S02.E15: Waiting For Superman

[Noneofyourbusiness]

11 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I wonder if Intergang is behind the xK operation we saw this season.

That would be nice, although I wouldn't put it past the writers to think criminals would actually go to all that trouble just to sell drugs to teenagers.

[thuganomics85]

Another season finale where no one dies!  Well, except maybe Kyle's heart if we're including that.  But I'm at least glad that the show doesn't resort to that classic trope (yet?)

Not surprised that Tal would factor in when it comes to saving the day, but I certainly didn't predict it would be partially due to him literally throwing Clark into the sun.  And it not only being a good idea, but Clark's idea!  Because, yep, the sun was able to re-power Clark just enough to go full Superman on Ally's ass and stop the merge.  Crisis averted!  But it looks like Tal might be chilling in Bizarro world now, which is a little disappointing.  While they rushed his turned from former villain to loving brother/cool uncle in atypical CW fashion, Adam Rayner was having a ball here and I was hoping for some more amusing "Uncle Tal" moments.  Even if Clark would probably disagree with me about that...

Chrissy already knows the truth now.  At least it sounded like Lois discussed it with Clark first, but that leaves just Kyle I think as the only regular who doesn't know yet?  At least they're aren't dropping this knowledge yet to the local barista or streetwalker yet, which I feel like The Flash is just one second from eventually doing that with Barry.

Glad Irons and Natalie made it through in one piece.

Yay to Sarah for actually apologizing to Jordan about the kiss and not taking his feelings into account.  They're might be hope for them as a couple after-all!

Looks like a potential story for next season will be looking into the guy and the organization that killed the original Irons.  And Diggle is involved!  I wonder if he'll be showing up more next season.  Still sucks that he won't be a Green Lantern or anything (still think that was what was suppose to happen), but I'm all for David Ramsey getting paid.

Not as good as the first season, but I still enjoyed it overall.  I do think they just had too many stories this go around and the main villain didn't live up to what she could/should have been.  I also think all of the delays and need to drag this season out killed the show's momentum in a lot of ways.  Hope The CW rethinks that strategy going forward.  Still, I'm looking forward to seeing where this all goes next!

[Noneofyourbusiness]

18 hours ago, blackwing said:

1) Jonathan Kent did not get powers.  Alternatively, Jon El did not stay on this world and become good.  I think the actor would have had a blast playing "twins", one normal, one punkish and powered.

That would be great, although Jon-El's powers will be gone thanks to the yellow sun.

6 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Yay to Sarah for actually apologizing to Jordan about the kiss and not taking his feelings into account.  They're might be hope for them as a couple after-all!

Looks like they actually listened to us about something.

6 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

But it looks like Tal might be chilling in Bizarro world now, which is a little disappointing.  While they rushed his turned from former villain to loving brother/cool uncle in atypical CW fashion, Adam Rayner was having a ball here and I was hoping for some more amusing "Uncle Tal" moments.

Same.

[Quark]

I found this quite mediocre, although the acting was good, particularly from the Cushing parents.

Splitting Lana and Kyle up seems so pointless, what's the gain for either character?

Crisis on Infinite Earths seems so pointless in hindsight.

[Affogato]

21 hours ago, rmontro said:

And apparently they taught Lois.  Someone earlier wasn't sure what world the scene with Tal was taking place on, so while the translation is convenient, it can lead to some confusion.  I'd prefer they just provide subtitles, unless they're planning on spending a LOT of time on Bizarro Earth next season (I hope not).

This is splitting hairs, but technically they don't breath in space (there's no air), they don't have to breathe at all.  Or they can survive long periods of time without taking a breath.

They are sustained by the energy of the yellow sun. 

[Noneofyourbusiness]

2 hours ago, Quark said:

Splitting Lana and Kyle up seems so pointless, what's the gain for either character?

Lana might get together with either John Henry or Tal-Rho, but then it doesn't seem like Kyle would have a storyline.

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 6/30/2022 at 3:07 PM, Quark said:

Splitting Lana and Kyle up seems so pointless, what's the gain for either character?

There are a couple directions that they could take the Cushings individually or as a couple. 

Lana could struggle and/or grow as effectively a single mom who is trying to juggle the mayoralty with raising Sarah and Sophie with less availability from Kyle.

She could be willing to pursue new romantic interests. Hopefully not Clark, but that's a possibility. They have teased the notion that she is at least somewhat wistful that she went with Kyle instead of waiting for Clark. Tal-Rho could come back from Bizarro World and pursue Lana. Someone mentioned John Henry is also available, though I don't remember a single scene with the two of them together, so I have no idea about what the chemistry might be like between them. There could be new characters introduced as well. 

Kyle can do some deep thinking about how he has made a mess of his life when he really didn't need to -- alcoholism, cheating on Lana, signing up with Morgan Edge, and get his act together. Or he can take a step down a more problematic path from occasional screwup to active bad guy. The fact that Kyle is not together with Lana is about the only justification for them not letting Kyle in on the Secret. But it is pretty inevitable that he will find out the Secret with both Lana and Sarah knowing it, and with the amount of danger the Cushings/Smallville find themselves in on the regular. So the question is how he will respond to finding that out.

There is also the notion of what Kyle will do if the separation persists. Will he start dating, perhaps the ex, perhaps the fellow firefighter who seemed into him (Tamara?) or someone else? 

The problem is there are too many characters and relationships to service to devote all that much energy to ones that are purely Kent-adjacent. 

[legaleagle53]

53 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

She could be willing to pursue new romantic interests. Hopefully not Clark, but that's a possibility. They have teased the notion that she is at least somewhat wistful that she went with Kyle instead of waiting for Clark.

That would be the worst possible direction they could go in. Clark and Lois have long been established to be soulmates (or, to borrow a phrase from The Flash, lightning rods for each other). You simply DON'T try to drive one of the Universe's biggest power couples apart, and Lana herself would know better than to try to pursue Clark, especially since she just patched things up with both Clark and Lois, whom she'd be putting in the same position that she herself was in when Kyle cheated on HER if she tried to make moves on Clark. Lana knows what it's like to be cheated on. There's no way she'd put Lois through that (and the fans would be be calling for the showrunner's head on a platter if she did!).

[Chicago Redshirt]

14 minutes ago, legaleagle53 said:

That would be the worst possible direction they could go in. Clark and Lois have long been established to be soulmates (or, to borrow a phrase from The Flash, lightning rods for each other). You simply DON'T try to drive one of the Universe's biggest power couples apart, and Lana herself would know better than to try to pursue Clark, especially since she just patched things up with both Clark and Lois, whom she'd be putting in the same position that she herself was in when Kyle cheated on HER if she tried to make moves on Clark. Lana knows what it's like to be cheated on. There's no way she'd put Lois through that (and the fans would be be calling for the showrunner's head on a platter if she did!).

I agree it would be a terrible decision for TPTB to actually have Lana attempt to break up Lois and Clark. But it's not entirely beyond the realm of possibility that they will make such a terrible decision. And I do think it would be unrealistic that Lana doesn't at least muse about it.

I might be projecting, but I think most people wonder about first loves and high school crushes from time to time. Imagine you had two loves, a high school romance and the person you married. The person you married turned out for all his good qualities, to be an alcoholic cheater. The first love literally turned out to be the most admired and perfect person on the planet. It's improbable to me that you wouldn't from time to time wonder "What if...?"

[ahisma]

On 6/28/2022 at 7:44 PM, Frozendiva said:

Uncle Tal did not need to buy the twins new, expensive trucks.

I had such a flashback to Lex buying Clark a fancy new truck in the first episode of Smallville, and Pa Kent going, NOPE. It’s just sugar uncle Tal instead of sugar daddy Lex, this time. 

Agree with pretty much everyone that telling Chrissy did not seem necessary at this time.

David Ramsey is so handsome, but the hair/facial hair here was not doing it for me. 

On 6/29/2022 at 1:18 PM, blackwing said:

We saw an image of spherical Earth and cube Bizarro World merged.  Superman flew around the worlds very very fast (in a original Superman movie turn-back-time way) but I don't think he was turning back time, he seemed to just be gathering speed.  Then he collided onto one of the worlds and perhaps pushed them apart? 

After gathering up speed, he landed a solar-powered punch right at an intersection where the cube met the sphere. And that was enough to knock them apart. I guess.
 

My bet on Lana is that she will keep Kyle at arm’s length for a while and at the very least Tal will pursue her, knowing that they were together on Bizarro Earth. 

[moonshine71]

On 6/29/2022 at 5:04 PM, Paloma said:

I know it's not important to the main plotline(s), but it really bothers me that all 3 of these 15-year-olds (who are presumably freshmen in high school) have been given cars and are or will soon be driving them. I realize that Smallville is in a fairly rural area and that this may not be our world, but AFAIK no teen in the US can get a full license until at least 16. Some states do allow learner's permits or restricted licenses at a younger age, but kids generally are not allowed to drive without supervision until they get the full license. 

Aside from whatever the law is, it is pretty irresponsible to give a 15-year-old a shiny new car (or even a shiny old car, as I think Sarah got) in light of the high accident rate of teenagers because of their inexperience and their tendency to use alcohol and drugs with friends (yes, even good kids do this at times). I was glad to see that Clark was letting the boys know that they may not be able to drive the cars right away, but you just know that prohibition will not last long. 

The other thing that really bothered me, somewhat related to the plotline, was seeing Jonathan at the festivities with the same girlfriend. She's still a drug dealer, right? I never fully believed her sob story about having to deal drugs to help her father or family financially, but even if that's true I want him to be with someone more honest who will not use him.

For what its worth, and as someone that was very critical of the characters on Smallville driving too early (among other things), the kids are all sophomores. This was Jon's second season football at smallville. We aren't really given any seasonal markers or told when any of their birthdays are, but it must be at least partway through their sophomore year so they should be turning 16 sometime soon.

That said, I'm not big on "cool" uncle tal giving the boys trucks as "his way of apologising". For what, murdering people and trying to destroy the world? And Clark loves him now? Like most of these shows, the heroes are way too generous w/ forgiveness and redemption. There are people out there that have lost loved ones because of Tal, they deserve justice and he should be behind bars.

I'm thinking this is a low key callback to the Smallville pilot and Lex giving Clark a truck for saving his life. Maybe Superman has some degree of multiverse collective memory and vague recollection of his stick in the mud dad not letting him keep a truck as a thank you gift when he was young.

Ally and Ally in the same cell is the dumbest thing ever. They just combined to be a being that kicked Superman's ass. I get it was entirely for the scene, so they could have the conversation with Lois. But no rational reason for it.

Telling Chrissy? 🙄 People aren't entitled to this secret, even if they're friends. And I've never even got the vibe that Lois and Chrissy are really even friends. Partners, co-workers, " work friends " at best.

[moonshine71]

On 7/4/2022 at 7:06 PM, Chicago Redshirt said:

I agree it would be a terrible decision for TPTB to actually have Lana attempt to break up Lois and Clark. But it's not entirely beyond the realm of possibility that they will make such a terrible decision. And I do think it would be unrealistic that Lana doesn't at least muse about it.

I might be projecting, but I think most people wonder about first loves and high school crushes from time to time. Imagine you had two loves, a high school romance and the person you married. The person you married turned out for all his good qualities, to be an alcoholic cheater. The first love literally turned out to be the most admired and perfect person on the planet. It's improbable to me that you wouldn't from time to time wonder "What if...?"

Yes, but there is a big divide between wondering "what if" and actually pursuing a former love who is married w/ children to someone who appears to be your friend. The first is a totally human emotional thought, the second its just reprehensible.

[moonshine71]

On 7/4/2022 at 5:41 PM, Chicago Redshirt said:

There are a couple directions that they could take the Cushings individually or as a couple. 

Lana could struggle and/or grow as effectively a single mom who is trying to juggle the mayoralty with raising Sarah and Sophie with less availability from Kyle.

She could be willing to pursue new romantic interests. Hopefully not Clark, but that's a possibility. They have teased the notion that she is at least somewhat wistful that she went with Kyle instead of waiting for Clark. Tal-Rho could come back from Bizarro World and pursue Lana. Someone mentioned John Henry is also available, though I don't remember a single scene with the two of them together, so I have no idea about what the chemistry might be like between them. There could be new characters introduced as well. 

Kyle can do some deep thinking about how he has made a mess of his life when he really didn't need to -- alcoholism, cheating on Lana, signing up with Morgan Edge, and get his act together. Or he can take a step down a more problematic path from occasional screwup to active bad guy. The fact that Kyle is not together with Lana is about the only justification for them not letting Kyle in on the Secret. But it is pretty inevitable that he will find out the Secret with both Lana and Sarah knowing it, and with the amount of danger the Cushings/Smallville find themselves in on the regular. So the question is how he will respond to finding that out.

There is also the notion of what Kyle will do if the separation persists. Will he start dating, perhaps the ex, perhaps the fellow firefighter who seemed into him (Tamara?) or someone else? 

The problem is there are too many characters and relationships to service to devote all that much energy to ones that are purely Kent-adjacent. 

Please, please, no with the Tal-Rho/Lana storyline. I really hope they don't go that way.

Kyle did a great job this year of transforming himself from a character that came across as an insufferable prick to a generally decent person and good father that struggled w/ substance abuse and made some horrible mistakes. 

Now, I'm fine w/ Lana not being able go forgive and get past his infidelity, that is something that is difficult to overcome, and whether I've grown go like the character or not, Kyle is not entitled to forgiveness and reconciliation after what he did.

That being the case, don't tell me that Lana can't get past that but somehow she can get over Tal-Rho being a murderer that tried to destroy the world. Just no. 

[Noneofyourbusiness]

14 hours ago, moonshine71 said:

That said, I'm not big on "cool" uncle tal giving the boys trucks as "his way of apologising". For what, murdering people and trying to destroy the world?

No, for rewriting Lois's article. ;)

[Maverick]

 Just pretend the merging crisis was a mini Crisis and then it can explain away all sorts of problems.--like making Tal's sins less...genocidal Bond villainish.

[Snapdragon]

So I'm way late to this season (watched the first few episodes in real time but then the CW app started acting up for me and I couldn't watch the rest until they hit HBO Max) and probably no one will even see this but I have to get it off my chest.

Why, oh why, is the person stuck in the Bizarro world Tal instead of Lana and her entire family?  Why?  I wish instead of making Kyle the cheater the writers had gone with Lana cheating instead, causing Kyle to plan on moving away from Smallville with the kids.  Thus, when the un-merge happened, they could have sent all the Cushings to Bizarro world without anyone noticing and replaced Lana with Bizarro Lana, which would have been a way more interesting set up for season 3.  And then by the time Superman figures out what the deal is and rescues them, Lana and family have all made up and decide to move out of Smallville for a fresh start and we never, ever have to see any of them again!

There.  I feel much better now.

[John Potts]

 

Tal-Rho! Wow, was not expecting him to show up to save the day! Though why they decided to throw Supes into the sun to power him up rather than either Jordan or Tal (who seemed less injured) is another matter. Maybe they know he's the main character?

On 6/29/2022 at 2:01 AM, BeautifulFlower said:

Awww Nat, Jordan, and Jonathan consider themselves family

They are family - half siblings, one Universe removed!

On 6/29/2022 at 2:16 AM, cambridgeguy said:

I suppose we should just ignore him and Tal being able to talk in space, since this is hardly the first show to do that. 

If I was going to Fanwank it, I’d guess that there is enough of a Hydrogen/Helium atmosphere if you’re close enough to the sun to carry sound. As for being able to breathe in space - well even Batman can do that!

On 6/29/2022 at 3:50 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Ally survives to “be with” her Bizarro self?! Where is the justice? BAH!

More to the point, why would you keep the two together? Even if they don't snap back together, they might if you leave them together long enough. Are there no other cells available?

On 6/29/2022 at 11:33 AM, Paloma said:

Did Superman stop the merging simply by stopping Ally and forcing her to split apart into Bizarro Ally and Earth Ally? Or did he do something physical like move Bizarro Earth away from our Earth? 

I figured he just knocked the corners off the merged Earth and went "Eh, good enough"!