S02.E01: What Lies Beneath

[scarynikki12]

Quote

GREGORY SMITH ("EVERWOOD") DIRECTS THE SEASON TWO PREMIERE – Season two opens with the dust still settling in Smallville following the shocking outcome of the confrontation between Tal-Rho (Adam Rayner, "Tyrant") and Superman (Tyler Hoechlin). Lois (Elizabeth Tulloch) and Clark struggle as a couple while Chrissy (Sofia Hasmik) adjusts to running The Smallville Gazette with Lois. Jonathan (Jordan Elsass) faces new challenges on the football field, and secrets threaten to destroy Jordan (Alex Garfin) and Sarah's (Inde Navarrette) growing relationship. Meanwhile, Kyle (Erik Valdez) grows concerned over Lana's (Emmanuelle Chriqui) involvement with a new mayoral candidate. Lastly, John Henry Irons (Wole Parks) and his daughter Natalie (Tayler Buck) attempt to make this new Earth their home. The episode was directed by Gregory Smith and written by Brent Fletcher & Todd Helbing.

 

 

[scarynikki12]

Thank you Irons for ripping the band-aid off right away.

So we fast forwarded to the start of the next school year.

CLARK IS WEARING A BASEBALL CAP!

Hee at Clark smelling the gallon of cologne first and then everyone else catching it. Jordan must really like the scent since it doesn't seem to bother him.

I get Kyle's point, and it's solid since a tourism based economy can collapse any second but Lana's also got a point about embracing it. What they need to do is find the balance between the two where the tourism draw can boost the economy without being the only source. I know you can do it guys! Glad she's sticking to her word about taking down the asshat mayor.

Ok, looks like Snugglemuffin has healed enough to stay on the team so I'm thinking he's got a bit of Kryptonian in him beyond just being Clark's kid. Maybe he'll get select abilities at a lower level of power? So maybe he can heal from nasty wounds like when Jordan broke his arm but not in an instant?

Irons, just thinking out loud but sending Natalie to a doppelgänger school, filled with doppelgängers of her friends and classmates, is probably not the best idea. I get wanting her to have familiar surroundings for adjustment purposes but, since these are only the same faces rather than the same people it's probably not going to work out.

It never occurred to Clark that Jon and Candace might want to take advantage of an empty house for sexytimes because that's not what he ever did when he was a teenager. Clark is so cute.

New military guy really doesn't like Clark. Should be fun.

I love how excited Lana is about the campaign shirts. Maybe she could run for vice-mayor?

Glad that Coach Doesn't Like Snugglemuffin brought up the teachers getting paid. Bravo Coach DLS!

If this season gives us Clark and Kyle becoming actual friends I won't be upset. Maybe they'll have Kyle find out about Clark being Supes before Lana does? 

Whoa Natalie already knows that Clark is Superman? Didn't see that happening so soon. On the other hand she 100% gets doppelgängers even though the knowledge and experience is bringing her pain. The Arrowverse really needs a group of superhero therapists. 

I like that the angle of Lois' story this episode is that she doesn't feel anything for Natalie which both makes her feel guilty and brings back the old hurts of her own mother abandoning her and Lucy. Again, THIS is what the fallout related to doppelgängers should be. I feel more confident that, when she and Natalie inevitably form a relationship, it won't necessarily be mother/daughter. I'm hoping for a "bonding with my dead mom's identical twin" kind of relationship personally. 

Clark, honey, you do know your freeze breath isn't permanent right? That water tower will still fall when the ice melts.

More Kryptonians? Oh, wait, they're from Lane's X-Men school? That makes more sense. New Bad Guy Anderson is having fun being at odds with Supes.

Yeah, taking the House Of El symbol and giving it to non-family isn't going to work for you New Bad Guy Anderson.

I loved Clark's Talk with the boys. It was the perfect blend of Clark in Dad Being Honest And Serious Mode and the boys We'd Rather Be Anywhere But Here Though We Hear You Dad.

Natalie and Irons are moving in for some shenanigans.

[AimingforYoko]

Jordan's face at Clark saying the word "intimate" was everything. Followed closely by Jonathan mouthing "Mom" to the who was Clark's first question.

Gen. Lane's replacement seems like a real treat. He's either completely evil or they're going to give him "layers".

[Primal Slayer]

It was a decent premiere. Didnt blow my head off like the pilot but it managed to maintain the status quo of the show.

I'm not really here for the whole Lois/Natalie drama since we already went through this with her dad so....it's basically repeating itself and adjusting for a mother/daughter relationship vs. husband/wife.

Superman vs. America being a storyline this season is sure to set twitter ablaze since there is a population that believes that Superman should be very America first vs. a gift to the world. But I'm here for it. 

I'm assuming that Doomsday was the hand we saw at the end? I would've liked something a bit more than a hand lol.

[cambridgeguy]

Hold on, is "Lieutenant" Anderson supposed to be Lieutenant General Anderson?  He's got 3 stars on his uniform and that seems like a much more appropriate rank for someone replacing Sam.  It's pretty disrespectful to call him lieutenant, Clark, even if he is being a dick to you. 

[bettername2come]

The inner Teen Wolf fan in me is getting much joy out of finding new ways for Ian Bohen to be a dick to Tyler Hoechlin. Co-opting the family symbol for military use? I hope Clark AND Kara show up and kick his ass. 

The way they played the Natalie and Lois relationship is completely different than how I expected it to go, but I like it. I look forward to a kind of cool aunt relationship. I didn't expect Lois's mother to have left her. I think she's dead in most media, so I assumed that was the case here. Kind of hope she still is. We've reached the quota on long-lost relatives showing up on this show. Well, Lucy and Kara can come but that's it. 

6 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

Natalie and Irons are moving in for some shenanigans.

I'm gonna need a few wacky sitcom hijinks out of this. 

[Athena5217]

Is there a razor shortage in Smallville? Both Clark and Kyle had matching 5 o’clock shadows. The look is okay on Kyle, but I feel Clarke is not the type to slack off on shaving. 

If I were Lois, I might have been tempted to let Jonathan keep talking after, “Mom, I can explain,” just to see what BS he might come up with.

[scarynikki12]

6 minutes ago, Athena5217 said:

I feel Clarke is not the type to slack off on shaving. 

It helps distinguish Clark from Superman. Like the glasses most people would see the scruff and not look too closely otherwise.

[thuganomics85]

Superman and Lois have returned and they've brought a whole lot of drama with them!

Honestly, I was a little underwhelmed for most of it because it just wasn't fun watching almost everyone being at odds and arguing with one another.  Clark and Lois in a rough patch.  Lois being snappy with both of the kids.  Kyle and Lana having issues due to his jealously over her new mission in life.  Sarah's almost frosty interactions with Jordan (what is going on there?)  John Henry Irons and Natalie clearly struggling.  Really, despite the embarrassment of almost literally be caught with his pants down, Jonathan probably had one of the better outings here.  I know the family drama is the show's bread and butter (arguably even better than the superheroing!), but it was kind of a stressful downer at times.

The good news is that the show at least doesn't seem to be dragging all of this out, and almost everything is already resolved and the characters already seem to be back at a better place.  While not pretty, it makes sense that Lois would be on edge with Natalie's appearance, due to feeling guilt that she doesn't love her the way Natalie's Lois does, and knowing how that probably effects Natalie, since it reminds Lois of her own relationship with her absentee mom.  Curious though about them moving forward as possible friends or maybe even an aunt/niece-like relationship going forward.  In general, the Irons returning and staying at the farm has a lot of potential to be fun!

I was kind of right about Lana getting into politics after what the lightweight mayor pulled last season, but I thought she was going to run against him, but it looks like she's just helping campaign for his opponent instead.  Then again, she did help pull his feet out of the fire when he was stumbling with that question from the coach, so maybe her possibly having a go at it isn't out of the realm of possibility still.

Looks like Clark/Superman is going to have an obstacle in the form of Sam's replacement, Mitch Anderson, played by Ian Bohen.  Who, among other things, has created his own super army that prioritizes America's safety over everything else, and isn't a fan of Superman's protect all of the world/apolitical stance.  Uh oh!

Clark's attempt at "the talk" with the kids was definitely the highlight.

All in all, not my favorite start, but I hope it picks back up going forward.

[Athena5217]

6 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

It helps distinguish Clark from Superman. Like the glasses most people would see the scruff and not look too closely otherwise.

Superman had the same facial stubble so that explanation does not make sense. With the glasses (which everyone acknowledges are a ridiculous disguise) people are supposed to think Clark and Superman are different because Clark wears glasses and Superman does not. With the facial hair, it is exactly the same so people are more likely to realize they are the same person if somehow the other identical facial features, height, hair color, voice, etc, didn’t clue them in. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

21 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

It helps distinguish Clark from Superman. Like the glasses most people would see the scruff and not look too closely otherwise.

But this Supes tends to have 5 o'clock shadow, though....

[Chicago Redshirt]

Glad the show is back. Glad that most of the petty conflicts are at least somewhat resolved, because I don't like Lois when she's angry.

I wish Lana was running for mayor herself rather than this random dude who we know nothing about and who we'll have a possible "Kyle jealous" storyline about. Then again, I suppose it makes sense that it's not Lana. It was just a few short months ago that the Cushings were practically being run out of town on a rail for their connection with Morgan Edge. Which should mean that a candidate might not want their support. But time heals all wounds, I guess.

I wish Clark had straight up confirmed that Lois was his first. I think that it would be nice for him to be proud that he waited for the right one, and it would send a good message to the young viewers that it's not all about sex. I think Clark needs to have the second part of the talk with Jordan about Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex.

Don't really care about the Smallville Gazette plotline. Can't sell me on the notion that Smallville has enough news on the regular that Lois and Chrissie can't cover it by themselves. It's unclear why Clark doesn't pitch in as well. Didn't like that they tried to boomer-ize Lois by having her not know what tweets are. 

Shouldn't Jordan have also been at football practice? Or did he just give the sport up and the show didn't tell us?

I'm guessing the likely reason why Sarah is so aloof are either that she cheated on Jordan while at camp and feels guilty about it or she was molested/sexually assaulted and feels guilty about it. Hopefully I am wrong and it's just general teen moodiness or drifting apart. 

Lt. Anderson should have branded his mutants with the flag or something rather than trying to co-opt the S. But maybe that was just too hard for real-world reasons, because I'd imagine eventually Supes is going to have to fight some of these dudes, and having him fight people draped in the American flag would have some folks throw fits. It doesn't really make sense how these people got to the mines from wherever their starting point was, but oh well, best not to think too hard.

[FnkyChkn34]

What happened to General Lane?  I don't like this new guy, obviously.  

[Chicago Redshirt]

26 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

What happened to General Lane?  I don't like this new guy, obviously.  

In last season's finale, he decided to retire because he didn't like that the job was putting him at odds with his family's interests IIRC.

[FnkyChkn34]

6 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

In last season's finale, he decided to retire because he didn't like that the job was putting him at odds with his family's interests IIRC.

Thanks!  I guess I forgot that.  It's been awhile.

[tennisgurl]

Its really cool that Gregory Smith directed this episode, this show has always had Everwood vibes. Just an Everwood with less dead moms and more punching. I am really glad to have the show back, even if its unfortunate that everyone is kind of in a bad place, especially Lois. Its interesting the direction they took with her seeing Natalie, that she really felt nothing for her and that makes her feel guilty, even if its not logical, and I hope that they can move into a sort of cool aunt type of relationship. I really appreciate how this show has dealt with alternate universe selves. Unlike some other Arrowverse shows, they make sure to acknowledge that people from other worlds might look like their other world counterparts, but they are actually different people. John Henry realizing that the Superman of his world is not the Superman of this one was a major plot point, and it looks like its going to be explored further with Natalie and Lois. I am very relieved that Lois finally talked it out with Clark, I hate seeing them fighting. Their marriage is one of the highlights of the show and watching her snap at him all of the time was no fun. 

Poor Clark was just having a rough time all around, his wife is always mad at him for reasons she wont explain, his new military contact is a dick, the government wants to put his family insignia on their new super soldier team, and, worst of all, he has to give his teenage sons "the talk"! That scene was definitely my favorite, the boys looked like they were about to crawl away with awkwardness. 

Also, Clark really had no clue what could happen if he left his teenage son alone in their house with his new girlfriend? Oh Clark, you sweet summer child. 

Oh yeah, I don't see the military creating their own super hero super soldier school to compete with Superman backfiring at all. No way. On the other hand, I am thrilled that John and Natalie will be in Smallville for awhile, the hijinks are sure to ensue. 

[Quark]

This episode felt a bit disjointed, but it was decent. Nice to see Ian Bohen.

 

[ukgirl71]

Random thoughts:

Trouble in Sarah/Jordan land already?!  We seem to be getting hints she found a new romance from her first counsellor summer camp.
Why all the investment in Tegan Wickham (and the potential Central City backstory) to apparently sideline her so quickly?

The effects when Superman was above the sub were suitably jarring - are they suggesting a psychic link with Doomsday?  Apologies if that is obvious, I don’t know that character’s comic-book story.

Nice nod to the pilot with “wet Superman” echoing the iceberg scene.
i LOVE Ian Bohen and his ability to play double-edged characters.
Lois summoning Clark for the “sex alert” and Clark’s delicious naivety🥰.  Clark’s talk with the boys was pure comedy gold.
Jordan lasering the candles ❤️❤️❤️
Kyle’s wide-eyed reaction to politico-Lana 🤪. And I’m loving his new, dare I call it more chilled, attitude.
One of this show’s main strengths has been its rounded portrayal of family relationships and I’m glad this seems to be continuing - the tension with Lois was shown, but resolved quickly.  I look forward to seeing what I’m sure will be Natalie’s growing friendships with Lois and the boys.

 

 

Edited January 12, 2022 by ukgirl71

[PAForrest]

A decent start to the new season with the introduction of the new big bad (Doomsday?) - and the lesser bad in the form of MAGA Anderson and his superkid squad. Oh yeah, that won't end too badly. Ack.

I'm glad we already got to the source of Lois's bitchy behavior, but I certainly hope we're not going to spend the season seeing her devoting all her time to Natalie over her own actual children. I don't blame her for feeling nothing - she shouldn't. She isn't Natalie's mother, just like JHI isn't her squeeze on the side. I'd have been super annoyed if Lois had jumped immediately into mom mode with Natalie - and I'll be just as annoyed if it goes in that direction later. We'll see. I'll be more content with Natalie simply forging a friendship with the twins.

Oh Jordan, it seems Sarah found her a new man at camp. I said last season the relationship between she and Jordan progressed WAY TOO FAST. And now the writers have to back off. Of course, I'm cool with that because I still don't think those two have anything remotely resembling chemistry. In fact, Sarah just seems older and too mature for Jordan.

I'm not convinced yet that Lana isn't going to end up running for mayor after all. This dude she's working for seems weak and not really up for the job. I liked the talk between Clark and Lana, and I'm glad Lana and Kyle are still on relatively strong footing. And I like the relationship between Kyle and Sarah. Do they still have another daughter somewhere?

So what happened to Teagan - did the show fail to secure the actress for another season, or did they decide to go a different way? The "sex talk" scene with Clark was adorable. The one good thing for Jon in not being super-powered is no fear of killing someone he has sex with. So, go Jon go - sow those oats. And apparently Lois is all "do as I say, not as I did at 15 myself!" Yes, it seems Jon takes after you, Lois.

However, once again I'm REALLY not happy that they've reduced Jonathan to the football crap again, with the same old stupid storyline where he can't cut it anyway so what the hell is the point? I hope this opening episode isn't evidence that the showrunner and writers are still putting so little thought into Jonathan that this is all they can come up with or all they're willing to do with him. Pathetic lack of effort. Do better.

Edited January 13, 2022 by PAForrest

[bethy]

Clark's "It's pretty strong, bud." to Jordan's question about his cologne being too much made me LOL. I also loved Clark's eye-rolling, hand-throwing-up reaction to Jon being willing to hear Clark's advice as provided by Teagan. "It's not easy being a dad." Rick O'Connell

I was so glad that most of the Clark/Lois angst happened in the three month gap. I don't want to watch those two at odds. And I'm really a fan of Kyle, honestly. His dad- and husband-style are different from Clark's, but I like that. He's rougher around the edges, but that doesn't make him a bad man or a bad father and husband. I liked seeing Lana and Kyle back on the same page, too. 

I'm excited to see how Natalie and the boys interact with each other. Do we know how old Natalie is? Is she the same age as the twins? 

ETA: I'm so excited this show is back!

Edited January 13, 2022 by bethy

[Writing Wrongs]

So Jordan seems to have his powers under control now. Why can't Sarah just tell him she lost interest? I hate these kind of storylines.

 

[BeautifulFlower]

Ummm....where was Sophie during the Earthquake? That was my immediate reaction when they had shown us Kyle, Lana, and Sarah in the kitchen together.

[Lady Calypso]

This episode back was alright. It was definitely a downer with all the drama and people being upset/snippy with each other, but I'm glad they somewhat pulled it all together by the end. I do NOT want Clark and Lois to be at odds all season, or even past an episode. The best part of season 1 was the communication with characters, so I don't want this show drifting from that just for drama sake.

I'm a bit sad we just jumped straight into Jordan having control over his powers. I wish we had seen him do a little training with Clark this episode, even if it was them flying back from training or something. I don't want to skip Jordan having complete control.

I don't like Jordan/Sarah already having issues. Something happened at camp for Sarah to be pulling away from Jordan, and I wish she'd just tell him. Of course that won't happen, because she's a teenager, but it's also drama that I don't like. I hope the show doesn't go the typical "cheating" route. I hope it's something refreshing. 

I didn't love Lois being snippy at her family all episode, but her explaining to Clark why she was, and understanding it was because of Natalie did help. The scene with Lois telling Clark about her fears over becoming her mother were very poignant and very touching. 

We still had some great family moments (although Lois really has to stop yelling at poor Jonathan; his residential spot seems to be on that couch while his parents yell at him, although it's understandable this time). 

New military guy (hi Ian Bohen!) is gonna be an issue and I hope it's an interesting dynamic more than anything.

Natalie's solid so far and I can't blame her for her reactions this episode.

I'm very worried about this show hitting a sophomore slump and some things in this episode definitely alleviated those fears. I'm hoping I'm wrong, since season 1 was so strong and shows tend to fall back on tired tropes more often than not, but I'm remaining hopeful here. Arrowverse shows do tend to do fairly well for their sophomore seasons, so I hope this is another case/

[Proteus]

A strong first episode back. I missed the Kent's.

Bitsie was great as always.

I'm so glad John Henry Irons is still on the show & he now has his daughter back.

I wonder who this new girl is that Jonathan is with. I thought they'd keep Teagan around since they said she had a father in prison from Central City. But this girl he's with now is called Candice.

[akg]

17 hours ago, PAForrest said:

Do they still have another daughter somewhere?

When she wasn't there to pick up Sarah from the bus, I was wondering if they'd just written her out but Kyle did mention her by name as someone who missed her.

16 hours ago, bethy said:

I was so glad that most of the Clark/Lois angst happened in the three month gap

After seeing the scene with Clark and Lois arguing on the porch in the season 2 preview, I've been dreading the return of this show a bit. I loved their relationship last year and the thought of watching episode after episode of them at odds was depressing. I almost cheered when I realized they were going to deal with it right away (please, please let this be the end). 

One thing I did appreciate was that, even with Lois and Clark at odds, she had no problem with him going to Lana's party alone. Lana and Clark's friendship (now with improvedKyle!) is really nice to see. It's so rare to see a friendship between a man and a woman on tv with no jealous spouses or sexual tension (I'm knocking on wood so hard right now).

[angora]

On 1/11/2022 at 8:00 PM, scarynikki12 said:

The Arrowverse really needs a group of superhero therapists. 

Kelly Olsen is free!

[norcalgal]

22 hours ago, PAForrest said:

A decent start to the new season with the introduction of the new big bad (Doomsday?) - and the lesser bad in the form of MAGA Anderson and his superkid squad. Oh yeah, that won't end too badly. Ack.

I'm glad we already got to the source of Lois's bitchy behavior, but I certainly hope we're not going to spend the season seeing her devoting all her time to Natalie over her own actual children. I don't blame her for feeling nothing - she shouldn't. She isn't Natalie's mother, just like JHI isn't her squeeze on the side. I'd have been super annoyed if Lois had jumped immediately into mom mode with Natalie - and I'll be just as annoyed if it goes in that direction later. We'll see. I'll be more content with Natalie simply forging a friendship with the twins.

Oh Jordan, it seems Sarah found her a new man at camp. I said last season the relationship between she and Jordan progressed WAY TOO FAST. And now the writers have to back off. Of course, I'm cool with that because I still don't think those two have anything remotely resembling chemistry. In fact, Sarah just seems older and too mature for Jordan.

I'm not convinced yet that Lana isn't going to end up running for mayor after all. This dude she's working for seems weak and not really up for the job. I liked the talk between Clark and Lana, and I'm glad Lana and Kyle are still on relatively strong footing. And I like the relationship between Kyle and Sarah. Do they still have another daughter somewhere?

So what happened to Teagan - did the show fail to secure the actress for another season, or did they decide to go a different way? The "sex talk" scene with Clark was adorable. The one good thing for Jon in not being super-powered is no fear of killing someone he has sex with. So, go Jon go - sow those oats. And apparently Lois is all "do as I say, not as I did at 15 myself!" Yes, it seems Jon takes after you, Lois.

However, once again I'm REALLY not happy that they've reduced Jonathan to the football crap again, with the same old stupid storyline where he can't cut it anyway so what the hell is the point? I hope this opening episode isn't evidence that the showrunner and writers are still putting so little thought into Jonathan that this is all they can come up with or all they're willing to do with him. Pathetic lack of effort. Do better.

Point by point I kept nodding YES!  Wish I could heart this post a bajillion times.  As for the bolded, hey - at least Sophie got a mention!  Lana mentioned her when they picked up Sarah at the bus stop.

[Cthulhudrew]

On 1/12/2022 at 10:04 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

In last season's finale, he decided to retire because he didn't like that the job was putting him at odds with his family's interests IIRC.

I wonder if having Anderson turn out to be a bad replacement will lead to Lane returning to head DOD as a choice of lesser evils by season's end.

During the earthquake scene, I shuddered that the writers (presumably largely? Californian) had Clark's family shelter in a doorframe. Then I told myself that a) it is a wood frame house and b) that probably is how people from presumably largely-earthquake-free Smallville might respond.

[Chicago Redshirt]

19 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I'm a bit sad we just jumped straight into Jordan having control over his powers. I wish we had seen him do a little training with Clark this episode, even if it was them flying back from training or something. I don't want to skip Jordan having complete control.

I'd guess his level of control still isn't complete and will rise and fall depending on the plot. The super-tasks he did were fairly easy and done in a low-stress, controlled environment. Will he be able to manage more difficult feats than lighting candles with heat vision or using super-hearing through a door? (Super hearing in this show is something you just have to hand-wave. There's no way that Clark should be able to randomly pick out a sinking North Korean sub that isn't using any particular distress call out of all the background noise that must be present in the world, for instance. I could almost buy if he was consciously listening for a sub having been alerted that one might be in danger he could find it that way. But for it to just pop like that from thousands of miles away. Not so much.)

Anyway, I don't necessarily want more training montages or whatnot. Just some sort of on-screen acknowledgement of why/how Jordan is improving. My fanwank is that since he was possessed by a full Kryptonian, he might have retained better knowledge/ability to use his powers.

[cambridgeguy]

6 hours ago, Cthulhudrew said:

During the earthquake scene, I shuddered that the writers (presumably largely? Californian) had Clark's family shelter in a doorframe. Then I told myself that a) it is a wood frame house and b) that probably is how people from presumably largely-earthquake-free Smallville might respond.

Well, the truth is Clark could have been nice enough to superspeed his family out into the middle of the cornfield instead of letting them stay inside of a house that probably wasn't built with earthquakes in mind.  Running for the exits is a viable strategy when you can move faster than sound!

[blackwing]

I didn't even recognize Ryan from Yellowstone as Lt. Anderson, I guess I wasn't paying close attention.

I like that the townspeople seem to have fully accepted Kyle and Lana back, and that there don't seem to be any hard feelings.

I really couldn't care less about Jordan and Sarah.  I was hoping that Jordan would have gotten a haircut in the offseason, but he's still got the same Frodo Baggins hair which makes his chubby cheeks seem even chubbier.  I don't care what's going on with Sarah and why she doesn't like Jordan anymore.  Considering this is the CW and there are no significant openly gay characters on this show as of yet... my guess is that she switched teams while at camp.

I like that Jonathan has a new girlfriend, but what happened to the "out of your league" girl from last season?  Why bother to introduce her only to now have a new one?

[bethy]

44 minutes ago, blackwing said:

I like that Jonathan has a new girlfriend, but what happened to the "out of your league" girl from last season?  Why bother to introduce her only to now have a new one?

Shows what I remember. I thought the girl didn't look familiar, but just assumed it was the same girl and I'd forgotten what she looked like. 🙄

[akg]

On 1/14/2022 at 1:30 PM, bethy said:

Shows what I remember. I thought the girl didn't look familiar, but just assumed it was the same girl and I'd forgotten what she looked like. 🙄

Hee. Me too. It's so weird they decided to just drop what's-her-name from last year. I didn't like her and wasn't interested in her backstory but it's still annoying that the writers set something up and then just expected us to forget everything.

[Lantern7]

Good to have the show back. I just have to make myself forget that Kara revealed herself to the world. It wasn't bad, but the Kents have enough weird crap in their lives.

Last season, I wondered if Jonathan's life would be hell, what with his father and brother able to hear him . . . potentially from anywhere. I was thinking he'd need a deep lead-lined bunker to . . . erm . . . "take care of business." Apparently, the showrunners disagree with me. Of course Lois would immediately go apespit on Jon. To be fair, she's got enough crap on her plate, up to and including guilt for "abandoning" Natalie. To be fair, if someone shows up and thinks you're their mother and you're not, it's gonna be weird . . . even if you know they existed in the first place. And now Jon and Jordan have a sister. Half-sister. Quarter-sister, universally removed?

Superman being at odds with his new "handler" looks like it has legs. Watching him chafe at an American authority, I can't wait for certain people to freak the fuck out.

*ahem*

On the show, I mean. Between the super-hearing and small town values, it's hard for Clark to not help people. What could he do? The worst thing I can think of would be shaking the sub. "Well, my fingers kept slipping, and that's why some of you broke bones getting rescued. Have you ever lifted a submarine? I just did it, and I don't know how I did it!"

Sarah acting weird? I'm thinking "traumatic experience at summer camp."

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 1/14/2022 at 11:43 AM, blackwing said:

I really couldn't care less about Jordan and Sarah.  I was hoping that Jordan would have gotten a haircut in the offseason, but he's still got the same Frodo Baggins hair which makes his chubby cheeks seem even chubbier.  I don't care what's going on with Sarah and why she doesn't like Jordan anymore.  Considering this is the CW and there are no significant openly gay characters on this show as of yet... my guess is that she switched teams while at camp.

I like that Jonathan has a new girlfriend, but what happened to the "out of your league" girl from last season?  Why bother to introduce her only to now have a new one?

I too hate Jordan's haircut but maybe I was just so pleased to have the show back that I was not consumed with the wish that someone forced him to get shaved or Superman accidentally turned him bald like he did teenage Lex Luthor in the Golden Age origin.

I did not think that Sarah might have discovered that she was on the LGBTQ+ spectrum at summer camp, and that's a better outcome than what I'm fearing. But I tend to doubt that is how things will play out. I suspect TPTB are more likely to think that the audience they have/want are going to be way more conservative than the audiences for such DC CW shows as Supergirl, Batwoman and Legends of Tomorrow. Also, they seem to treat shows with iconic leads differently. Between Flash and Arrow, there were almost no LGBTQ+ characters among the regular leads -- I could be misremembering, but Flash had no queer leads though it had recurring characters Capt. Singh, Capt. Cold, Pied Piper and Arrow had lead-for-a-few seasons Curtis, maybe-lead but I'd say recurring Sarah, and recurring Nyssa. Granted, it's only been one season, but TPTB on S&L have shown no interest in addressing any topics that could be deemed political, unlike the rest of the DC CW slate, where they regularly take anvilicious positions on everything from immigration to gun control to police misconduct. Also, in spoilers for the comics:

Lately Jonathan Kent (who is the only son of Clark and Lois and has powers) has taken up the Superman mantle, and happens to be gay. So in the real world, there was the predictable outrage over "They made Superman gay? He's never been gay and always been in love with Lois! WOKE WOKE WOKE!" So I suspect the TV PTB will not want to run into the same sort of outrage.

I think it would be cool to have a teen coming out story, though.  

I didn't process originally that the girl Jonathan was fooling around with in the latest episode was a different one than was flirting with him and who had a dad in jail in Central City and was only like, "Oh yeah, she had a different name" on reading posts here. Could be that the Teagan actress was unavailable. Could be that they are setting up an arc where a Teagan scorned directly or indirectly causes trouble for Jonathan with the help of whatever Flash rogue her dad turns out to be or his technology. (because you can't name-drop Central City and not have it pay off).  

[ouinason]

Or... they are teenagers and it just flamed out naturally during the time skip of the show.  

 

Also, comics

Spoiler

Superman is bi, not gay.  Though to some that is basically the same thing in terms of "woke" or whatever.  Also, it would be icky if "superman is always in love with lois", because she's his mom, so... :)

 

[Affogato]

On 1/16/2022 at 10:56 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

I too hate Jordan's haircut but maybe I was just so pleased to have the show back that I was not consumed with the wish that someone forced him to get shaved or Superman accidentally turned him bald like he did teenage Lex Luthor in the Golden Age origin.

I did not think that Sarah might have discovered that she was on the LGBTQ+ spectrum at summer camp, and that's a better outcome than what I'm fearing. But I tend to doubt that is how things will play out. I suspect TPTB are more likely to think that the audience they have/want are going to be way more conservative than the audiences for such DC CW shows as Supergirl, Batwoman and Legends of Tomorrow. Also, they seem to treat shows with iconic leads differently. Between Flash and Arrow, there were almost no LGBTQ+ characters among the regular leads -- I could be misremembering, but Flash had no queer leads though it had recurring characters Capt. Singh, Capt. Cold, Pied Piper and Arrow had lead-for-a-few seasons Curtis, maybe-lead but I'd say recurring Sarah, and recurring Nyssa. Granted, it's only been one season, but TPTB on S&L have shown no interest in addressing any topics that could be deemed political, unlike the rest of the DC CW slate, where they regularly take anvilicious positions on everything from immigration to gun control to police misconduct. Also, in spoilers for the comics:

 

I'm assuming the hair is to make him look younger, more naive, and less socially competent and to contrast him with Jonathan. I imagine they know what people think of the haircut and him getting it cut will be a 'moment' on the show. I wonder if Clark will have to cut it using super laser eyes?

I actually disagree, I don't think they are pushing the show to a more conservative audience, but possibly to an older one and are trying to be less 'anvillicious'. But, we will see.

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 1/17/2022 at 10:08 AM, ouinason said:

Or... they are teenagers and it just flamed out naturally during the time skip of the show.  

 

Also, comics

  Hide contents

Superman is bi, not gay.  Though to some that is basically the same thing in terms of "woke" or whatever.  Also, it would be icky if "superman is always in love with lois", because she's his mom, so... :)

 

Given that both Jordan and Sarah have said "I love you," it seems like a few months at summer camp would ordinarily not be enough for those sort of feelings to fade away.

As to the comics spoiler, thanks for the correction.

[Paloma]

On 1/19/2022 at 1:25 PM, Chicago Redshirt said:

On 1/17/2022 at 11:08 AM, ouinason said:

Or... they are teenagers and it just flamed out naturally during the time skip of the show.  

 

Also, comics

  Reveal spoiler

Superman is bi, not gay.  Though to some that is basically the same thing in terms of "woke" or whatever.  Also, it would be icky if "superman is always in love with lois", because she's his mom, so... :)

 

Expand  

Given that both Jordan and Sarah have said "I love you," it seems like a few months at summer camp would ordinarily not be enough for those sort of feelings to fade away.

Actually, speaking as a former teenage girl who had a different crush about every 4 months (and really thought I loved each one, though none of them returned the feelings), I think it's normal for even intense feelings in teenagers to fade after a couple of months separation. Also, just because they both said "I love you" doesn't mean each one felt it as intensely. It's always seemed like Jordan's feelings were more intense than Sarah's.

[ouinason]

I should have been clear I was talking about Jonathon and Tegan.  But, yes, the same goes for Sarah and Jordan if that's the way they play it, though I doubt it will be that simple.

[TV Anonymous]

Did everyone in the episode really call Lieutenant General Anderson as Lieutenant Anderson?

[rmontro]

7 hours ago, TV Anonymous said:

Did everyone in the episode really call Lieutenant General Anderson as Lieutenant Anderson?

Maybe it's an expression of endearment  🤣

[Bruinsfan]

I'll just repeat my reaction to the show that I posted elsewhere: I find basically every minute of the show that's not Clark and Lois interacting unwatchable. Not interested in teen relationship drama, not interested in the US Army trying to coerce Superman into being their thug every episode. Not interested in a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist trying to write hard-hitting exposés about a podunk town where someone winning a pie-baking contest should be the story of the year. Not interested in a parade of super-powered menaces just happening to threaten same podunk town. Not interested in Lana Lang's neanderthal husband spouting MAGA talking points and insulting his neighbors for pursuing education past 6th grade.

[Avabelle]

Only watching this now - did they ever say what happened with Jonathan’s love interest from last season? 

Jordan annoys me and I don’t think he and Sarah have any chemistry BUT I did feel for him when Sarah couldn’t have made it clearer how disinterested she was… without actually ripping the band aid off and just breaking up with him.
 

 

Edited April 27, 2022 by Avabelle

[Chicago Redshirt]

3 hours ago, Avabelle said:

Only watching this now - did they ever say what happened with Jonathan’s love interest from last season? 

Jordan annoys me and I don’t think he and Sarah have any chemistry BUT I did feel for him when Sarah couldn’t have made it clearer how disinterested she was… without actually ripping the band aid off and just breaking up with him.
 

 

No, there has not been any mention of what happened between him and Teagan as of the latest episode, 2.10, or even an acknowledgement that he had dated anyone before Candice.

As for Jordan/Sarah, what you read as disinterest is revealed to be guilt. Now it could be that the Sarah actress got bad direction, or the writers changed the storyline, or maybe she's just not that good at acting.

 

[John Potts]

Love Supes smelling the cologne well before everyone else. Sure, “SuperSmell” is pretty dumb, but it is canonical

I’m sorry, you’re dismissing a guy because he’s more about online stuff than anything else? Way to stay in the 20th Century, Lois!

“I never would have done THAT when I was his age”

“Then clearly he takes after his mother!”

- Love that, because Clark really has always been portrayed as a boy scout while 

Wow, these rubes will buy any line of BS if they were impressed with Lana’s non-answer when it came to giving teachers a raise. She promised them exactly nothing, just said it in more words. Why isn’t she running herself exactly?

So I guess the DOD is going to be the Big Bad of this season? Unless that was Doomsday at the end, but I doubt they’d introduce him (at least not this early in a Season).

On 1/12/2022 at 2:00 AM, scarynikki12 said:

Yeah, taking the House Of El symbol and giving it to non-family isn't going to work for you New Bad Guy Anderson.

Maybe Clark (well, Superman) should sue!

On 1/12/2022 at 4:20 AM, thuganomics85 said:

Sarah's almost frosty interactions with Jordan (what is going on there?)

I thought she was going to say she met someone at Camp (male or female), but maybe there’s some other more convoluted explanation?

On 1/13/2022 at 3:06 AM, BeautifulFlower said:

Ummm....where was Sophie during the Earthquake?

Partying with Chuck Cunningham?