7.20, arctic
for pep_singer. :) I'm writing this from my brothers house, so hopefully I can remember all.End of s7. We're still not done. How did this happen?
Previously On Smallville
I've said it before, I'll say it again. I think small teasers always make shows better. It points out where they have been, where they are going, all of that. This teaser focuses around a few things, Lex finding out about Clark and Veritas, Clark's role in Veritas, Chloe's meteor power, and reminding us that Clark could be controlled. It's not a bad teaser, and there is tension but it feels like half a run up - it's rehashing the last 7 episodes.
I blame the start-stop that the strike did that messed up the pacing on the whole end of the season [as well as the negotiations.]Yes it's impressive and build upable but frankly the true "WHOA!" moments were through Descent. I mean there are some this episode, but if you really watch most of s7 critically the last 5 are stall set ups to drag us back around where we were in Descent. They pulled out Lex getting the keys (and I think clearly added a few new bits in there - maybe that's why Lex in the arctic that we saw int he ads was scrapped - speaking of does anyone have caps from those? Would love it.) Sleeper was there to give something 'more' to take away from Chloe; Quest was there to add an extra 'step' for Lex; 150 was there so we'd have someone for Clark to actually fight against/ not have Kara's help.
In a lot of ways it was to pull out to a repeat and finish point that descent didn't get (and you'll notice the last 10 minutes or so of the plots, it pulls itself back. To stall.) So while I like it, and it's well edited, and it's already making me miss MR, and puts the emphasis clearly on Clark, Chloe, and Lex with some Lana (less than had KK been in the back half I believe) ...it's just lacking. Because things like Lana had to be stalled, and they had finished their season. They had planned the Clark lite episode and then had to write another, so on and so forth.
So Krypton/Kara, Veritas/Lionel, Chloe's power, and Clark vs. Lex. It feels like a kind of selective edit of the season but I suppose that's fair, because they've been pulling out his resolution for 5 eps so it's more a pick up from what should of been like 2. Or even part of Descent/Veritas. I still think the biggest ending they could of had was Lionel's death. But if anything this shows where the strike messed up their momentum.
Still. PREVIOUSLY. They rule.
Teaser
I'm typing this because I don't want to type Teague. My hope is that - as anyone who read my prior summeries on the whole Level Three-turned-Veritas thing (other than dude this is why they had Warshaw for and call the damn man up on the phone) is that they retro actively fix him here. And I HATE the casting!That being said odd thing -
Goes undercover as "Alejandro Santos" -- Alexander Saints. Really. I have the feeling they were trying to be cute or clever here, but honestly? I don't care. Fix this storyline next season, k? (Also Kara is acting weird. But, that's almost normal... for her.)
I sincerely hope that we weren't supposed to see him parachuting to safety in that wreckage. Because again, couldn't of bungled Edward Teague up anymore.
Lex Luthor, Bad Ass
I'm going to miss typing this!
I know some people are saying good for Michael but I'm going to be selfish. I'm going to miss him. At the core the show was Clark and Lex, then Lana and Chloe. The parents were always important because they were the parents of Clark and Lex (sure Lana's Aunt and dead parents factored in, as did Chloe's workaholic Dad and absentee Mom - but they were NEVER as directly influential in their lives on screen the way Lionel and the Kents (yes Bo AND Martha both) were to everyone on the show especially Clark and Lex)).Sigh.
Also I have to admit it I feel cheated. MR or WoobieLex.. Neither are that sexy/attractive to me - stop rolling your eyes at me massena1- but BUT BUT, evil, evil Lex has some kind of magnetic pull. I want more. I felt like I waited so long and now I don't get to see him. It would sting less if the show didn't have 22 more eps....this wasn't meant to be a rant! lol
Let's get back on target. Lex plays with the globe some - and knows it's in the north pole. Didn't he play with it in 150 too? It also reminds me of the movies a bit. He was looking for Land, perhaps? :) Fun in his office are some old Greek coins? (That's another thing I'll miss though I admit we've not seen a lot of it lately - Lex pulling out references left and right) The new man servant isn't as cool as Gina. Or Enrique. *sob*
Also I love how Lex kept giving Jimmy these looks of "Really. You are that stupid. Really. Okay then."Such as...
(Also very interesting here is how Jimmy in babyblue and grey is paralleled to Lex in navy and black.)
Lex was really finishing the rest of his upward slide - and the more I think about it the more it reminds me of how they handled Lionel in S2*.
As Action predicted, this was the first time the villain truly got the upper hand. What began in Veritas/Descent with killing Lionel and Alexander, firing Chloe, and Gina's entrapment of Jimmy and EDlo (and EDlo's shooting) continues here - Jimmy is under his thumb, EDlo is - well lead astray before her plot line is forgotten, Chloe is arrested, Clark's secret is revealed and as the big alien threat, Clark and his Fortress are neutralized. But, and here is a problem. No one dies.
Descent alone says that finales were meant for shooting with a body count including Lionel, Gina, Little Alexander, as well as shooting and trying to kill Edlo and Jimmy, and knocking Chloe out, and if you count the two parter, kidnapping Kara and mind-bending Lana from Brainiac's half. The one thing I will say is that Lex didn't SHOOT someone here. No one dies here. This is a problem. I maintain that is because contracts weren't finished. Doesn't make sense to shoot and possibly kill someone off if you have no idea who is coming back the next season and you might need all the "known" characters that you have.
But it's still a problem.
The problem is (1) Lex's big gun cycle (as I think I listed back in Fracture) needs to be paid off. (2) The whole Action meta needed to be decided; Comic!Penelope before Devilicous gets shot finally gets her 'confirmation' photographs and arranges to meet "Steven" at a restaurant. We're style cycling through because all we have is Jimmy delivering fake photographs. No real photos, no shooting I suppose. But that leads into (3) He's winning. But no one is dying? How is this Game Over, Apocalypse?
Now I think (like with Lionel's death) it has more impact if it's someone we know -- how much more shocking was Gina's death simply because we were used to seeing her? But really, I could take half of Metropolis or the west coast about now just as a way to say YO LEX WON. BAD. Which they didn't do. I really almost don't care whom he shoots, but the lack of Death at Luthor Winning seems wrong. (Contrast it to Lionel's revenge in Covenant, or Zod over Metropolis, where in both cases it was clear the hurt was being put down.)
Still I did, like how the show maneuvered it to bring people down a few more pegs. Jimmy might freeze - nah let's make him a Luthor Pawn who realizes it too late. Chloe lost her job, her beloved Planet - something that Lex spent all of the 'expected' season taking away from her, throw her in jail [thus doing A and B on his list from Progeny]. Lex wasn't the cause of Lana's coma but he did manage to not only destroy the Fortress aka the last bit Krypton but rub salt in that wound too. It was a near coup for Lex - had MR (and then from Ausiello's reports, AM) resigned I'm sure it would of been a full one.
And I loved watching it. Sure, I love the heroes, but you've got to love a GOOD villain. And that is what Lex is here, IMO, a good villain. Even at the end - and I'm not a Clexer and this broke my heart - he was holding Clark as he died and reasoning that HE could of saved CLARK. Lex was TOTALLY manipulated by Brainiac and done in such a way ("He doesn't even know what he'll do!") that the bridge can never be mended. Sure burning his conscious and murdering Lionel in cold blood will do that too but it's both sides now and that's... Man.
It's fantastic.
I love it. (But I still think it would of worked better had someone died. Blood on his hands, and all that)
Oh they could of killed his lame manservant. There we go.
Lex's comment about the guide, does anyone wonder if it was a set up for s8? ("I don't need her, I'm not sure if I should even trust her.") My brother thought he meant Kara, but I don't know. And I liked how Lex bet on the device protecting him because he's human. I suspect should MR return that is how they'll get him back - the orb did something to him because he's human and he's in the zone/pocket space/a giant purple coccoon.
Also I do have to say as much as I like Lex finding the Fortress in the teasers with his little parka, I didn't mind Zod!Lex doing his Arrival look around.
*One thing I think is very interesting is if you look at s6 and s7 there are quite a few parallels to s2 and s3. Not just the whole Lana/Helen debackle, but the systematic climb. Lionel started screwing people over in s2 buying up LexCorp and such and we see some similarities again - Chloe's in the DP working for a Luthor, a Sullivan looses a job, a newbie reporter makes a deal with a Luthor, the killing of the older Luthor(s) by the younger one, the search for proof of this only to have it get lost or burried, the bringing back up of Swann and the past, et cetera. Very interesting.
Clark Kent, Hero
He was, he took on two of the biggest super villains ever this episode.
I have no doubt we'll see Clark Kent in the DP some time next year. Still I love that the writers set up the loops for him to jump through first.
(1) Chloe's unjust firing; he's not happy about what happened to Chloe there and her desk isn't the one that is being filled. [I think it's very interesting that no name took her desk as a reporter there - some intern. Chloe's spot isn't being filled with another reporter, with Jimmy, with EDlo, or with Clark who turns down taking her desk. It reminded me of 150 where Jimmy set Clark up on EDlo's which he used happily without her permission until she saw him.]
(2) Wanting the job. We saw seeds of this planted in Descent and in 150, IMO. Right now he's seeing proof as a way to stop Lex, and research as always isn't just to stop foes but to help people. With Lex MIA they'll probably have to set up a new push to bring about him using something to get truth and justice where his powers won't work. Bringing Lex back? Saving the Planet? Rescuing Chloe? Who knows.
(3) Working for Lex. He won't, and even with MR gone - Lex still basically runs the Planet. It sets up the Planet as something that needs saved empirically - which has been going on for about a season now so it's a long term arc, IMO, not something that will be 'fixed' right out of the gate in s8. It also sets up who will need or want to save it. Clark will, we know Chloe considers it ruined, and we see Jimmy's awakening to Lex as well.But we got another push for him to think about his future before we "are done here" and the immediate problems showed up. Triangles!
This reminded me a bit of Wrath. I think it's the door. Flag for Chloe again too.
Once again Clark uses his powers for good. I mean logic. Only Clark Kent using his super hearing in action (we saw him do this in Crisis too) would get primary colored audio bits. He also used his past history with redK - and this is specifically why they didn't do a redK episode with her. They knew we were expecting it. Things like this make me have faith in them that it's planned. Same with similarly recreating the barn fight from Veritas. I also liked how while Clark didn't like the idea of greenKing Kara he saw it as and option and something that needed to be done. Proactive, take charge Clark. And he was willing to see it through knowing what GreenK does to him and how much it hurts which I thought was very brave and noble of Clark. (I really loved Clark this episode, obviously.)
Also, I just want to say that Clark's manners came out with his asking and thanking and apologizing for the whole "Kara" debacle and it made me think back on how nice it made him seem, and genuine. Maybe they are trying to put more "mild mannered" spin on the character, and hey that's fine by me.
His shift from calm and sad to utterly pissed in the hospital, however was perfect.
So we do get an actual fight sequence between Brainiac and Clark this episode too which was nice because he can't quite fight Lex physically the way they are both right now. Which gives the whole episode more "action" however it ties into what I'm saying later about Brainaic or "Kara" - his whole plan right now doesn't make that much sense which makes Clark beating him up... maybe not that satisfying as it should be. I could almost see Brainiac given what has happened to Chloe, Lana, and Kara being given a whole episode. It feels a bit 'quick' of a resolution here. Clark doesn't know what or where Kara really is, and he doesn't really know that beating Brainiac down will release Lana or Chloe - even though he demands it.
Still I really did love that Clark wanted his cousin back, wanted answers, was trying to figure out Brainiac's plan, and wanted Chloe and Lana released. And once Clark did his Solitude line of "You'll never hurt anyone else! Ever again!" I was like "Yup, Brainiac is coming back. Back again. In S8. Tell a friend."
I do really love the replay from Descent too though when Brainaic stands up with LuthorCorp and the Daily Planet between the two of them. It's starting to show visibly what a lto of us have said for a while now. He's got the red and the blue, the Superman foes, and now he's fighting them in the city. It's so cool, and yay! worthy to me.
So of course Clark gets his call from Chloe, and goes to check on Lana is gone. Lana here is pretty much proving the whole marriage/love/trust angle here. She's not dependable, she's not accountable. And I think that is sinking in for Clark which is why he was out in the barn after seeing the letter, feeling hurt, and getting his pity hug. She took off, again. When Kara was freaking out he went to Chloe, he trusted her and felt bad for not protecting her. She woke up and everything seems okay with her when we see her again - she asks for his help and trusts in him later after all. She's able to roll with it. And Lana ran. Which makes me anxious to see the next step, cause it's taken several years to get back to this point of where we were near the end of s5, but we are. It's exciting.
Clark doesn't really pay attention to Jimmy until he figures out that Chloe's in danger, and then he finds out about Jimmy's deal with Lex, and the arctic circle; which means we get to see Clark prioritize again (1) Stop Lex from controlling him (2) Save/help Chloe, and probably (3) Deal with Jimmy's deal. I do wonder too if Clark knowing about Jimmy's deal is going to be used to bring them to being closer friends in the long run and work the way Chloe keeping Clark's secret did with Clark and Lana, and Chloe and Lana. It should be interesting because Chloe doesn't know - and It hink this is the third time in the back half they've come together to help each other out.
Chloe Sullivan...
Beyond the crappy purple sweater vest and lilac jacket (both Descent throw backs)...
In case you forgot she could hack or could hack alone, this episode does the same thing Sleeper did and reminds you. It's Clark who is complicit in all of this, who is asking for her help in all of this, et cetera... this episode reminds you, big and purposefully that this is something they are doing together. Clark is an accomplice! And let's make use of those big screens. So you don't forget, eh? (Also should I feel bad that I know Isis runs Mac's based on the mouse and keyboard. Villain hardward has no time for viruses and may need to edit movies on the fly.)
I actually really liked/enjoyed watching their whole use together on this thing, despite the snark. It reminded me a bit of Crisis where we saw Clark using his own skills together with Chloe's audio program to make out the phone call from Lana's past/future. Cooperation, working together. I suspect that will end up coming up when we deal with her arrest in s8 - Clark's ability to do quite a bit of this on his own, he just likes to work with her, and his own sense of his complicitness. A bit like Gone, I suppose.
"It goes way beyond friendship" seems to be the phraze of the season here. Chloe brings Lex (and thus him) back to life, he saves her from a grave and Jack the Ripper, she faces down Kara with greenK and looses her job, he waits 18 hours to make sure she's still alive, she professes his love to Jor-El to save his life, he deems no one as able to protect her as him. So now we get...
"Chloe, you're the only one who can help me."
"I'm always here for you, Clark." *takes the greenK*
"Thank you. You won't be doing it alone. We'll get in here together, and I'll stand right by your side."
Dance around the obvious team, dance!
More seriously though, he's willing to stand through GreenK so she won't have to do it alone? Standing by her side - like what, her sidekick? Her partner? It kind of goes back to their pact to "stay alive" from fracture and to stick together from the premiere. Then Chloe makes a line about shooting himself in the foot which it's taken me forever to put it together but it keeps reminding me of the song they used in Hidden at their end scene:
I'll be sticking right there with it
I'll be by your side
Sailing like a silver bullet
Hit 'em 'tween the eyes
The of course she makes up a story to tell to "Kara" - about Clark destroying the Fortress. (But the tool control Clark does destroy the Fortress!) Of course it's Brainiac and we get him saying that he's "impressed" by her as a human and would be willing to use greenK against Kryptonians - which rather highlights the fact that Brainiac doesn't know Chloe or Clark very well at all. And of course that he remembers her and what read to me as the bigger reminder - she sticks her "pretty little head where it doesn't belong." Yeah, she was trying to make a career out of doing that.
Brainiac starts to do the same thing he did to Dax-Ur which makes seem like he's going to kill her, but then after a bit her power kicks up hurting Brainiac and confusing him. I think it does say something about her power levels though, and I really am wondering if Chloe could hurt Brainiac that way (even if still ending up in a coma of his) does that mean that it could go both ways? I mean he needed a recharge, so did she drain him? Or...cause a back draft? Or what?
When we see Chloe again in the hospital, I'm guessing that Clark took her there (We don't see Jimmy, or EDlo at the hospital, Lex is in the arctic, Brainiac doesn't care, Lana's asleep. The only other option possibly is Jimmy I suppose.) Clark apologizes and he feels bad I'm guessing because Chloe talked him out of helping her - even when she wanted to help him. And then of course he realizes Brainiac did it to his other main lady. I liked the hand hold, it was a pretty nice throw back to Crush/Obscura/Lineage.
So Clark beats up Brainiac and then promptly calls her on the phone while going to check on Lana. :)
Chloe makes an interesting note with Jimmy about how they (Chloe and Jimmy) are only going up to the Talon - not the Mountains of Tibet. Which is interesting because Mt. Everest, the line from Traveler? Is in Tibet. I think it puts a pretty interesting "scale" on how she views the relationship before he pops the question - and they aren't on the same page. She walks on by him too on her way back to the Talon before he stops her (so he's positioned by the exit instead of her.) And it's interesting to me that she gets proposed to by Jimmy right after Lana asks Clark not to follow her. One LI out, another one in.
Jimmy Olsen. All Growed Up.
Okay he's at least working on it. He's realizing that getting involved with Lex was... everything Chloe warned him it could be. Amazing.
It's interesting to me that Jimmy had a similar smaller wake up call about how his actions went in both Veritas and Descent as well. Lionel was mostly declawed, but Lex? He's got uncorroborated information on Lex offing Patty, someone ostensibly Lex (though I don't think he knew that) killing Lionel, and I don't think it was just lying to EDlo that got to him.
I think Jimmy is waking up to realize how dangerous Lex is. And I think it's terrifying him.
Which is good.
They are treating him as a real character. Yes he's got sort of a wandering eye, and yes he was - is romantically stunted (going from Clark worrying to 'please don't ever leave meeee.') But the character itself is haing to grow up some. I hope they can do that without loosing the genuinely fun aspects to Jimmy - the noir movie fan, the joy at getting stories.
Still Jimmy is growing as a person and as a journalist; I think it's also interesting that of late he's become the pointed commentator on others ethics too - ambulance chasing is not optimal, Edlo "taught" him to eavesdrop and steal others stories. I wonder where that is quite going.
I hope to see more of him as long as he's growing. I know some people don't dig him, and when he's not whining about his love life, I actually do.Did anyone else get the impression that Lex wasn't printing his Kawatchi stories from the phrasing and the brush off? That reminded me of Chloe and Lionel back around Calling too where Lionel kept brushing off her mis-communications to get what he wanted. Also note the grey jacket when lying for Lex after he 'woke up' and when proposing to Chloe.
Speaking of, what a redux! (1) Did anyone else notice how they positioned during Jimmy's big feeling monologue that he's got an Exit sign right behind him? The big glowing one which is interesting because they walk past the movie posters and then turn so they arne't in front of the counter nor the stain-glass window(s). I'm sure part of this was for the guards who would enter there just like Labyrinth but still, interesting.
(2) Speaking of Labyrinth, total recal. The proposal with the plastic ring, one person gets out of the hospital spurring on the "I can't loose you!" mentality, and the heart shaped of both rings being colors of kryptonite.
(3) And kind of a Persona/Blue throw back with Krypton's blue rings of science. Now for Dax-Ur they changed the ring in the spoilers to a bracelet but the same still applies here. If Blue represents 'normalizing' for Clark then a blue ring would make him human; we had Chloe's comment about wedding rings in that episode too but if blue means that (where as Lana's fake ring was red which could have various redK analogies) then I would guess the fitting symbolism here is that choosing Jimmy would be a 'normalizer' for her. Chimmy is Clana, Jimmy is her normal life/first guy I was ever with type of guy which is probably why that color.
(4) My favorite meta on all of this is right after Jimmy asks, it's "Wait, hold on, this isn't right!"
Kara... or "Kara"
or Brainiac
I will say I think Laura has become really very good while she was on the show. I wish the show itself would of been a bit more normalized so we could of seen more of Kara and Lex together (I'm sure it was in the plans) but I'm impressed at her JM persona and really liked some of the touches she gave.
I feel like I didn't get to know Kara that much either - consider the memory-loss and fish out of water episodes, we didn't get to see her in the 'fold' that much. And now she's suck in the zone for goodness knows how long.And I dug the use of the inverted colors to show something was wrong with her. This season the wardrobe department really did hit it out of the park showing us how much those were used to show us that things were good or messed up which was nice (and a good nod to what was going on in Veritas). The've always been on the ball but this was very subtly done and I liked that. Also check out her SHOES. lol
One of thing I didn't like is how this, Veritas, and 150 glossed it all over. When was Kara put in the Zone. Did Kara never come back - like Clark thought? Did Brainiac collapse on the floor for fun? Why did Brainiac need her beyond the "seperating Clark"? I mean geeze, you guys had 3 filler eps, explain some stuff plz.
And not in this whole "Random twist!" method that is not inspiring confidence for next year. (I complain simple because these three do not feel like they talked to anyone else when written which is...bad.For example if Brainiac is responsible for the device (we know he was on Krypton the same time as Kara sending messages back - so who knows how reliable any of the new ones are now) - why can't he use it? Why would Jor-El send it to begin with if Brainiac didn't? Does he want the Fortress destroyed for realz? If Brainaic wanted to control him as claimed, why do it this way? Muddled. Confusing. With no need for it to be.
My guess is the only way to change the Fortress was to go back and do something before it was created and he needed Kara as a decoy - but why would KARA in Veritas know that?
Anyway poor Kara is in the Phantom Zone which is a way to get her to be Supergirl later on, but I kind of hope they get her out more quickly.
Lana Lang
She took off! Which fits because KK was filming, and it fits her character. I think it was vivamexico who was going over this with me the other day but I think it's the last breaking straw. In S1 it was Whitney who took off, and in S2 she was left behind when Clark took off but since then?
- S3: She leaves for Paris in order to get away from Clark
- S4: She goes to China, she almost goes away for school, she tries to leave in Lex's chopper after the murder and after promissing Clark to stay
- S5: She takes off for Met U
- S6: She decided to come back but goes around the world to Amsterdam, Paris, a scheduled trip to China, almost ran off with Clark, then takes off to China after faking her death and promising to hook up with Clark
- S7: She returns but then tries to take off with Bizarro, and then move out, and then once she wakes up she takes off again
She didn't like what happened so she ran off, and she left Clark a "Dear Whitney" video which is more than the "Dear Lex" letter she was going to leave Lex. And once again too that the whole "quest for true love" blinding what is actually there; Lana says this. She does the whole "The world needs you" thing too - which I suspect will come up again when/if she returns. she comes back to see Clark moving on with someone else cueing up all those other issues. I mean "don't come after me" -- really?
She's not dependable and while KK did a good job there (and most of filmed fast) it's just astounding.
Also, outside exterior shot, was Lana in the same asylum as Moria (makes sense, it's not Belle Reve) but oh man.
ETA: talking with vivamexico I've figured out Lana's last scene too. Remember Veritas where Chloe watches Clark cry over Lana? Had stuff been signed, it probably would of been Chloe going in for the hug there to visit her friend who just *woke up*. Now that makes sense. She gets out of the hospital, goes to see Lana, comes home to Jimmy and arrest.