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Smallville - Season 7 thread (1 Viewer)

Chris

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I quit. I got roped into this show based on some positive word of mouth, and I walked through the seasons quickly; even enjoyed some..

My problem early on was an evil twist: I found Lex far more likable and understandable then Clark. Now that Lex is firmly a "bad guy", it still hasn't done anything to redeem Clark, who's more of a shallow doofus then ever before. He may be one of the most co-dependant super heros I've ever seen.

Outside of completely writing his family off the show (he basically runs the farm by himself, I suppose) along with early season characters, Clark relies so heavily on his friends that he might as well say "I'm the super-hero with ZERO instincts, and I pout a lot, please help me"

This show was fun for me to watch up through the middle of Season 6, where I could reasonable watch, rub my hands together, and root for Lex's plans. But then his character changed, became evil, sure, but also hard to really follow, and Clark didn't change.

So now I don't have a character I can even cynically root for. I'm still not at all convinced Lana isn't a body snatcher (her weird understanding of the lab last season, her miraculous genious at planning domination, explosions, and escape are mind bending coming from a girl who didn't go to college and struggled to figure out coffee budget as a barrista) but all of that seems to be blushed over as though it doesn't matter.

The show now has so many loose threads that I can't even tell wth matters and what is just sloppy writing. So I'll assume it's all sloppy writing.

I'm totally out; enjoy Season 8, I hear Clark learns to climb trees really fast, so fast you'd think he'd spring into the sky. But then it just doesn't work out, he's all freaked out by birds nests or something.
 

Mark Butler

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I think the problem is that with this show is that all the fans know what it can and should be (drama and action wise) but it never lives up to its potential. Then again I guess it's just mirroring its main character. The only time that Clark was heroic and on the ball this season was when it was Bizzaro pretending to be Clark. Even then Bizzaro managed to get sucked into the Black Hole of Love that is Lana Lang.
 

Qui-Gon John

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The thing is, Welling is so good in the role, if they'd let him start to be Superman, (figuratively not literally yet), he'd be great at it.
 

Mark Butler

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It's not anger, it's disappointment. This show only ever operates at 40 or 50 percent capacity. Everyone knows it. When was the last time (if ever) you watched Smallville and you went "Wow, they knocked that one out of the park." in regard to the whole episode, start to finish. It never happens. There maybe a cool fleeting moment or two in an episode (introduction of Brainiac or Bizzaro, Clark getting his heat vision, or something along those lines). Watching the last episode I knew before the episode started that Clark would not fly (not from spoilers but from own innate sense of the character and the way that Smallville is written). The description was "Kara teaches Clark to fly", I can teach someone to fish but that doesn't mean they are going to go and catch a fish. The description of the episode was misleading and was meant to be in order to get those fans who may not want to watch the show, watching it because they thought Clark was going to fly. The main problem I have comes from Clark's decisions being made from an external stimulus and not from an internal decision. He always does something because of an outside force making him have to be the hero he doesn't want to be. That is not Superman. I gave Clark the benefit of the doubt for 1 season, and 2 seasons and 3 seasons and 4 seasons, and even 5 seasons. No more. In every incarnation the Kent's upbringing has instilled in Clark the want and need to do right, to make the world a better place and be a hero. That is an absolute of Clark Kent/Superman. The producers seem to think that this is a negotiable character trait with the fans, it is not. The unfortunate thing here is now that any character actions that Clark takes in the remainder of the season will be because of what has happened to Lana and not because of what Clark believes needs to be done. Clark is reactionary in his thoughts,actions and destiny instead of being proactive.
 

Josh Steinberg

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You know, I actually liked this last episode a lot. The last two actually. They weren't perfect, but certainly miles above, say, Pete chewing Kryptogum.

I can't say I'm terribly surprised that Clark didn't fly; that's TV Guide, "next-week-on-Smallville" promotional stuff. I was kind of upset that they had revealed that the week earlier and figured it was just a rouse. Whenever Clark does get around to flying, I don't want to be warned about it the week beforehand, I want to be surprised by the moment.

The overriding theme of this season seems to be about Clark turning his back on his destiny, not yet willing or able to accept his role in the bigger picture. I'm not necessarily in love with that as a concept but I don't hate it either. My issue comes more from the fact that when Clark escaped the Phantom Zone at the beginning of Season 6, it became his mission to track down all of the phantoms, return them to the zone, and then use that Kryptonian metal thing that he needed to trap the phantoms to repair the fortress and begin his training. As far as I know, with Bizarro out of the picture, he's gotten all of the Phantoms, but he's never stopped to repair the fortress. Why not? It seemed as though he had every intention of doing that, and then this season that plot point was totally dropped. That's my problem. If they had addressed it in some way, given us a believable reason for Clark turning his back on his destiny, this new season would be a lot easier to swallow.

Like I said, I get that the writers/producers want this season to be about the step in Clark's journey where he's not sure what to do next or how he fits into the bigger picture. Some fans have a problem with that, and while I'm sympathetic to their viewpoint, I don't agree with them. He doesn't need to be Superman from the Richard Donner film, or Superman from the comics, or any other brand of Superman besides what's on Smallville. It doesn't all have to line up perfectly with the comic universe for me to be satisfied. I actually find something very poignant, something very captivating in Clark turning his back on the world. He's finally been able to tell Lana the secret that he kept from her for six seasons; I don't blame him for wanting to stick around the farm and find out what it's like to live that way. I just don't think the writers have done the best job of justifying that in the scripts.

Though I have absolutely no idea how they intend to wrap up this season, I'm willing to bet that one of the bigger plot points is going to be Clark finally shaping up and stepping up to the plate. I don't know if it's going to be the result of Oliver Queen yelling at him one more time, if it'll be Chloe or Martha Kent encouraging him to use his powers for the greater good, if it's going to be some kind of battle against one or both of the Luthers. It's going to come together at some point.

It's just frustrating that the past couple of episodes were really beginning to build up to something larger (and I love whenever they start getting into "mythology" stuff even if it's Smallville mythology rather than traditional Superman mythology), only for the show to go on hiatus for a few weeks. I want this to keep moving. (Smallville was a show I never got into until "Superman Returns" came out, and then I sped through five seasons rapid-fire to watch Season 6 as it broadcasted, so going week to week is definitely not what I'm used to with this show!)
 

Inspector Hammer!

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I'm all for the show depicting Clark in a manner that's different from any other incarnation, in fact in the past i've had to remind people of that very thing and not just pertaining to Clark but the show as a whole, however I still feel that at this point in time he should still be showing growth in his desire to help not just those around him but the world.

He simply doesn't seem to be growing in that area, now I don't know if the show is setting it up to where one particular event will change all that but it certaintly doesn't seem to be happening gradually which is what I was expecting when I started watching the show.

I was so let down by the last episode because Clark didn't even TRY to fly, when Kara was coaching him and when he was on the roof and watched Brainiac and Kara fly off. If he had tried there, if he was so fueld with desire to help Kara and Lana (we already know that there's nothing Clark can't do when it comes to saving Lana) than I am positive that he would have soared for the first time. It was the perfect spot for the show to have this happen and it didn't, it doesn't even matter to me if he caught up to B&K just that he took the leap and tried.

As it stands, and the way the scene was set-up, it made him look extremely impotant as a superhero.

Now, my best friend and I were talking about this and she threw out an interesting theory that i'd like to get you guys opinions on, she said that one possible explanation was that he was indeed supposed to fly in this episode but when the writers strike ended and Millar and Gough knew this wouldn't be the last, they rewrote the ending?

I have no idea if that's true or not but it's interesting nontheless.
 

Gary Seven

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That is interesting since Season 6 was supposed to be an acceptance of his destiny.

The majority of people here think that he is supposed to go through some specialized training, refecting I guess the 12 year "training" period that happened in the movie. Being that they pretty much have rewritten the mythos, there is no reason to believe that the specialized training will take place. I would say you are watching his training take place in the events shown in the show. Him being punished recently by being frozen in the the fortress then released to remedy the Bizarro situation is evidence of this. I'm not saying the specialized training definitely won't take place as I am not the writer but I suspect not. But I do believe they will present a catalyst at some point that will transform his thinking from where he is to where he ulitmately will be. And, I too, grow weary of the wait for that to happen.
 

Greg_S_H

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We got caught up in the training because that Kryptonian girl from the Phantom Zone told him that was what he was supposed to be doing. As far as I know, only the movie had him go off to do something like that. In the comics, he was either superheroic from almost the beginning (when Superboy was still canon), or he just basically showed up as a hero. It's hard to see this Clark get to the point where he's a selfless hero for the world. It should be something that's a part of him, that he can't turn away from even if he wants to. That's just not the case here.
 

Mark Butler

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That has been the overriding theme of the last 3 seasons, since the krypton stones when Jor-el had to turn Clark into Kal-el because he was once again ignoring what he had to do. Has Clark progressed as a character since then, has the realization come that the best way to protect the people he cares about is to be a hero and not hideaway playing pattycake with Lana? No, He has become a shell of the boy that saved Lex on the bridge and a sad pathetic person incapable of making his own decisions and relying on others (Chloe, Bruce Wa...Sorry, Oliver Queen, and in this season Lana Lang) to push him and help him. The funniest thing this season was when Bizzaro-Clark figures out that Brainiac was back, the look of surprise on Chloe's face that Clark figured it out on his own was hilarious. The big dumb alien thing is a running gag now.
 

Inspector Hammer!

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Millar and Gough are not coming back huh? I'm not surprised, they're probably getting sick of being pelted with shit by fans. ;)

Like Greg said maybe with some fresh blood taking the reigns we'll actually get some freakin' movement going here with Clark.
 

Jason_V

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I have no inside information, so the following is pure conjecture: Millar and Gough are being forced out. When the writers were still striking, they both seemed gung-ho about keeping the show going and the things they wanted to do. AFAIK, there's never been any behind the scene strife with the actors, directors, writers or producers.

And look at the final line of their open letter: we never stopped fighting to make this show great.
 

Jason_V

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Maybe cuz the CW has already given the show the green light for next season? Maybe cuz Smallville is still one of the highest rated shows on the network (granted, that's not saying much)? Maybe cuz the other CW show "everyone" know about-America's Next Top Model-is faltering? Maybe cuz the writers strike put a big old bullet in the head of pilot season this year and CW has nothing to takes Smallville's place?
 

Andrew Grall

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Not to mention - ending it this season would DEFINITELY leave us hanging - without Clark taking the "next" step...
 

Josh Steinberg

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I know, I could go on too... it's not that I think you're wrong, I've often had the same complaints. When my friends wonder why I watch Smallville, I usually reply that it's mostly a crappy show with two or three spectacular episodes per year, and it's entertaining enough the rest of the time to be worth an hour a week for me. You asked what I liked about the episode. The last couple episodes ("Traveler" and "Veritas") have kind of blended together in my head, so forgive me if I end up citing things from both episodes. I really liked the reveal that Lionel had had some idea of all of this for a long, long time. I loved the flashbacks where we saw young Lex overhearing some of this stuff and getting ready to travel to Smallville. I liked that Dr. Swann was referenced. I enjoyed Brainiac's appearance. I thought John Glover had some great acting moments, and I actually bought it when he was talking about becoming Jor-El's emissary changing everything for him, that he had been selfish, greedy, obsessed with power and control, and that a touch of this otherworldly presence opened up his mind for the first time. I like that Lionel, even wanting to do the right thing, often fails and does the wrong thing because nothing in his life has ever really prepared him to know how to do right. Or maybe he's pulling one over on all of us, and if that's the case, he's doing a great job of that. I love that things seem to be heading where Lionel will have to make a choice between Lex and Clark.

Yes, I wish the characterizations were more consistent, yes I wish they had more episodes that followed an extended story arc. I wish the show from week to week was as connected as say "Heroes" or "24" instead of a looser connection from episode to episode with occasional big payoff episodes like "The X Files". But obviously, if they had done that, they probably wouldn't have been able to sustain the show as long, they would have run out of things to do.

I was surprised to see that Millar and Gough will be leaving the show; then again, I don't really follow the behind-the-scenes on it at all (and haven't really watched any of the bonus features on the DVDs), so I don't know exactly how much of the day-to-day work they do anymore. Maybe it'll make the show different, maybe things will seem exactly the same. It does feel that the show has kind of hit a wall creatively. It's as though they want to do more story arcs and less monster of the week type stuff, but that they don't have the story arc planned out enough to work that way, but also don't have a great supply of monsters to use on a weekly basis. Though I don't watch it, I've read that on "Lost", they've set an end date for the show and knowing where it's supposed to go, can work backwards to get it there without worrying about needing more material if the show went on. I've been saying it for a long time, but I think that's exactly what Smallville needs. Don't treat it as a cancellation, treat it as an opportunity to cross the finish line in a blaze of glory.

Just out of curiosity, what's everyone's favorite season of Smallville and why?
 

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