S01.E05: The Best of Smallville

[arc]

17 hours ago, rtms77 said:

Lois quitting is not far out, especially since the Daily Planet was bought out with new owners. Doing a potential hit piece on your boss doesn’t doesn’t give her much room .

Sure, Lois quitting the Daily Planet under these circumstances makes sense. Quitting to not take (at least) a freelance position with the NY Times or Washington Post or CNN or even striking out on her own is ridiculous. She is one of the most highly regarded print journalists in America, and Clark is close behind.

And the way everyone at the Planet just let her piece get rewritten by the owner is unbelievable. Newsrooms have revolted over less.

All so they could move to a small town so cruel and heartless the local bank would give a predatory reverse mortgage to the "best of Smallville" aka Martha Kent. Let the kids grow up in Metropolis, where people still take care of each other.

[legaleagle53]

1 hour ago, Proteus said:

I don't think so. There's nothing indicating that this show isn't taking place in present day and playing out the same time as Supergirl, Flash, Batwoman, etc. current seasons.

Except for the fact that the twins are at least a decade older than they should be if that is the case, unless the Crisis really did reset the timeline and have Lois and Clark marry ten or fifteen years earlier than they did originally.

[Affogato]

20 hours ago, blackwing said:

 

When Clark used his superbreath to put out the firm at the donation center, why didn't he change into his costume and make an appearance as Superman?  Kyle clearly noticed the frost and was wondering where it came from.  He seems thick brained, but I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to wonder if someone in town is in fact Superman.  And Lois has an obvious and known connection to him.  I would have to think something is going to come out of this, otherwise they would not have shown Kyle noticing the frost.

There are going to be enough unexplained issues to muddy the waters of conjecture. All the superpowers we’ve already seen. Also as you me tion superman is pretty mobile and can visit Lois. If it comes up he was helping fix the router as a favor. Didn’t want publicity but did what he could. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

5 hours ago, Proteus said:

I don't think so. There's nothing indicating that this show isn't taking place in present day and playing out the same time as Supergirl, Flash, Batwoman, etc. current seasons.

There is nothing to indicate is playing out in the same time as those seasons, either. No mention of Supergirl, no call or text from Supergirl of condolence after Clark has lost his mother, no offer to help him get a job at CatCo or whatever. It could be simply that TPTB want S&L to stand alone as much as possible and didn't want to draw in new characters. It could be an availability/COVID thing. It  could be a straight-up oversight by TPTB, because of course Kara would either go to the funeral or privately support Clark. It could be that there's an in-story reason why Kara can't make it, like whatever fate awaits her at the end of her series (my unspoiled speculation: she goes off to the future and reunites with Monel)

We don't really know where Crisis left things for Superman and Lois. Pre-Crisis, Superman and Lois were about to have a baby in Argo City. Post-Crisis, Clark gets a message from Lois to come home and deal with the twins. 

So it could be that Crisis retconned things so that not only did they have twins, but they had them 13 years ago. That's what would be what would have to happened for S&L S1 to be in the same general time frame as all the current Arrowverse shows. 

Or it could be that Crisis retconned things so that instead of just having the one baby around the time of last season's Arrowverse shows, they now have two and we have done a time skip of about 13 years to get to where we are. Thart's my preferred interpretation.

At this point, there is no conclusive evidence one way or another.

[Chicago Redshirt]

4 hours ago, arc said:

Sure, Lois quitting the Daily Planet under these circumstances makes sense. Quitting to not take (at least) a freelance position with the NY Times or Washington Post or CNN or even striking out on her own is ridiculous. She is one of the most highly regarded print journalists in America, and Clark is close behind.

And the way everyone at the Planet just let her piece get rewritten by the owner is unbelievable. Newsrooms have revolted over less.

I will say that it is plausible that the mass firings that apparently took place may have left the remaining journalists at the DP dispirited and broken. It is less plausible in general that a) any newsroom would rewrite a critique into a puff piece rather than just shelving it b) that they would push out the puff piece under Lois's own byline rather than either "Daily Planet Staff" or some unfortunate other reporter and c) that the publisher would personally rewrite it.

All those would be journalistic scandals in the real world and largely unimaginable. Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post. If he were to personally meddle in a story critical of Amazon or him and transmute it into a story positive about it, it's something that would not just outrage the newsroom but the general public.

[akg]

6 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

There is nothing to indicate is playing out in the same time as those seasons, either. No mention of Supergirl, no call or text from Supergirl of condolence after Clark has lost his mother, no offer to help him get a job at CatCo or whatever. It could be simply that TPTB want S&L to stand alone as much as possible and didn't want to draw in new characters.

This doesn't help at all with figuring out the timeline but Barry (or Barry in Iris' dream when she was still stuck in the mirror (I can't remember)) mentioned Clark in the Flash premiere. Barry was treating Iris to her favorite dishes from around the world and explained that the waffles (or pancakes (my memory is awful)) were from a Clark-recommended restaurant. It made the lack of Arrowverse references in S&L extra weird.

[Proteus]

10 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

Except for the fact that the twins are at least a decade older than they should be if that is the case, unless the Crisis really did reset the timeline and have Lois and Clark marry ten or fifteen years earlier than they did originally.

I think it's clear that is what happened.

 

6 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

There is nothing to indicate is playing out in the same time as those seasons, either. No mention of Supergirl, no call or text from Supergirl of condolence after Clark has lost his mother, no offer to help him get a job at CatCo or whatever. It could be simply that TPTB want S&L to stand alone as much as possible and didn't want to draw in new characters. It could be an availability/COVID thing. It  could be a straight-up oversight by TPTB, because of course Kara would either go to the funeral or privately support Clark. It could be that there's an in-story reason why Kara can't make it, like whatever fate awaits her at the end of her series (my unspoiled speculation: she goes off to the future and reunites with Monel)

We don't really know where Crisis left things for Superman and Lois. Pre-Crisis, Superman and Lois were about to have a baby in Argo City. Post-Crisis, Clark gets a message from Lois to come home and deal with the twins. 

So it could be that Crisis retconned things so that not only did they have twins, but they had them 13 years ago. That's what would be what would have to happened for S&L S1 to be in the same general time frame as all the current Arrowverse shows. 

Or it could be that Crisis retconned things so that instead of just having the one baby around the time of last season's Arrowverse shows, they now have two and we have done a time skip of about 13 years to get to where we are. Thart's my preferred interpretation.

At this point, there is no conclusive evidence one way or another.

I don't think Kara/Supergirl not being mentioned means anything. S&L is clearly ignoring as much from that show as possible, hence them introducing their own versions of Sam Lane & Morgan Edge.

If S&L weren't taking place in 2021 imo they would have said so.

If not for covid S&L would have had a crossover with Batwoman. I think that makes it clear it's in line in present day with all the other DC shows.

[Trini]

20 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

Except for the fact that the twins are at least a decade older than they should be if that is the case, unless the Crisis really did reset the timeline and have Lois and Clark marry ten or fifteen years earlier than they did originally.

This is exactly what happened, and I think it's been confirmed, but I'm not interested enough to look up producer quotes.

[bethy]

I really loved Clark and Lois’s reaction to Jon’s drinking. Lois’s anger was great and Clark’s “Excuse me?” when Jordan said it wasn’t a big deal was perfect. I also liked Jon’s “Yes, ma’am.” When Mama is mad it’s a good idea to bust out the “ma’am.” :) 

I really like how quick the whole Kent family is to say they’re sorry - and actually uses the word “I’m sorry” or “I apologize” - when they mess up and also how willing they are to forgive each other when apologized to. I was afraid that Jordan was going to go off in a huff after Jon apologized, but he immediately accepted it and then shifted to taking care of his twin - no drama, no sulking. After 15 years of Winchester brother angst, I’m feeling a little unsettled by this healthy way of brothers relating to each other. 

[DanaK]

On 3/24/2021 at 4:55 PM, tennisgurl said:

I've been liking this show so much and I don't want it to lose momentum. Its such a good show, I really enjoy both the family dynamic and the superhero action equally, which is quite impressive. There is a lot going on but they all feel intertwined instead of a bunch of random subplots. Its got great characters and actors to play them and a really promising story mixed in with a  very sweet but realistic family story.

I'm another one who's really liking this show, from Lois and Clark's relationship to the brothers backing each other up (though not their moodiness), and the plots being interesting. I'm very intrigued by Captain Luthor

[7kstar]

On 3/27/2021 at 8:41 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

So it could be that Crisis retconned things so that not only did they have twins, but they had them 13 years ago. That's what would be what would have to happened for S&L S1 to be in the same general time frame as all the current Arrowverse shows. 

Really just binged the entire show maybe almost twice.  I did see some videos where the Head writer said Crisis gave us the opportunity to do something different.  So instead of one child it's twins and now their teenagers so we can explore the natural angst that creates.  Not exact quote.   So I took it to mean it changed the past and when the kids were born.

Why they didn't include Arrowverse more was Covid and this show and Stargirl will be on HBO Max vs Netflix.   Both boys state they were going to do a crossover with BatWoman but ...Covid.

On 5/1/2021 at 4:04 PM, bethy said:

I really loved Clark and Lois’s reaction to Jon’s drinking. Lois’s anger was great and Clark’s “Excuse me?” when Jordan said it wasn’t a big deal was perfect. I also liked Jon’s “Yes, ma’am.” When Mama is mad it’s a good idea to bust out the “ma’am.” :) 

I really like how quick the whole Kent family is to say they’re sorry - and actually uses the word “I’m sorry” or “I apologize” - when they mess up and also how willing they are to forgive each other when apologized to. I was afraid that Jordan was going to go off in a huff after Jon apologized, but he immediately accepted it and then shifted to taking care of his twin - no drama, no sulking. After 15 years of Winchester brother angst, I’m feeling a little unsettled by this healthy way of brothers relating to each other. 

Growing up in a small town without any mall and only 2 movie theatres, there is huge difference between small towns and big bad cities.  On my way to visit my mom, the bity town I stop at, their big store is ...wait for it...Walmart.  They have only a few places to eat in the town that everyone goes to.  It is a slower pace, but I found it relaxing to get away from the bustle of a large town for a moment.  Also, when I was going to school, drinking was a huge problem.  Kids got into their parents' stuff. 

I grew up in a dry county, which meant that you had to drive 30 miles to get your alcohol. Kids were drinking and doing drugs.  My first year that I taught, I had to explain to a student why her friend had died from alcohol poisoning.  She couldn't understand why she had died when she didn't think she had drunk that much.  It was way too much, but as a teenager, she didn't get it.  

Now, the kids are doing so many varieties of things.  I taught middle school and yes; I had pregnant students, kids that came drugged out because they were using their parents' stuff.  So those issues aren't limited to a small town.

I think the whole purpose for Smallville, is that the parents needed to slow down, so they could help Jordan and Jonathan, which would never happen in a large town.  Are the stories totally tight without any flaws, no but I do think that they are doing a pretty good job with the overall concept.    It is refreshing to see two parents react in a reasonable matter.  Some great lines out of this moment of Jonathan being caught.  I think he was a happy tipsy drunk, having a nice buzz but not really so gone that he didn't recognize that he had overstepped.  IA it was refreshing to see Jordan step up to care for his brother. 

Jonathan is struggling with losing everything that came so easily to him before.  For the first time, he gets it on a personal level what his brother is going through.  Listening to the actors describing their auditions and thought process for what they want people to see, I am seeing major potential for both of them.  AG is really hyper and I think he is more ADD but I hope they continue to keep these boys as loving relationships that support each other and, of course, as any sibling will do, also tease them a bit.

It's why the bit about this is Jordan's first date plays so real, as it is something a brother would do.

I do find it interesting that both boys read first for the opposite part before they got their roles.  This allows for them to get what each other needs.  When you binge, it flows better than I think it did when you had to wait to see.

[Chicago Redshirt]

59 minutes ago, 7kstar said:

Why they didn't include Arrowverse more was Covid and this show and Stargirl will be on HBO Max vs Netflix.   Both boys state they were going to do a crossover with BatWoman but ...Covid.

I get that Covid made it impractical to have, say, Melissa Benoist or Grant Gustin show up for a scene to represent Supergirl or the Flash.

But if they at all wanted to have interactions to show they were in the same universe, they could have despite Covid. 

They could have had anybody they were willing to pay appear via Zoom, or talk to a S&L character on the phone.

Or they could have had an Easter egg picture of Kara etc. in a given scene. 

Or they could have referenced Kara etc. in dialogue. 

The fact that they didn't, and that the writers are generally creative people who must have had these and other thoughts occur to them, suggests that they simply didn't want to include Arrowverse references they didn't have to.

[John Potts]

Well I did ask for Jonathan to actually be less than a perfect brother, so they must have heard me (impressively 3 years in the past!). And I liked that even Clark had his teenage rebellion phase (even if it was pretty mild). Though I would have loved if Clark’s sigh on leaving town caused a fence to blow down (or something similar)

Why didn’t Clark show up as Superman to put the fire out? It might draw attention (people probably know he's a friend of Lois, so maybe he was just visiting her?), but so does unexplained cold snaps in the middle of an inferno!

At last we have a reason why everyone is so gung ho for Edge in Smallville. A little good PR goes a long way. Is Capt Luthor related to him or completely separate (though there is the third possibility that Edge unknowingly brought him here with some weird experiment)?

Love that Clark/Supes really is that much of a dork and really goes for all that small town, hokey stuff. Clearly TPTB are going with the idea that Clark is the "real" personality and Superman is the mask.

On 3/24/2021 at 2:02 AM, scarynikki12 said:

Luthor I’m going to say this once so pay attention: doppelgängers only look the same. The Superman you knew was evil but this one isn’t. The Lois you knew loved you but this one doesn’t. You have some time to realize this but don’t fall for the lie that they’re all the same just because they share a face.

We don’t even know why that Supes turned evil. Maybe he was good but came under constant attack by the military and snapped. There’s a Batman/Joker story where he reforms but Batman doesn’t believe it and keeps hounding him until he finally goes back to being a criminal. It’s presented as “Batman was right!” but it can equally be read as “Make somebody’s life miserable enough and they’ll snap!" (exactly what the Joker tried to do to Commissioner Gordon in The Killing Joke).

On 3/24/2021 at 2:10 AM, cambridgeguy said:

I didn't expect them to go with alternate Lois being Captain Luthor's wife (girlfriend?). 

Pretty sure they’re Superboy’s parents in at least some continuities (Superboy's backstory is very confusing!)

On 3/24/2021 at 2:18 AM, bettername2come said:

I thought Chrissy was done for when she tracked Derek.

Amazingly enough, she not only told people where she was going, she even let them know while she was there. She apparently didn't realise that standard operating procedure for entering a dangerous location is to ensure that your death means no information gets out about what you were doing.