Re: Smallville - Season 7 thread
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!)
It's about f***ing time is all I gotta say.
The only thing I can think of is that Clark's fear of heights has created a sort of psychological block in his brain that won't allow that power to mature in him?
