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Smallville 6.12 Labyrinth
I didn't expect to like this episode, but I actually liked it very much.
I hated this episode when Buffy did it, but somehow I enjoyed it more on SV. Maybe it was the chance to see what Smallville would have been like if Clark didn't have powers, and the meteor freaks weren't real? Though I'm unsure to what extent we were supposed to see this as a real au without SuperClark and to what extent it was a projection of his desires/fantasies/expectations as manipulated by the Zoner. I assume mostly the latter, but the very fact that the Zoner thought these scenarios would be plausible to Clark says some interesting things about Clark's expectations about the people in his life.
I have to admit it: I *loved* the Clana in this. Ok, not the ending where we're set up for more of the Clexana triangle stuff--I'm pretty bored with that--but the Clana as it was presented in the alternate world: Clark and Lana together since kindergarten, and that adorable engagement ring from the bubble gum machine. Lana was sweet and charming and the idea of her patiently waiting for Clark to get better was heartbreaking and somewhat endearing. (If I were her friend, I would have told her to move on--but it's nice to see what Clark's idealized Lana looks like. It goes a long way to explaining why Clark is still in love with her).
The other AU characterizations were also interesting to watch. Does Clark actually think Chloe would go crazy without conspiracies to investigate and truths to uncover? Was he just creating an ally for himself that was plausible, given that he knows about her mother's mental illness? Or did the Zoner manipulate all of the reality in this? I actually kind of liked crazy Chloe--in some ways she was disturbingly plausible--and it's interesting that both Lana and Chloe are shown as being faithful to Clark in their own way in this episode. I sppreciated the fact that Clark didn't tell Chloe she went insane and died, though.
Chloe getting shot is not foreshadowing, Chloe getting shot is not foreshadowing, Chloe getting shot is not foreshadowing. Chloe going crazy is not foreshadowing, etc. Pardon my paranoia. The last episode that played with Clark's mind, Splinter, had tons of foreshadowing, and I'm refusing to go there. *Puts fingers in ears, says lalalalala I'm not listening.*
It was also kind of fun getting to see Lex as legitimately wronged by Clark. I thought it was telling how much Clark seems to define himself by saving Lex, and finding out the "reality" of what happened to Lex was the thing that really shook his foundational sense of himself and question whether what he believed was really true. I also thought it was interesting that even in the alternate world, Lex is mad because Lionel placed Clark's interests above his own. That's the sort of thing that really makes me wonder how much this scenario is supposed to be out of Clark's head. Most of it, I would think, since the Zoner was manipulating his mind--does this mean Clark is *aware* of how Lionel is deliberately making Lex jealous of his relationship with Clark?
Despite the evil triangleness of it, I did like that final scene with CLark, Lex, and Lana in the Talon for one reason: it's the first time Clark and Lex have been in the same room and been civil to each other in, what, ten episodes or more?
I only have one complaint about this episode: not enough MIONEL. Dammit, it's completely and totally unfair that in the alternate reality Lionel and Martha are actually married and yet Lionel isn't even IN the episode! Since I am completely sure the Mionel isn't going to ever be consummated in the real world, I wanted at least a Mionel kiss or something in the alternate reality.
Oh, I forgot the funny bits. I think my favorite is that Jorel is an antibacterial soap! Hee hee hee hee!
That completely cracked me up.
I also really, really loved Martian Manhunter in this--I just wish we'd gotten a little more interaction between him and Clark. I mean, shouldn't Clark get to have an actual conversation with the older alien with his own superpowers? They could bond and stuff! I hope they bring him back in future episodes.
I hated this episode when Buffy did it, but somehow I enjoyed it more on SV. Maybe it was the chance to see what Smallville would have been like if Clark didn't have powers, and the meteor freaks weren't real? Though I'm unsure to what extent we were supposed to see this as a real au without SuperClark and to what extent it was a projection of his desires/fantasies/expectations as manipulated by the Zoner. I assume mostly the latter, but the very fact that the Zoner thought these scenarios would be plausible to Clark says some interesting things about Clark's expectations about the people in his life.
I have to admit it: I *loved* the Clana in this. Ok, not the ending where we're set up for more of the Clexana triangle stuff--I'm pretty bored with that--but the Clana as it was presented in the alternate world: Clark and Lana together since kindergarten, and that adorable engagement ring from the bubble gum machine. Lana was sweet and charming and the idea of her patiently waiting for Clark to get better was heartbreaking and somewhat endearing. (If I were her friend, I would have told her to move on--but it's nice to see what Clark's idealized Lana looks like. It goes a long way to explaining why Clark is still in love with her).
The other AU characterizations were also interesting to watch. Does Clark actually think Chloe would go crazy without conspiracies to investigate and truths to uncover? Was he just creating an ally for himself that was plausible, given that he knows about her mother's mental illness? Or did the Zoner manipulate all of the reality in this? I actually kind of liked crazy Chloe--in some ways she was disturbingly plausible--and it's interesting that both Lana and Chloe are shown as being faithful to Clark in their own way in this episode. I sppreciated the fact that Clark didn't tell Chloe she went insane and died, though.
Chloe getting shot is not foreshadowing, Chloe getting shot is not foreshadowing, Chloe getting shot is not foreshadowing. Chloe going crazy is not foreshadowing, etc. Pardon my paranoia. The last episode that played with Clark's mind, Splinter, had tons of foreshadowing, and I'm refusing to go there. *Puts fingers in ears, says lalalalala I'm not listening.*
It was also kind of fun getting to see Lex as legitimately wronged by Clark. I thought it was telling how much Clark seems to define himself by saving Lex, and finding out the "reality" of what happened to Lex was the thing that really shook his foundational sense of himself and question whether what he believed was really true. I also thought it was interesting that even in the alternate world, Lex is mad because Lionel placed Clark's interests above his own. That's the sort of thing that really makes me wonder how much this scenario is supposed to be out of Clark's head. Most of it, I would think, since the Zoner was manipulating his mind--does this mean Clark is *aware* of how Lionel is deliberately making Lex jealous of his relationship with Clark?
Despite the evil triangleness of it, I did like that final scene with CLark, Lex, and Lana in the Talon for one reason: it's the first time Clark and Lex have been in the same room and been civil to each other in, what, ten episodes or more?
I only have one complaint about this episode: not enough MIONEL. Dammit, it's completely and totally unfair that in the alternate reality Lionel and Martha are actually married and yet Lionel isn't even IN the episode! Since I am completely sure the Mionel isn't going to ever be consummated in the real world, I wanted at least a Mionel kiss or something in the alternate reality.
Oh, I forgot the funny bits. I think my favorite is that Jorel is an antibacterial soap! Hee hee hee hee!
That completely cracked me up.
I also really, really loved Martian Manhunter in this--I just wish we'd gotten a little more interaction between him and Clark. I mean, shouldn't Clark get to have an actual conversation with the older alien with his own superpowers? They could bond and stuff! I hope they bring him back in future episodes.
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http://serrico.livejournal.com/422400.html (Spoilers for SPN beneath SV review)
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As for the AU aspects of it, maybe you could consider it an outsider’s perspective on Clark’s psyche and circle of friends? Clark was the sole architect of “Sliver” and “Nightmare” but this feels different — things Clark would notice and maybe entertain but not fixate too much on. For example, Clark would notice the history of mental illness in Chloe but, it’s not going to be as important to him as the facts that she’s made a deal with Lionel. Clark wants Lana to be patient, but he’s hyper-aware of the fact that she keeps back-up boyfriends. And he’d never consider that maybe he ruined Lex’s life — Lana’s life yes but Lex’s life, no. But it’s something someone outside the picture frame would see between Lex and Clark.
The other time we’ve seen Clark’s idealized Lana was in “Nightmare” — that entire dream sequence with the skinny dipping and then again in the hallways. Lana was fun, flirty, playful and patient enough to let Clark eventually do the reveal on his own terms and time. Not sure what to think of this idealized Lana — it’s too much of an outsider’s view of Clark’s view of Lana.
Overall, I think this episode was a way to tell Clark what we the viewing audience think of his relationships.
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Which means that his relationship with Lana is creepy, if the reviews I've seen are representative. :D
But I like your reading of the episode as an outsider's take on Clark's relationships.
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But I like your reading of the episode as an outsider's take on Clark's relationships.
Yo, this episode is a good summary of stuff I’ve wanted to whack into Clark for a long long time now. ;-)
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In high school lit, my English teacher considered Stella/Pip to be a classic case of emotional sado-masochism and from then on, I’ve always looked at them that way.
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Hmm. I'm not sure, though, that simply because it's an outsider's view that it's necessarily inaccurate. As you and I (downthread) both point out, the other time that Clark dealt with Lana in a dreamscape (Slumber), she was just as idealized -- patient, accepting, really sweet (Scare is different because the chief architect of the dreams was a toxin designed to make you experience your worst fears). And there's that great Clark/Lana scene from S2's Accelerate where he tells her that he pretty much sees her as perfect and when she tries to tell him she isn't, he's all, "But that's how I see you."
So I do think that canon has, for the most part, established that Clark's mental image of Lana is something that's not really representative of who she actually is; it's a very idealized version of her, one that pretty much glosses over/ignores all of her less-than-appealing characteristics. Viewed from that perspective, then, the Zoner's take on and use of Lana in the dreamscape is objective -- in the sense that it's something coming from outside Clark himself -- and accurate: Clark does idealize Lana and he arguably does so to a degree that's detrimental (certainly detrimemental for him, but also, in the real world, for her as well).
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Whenever we've seen Lana through the lens of Clark's sub- or unconscious mind, she's enormously appealing and charming and you (general 'you') can easily think to yourself, "Of course Clark would love this girl. I love this girl, 'cause this girl is awesome!" (Slumber is the other episode that immediately comes to mind; Scare is different because the nature of the toxin was meant to bring people's fears to the surface during their dreams). The difference for me with dream!Lana in Labyrinth, though, lay in the way that that sweetness and acceptance was being used as the weapin by which Clark was trapped in a landscape in which he did not belong. That made Dream!Lana really creepy, in the best possible way.
The effect of that juxtaposition -- Dream!Lana's sweetness, patience and understanding really being a front for the Zoner's desire to trap Clark in the prison of his own mind -- is what made the Clana aspects of the real world so frustrating to me. The dreamscape actually showed that Idealized!Lana as something dangerous to Clark, something potentially very damaging to him because his desire for her and the Normalcy she represents is actually holding him back, not only as the hero he could be, but as the person he could be. I think the dreamscape was very clear about that: not only is this not a real look at Lana, but this version of her and the way Clark clings to it is potentially very toxic.
So. When Clark was talking to Chloe at the end of the episode and he was all, "I almost gave up everything good in my life/that I care about for Lana," I expected that to be followed up by some kind of minor epiphany that maybe that was problematic. Not with his nine millionth iteration of his love for her. I'm not expecting him to suddenly repudiate her out-of-hand or anything like that, because love doesn't work that way. But just ... some kind of indication that he actually recognized and understood why his dream reaction to -- indeed, his dream relationship with Lana -- was, you know, dsyfunctional. I mean, I think the "I woke up" line was supposed to symbolize that he's starting to 'get' it a little bit, but at this point, I think I need the show to take a stance one way or the other (which it won't). On one hand, the dreamscape seemed to underscore exactly why Clark/Lana can't work -- he doesn't have a realistic understanding of who she is and his understanding of who he thinks she is clouds his judgment. But then waking!Clark doesn't actually connect the dots in any meaningful way; he doesn't think to dig any deeper into the implications of the Zoner using an idealized version of Lana to trap him.
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But I have long ago resigned myself to the fact that the producers think the Clana is the emotional heart of the show, so I was not at all surprised that they would not have Clark overtly acknowledge the dysfunctionality of the relationship, *especially* when it looks like they're ramping up the Clexana triangle just in time for sweeps. (I'm not spoiled past the previews for next week, but I'm sure that's what they're setting up). Why they think Clexana rather than the Justice League is the biggest draw for viewers, I have *no* idea--but clearly they do, or they would have scheduled things differently.
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DUDE. I can't believe we didn't get to see a happy and in love Mionel. NO FAIR. It would have upped the creepy factor by a lot too, so there's really no excuse.
I liked the Martian Manhunter as well. They should have replaced the Talon Clana scene (or the Chlark scene) with a Clark/MM bonding session.
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Definitely. Though maybe they'll bring him back later in the season?
:Is hopeful:
Good point about how happy Mionel would have upped the creepy factor, too! Stupid writers! (Though it may be that like many of the other peripheral cast, JG is only contracted for a certain number of episodes, or something.)
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:stops reading here:
:hopes to remember to go back up and finish reading:
SV!Chloe is a synthesis of Silver Age and post-MoS Lana Langs.
SilverAge!Lana: Nosy teenaged reporter; the Smallville-era Lois figure
Post-MoS!Lana: Clark's best friend; desperately and unrequitedly in love with Clark; loved desperately and (to some extent) unrequitedly by Pete; Clark's alien secret-keeper.
So, imho, Chloe's destiny is to be tortured by Lex for Clark's secrets, marry Pete, have a son named Clark, and become Second Lady (or whatever they call the Vice President's wife).
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Post-MoS!Lana: Clark's best friend; desperately and unrequitedly in love with Clark; loved desperately and (to some extent) unrequitedly by Pete; Clark's alien secret-keeper.
Made a lightbulb go off in my head re: Lana. For the first time in the 5+ years I've been watching this show, I feel like I understand what the PTB are doing with her and I think it's this. I think they're setting Lana up to fulfill her post-Crisis iconic role of being one of Clark's secret-keepers who's still desperately in love with him even though he finally moved on.
I'm sure you already know this (so I'm mostly saying it for Nora's benefit), but in Jeph Loeb's Superman For All Seasons, Clark and Lana were high school sweethearts. For most of their relationship, she didn't know the full story about him. When he finally realized/decided that his destiny was beyond Smallville, he revealed the truth to her by taking her flying over Smallville/Metropolis and then told her he was leaving. Understandably, Lana was stunned and hurt. I don't have the comic with me at the moment, but she was all, "You show me this whole other world, this whole other side of you and then tell me I can't be a part of it," or something along those lines. It was the perfect set-up for her to never get over him (not that this is what Clark intended, mind you, but it's effectively what happened). And like you said, she went on to remain desperately in love with him, to the point that she neglected her marriage and her child, that she actively tried to break up his marriage with Lois, etc. Clark still cares about her, will always have a soft-spot for her because she was his first love, but he's not in love with her any more and hasn't been since he left Smallville.
I've always wondered why the series seemed to paint a pretty clear-eyed picture of Lana as emotionally needy and kind of obsessive about things (among other qualities), but the other characters never seemed to notice even if the audience did. Now, though, thanks to your reminder of her current incarnation in the uber-canon, I'm thinking maybe that's been the gameplan all along. Showing us these less-than-savory aspects of Lana sets it up perfectly for her to reach an end-point on the show where she's positioned to be like the current comics version of herself -- desperately in love with/not over Clark, one of his secret-keepers and willing to do whatever is necessary to maintain some level of connection with him. Viewed through that lens, Lana, particularly her S6 incarnation, really does make a lot of sense.
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But I agree with you completely about Lana being set up to be one of Clark's secret keepers who's still in love with him. I'm honestly not sure how cognizant the writers are of current comics canon, though--they certainly play fast and loose with it wheneve it suits them.
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*nod* And like I said, that's totally in keeping with her post-Crisis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_on_Infinite_Earths) comics incarnation. If she ends up with those two features intact -- still in love with Clark, one of his secret-keepers -- she's very close to being her iconic self.
I'm honestly not sure how cognizant the writers are of current comics canon, though--they certainly play fast and loose with it wheneve it suits them.
If I were a betting woman, I'd say that Lana is the main reason Jeph Loeb joined the creative team in S2 and stayed through the beginning of S4. Loeb is the "go-to guy" when it comes to comics!Lana (and he's widely known for preferring Lana to Lois as a partner for Clark). The spunkiness Lana showed at the beginning of S2 and her ability to be mostly on her own emotionally in S3? I'd put that almost entirely down to Loeb's influence. I can easily believe that he probably did fill M&G and Co. in on her entire comics history and all the things they could pick and choose from it to shape their version of her.
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Oh, THAT's interesting! Because I figured the reasons I hated both of them were similar--only I hated Smallville's more because the writing was crapper.
I did think it was a better ep for Chloe fans than anyone else. She was the most interesting part of the episode, I think--and the most convincingly written. However, I just wasn't that interested personally.
my favorite is that Jorel is an antibacterial soap! Hee hee hee hee!
GOLD.
I also really, really loved Martian Manhunter in this--I just wish we'd gotten a little more interaction between him and Clark. I mean, shouldn't Clark get to have an actual conversation with the older alien with his own superpowers? They could bond and stuff!
TOTALLY! I hope so. I also hope that when he returns there are different writers who can do something interesting with him.
I will confess that I wasn't sure if he was really Jon Jonzz to begin with--I thought it was possible that he was a manifestation of Clark's deductive reasoning--read like that, it was quite disturbing that Clark's reasoning powers are portrayed as a SMALL BLACK MAN BEHIND BARS. To my great relief, this was NOT symbolism--the one place in the episode where I was glad that these writers ignored the symbolism route!
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I enjoyed reading your comments on the structural aspects of the ep, but for me I think the reason that I liked it was because I actually thought I wasn't going to be able to make myself watch it. Watching people placed in situations where they are deliberately made to feel out of place and like their sense of reality is false pushes every one of my social anxiety buttons to the max--even to this day I have a hard time making it through "Normal Again." So I was in a much more emotional than analytical place when I was watching this, and was basically just relieved I was emotionally capable of watching it, and was happy to be enjoying parts of it. This may be, actually, why my reading of Lana in this episode was initially less creepy than everyone else's--like CLark I was initially focusing on the familiarity and the sweetness, rather than the strangeness underneath.
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Yeah, I'm feeling mellow about the Clana too, actually! I'm perverse like that.
I was in a much more emotional than analytical place when I was watching this, and was basically just relieved I was emotionally capable of watching it
Got it! that would have made it more bearable, for sure. There was just no point at which I managed to suspend disbelief. Ah well, I will put it behind me and hope it's different next week.
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Hee! Oh, K, this is so funny because when I found out (a) that J'onn was coming to town and (2) who was playing him, I was really pleased with the series for taking a route that did not automatically assume J'onn's human guise would default to White Male. So I knew who that was when he showed up in the episode, but I can absolutely see how if one did not already know Phil Morris = J'onn Jonzz, the symbolic implications of how that character was presented would be ... unsettling.
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It was just for a moment... and it was only when there was some ambiguity about who he was and whether Clark would actually LISTEN to him. Then I quickly flipped into being chuffed that they, as you say, did not run the default White Male option. I thought Phil Morris had great presence! But yes, amidst the rest of the wreckage of the episode, I feared for a second that the writers had made a fatal symbolic mistake... *giggles at myself*
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Clark and Chloe? Well, we're all mad here, don't you know. It makes sense that she would be his confidant in this world, since she's one of the few people who knows his secrets and consistantly supports him. It's demonstrative of the Zoner winning, I think, when it manages to get rid of that foothold by "killing her" (chants with you that this isn't foreshadowing).
I thought the scene in the apartment above the Talon was interesting where Clark is positioned between Lana and Chloe. Kinda wish he'd GOTTEN it more, though. AU Lana was kind of creepy and offensive, to me, but she makes a TEENSY bit more sense from
And, I'll probably never say this again, but I agree with you that there should have been more Mionel. If he married Clark's mother, why is Lionel NOT around? He SHOULD be there. Doing something CREEPY! Or antagonizing his own son. Something. Have them smooch. It would make Clark go nuts for real. Why start something and not play it out like you totally could?
(I'm friending you because I think it's just creepy to keep reading your reviews and not actually let on I'm here.)
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I thought the scene in the apartment above the Talon was interesting where Clark is positioned between Lana and Chloe.
That's an interesting point. I've seen some people complaining that Clark seems to have initially chosen the reality where Chloe was dead, just so he could have Lana--but the fact is, he chose Chloe *first*, before he chose Lana--so really the two of them are more balanced in his head then perhaps it appears from the outcome.
I take it you're not a fan of Mionel? :D
And yes, the AUs that this episode produces should be really interesting. I'd love to see a Clex piece where Clark actually has to come to grips with the pain he caused Lex, and where Lex has to forgive Clark for it, and where both Lionel and Martha are scandalized when the "brothers" enter a relationship. Turnabout is fair play!
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Mionel makes me have to reassess how I view Martha in a radical and unflattering way. I can cope with it more than some pairings, but I don't really watch the show for pairings (like I'm ever going to get Clexage kiss on the screen or something lesbian that isn't the result of evil mutations *eyeroll*), so if they really go for it... *shrug* As long as it's interesting and makes sense.
Lol. I've been bouncing around an idea for continuing in that AU today. It should be fun to see what people come up with.