Smallville 2/25 (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

IIRC, in the pre-crisis version, both Jonathan and Martha contracted some incurable disease while vacationing in some Asia-Pacific island while Clark was in his last year of high school.

The Kents were much older than the TV version of them now (John Schneider is most likely in his 40's), probably in their 50's when Clark is in high school.

In the 1986 re-boot of Superman, both of his parents are still alive (but I'm not sure if they are still alive now in the comics).

In the movie version, Jonathan has a heart attack and dies when Clark is a senior in high school. Watch the film for the rest of the details if you haven't seen it before.

 

[Jason Seaver]

John & Martha are still around, although they're running a General Store in Smallville now, since Pa Kent is getting a little old for the farmwork.

I have to admit, I have a difficult time imagining what Superman comics were like when the Kents were dead, Lex was a mad scientist, and Clark regularly lied to the woman he loved. The status quo just seems to make so much more sense.

 

[Jeff Kohn]

Finally got a chance to watch this ep, and really loved it. I was initially disappointed with the translation of the message at the very end, that's definitely not what we saw in the original movie. But I did a little searching on google and came across this:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...rnsc04&rnum=18

So it looks like the "message" isn't such a change from the original comic origin story after all.

 

[Ning Wong]

i am watching Superman I right now and it is friggin awesome!!!

 

[Qui-Gon John]

I loved this show. I'm willing to bet that Clark misinterpretation by Clark, (not a mistranslation). It said rule and he's thinking conquer when that was Jor-El's choice of word for guide or lead (as in guide).

 

[DeathStar1]

I think the problem here may be the fact that 95% of us here are probably familair with the movie than the original comic. And talking to an AIM friend of mine, most of these referances are from the comic, I'm gathering.

It's still hard to beleive however, reading the link posted in another note, that he was basically sent to 'conquer' earth. Reminds me of the Dragonball saga, with Goku and the Saiyans...

 

[Chris Sigua]

Definitely thought this was a great episode. What did you guys think of the infomercial for the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation? I was LOL at the end when Chris and Tom start thanking each other and Chris ends it by saying "Please Call" and everyone on the sets starts laughing as well.

By the way, has anyone picked up the Smallville soundtrack? How is the song selection in it?

 

[Patrick Sun]

It would not surprise me if the writers made the spaceship possess capabilities of the Eradicator (from the current incarnation of the Superman lore), of which I have very little in knowledge on it (I may have to break out the mini-series about Krypton from a decade ago). Perhaps someone who's more familiar with the Eradicator from the current comics continuity can fill us in.

 

[Matthew_Millheiser]

Great, great, GREAT episode!

Something to think about regarding the "conqueror" message from Krypton:

In the current DC Comics iteration of Superman, Krypton was a cold, sterile environment. Kal-El was sent to Earth to save himself from Krypton's explosion, but he wasn't sent with the intention of love, caring, and rule by example. He was sent there because his survival on Earth (with its lesser gravity and yellow sun) would be optimal.

Jor-El didn't exactly say "conquer and rule" either, but the option was always available and perhaps implied. It's not too much of an extrapolation to introduce this element to the Smallville continuity.

So blasphemous my assphemous! It's not Golden Age, Silver Age, or even Movie continuity, but it really shouldn't be; Smallville is making its own vision of the Superman legend which is respectful towards but never insulting of the past.

And this is from a longtime Superman geek. Curt Swan and Eliot S! Maggin are frickin-frackin LEGENDS in my mind, although nobody wrote a better Superman than Alan Moore.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Yeah, I've been thinking "Eradicator" for a few weeks now, though I was sort of imagining it as what Martha was carrying, though the anthropologist (I'm ashamed to say that I've watched enough First Wave to call him "Crazy Eddie") is also a possibility.

As for explaining the Eradicator - near as I can tell, it's a Kryptonian military AI that merges with a subject and often tries to remake its host and surroundings into Krypton. It's been both friend and foe.

 

[Andres Munoz]

God, I almost had an orgasm when I heard the movie theme before the commercial break.
Seeing Christopher Reeves in that same scene just made everything so much cooler.

Great episode. Very cool when the Superman symbol appeared in the cave. Very cool when the episode stars and we see Clark floating! I was like, WTF, when did he learn to do that. But it was a dream.

Awsome that someone finally called Supes by his real name. All in all, I think this is my favorite episode of the series so far.

Neil: I also thought about Goku afterwards. Similar purpose for being sent to Earth and similar end result.

 

[Carlo_M]

Okay, I admit, I have no more than a layman's grasp of Superman mythology but I like the TV show (the girlfriend got me to watch it and I've been hooked ever since).

re: "Rule them with strength my son. That is where your greatness lies."

Everyone is bent on finding out of Clark mistranslated or misinterpreted it. But I have a different theory (sounding like Ian Holm from The Fifth Element).

What if the message is exactly correct as Jor-El wrote it? I mean, if I were him, and I was sending my son to a place where I knew that 1) they were "savages" or "primitives" in comparison with us Kryptonians, and 2) that Kal-El would have all the miraculous powers of Superman, how could I not assume that he wouldn't rule them? This doesn't mean I want my son to be a tyrant or to forcibly subjugate humans. But by nature of the fact that he will be immeasurably strong and fast, have powers beyond their reckoning, and defy gravity, how can I not assume that in time he will be put in a position of power to rule - it's almost Darwinian...so he puts the message to "rule them with strength" - but that can mean many things as well, not just physical strength, but strength of conviction, strength of will, etc.

Just my musings. I don't think it will turn out that Kal-El was sent here to conquer. But I do think the translation is correct as Clark wrote it.

BTW I loved this episode. I'm a geek too.

 

[todd stone]

Even tho it would be kind of neat, I think there would be a huge backlash if they made Clark, evil......

 

[Qui-Gon John]

Nah, he's too good at heart. If he were evil, he'd only be quasi-evil, semi-evil, the Diet Coke of evil just 1 calorie, not evil enough!

 

[Luis Esp]

Definitely thought this was a great episode. What did you guys think of the infomercial for the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation? I was LOL at the end when Chris and Tom start thanking each other and Chris ends it by saying "Please Call" and everyone on the sets starts laughing as well.

I hope they keep this on the eventual dvd release and I would love to see the outakes from this episode as well. It seemed like they were having a great time filming this episode.
From what I've read Christopher Reeve will make a few more appearances on the show before the end of this season.

 

[Moe Maishlish]

Yes, I'm joining this conversation late... I just had a chance to watch the episode and wow!!! Best episode of the series so far!

(where the heck is that smiley with the big eyes popping out and the jaw dropping? Seems very applicable here...)

I was floored! As most of you have stated, when the John Williams cues played, I just had to crack a massive smile and giggle like a schoolgirl. It felt so appropriate, well placed and well timed. Wow!

I thought Chris Reeves did a great job in the episode, and I'm not suprised at all at how natural he fit into the bigger picture. Definately a landmark for the series, and perhaps the mythos in general.

Knowing he'd be on, I was grinning ear-to-ear when Chloe referred to him as "The Man of Tomorrow". I'm surprised no one mentioned it.

As for the whole "rule them"/"conquer them"/"serve & protect them" debate, I'm not about to throw my lot into any corner just yet. Let's see where they take it.

Moe.