norwich36 | Smallville 7.6 "Lara"

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Smallville 7.6 "Lara"

Overall I liked it, though I don't think I loved it. Oddly enough, I was more interested in some of the future plotlines the episode seems to be setting up than the revelations about Lara, which really surprised me.

Things I liked

--Lana's plotline, which continues to thicken. I wonder if the Isis foundation is doing any good whatsoever, or is it just a front for Lana's spygames? Even though the the Chloe-Lana interaction made me a little fearful about the future of the Chlana doomed! doomed by secrets and lies and obsession, alas! , I was very happy that Chloe was smart enough not to reveal her secret to Lana, and that she was able to tell that Lana was concealing the truth about something. And Lana has gotten very deft with the "I can't tell Clark, he's so overprotective" excuse.

--Kara's attempts at being stealthy. What can I say, I was amused by her attempt to seduce the information out of the Homeland Security guy, even though in the end she was not particularly subtle.

--Kara and Jimmy, who continue to be very cute. Though Kara really has to stop using Clark's signature vanishing move (just like she really has to stop moping in midair and putting planes at risk).

--Chloe, for being brave and trying to get help with her meteor affliction. And I don't blame her at all for not telling Lana why she was really there; it may have been a failure of courage on her part, but it's going to turn out to be a very wise decision, I'm sure.

--Lex, who was pretty convincingly badass in that opening scene with Agent Carter. Apparently he does have real power; not only is he effectively hiding his projects from Lionel, but he can waltz into highly secured Homeland Security sites without permission, and have agents fired at will. Well, that won't be necessary now, but it was still very Luthorian. And I liked his attempt to come to Kara's rescue, not only with Carter but in his lies to his dad.

--Agent Carter. Sure, he was doomed once he found out Clark's secret, but damn! Those Kryptonite cuffs (and his eagerness to use them) were pretty impressive, and even more so was his acquisition and improvement of Summerholt technology. It's really too bad he's dead, because he was a great villain.

Things that made me go "huh?"

--What's with all the weird platitudes Lionel is spouting to everyone? "In its darkest hour the soul is replenished?" Come on, Lionel, you can do better than that. And that scene with Lex again makes me wonder what the hell his true motives are. His schizophrenic attitude about Lex (cautioning him at the same time he condemns him) seems to make even less sense than normal, if his goal is to worm his way into Lex's confidences again.

I did like that he pointed out the obvious, though, that everyone Lex goes after is connected somehow to Clark. It's like they remembered some people watch this show for the subtext, ro something.

--The whole Lara plotline. Um, yes, it makes sense that we find out more about her because Kara knew her, and it was interesting to get the backstory about why exactly Zor-El hated Jor-El, but a love triangle? SERIOUSLY? Could they possibly come up with something more cliched? Oh, yeah, how about having Lara visit the Kent farm. Because honestly, ALL OF KRYPTON visited the Kent farm at some point--and soon we will get flashbacks of that, too.

Ok, despite my totally inability to suspend disbelief on that point, I did think Lara was lovely, and I kind of sort of even liked the idea that she knew the plan and wanted to see where her son would grow up--but honestly? This seemed like so much overkill it kind of spoiled the Lara memories from "Memoria" from me. It was better, for me, just having hints of her. The only thing that may redeem this plotline for me is the "Lara's DNA" plotline. My God, the fact that CLARK STOLE IT and HE TALKED ABOUT WANTING TO SEE HER AGAIN SOMEDAY makes me think of really crazy but fun plotlines--is Clark going to try to clone his mom? That would of course be ~~completely awesome~~ the most whacked-out plotline ever. If anything, I think Lana and/or Lex is going to get their hands on the DNA, make the clone, and insert Brainiac's brain in it or something of the sort.

--Lionel gets Clarkhugs? Seriously? I was very glad, though, that Clark didn't spill Kara's secret to Lionel. At least he still has a little caution.

--Kara gets to name Kal-El? Oh, please.

--I really didn't like the CGI for Krypton. It reminded me of bad early Star Trek sets, sorry.

So basically, I probably hated all the things we were supposed to like most about this episode, because it seemed like way too much retcon for one episode. If they had spread out the Lara revelations over a longer period, maybe I wouldn't have had such a negative reaction?

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--Lana's plotline, which continues to thicken. I wonder if the Isis foundation is doing any good whatsoever, or is it just a front for Lana's spygames?

I imagine it's a mixture of both. Lana being community-service minded goes back to the very first season, so it's not out of character that she'd want to help... but that back room with its spy cameras is a huge part of it, too. The two sides of Lana Lang-Luthor.

--Kara and Jimmy, who continue to be very cute.

Aren't they? They're pinging all over for me. I loved that Kara was so sincere in apologizing to Jimmy, and that he was so sincere in accepting it. Oh, help me, I think I'm starting to ship them!

--Agent Carter. Sure, he was doomed once he found out Clark's secret, but damn! Those Kryptonite cuffs (and his eagerness to use them) were pretty impressive, and even more so was his acquisition and improvement of Summerholt technology.

I loved the continuity on the Summerholt stuff. They do watch their own show!

--And that scene with Lex again makes me wonder what the hell his true motives are. His schizophrenic attitude about Lex (cautioning him at the same time he condemns him) seems to make even less sense than normal, if his goal is to worm his way into Lex's confidences again.

I find it very interesting that that dual approach — cautioning him and condemning him — is a very old pattern with Lex, and it's exactly the approach he took with Lana last week. So... is Lana a Luthor in Lionel's book?

I did like that he pointed out the obvious, though, that everyone Lex goes after is connected somehow to Clark.

I LOVED that moment. Talk about making it canon.

--The whole Lara plotline. Um, yes, it makes sense that we find out more about her because Kara knew her, and it was interesting to get the backstory about why exactly Zor-El hated Jor-El, but a love triangle? SERIOUSLY?

My problem with the love-triangle was the cloning thing. They were obviously paralleling Zor-El and Lex, and their cloning the woman they loved without her knowledge. Which made Clark so proudly showing the crystal with Lara's DNA to Lana just so... weird to me.

but honestly? This seemed like so much overkill it kind of spoiled the Lara memories from "Memoria" from me. It was better, for me, just having hints of her.

I agree. It just fell... emotionally flat to me. I felt like the whole thing should have been so sweet and moving and it just... wasn't. When compared with Memoria, there wasn't any heart there.

My God, the fact that CLARK STOLE IT and HE TALKED ABOUT WANTING TO SEE HER AGAIN SOMEDAY makes me think of really crazy but fun plotlines--is Clark going to try to clone his mom? That would of course be completely awesome the most whacked-out plotline ever.

I'm hoping that the crystal is going to get inserted into the Fortress somewhere, and infuse the place with Lara's sensibility as well as Jor-El's. That place needs a woman's touch. :-)

I imagine it's a mixture of both. Lana being community-service minded goes back to the very first season, so it's not out of character that she'd want to help... but that back room with its spy cameras is a huge part of it, too. The two sides of Lana Lang-Luthor.

I definitely agree that explanation works symbolically--I just think emotionally I was pretty creeped out that she's using a charitable foundation as a front to spy on Lex. It really does make me doubt her motives.

I loved the continuity on the Summerholt stuff. They do watch their own show!
I hear that every time Smallville actually demonstrates continuity, in some alternate universe Clark Kent finally takes up the cape. Or something like that.

My problem with the love-triangle was the cloning thing. They were obviously paralleling Zor-El and Lex, and their cloning the woman they loved without her knowledge. Which made Clark so proudly showing the crystal with Lara's DNA to Lana just so... weird to me.

Normally parallelism in this show intrigues me enough that I can overlook its often negative affect on plotting and characterization, but for some reason I just couldn't, here. Perhaps because I'm just not invested enough in the Lara/Zor-El backstory? Maybe if they had built up this revelation slowly over several episodes I'd have had a different reaction.

And the parallelism does get more than a little creepy since Clark gets the DNA. (Hah. Maybe somewhere in the barn he has Lana's fetus in a jar, too, and it wasn't really a fake pregnancy after all. DUM DUM DUM.) Though I like your suggestion about infusing the Fortress with Lara's essence.

My problem with the love-triangle was the cloning thing. They were obviously paralleling Zor-El and Lex, and their cloning the woman they loved without her knowledge. Which made Clark so proudly showing the crystal with Lara's DNA to Lana just so... weird to me.

I know what you mean because I felt that same twinge of "buh?", but I'm pretty sure we're supposed to think Clark doesn't actually know why Lana's DNA was all over the explosion site. So maybe Clark doesn't see how ... bizarre it was to so proudly display something like that to Lana even if I can see it. It was odd, though. So many other aspects of the screenplay respected prior canon, you'd think the creative team would have realized what an odd and, frankly, insensitive thing that was of Clark to do IF he actually knows the full story of how Lana faked her death.

--Kara gets to name Kal-El? Oh, please.

--I really didn't like the CGI for Krypton. It reminded me of bad early Star Trek sets, sorry.

Yeah, lots of non sequitors: "Name him Kal-El, then whenever he looks up into the sky, he'll think of us" wt-royal-f? As if 'Kal-El' means 'You're not a meteor-freak, you're an alien, so look up and smile for the camera!"

As if 'Kal-El' means 'You're not a meteor-freak, you're an alien, so look up and smile for the camera!"

Hee hee hee! Though I suppose Kal-El might mean "star" or something? (I'm expecting people with comic book knowledge to jump in here and inform us.)

Good idea!
I'll begin a thread on K-Site in the comix section, to let the fanboys and -girls answer, perhaps!

Though I suppose Kal-El might mean "star" or something?

"Kal" is, from what I understand, very close to the Hebrew word for "light," and in Hebrew, the suffix "el" means "of God". (See also the Influences subchapter of the Superman Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kal-El#Influences)). So, loosely translated from an existing Earth language, "Kal-El" means "light of God," but I inferred from Kara's argument for the name that "Kal" means "star" in Kryptonian (since the 'el' presumably comes from the house name).

Is Clark going to try to clone his mom?

I'm iffy about this, because wasn't Clark listening in the memory about Lara not wanting to be a science experiment?

Yeah, I'm sure he did--but why the hell else did he steal the Mom dildo? Regardless of his reason, it seems a little creepy to me!

Huh. I just joked about Hawkman, but... the guy's name is Agent Carter, which I didn't really notice until I saw it written here. And his project is called Starhawk. That's an odd coincidence. (Hawkman's civilian identity varies according to continuity, but it's Katar Hol in the egyptian origin and Carter Hall in Golden Age, and he's an alien sometimes so --> hawk from the stars.) Is he really dead?

If anything, I think Lana and/or Lex is going to get their hands on the DNA, make the clone, and insert Brainiac's brain in it or something of the sort.
I think if Smallville did this I would reach a state of Zen.

Oh, was Hawkman's actual name Carter? For some reason I thought that name was a sort of backhanded X-files references.

I think if Smallville did this I would reach a state of Zen.

It really would be a kickass plot development.

--What's with all the weird platitudes Lionel is spouting to everyone? "In its darkest hour the soul is replenished?" Come on, Lionel, you can do better than that. And that scene with Lex again makes me wonder what the hell his true motives are. His schizophrenic attitude about Lex (cautioning him at the same time he condemns him) seems to make even less sense than normal, if his goal is to worm his way into Lex's confidences again.

That scene actually encapsulated, perfectly, why I so often want to punch Lionel in the face and why I also don't buy it that he's really one of the 'good guys' now. Unless and until he accepts his role in Lex's creation, I honestly cannot abide his carrying on about how terrible Lex has turned out; and no one who was good or striving to be would be as regularly hateful towards someone else as Lionel to Lex whenever he swoops in to tell Lex what an awful person he is. And yes, I realize that Lex is a shady mofo, but Lionel had a GIANT HONKIN' HAND in him turning out that way. So every time Lionel tries to act as though he somehow bears no culpability for Lex's moral compass (or lack of one), it makes me, well, want to punch him in the face. And I actually cheered when Lex cut Lionel off at the knees when Luthor, Sr. tried to get on his high horse about Lex's treatment of Lana by bringing up Lionel's treatment of Lillian, then rewound that part of the scene and watched it so I could cheer again. Did that shovel to the face give Lionel selective amnesia about the fact that he extorted Lana into a marriage with Lex? 'Cause I'm not seeing how forcing someone into a marriage she doesn't want ranks high up there on the morally righteous scale. Every time Lionel starts in with Lex, since about Vessel, he just makes me think, "Old man? When Lex hauls off and slits your throat where you stand, you're going to have it coming."

Whew. Sorry about the rantlet, but Lionel lecturing Lex about his moral failures just raises my hackles something fierce. And it's not even that I think Lex shouldn't be lectured about his moral failures, because I totally think he should be. I just don't think Lionel "I'm A Moral Pygmy, Ask Me How" Luthor gets to be the one who does it!!!

Anyway, my reactions to this one were largely the same as yours. I wanted to love the Lara stuff, but it fell really flat to me, emotionally. And I hate with the fire of a thousand Kryptonian suns the Jor-El/Lara/Zor-El triangle. God forbid any of the men on this show actually be in opposition to each other because of vastly differing world views. Who would have ever imagined that it would fall to Clark/Lana to illustrate how differing moral philosophies could tear a relationship apart?

Farewell, Agent Carter, we barely knew you. Although Lex having him fired Just Because was deeply awesome.

That scene actually encapsulated, perfectly, why I so often want to punch Lionel in the face and why I also don't buy it that he's really one of the 'good guys' now.

I think my tolerance for Lionel being a total bastard to Lex is much higher than yours, but I too wanted to punch him in the face, here. Or stick him back in Lana's bear trap, or something. And like you, I also cheered when Lex brought up Lionel's treatment of Lillian, because YES. At least Lex only caused his ex to go crazy enough to fake her own death, not to kill her own son. (Not that I'm giving Lillian a moral pass on that, but I'm sure Lionel made her feel so trapped she didn't see other options).

Though I'm thinking the appropriate way for Lex to murder Lionel is suffocation (symbolic of their whole relationship AND a callback to Julian's death) rather than throat-slitting.

Having Lionel be the one to lecture Lex on his moral failings pretty much ensures that he won't listen, of course, which may be the writer's point, but it's still infuriating to listen to.

I did like the way Lex called Lionel on his attempt to replace Lex with Clark. Maybe that's the real parallel of the Zor-El/Lara thing? That Clark has all these psychos competing to be his dad? And for some reason that Lionel-Lex scene is making me think of Cain and Abel, but in this case Cain, with his insufficient offering, isn't going to kill Abel, he's actually going to kill God. (Which certainly fits Lionel's hubris, setting himself up as the creator and divine judge of Lex, and also possibly Lex's hubris as being the one to destroy the false God. Which only anticipates his lifelong quest to destroy that other false God, Kal-El, whose Hebrew name as you pointed out above suggests an emanation of God, and whose lifestory in the comics and SV has both Moses and Christ parallels).

God forbid any of the men on this show actually be in opposition to each other because of vastly differing world views. Who would have ever imagined that it would fall to Clark/Lana to illustrate how differing moral philosophies could tear a relationship apart?

Oh, that was what was most infuriating, I thought. They could have done such interesting things with the Zor-El/Jor-El conflict. I mean, we know a little about the different philosophies of Jor-El and Zod, but what if Zor-El had been somewhere in the middle? Or not necessarily in the middle, but opposed to Zod but disagreeing with Jor-El's methods, or his science, or his creation of the Brain Interactive Construct, or anything other than "you stole my girl, oh noes, I hate you forever now."

Much as I'm loving Lana and Lana's whole plotline this season, I think the idea that Lana's moral/philosophical stance is more interesting and gripping than canonical comic Kryptonian characters? CANNOT be a good thing.

*Kicks the writers*

What's with all the weird platitudes Lionel is spouting to everyone? "In its darkest hour the soul is replenished?" Come on, Lionel, you can do better than that.
*lmao* This is true. They're pretty lame. And yeah he's definitely a bit schiz with Lex at the moment. NO clue there.

Could they possibly come up with something more cliched? Oh, yeah, how about having Lara visit the Kent farm. Because honestly, ALL OF KRYPTON visited the Kent farm at some point--and soon we will get flashbacks of that, too.
:D It's all pretty daft isn't it. Too soap opera-y for me. I think the actress really didn't sell those scenes well enough for me.

the most whacked-out plotline ever
I REALLY THINK HE'S GOING TO DO IT. I just hope he asks Lex to help! *dies of laughter* The show's flipped over into crack again...

Lionel gets Clarkhugs? Seriously?
Surprised me too.

--Kara gets to name Kal-El? Oh, please.
Yeah too much.

It was the costuming that really made me laugh in the Krypton scenes. But they're kinda canon I guess.

It's all pretty daft isn't it. Too soap opera-y for me. I think the actress really didn't sell those scenes well enough for me.

Yeah, she wasn't a great actress, but I honestly don't know who could have done anything with that storyline. Like LaT said above, couldn't they have made the conflict between Jor-El and Zor-El philosophical or political or something? *Sighs*

I REALLY THINK HE'S GOING TO DO IT. I just hope he asks Lex to help! *dies of laughter* The show's flipped over into crack again...
Well, at least it's the amusing crack! And it would actually rock if he got Lex to help him, so of course he won't.

couldn't they have made the conflict between Jor-El and Zor-El philosophical or political or something? *Sighs*
Somehow that's what I'd (naively) expected. That would have been SO much better!

And it would actually rock if he got Lex to help him, so of course he won't.
Yeah. :( But at least they'll give us potential for a futurefic where Superman calls Lex out on cloning Kal and Lex replies 'yeah, still cooler than cloning your MOM!'

But at least they'll give us potential for a futurefic where Superman calls Lex out on cloning Kal and Lex replies 'yeah, still cooler than cloning your MOM!'

LOL! Though come on, if Lex could get his hands on Lillian's DNA you know he'd totally do it too.

Oh definitely! Thus rendering that argument even more hilarious! They should both clone their mothers and be done with it.

What's with all the weird platitudes Lionel is spouting to everyone? "In its darkest hour the soul is replenished?" Come on, Lionel, you can do better than that.

Is it just me, or does Lionel seem to be stepping into Jonathan Kent's place (and wouldn't he be horrified?). I mean, platitudes, condemnation of Lex, protection of Clark... and did I see Clark hugging him? Surely I was hallucinating that?

Oh, yeah, how about having Lara visit the Kent farm. Because honestly, ALL OF KRYPTON visited the Kent farm at some point--and soon we will get flashbacks of that, too.

This, I still do not understand in the slightest. How did they all just pop over there, when ... wasn't it in the first scene of the ep where Kara and Zor-El are talking about how it takes three years to get to Earth? Or am I misremembering? WTF?

Also, I'm not liking the Clark lying to Kara/stealing the crystal revelation. It just feels off.

All that makes it sound like I didn't like the episode. I did like some things; I liked Kara & Jimmy, I liked Chloe being smart, and Lana continuing to be morally dubious, and I liked the Lex and Clark scene, and Lex trying to protect Kara. But there was some major weirdness in this episode.

Is it just me, or does Lionel seem to be stepping into Jonathan Kent's place (and wouldn't he be horrified?). I mean, platitudes, condemnation of Lex, protection of Clark... and did I see Clark hugging him? Surely I was hallucinating that?

Unfortunately you were not hallucinating. And yeah, the idea of Lionel taking Jonathan's place is the creepiest thing ever.

How did they all just pop over there, when ... wasn't it in the first scene of the ep where Kara and Zor-El are talking about how it takes three years to get to Earth?

No, they mentioned that there were portals, just that all but one of them had been closed off.

Honestly, considering the crystal has his mom's DNA, I think Clark has more of a right to it than Kara, but him stealing it still is a little disturbing.

While I agree that Clark cloning his mother would be an amusing storyline I really *don't* want to see it, simply because it is absolutely the last thing Clark or Superman should ever consider doing. It's CRAZY. Clark is not crazy and I don't want him to ever be crazy. The gleam in his eyes when he was holding the Mom Dildo *totally freaked me out*. PUT THE CRYSTAL DOWN, CLARK, AND BACK AWAY SLOWLY.

Yeah, it would definitely not be a Supermanly thing to do. I don't actually *think* they meant to imply that's what he was going to do, either--I suspect if anything they're setting us up for Lana to do it (thinking she's doing Clark a favor) or Clark to insert the crystal into the Fortress so his mom is there too (as huzzlewhat suggests above).

Though the fact that a bunch of us even think Clark would contemplate cloning his mom suggests they need to be a little more careful with their crackheaded writing!

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Smallville 7.6 "Lara"

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