S03.E01: Closer

[scarynikki12]

 

[scarynikki12]

The previouslies making a point to show everyone but Original Jonathan.

Hi New Jon!

A Town Hall is a legitimately great idea that will benefit Smallville. Can't wait to see how it all goes wrong.

Clark's a reporter again! I hope we see lots of workplace flirting with Lois. Speaking of, yowza, Kent Sexytimes!

Hee, Hologram immediately dropping Jordan.

Jon is learning to drive! Our boys are almost grown. And HA! on Clark being a bad driver.

Ok, show, I'm completely fine with Nat bonding with Lane but PLEASE remember he isn't actually her grandfather and make it an uncle/niece relationship.

I mean, the nice thing about Clark is he can speed type so as long as he has his information the piece should be fine.

So Earth Prime John Henry was a bad guy. Makes sense since the one we know is good. Callback to when Barry first traveled to Earth 2 and discovered it's Opposite World.

If Lois is either pregnant or has cancer. I'd prefer a baby but it's probably cancer. It's too early in the episode for good news.

So Jordan not only ignored his promise to go straight home from the fortress, but found the time to get Sarah a souvenir. Good job, Jordan, that doesn't underline your irresponsibility at all.

Oh so Lane wants to recruit Nat to his weird DOD school rather than pretend to be her grandfather.

Nat you have every right to be pissed, and I hope you kick Lane's ass, but he's not your Grandpa which is where the discrepancy comes from. The good thing about the Arrowverse ending is I have fewer shows to yell at about how doppelgängers are not the same people.

Jordan and New Jon have good sibling chemistry. 

Clark, if you don't want to run into people you know when you're buying pregnancy tests, maybe FLY TO ANOTHER CITY!! YOU CAN FLY SO DO IT!!

Ok the coach who hates him is grading his driving test?? NOT FAIR TO MY SNUGGLEMUFFIN WHO DESERVES BETTER! I don't care if he did pass he deserved better.

Why is Chrissy being weird around Jon? Is she going to have a midlife crisis or something? Oh they're telegraphing her and Kyle so I'm going with yes.

I love a montage so that worked perfectly for me. Tiny twins!

Awesome show of Supes walking out of the fire. 

"I can do this all day" YOU TAKE CAP'S LINE OUT OF YOUR MOUTH YOU FILTHY NAZI!!!!

Well that's creepy. Not sure who our season Big Bad is but creepy has been achieved so well done.

Former Mayor George is going to turn out to be in bed with organized crime isn't he? Good job George.

Not knocked up. Shocker.

The Evil Lair is in the subway which is not remotely sanitary but looks cool.

[cambridgeguy]

So, is the mysterious masked person this Earth's resurrected John Henry Irons?  Sure, he's supposed to be dead, but apparently that's not a big deal.  Plus it cuts down on the guest star budget. 

Jordan should design a mask, or start wearing glasses.  There's always the chance an emergency pops up.

 

[Lady Calypso]

What a solid premiere. It was nice to see them try to correct some of the mistakes from last season (Clark/Lois being more intimate, Sarah/Jordan seeming to be broken up at least for this season). 

The CGI this episode was better than some of the past episodes, but they also had months to get it right. 

As for Michael Bishop stepping in as Jonathan, I think he did a great job. I figure that they allowed Michael to have some additional time to prepare for the role of Jonathan, hence why his role was smaller (though, with how underutilized Jonathan usually is, it could also just be that). So I'll give the show leeway for these first couple of episodes if Jonathan only has a few scenes. From what they did give him, he did very well with it.

I really liked Jonathan/Jordan's scene. Both brothers giving each other some encouragement to give their parents some slack was great.

I like that this episode was a quieter episode. Obviously the calm before the storm, but I think we needed this episode to be less action-y (besides the few action scenes we got). 

I love that Clark punished Jordan for breaking his word. That's something Clark let slide a lot last season, so I'm glad he put his foot down AND Jordan actually listened, even when hearing people in trouble. 

Chrissy/Kyle is a weird pairing. Is it out of convenience (two characters who need a plotline so why not throw them together?) or do they have a legit plan with these two? I'm not hating it. Chrissy's bumbling was kind of endearing, as was Kyle's more stoic reaction (until Lana showed up at his door).

Lana is going to have a feud with George, which could be interesting or dull as dirt. Clearly, George is up to no good and Lana just took money away from whatever evil plan he has concocted.

Sam's plot with Natalie was surprisingly good. Again, something they missed last season was exploring Natalie's history with Lois and her father, so it looks like they're actively correcting it this episode. I like it; it could be fun to see Sam and Natalie bond in a different way.

So, Lois is sick, I presume? Now, the question is: natural or supernatural sickness? As in, can it be cured or not?

The new villain could be interesting. I AM intrigued with the whole resurrection angle.

[BeautifulFlower]

I'm so confused. I thought last season with Jordan and Sarah being together. Whatever

I get this is a family drama show. We're going to get things outside of superhero action. I like that. However, you need to give me storylines that I should care about. Kyle and Christy? No, I don't care. Give them something to do. The show is really making me wonder why Kyle is still as a main character past season 1.

Sophie still exists. That's good.

The former mayor is clearly involved in something shady. I hope Lana will be okay this season.

I like the new Jonathan.

Jordan you are not ready to be handling stuff like that crane. I'm glad Clark got there in time. Hopefully, he trains him in how to handle stuff like that.

Figured Lois wasn't pregnant. I wonder what's wrong with her.

Really Sam? When you ask Nat what her and her Earth's grandfather did and proceed to ask to do the same thing, what do you expect to happen? I'm glad he apologized though and they're getting to actually bond.

Who are these new villains? I'm really intrigued about that person in the mask. Did they do something to Clark?

[Chicago Redshirt]

13 hours ago, BeautifulFlower said:

I'm so confused. I thought last season with Jordan and Sarah being together. Whatever

I get this is a family drama show. We're going to get things outside of superhero action. I like that. However, you need to give me storylines that I should care about. Kyle and Christy? No, I don't care. Give them something to do.

They gave Kyle and Christy something to do -- each other! I'll be here all week, tip your waitstaff.

I think the show would do well to get rid of both Kyle and Christy. They are not particularly interesting characters and the show has a ton of people to service already. The likely inevitable subplots of "Will Kyle and Christy be tempted to make it more than one-and-done?" and "What will Lana do when she finds out" and "Is it a good idea for the editor in chief of a small town paper to bone the not-even-quite-ex-husband of the town's mayor" don't appeal to me and it's time that could be better spent on a dozen other things.

I think it interesting in this single episode there was more implied sex than there has been for the entire series thus far. I might be blanking on other examples, but I don't think that there was a scene previously showing that Lois and Clark literally just had sex or were about to, like in this episode, and I can't remember any time where, say Lana/Kyle, Jordan/Sarah, Jonathan/his girlfriend were shown about to get sexual.

 

[blackwing]

13 hours ago, BeautifulFlower said:

I'm so confused. I thought last season with Jordan and Sarah being together. Whatever

I get this is a family drama show. We're going to get things outside of superhero action. I like that. However, you need to give me storylines that I should care about. Kyle and Christy? No, I don't care. Give them something to do. The show is really making me wonder why Kyle is still as a main character past season 1.

I'm confused too, as I thought Jordan and Sarah ended up being together last season.  However, these two blow like the wind, and I've decided I don't care.  I really still can't stand whiny Jordan.  Always whining.  Whining about being with Sarah, not being with Sarah, wanting to be with her but she doesn't want to be with him.  And if he's not whining about Sarah, he's whining about his powers and being told what to do and what not to do by Clark.  Enough already.  Also, I would love to make this kid buzz his hair.  The Frodo Baggins look is so 2003.

I can't stand Chrissy either.  Why is she still on the show?  Last season I remember wishing that Ally, Lucy and Chrissy all disappeared.  Well, two of them are at least gone for now.  Why is Chrissy still here?  She is completely extraneous and irritating.  Have her get a job in Gotham City and Lois and Clark can run the paper.  Putting Kyle with Chrissy is just lazy.  It's obvious that Lana and Kyle don't really want to divorce, and I am so not looking forward to this season long love triangle.

In a small town like Smallville, why would Clark be buying a pregnancy test from the local convenient store where anyone can see him and the clerk will gossip?  1) She was already at the doctor's office, the doctor's office could run a test and they wouldn't need a Clear Blue Easy.  2) Why not buy one in Kuala Lumpur or anywhere in the world where nobody knows Clark Kent?

I like the new Jonathan, he does seem to have some of the mannerisms and behaviour of the old Jonathan.  I'm a bit confused as to why only he is getting his driver's license and not Jordan too.  I get that Jordan can fly, but not in public.

Who TF is Henry Miller?  Is this a character from last season that we are supposed to remember?  If so, I honestly have zero recollection about who this is.

[cambridgeguy]

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I think it interesting in this single episode there was more implied sex than there has been for the entire series thus far. I might be blanking on other examples, but I don't think that there was a scene previously showing that Lois and Clark literally just had sex or were about to, like in this episode, and I can't remember any time where, say Lana/Kyle, Jordan/Sarah, Jonathan/his girlfriend were shown about to get sexual.

Lois burst in on Jon and his girlfriend making out in his bedroom last season.  Maybe they weren't actually planning to do the deed, but they were doing more than just giving each other a peck on the lips.  We also flashed back to Lois and Clark on their honeymoon.

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

Who TF is Henry Miller?  Is this a character from last season that we are supposed to remember?  If so, I honestly have zero recollection about who this is.

I don't think we've seen him without the mask, but he was the villain from that flashback episode where Tal Rho was reading his mind.

[cdnalor]

Did I miss the part where Clark was trying to keep Lois's pregnancy a secret?  I didn't see any reason why he wouldn't buy the test locally.

[blackwing]

28 minutes ago, cdnalor said:

Did I miss the part where Clark was trying to keep Lois's pregnancy a secret?  I didn't see any reason why he wouldn't buy the test locally.

I know a lot of people who keep pregnancy a secret, lest anything happen.  Especially since Clark and Lois are in their early to mid 40s, that's why I thought he said "how is this even possible".  So it turns out that Lois is just sick or has some other condition, and now he has to explain to someone that she wasn't pregnant after all.  To me, it's kind of awkward.

[Quark]

Decent premiere.

I'm still baffled as to why Kyle and Lana had to break-up. It makes him seem rather redundant for the show, which is annoying as I quite like him. I guess the reporter he slept with (can't remember her name) will blab Clark's secret at some point and then Kyle will be upset (at the very least).

New Jonathan seems alright.

 

[Chicago Redshirt]

3 hours ago, blackwing said:

I'm confused too, as I thought Jordan and Sarah ended up being together last season.  However, these two blow like the wind, and I've decided I don't care.  I really still can't stand whiny Jordan.  Always whining.  Whining about being with Sarah, not being with Sarah, wanting to be with her but she doesn't want to be with him.  And if he's not whining about Sarah, he's whining about his powers and being told what to do and what not to do by Clark.  Enough already.  Also, I would love to make this kid buzz his hair.  The Frodo Baggins look is so 2003.

I can't stand Chrissy either.  Why is she still on the show?  Last season I remember wishing that Ally, Lucy and Chrissy all disappeared.  Well, two of them are at least gone for now.  Why is Chrissy still here?  She is completely extraneous and irritating.  Have her get a job in Gotham City and Lois and Clark can run the paper.  Putting Kyle with Chrissy is just lazy.  It's obvious that Lana and Kyle don't really want to divorce, and I am so not looking forward to this season long love triangle.

In a small town like Smallville, why would Clark be buying a pregnancy test from the local convenient store where anyone can see him and the clerk will gossip?  1) She was already at the doctor's office, the doctor's office could run a test and they wouldn't need a Clear Blue Easy.  2) Why not buy one in Kuala Lumpur or anywhere in the world where nobody knows Clark Kent?

I like the new Jonathan, he does seem to have some of the mannerisms and behaviour of the old Jonathan.  I'm a bit confused as to why only he is getting his driver's license and not Jordan too.  I get that Jordan can fly, but not in public.

Who TF is Henry Miller?  Is this a character from last season that we are supposed to remember?  If so, I honestly have zero recollection about who this is.

I share your sentiments on Jordan/Sarah, Jordan's Frodo hair, Chrissy and Jonathan 2.0.

More to the point as to Lois's health, why would Lois bother with conventional hospitals when she has access to Kryptonian super-science at either fortress (among other places) to examine her possible pregnancy or what the issue might be? 

I had no clue who Henry Miller is either from previous episodes or my knowledge of the Superman mythos generally. Thanks to the magic of Google, I know now he is apparently a deep cut taken from a Superman radio serial from back in the day and was recently reintroduced in the comics. https://comicvine.gamespot.com/atom-man/4005-171412/

[scarynikki12]

Henry Miller was the Nazi in the season 1 flashback Lois witnessed Clark fighting. It was the scene where she named him Superman.

[rmontro]

23 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

And HA! on Clark being a bad driver.

I thought that was funny also, but I'm not sure it makes that much sense.  He does have those super fast reflexes after all.  Driving is basically reacting and making adjustments.

[Affogato]

Up in the air, Junior Birdman,
Flying so high off the ground,
Is it a bird, plane or Superman?
No! It's Junior Birdman upside down

[Diapason Untuned]

7 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

More to the point as to Lois's health, why would Lois bother with conventional hospitals when she has access to Kryptonian super-science at either fortress (among other places) to examine her possible pregnancy or what the issue might be? 

I mean she only went to that doctor to interview her about this world's John Henry in the first place, she just happened to tell the truth about her physical condition on the way in.

[BeautifulFlower]

I'm not an expert. However, the only other conditions that I know that produce the same symptoms as early pregnancy is PMS or menopause. I hope Lois is not sick with a serious illness.  Based on this episode, I have a feeling they're going to go with Lois having menopause. It'll sadden her just after her and Clark realized they wanted more.

[Chicago Redshirt]

2 hours ago, Diapason Untuned said:

I mean she only went to that doctor to interview her about this world's John Henry in the first place, she just happened to tell the truth about her physical condition on the way in.

Understood. But I'm not talking about how she got started with getting checked out. I'm talking about what happened after that and why.

I would think that Lois would have declined the offer of tests with some rando because there's a possibility that they could reveal something about Clark being non-human.

But given that she goes ahead with the tests, it doesn't seem like it makes sense for there to be doublechecking with pharmacy based tests since the hospital ones are by definition more accurate. Google tells me that a blood pregnancy test can take a couple days, so I guess there could have been some impatience to get results.

But it also doesn't make much sense for Clark to buy a drugstore pregnancy test when he has access to a) his super-senses that should tell him if Lois is pregnant or not b) the aforementioned supercomputers. 

[blackwing]

6 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

But it also doesn't make much sense for Clark to buy a drugstore pregnancy test when he has access to a) his super-senses that should tell him if Lois is pregnant or not b) the aforementioned supercomputers. 

Right?  If she was pregnant, shouldn't he have been able to hear the fetus's heartbeat?  Or X-Ray vision her body to see it?

Edited March 16, 2023 by blackwing

[Paloma]

8 hours ago, BeautifulFlower said:

However, the only other conditions that I know that produce the same symptoms as early pregnancy is PMS or menopause. I hope Lois is not sick with a serious illness.  Based on this episode, I have a feeling they're going to go with Lois having menopause. It'll sadden her just after her and Clark realized they wanted more.

At first I thought she is too young for menopause (I think of menopause as something that happens to women in their late 40s to 50s, because that was my experience), but the symptoms definitely match perimenopause (if she is not pregnant). I looked up typical age for perimenopause and it is actually early 40s. It lasts an average of 4 years, though it can be only months, and you're not considered to be in menopause until you have not menstruated for a year. 

I suspect that the writers don't want to deal with perimenopause or menopause as a storyline, because it doesn't have the same dramatic effect as an unexpected pregnancy and how the baby will affect the family dynamics.  

[Affogato]

I seem to remember the showrunners saying, in a minor off hand way, that there weren't that many seasons left in the show and I remember wondering if it ends when the teens turn 18 and leave home for college. Menopause makes sense, aging, they can wrestle with it this season and have moved on by the following season, while Ovarian cancer would be horrifying. do we know how old they are?

I wonder if, by the end of the season, there will be a foundling to raise? One of those Adoption is a possibility and of course Clark was adopted. Someone from another dimension, perhaps.

I think the idea of the family using the fortress is very new to them and they haven't explored all of the aspects of the fortress yet. Mom hologram may be more sympathetic than Dad hologram was about family life.  Clark does do that 'daredevil' thing where he listens to what is happening in the city, so yes, he might be able to detect pregnancy. Maybe he couldn't hear a heartbeat and they just assumed it was too early. Not doctors.

I like Jordan's look and his '70s hair, but I'm old. I also think that our heros need to have a few people around their own age, and I also really like Kyle. I'm not looking forward to the triangle and divorce weepiness, though.

Love the new fortress video game fighting console.

New Jon was really well cast and wearing the same clothes, too. Looks very like oldJon, but not so much that it is jarringly apparent. I am still bothered by The Winchesters John Winchester, because he looks so much like Sam, and yet he should look like Sam, the character is supposed to be Sam's father.

 

7 minutes ago, Paloma said:

At first I thought she is too young for menopause (I think of menopause as something that happens to women in their late 40s to 50s, because that was my experience), but the symptoms definitely match perimenopause (if she is not pregnant). I looked up typical age for perimenopause and it is actually early 40s. It lasts an average of 4 years, though it can be only months, and you're not considered to be in menopause until you have not menstruated for a year. 

I suspect that the writers don't want to deal with perimenopause or menopause as a storyline, because it doesn't have the same dramatic effect as an unexpected pregnancy and how the baby will affect the family dynamics.  

I think one of the things the family will eventually have to deal with is Lois's aging, while Clark ages much slower, so this seems to fit into the theme of the show. Lois dealing with losing a child was a theme, maybe her trying to get pregnant will be a theme this period, once she sees the handwriting on the wall.

[Paloma]

17 minutes ago, Affogato said:

I think one of the things the family will eventually have to deal with is Lois's aging, while Clark ages much slower, so this seems to fit into the theme of the show.

Good point! That would be interesting to explore, but unless they speed up Lois's aging with a time jump, it won't be dramatic. She probably won't look much older than she does now for at least another decade, and the show is not going to last that long. 

[Affogato]

8 minutes ago, Paloma said:

Good point! That would be interesting to explore, but unless they speed up Lois's aging with a time jump, it won't be dramatic. She probably won't look much older than she does now for at least another decade, and the show is not going to last that long. 

No, but it can touch on it as they move towards their kids aging out of being kids.

[Chicago Redshirt]

One thing this episode didn't address was that Lois had a miscarriage that left scars on her for years. It seems like that would have gone through her and Clark's head when she's potentially going to have a pregnancy in what I take to be her mid-40s and would be at increased risk for miscarriage, birth defects etc.

[blackwing]

3 hours ago, Affogato said:

I seem to remember the showrunners saying, in a minor off hand way, that there weren't that many seasons left in the show and I remember wondering if it ends when the teens turn 18 and leave home for college. Menopause makes sense, aging, they can wrestle with it this season and have moved on by the following season, while Ovarian cancer would be horrifying. do we know how old they are?

There's never been any definite confirmation as to how old Clark and Lois are.  In the first season, I recall us talking about Clark's line that he wanted to play baseball in 9th grade and it's been "over 20 years" and he still thinks about it.  I remember particularly wondering why they didn't say "over 25 years" since that would have put his age at at least 39 instead of at least 35.

I'd say that Clark is about 42, and Lois is perhaps 43-44.  Lois was already an established reporter when Clark joined the Daily Planet (presumably right out of college), so it makes sense to me that she is a little older than him.  Clark and Lana are supposed to be the same age, and 42 seems about right for Lana.  

It does seem to me like she's too young to be going through menopause, but I guess it can happen.  I'm thinking more that she has cancer or some other disease.  Clark's body is probably absorbed and retained a lot of radiation over the years and thus she's been exposed to some low-level dose of radiation for years.

[Paloma]

28 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

One thing this episode didn't address was that Lois had a miscarriage that left scars on her for years. It seems like that would have gone through her and Clark's head when she's potentially going to have a pregnancy in what I take to be her mid-40s and would be at increased risk for miscarriage, birth defects etc.

Yes, that should be a significant concern. Pregnancies over 35 used to be called (not so long ago) geriatric pregnancies; now they use "advanced maternal age" or similar terms. Even for a healthy woman, there is an increased risk of Down's syndrome and other birth defects after 35. And that's not even taking into account any possible risks due to alien DNA!

If she does turn out to be pregnant, and not in perimenopause or ill, I hope this concern will be addressed in a future episode.

[Chicago Redshirt]

2 minutes ago, blackwing said:

There's never been any definite confirmation as to how old Clark and Lois are.  In the first season, I recall us talking about Clark's line that he wanted to play baseball in 9th grade and it's been "over 20 years" and he still thinks about it.  I remember particularly wondering why they didn't say "over 25 years" since that would have put his age at at least 39 instead of at least 35.

I'd say that Clark is about 42, and Lois is perhaps 43-44.  Lois was already an established reporter when Clark joined the Daily Planet (presumably right out of college), so it makes sense to me that she is a little older than him.  Clark and Lana are supposed to be the same age, and 42 seems about right for Lana.  

It does seem to me like she's too young to be going through menopause, but I guess it can happen.  I'm thinking more that she has cancer or some other disease.  Clark's body is probably absorbed and retained a lot of radiation over the years and thus she's been exposed to some low-level dose of radiation for years.

It's not definitive, but I think we can safely say that at this point in the series, your age estimates are reasonable.

This episode establishes that the twins are 16. I believe the show specifically said that Clark and Lois dated for five years before getting married. Figuring that they didn't immediately get preggers, and factoring in nine months for the pregnancy, I would say it's at least 21-22 years since Clark became Superman. Assuming Clark became Superman at 21 when he would have finished college, I'd put him at 42-43, and given that Lois was already an established reporter, I would put her at 44-46.

[Paloma]

4 minutes ago, blackwing said:

I'd say that Clark is about 42, and Lois is perhaps 43-44.  Lois was already an established reporter when Clark joined the Daily Planet (presumably right out of college), so it makes sense to me that she is a little older than him.  Clark and Lana are supposed to be the same age, and 42 seems about right for Lana.  

It does seem to me like she's too young to be going through menopause, but I guess it can happen.  I'm thinking more that she has cancer or some other disease.  Clark's body is probably absorbed and retained a lot of radiation over the years and thus she's been exposed to some low-level dose of radiation for years.

I agree about the age estimates. Obviously people can age differently, but on my desk I have a photo of me with my daughter taken when I was about 41, and I look about the same age as Lois.

I didn't think about the radiation Clark has absorbed, not to mention other toxins he may have been exposed to in all his years of dealing with disasters. This could be a much bigger risk to Lois, and probably to the boys, in terms of illness. 

[Affogato]

14 minutes ago, blackwing said:

There's never been any definite confirmation as to how old Clark and Lois are.  In the first season, I recall us talking about Clark's line that he wanted to play baseball in 9th grade and it's been "over 20 years" and he still thinks about it.  I remember particularly wondering why they didn't say "over 25 years" since that would have put his age at at least 39 instead of at least 35.

I'd say that Clark is about 42, and Lois is perhaps 43-44.  Lois was already an established reporter when Clark joined the Daily Planet (presumably right out of college), so it makes sense to me that she is a little older than him.  Clark and Lana are supposed to be the same age, and 42 seems about right for Lana.  

It does seem to me like she's too young to be going through menopause, but I guess it can happen.  I'm thinking more that she has cancer or some other disease.  Clark's body is probably absorbed and retained a lot of radiation over the years and thus she's been exposed to some low-level dose of radiation for years.

That was my estimation. It would explain why, while established and up and coming as a reporter, Lois isn't the celebrity she is often shown as in the comics.  I always had the general and vague impression (and remember the 80s John Byrne was the last time I read the comics regularly) that they were around 30.

[Maverick]

 Too long between seasons.   Henry Miller?  (Apparently someone from a flashback like 8 years ago when season 1 aired).   Why was the Coach so pissed at Jonathan?  Who bought the twins trucks?  

  I'm assuming we'll see this Earth's JHi.  Either he died and was resurrected as part of this project (which is why his sister described him as a different person).   Or he literally was a different person from yet another Earth and the real JHI has been locked up or MIA.

 The masked villain reminds me of something from Batman Beyond but I only watched that sporadically so I don't know why. 

[BeautifulFlower]

1 hour ago, Maverick said:

 Too long between seasons.   Henry Miller?  (Apparently someone from a flashback like 8 years ago when season 1 aired).   Why was the Coach so pissed at Jonathan?  Who bought the twins trucks?  

  I'm assuming we'll see this Earth's JHi.  Either he died and was resurrected as part of this project (which is why his sister described him as a different person).   Or he literally was a different person from yet another Earth and the real JHI has been locked up or MIA.

 The masked villain reminds me of something from Batman Beyond but I only watched that sporadically so I don't know why. 

Yes, Henry Miller is a character from a flashback in season 1.

Last season, one of the football players was discovered to be doing x-kryptonite. This launched the school to do a locker search. Jonathan decided to take the fall for his girlfriend who was dealing x-kryptonite. Because he refused to name names and also took x-kryptonite, the football program was suspended.

Tal bought the twins trucks last season in the finale.

[thuganomics85]

Show has finally returned and apparently the main things to know that happened while away was Jonathan got a new face and Clark and Lois have been gettin busy!!!!

Start with the obvious elephant in the room: New Jonathan.  Definitely some adjustment since I thought Jordan Elsass was excellent as Jonathan (even if I heard there was come controversy over his real life views), but I thought Michael Bishop was game and I warmed up to him at the end.  I think the scene with the brothers really helped because it showed that he also has a natural chemistry with Alex Garfin and I think that was really needed.  I wonder if they did screen tests and whatnot to make sure that was solid.  Recasting can always be tricky, but I'll roll with it.  Especially since the other options would have been either a) Jonathan leaves which wouldn't make much sense and b) he dies, which would have just brought in unneeded drama and sadness.

I started thinking that the pregnancy thing wasn't going to happen, but it was interesting seeing Clark and Lois' initial reactions to that possibility and then them warming up the idea.  I can easily still see it happening.  But now the doctor think Lois might actually have some kind of sickness?  Uh oh!

Yeah, I thought Jordan and Sarah were back together, so all of their drama was kind of surprising.  Suspect it will end with them rekindling the flame at some point, so I guess we're just in a holding pattern here.

Did not have Kyle/Chrissy on my couples bingo card!  Yeah, I'm sure it will end up being more than "one and done" and forgotten about.  And while the divorce papers might be signed now, I have a feeling Lana/Kyle won't be gone for good.

Sam is right: he really isn't good at this whole "bonding with other human" things.  At least he actually listened when John Henry chewed him out and is already making steps to trying again with Natalie.

Action scenes were fun.

Liking the new villains: especially Bruno Mannheim being played by the always excellent Chad Coleman.  Hooded... thing was creepy.

Who knows how long this will last, but as far as I'm concerned, Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch will possibly be my favorite versions of Clark/Superman and Lois.

Great premiere!

[blackwing]

9 hours ago, BeautifulFlower said:

Tal bought the twins trucks last season in the finale.

Which again makes me wonder, why isn't Jordan getting his licence as well?  He has a truck that he doesn't know how to drive.

8 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Did not have Kyle/Chrissy on my couples bingo card!  Yeah, I'm sure it will end up being more than "one and done" and forgotten about.  And while the divorce papers might be signed now, I have a feeling Lana/Kyle won't be gone for good.

Kyle definitely looked like he has lots of regrets about the divorce.  Which is another bit I'm confused about.  Last season, Kyle cheated on Lana with the bar girl.  She found out and kicked him out.  But apparently from this episode, it appears that he was the one that filed for divorce?  They said that his lawyer had been asking him to get her to sign the papers.  If she was the one that had filed, and he hadn't wanted the divorce, why would there be any pressure from him to have her sign?

It seems like he wants to get back together.  I imagine he will hold onto the papers and not file them.  All. Season. Long.  Meanwhile, the infinitely irritating Chrissy will still keep hanging around him.  Even though she is the one that said it will never happen again.  This divorce/triangle plotline is going to annoy me all season long.

[Affogato]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

Which again makes me wonder, why isn't Jordan getting his licence as well?  He has a truck that he doesn't know how to drive.

 

Yes, he needs to get it. Nothing more suspicious than a rural lad with a car who doesn't want to drive.  However, Jonathan must be eager to learn and to gain the freedom of movement that entails, Jordan has a huge helping of things he needs to learn how to do and can fly to Indonesia for elephant statues. Driving would be farther down his list of things to learn and at the top of Jonathan's list.

[Lantern7]

Lesson learned: Lois and Clark have sex. And, apparently, it is awesome for all involved. I don’t think about logistics that often, but “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex” is never far from my mind.

Good episode. Except for Sam trying to recruit Natalie, everything felt good.

Chrissy and Kyle . . . I hate when characters do that and they get all “This will never happen again,” because you know that’s not going to be the case.

I’m wondering if Clark would be able to detect conception within Lois. Once again, I think too much about logic.

Kent boys are still dopes, albeit slightly endearing. Had to love their coach conducting Jon’s exam . . . you know, the boy that killed high school football in Smallville for at least one season.

[metaphor]

8 hours ago, blackwing said:

Which again makes me wonder, why isn't Jordan getting his licence as well?  He has a truck that he doesn't know how to drive.

Jonathan mentioned in the episode that Jordan had returned his truck. 

[blackwing]

12 minutes ago, metaphor said:

Jonathan mentioned in the episode that Jordan had returned his truck. 

Ah, thank you, I missed him saying that.  It still doesn't make sense why Jordan isn't getting his license though.  They are twins, they  go to and from school together and could easily share one truck.  Kids their age know who has a license and who has a car and knowing that they turned 16, are sure to ask Jordan why Jonathan got his license but he didn't. 

My son got his drivers license within the past year, and that scene of Lois front backseat driving and Jonathan getting exasperated ("put the indicator on", "too fast, slow down", "speed up", etc) was spot on.  Too funny.  Every parent can identify with Lois and I'm sure every teen can identify with Jonathan.

 

[StaceyNotStacie]

20 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I’m wondering if Clark would be able to detect conception within Lois. Once again, I think too much about logic.

I remember the original movie where Lois smoked and Superman did the xray of her lungs. Wouldn’t Clark be able to do the same thing now to see if she was pregnant?

Edited March 18, 2023 by StaceyNotStacie

[cambridgeguy]

On 3/15/2023 at 8:11 PM, rmontro said:

I thought that was funny also, but I'm not sure it makes that much sense.  He does have those super fast reflexes after all.  Driving is basically reacting and making adjustments.

We only have Lois's word for that.  Given their personalities, I can easily see Clark being that chill, cautious driver who stays in the right lane and follows the speed limit while Lois is begging him to speed up.

[Affogato]

20 hours ago, blackwing said:

Ah, thank you, I missed him saying that.  It still doesn't make sense why Jordan isn't getting his license though.  They are twins, they  go to and from school together and could easily share one truck.  Kids their age know who has a license and who has a car and knowing that they turned 16, are sure to ask Jordan why Jonathan got his license but he didn't. 

My son got his drivers license within the past year, and that scene of Lois front backseat driving and Jonathan getting exasperated ("put the indicator on", "too fast, slow down", "speed up", etc) was spot on.  Too funny.  Every parent can identify with Lois and I'm sure every teen can identify with Jonathan.

 

Again Jordan has enough on his plate. He might also want to give the win to Jonathan.

[BeautifulFlower]

On 3/17/2023 at 8:51 AM, blackwing said:

Which again makes me wonder, why isn't Jordan getting his licence as well?  He has a truck that he doesn't know how to drive.

Kyle definitely looked like he has lots of regrets about the divorce.  Which is another bit I'm confused about.  Last season, Kyle cheated on Lana with the bar girl.  She found out and kicked him out.  But apparently from this episode, it appears that he was the one that filed for divorce?  They said that his lawyer had been asking him to get her to sign the papers.  If she was the one that had filed, and he hadn't wanted the divorce, why would there be any pressure from him to have her sign?

It seems like he wants to get back together.  I imagine he will hold onto the papers and not file them.  All. Season. Long.  Meanwhile, the infinitely irritating Chrissy will still keep hanging around him.  Even though she is the one that said it will never happen again.  This divorce/triangle plotline is going to annoy me all season long.

Lana did file for the divorce. The divorce process starts once one of them files a petition for divorce, which is what Lana did. Since they have children and possibly other assets together, they would have to come up with a settlement on those things. For example, what type of custody did they agree to in the proceedings. That's why Kyle asked did she not agree with the terms. He can put his own terms as well as Lana.

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 3/16/2023 at 9:23 PM, Maverick said:

  I'm assuming we'll see this Earth's JHi.  Either he died and was resurrected as part of this project (which is why his sister described him as a different person).   Or he literally was a different person from yet another Earth and the real JHI has been locked up or MIA.

 The masked villain reminds me of something from Batman Beyond but I only watched that sporadically so I don't know why. 

We have been told that this Earth's JHI had been murdered by Intergang, but as we are seeing, bringing people back from the dead is possible, so it's entirely possible that this Earth's JHI is now a Big or Medium Bad. Possibly the masked villain.

It is doubtful to me that there is another duplicate JHI from another dimension floating around still, but I suppose we can't rule it out. I don't think we saw a Bizarro World JHI last season, for instance, and it's possible that there a) was one and b) he ended up on the S&L earth after all the shenanigans somehow. 

[Affogato]

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

We have been told that this Earth's JHI had been murdered by Intergang, but as we are seeing, bringing people back from the dead is possible, so it's entirely possible that this Earth's JHI is now a Big or Medium Bad. Possibly the masked villain.

It is doubtful to me that there is another duplicate JHI from another dimension floating around still, but I suppose we can't rule it out. I don't think we saw a Bizarro World JHI last season, for instance, and it's possible that there a) was one and b) he ended up on the S&L earth after all the shenanigans somehow. 

Get enough of them together and they can form a heavy metal band.

[norcalgal]

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

so it's entirely possible that this Earth's JHI is now a Big or Medium Bad. Possibly the masked villain.

You may end up being correct, but to me, the physique of the masked person looked feminine, like Lois or Natalie’s build.  

[Paloma]

On 3/17/2023 at 1:51 PM, Lantern7 said:

Had to love their coach conducting Jon’s exam

At first I thought that was too much of a coincidence, but then I remembered that in the olden days when I was in high school, PE teachers and coaches sometimes also did the drivers ed classes. Might still be true today. Or working part-time for the MVA may just a way for a coach or teacher to make extra money.

[Paloma]

On 3/17/2023 at 1:27 AM, thuganomics85 said:

Did not have Kyle/Chrissy on my couples bingo card!  Yeah, I'm sure it will end up being more than "one and done" and forgotten about.  And while the divorce papers might be signed now, I have a feeling Lana/Kyle won't be gone for good.

I really don't like Kyle/Chrissy as a couple--they just seem like opposite personalities/types, and not in an "opposites attract" kind of way. Although I don't see the appeal of Kyle's character and am not rooting for Lana and Kyle to get back together (with my own history of having been cheated on, I do not forgive this easily in fictional characters), the way they act together does signal that the underlying love is still there. 

On 3/17/2023 at 6:28 PM, blackwing said:

My son got his drivers license within the past year, and that scene of Lois front backseat driving and Jonathan getting exasperated ("put the indicator on", "too fast, slow down", "speed up", etc) was spot on.  Too funny.  Every parent can identify with Lois and I'm sure every teen can identify with Jonathan.

That was really funny. I still remember trying to teach my daughter to drive a couple of decades ago. We would have killed each other if I hadn't told my much more patient husband to take over.