Scion Screentime Minutes, and Thoughts

[jeannev]

 I'm really starting to wonder if I'm judging SV eps based on their content, or if I'm judging them based on a curve against the rest of the season.  Because taken alone, and just judging it for what it was, I think I wouldn't be overly find of Scion.  But judging it against the rest of the season, and some of the horrible stuff we've gotten, I

Comments

[costas22]

Great review yet again. And thanks for the mental image of Conner in the bathroom. That made me spit my diet coke! Don't know. I may have had low expectations after last week's debacle, but I really enjoyed this episode. Felt like the Smallville of old. Ok, that might have had to do with the many callbacks, but they are not always guaranteed to work (i.e. Ageless was also supposed to be a callback to Stray and Ryan). Some thoughts:

Well, thats how I feel about CF and TW, and Cless scenes. I just enjoy the vibe, I enjoy the dynamic. I can't explain that to anyone.

Oh I get it.:) God knows how many times I've watched that scene. Imo, Tom and Cassidy's chemistry right now is unmatched on SV. We've seen them at each other's throats, argue, kiss, be friends and even have small talks. And every time their scenes rock. On the plus side, Cassidy acting awkward and clumsy was so adorable. And on top of that, they gave us that tease for Kent. How can I wait 6 weeks? :(

I think he should inspire that sort of intense, deep feeling in people. Especially someone like Tess who is desperate not only to find a place to belong, but to be redeemed.

Absolutely. No matter what TPTB might have in store for Tess romantically, it's what Zod said last year. Clark rules her mind. Does she love him? In her way. He is the guy she looks up to. The guy she can't disappoint. At times, I felt like she was his groupie, lol. Didn't like that she didn't tell him about the Beacon cliffhanger though. And then she told Lionel that it's not who she was. Whatevs.

I also enjoyed the Tess/Lionel scenes immensely.

Me too. I always knew that JG and CF would click well together. You are right about her absorbing Lionel's insults like Lex. It's also where she is different compared to AU Tess. She didn't let him get to her and eventually turned the tables. In short, it was great to have my girl back in Scion. I missed her since Luthor.

I really loved all the POV we got from Clark on his own childhood, and his feelings of isolation and alienation.

All things considering, this wasn't a bad episode at all for Clark. I didn't expect him to get 20 minutes of ST (since he was directing the next epi) or to get so much of his perspective. That was nice to see and kudos to Al and Turi there. of course, he was held back in the fight scenes with Conner, but I could chalk that down to him refusing to hurt the boy.

But, again, I have to call out an issue here, and thats more of the "We have to protect Clark" stuff, which I'm just going to be blunt, DO NOT WANT ANYMORE!!!

Didn't like that. And it felt like Tess suggested murder there. But, here's where it gets good. Clark doesn't feel guilty about it and Lois apologises for going behind him and putting both their lives at stake. That's the way it should be. Like she said. She knew what she was getting when she agreed to marry him.

OK, but I'm ignoring the elephant in the room, and he had a new name.

Didn't get interested in Conner hey? I didn't mind him tbh. Like others have said, it seems this was their Plan B in case MR returned. So I prefer this end for him rather than becoming the real Lex. Clark acting like Jonathan was nice to see. It's just that we already saw it with Kara 3 years ago. At least his arc ends here. As for him and Lois, the scene went too far, but I get the feeling that he was trying to choke her and not rape her. That doesn't absolve him of anything, but I feel that fans are more harsh on Conner than they were on Clark when he was on Red K. He is a teenager. And like Clark when he was a teenager on Red K, he lost the plot when he felt betrayed by a friend or a woman. Hell, when I saw Lois in the barn even I started getting my heat vision ready, lol. She looked really beautiful.

Are we to believe that he's going to continue to live on the farm indefinitely, or at least as long as Conner's in high school?

Yeah, that was weird. It may be something temporary. Don't forget that Clark will probably leave the farm for good pretty soon. I could see Conner living with Martha at the farm.

[jeannev]

I cannot believe that I'm the only person who *went there* with Conner, and his Lois lust. LOL

I re-watched the first Cless scene a few times too, and I just adore them together. Even in a scene where both actors are playing awkward smalltalk (which was very amusing), there is just such an ease to the way the scene flows. But things like this are intangible, and a matter of unique perception. This is just mine, and yours ;)

I am looking forward to them having more scenes together, so *fingers crossed* that we get some good stuff for these actors.

One of the complaints I have never understood is "Why is everyone hot for Clark?" Well, Duh! Why wouldn't they be? Of course he's going to be the sort of man that is going to inspire that sort of desire, and devotion. Jesus Christ, shouldn't he be? I have no problems at all understanding why Lois loves him, or why Lana loved him, or why Chloe loved his for so long, or why Tess may very well be in love with him, or why Zatanna wanted to mack on him, or why Maxima came across a galaxy for him.

He's freaking Superman. He looks like Tom Welling. He's heroic, and awesome. Damn straight the ladies should be all up in his grill. And yeah, I'll go there, some of the men too!!

I've seen a lot of complaints about Lois apologizing for being attacked. But what I saw was Lois apologizing for going behind Clark's back to "protect him", which Clark pretty quickly absolved her of once he said that "we all go to extremes to protect the people we love" (or something like that). I do get the upset over nothing being addressed in regards to Lois being kidnapped and attacked by Conner though.

In a lot of ways, I feel like they are trying to redo the Kara stuff (which they screwed up), but much like I felt then, I just don't believe its necessary to introduce that element into Clark's life when OTH, you are trying to suggest that Clark has still not come fully into his own. It feels like a real disconnect.

I'm not sure Conner would've raped Lois either, but they sure did go pretty far into the creepy factor. He was most definitely talking about them being together, and her belonging to him now. I mean, I assume thats going to include sex in his mind.

I think fans are more forgiving of Clark on Red K because 1. we just knew Clark a lot better as his normal self, so we could really appreciate the contrast between the personalities, and 2. the only time Red K was forceful with a female, it was Lana, and she was kind of into it.

But, I think the first point is the most important. We knew Clark pre-Red K. We don't really know Conner, and just a few eps ago, he was Alexander, and tried to shoot Martha Kent. I think its natural that viewers would feel less inclined to forgive and forget when he gets so creepy and rough on Red K.

Honestly, I see no good alternative for Conner, which is why I object to him being there in the first place. Either Clark and Lois play parent to him, and stay on the Smallville farm. Or Clark and Lois move to Metropolis, and Martha comes home to take care of him, but I'd be uncomfortable with that since Martha has no relationship with this kid, and would be quite vulnerable if he flipped out. Honestly, I think the best option is for him to be living with Tess. Tess as his caretaker just makes the most sense.

[costas22]

He's freaking Superman. He looks like Tom Welling. He's heroic, and awesome. Damn straight the ladies should be all up in his grill. And yeah, I'll go there, some of the men too!!

Heh, point taken. Not really my territory, but you know, maybe some women are attracted by darker personalities. Like Lex. Or guys that aren't as uptight as Clark may be. Like Oliver. Some even liked Davis because of the whole beauty and the beast concept, lol. I don't critisize women for falling for Clark. I find it natural. Especially when you have someone like Tess, who feels that Clark is a big reason why she turned her life around. He's her guiding light and quite often, the lines between that and being in love are blurry.

I think fans are more forgiving of Clark on Red K because 1. we just knew Clark a lot better as his normal self, so we could really appreciate the contrast between the personalities, and 2. the only time Red K was forceful with a female, it was Lana, and she was kind of into it.

Ok, maybe saying that he was critisized more than Clark wasn't fair. I still feel that it was a bit too much. It is a fact that we don't know a lot about Conner. What the episode tried to do, was devote the first 20 minutes of the episode to Conner and what he was like now and the other 20 to how Red K corrupted him. So going by that comparison alone, I feel that Red K altered his personality to a huge degree. I won't say that normal Conner is like Clark, but he seemed pretty sensible. With his heart in the right place. His Kent side was taking over his Luthor side. And it looks like that won't change, unless he is on Red K again.

I thought about your 2nd point today. Yes, Red K Clark was forceful with a female only once, but he never had a woman reject him like Lois did Conner. Especially when he was a teenager. The closest thing to hurting someone in the name of love was when he started chocking Lex in Crimson.

Anyway, my take on Red K is what we talked about at KSite. I see it as something that makes people completely different. Since they will react in ways they normally wouldn't, I find it hard to hold them accountable for that.

Honestly, I think the best option is for him to be living with Tess. Tess as his caretaker just makes the most sense.

I don't understand why that couldn't happen. If Clark wants Conner to go to Smallville High, she can find a place in Smallville and live there with him. And you have to know that once something will go wrong at the Kent Farm in future episodes, everyone will wonder where the hell was Conner, lol.

[costas22]

I have to say that I wasn't around the boards during the first 4 seasons. So my comment about the critisism Clark received while he was on Red K, was in reference to instances like Crimson and Upgrade. And compared to that, yes I do feel that Conner was judged more harshly. I don't know. Maybe in the early seasons fans didn't know what to make of Red K and took it more seriously than they do now. Like I said above, I consider it something that makes Clark completely different. So I was never hard on Clark, no matter what he did. Some were offended at the notion that Clark would rob banks or attempt to kill Lex. I just never agreed with the show's canon that Red K doesn't change who he is and it only strips his inhibitions.

And yes, the show loved to pile the guilt on Clark at the conclusion of a Red K episode. Personally, I was never on board with that particular trend. Accuse him because he willingly exposed himself to Red K (like Exodus or Exile) when he knew the consequences? Yes. But to accuse him for stuff he did when he got exposed unwillingly? No. And that's what happened to Conner. So that's why I was surprised at the amount of critisism towards him. I won't disagree with your point about Conner being an unknown quantity. Like I told Valerie above, I feel that the episode tried as best as it could to make us believe that Conner was rid of his Luthor characteristics and was turning into a good hearted person. But obviously, 2 episodes of Alexander don't compare to 2 seasos of Clark.

Because it's not mentioned at all again, I give Clark the side-eye because he's invited someone who physically assaulted and tried to kill his fiancee to live with them, thereby placing her in the position of having to regularly interact with someone who treated her like that. And Conner comes off looking completely callous to me, like the damage to the barn is the worst thing he did while wearing the ring.

Not sure how much truth there is to that, but according to Al Septien they cut off a scene where Conner apologised to Lois. I hope it makes it on the DVD because I'd really like to see if Clark is present in this and how he feels. And more importantly, hoe Lois feels. My take on it, is that (as usual) a lot of this was addressed offscreenville. So I did't mind that too much. The Kents also saw a different side to Clark when he was on Red K (he even attacked Jonathan in Red), but they knew that as long as he wasn't exposed to it again, they had nothing to fear. So I am guessing that Clark conviced Lois of the same. That Conner wasn't himself and wouldn't hurt her again as long as he was normal.

Re: one more thing

[jeannev]

To me, what Tess represents is Clark's Luthor success story. Although she might end up having a tragic end, she will be (hopefully!) the Luthor that Clark was able to redeem.

And like you, thats why I absolutely feel like Tess' storyline is important for Clark's. She literally is the only character on the show who seems ready and willing to acknowledge that she changed her life for the better due to Clark's influence. Chloe gave Clark almost ZERO credit for where she is now. Oliver? Same, and when he needed to be saved this season, they gave that to Chloe. Lois? Well, sort of, but she didn't really need to be influenced to stay on the righteous path.

Re: one more thing

[costas22]

Couldn't have said it any better. To be fair, Clark also helped Lionel become a somewhat different man. But it wasn't as direct as it was with Tess. Lionel's change was attributed to Clark's essence living in his body in Transference, the fact that he touched the stone in Commencement, as well as Jor-El using him as a vessel. Tess'turnaround is based almost entirely on Clark.

And as much refreshing as it is for Clark fans to see a character be truly impacted by him for the better, it's also quite refreshing for this Clark/Tess fan to see their relationship reach this point. :D I was just thinking how far we've come in a year. As great as Tom and Cassidy's chemistry is, I hated their scenes last season. I hated how they had Tess push his buttons (for the lack of a better term) and how once or twice Clark overreacted. Imo, the evolution of Clark and Tess' relationship is one of the biggest positives of Season 10.

And as shaken as my faith in the writers has been, I find it hard to believe that anything will compromise Tess' trajectory from now on. No matter how Lionel or Granny Goodness might try to tempt her.