in the Lana I saw first season is beyond me (other than the fact that she was beautiful, of course).

I'm known as a Lois Lane obsessed kind of guy. Like Bob, Teri is still the best live action Lois Lane (including the movies and the previous series and serials), but Erica Durance is definately number two in my book. I think she does a great job giving us a very Lois-like character given the restrictions of a messed up show like Smallville.

I never followed Smallville in the beginning because of the 'irritation' of Lana, and Cloe, presented, and there was no Lois (nor should there have been in a show called Smallville). I was also annoyed by mid-twenties actors playing high school students.

Once Lois came on the scene I started catching some episodes and will tune in now if I'm home.

You do have to accept that the 'canon' is totally a jumble of pieces of Superman lore that is just tossed together with no real destination in mind. Clark has already met and battled with a sort-of Doomsday character, and a favorite bit for the writers now is to keep bringing in other super heros for a show or two. It really is a mess.

I will have to disagree with Carol a bit about Clark's feelings for Lois. While there was never an instantanious attraction between the two, I feel that now they have (in their clumsy way) established that Clark does have real feelings for Lois and that Lois is very unsure about her feelings for Clark and/or The Blur (Clark's super hero personna). There have been some fun interactions over recent weeks and glimpses of where things might go if the two principals allow themselves the chance.

Of course, the creators of the show are not above screwing things up on a whim and I wouldn't put it past them to try and dredge up some old feelings by bringing back Lana.

The bottom line for me is that after nine years, the acting still isn't that good outside of Erica and Justin (Oliver Queen... yeah Green Arrow's there too). And the plot lines are still convoluted and disjointed. But Erica is worth a look.

Tank (who is still waiting for Erica's Lois to get a true Lois Lane haircut)

I too couldn't stand the early seasons of Smallville set in High School. In about season six I started getting more interested and now I'm a fan and have bought the DVDs even. Killing of Lex Luthor was one of the best ideas they ever had, next to getting rid of Lana. Right now in season 9, Lois and Clark are at the Daily Planet, Oliver Queen runs Luthorcorp and Tess Mercer is the new Luthor. Oh yeah, there's a Krptonian invasion.
The ninth season is current in repeats in the US on the CW network. It will pick up with new episodes Jan. 22. Clark doesn't have the Suit yet, but he has an all black ensemble as "The Blur" (formerly the Red-Blue Blur).
It's going to end soon and I'm actually going to miss it.

Artemis
P.S. I think it's really over with Lana, that if she suddenly showed up (I hope not), Clark really would stick with Lois. After all, they made whopee in Kandor.

We do watch Smallville, and have for maybe three years. (I watched the first episode of S1 with great anticipation but couldn't watch it for years afterward because it was so awful.) Two weeks ago I was not home so my husband recorded it for me and told me it was a great "Lois and Clark" episode.

I didn't feel the same when I watched it, but they have really been developing the relationship between Lois and Clark over the past few weeks, and also having a lot of fun with it. (Clark tried adding glasses to his look, and Lois asked why he didn't just get contacts.) The episode my husband was referring to was one where Lois had decided that Clark was in fact "the blur" and was telling her therapist about it. I can't remember if it was that episode or the next that had the steamy scene between them that of course turned out to be a daydream on her part.

The show does depart wildly from canon. I was happy when they finally got rid of Lana and started developing the attraction between Lois and Clark, and then they brought Lana back. At least the current explanation for her absence probably means that she is gone for good. (And it's a nice metaphor for my feeling that she was always poison for Clark.) I can't figure out why Clark continues to hide his dual identity from Lois, because all the other main characters (Chloe, Oliver, Tess) already know about it, and at times it has seemed that everyone in Smallville and half of Metropolis did. I've never figured out how a small town in Kansas and a major metropolitan city on the east coast seem to be only an hour's commute apart. And I am surprised that Tank doesn't appreciate it more after what they did to Jimmy (who was much older than in canon). But somehow I manage to keep watching it. And I am looking forward to the next episode, which won't be until January 22 or so.

Well, I'm still not convinced that Smallville is doing anything other than showing that Clark is physically attracted to Lois and that he likes her. There's been nothing that indicates that Lois is anything more or will be anything more than his second choice. If that. I'm a cynic though and so I like to have the evidence that there exists that special and unique love between the two or , at least suggest that it is lurking there, in each of them

Calling Clark Kent 'The Blur' is sort of funny I think - sort of symbolic of the way in which the show has blurred Clark Kent-Superman's character - he is a blur, unfocused, a smudge - nothing in paritcular.

Btw, I agree with Tank about the casting of very obviously adult actors, Welling in particular, to play 15 year olds. It was both visually and cognitively jarriing. (Not to say that Welling isn't verrry decorative , however ) I believe the actress who played Lana was closer to 15 though - maybe 18 when the show started?

But remember that I'm a fan of Lois Lane (and Clark Kent too). So when the show downgraded her character, it lost me. And of course, I'm a fan of that very special love story that is Lois Lane and Clark Kent-Superman, so when that's absent, I'm not interested. I want to see that magical and mythical love story.

One thing, though, I could see the appeal of Smallville's Lex Luthor. And Of Chloe, too. (I guess that's 2 things )

c

Smallville certainly makes for a fun topic.

When it started, I watched one episode right near the beginning. My reaction was something along the lines of "this is awful" and I didn't go back. BTW, when I first saw the cast, I thought S1 was Clark's senior year. If I remember correctly, Lana was head cheerleader or something. I've never heard of a high school anywhere where an incoming freshman girl would be head cheerleader. So, unrealistic story development wasn't limited to super-related things.

A few years ago I learned that Lois had been introduced and that the Lana character was one her way out. That's when I went back and watched the whole series. I outlined that in my earlier post.

I hope Carol is wrong and that Lana is done. I agree that for most of the series, she is written as the true love of Clark's life. When she left, she was written out in a way that would allow her to return. However, I think Lois is positioned to be the only love interest going forward.

Anyway, I am one of those in the "huge Lois Lane fan" camp. I like Erica's Lois. Her interpretation has a fire and grittiness that feels very right for Lois Lane. I love the series of episodes that introduced her at the start of S4 and I was very frustrated that the Lois - Clark relationship has been a tease pretty much all of season's 4 through 8. However, I guess I'm a die-hard optimist and so far I'm generally happy with the current season.

All that said, I can't in any way disagree with the negatives about this show that have been listed. Even the idea of not telling Lois his secret doesn't make any sense. In Smallville, just about everyone close to Clark knows that he is the Blur (proto-Superman, can't fly) which makes lying about it to Lois both ridiculous and more unforgivable than in regular canon.

So, while I can not defend the show, I guess I'd characterize it as "an acquired taste" that I have learned to enjoy for a very specific reason named Lois.

Lois Lane hair note: When Lois was introduced in S4, her hair was light brown, almost a dark blonde. Her hair has gotten progressively darker and is now almost the correct near-black color that is proper for Lois Lane. Maybe if there is a S10 we'll see a haircut for Tank.

Metropolis location note: In Smallville, I think Metropolis basically replaces Kansas City in terms of location. It's certainly within short driving distance of Smallville.

Bob

Lois has found out several times that Clark is The Blur, but then they whack her on the head and she doesn't know it again. The repetition of that is getting rather tiring. I think the attraction that Lois has for Clark is rather clear, and she just keeps trying to cover it up. She's clearly wild for his alter ego The Blur, just like LnC.

Artemis

Cookiesmom wrote:

The whole idea behind Clark's fixation on protecting his secret solely from Lois is taken from the old comics. For Silver Age (and maybe still more for Golden Age) Superman, hiding his double identity from the world was not that important, but hiding it from Lois was critical. There is an old comic book story where Lois and Clark are watching a movie about Superman in a movie theater, and Superman changes back and forth between his two identites on screen as the audience watch. Clark isn't the least bit troubled about the fact that hundreds of people in the movie theater have just learned about his secret, but he has to distract Lois every time something sensitive happens on screen so that she doesn't figure it out.

Why was it only Lois's ignorance that mattered? It was because Lois was the one who was trying to seduce Superman, and therefore the one who would demand that Superman marry her if she knew about his secret. Also she was the one who would torment Clark even more relentlessly if she knew that he was just pretending to be weak. It was actually worse than that: if she did learn his secret for real she would know things about him that would hurt him for real, and he would become weak for real, not just fake-weak as he was when he was being Clark Kent. If Lois was able to claim Superman for herself he would lose his superior masculine unflappability for real. That's why it was so critically important that Clark could pull the wool over Lois's eyes. And as long as he could do that everything was A-okay in Clark Superman Kent's world, even if every other person on this planet knew about his secret!

So that's the answer, Cookiesmom. Clark Kent of Smallville can fall in love with whoever he wants to, he can have sex with Lana (as he apparently did in an earlier episode of Smallville) and he can tell everyone in Smallville about his secret, as long as he doesn't get too close to Lois, and as long as Lois doesn't know the truth about "the Blur". Because she is his Satanic Temptress, the Delilah to his (short-haired) Samson. And that's why the producers of Smallville really have only one Sacred Mission: Save Clark Kent from Lois Lane!!!



The producers of Smallville, the defenders of Clark's Lois-chastity and Lois's Clark-ignorance!

Ann

LOL, Ann. Gosh, even I didn't think the producers of Smallville were that evil - but you've convinced me.

Btw, what I remember from the Silver Age comic books is that any Earthling who found out The Secret was dead by the last frame. At the time, I didn't connect that directly with Superman, but now of course it's really obvious to me that someone ought to have been checking S's alibi at the time of those deaths. The guy had motive, opportunity and certainly the means. (can you tell I'm reading too many trash mystery novels again?) But seriously, those in the know did wind up dead.

c.

I've tried tuning in to Smallville several times, but never been able to make it work for me. And the thing I despise about it most of all is that it has had the audacity and bad manners to make it to nine seasons when my beloved LNC only made it to four, despite LNC imho being the superior take on the tale.

But I've really been enjoying following this thread and hearing all your thoughts on it.

LabRat

Labby, one has to realize how different the landscape of television is these days vs. the early to mid 90's when Lois and Clark was on.

First, being on the CW network means theres very little pressure of Smallville to produce huge numbers to survive. Smallville has been one of the CW's most successful shows yet it pulls numbers that wouldn't allow it to survive on any other broadcast network, even now.

The other ironic thing is, with the dilution of the viewing audience with the preponderance of cable networks, if a show had the viewing numbers today that Lois and Clark used to have they'd be a top ten show every week.

Timing is everything.

Tank (who finds that he needs Erica's Lois to help ease the depression caused by Teri's choice of playing a character who is the antithesis of Lois Lane)

Tank has it right:
Smallville and Supernatural basically saved the CW from totally dropping off the grid. So the CW would do anything to prolong the series because it is their money fountain.

Artemis

I actually found LnC by way of Smallville, so I owe Smallville a lot. I started watching Smallville because I needed a 'new' show to watch and watched the first 7 seasons on DVD. I then had to seek out other Superman tales and found Lois and Clark TNAOSM. It was very clear, right from the start how much more superior LnC was than Smallville and i dumped Smallville and embraced LnC (and superman returns)

Smallville annoys me how much they sabatoge every relationship and throw in these little plot things when I wish they could just focus on Lois and Clark. They waste valuable airtime, IMO. I like Erica Durance a lot and Tom Welling is just 'eh' for me but together they work.

I might have to watch season 9. i started watching 8 but gave it up when they brought back Lana to sabotage the Lois and Clark storyline. That was unforgivable

Hmmmm... I've never really wanted to watch Smallville before but now this thread has intrigued me. I think I'll probably be really annoyed w/ so many aspects of it (teen drama not really my thing even if it is SM) but I'm one of those 'curiosity killed the cat' people so... guess I'll add them to my NF queue.

Actually, I'm a "Smallville" watcher but I'm super-annoyed by the way the writers/producers have totally messed with the character of Lois Lane.

The LL in "Smallville" has been portrayed as a drunken fool, a skanky ho who slept with her boss/editor, and a conscience-less bitch who will snoop into the private files on her cousin's laptop to steal a story.

Totally not the Lois Lane we know and love.

I just can't see how they're going to take the character they've trashed and turn her into the real Lois Lane.

lol, Iolanthe. But only because Smallville Clark isn't exactly Clark Kent either.

He's been responsible for people's deaths, has slept around, is overly mopy and self-absorbed, at times a tad, well, not too bright, and was often hugely insenstive to Chloe (maybe that's part of the self-absorbed business?). It's moot who is further away from the iconic characters, Smallville Lois or Smallville Clark. I'll give the nod to Smallville Clark, perhaps because his 'misdeeds', so to speak had at times serious consequences (his dad's death for example) whereas Lois's have been low impact.

You've hit on one of my major objections to the show - both Lois Lane and Clark Kent have never been more than merely name-tags given to 2 characters who lack many of the defining personality traits of the iconic characters.

Now, I admit to some inconsistency here because it did not bother me at all that they 'rewrote' Lex luthor - maybe because they made him nore interesting, while still retaining his scope for evil - but don't go messing with Lois Lane and Clark Kent.

c.

You guys have hit the nail on the head on why I won't watch Smallville, other than I'm not big on teen dramas. Everything I've heard about the Smallville Clark makes me wonder how in the world he could be the Clark Kent we know and love, both from L&C and from the comics. With his morals and ethics, there's no way he could be the Superman who protects life as much as possible and fights for Truth and Justice. Everything I heard about Pa Kent also made me squirm. Though I'm tempted to see a few episodes this coming season with Michael Shanks playing Hawkman, it just won't be enough to draw me.

I will admit, however, to giggling every time I see a certain episode of Justice League Unlimited where Flash (voiced by Michael Rosenbaum) gets switched into the body of Lex Luthor.