S04.E10: It Went By So Fast

[scarynikki12]

Quote

The Kents fight with everything they have as Luthor makes his final move on Smallville.

 

 

[scarynikki12]

The name of the series finale is It Went By So Fast. Ain't that the truth. I love this show so much and I will miss it even more. I had almost no complaints about it and the few I did have, when compared to other Arrowverse shows, were just passing annoyances rather than major story or character problems. From start to finish it was a family show with powers rather than the other way around and that made it the best of the Arrowverse shows.

We open on Lana and Irons on a bar date. Good choice. I suspect Lana is kicking his ass.

Sarah doesn't have to pay for airfare so at least you saved some money there.

I love angry Lois. Rip Amanda a new one!

Frog and Toad kick Dooms away from Dad. That was cute and the CGI made it look ever so slightly goofy which I enjoy.

I think Lana can heal Irons with just her stubbornness. 

Apparently the boys new Super Saying is "Fraternals". I love it when this show is silly.

Nice sequence of the boys splitting off, Clark watching Dooms go by, and Irons hammer knocking it the fuck out. That was cool.

Lex is the Final Bad so I assume, at most, Dooms will come back seconds before Clark throws him into the Sun. That or he throws him in no problem and being that close to the Sun will give him a major power boost. Then he comes back to deal with Lex for good.

There's no getting around how goofy Doomsday looks but Clark carrying him to the Sun looked really cool.

Hee, Irons is going after Brainiac to get revenge for taking his suit. Go Steel go!

Looks like Bizarro has returned to his body and accepts his death. Bye Dooms! Bye Biz!

Brainiac stopping Lois from broadcasting while Lex goes after the boys. Clark you better get back asap.

But soak up those rays first! Then kick Lex's ass! The sun healed his hearing! 

Just fly to the sun Clark and get some more of those rays.

Jordan saved Jon but I can't tell how. Did he blow him up like Lex did with Bizarro? Doesn't really matter because the boys are both alive.

Brainiac isn't so tough when he's not by his computers now is he?

Clark revealing his identity means he wears his wedding ring when doing his superheroing and I love that. 

The nice thing about Lex stealing the suit is Clark gets to freely kick his ass without worrying about his health.

And then he immediately saves Lex when the suit is gone. That's Superman.

Episode is half over and Doomsday is dead and Lex defeated. I'm scared to hope we get a lot of quiet family time to close out the show. Quiet family time would be an AMAZING way to end the show, and completely in line with how this series has been, but superhero shows don't like to do that in their finales. Maybe five or ten minutes of it but otherwise it's action all the way.

A year later? Nice.

Looks like Lana's marrying John Henry at the Kent Farm. I really hope they turned it into an events venue in the last year given how often they've hosted.

I love Lana's dress. Not wild about those glove things but they're still pretty.

Hi Sophie! Blink and you'll miss it cameo.

Chrissy's pregnant AGAIN?? 

Nice scenes with Lana and Kyle. They pulled off being sweet and bittersweet which is hard to do. 

Hee, Sarah's convinced the barn is cursed. Ok, sure, but it's also the only place to have a party in this town so go have fun kid.

We didn't get to see it, for which I blame the season 4 budget, but I hope Nat and Lana have a good step relationship. Nat's almost an adult but I think she'd love to have a second mother to lean on from time to time and we know Lana would love that too.

Lex is in prison for life. And expects the same accommodations and string pulling as last time but it looks like it's not working this time around. HA! Bruno's running this show and Lex is now regretting ever decision he ever made that led him to the moment. Enjoy your new career as a chair Lex.

So Clark lived 32 more years. And Clark got himself a Super Team during that time. Don't know how I feel about new actors for the boys adult versions but I guess it's for the grandkids. And is that David Giuntoli playing Adult Jon??? 

Stupid cancer coming back and taking Lois from us. The show's first episode had the death of Martha so I guess bookending with the death of Lois makes sense.

Aw, Clark managed to get Krypto after all.

Clark's heart starting to give out in the same place as his dad is another understandable bookend.

Ok, the show is going hard at the emotional stuff and it's working (on me).

It's so Superman for him to find the positive in dying.

Goodbye show. You were the best from start to finish.

[Galileo908]

People, it's been an honor.

They managed to wrap up the whole thing in an hour. Doomsday/Bizarro dead for good, Luthor ruined and given a life sentence (with Manheim for a cellmate!), Lana and John Henry got married. And the happily ever after with everyone getting older. And dying. And then Krypto! And then Superman died again. Kinda. I'll admit, I teared up.

Jeez, Luthor was given the Darth Vader at the end of ROTJ treatment at the end, didn't he? Just took everyone becoming ghosts. EDIT: Speaking of Return of The Jedi, where were John, Martha, and Sam's spirits looking on proudly?!

5 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

It's so Superman for him to find the positive in dying.

Ain't it the truth?

5 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

The nice thing about Lex stealing the suit is Clark gets to freely kick his ass without worrying about his health.

And the helmet conveniently covered up his head so it's easier to animate fight.

Edited December 3 by Galileo908

[bluvelvet]

I really enjoyed that finale and I teared up at the end. Im sad Superman died but he didn’t want to live without Lois anyway so I guess there’s that. I assumed that when the sun healed his hearing it also would do something to his heart, but I guess it didn’t. He still died 32 years later. I also appreciate that everyone got their sendoff. With the heart of the show was Clark Lois and their family.
 

Very, very well on show I will miss you. 

[historylover820]

My mom called, so I missed the very ending. How much does the Kryptonian genes go? Will the grandkids be supers, or will the 3/4 human genes override? Granted, it's not like Jonathan and Jordan have to hide their identities as adults.

I loved it. Can't wait for season 4 to come out on blu-ray, so it will complete my set.

And I officially have nothing left to watch on the CW. Good job, network.

[DanaK]

Dammit, the show really got me with those last few minutes as Clark reviews the time up to his second death. I definitely teared up, especially with Lois going first due to her cancer returning (No! Why?)

This was a mostly wonderful show with 2 great leads in Tyler and Bitsy. They made you truly believe Clark and Lois’ relationship and the family bond. I didn’t really appreciate Luther’s sadism in the last 2 seasons or the budget cuts and the premature cancellation. I think this show could have gone at least 2 more seasons if the budget had been normal enough. I will definitely miss it

7 minutes ago, historylover820 said:

And I officially have nothing left to watch on the CW. Good job, network.

There might be the occasional one or two shows to watch on there but they ended the stuff I wanted to watch

[StaceyNotStacie]

I’m so glad that we were able to get an ending to this series.  I’m still a little bitter that Legends of Tomorrow didn’t get a proper finale.  
 

I admit that I became teary towards the end, especially once Lois died.  I was a bit disappointed that he didn’t see either set of parents once he died.  
 

This was tied up pretty well.  The only cliffhanger was whether or not the grandkids had super powers.  

[opus]

Was that supposed to be Candace married to Jonathan?

[Trekky]

What an episode! Loved it. I also teared up at the end. I will miss this show so much.

[TiffanyNichelle]

OMG this whole season was nothing but emotional pain. I thought the worst part was going to be when Jordan thought Jon was dead but then Clark hit me with the "the second time I died was 32 years later." I'm a crybaby so that ending montage had me sobbing. I'm going to miss this show.

I did chuckle at the sight of the adult version of the twins. I don't know why, I didn't expect that.

Quote

And is that David Giuntoli playing Adult Jon??? 

That was him! I was trying to figure out why that one guy looked so familiar.

Edited December 3 by TiffanyNichelle

[thuganomics85]

Krypto!!!

Still trying to fully process everything because the last act just emotionally delivered in pretty much every way possible that is hard to judge the rest of the episode alone on its merits. 

That said, I think they overall did a good job with resolving the Doomsday/Lex situation and ending that on a high note.  Thanks to teamwork, they were able to take out Doomsday so that Clark could drag him to the sun where he is weaker, and it looks like Doomsday more or less regain his Bizarro personality and memories at the end and sacrificed himself (so that he can be with his own family, I'm guessing.)  Probably the best ending for him.

As for Lex, well he realized that despite all of his rage and snarling, he is back to where he started: alone and in a cell.  Well, it's actually worse because instead of being the big man on campus like last time, he's now under the thumb of an understandably smug Bruno!  If only you listened to your daughter, Lexy boy.  You might have had a shot at something resembling a decent life if you didn't let your need for revenge get the better of you (and, well, being a general criminal in the first place...)

Figured we would see at least one wedding, and I'm good with it being Lana and John Henry.  Any one of the Kent boys marrying Candice or Sarah would have been a bit much.  I wonder if Kyle and Chrissy every actually tied the knot?  Either way, looks like they have another son on their way.  Did like that we got one Kyle/Lana scene.  Despite not working out, I do think they care for one another in their own way still.

Super Squad for the win!

But, yeah, that final scene/montage brought all the emotions out.  Bittersweet in a lot of ways since Lois does succumb to her cancer at the end, and then Clark's heart finally gives out and Superman is truly dead.  But at the same time, they got to grow old together, watch their sons grow, get married themselves, and have children of their own, use their growing fame to make the world a better place, and clearly seemed to have a happy life.  For a lot of people; both in the comic world and real one; that is close to a perfect one as one can get.

Wasn't sure at first, but I see that was actually David Giuntoli as Adult Jonathan!  Fun little cameo there.  Little surprised that they didn't do something similar with Adult Jordan.  Was actually wondering if they might put Gregory Smith himself on camera since he directed this one (plus other episodes.)  Might have been a fun Easter Egg.

All in all, a great ending for what was probably one of; if not the best; shows out of the Arrowverse.  I selfishly wouldn't have mind maybe another season or two to spend more time with these wonderful characters, but I'm glad we at least got a final season to wrap it up and it at least didn't overstay it's welcome like others did (looking at you, The Flash.  Sorry, buddy!)  Sure, like most shows, it had its moments of weaknesses or mistakes (from what I remember, season two was probably the most flawed), but I never felt like it lost its way, and I was frankly impressed how grounded and undramatic it could be despite the outlandish situations and being on one of the soapiest networks out there (I swear, I say this with love!)  It was not only just a great version of the Superman story, but Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch's versions of Clark and Lois might be my favorite iterations out there.

Fare thee well, Superman & Lois.  And the Arrowverse.  And The CW that I use to love despite the silliness at times.  I will miss you all!!

[Chicago Redshirt]

They stuck the (superhero) landing. Let's get that out of the way. Hit the right plot points, emotional notes, etc. I'll miss the show and am glad it went out on a high note and its own terms rather than either limping along or being cut off prematurely, where the other Arrowverse shows tended to land.

That said, I do have to complain about the coda somewhat. It is a pet peeve of mine that inherent in the concept of Superman as most comics/movies/TV shows have him is a problem. Rather than using his powers/knowledge/resources/celebrity to their fullest potential to end world hunger, homelessness, racism, poverty, environmental disasters and so many other real-world problems, he largely ignores those issues and either sticks to superhero threats or spends half his time hiding who he is and keeps up the ruse that he's a mild-mannered reporter. You can try to handwave the reason why he isn't Superman 24/7 or why he doesn't work harder on real-world problems in-universe as hard as you might want, but the real reasons are rooted in out-of-universe things: DC is marketing a fantasy to largely kids, DC doesn't want to get too political, DC prefers to focus on superheroics rather than world-changing, things like that.

So it's a disappointment to me that once Superman's reason for hiding his light under a bushel is gone, and once he supposedly commits his full weight to fixing the world, the headlines are rather tepid stuff like "Lois Lane Gives Inspiring Speech" and "Dedication of Samuel Lane Medical Center." 

At that point, you have not one, but three demigods capable of countless feats in a world with apparently few supervillains or other problems that need their constant attention. They are collectively capable of raising infinite money both through their super-feats and their connections. They have access to Kryptonian tech and lore, plus celebrity, plus the will to change things. And the voiceover concedes that they didn't change everything. An interventionist Super-team can and should have done a lot more. 

[baldryanr]

56 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Rather than using his powers/knowledge/resources/celebrity to their fullest potential to end world hunger, homelessness, racism, poverty, environmental disasters and so many other real-world problems, he largely ignores those issues and either sticks to superhero threats or spends half his time hiding who he is and keeps up the ruse that he's a mild-mannered reporter. You can try to handwave the reason why he isn't Superman 24/7 or why he doesn't work harder on real-world problems in-universe as hard as you might want, but the real reasons are rooted in out-of-universe things: DC is marketing a fantasy to largely kids, DC doesn't want to get too political, DC prefers to focus on superheroics rather than world-changing, things like that.

Superman ending racism would be the most unrealistic thing in a show about an alien with superpowers who just happens to look like a normal human male.

[Chicago Redshirt]

49 minutes ago, baldryanr said:

Superman ending racism would be the most unrealistic thing in a show about an alien with superpowers who just happens to look like a normal human male.

Completely ending racism (or the other social ills) might be unrealistic. Some of them are just in human nature. But the point of Superman is that he can appeal to our better nature. And the critique this show has explicitly had through the Bruno Mannheim character is that Superman didn't bother to address racism (and other social ills) till now. My critique is that now that he has begun to do so, it seems relatively lightweight.

I think Superman could put a serious dent in racism and the other problems by using what are among his greatest powers: his charisma and his nature as a role model.

It would be hard to try to maintain the philosophy that you're part of a master race when there's a virtual demigod saying "Actually, we all are created equal and I have no tolerance for racism. My powers, let alone my white skin, don't make me better than the next person."

It would be hard for systemic inequalities based in race to persist when Superman devoted a fraction of his time to making sure the people of Hobb's Bay got treated the same as the people from downtown Metropolis and had access to the same sorts of resources. 

Superman could also easily work to undo some of the root causes/contributors to racism and social ills. I imagine a good deal of racism (and fill in the blank for many other social ills) would dissipate if everyone had quality and sufficient food, shelter, access to reasonable medical care and other basic needs met. Because at the root of many of them there's the fear of "someone is coming to deprive me of something I'm entitled to/want." If there were enough to go around, that would diminish that issue. And there are various ways that Superman could ensure that there was enough to go around, whether again it was just by force of persuasion, earning billions/trillions through super-feats and technology, getting other people to pitch in, etc. etc.

[scarynikki12]

6 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Was actually wondering if they might put Gregory Smith himself on camera since he directed this one (plus other episodes.)

He did cameo as a crew member in the episode where Clark revealed himself as Superman. 

[blackwing]

I was surprised at how quickly the Doomsday and Luthor battles were resolved, but it was for the better, because of the amazing ending scenes.  This show has always been more about family and less about superheroing.

I liked that they wrapped things up in the end.  I had thought the sun was healing his damaged heart.  He said he lived 32 more years, so if he was 45 at the end of the series, he lived to 77.  I would have thought he would have lived longer, but if they really are saying that Sam's 60 year old heart was damaged, the heart lasted until age 92.

I do have some minor quibbles/questions:

Didn't John Henry say that he had invented some kind of doohickey that would disable the suit?  I thought it was going to block the kryptonite power or something.  Lois taunted Luthor so she could slap that magnetic doohickey on him, and to me it seemed like the doohickey did absolutely nothing.

Amanda belongs in prison with Luthor.  She was basically forced into doing that interview which didn't happen anyways because of Milton.  Lois could have argued on her behalf to get the sentence mitigated, but she at least deserved 10 years in prison.

So as he is dying, before he enters the afterlife and sees Lois, he sees important people in his life.  His sons, Lana and John Henry... and Lex?!  What about Jonathan and Martha and Sam?  What about Holo-Mom?  Lex was deemed more important to his life than any of his parents?

The two adult sons looked like identical twins to me, I couldn't figure out which one was which.  Noticed that they FINALLY cut Jordan's hair hahaha.  One of them was married to someone who resembled Candace, but not sure if it was supposed to be her.  But neither of them were Sarah, so I guess that book closed for Jordan.

Was Sophie even at the wedding?  Not sure if I even saw her, but it would have been funny if Lana had said "Sophie who?  Oh, she's away at camp." at her own wedding.

I liked the costumes for the boys.  Jon's looked more like Conner Kent's - blue top, red pants.  While Jordan's was reversed.  More of a red top with blue pants.  Wish we had gotten better looks at them and I wish they had told us whether they were using code names.  "Fraternal One" and "Fraternal Two" doesn't cut it.

All in all, this was a very satisfying series finale.  I will miss this show.  It all went by so fast, indeed.

[Quark]

Those last few minutes were strangely emotional for a CW show.

Overall, this was a great series. Bitsite Tulloch was MVP although I do love Emanuelle Chriqui. She looked phenomenal in that wedding dress.

Glad Jordan and Sarah didn't get back together at the end.

I cracked up when I saw David Giuntoli. Always like seeing him, been waiting for him to show up ever since the show started!

I'm also glad that Amanda survived.

Edited December 3 by Quark

[iarwain]

Not much to say about this one, other than to say it was the best of all the CW superhero shows IMO, by a good bit.

I find it a little hard to believe that after being pummeled by Superman repeatedly to virtually no effect, Doomsday got knocked out by one hit from John Henry's hammer.  But I'll waive it.

The Lex "forgiveness" scene was interesting, and food for thought.  A lot of this show has focused on death and mortality, hasn't it?

[Kirbyrun]

9 minutes ago, iarwain said:

I find it a little hard to believe that after being pummeled by Superman repeatedly to virtually no effect, Doomsday got knocked out by one hit from John Henry's hammer.  But I'll waive it.

I *think* the implication is that the velocity of the hammer PLUS Doomsday's own velocity combined to make the blow that much more devastating. Doomsday thought he was was ramping up to punch Kal's head off at maximum speed...and instead got hit in the head with a hammer coming the other way just as fast.

That's how I justified it, at least.

[iarwain]

34 minutes ago, Kirbyrun said:

I *think* the implication is that the velocity of the hammer PLUS Doomsday's own velocity combined to make the blow that much more devastating. Doomsday thought he was was ramping up to punch Kal's head off at maximum speed...and instead got hit in the head with a hammer coming the other way just as fast.

That's how I justified it, at least.

Yeah, that makes some sense.

[kickingnames]

I have lots of thoughts about the finale as a whole, which I will get to later, but for now one tiny thing I love is when Clark speaks softly to his sons who are miles and miles away, and they hear him and can follow the plan exactly. It’s like their own secret code but better.

[Artsda]

That was a great ending and finale. Wish they had more seasons, but at least it ended well. 

[cardigirl]

Oh how I've enjoyed this show. Sad that they only got 3.5 seasons, but last season was some of the best writing and acting I've seen on a CW show. 

The finale was satisfying to me, I kind of like seeing how everyone went on after they beat Luthor. Really enjoyed seeing David Guintoli show up.

Fare well, Superman and Lois. You had some of the best theme music for any show on TV today. Thanks for being so good.

 

[Jediknight]

That was an incredible finale.  When it comes to the trinity of superhero/comic shows finales for me it's Superman & Lois, Agents of SHIELD, and Stargirl.  Got-dang did S&L stick the landing.

Loved that Kyle and Clark stayed besties, and that Kyle was there when Clark had his heart attack.  They began as "enemies", but grew to become friends, and because of that Clark's last moments weren't on the street, they were surrounded by his sons.  And dang, can't be said enough the great work they did with Kyle as the show went on.

Clark giving away Lana was a nice touch.  Who better to give her away than her childhood best friend?

I have nothing bad to say about anything in the episode.  Everybody got their happy ending, even Bruno who gets to work with Superman and Lois to help out people who need it.

[norcalgal]

On 12/2/2024 at 7:38 PM, DanaK said:

This was a mostly wonderful show with 2 great leads in Tyler and Bitsy. They made you truly believe Clark and Lois’ relationship and the family bond. I didn’t really appreciate Luther’s sadism in the last 2 seasons or the budget cuts

ITA, especially regarding the family aspect of the show (see caveat below).

22 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Still trying to fully process everything because the last act just emotionally delivered in pretty much every way possible

 

22 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

But, yeah, that final scene/montage brought all the emotions out.  Bittersweet in a lot of ways since Lois does succumb to her cancer at the end, and then Clark's heart finally gives out and Superman is truly dead.  But at the same time, they got to grow old together, watch their sons grow, get married themselves, and have children of their own, use their growing fame to make the world a better place, and clearly seemed to have a happy life. 

I must be dead inside because I felt the looooong montage ending not only went on too long, it was overly cheesy.  I felt it would have been enough for Clark to narrate one or two sentences about what happened to Jon and Jordan in the future, instead of lots of random Kent family scenes with people we never got to know. And like others complained, should have had Ma & Pa Kent in the montage.  The focus was too much “happily ever after” and far, far into the future, when I would prefer a bit more near future scenes such as a 5 to 10 year montage.  But that’s just me.

Too bad show couldn’t find a way to work in a reconciliation between Clark and his half brother instead of the Clark forgiving Lex Luthor scene.

Ah well, and that’s a wrap!

Edited December 4 by norcalgal

[baldryanr]

4 hours ago, norcalgal said:

Too bad show couldn’t find a way to work in a reconciliation between Clark and his half brother instead of the Clark forgiving Lex Luthor scene.

I agree it would have been nice to see Tal Rho again, but the two of them had already reconciled by the time he took off.  I assume it would have been too expensive and/or against some rule to photoshop previous footage of him, Sam, Ma Kent, etc. into a brief shot at the end. 

[Affogato]

Throughout the episode Jordan was the one supporting Jon, even a hand on Jon’s shoulder after Clark died. I’m sorry we missed that period where they came into themselves. That senior year stuff. And forgiving Luthor, that’s real superman stuff. I couldn’t. 
 

this was great. Wanted more. 
 

 

[jah1986]

What a great way to end a great show! I wish we had gotten an extended finale, maybe 90 minutes or even 2 hours, but they did good with what they had. I would have liked to have seen Nat as an adult and to have heard adult Jonathan and Jordan speak. Nine grandkids! Wow! I don't think Jon did marry Candace, thank goodness, I think he had the blonde wife.

It was nice to see Kyle and Lana being more than civil with each other, and getting that last dance. Loved seeing the twins get their "suits", they looked so excited/happy. And Krypto! How did Clark go so long without a dog?

Glad to see Bruno showing Lex that things have changed, and that he got to work with Clark and Lois to do some good.

I'm really going to miss this show.

[iarwain]

14 hours ago, Jediknight said:

That was an incredible finale.  When it comes to the trinity of superhero/comic shows finales for me it's Superman & Lois, Agents of SHIELD, and Stargirl.  Got-dang did S&L stick the landing.

Oh, now you're making me miss Stargirl.  Oh well.

Regarding Kyle, what was the point of that episode a few weeks ago where Chrissy decided she wasn't ready to get married yet?  They ended up getting married anyway, they might as well have just had the wedding.  It would have changed absolutely nothing.  Just seems like a way of injecting drama for no real reason. 

One more thing, was there some CGI involved in aging some of the actors in the last segment?  Or was it all makeup?  I'm guessing there was some CGI aging going on.

Edited December 4 by iarwain

[MJ Frog]

I think I have separation anxiety. I put off seeing the finale for a couple days, and it's not the first time I've done that with a show I really like.

This series was a bold, interesting, and very worthy addition to the Superman mythos. By having him end up as a mortal with a human heart, one who did really, finally, die, they took things in a completely new direction. I thought surely they were going to find a way to restore his heart, but instead they ended things in a way that was very much in keeping with what the show had been all along. Was that end sequence cheesy? Yeah, probably. But it was also absolutely beautiful.

Two of my favorite small moments. When John Henry rifled through what looked like a box of cables only to be disappointed, my immediate thought was, "I feel you, buddy. I've got a box just like that in my closet."

Secondly, I found myself oddly moved when Doomsday held out his hand to signal that this was enough, that it had to end. That whole sequence, and Clark's apparent pity for someone who was once like him, had a real weight to it.

I will always appreciate a group of people -- actors, writers, directors -- trying hard to make something good. Well done, and thank you.

Edited December 5 by MJ Frog

[Kirbyrun]

8 hours ago, MJ Frog said:

I will always appreciate a group of people -- actors, writers, directors -- trying hard to make something good. Well done, and thank you.

I wish more people felt this way. Beautifully said.

[kickingnames]

On 12/4/2024 at 1:25 AM, Jediknight said:

That was an incredible finale.  When it comes to the trinity of superhero/comic shows finales for me it's Superman & Lois, Agents of SHIELD, and Stargirl.  Got-dang did S&L stick the landing.

I've not seen Stargirl, but AoS is one of my top comic finales. And S&L is up there.

Gosh Tyler and Bitsie just carried this whole show. So glad that it was consistently the two of them just bringing it. That scene of them discussing the boys involvement while that helicopter burns in the background sticks out to me - it should look ridiculous, but it's just so grounded by the realness they bring to these characters and their relationship with each other. 

I really appreciate the growth that a lot of the characters had over this final season. Jordan really settled into himself. Jon getting powers lifted the weight of Superman's legacy off of Jordan alone so that the boys could be who they need to be individually but also handle their heritage better together.

Liked seeing Kyle and Clark's friendship solidify. I liked that they're still spending time together 30 years later and Kyle was there for Clark when he needed him. 

Wish there had been more of Lana, Sarah, and Nat over the course of the season, but I like where they ended up. Clark giving Lana away was sweet. Sarah not being stuck in a life or place she did not want to be in was good for her and privacy good for her friendship with Jordan as well. I love Nat having a sense of belonging in this world, and getting to have a real impact on is safety and wellbeing.

I get the look all the way through the future to Clark's official passing, but I do wish we could have seen more of the Kents in the near future, before the twins were full adults and married with kids. Basically I want more time with these characters as I've really come to enjoy them. I hate that this show got cut short (especially when other CW shows dragged on too long), but man, did they make the most of the time they were given. 

[TV Anonymous]

There were TEN children between Jon and Jordan? WTF? Who has that many children in these days and age?

My only regret is that Krypto did not fly. He was just a regular golden retriever.

[norcalgal]

3 hours ago, kickingnames said:

Jon getting powers

Does anyone know for sure that the plan was ALWAYS to have Jon get powers at some point, or did they always intend for him to be un-powered, but since they knew this was the last season, changed course, and gave him powers?

3 hours ago, kickingnames said:

I get the look all the way through the future to Clark's official passing, but I do wish we could have seen more of the Kents in the near future, before the twins were full adults and married with kids. Basically I want more time with these characters as I've really come to enjoy them.

Hear!  Hear!  I echoed similar comments in my post above.

[kickingnames]

1 hour ago, norcalgal said:

Does anyone know for sure that the plan was ALWAYS to have Jon get powers at some point, or did they always intend for him to be un-powered, but since they knew this was the last season, changed course, and gave him powers?

I read an article back when the 3rd episode of the season aired during which one of the showrunners implied that they had intended to explore Jon developing powers slower and later in the series, but I don’t know how much of that was actual plan vs. potential story idea.

[SnarkShark]

My controversial hot take is that the emotional stuff at the end was too heavy handed.

I didn't hate or even dislike the majority of the individual parts of it, but it felt too sicky -sweet to me.

I get that the legacy of Superman is positivity.  I get (and was one of the many people who viscously criticized) the Grimdark versions of Superman, both on film and even the occasional turns in that direction in the comics.  I get (and agree with) the overall tone of this show and most of the writing and decisions along the way.  I get (and agree with) that there had to be a decisive happy ending.

I don't even dislike a lot of the plot and character decisions for the very end.

But the actual execution felt heavy handed.  

Again, this isn't hate.  It didn't "ruin" anything for me.  I just have some feeling that some tweaking of what they did could have made it even better. 

My gut says that an outside view of what we saw would have felt less sappy.  It did need a narration, but I think it shouldn't have been Clark.  If they changed the plot up and had Clark die first. Lois would have been a natural for it.  But they also could have used one of the sons, or even Lana. 

I'm on the fence on if changing the narration would have meant erasing the after death sequence.  They could have still transitioned from the narration of someone else to just seeing that stuff. Although even there I think meeting Lois was all that was really necessary.  The wave goodbye to all people living and dead sequence might be as close as I come to actually disliking any piece of it strongly.  That could have been structured with the people living being in the house at the time of his death, and the deceased (but honestly... really just Lois) being there after death.  If they needed to give the younger actors screen time at the very end, the only touch needed was seeing his two adult sons transition to looking like the younger ones as he started to die. 

Again, this is mild criticism. Takes it from being superior to just better than average. And I'm sure many (most) will angrily disagree with me.

[norcalgal]

1 hour ago, SnarkShark said:

I didn't hate or even dislike the majority of the individual parts of it, but it felt too sicky -sweet to me.

Agreed.

1 hour ago, SnarkShark said:

And I'm sure many (most) will angrily disagree with me.

Nope, see my own post above when I echoed similar sentiments.

[SnarkShark]

Reviewing back my own last post I may have changed my mind about how someone else doing the narration might have been the fix. Maybe nobody needed to.

I remembered how Ted Lasso wrapped things up with a look forward montage (admittedly less time and more straightforward) and avoided it seeming too sweet.  The scenes told the story, not some narration.

Show, don't tell.

[kickingnames]

My internal reasoning for the narration as it was is that they wanted to bookend Clark narrating the beginning and ending of the series — it makes sense logically and narratively with the scope of the show. But I agree that the ending might have been better served by taking those looks back to people as memories along the way, instead of as sappy post-death construct. But then, I personally didn’t think they needed to go into the far future and see his and Lois’s deaths — they just really got stuck on the “death of Superman” as the series ending.

[baldryanr]

On 12/5/2024 at 5:05 PM, TV Anonymous said:

There were TEN children between Jon and Jordan? WTF? Who has that many children in these days and age?

Those were the real life kids of various crew members.  They probably felt bad about turning anyone down, so Jon and Jordan did their best to create an all Kent Justice League.

Another tidbits from the article: Jordan's wife was played by Elizabeth Tulloch's stand in and Jon's wife is Gregory Smith's real life one. 

 

Edited December 7 by baldryanr

[MJ Frog]

On 12/7/2024 at 8:26 AM, SnarkShark said:

And I'm sure many (most) will angrily disagree with me.

Nah. I think many of us are grown up enough not to take differing opinions over a TV show personally. I understand all of your arguments, and I might have felt the same under other circumstances, but for whatever reason the ending just landed differently for me. Your mileage, as they say, may vary.

[tennisgurl]

That was a wonderful ending, I love that the show went out the way it started, wearing its sweet heart on its sleeve. I can see how the ending could some off as cheese, but I think it makes sense for these characters and this story. If anyone would find death to be a beautiful experience where he waxes philosophical about about love, forgiveness, and family, and it all feels right, it would be Superman. 

I was surprised that the Doomsday and Lex fights ended so quickly, but I can see why they wanted to get to the endings for all of these characters, this show has always been more about the family than the villains. I am glad that they gave so many characters closure and one last moment, even Doomsday remembered himself for one last minute before allowing himself to be sucked into the sun, and managed to get some closure. 

Classic Lex, he had everything he could have wanted, his billion dollar company, his freedom, his daughter open to getting to know him, but because of his pettiness, he now has nothing. 

Considering the budget cuts this show went through and the losses in cast, I think the show did an admirable job at wrapping everything up and giving us a satisfactory ending. You can tell that the people behind the show really loved the show and did their best to make it as good as they could. Its sad that Clark had to live so much time without Lois, but they had many wonderful years together and reunited in the next laugh, complete with Lois's sexy red dress. 

Krypto! What a good boy! 

I would have been happy to watch a few more seasons of this show, but I am happy that we ended on such a high note, and that this show will be such an excellent addition to the Superman mythos. 

[iarwain]

On 12/5/2024 at 5:05 PM, TV Anonymous said:

There were TEN children between Jon and Jordan? WTF? Who has that many children in these days and age?

Super virility?

[Affogato]

On 12/20/2024 at 10:06 PM, iarwain said:

Super virility?

Probably diminished powers but still a force for good. Last of the race, too.