Smallville: Infamous

[norwich36]

Just some quick reactions, because I have a bazillion things to do tonight.



I wish I had remembered that Clark had the magic reset button time travel ring, because I spent the first half of the episode terribly anxious about how they were going to fix all this, since obviously he couldn't really go public as himself.

Things I really loved

1. All the Clark-Lois stuff. Oh my god, the revelation scene was just *perfect*. I love that she didn't believe him at first (liquid lunching, hee!) and that her first reaction is that maybe she should stop calling him Smallville. (NEVER, Lois!) And Clark's "you're speechless, that's never a good thing" was great. Though I felt really really bad for her when she found out Lana and Chloe already knew (and even more heartbroken in the scene right before Clark changes history and he tells her he's not going to tell her. Ouch ouch ouch). But continuing my discussion of the revelation scene: I just thought her emotional reactions--from awe to kicking herself for not figuring it out to embarrassment that Clark can see through things--were all so Lois.

And even though Clark is clearly not quite where Lois is, emotionally speaking, I did like his acknowledgment in the revelation scene that she's the best reporter to tell the story too--and him telling her, in the barn scene, that it's *because* she's special that he's not going to tell her the truth. Oh, Clark, Clark, Clark. At least you're consistent: you have to protect your love interest from your secret, it's just now Lois is in the place Lana used to be.

I'm ok with this, though, not only because canonically she can't know yet, but also because we have a whole additional season to get through, so they need to stretch the Lois-Clark romance out for a while. And even though I kind of wanted to bop Clark over the head in that end scene (oh, Clark, you can choose to be happy, really!) and I felt heartbroken for Lois and her denial (I'm following a lead), at least that reinforced that Clark *does* have feelings for her. They better spend a lot of time on this romance next season, though, because it's one of the few things still holding me to the show.

2. Linda Lake: because much as I hated her (and I *really* hated her--I was actually cheering when Davis smothered her, which is not a moral position I like to be in) she was a fantastic villain.

3. The price of time travel: I really liked the continuity here, that in this universe time travel does have a price, and in this case the price was to push Davis further along the pathway toward total takeover by Doomsday. Though actually I thought the real cost was that Chloe is never going to hear Davis make that confession, which is truly tragic. I feel so bad for Davis, since there's obviously nothing he can do to stop this. It's sort of like Lex's whole storyline compressed into one season.

4. The price of heroism: Because although it was very compressed (poor Clark, I wish he'd gotten a little more of the hero worship before he got arrested by Homeland Security) I think the episode did an excellent job showing exactly why Clark needs a secret identity. My favorite part of this, I think, was the teenage girl who threw herself off the balcony so Clark would catch her. Because, c'mon. Who among us (if we were 15) wouldn't try something like that to land in Clark's arms? :-)

Comments

[clari-clyde.livejournal.com]

Clark, I just wanna bop him on the head about Lois. Oh Clark, if only we could take you to the future to see you married to Lois, secrets revealed and all. You too, Lois, you need to come along for this. When Clark talked about how hopeful he felt when he revealed his secret to Lois. Come on Clark, you know you want to. That said, I look forward to seeing how Clark learns that Lois can be trusted after all.

With most villains, I can understand them and a few I even had some empathy for. But Linda Lake, what is it about her? I think it was her glee at ruining people’s lives. I’d have to rewatch the original episode she was in but, I don’t get any motive from her except that she wants to be at the top and she’ll step over anyone to do so. Most other villains, I grok their, “The world is against me, angst!” but not so much from Linda. What I get from Linda is she sees others being less than stellar humans and decides for herself if that’s what it takes, then whatever.

You know, I wish Davis had been a 2+ year arc instead of a half season. I want to really really really love a character before having my heart torn — especially when dealing with a character who, unlike Clark and Lex, has no free will in his destiny.

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

When Clark talked about how hopeful he felt when he revealed his secret to Lois. Come on Clark, you know you want to. That said, I look forward to seeing how Clark learns that Lois can be trusted after all.

I don't think it's trust, I think it's Clark's thing about the toxicity of his secret. (And he didn't even see the worst of it--I mean, Jimmy being turned away from the hospital because Chloe is Clark's friend? Annoying and probably illegal, but also likely to underscore just how dangerous the secret is). But I get your broader point about how this is going to make the REAL reveal--which we damn well better see at the end of next season, or I will bomb the CW--sweeter.

I agree with you about Linda Lake not being an empathetic villain--that's kind of what I liked. Sometimes you're just in the mood for moustache-twirling evil without any shades of gray, you know? (A nice contrast to the Davis arc, really).

Your comment made me realize I should have added another bullet point above: I *love* that the show acknowledged Martha still exists, even if it's in offscreenland.

[cinderella81.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes, yes, and YES!

Linda Lake was a pretty good villain ... but I'm glad Davis knocked her off ...

And I'm glad that they showed the price of time travel ... and that changing one thing changes a whole bunch of other things ...

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

(Sorry for the late reply; I've been out of town all weekend).

Yeah, I'm very happy the time travel had an actual consequence.

[goodvibe.livejournal.com]

//I just thought her emotional reactions--from awe to kicking herself for not figuring it out to embarrassment that Clark can see through things--were all so Lois.//

ITA. And so well played by ED.

//And even though Clark is clearly not quite where Lois is, emotionally speaking, I did like his acknowledgment in the revelation scene that she's the best reporter to tell the story too--and him telling her, in the barn scene, that it's *because* she's special that he's not going to tell her the truth. Oh, Clark, Clark, Clark. At least you're consistent: you have to protect your love interest from your secret, it's just now Lois is in the place Lana used to be.//

That's exactly what I thought too. TW was so great in the ep as well. Often when he didn't even had dialogue, he did a terrific job of conveying all his mixed emotions.

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

(Sorry for the late reply; I've been out of town all weekend).

TW was so great in the ep as well. Often when he didn't even had dialogue, he did a terrific job of conveying all his mixed emotions.

Oh, yes. He was very expressive in all those scenes with Lois, even when he didn't have lines.

[latxcvi.livejournal.com]

Agreed on all counts. The only thing I'd add is to #3: it's not just tragic that Chloe won't ever hear Davis' confession. It's even more tragic that Clark won't, because if he knew before it was too late to do anything about it, it could potentially prevent that whole World Without a Superman period that's looming in the characters' future. I actually wanted to bop Clark during the barn scene when he put the ring on while Lois was trying to tell him something important about a phone message Chloe just left. It was like, "Clark! It's not going to hurt anything for you to wait the, what, ten seconds it would take Lois to finish that sentence!" It was especially frustrating to me because Clark should know by now, based on experience, that he remembers whatever happens to him and whatever knowledge he gains whenever he traipses through an alternate timeline. Lois was obviously saying something important ("I just got a voicemail from Chloe ...") AND Lois had just told him that she wasn't going to try to stop him from doing what he felt he needed to do. So obviously what she needed to say was significant, but it also wasn't going to be geared towards trying to get him to change his mind. It drove me nuts that Clark didn't even try to hear her out!

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

I know. That about drove me batty. What, Clark, you couldn't wait 5 seconds? That was a bit rude, not to mention short-sighted, and will not serve you well. *sigh*

[suex.livejournal.com]

AND Lois had just told him that she wasn't going to try to stop him from doing what he felt he needed to do. So obviously what she needed to say was significant, but it also wasn't going to be geared towards trying to get him to change his mind. It drove me nuts that Clark didn't even try to hear her out!

Maybe that's why Clark didn't hang around to hear Lois out, though. Knowing too much about one's future can cause serious consequences. He wanted to get the heck out of dodge as soon as possible.

I know they didn't really show us that he was thinking along those lines, but given the show's neverending time constraints in trying to fit everything in to one episode, its a plausible explanation along with them not really wanting Clark to know that Davis is Doomsday.

[suex.livejournal.com]

I just rewatched the episode again, and I think Clark took off so quickly because he thought that Lois was going to tell him about another misfortunate predicament that Chloe had found herself in as a consequence of being his best friend. He wanted to go back asap to make things right.

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

(Sorry for the late reply; I've been out of town all weekend).

I definitely agree with you that it's tragic he won't be able to prevent what's coming--I just have a hard time holding Clark accountable for not waiting on Lois when it so obviously seemed to me to be a plot contrivance. (I mean, I know canon means accepting what is on the screen, but since there didn't seem to be an organic character reason why he *wouldn't* wait ten seconds to hear what Lois had to say, I have a hard time blaming Clark for it.)