Smallville - Season 7 thread (1 Viewer)

[Inspector Hammer!]

Yeah I hear you, Jason, I guess that my mind thinks of Lex as the crutch of the show, when all else is bad at least Rosenbaum will make it good. Now I must get used to the idea of him not being there to save episodes.

But if this will force Millar and Gough into allowing Clark to FINALLY grow up and become Supes than i'm all for it, heck i'm all for anything that will allow that to happen.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I had more trouble with that stupid basketball game, and it turns out it's because the CW switched stations on me. It used to be on KTXA, but it's now down the dial on KDAF. Craziness. So, I have a series recording set up, but it still didn't know about the episode tomorrow. I have to do that one on manual record.

 

[Mikah Cerucco]

It's strange to me that folks have such a deep expectation for Clark to become Superman when the show clearly tells you what it's about -- his years in Smallville as Clark -- before he becomes Superman.

 

[todd s]

Mikah. Its because we have had 7 years of him in Smallville. And its time to move on. And its not neccessarilly being in the suit and being Superman. Its about him finally stopping the moping about Lana. And getting off the farm. And he has been called on it numerous times by Ollie and even Pete.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I don't think my expectations are too out of line with what the show's producers have been hinting at for years. The early years of Smallville were great because they put us in Clark's shoes -- what would it be like being a teenager and discovering you were different? It was exciting to see how the different pieces of the puzzle came together, but it's starting to feel over the past couple years that there's been less of that. As Clark matures as a person, and as his powers grow and he understands them, his heritage, and his purpose more, he needs to act on that.

What can be a little frustrating sometimes to me is that we'll see what Clark is capable of, and he'll acknowledge his powers, but he's still kicking around Smallville doing nothing, except maybe rescuing his friends repeatedly. Not that that's not entertaining... it's just that the character growth has come to a bit of a halt.

But in some ways I'm sure that's intentional... there was that episode either earlier this season or at some point last season (I don't remember exactly which one offhand) where at the end of it, we see a shot of a red blanket or cape blowing in the wind against the farm's fencing, and we see Clark walking away from it, going back towards the house. If that's not symbolism for Clark ignoring his duties and choosing to try to live a normal life in spite of his gifts and the responsibilities that have been given to him, I don't know what is.

And all of that is well and fine as long as it serves to continue the character development and make a compelling show worth tuning into week to week. But I've said it before, the problem a show like Smallville faces is that they know where they have to end up... but they don't know how long they have to get there. If you're the producer, you don't want to get him set on the final stages of his journey to becoming Superman if you're getting renewed for more seasons. The ending (that Clark becomes Superman, our greatest protector) isn't negotiable, only the journey to get to that point. And it seems like they take detours that sometimes don't contribute to anything but just serve to prolong the life of the show. It doesn't feel like the characters are taking detours in life and finding their way; it feels like the producers are stalling.

I've said it before, I think the best thing for the show is for them to have a set end date. They've been picked up for Season 8; I think it will be a much better season if they go into it with the idea that it's the last one. That allows them to decide before they even begin production on episode 801 what they want the ending to be, and gives them a chance to work backwards to create what could be something great.

Do I expect to see Tom Welling as Superman? No, and that's not really what I'm going for. But the Fortress has been there since the very end of Season 4 I believe, and there's been talk of the training he needs to have, yet it never seems to get there. He avoided his training in Season 5, which led him making some giant mistakes and the Fortress nearly being destroyed. In Season 6, he's given the tools needed to fix the Fortress and he's told that his mission should be to repair it and get his training. He can't do that right away because he needs to use that Kryptonian "S" shield thingy to round up all of the escaped Phantom Zone prisoners, and I fully expected that to be resolved at the end of Season 6 or first episode of Season 7, and then for Clark to finally head up there and begin that training, but that hasn't happened either. It's just time, already... there's not much else left either for him or for us as an audience.

Right now in this show, Clark has two identities. That of Clark Kent, resident of Smallville, all around good guy, with a secret he's afraid to share for fear of people he cares about being put in harm's way, and a desire to protect those he cares most about, and those that he would consider to be innocent and in need of help. Then there's Kal-El, the last son of Krypton, sent to Earth with a mission, a purpose. It's time for him to go to the Fortress and begin his training, and to understand how to combine the most important parts of both of those identities to become Superman.

I agree that the show is called Smallville for a reason, that it's about the years before he becomes Superman, and that it would be unreasonable to expect a dramatic shift from that premise. But Clark doesn't really have a reason to be in Smallville anymore, at least not a good reason that the producers have set up, and when that becomes the case, it's time to move on. At it's heart, the one of the greater themes of Smallville is destiny: it's time for Clark to continue on his journey to becoming the person and hero he was born to be.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

As i've said countless times in the past, i'm not expecting anything as radical as Clark in the suit for the entire season i'm only asking for 10-15 seconds at the end of the final episode of the series.

Not too unreasonable IMO.

It's simple, camera starts at the base of his flowing cape, pans around his body ending up at his eye with Metropolis reflected in his pupil, he hears a woman scream for help and then he flies off at supersonic speed towards the city...fade to black...the end.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Finally, a more epic-y mythology-ish episode that didn't bore us with the soapiness that a few of the past episodes have been.

Lex is one cold-blooded bastiche with his execution orders at the end. Didn't think Gina Holden was going to be one-n-done. Boo!

Still leaning towards Lionel being conflictedly good, but Clark is going to be on-alert for the time being.

Nice to see the gals being pro-active and carrying the day as Clark was rotted in his K-age.

 

[Greg_S_H]

It was good just for Chloe in the fortress. That was nice.

Smallville just has to be dark for dark's sake. They could have had Swann be a new ally for Clark, but they always have to kill people off.

I looked her up for inclusion in the Redheads thread, and saw graphic evidence that she was in The L Word. Kids, don't search for Gina Holden pics!

 

[Mikah Cerucco]

Specifically how should I not search for those pics?

 

[Greg_S_H]

Well, to be honest, there weren't many pictures that I found. Really just one shot of her topless with another girl embracing her from behind. I found it by doing a Yahoo! image search on "Gina Holden."

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Yeah it's JUST that.

I honestly don't know what to make of Lional right now, just when you start to think he's okay he goes and does something suspicious and twisted. Regardless I love how Clark didn't fall for his excuses again when he confronted him in his office at the end.

"I'm a changed man."

"No your not."



That military nutcase who was torturing Clark reminded me a lot of Jesse Bradford's character in the season 3 episode Extinction, he too made it his mission to seek out and kill all meteor freaks.

I'm also disappointed that Swann got killed off so soon, I thought she might be the one to set Clark on his path and make him see that he's there to do good for the world.

A small observation, I never get tired of seeing Clark push nails into wood with his bare hands lol.

 

[Jason_V]

Even good Smallville is feeling like sub-par Smallville to me now. The whole reveal that the Queen's (Ollie's parents), Swann (Christopher Reeve), the Teague's (Jason's father) and Lionel were in cahoots is entirely too convenient for my taste. All to "protect" the Traveler. Alright, feed me another line.

Seeing Kara kick some ass was cool, though, considering I'm not a Kara fan at all.

 

[todd s]

Josh. You mean this?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The last time I watched, Kara showed up all memory shot in the ass in (I believe) Detroit. None of the previews I've seen since then have inspired me to go back and catch up.

So I thought I'd ask you guys: Of the episodes that have aired since then, which ones are worth watching?

 

[Greg_S_H]

Maybe the latest one. The others haven't been all that spectacular.

Another reason you might want to watch the latest is that it guest-starred Chief Tyrol.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Yep, that's the one!

 

[Qui-Gon John]

Is there a new episode next week or is this on a break too, like LOST?

 

[Greg_S_H]

It's a new one.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

You know what's funny, i'm watching season 6 again right now at work (well I was until my portable died on me today :frowning and the other day I watched an ep where Clark tells his mom at the end how he wants to train with Jor-El and fulfill his destiny but must hunt down the phantoms first.

And here it is almost a whole season later and he still hasn't done a damn thing lol.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Sooo looking foreward to tomorrows ep! Kara teaches Clark how to fly!!

It's about f***ing time is all I gotta say.