Tonight was proof; never have episodes without Lois

[galatians221]

Every bad episode this season had Lois missing from the cast. If TPTB are smart (BIG IF!!), they will have Erica for all 22 episodes next season and keep some sanity to the season. The whole Lana arc in the middle of this season made me want to puke and now this one. Next week is also without Lois and that already makes me want to puke.

[thehenry89]

:lol: ITA but only because jimmy was the only person in the episode that didn't make me want to freakin scream. Jimmy the crackhead everyone, the lone voice of reason on the crazy train.

[Smallville6]

So much word<3

[Supsfan]

My biggest worry is if Lois is in every episode they will give her a big "dramatic" arc like this Chloe and the Beast stuff. I can't speak for everybody but I enjoy the show better when it takes a much more light hearted approach to telling a story of Clark's life and we usually guarenteed that with Lois.

[xrayvision]

I disagree. I'd say never have episodes where Clark has such little screentime and has his decisions made by someone else. It's been done with Lana & now it's being done with Chloe. This is recycled garbage that should have been discarded, never to be seen again.

I'd like to see Lois in 22 episodes next season. But I think they could have shown Clark saving people and doing what's right in this episode without Lois being in it & still have it be a good episode. Instead they did everything else and made Clark not have a say in anything that IS HIS DESTINY. Lois being in this episode wouldn't have saved it from being the rubbish it was.

[consti2tion]

I'll have to agree with thehenry, Jimmy certainly was the only one with a clear head, even if it were clouded with drugs.

[galatians221]

I disagree. I'd say never have episodes where Clark has such little screentime and has his decisions made by someone else. It's been done with Lana & now it's being done with Chloe. This is recycled garbage that should have been discarded, never to be seen again.

I'd like to see Lois in 22 episodes next season. But I think they could have shown Clark saving people and doing what's right in this episode without Lois being in it & still have it be a good episode. Instead they did everything else and made Clark not have a say in anything that IS HIS DESTINY. Lois being in this episode wouldn't have saved it from being the rubbish it was.

We are in agreement. I'm only pointing out that this is never an issue when Lois is in the cast. When Lois is not in the cast we get SuperLana kicking butt and Chloe taking over control of Oliver, Clark and anyone else who gets in her way. I hope Chloe is not in S9 and we get what you've pointed out with Lois being a more complimentary partner and not a competitor. Lana wanted to be a superhero and now Chloe seems to want to be also. They've overdone it.

[Ella]

My only complaint (besides no Lois) was way too little Clark. He was hardly around. But isn't he directing the next episode? So that was kind of expected, I guess.

[jpfort1957]

Lois would have only gotten in the way tonight.

[LoveHurts38]

My biggest worry is if Lois is in every episode they will give her a big "dramatic" arc like this Chloe and the Beast stuff.

Knocks on every wood I can find!!!

[AgentChaos]

For me this is proof that Lois being absent makes things better.

[Night_Hawk90]

in all fairness not every episode needs lois especially this one as i feel she wouldnt fit in. But yeah she does have a knack for making some episodes better

[melissan02]

My biggest worry is if Lois is in every episode they will give her a big "dramatic" arc like this Chloe and the Beast stuff. I can't speak for everybody but I enjoy the show better when it takes a much more light hearted approach to telling a story of Clark's life and we usually guarenteed that with Lois.
I agree w/ this to a certain extent, but I also don't want the Lois episodes to always feature her as some type of comic relief either.:\ ED has the acting chops to pull off drama just as well as she does comedy. Lois episodes/Clois scenes lately have been light-hearted juxtaposed to the dark Chlavis/Dooms storyline, and I like that, but I want some seriousness thrown in for our intrepid reporter and iconic, legendary couple of Lois & Clark!;)

[thehenry89]

Lois made forever, and spell watchable she def could have added something to this chlavis nightmare.

[consti2tion]

The difference between episodes with Lois are they're full of little jokes, it's hard to have a serious episode with Lois in it, to be honest. I love Lois' character but there has to be a serious point in the story line and unfortunately they have her as the " make a joke about everything to ease the tension " which as far as I remember she wasn't always this strong of a smart ass.

[EricaIsGr8t]

Lois would have only gotten in the way tonight.

I can't tell you how grateful I am that she was away from this abomination.

[thehenry89]

The difference between episodes with Lois are they're full of little jokes, it's hard to have a serious episode with Lois in it, to be honest. I love Lois' character but there has to be a serious point in the story line and unfortunately they have her as the " make a joke about everything to ease the tension " which as far as I remember she wasn't always this strong of a smart ass.

True but she can also be deadly serious I.E stilleto when clark gets shot, or the end of infamous and the lie detector in committed.

[galatians221]

I agree w/ this to a certain extent, but I also don't want the Lois episodes to always feature her as some type of comic relief either.:\ ED has the acting chops to pull off drama just as well as she does comedy. Lois episodes/Clois scenes lately have been light-hearted juxtaposed to the dark Chlavis/Dooms storyline, and I like that, but I want some seriousness thrown in for our intrepid reporter and iconic, legendary couple of Lois & Clark!;)

I think her role is almost always more than comic relief. I'm thinking of Identity where she fought and the episode in the Phantom Zone where she was knocked out three times and even Stiletto she kicked some butt so I don't see her as comic relief but she has validity whereas Chloe has outlived her purpose. She no longer works at the Planet, was a horrible wife, has now failed as Watchtower after telling Oliver off and ignoring him and has stood up to Clark and bossed him around. Lois respects Clark and they should never ever have another central character that is so unimpressed with Clark's abilities that they boss him around and ignore his actions. I agree, if they did that with Lois it would be just as bad. That has to stop.

[EricaIsGr8t]

True but she can also be deadly serious I.E stilleto when clark gets shot, or the end of infamous and the lie detector in committed.

Exactly! If the script calls for Lois to be funny she is and when it doesn't she isn't, we've seen that numerous time this season. That isn't a good reason for her not to be in an episode.

[Clana4Life]

Lois is fine, but I don't think she was needed in this episode. THere was too much going on and since she is clueless about Doomsday, Clark, JL, I don't see how she could have added anything to this episode. Doomsday/Chloe/Clark has been an awesome arc. I thought Stiletto was a filler last week and I was anxious to get back the Doomsday arc. So I was fine with this episode (all except Chloe saying everything she's doing is for Clark - yeah right :rolleyes:), but I digress. I don't think Lois could have worked in this episode. Everyone would have been lying to her, she would have tried to help but ended up in the way - or worse, locked up by Davis.

[thehenry89]

It's like everyone who doesn't have clark's abilities wants to tell him how to use them. It's like if you had an escalade and all your friends kept telling you that you couldn't drive it right, You respect their opinion but it's your freakin car and you'll drive it however you want to :lol:.

[galatians221]

Lois is fine, but I don't think she was needed in this episode. THere was too much going on and since she is clueless about Doomsday, Clark, JL, I don't see how she could have added anything to this episode. Doomsday/Chloe/Clark has been an awesome arc. I thought Stiletto was a filler last week and I was anxious to get back the Doomsday arc. So I was fine with this episode (all except Chloe saying everything she's doing is for Clark - yeah right :rolleyes:), but I digress. I don't think Lois could have worked in this episode. Everyone would have been lying to her, she would have tried to help but ended up in the way - or worse, locked up by Davis.

I think my central point is that when Lois is in an episode it makes the writers better. They have ruined Jimmy, Lana and Chloe and Lois is protected so far and seems to bring out the best in the writers. If Erica was in this episode, perhaps they wouldn't have needed to be so dark and have so much blood and Clark wouldn't have been interrupted by nosy, bossy Chloe while doing his life's work; saving the planet. She stopped him and that is something that hopefully Lois wouldn't do.

[consti2tion]

That's pretty much the jist of it thehenry.

I understand that they can write her in as a serious character occasionally but in my opinion they don't do it enough. I wasn't saying she can't be serious, I was simply saying that she isn't serious very frequently.

[smallvillereporter27]

OK, I love Lois but if she were in every episode she would either be in the way or everyone here would be bashing HER stupid decisions because she would be getting the Lana drama. ED is great, but if they put her in all of this nonsense it might ruin her character (like they've almost ruined Chloe). I was so excited when AM became the female lead, but now I wish she hadn't because of what they've put her character through. I don't wish that on ED and I hope that if she is the female lead next year she gets a better arc.

Also (and don't hate me for saying this) I've always believed that Clois was not something to be explored in Smallville (only hinted at). I love Clois, I just think that's a different phase in Clark's life.

[Fish1941]

Lois is fine, but I don't think she was needed in this episode. THere was too much going on and since she is clueless about Doomsday, Clark, JL, I don't see how she could have added anything to this episode.


Since Chloe is HER cousin, shouldn't Lois have been in this episode?

[WickedJenn]

Lois is fine, but I don't think she was needed in this episode. THere was too much going on and since she is clueless about Doomsday, Clark, JL, I don't see how she could have added anything to this episode. Doomsday/Chloe/Clark has been an awesome arc. I thought Stiletto was a filler last week and I was anxious to get back the Doomsday arc. So I was fine with this episode (all except Chloe saying everything she's doing is for Clark - yeah right :rolleyes:), but I digress. I don't think Lois could have worked in this episode. Everyone would have been lying to her, she would have tried to help but ended up in the way - or worse, locked up by Davis.

Hi J!

I agree with some of this. While myself, I did miss Lois, I would not have wanted her in this episode.

[Clana4Life]

I think my central point is that when Lois is in an episode it makes the writers better. They have ruined Jimmy, Lana and Chloe and Lois is protected so far and seems to bring out the best in the writers. If Erica was in this episode, perhaps they wouldn't have needed to be so dark and have so much blood and Clark wouldn't have been interrupted by nosy, bossy Chloe while doing his life's work; saving the planet. She stopped him and that is something that hopefully Lois wouldn't do.

I don't know that it always makes the writers better. I think back to Stiletto, which for me wasn't a very interesting episode -- probably the least interesting epi of the season for me. I guess it was a filler and it felt a great deal like a filler. The episode prior to that where Chloe locks the door at the end was a very good episode I thought. I hate the fact that they put Stiletto after that - it was just bad timing, or bad placement. Stiletto notwithstanding, I have generally liked the other episodes she was in. Overall I have liked the writing this season.

[colibri]

The way this episode was written I agree that Lois probably would have been a hard fit. She just doesn't know enough about what is going on regarding Chloe and Doomsday and that would create problems.


The difference between episodes with Lois are they're full of little jokes, it's hard to have a serious episode with Lois in it, to be honest. I love Lois' character but there has to be a serious point in the story line and unfortunately they have her as the " make a joke about everything to ease the tension " which as far as I remember she wasn't always this strong of a smart ass.

Lois has a very serious side as witnessed in Toxic, at the end of Committed, the end of Identity prior and during the fight sequence (probably one of the better fights this season), the ending of Bride, part of Stiletto, the barn scene in Infamous and not to mention Bloodline (technically part of that wasn't Lois but it shows how well Erica can play evil to the point that, IMO, she was the best villain so far this season). And Lois has always been a very strong smart a** in every incarnation I know.

The point is they can give Lois a serious storyline if they want and the actress can certainly handle it but I don't think it is totally appropriate to have the character like that all the time. It doesn't fit her nature and frankly I hope they don't. Superman is just as much about hope and joy and I think having episodes this dark constantly they lose sight of that fact.

[Lilah]

Lois would have only gotten in the way tonight.

I don't think so actually.... I think she should have been more involved in Chloe arc, being her cousin and all... I would have liked to see a scene of Clark going to Lois to tell her that her cousin is missing.... it could have been one heartbreaking Clois scene and I'm a sucker for those... so yeah... ;0)

[Seeya'round Smallville]

I've been saying this for years.

There's also a reason why Lois doesn't get written to do all sort of psycho things and it has nothing to do with her episode count. It's because the writers had a ton more leeway to do with Lana and especially Chloe whatever the heck they wanted to. DC Comics is more stringent about what Lois can and can't do on the show. While some of that is a curse in regards to problems with her episode count over the years, part of it is a blessing because Smallville's writers can't screw her up like they have other characters. This season the episode count had much more to do with poor allocation of resources however, and hopefully they finally have the common sense to remedy that and make Erica full-time in Season 9.

Another reason more time won't "screw up" Lois? They don't have to invent things for her to do to stay around. She's at the Daily Planet, she's chasing stories, she's working with Jimmy and Clark, she's got feelings for Clark and a crush on the "RBB". That's all stuff from the comics. They don't have to invent a bunch of weird dark crap for her to do in order to tie her to the storyline she has no connection to in the source material, because in the source material she is and always has been the leading lady.

Oh and "Lois doesn't fit?" If they stop writing crappy weird soap operas where Clark is nothing more than a supporting character in order to give the characters who are supposed to be supporting something to do, that would never be a problem. She doesn't fit 'cause they didn't pay her to be there so they had to write some other convoluted tripe to fill up the spot instead. In fact in this season the giant Elephant in the room is when Lois ISN'T there and how the show is completely different and nothing but a dark miserable tone that's not connected to the Superman aspects of the show at all. Finally, Lois "can't do drama?" Scenes in Toxic, Committed, Bloodline, Infamous, Stiletto and the entire episode of Bride. You know what I like? Episodes that you can watching without being able to play a drinking game of "take a shot every time someone cries" because if you played it in all the episodes without Lois you'd be drunk 20 minutes in every single time. :P

[xrayvision]

We are in agreement. I'm only pointing out that this is never an issue when Lois is in the cast. When Lois is not in the cast we get SuperLana kicking butt and Chloe taking over control of Oliver, Clark and anyone else who gets in her way. I hope Chloe is not in S9 and we get what you've pointed out with Lois being a more complimentary partner and not a competitor. Lana wanted to be a superhero and now Chloe seems to want to be also. They've overdone it.

Yeah. My only potential problem with Lois is TPTB giving her all the bylines & never giving Clark an opportunity for any. He is a developing journalist and should get bylines in 60-70% of the episodes next season. For this reason, I want him to get fired or quit & move to the Metropolis Journal next season and be his own reporter under the mentorship of Perry White, who should be the editor there prior to his return to the DP, which should happen with Clark & him going back together. This would give Clark & Lois their own storylines and make Lois be more serious (since the jokes usually come out when she's with Clark). I don't want to see them investigating together. That's not classic Lois & Clark. Classic Lois & Clark investigate on their own & cross paths (well Clark mainly as Superman).

Next week looks pretty bad also. It looks like Clark won't be doing anything good.

[Lilah]

I don't know that it always makes the writers better. I think back to Stiletto, which for me wasn't a very interesting episode -- probably the least interesting epi of the season for me. I guess it was a filler and it felt a great deal like a filler. The episode prior to that where Chloe locks the door at the end was a very good episode I thought. I hate the fact that they put Stiletto after that - it was just bad timing, or bad placement. Stiletto notwithstanding, I have generally liked the other episodes she was in. Overall I have liked the writing this season.

It wasn't a filler, it pushed the RBB/Lois/Clark triangle and story and I have a feeling that's what they're going for next season. The episode before that, Eternal, was one of the worst episodes of the season because they crapped on their own Smallville mythology... I mean who does that??

[myankskent]

I love Lois. I enjoy what she brings to the show. That being said, her presence doesn't mean that TPTB are going to write these storylines any better. If the writing is bad, the episode is going to suck with or without Lois.

[Lilah]

Yeah. My only potential problem with Lois is TPTB giving her all the bylines & never giving Clark an opportunity for any. He is a developing journalist and should get bylines in 60-70% of the episodes next season. For this reason, I want him to get fired or quit & move to the Metropolis Journal next season and be his own reporter under the mentorship of Perry White, who should be the editor there prior to his return to the DP, which should happen with Clark & him going back together. This would give Clark & Lois their own storylines and make Lois be more serious (since the jokes usually come out when she's with Clark). I don't want to see them investigating together. That's not classic Lois & Clark. Classic Lois & Clark investigate on their own & cross paths (well Clark mainly as Superman).

Next week looks pretty bad also. It looks like Clark won't be doing anything good.

I don't think she's stealing his bylines... I think he just hasn't reached his full potential at the DP. He's still a "copy boy" or considered one... I still would like an RBB episode of Clark "stealing" the story of the RBB and one of his saves from under Lois... or at the very least sending her on some wild goose chase of the RBB like in L&C's first season.... it'd be comical.:rotfl:

[vikingjedi]

Every bad episode this season had Lois missing from the cast. If TPTB are smart (BIG IF!!), they will have Erica for all 22 episodes next season and keep some sanity to the season. The whole Lana arc in the middle of this season made me want to puke and now this one. Next week is also without Lois and that already makes me want to puke.

I thought this was the best episode of the season. 10 out of 10.

[galatians221]

Hi J!

I agree with some of this. While myself, I did miss Lois, I would not have wanted her in this episode.

My point is that I don't want this episode. I could care less if Davis eats Chloe, Tess and even Shelby and then gets sent to the Phantom Zone forever. I only watch to see Superman and the writers have this passion for building up the supporting cast because they don't want to see Clark become Superman and they want to continue the Barn Drama of seeing a confused, conflicted overwrought Clark who can't decide if he really wants to be a farmer or a superhero. Tonight he didn't want to offend anyone so he let Chloe tell him what to do. I hate this stuff. Bring me the Man of Steel who makes decisions and gets rid of bad guys.

[redkryptoniteisthebest]

I disagree whole heartedly. I am not trying to start anything, because trust me, that's the last thing I'll want to do here on K-Site, but, here's what I have to say.

Sure, Lois Lane is an iconic character, I like her, just not as much as a lot of people do. I respect that, because it is their choice who they like and who they dislike - freedom of speech. But, I think her character can be way overrated.

I disagree that every episode without Lois is bad. There have been some amazing ones with her in it and without her in it.

Personally, I thought this was an amazing episode. There is a reason she wasn't in it - I guess the producers felt her role in this wasn't necessary; because, to be honest, I don't think she would've been in a whole lot of it. It was the Clark/Chloe/Doomsday storyline. If Lois was in it, there would have to be a sub-plot involving Lois.

I am not bashing anybody or any character, but this post is my two cents.

[clois-destiny-forever]

I seriously missed Lois in this episode. Maybe it was more serious than what Lois has been doing lately, but that's because they've put her in that position. I would love to see her in every single episode next year. She can do the dark stuff, I know she can. It's just not fair to shove her to the sidelines all the time.

[Doomsday44]

She does bring a lot to the show. She should have 22 episodes for sure in season 9. I really hope the producers read the threads and realize how happy that would make everyone.

[xrayvision]

I don't think she's stealing his bylines... I think he just hasn't reached his full potential at the DP. He's still a "copy boy" or considered one... I still would like an RBB episode of Clark "stealing" the story of the RBB and one of his saves from under Lois... or at the very least sending her on some wild goose chase of the RBB like in L&C's first season.... it'd be comical.:rotfl:

Me neither. But I think she could very well end up standing in his way of career development like Lana did with Clark's hero development. I hope it doesn't happen because I don't want to resent her as much as I have & continue to resent Lana.

I was very disappointed that Clark got nothing for his troubles in Stiletto. He was the one who was the most involved and look a beating & bullet for it & still got nothing.

I don't want him to be Lois' doormat for her career. He is always shown sacrificing things (whether it's development, his education, or his happiness) to build up other characters. If Clark is made into a doormat once more, then I will watch the rest of the series without any enjoyment. None of these characters have shown any guilt for it either. Lana was a complete scumbag and treated him like crap. She showed no appreciation for Clark doing nothing in his life in seasons 6 & 7 (which I blame the writers for placing Clark is such stupid plots & love triangles that prevent him from having his own storylines).

[hookem91]

honestly, no. Allison mack is an amazing actress and her character/storylines are much more interesting than anything erica/lois would be able to do(has she even had a storyline?)

[Kschreck]

Every bad episode this season had Lois missing from the cast. If TPTB are smart (BIG IF!!), they will have Erica for all 22 episodes next season and keep some sanity to the season. The whole Lana arc in the middle of this season made me want to puke and now this one. Next week is also without Lois and that already makes me want to puke.


This season has really gone down hill. There were some promising episodes like Legion, Comittment, Hex, Infamous, Bulletproof even but then we get this trainwreck Chloe/Davis/Clark story and then Jimmy becomes a thiefing druggie with Oliver as a murderer. Let's hope season nine will be better.

[xrayvision]

My point is that I don't want this episode. I could care less if Davis eats Chloe, Tess and even Shelby and then gets sent to the Phantom Zone forever. I only watch to see Superman and the writers have this passion for building up the supporting cast because they don't want to see Clark become Superman and they want to continue the Barn Drama of seeing a confused, conflicted overwrought Clark who can't decide if he really wants to be a farmer or a superhero. Tonight he didn't want to offend anyone so he let Chloe tell him what to do. I hate this stuff. Bring me the Man of Steel who makes decisions and gets rid of bad guys.

This is why I want the core of Clark, Lois, Jimmy, Perry, Pete, Martha, and Intergang next season. These characters have all supported Clark without making him look bad so far. They allow him to be Superman. They don't suck away his decision power, they don't emasculate him & don't think for him by being his brain. They all support him & his decisions and interact well with him. The hell with Oliver, Chloe, Lana, and the rest. Lex & Clark would have been so good in their scenes together all those years without Lana & their uses of her. Instead they threw in Lana & other characters into plots that should have involved Clark. Like the stones plot. Lana was interested in the stones more than Clark was. And Clark never found a single one on his own. He stole or was given every one.

Like I always say, anyone who watches season 3 and will be amazed at Clark and how decisive, confident, and headstrong he was compared to now, when he has everyone else making his choices, acting on his behalf, thinking for him, etc. This is why I love Shattered & Asylum. Not even his parents who were so against him helping Lex were able to make up his mind. Hats off to the first 3 seasons.

----- Added 5 Minutes later -----


This season has really gone down hill. There were some promising episodes like Legion, Comittment, Hex, Infamous, Bulletproof even but then we get this trainwreck Chloe/Davis/Clark story and then Jimmy becomes a thiefing druggie with Oliver as a murderer. Let's hope season nine will be better.

Isn't that the truth. The first 8 episodes were great except for Toxic (I could care less about Oliver; I watch this show for Clark & that episode had way too much Oliver).

Abyss was too Chloe-centric, and I only liked the ending. Bride, Legion & Bulletproof (except for the ending) were great. Then came the Power & Requiem abominations. Infamous was OK & Hex was pretty decent. Stiletto was very good. Turbulence had some good Jimmy-Davis scenes. Eternal was garbage & so was Beast.

I think this just shows that the Davis idea wasn't a good one because they can't make it be about him & Clark. I'd rather see Doomsday as a creature all the time and Clark following the trail of bodies, writing about them. Even that though could have only gone so far. I said Intergang would have been great this season. Tess would also be good, but they screwed her up very badly.

[colibri]

Me neither. But I think she could very well end up standing in his way of career development like Lana did with Clark's hero development. I hope it doesn't happen because I don't want to resent her as much as I have & continue to resent Lana.

I was very disappointed that Clark got nothing for his troubles in Stiletto. He was the one who was the most involved and look a beating & bullet for it & still got nothing.

I don't want him to be Lois' doormat for her career. He is always shown sacrificing things (whether it's development, his education, or his happiness) to build up other characters. If Clark is made into a doormat once more, then I will watch the rest of the series without any enjoyment. None of these characters have shown any guilt for it either. Lana was a complete scumbag and treated him like crap. She showed no appreciation for Clark doing nothing in his life in seasons 6 & 7 (which I blame the writers for placing Clark is such stupid plots & love triangles that prevent him from having his own storylines).

I hate to tell you this but in the comics Lois is typically portrayed as the hot shot reporter. She's the one with more awards. She's the star reporter. The reason for this is basically because Clark can't spend all his time as a reporter. He's the hero, Superman, so his reporting can suffer a bit. He's still a good reporter but he makes that sacrifice because of who he is.

Lois doesn't get in his way or try to stall him as the hero but as the reporter? Lois has always tended to get the limelight in this regard. However, within the SV universe, it's obvious that he is getting storylines as has been mentioned and Lois in Stiletto mentions his skills as a reporter when she was trying to get the upper hand and, instead, ended up complimenting him. The important factor here is that Lois regards him as a hero and was grateful and, when she did something wrong, and Clark called her on it and told her to make sure the story didn't go to print she actually did exactly that. Her regard for Clark is very high despite some of her snarkiness.

[Eeyore840]

I disagree whole heartedly. I am not trying to start anything, because trust me, that's the last thing I'll want to do here on K-Site, but, here's what I have to say.

Sure, Lois Lane is an iconic character, I like her, just not as much as a lot of people do. I respect that, because it is their choice who they like and who they dislike - freedom of speech. But, I think her character can be way overrated.

I disagree that every episode without Lois is bad. There have been some amazing ones with her in it and without her in it.

Personally, I thought this was an amazing episode. There is a reason she wasn't in it - I guess the producers felt her role in this wasn't necessary; because, to be honest, I don't think she would've been in a whole lot of it. It was the Clark/Chloe/Doomsday storyline. If Lois was in it, there would have to be a sub-plot involving Lois.

I am not bashing anybody or any character, but this post is my two cents.


Well said, and I agree. This was a terrific episode, and Lois definitely wasn't needed, nor would she have fit. I didn't particularly like Stiletto, but that's just my opinion.

[Lilah]

Me neither. But I think she could very well end up standing in his way of career development like Lana did with Clark's hero development. I hope it doesn't happen because I don't want to resent her as much as I have & continue to resent Lana.

I was very disappointed that Clark got nothing for his troubles in Stiletto. He was the one who was the most involved and look a beating & bullet for it & still got nothing.

I don't want him to be Lois' doormat for her career. He is always shown sacrificing things (whether it's development, his education, or his happiness) to build up other characters. If Clark is made into a doormat once more, then I will watch the rest of the series without any enjoyment. None of these characters have shown any guilt for it either. Lana was a complete scumbag and treated him like crap. She showed no appreciation for Clark doing nothing in his life in seasons 6 & 7 (which I blame the writers for placing Clark is such stupid plots & love triangles that prevent him from having his own storylines).

I wouldn't be too worried about that happening. Lois isn't Lana. She wants Clark to be successful... I still love her line in Stiletto when he told her "because I'm just a copy boy?" and she retaliated with "no because you're doing better than anyone expected!" And the thing about the Clark Kent character is that everything he does to help people and save lives is because its in his nature to do so... he's never in it for the glory. Lois is a parallel to that, she likes to be the center of attention and she's a go-getter. That's not a bad thing.... they're two people with very different personalities that their common ground is their love and respect for each other. It's one of the reasons they work so well together and have worked for 70+ years. They're lining stuff up with the comics, and I think one of those things they're lining up first is the Clois relationship.

----- Added 2 Minutes later -----


honestly, no. Allison mack is an amazing actress and her character/storylines are much more interesting than anything erica/lois would be able to do(has she even had a storyline?)

Yes she has. Her arc is tied in with the RBB. To me that's a million times more interesting than this Bloomsday crap Chloe's been stuck with all season. For the finale they need more Doomsday and less Bloomsday.

[Supsfan]

This is why I want the core of Clark, Lois, Jimmy, Perry, Pete, Martha, and Intergang next season. These characters have all supported Clark without making him look bad so far. They allow him to be Superman. They don't suck away his decision power, they don't emasculate him & don't think for him by being his brain. They all support him & his decisions and interact well with him.

Beyond the more light hearted(and that just not comedy) feel to episodes Lois brings, the fact she is intergalactically clueless to his secret(and thankfully doesn't hound him about it like it seemed every other character on the show did at some point) does allow Clark to live in a angst free world where he can do good deeds because he is basically a good guy who feels like doing good things. I love watching episodes where I don't see Clark self loathing or depressed about something.


Like the stones plot. Lana was interested in the stones more than Clark was.

Lana being a witch to me was the first sign of problems on this show totally disrespecting the character of Clark Kent. When not a love interest of Clark like she was that season she should have been shuffled to the background, instead it showed the producers/writers would force characters in the storyline that really don't need to be there because they are one of the stars of the show and need to do something.


I think this just shows that the Davis idea wasn't a good one because they can't make it be about him & Clark. I'd rather see Doomsday as a creature all the time and Clark following the trail of bodies, writing about them. Even that though could have only gone so far. I said Intergang would have been great this season. Tess would also be good, but they screwed her up very badly.

Yeah to me having Doomsday being a Luthorcorp experiment would have build up the final showdown way better then Chloe hiding Davis in her basement, then running off with him. It would have also been a wonderful storyline for Tess, showing her as some psycotic evil genius. To me the whole Davis storyline takes away from Clark, I would much rather watch an episode like Bulletproof which focused mainly on Clark then all these Davis storylines.

[xrayvision]

I hate to tell you this but in the comics Lois is typically portrayed as the hot shot reporter. She's the one with more awards. She's the star reporter. The reason for this is basically because Clark can't spend all his time as a reporter. He's the hero, Superman, so his reporting can suffer a bit. He's still a good reporter but he makes that sacrifice because of who he is.

Lois doesn't get in his way or try to stall him as the hero but as the reporter? Lois has always tended to get the limelight in this regard. However, within the SV universe, it's obvious that he is getting storylines as has been mentioned and Lois in Stiletto mentions his skills as a reporter when she was trying to get the upper hand and, instead, ended up complimenting him. The important factor here is that Lois regards him as a hero and was grateful and, when she did something wrong, and Clark called her on it and told her to make sure the story didn't go to print she actually did exactly that. Her regard for Clark is very high despite some of her snarkiness.

In the comics I have & those I read, they both seem to be equally as good. Clark on SV hasn't gotten any articles except 1 obituary. I'm not counting offscreen things. If Lois is good enough to be given onscreen stories, then so should Clark. He needs to make his reporter ego convincing, otherwise who would believe such a mediocre reporter would have such a prominent job in such a great newspaper? Clark is still nothing but a copyboy. They don't even know what his job title is. In Prey, he's investigating the serial murders and seems to be on the verge of a story. In Bloodline & Stiletto, he makes copies & Lois helps him by making his copies. She even referred to him as an intern in that episode, something that he wasn't originally. Clark at the DP is a plot device to be used in whatever way he's needed. Notice how he's hardly shown at the DP when Lois is not around. That tells me the whole story.

I don't have a problem with Lois yet. I want next season for them to show why Clark is the great reporter he's destined to be. After all, he started investigating & writing stories way before Lois did. He should have everything but his writing technique down by now. He's broken into so many buildings and stuff before Lois even 1st appeared. He should know how to do everything by now. They have to show him being serious about his career so others don't suspect anything from him. Otherwise if he's only living his non-Superman life in a half convincing way, then there would be some who would know something is up. He would get fired by Perry.

I don't want him to snake Lois out of the Superman storyline like he did in the comics, but I do want him to be shown working hard on a major story that his name exclusively would be on. This has to be developed, otherwise, the show has only developed half of his future life. I don't expect to see him become a TV reporter like he eventually became in the comics, but at least as a newspaper reporter.

[Kevin24]

Proof? how is this proof? Since you didn't like the episode that automatically makes this a bad episode for everyone. Oh wow, I guess since I don't like onion rings that means nobody else does either!

[Supsfan]

In the comics I have & those I read, they both seem to be equally as good. Clark on SV hasn't gotten any articles except 1 obituary. I'm not counting offscreen things. If Lois is good enough to be given onscreen stories, then so should Clark. He needs to make his reporter ego convincing, otherwise who would believe such a mediocre reporter would have such a prominent job in such a great newspaper? Clark is still nothing but a copyboy. They don't even know what his job title is. In Prey, he's investigating the serial murders and seems to be on the verge of a story. In Bloodline & Stiletto, he makes copies & Lois helps him by making his copies. She even referred to him as an intern in that episode, something that he wasn't originally. Clark at the DP is a plot device to be used in whatever way he's needed. Notice how he's hardly shown at the DP when Lois is not around. That tells me the whole story.

I hear some people say if they just focused on Clark they wouldn't have enough stories to tell about him without stalling even more. I think this proves they could tell many stories about him and not be stalling. They could have did 5-6 episodes this season focusing on his journalism career, problem solved.

[xrayvision]

I still love her line in Stiletto when he told her "because I'm just a copy boy?" and she retaliated with "no because you're doing better than anyone expected!"

Well, season 9 will be Put Up or Shut Up time for the writers & producers. They better show us why he is an ace reporter. Otherwise, take him out of the DP, have him tell Lois the story and be a fulltime hero.

As selfless as Clark is, he always did the reporter thing to convincingly convey his dual identity, while being close to the news. He's close to the news already. Now he has to convey the image that Clark Kent has nothing else in his life other than his career. Otherwise his mysterious disappearances won't make sense and neither will his existence (non-termination) at the paper.

[Diego*Chloe]

Proof? how is this proof? Since you didn't like the episode that automatically makes this a bad episode for everyone. Oh wow, I guess since I don't like onion rings that means nobody else does either!

jajaja ITA

besides there are episodes where she has been and the episode sucks!!! so sorry but Lois is getting really overrated.

[xrayvision]

I hear some people say if they just focused on Clark they wouldn't have enough stories to tell about him without stalling even more. I think this proves they could tell many stories about him and not be stalling. They could have did 5-6 episodes this season focusing on his journalism career, problem solved.

This is what I've always said Supsfan. They have so many things they can develop about him that no stalling is needed. They could have developed him by having him go to college, but they failed. They could develop his career, which I hope they do. They also can develop why the RBB fails & why Superman doesn't. I hope it's not just because the name is too long. They could have a plot that results in the RBB getting bad press, causing him to change his image, don the Superman suit and actually show his face.

[colibri]

In the comics I have & those I read, they both seem to be equally as good. Clark on SV hasn't gotten any articles except 1 obituary. I'm not counting offscreen things. If Lois is good enough to be given onscreen stories, then so should Clark. He needs to make his reporter ego convincing, otherwise who would believe such a mediocre reporter would have such a prominent job in such a great newspaper? Clark is still nothing but a copyboy. They don't even know what his job title is. In Prey, he's investigating the serial murders and seems to be on the verge of a story. In Bloodline & Stiletto, he makes copies & Lois helps him by making his copies. She even referred to him as an intern in that episode, something that he wasn't originally. Clark at the DP is a plot device to be used in whatever way he's needed. Notice how he's hardly shown at the DP when Lois is not around. That tells me the whole story.

I don't have a problem with Lois yet. I want next season for them to show why Clark is the great reporter he's destined to be. After all, he started investigating & writing stories way before Lois did. He should have everything but his writing technique down by now. He's broken into so many buildings and stuff before Lois even 1st appeared. He should know how to do everything by now. They have to show him being serious about his career so others don't suspect anything from him. Otherwise if he's only living his non-Superman life in a half convincing way, then there would be some who would know something is up. He would get fired by Perry.

I don't want him to snake Lois out of the Superman storyline like he did in the comics, but I do want him to be shown working hard on a major story that his name exclusively would be on. This has to be developed, otherwise, the show has only developed half of his future life. I don't expect to see him become a TV reporter like he eventually became in the comics, but at least as a newspaper reporter.

I think the story of Clark Kent is more about him being a hero. The reporter side will always be second. I'm not arguing that the writers shouldn't show him being serious about his writing but it shouldn't dominate. In Hex and in Stiletto you see that he is gaining respect but he's only been there for a a few months.

Like I said, he's shown as being a good reporter but Lois, at least post-crisis, is the star reporter. The comics where Clark steals the Superman story from Lois were back in the day.

However, saying that, I totally agree he needs a big story with his name on it, not just the hints. I'd like that very much. Lois shouldn't have all the glory.;)

[Violet-Shadow]

I say, the more Lois the better...but I'm glad she wasn't in this episode. Though if she had been, I would've had her, Jimmy, and Oliver as bright spots.

[BkWurm1]

I have to say that this episode was one of the best of the season. The actor's were all really working it. There was so much emotion and power and weight to the episode. Every moment felt like it mattered. That has been true IMO for pretty much all of the Dooms/Davis heavy episodes. They really shine and honestly seem far more important than any light comedy moments. Steletto wasn't a bad episode (apart from the basic plot of LL making up a story, that just irks) but I do feel it stalled the momentum we had going with Eternal. Same thing happened with Hex coming after Turbulence. Things start happening and then veer off course. Plus, I think the writing is better in general when they write for fewer characters at a time.

[Supsfan]

They could have developed him by having him go to college, but they failed.

Don't even get me started on college, how many issues that would have solved for everybody on this show if they all went to College, even if it was just a backdrop for 3-4 episodes a season. Season 6-7 especially would have made Clark look better if he made a mention about College every few episodes(at least he would be doing something with his life instead of hiding out in a barn).

It seems these writers enjoy big dramatic storylines that hurt the characters involved instead of a nice coherent storyline of an alien with superpowers from the age of 14-22, were some bad things filled with drama happen.


They really shine and honestly seem far more important than any light comedy moments.

As somebody who wants a more Clark focused story myself, I would argue what is or isn't more important to the show. In terms of Clark, is it really important that we see every aspect of the guy/monster who is going to kill him's life? Doomsday could fall out of the sky and go at it with Clark and I would be just as satisfied with the fight(probably even more so since hopefully the season would have focused on Clark more). Much like many melodramatic Lana plots from earlier seasons that really did nothing for Clark's storyline other then make him a supporting character, the Chloe/Davis storyline really adds nothing to the character of Clark and I would even argue has negative effects on building up the big fight at the end of the season

[Lilah]

Well, season 9 will be Put Up or Shut Up time for the writers & producers. They better show us why he is an ace reporter. Otherwise, take him out of the DP, have him tell Lois the story and be a fulltime hero.

As selfless as Clark is, he always did the reporter thing to convincingly convey his dual identity, while being close to the news. He's close to the news already. Now he has to convey the image that Clark Kent has nothing else in his life other than his career. Otherwise his mysterious disappearances won't make sense and neither will his existence (non-termination) at the paper.

But in the mythology he isn't an "Ace" reporter... Lois is. lol. It's not until they get partnered up that he starts to make a name for himself... which is why we need Perry White on the show... so he can finally move them in the right direction.

[NaYa]

Wow interesting. Lois was not needed in this episode, well, only if you wanted her to get knocked out :rolleyes: lol. This was one of the best episodes of the season if not the best (for me) in my opinion...it was just soo intense, it kept me on the edge of my seat. The Lois character on Smallville is not that important...not yet anyways so yeah there is no reason for her to have been included in every episode. Wait for next season maybe she will get a big arc where she will need to be there, but yeah this season her episodes seemed more just like "lets get her in there, she hasn't been on for a time" than actually being necessary. This is only my opinion which I know many will disagree with but whatever.

[colibri]

Don't even get me started on college, how many issues that would have solved for everybody on this show if they all went to College, even if it was just a backdrop for 3-4 episodes a season. Season 6-7 especially would have made Clark look better if he made a mention about College every few episodes(at least he would be doing something with his life instead of hiding out in a barn).

It seems these writers enjoy big dramatic storylines that hurt the characters involved instead of a nice coherent storyline of an alien with superpowers from the age of 14-22, were some bad things filled with drama happen.

I agree with both of you here. College would have been a great idea. The big dramatic storylines are fine to an extent but they have taken this idea way too far. When they take Doomsday, of all the villains, and create the mess that they did this season you know that the writers have lost touch with the Superman story and what it's about.

[clois-destiny-forever]

I have to say that this episode was one of the best of the season. The actor's were all really working it. There was so much emotion and power and weight to the episode. Every moment felt like it mattered. That has been true IMO for pretty much all of the Dooms/Davis heavy episodes. They really shine and honestly seem far more important than any light comedy moments. Steletto wasn't a bad episode (apart from the basic plot of LL making up a story, that just irks) but I do feel it stalled the momentum we had going with Eternal. Same thing happened with Hex coming after Turbulence. Things start happening and then veer off course. Plus, I think the writing is better in general when they write for fewer characters at a time.

Things aren't veering off course, there's multiple storylines going on in this season. There's the Chloe/Davis/Clark/Doomsday whatever thing, there's also Clark/RBB/Lois, there's the whole Chloe/Jimmy fiasco, plus the AoS, heck, Oliver's all over the place too. Different arcs get attention at different times.

As far as I'm concerned, it'll be better when Doomsday is over. Everyone involved in it has gotten twisted around and it's hurt their characters. Let's just have the fight already, with Lois there to report!

[redkryptoniteisthebest]

Proof? how is this proof? Since you didn't like the episode that automatically makes this a bad episode for everyone. Oh wow, I guess since I don't like onion rings that means nobody else does either!

Heh, agreed. In my opinion, Lois wasn't needed in this episode. It would've been a bit random...

[Mary Sullivan]

I think this was the best episode in a long time and I hope we get as many episodes without Lois as we can, please, TPTB?

[xrayvision]

But in the mythology he isn't an "Ace" reporter... Lois is. lol. It's not until they get partnered up that he starts to make a name for himself... which is why we need Perry White on the show... so he can finally move them in the right direction.

Of course he's an ace reporter, as is Lois. The thing is, in the comics & every form of Superman, Clark was already at the caliber worthy of working for Perry White. It was never developed because he was already shown at that point.

This is Smallville, a show that showcases his journey from highschool to Superman & his career at the Daily Planet. In the comics, he was an established ace reporter before meeting Lois. Here Lois is being built into a star reporter. Her development started away from Clark. She got plenty of opportunities to write her own stories. She was seen already writing a story when she first landed the job in Sneeze. Clark hasn't. All he got was 1 obituary.

Meanwhile, Clark hasn't gotten any development on his own, away from Lois into becoming an ace reporter. In the comics, they are both on the same level, with Lois getting more stories since she has more time. But the quality & significance of their stories are at the same level, which make both ace reporters. Otherwise they wouldn't work for the same editor. Part of me doesn't like how Clark was shown to be getting pointers from Lois when the 2 will be reporters of the same caliber. I wanted him to get his pointers from a mentor who was involved in reporting for years, not from someone who just got into it much later than Clark. But I'm willing to forget this.

My point is Lois likes getting all the bylines. That's her nature. Clark can't be developed under such circumstances. When he finally has been mentored long enough, he will of course he a great byline rival for Lois. But he will never reach that point if he stays with the same circumstances. At least not in a believable manner. They already lightswitched him into the DP, which I am very angry about after his beginnings at the Torch and the essay he wrote for Principal Reynolds in Redux.

I want him to get away from Lois so he could get his own stories & so Lois can get her own. I want to see them going each on their own to investigate and find out info and write their stories. It will make each of them better characters. I also want to see some Clark-Perry interaction and how Perry is Clark's personal mentor and how Clark saving him in Perry makes them bond closer together as teacher-student. This would allow Clark to get him stories and shine on his own and ultimately get him & Perry back to the DP, both with respected reputations.

The "absence makes the heart grow stronger" principle would also take effect if this happens. Seeing Lois & Clark in Season 9 continuing to walk together on the streets while investigating isn't only lame, but not credible. Lois wouldn't hold herself back holding Clark's hand, who at this point clearly doesn't need it. As a matter of fact, showing more of this next season will be a mockery of Clark and all the private investigations he's done on his own in the first 3 seasons, and even later on as a BDA. This would turn him into another degree of BDA, as it would ignore all his solo adventures, break-ins, etc throughout the series.

So if they plan to have the 2 still work together next season, I hope they allow each to pursue their own stories with the occasional crossing of paths. No more hand holding. The time for that is over. And they better dedicate screen time to show Clark getting stories. They could have done that this season rather than wasting time with junk episodes (as far as Clark's character is concerned) like Toxic, Power, Requiem, Turbulence, Eternal, and Beast (and maybe even Abyss). If they had this much time to devote to crappy plots and not give as much time to Clark's journalism development, then this show should just end now.

[NaYa]

mythos people need to get over themselves, this is Smallville.

[wingster55]

What was wrong with this ep? Chloe's actions?
You don't have to like what the characters are doing to enjoy an ep of high drama, intense stakes and an epic ending scene (phone call)

Clark was very superman like.

[xrayvision]

I think the story of Clark Kent is more about him being a hero. The reporter side will always be second. I'm not arguing that the writers shouldn't show him being serious about his writing but it shouldn't dominate. In Hex and in Stiletto you see that he is gaining respect but he's only been there for a a few months.

Like I said, he's shown as being a good reporter but Lois, at least post-crisis, is the star reporter. The comics where Clark steals the Superman story from Lois were back in the day.

However, saying that, I totally agree he needs a big story with his name on it, not just the hints. I'd like that very much. Lois shouldn't have all the glory.;)

I don't think it should dominate either. But I want to see some time devoted every episode towards it. There should be episodes where they show him sitting down and typing up articles based on significant events that happen.

They are both star reporters post-Crisis, but like you said, Lois writes more stories since Clark is busy as Superman. So her volume of stories is greater, but the quality & significance of their stories are at an equal level.

He needs several big stories with his name on it to get him to Perry's group. I want to see this. I want to see him writing stories on smaller, per-episode events, and I also want to see him write a big story that he releases for publishing based on the season 9 plot and have him write a little bit of that article every episode until he gets all the facts by the end of the season.

After all, Clark/Superman sees to serve Truth, Justice, and the American Way. The Truth part of that comes from his reporter role. That role of his is to make the public aware of the threats around them and to support his physical actions performed as Superman. So they go hand in hand. It's an iconic part of Clark Kent. Without it, it's just not the same.

Smallville has to focus more on it than comics, because they have to show how & why Clark works for Perry. In the comics, Clark meets Lois at the DP for the first time. But he obviously did something in his life to deserve a job with Perry's team. Smallville must show what that something is.

[Supsfan]

What was wrong with this ep?

-Clark - 14 minutes of camera time
-I am not one of the melodramatic storylines(bad shades of Lana), save them for soap operas or 90210 mach 2
-We get it Davis will become Doomsday do we actually have to watch every step of him getting there
-did i mention Clark had 14 minutes of screentime

Can't say I am a huge fan of Chloeville, I prefer Clark being a bigger focus, but to each there own

[NaYa]

-Clark - 14 minutes of camera time
-I am not one of the over dramatic storylines(bad shades of Lana), save them for soap operas or 90210 mach 2
-We get it Davis will become Doomsday do we actually have to watch every step of him getting there
-did i mention Clark had 14 minutes of screentime

How boring would it be if the entire episode was about Clark :rolleyes: Why wouldn't you want to see the evolution of Davis turning into Doomsday? Heck then why even have Davis in the show if you don't think it's important. Seeing Davis evolution from human to beast is what's making Smallville this season interesting...he is the only one evolving, cause have you seen a certain farmboy moving towards becoming superman? Hey, if you have let me know what episode I have missed. The show is about Clark's journey and well in a journey other people are involved and sometimes their lives are more interesting. Just my opinion xD

[Supsfan]

How boring would it be if the entire episode was about Clark

Well this episode wouldn't work if it was Clark focused, but there is many Clark focused episodes you could write. Clark is a journalist for instance maybe instead of wasting an episode of Davis that doesn't make a difference to the overall story you can do an episode of Clark jopurnalist career.


Why wouldn't you want to see the evolution of Davis turning into Doomsday? Heck then why even have Davis in the show if you don't think it's important.

I would be happy if Doomsday was a lab experiemnt or feel out of the sky and we got the big epic fight in episode 22. More time to focus on Clark and gives Doomsday this mysterious edge to him. Basically in terms of Doomsday I don't care about his past or where he went to boarding school or his stupid connection to the Luthors, all I care about is the fight, the more mysterious he is at the fight I think it makes the confrontation better. By making him this tragic figure how am I supposed to cheer for Clark to kick his butt.

[RandomCanuck]

I thought that tonights episode was one of the best of the season. Also, I don't see as to where you'd fit Lois into this episode as she's not involved with the Davis/Doomsday plot.

[smallvillerocks45]

I really enjoyed tonight's episode. It was very well executed and Tom Welling did a stellar job.

As for the Lois factor - while I do like what she brings to the table, I'd never say she needs to be in all 22 episodes. More than 13, perhaps - but really, IMO, the only person who should be in all 22 is Tom Welling.

[Supsfan]

I thought that tonights episode was one of the best of the season. Also, I don't see as to where you'd fit Lois into this episode as she's not involved with the Davis/Doomsday plot.

I can't speak for the pro Lois people, but I don't think the issue is how do you fit Lois into the plot, more so the direction of the plot itself

[Blazel]

So much word<3
:eek: LOVE LOVE LOVE your avi! so ICONIC

[claudiss]

The tittle in this thread is really childish don´t you think?

Anyways, I do not see any proof, Lois is great but she was not needed at all. Beast was really good!!

[Storm45]

I thought it was a good episode and Lois wasn't needed for that. There are have been great episodes in this series with or without Lois being in them. Like there's been bad episodes with or without Lois.

[Lilah]

Of course he's an ace reporter, as is Lois. The thing is, in the comics & every form of Superman, Clark was already at the caliber worthy of working for Perry White. It was never developed because he was already shown at that point.

This is Smallville, a show that showcases his journey from highschool to Superman & his career at the Daily Planet. In the comics, he was an established ace reporter before meeting Lois. Here Lois is being built into a star reporter. Her development started away from Clark. She got plenty of opportunities to write her own stories. She was seen already writing a story when she first landed the job in Sneeze. Clark hasn't. All he got was 1 obituary.

Meanwhile, Clark hasn't gotten any development on his own, away from Lois into becoming an ace reporter. In the comics, they are both on the same level, with Lois getting more stories since she has more time. But the quality & significance of their stories are at the same level, which make both ace reporters. Otherwise they wouldn't work for the same editor. Part of me doesn't like how Clark was shown to be getting pointers from Lois when the 2 will be reporters of the same caliber. I wanted him to get his pointers from a mentor who was involved in reporting for years, not from someone who just got into it much later than Clark. But I'm willing to forget this.

My point is Lois likes getting all the bylines. That's her nature. Clark can't be developed under such circumstances. When he finally has been mentored long enough, he will of course he a great byline rival for Lois. But he will never reach that point if he stays with the same circumstances. At least not in a believable manner. They already lightswitched him into the DP, which I am very angry about after his beginnings at the Torch and the essay he wrote for Principal Reynolds in Redux.

I want him to get away from Lois so he could get his own stories & so Lois can get her own. I want to see them going each on their own to investigate and find out info and write their stories. It will make each of them better characters. I also want to see some Clark-Perry interaction and how Perry is Clark's personal mentor and how Clark saving him in Perry makes them bond closer together as teacher-student. This would allow Clark to get him stories and shine on his own and ultimately get him & Perry back to the DP, both with respected reputations.

The "absence makes the heart grow stronger" principle would also take effect if this happens. Seeing Lois & Clark in Season 9 continuing to walk together on the streets while investigating isn't only lame, but not credible. Lois wouldn't hold herself back holding Clark's hand, who at this point clearly doesn't need it. As a matter of fact, showing more of this next season will be a mockery of Clark and all the private investigations he's done on his own in the first 3 seasons, and even later on as a BDA. This would turn him into another degree of BDA, as it would ignore all his solo adventures, break-ins, etc throughout the series.

So if they plan to have the 2 still work together next season, I hope they allow each to pursue their own stories with the occasional crossing of paths. No more hand holding. The time for that is over. And they better dedicate screen time to show Clark getting stories. They could have done that this season rather than wasting time with junk episodes (as far as Clark's character is concerned) like Toxic, Power, Requiem, Turbulence, Eternal, and Beast (and maybe even Abyss). If they had this much time to devote to crappy plots and not give as much time to Clark's journalism development, then this show should just end now.

Unfortunately, everything that happens at the DP is sub plot. It's like the new farm. All those scenes aren't really the meat of the show. From what I remember about Clark, according to mythology, was that he wrote for his high school paper and worked at the Smallville Ledger. Then he applied for a job at the Daily Planet and Perry White hired him, partnering him up with Lois Lane on the spot. She was there long before he was.

On Smallville, Clark worked at The Torch (so that's the extent of his reporting experience) and yeah he investigated the meteor freaks of the week but Chloe wrote every article that ever came out of that, not Clark, except for maybe one if I'm not mistaken and it was the article on Vin (the guy who was killing the meteor freaks).

He came into the DP on Smallville, through an internship position. Interns aren't reporters. That's not just on the show, that's in real life too. I am currently looking for an internship since I am a journalism major and the extent of our job is getting the coffee and donuts and typing if we're lucky.

So the fact that Clark even wrote an obituary (on screen) and a cat adoption article (off screen) is a lot considering what position he holds at the Daily Planet right now. He also wrote that article in Eternal about the murders, but Tess didn't print it.

Lois Lane has been there since s7, so she's already made somewhat of a name for herself. But if Stiletto showed us anything is that she's not that "ACE" reporter yet, since she didn't get into that banquet in the beginning of the episode.

It seems that the way they're playing their cards is that Lois' big story will be on the RBB and that's what will make her a household name.

Hopefully, if they bring in Perry White next year, he can promote Clark to reporter and officially partner them up to work together and that can finally line up the show with mythology, because of right now... Clark's not even really a reporter...

[ZeoVGM]

This would make sense if this was even REMOTELY a bad episode, instead of being one of, if not the best episode of the season.

Though I agree, Lois needs a full season contract. She should have been in this.

[halvor311]

I don't know if I could take 22 episodes of Lois. The way she jumps to conclusions without getting the full story drives me insane, also how she thinks she knows what's right and that everyone else is either naive or just plain stupid pisses me the hell off. So I wouldn't want 22 episodes of that, though I do enjoy the comedic element she brings to the show. But I'm fine with her not being in a lot of episodes.

[doomsday1215]

although im a Lois fan and want her to appear in 22 eps next year, this episode wasnt actually bad.. this is one of my favorite episodes in the season.. season 8 is really great (except for the Lana episodes, i mean no disrespect to her fans) and i wouldnt mind a 10th season..

[-Nora-]

I miss laughing when watching SV. And that usually happens when Lois is in it. And I miss the humanity that Lois brings to an episode.

[Chlarkislove]

You know that's funny because one of the lowest rated episodes of the season was a Lois centric episode. I thought it was a good episode. I guess will see how it compares to Lois episodes in the ratings latter on today.

[costas22]

Lois can't just be in there if she is not involved in the main arc of the episode. They should give her 18-22 episodes but also have her more involved.

[Wicked Lois]

I miss laughing when watching SV. And that usually happens when Lois is in it. And I miss the humanity that Lois brings to an episode.


That was what I was thinking when I watched Beast. If people think Stiletto sucked, at least I had a fun time watching it... Beast was boring in ALL levels. Though I liked the last scene, it was really touching, for the rest of it.... I just thought the whole thing a really waste of time!

And where the hell was Lois anyway? I am not sure if thoses guys had actually been in a newspaper but people dont send new reporters to cover events around the globe just like that... they don't. :rolleyes: Well, give her credit and take her out of the basement.

[AntMagister]

If i think that lois will be absent next episode too i start crying. But i have to admit that I liked beast anyway. Smallville has not to become lois center but she is special so i hope next season we'll be watching her in all the episodes.

[IcedSun]

The tittle in this thread is really childish don´t you think?

Anyways, I do not see any proof, Lois is great but she was not needed at all. Beast was really good!!

Agreed! :o Lois fans, fortunately not all, always think Lois-centric episodes are the best of the whole series and the ones where she isnt in them are the worse, give me a break!

[Sarevokcz]

Agreed! :o Lois fans, fortunately not all, always think Lois-centric episodes are the best of the whole series and the ones where she isnt in them are the worse, give me a break!

and vice versa, Chloe fans think, that if episode doesnt focus on Chloe, its bad episode.

of course its exagerrated for both sides, there are both Lois and Chloe fans who can admit objectively, when the episode is bad or good, even without focus on their favorite character, but generally, most people are simply bashing the other fans or the characters anyway, being it Lois, Chloe or Lana fans.





Lois can't just be in there if she is not involved in the main arc of the episode. They should give her 18-22 episodes but also have her more involved.

which is something i dont really get, Chloe, as Lois cousin, is for example loosing memories, yet Lois is nowhere to help her with it, because Jimmy goes to Clark instead of her cousin(??) (Abyss), Chloe is missing from town, yet Lois isnt in next episode to investigate where she is (Injustice), there is mass murderer in town, yet Lois, as a reporter, who wants improve her career, doesnt even investigate it (basically whole season)

she could easily be involved in the whole Chlavis/DD stuff without it being forced, she is, after all, reporter. what looks too forced to me is keeping her away from her cousin business. imo.

[costas22]

which is something i dont really get, Chloe, as Lois cousin, is for example loosing memories, yet Lois is nowhere to help her with it, because Jimmy goes to Clark instead of her cousin(??) (Abyss), Chloe is missing from town, yet Lois isnt in next episode to investigate where she is (Injustice), there is mass murderer in town, yet Lois, as a reporter, who wants improve her career, doesnt even investigate it (basically whole season)

she could easily be involved in the whole Chlavis/DD stuff without it being forced, she is, after all, reporter. what looks too forced to me is keeping her away from her cousin business. imo.

That's true. She has been obsessed with the RBB but the story of Doomsday was equally newsworthy. Look at it like this. At least by not having her involed in the Power or Doomsday arcs, they have protected her character from all of this lightswitching that has been going on with Chloe, Oliver and Jimmy.

[clois-destiny-forever]

and vice versa, Chloe fans think, that if episode doesnt focus on Chloe, its bad episode.

of course its exagerrated for both sides, there are both Lois and Chloe fans who can admit objectively, when the episode is bad or good, even without focus on their favorite character, but generally, most people are simply bashing the other fans or the characters anyway, being it Lois, Chloe or Lana fans.



which is something i dont really get, Chloe, as Lois cousin, is for example loosing memories, yet Lois is nowhere to help her with it, because Jimmy goes to Clark instead of her cousin(??) (Abyss), Chloe is missing from town, yet Lois isnt in next episode to investigate where she is (Injustice), there is mass murderer in town, yet Lois, as a reporter, who wants improve her career, doesnt even investigate it (basically whole season)

she could easily be involved in the whole Chlavis/DD stuff without it being forced, she is, after all, reporter. what looks too forced to me is keeping her away from her cousin business. imo.

Exactly. They shouldn't try to force Lois into things, but it also is pretty ridiculous for Chloe and Lois to not even be there for each other. Seriously, why do friendships between girls on this show always get demoted beneath the individual relationship between the girl and some other guy?

And there really is bashing on whichever female character gets the most attention in an episode. There are people who were all over "Stiletto" for being low rated, but how much do ratings really matter? I think they need to work on the plot and keeping characters true to themselves before they start worrying about the numbers on a show that's been renewed and isn't going anywhere right now.

----- Added 33 Seconds later -----


That's true. She has been obsessed with the RBB but the story of Doomsday was equally newsworthy. Look at it like this. At least by not having her involed in the Power or Doomsday arcs, they have protected her character from all of this lightswitching that has been going on with Chloe, Oliver and Jimmy.

Thank goodness. At least she stays mostly true to herself.

[Eeyore840]

Exactly. They shouldn't try to force Lois into things, but it also is pretty ridiculous for Chloe and Lois to not even be there for each other. Seriously, why do friendships between girls on this show always get demoted beneath the individual relationship between the girl and some other guy?

Because as much as females are loathe to admit it, this is what happens when we become involved with a man. Our friends get pushed aside until we break up and then we complain about our friends not "being there" for us. I've seen it happen many times.

With Chloe and Lois, there has to be a separation since Lois and Clark end up together. Otherwise, Chloe is in love with Lois' (future) husband. That can't be.

[wingster55]

they have protected her character from all of this lightswitching that has been going on with Chloe, Oliver and Jimmy


What about the lightswitching where she's been at the DP longer than Jimmy?

----- Added 2 Minutes later -----

Clark may not have gotten all the screentime but he still was at the center of this episode. Screentime doesn't always mean everything.

[Sarevokcz]

Clark may not have gotten all the screentime but he still was at the center of this episode. Screentime doesn't always mean everything.

interesting, how this counterargument was used last week, when Clark had less screentime than Lois, becuase everyone was screaming "episode didnt focus on Clark!"

he certainly was there and was being proactive, only moment i didnt like was his conversation with Chloe in fortress, but imo he wasnt really focus of this epi that much, i am really interested in his screentime, but i would he really surprised if it was more than 15 minutes.

[wingster55]

interesting, how this counterargument was used last week, when Clark had less screentime than Lois, becuase everyone was screaming "episode didnt focus on Clark!"


I never used that argument so that doesn't really apply to me.

[lane06]

As much as I would want Lois to be motsly in this season's episode, it would only make her the only person who is clueless about Clark and she'd be like misplaced and they'd have to find her to do something that would be significant to this season's plot. Coz she can't really get involved in the Doomsday/chloe thing. Having her invoved in those would mean having her know about the JL and otehr heroes and thus eventually finding out the identity of RBB and chloes involvement.
Hopefully next season's plot would really have her involved . Dont' gte me wrong I love ED Lois .she is the reason why i started watching smallville since season 4.

[UpandAtom]

I thought this wasn't a good episode, but that had nothing to do with the fact that Lois was in it. "Stiletto" was horrible episode, probably the worst this season (and I am counting the Lana arc).

This Doomsday episode just had too many holes in the plot left open. Like "does Chloe have feelings for Davis?" or "how does Jimmy feel about his ex-wife leaving with a serial killer?'

----- Added 3 Minutes later -----


which is something i dont really get, Chloe, as Lois cousin, is for example loosing memories, yet Lois is nowhere to help her with it, because Jimmy goes to Clark instead of her cousin(??) (Abyss), Chloe is missing from town, yet Lois isnt in next episode to investigate where she is (Injustice), there is mass murderer in town, yet Lois, as a reporter, who wants improve her career, doesnt even investigate it (basically whole season)


Jimmy went to Clark because he was Chloe's best friend. It would make sense that Chloe tells Clark stuff that she doesn't tell Lois. That is definitely the case with me. There are things I would feel more comfortable telling my friends than my family.

And it is clear that Chloe and Lois have not been that close to begin with. During the first 3 seasons of Smallville, Chloe has never mentioned her cousin, Lois has never visited the town. It was only after Chloe's "death" that the two began developing a bond, but it was still nowhere to the point that Chloe had with Clark or Lana.

[Eeyore840]

I thought this wasn't a good episode, but that had nothing to do with the fact that Lois was in it. "Stiletto" was horrible episode, probably the worst this season (and I am counting the Lana arc).

This Doomsday episode just had too many holes in the plot left open. Like "does Chloe have feelings for Davis?" or "how does Jimmy feel about his ex-wife leaving with a serial killer?'

I wouldn't call those plot holes just yet. I think those questions will be answered in the next two episodes.

[AndiGirl]

Proof? how is this proof? Since you didn't like the episode that automatically makes this a bad episode for everyone. Oh wow, I guess since I don't like onion rings that means nobody else does either!

ITA Kevin! :)

[Krypto_marcus]

Every bad episode this season had Lois missing from the cast. If TPTB are smart (BIG IF!!), they will have Erica for all 22 episodes next season and keep some sanity to the season. The whole Lana arc in the middle of this season made me want to puke and now this one. Next week is also without Lois and that already makes me want to puke.

Proof? this is just your opinion.

Prey, Abyss, Turbulence, Eternal were all awesome and they all have something in common - No Lois. And I thought Beast was great as well.

----- Added 1 Minutes later -----


Agreed! :o Lois fans, fortunately not all, always think Lois-centric episodes are the best of the whole series and the ones where she isnt in them are the worse, give me a break!

I agree, but I've got to say that the same thing goes for Chloe fans.

[Theshadow129x]

Every bad episode this season had Lois missing from the cast. If TPTB are smart (BIG IF!!), they will have Erica for all 22 episodes next season and keep some sanity to the season. The whole Lana arc in the middle of this season made me want to puke and now this one. Next week is also without Lois and that already makes me want to puke.

i dont know what it is u were watching but this episode was actually good. episodes can be good without a certain character in it and episodes can be bad without a character in it. this is the former. Lois didnt have a place in this episode therefore she wasnt used.

[costas22]

Lets not forget that Smallville, in its first 3 seasons sans Lois, was a fantastic show. So you can have good episodes without her. You just need good writing, something that hasn't always been the case this year, even when Lois was in an episode. That being said, Beast was a solid episode but like Stiletto, nothing special IMO.

[Watching Smallville]

I thought this was an amazing episode. Guess I'm all alone out here.

Lois isn't there because of ED's contract. It's really that simple.

[tyson08]

Hardly, I love many episodes without Lois and this was a great one.

[galatians221]

Proof? how is this proof? Since you didn't like the episode that automatically makes this a bad episode for everyone. Oh wow, I guess since I don't like onion rings that means nobody else does either!

Are you kidding? You don't like onion rings? How can anything that you write have any credibility? You really don't like onion rings????;)

[Minela]

There really isn't a reason for Lois' absence in this episode. It seems really stupid actually. She is Chloe's only family, and I want to see her reaction to the Chlavis relationship. Why is Lois the only one who doesn't know her cousin is shacked up with an obsessive psycho serial killer? I want to see Lois on the case. I want to see her freaking out about Chloe's safety. I want her paired up with Jimmy to bring her back. Lois' role doesn't have to be just comic relief. She is a caring and compassionate person and we've already seen she'd move heaven and earth for find Chloe. Jimmy is clueless about Clark and the JLA, too. Let them team up and search for Chloe.

I miss Lois. She brings such a breath of fresh air to each and every episode.

[Chloe Bloome]

I didn't really miss Lois in this episode at all, there is no need to cram too many characters into one episode

[paolinki25]

I miss Lois when she's not in an episode; however, this episode was so freaking weird, I'm glad she wasn't there.

[Krypton935]

Every bad episode this season had Lois missing from the cast. If TPTB are smart (BIG IF!!), they will have Erica for all 22 episodes next season and keep some sanity to the season. The whole Lana arc in the middle of this season made me want to puke and now this one. Next week is also without Lois and that already makes me want to puke.

Ok I have no idea which episodes you've been watching but I must have seen different ones. There has not been one bad episode this season. A couple were better than others but none were "bad" Sure I like Lois too but the show isn't about her and she doen't make it good. She wasn't in the first three seasons and all those episodes were great. If all Smallville is is Lois scenes then I am missing something because I think its about Clark. One character does not make an episode good or bad for me, I just enjoy hte show. *shrug*

[Minela]

It's just that the Lois episodes have a different "feel" to them, and her absence is very obvious.

[LuckyLois]

I thought this was an amazing episode. Guess I'm all alone out here.

Lois isn't there because of ED's contract. It's really that simple.

NO YOUR NOT, I gave it a 9. I really thought it was a pretty good episode, and Tom is so hitting it out of the park for me. He is Superman as far as I'm concerned. I am hopinh though, this whole story arc gets wrapped up pretty early next season, cause I'm ready for the Clark/Lois dynamic to take over.;)

[marcella]

I agree. Episodes with Lois normally are the best

[Kevin24]

Are you kidding? You don't like onion rings? How can anything that you write have any credibility? You really don't like onion rings????;)

I like onion ring chips but not actual onion rings because of the onion inside the ring. I like the ring minus the onion though.:)

[oberyn]

I thought this episode stunk to high heaven. My opinion has nothing to do with Lois' absence, nor do I think her presence would have made a difference.

[loistickyfingerz]

I agree with the original sentiment: more Lois = better show. But that's just my opinion and I know what that's worth.

[Theshadow129x]

lois doesnt equal a better show. wtf did she have to do with this episode if she was part of it? she wouldnt have anything to contribute

[xrayvision]

Unfortunately, everything that happens at the DP is sub plot. It's like the new farm. All those scenes aren't really the meat of the show. From what I remember about Clark, according to mythology, was that he wrote for his high school paper and worked at the Smallville Ledger. Then he applied for a job at the Daily Planet and Perry White hired him, partnering him up with Lois Lane on the spot. She was there long before he was.

Lois was definitely there before Clark was, but we don't know by how much. We know that Clark was travelling the world & helping people before he appeared as Superman for the first time, so he did have plenty of things to write about wherever he worked for prior to joining the Daily Planet. I could just imagine how many people he helped out of situations like hunger, disease, dictatorships, natural disasters (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes/tsunamis, tornadoes, floods), war, and other terrible things. It's easy to understand how with articles about all these experiences on his resume, Clark was able to land a job as an ace reporter on Perry's team with Lois. Smallville didn't show Clark traveling the world or writing about all the stuff he did between highschool and the present time, mainly because he did almost nothing other than be on standby for Lana's dumb mistakes.


On Smallville, Clark worked at The Torch (so that's the extent of his reporting experience) and yeah he investigated the meteor freaks of the week but Chloe wrote every article that ever came out of that, not Clark, except for maybe one if I'm not mistaken and it was the article on Vin (the guy who was killing the meteor freaks).

Well, Chloe was shown writing articles, but not every one. Even Chloe, who wrote as many articles as she did, was hardly seen writing them. She was mostly seen investigating and doing research. Clark was the one who really did the most physical investigations while working at the Torch by going out and finding clues and getting to the bottom of the story. Perry looked through his articles (note the plural) and said that he had talent & to look him up if he gets to Metropolis. So Clark definitely did his fair share of writing articles too. He wouldn't have written that he saw himself studying journalism in 5 years (in Redux) if he only wrote 1 article the entire time he was there. Don't forget that most of Clark's tenure at the Torch was when Chloe didn't know his secret, so he was finding out things she never did & had to be the one writing about it. The Torch experience and the investigations of the freaks he did was excellent experience for him for what is to come ahead.


He came into the DP on Smallville, through an internship position. Interns aren't reporters. That's not just on the show, that's in real life too. I am currently looking for an internship since I am a journalism major and the extent of our job is getting the coffee and donuts and typing if we're lucky.

This is where I start having problems with the writing. Clark before going to the DP had much more experience writing articles than Lois did before she went to the Inquisitor. Yet, Lois instantly became a reporter (due to a barn door :rolleyes:), but not Clark. I can understand that the DP is more respected, etc. but I would expect there to be some standards even at the Inquisitor. In real life, neither Lois not Clark would ever get a job at any newspaper without a college degree. So looking past the fact that neither of them have one, looking at their pre-career credentials, Clark definitely had more than Lois. I don't like how Clark even took a job he didn't deserve and didn't like how Lois took her job back in season 7 because she didn't deserve it either (Grant hired her because he had the hots for her). Given Clark being the one having the greatest moral code on the show, he should have rejected it like he rejected all those gifts from Lex. Since he didn't, I would like to see him quitting his job going forward for these very reasons and because he has to start off at a lower paper but actually get a chance to write stories to not only make his reporter identity look convincing, but also to warn the public about all the bad & dangerous things he finds out as a hero. That in itself is a moral responsibility. Beast is an excellent example of it. He could have easily written an article about Davis and the murders he committed and how it is impossible to kill him. This would educate the public with information that only Clark could get from his hero/Kryptonian identity. I can't put it any better than this. Being a reporter is a moral obligation that Clark in every form felt he needed to do.


So the fact that Clark even wrote an obituary (on screen) and a cat adoption article (off screen) is a lot considering what position he holds at the Daily Planet right now. He also wrote that article in Eternal about the murders, but Tess didn't print it.

Again, if this is suitable for Clark at this late point in the game, then these are the same type of articles they should have given Lois is season 6 & 7. But instead she was investigating for her articles on things/people like Duncan & his vegetative powers (even though she didn't write the story), Lionel Luthor's disappearance (Action), the Green Arrow, and so much more. So my statement to TPTB is either give Clark an actual reporter job where he can at least start writing articles just like Lois had in seasons 6 or 7, or make this version of Clark the first one to be a fulltime hero & not a reporter. In other words, either show him convincingly being a reporter who gets a spot on Perry's team out of achievement, or have him be only a hero.


Lois Lane has been there since s7, so she's already made somewhat of a name for herself. But if Stiletto showed us anything is that she's not that "ACE" reporter yet, since she didn't get into that banquet in the beginning of the episode.

I agree Lois isn't there yet, as I don't think she should since she is very young (again, I'm ignoring the fact that she didn't go to college, which would make any possibility of her or Clark for that matter working at the DP or Inquisitor null & void). I don't think either her or Clark should. What I would love to see is them working at seperate papers and have a rivalry, but despite the rivalry, still help each other out when needed. This would show that they're both interested in their jobs while at the same time caring for one another to help themselves out.


It seems that the way they're playing their cards is that Lois' big story will be on the RBB and that's what will make her a household name.

Yes, but like I asked before, what will Clark's big story be? The RBB story will get Lois out of the basement. What will land Clark out of the basement? It must be something big and in order to make it convincing, they must start working on it now. This is my reason for posting this thread:

http://www.kryptonsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122583


Hopefully, if they bring in Perry White next year, he can promote Clark to reporter and officially partner them up to work together and that can finally line up the show with mythology, because of right now... Clark's not even really a reporter...

I hope he doesn't promote Clark until Clark deserves to be promoted. Clark should not have his legendary job unless he has merits to land him the job. It's not fair if they have Lois deserve her job but throw Clark in his just for the heck of it. That's a slap to his face. If I was Clark, I would leave than take such a job. I would tell whoever offers me such a job to stick it where the sun don't shine. Clark doesn't need a free job handout. And Clark doesn't need to be partnered up with Lois as far as hand-holding in their investigations go. If they can be partnered on a given story with each being given different aspects/elements to investigate, so that Clark & Lois are investigating seperate areas/people at a given time, then that's cool. Otherwise it makes no sense to waste both reporter resources (Clark & Lois) for investigating the same thing at the same time.

What I really want is Clark to leave the Planet. Ignoring all of Clark's prior Torch experience of which he has plenty, Lois should keep her job & continue working on the RBB story. But I think Clark needs to be given a serious job title with the same chances Lois got in seasons 6 & 7 to grow as a reporter. This is why I want Perry to be his mentor. I want Clark to quit or get fired from the Planet & join the Metropolis Journal with Perry as his editor and be given an actual reporter job. If his past merits as a reporter at the Torch don't count, I at least want to have his past merits in saving Perry count. But the magic with Perry is that both, his merits at the Torch & in saving Perry would be why Perry gives Clark a chance. Perry knows & admires both of these merit types of Clark's. Clark would finally be able to use the knowledge he learns from his heroics to help boost his career and write spectacular articles that nobody else would be able to write. He would boost the image of the Metropolis Journal and Perry's credentials as editor would also increase until Clark gets the major scoop that will land him & Perry national recognition & the Daily Planet will offer them both jobs.


So my main points are:

1. There is an inequity in the circumstances/opportunities that Lois had/was given in seasons 6 & 7 when compared to those that Clark has now. Lois was always a reporter & never a copygirl, intern, errand girl or whatever other various job titles we saw Clark have this season. Clark needs the same opportunities. If these opportunities are impossible at the Daily Planet, then he needs to be at another paper for his development to occur before coming back to the Planet.

2. For far too long, Clark's existence on this show has not been about or surrounded by achievement or merit. His existence was wasted on promoting love triangles and garbage that the majority of viewers did not want to see. These things all made him look bad & took away important time that should have been spent building Clark up. The show has finally returned to focusing on Clark's achievements as a hero this season which hasn't been the case since season 3. It should have been shown by now that everything Clark did at the Torch was important and not brushed aside. Even though this hasn't happened except when recognized by Perry White in his 1 & only appearance on the show, they need to start now. Chloe's background at the Torch definitely helped her land her job in Thirst, because without it, she would have gotten nothing. Clark needs the same thing. More importantly, once the inequities between Lois & Clark's employment opportunities (as pointed out in Point #1) are eliminated and Clark finally has a job that can let him write articles, he needs to show achievements and merits that land him the legendary job Clark Kent has always had. Clark is Jonathan's son, and no son of Jonathan would ever accept nepotism or be hired out of empathy or non-merit. If this happens, then it would destroy his credibility and would make one of Jonathan's biggest lessons to Clark meaningless.

3. My last point is something based on my interpretation and also fact. One thing I noticed on these forums is that many here are either mad at or dislike Clark, especially due to his contributions to the Clois relationship. My interpretation, whether I'm correct or not, is that there are many Lois fans. I myself am a Lois fan, but only after being a Superman/Clark fan first. I think my points about giving Clark & Lois seperate storylines/plots are negatively viewed by Clois shippers and I'm not sure if it's because they want Clark to always be with Lois, on Lois-standby (as he was on Lana-standby in seasons 6 & 7), or if they want Lois to get all the storylines while Clark is just a heroic fixture at the Daily Planet who never gets his own stories, or if it's some other reason. I hope I'm just wrong and my points about Clark & Lois having seperate storylines are positively viewed by everyone. Because as being a fan of Lois myself (after being a Clark fan first), I wouldn't want a Lois Lane who gets her stories solely on Clark's heroics as she got throughout season 8 so far. Look at Plastique and the work Clark did and how little Lois did in comparison to get the story, which she got at the end. As a Lois fan too, I'm not satisfied with that. She's supposed to be investigating herself and be involved in the thick of things. She's not supposed to just sit back and get her stories on Clark's back. No version of Lois ever did that. So if not for Clark's development, Lois fans should want Clark & Lois to have seperate storylines for Lois' own development at the very minimum.

These are my thoughts based on my several frustrations I've had over the years. I thought about these points for a long time and they are very important to me if this Clark Kent is to be portrayed as the iconic character we have seen for 70 years. Smallville's Clark not being like the iconic version of the Clark of the comics isn't a result of something as mundane as his holdups on getting together with Lois, but for various significant character traits & development issues that have been ignored for far too long to build up other non-essential characters. They have mostly corrected his hero traits, with the exception of stuff seen in Beast when others who have no business making his hero decisions make them (Chloe).

This is my last post on this subject for now. I pretty much pointed out everything I could, so I can't do a better job trying to convince these points any better.

[galatians221]

Lois was definitely there before Clark was, but we don't know by how much. We know that Clark was travelling the world & helping people before he appeared as Superman for the first time, so he did have plenty of things to write about wherever he worked for prior to joining the Daily Planet. I could just imagine how many people he helped out of situations like hunger, disease, dictatorships, natural disasters (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes/tsunamis, tornadoes, floods), war, and other terrible things. It's easy to understand how with articles about all these experiences on his resume, Clark was able to land a job as an ace reporter on Perry's team with Lois. Smallville didn't show Clark traveling the world or writing about all the stuff he did between highschool and the present time, mainly because he did almost nothing other than be on standby for Lana's dumb mistakes.



Well, Chloe was shown writing articles, but not every one. Even Chloe, who wrote as many articles as she did, was hardly seen writing them. She was mostly seen investigating and doing research. Clark was the one who really did the most physical investigations while working at the Torch by going out and finding clues and getting to the bottom of the story. Perry looked through his articles (note the plural) and said that he had talent & to look him up if he gets to Metropolis. So Clark definitely did his fair share of writing articles too. He wouldn't have written that he saw himself studying journalism in 5 years (in Redux) if he only wrote 1 article the entire time he was there. Don't forget that most of Clark's tenure at the Torch was when Chloe didn't know his secret, so he was finding out things she never did & had to be the one writing about it. The Torch experience and the investigations of the freaks he did was excellent experience for him for what is to come ahead.



This is where I start having problems with the writing. Clark before going to the DP had much more experience writing articles than Lois did before she went to the Inquisitor. Yet, Lois instantly became a reporter (due to a barn door :rolleyes:), but not Clark. I can understand that the DP is more respected, etc. but I would expect there to be some standards even at the Inquisitor. In real life, neither Lois not Clark would ever get a job at any newspaper without a college degree. So looking past the fact that neither of them have one, looking at their pre-career credentials, Clark definitely had more than Lois. I don't like how Clark even took a job he didn't deserve and didn't like how Lois took her job back in season 7 because she didn't deserve it either (Grant hired her because he had the hots for her). Given Clark being the one having the greatest moral code on the show, he should have rejected it like he rejected all those gifts from Lex. Since he didn't, I would like to see him quitting his job going forward for these very reasons and because he has to start off at a lower paper but actually get a chance to write stories to not only make his reporter identity look convincing, but also to warn the public about all the bad & dangerous things he finds out as a hero. That in itself is a moral responsibility. Beast is an excellent example of it. He could have easily written an article about Davis and the murders he committed and how it is impossible to kill him. This would educate the public with information that only Clark could get from his hero/Kryptonian identity. I can't put it any better than this. Being a reporter is a moral obligation that Clark in every form felt he needed to do.



Again, if this is suitable for Clark at this late point in the game, then these are the same type of articles they should have given Lois is season 6 & 7. But instead she was investigating for her articles on things/people like Duncan & his vegetative powers (even though she didn't write the story), Lionel Luthor's disappearance (Action), the Green Arrow, and so much more. So my statement to TPTB is either give Clark an actual reporter job where he can at least start writing articles just like Lois had in seasons 6 or 7, or make this version of Clark the first one to be a fulltime hero & not a reporter. In other words, either show him convincingly being a reporter who gets a spot on Perry's team out of achievement, or have him be only a hero.



I agree Lois isn't there yet, as I don't think she should since she is very young (again, I'm ignoring the fact that she didn't go to college, which would make any possibility of her or Clark for that matter working at the DP or Inquisitor null & void). I don't think either her or Clark should. What I would love to see is them working at seperate papers and have a rivalry, but despite the rivalry, still help each other out when needed. This would show that they're both interested in their jobs while at the same time caring for one another to help themselves out.



Yes, but like I asked before, what will Clark's big story be? The RBB story will get Lois out of the basement. What will land Clark out of the basement? It must be something big and in order to make it convincing, they must start working on it now. This is my reason for posting this thread:

http://www.kryptonsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122583



I hope he doesn't promote Clark until Clark deserves to be promoted. Clark should not have his legendary job unless he has merits to land him the job. It's not fair if they have Lois deserve her job but throw Clark in his just for the heck of it. That's a slap to his face. If I was Clark, I would leave than take such a job. I would tell whoever offers me such a job to stick it where the sun don't shine. Clark doesn't need a free job handout. And Clark doesn't need to be partnered up with Lois as far as hand-holding in their investigations go. If they can be partnered on a given story with each being given different aspects/elements to investigate, so that Clark & Lois are investigating seperate areas/people at a given time, then that's cool. Otherwise it makes no sense to waste both reporter resources (Clark & Lois) for investigating the same thing at the same time.

What I really want is Clark to leave the Planet. Ignoring all of Clark's prior Torch experience of which he has plenty, Lois should keep her job & continue working on the RBB story. But I think Clark needs to be given a serious job title with the same chances Lois got in seasons 6 & 7 to grow as a reporter. This is why I want Perry to be his mentor. I want Clark to quit or get fired from the Planet & join the Metropolis Journal with Perry as his editor and be given an actual reporter job. If his past merits as a reporter at the Torch don't count, I at least want to have his past merits in saving Perry count. But the magic with Perry is that both, his merits at the Torch & in saving Perry would be why Perry gives Clark a chance. Perry knows & admires both of these merit types of Clark's. Clark would finally be able to use the knowledge he learns from his heroics to help boost his career and write spectacular articles that nobody else would be able to write. He would boost the image of the Metropolis Journal and Perry's credentials as editor would also increase until Clark gets the major scoop that will land him & Perry national recognition & the Daily Planet will offer them both jobs.


So my main points are:

1. There is an inequity in the circumstances/opportunities that Lois had/was given in seasons 6 & 7 when compared to those that Clark has now. Lois was always a reporter & never a copygirl, intern, errand girl or whatever other various job titles we saw Clark have this season. Clark needs the same opportunities. If these opportunities are impossible at the Daily Planet, then he needs to be at another paper for his development to occur before coming back to the Planet.

2. For far too long, Clark's existence on this show has not been about or surrounded by achievement or merit. His existence was wasted on promoting love triangles and garbage that the majority of viewers did not want to see. These things all made him look bad & took away important time that should have been spent building Clark up. The show has finally returned to focusing on Clark's achievements as a hero this season which hasn't been the case since season 3. It should have shown by now that everything Clark did at the Torch was important and not brushed aside. Even though this hasn't happened except by Perry White in his 1 & only appearance on the show, they need to start now. Chloe's background at the Torch definitely helped her land her job in Thirst, because without it, she would have gotten nothing. Clark needs the same thing. More importantly, once the inequities between Lois & Clark's employment opportunities are eliminated and Clark finally has a job that can let him write articles, he needs to show achievements and merits that land him the legendary job Clark Kent has always had. Clark is Jonathan's son, and no son of Jonathan would ever accept nepotism or be hired out of empathy or non-merit. If this happens, then it would destroy his credibility and would make one of Jonathan's biggest lessons to Clark meaningless.

3. My last point is something based on my interpretation and also fact. One thing I noticed on these forums is that many here are either mad at or dislike Clark, especially when I see his contributions to the Clois relationship. My interpretation, whether I'm correct or not, is that there are many Lois fans. I myself am a Lois fan, but only after being a Superman/Clark fan first. I think my points about giving Clark & Lois seperate storylines/plots are negatively viewed by Clois shippers and I'm not sure if it's because they want Clark to always be with Lois, on Lois-standy (as he was on Lana-standby in seasons 6 & 7), or if they want Lois to get all the storylines while Clark is just a heroic fixture at the Daily Planet who never gets his own stories, or if it's some other reason. I hope I'm just wrong and my points about them having seperate storylines are positively viewed by everyone. Because as being a fan of Lois myself (after being a Clark fan first), I wouldn't want a Lois Lane who gets her stories solely on Clark's heroics as she got throughout season 8 so far. Look at Instinct and the work Clark did and how little Lois did in comparison to get the story, which she did. As a Lois fan, I'm not satisfied with that. She's supposed to be investigating herself and be involved in the thick of things. She's not supposed to just sit back and get her stories on Clark's back. No version of Lois ever did that. So if not for Clark's development, Lois fans should want Clark & Lois to have seperate storylines for Lois' own development at the very minimum.

These are my thoughts based on my several frustrations I've had over the years. I thought about these points for a long time and they are very important to me if this Clark Kent is to be portrayed as the iconic character we have seen for 70 years. Smallville's Clark not being like the iconic version of the Clark of the comics isn't a result of something as mundane as his holdups on getting together with Lois, but for various significant character traits & development issues that have been ignored for far too long to build up other non-essential characters. They have mostly corrected his hero traits, with the exception of stuff seen in Beast when others who have no business making his hero decisions make them (Chloe).

This is my last post on this subject for now. I pretty much pointed out everything I could, so I can't do a better job trying to convince these points any better.

You said nothing about onion rings.

----- Added 1 Minutes later -----


I like onion ring chips but not actual onion rings because of the onion inside the ring. I like the ring minus the onion though.:)

Good luck with that. "one order of onion rings, hold the onions".

[Mrs. Superman]

Though I would have really enjoyed seeing Lois in Beast, the episode was still good without her.

With that said, I did wonder how something so big could be happening to Chloe, and Lois has no clue about it (while everyone around her does--including Jimmy). Surely by next episode she must have gotten word that Chloes missing. That's one example of why she needs to be in more episodes next year. I'm fine if she's not in all 22, but her character really should be in at least 18.

[xrayvision]

Though I would have really enjoyed seeing Lois in Beast, the episode was still good without her.

With that said, I did wonder how something so big could be happening to Chloe, and Lois has no clue about it (while everyone around her does--including Jimmy). Surely by next episode she must have gotten word that Chloes missing. That's one example of why she needs to be in more episodes next year. I'm fine if she's not in all 22, but her character really should be in at least 18.

This reminds me of something I've been thinking of since this Chloe-Davis/betrayal of Clark thing started. What do you think Lois' reaction will be if/when she finds out? I could understand Clark being seriously angry and breaking off his friendship with Chloe. But Lois is her cousin & family. If Lois ends up finding out Clark's secret in the season finale, will she hate Chloe for doing what she did, especially if it ends up getting Clark killed?

There is a very interesting dynamic between Lois & Chloe regarding the Davis matter that hasn't been explored at all. This was the perfect episode to do it while Clark could have gone on a mission to the Phantom Zone to retrieve the Eradicator so he could fix the FoS and fight off waves of Zoners while making his way back to the gate/portal, which itself would serve as preparation for his fight with Davis.

[justme_007]

Of course not. I love this episode. I love drama. Comedy with Ms. Lane is entertaining and that´s all imo. I loved this episode. Waiting for Injustice and Doomsday!!!!!

Allison Mack rocked as always!!!!!!!

[wafflles87]

Yup, I agree...

This second half of the season feels like two different shows. There's the good Smallville, filled with iconic moments (even though I tend to drown in their sheer number occasionally). It has Lois Lane and Clark Kent at the Planet. It has a building romance between them. It has a Superman prototype and a Lois Lane interested in getting an interview.

Then, there's the other show, which is a combo of Doomsdayville and Chloeville. I don't really care for that show. The idea of giving Doomsday a human side was interesting... but stop focusing so much on that!! I want to see a huge fight, and be done with it... sheesh. Incidentally, Lois wasn't in any of the episodes in this part. (Eternal, Turbulence, Beast)

[Night_Hawk90]

s1-s3 was proof that episodes without lois were far superior than ones with her in it, im not saying that lois doesn't add something special to the story i just feel that she doesn't need to be in every episode for it to be well done. My favourite episode this season Prey didnt have Lois in it and i loved it.

[xrayvision]

s1-s3 was proof that episodes without lois were far superior than ones with her in it, im not saying that lois doesn't add something special to the story i just feel that she doesn't need to be in every episode for it to be well done. My favourite episode this season Prey didnt have Lois in it and i loved it.

As much as I agree with the fact that they were superior, it wasn't because Lois wasn't there. It was because of their utilization of Clark & his screen time and the complementary use of the supporting characters, who were left as supporting characters are weren't elevated to Clark's level. There was 1 hero. No JLA. No other gimmicks. No unrealistic supersidekickChloe, and on top of all that, Clark & his decisions, actions, and choices were not defined by Lana or any other female he had the hots for. They were defined by morals he was taught by Jonathan and fears that he would be controlled into a ruler (specifically whenever Jor-El showed up). We saw him doing things that denied Lana's wishes (in Hug, Shimmer, Duplicity and various other episodes where he withheld his secret) and even defied Jonathan when the morals he taught Clark went against Jonathan's own judgement against Clark helping Lex in Shattered & Asylum.

None of these things had to do with Lois. As long as the key elements of the show would have been kept constant, the show would have maintained its quality in season 4. They have a huge opportunity of turning it back to those key elements next season if they forget about the JLA, if they eliminate characters with actions & judgements that are destructive regarding Clark, and if they continue developing the remaining aspects of Clark that are required to be developed.

[Sarevokcz]

s1-s3 was proof that episodes without lois were far superior than ones with her in it, im not saying that lois doesn't add something special to the story i just feel that she doesn't need to be in every episode for it to be well done. My favourite episode this season Prey didnt have Lois in it and i loved it.

of course Lois doesnt have to be in every episode, i loved Prey too, i really liked Turbulence, too, there were bad episodes with Lois in them, too. I dont agree, that episode is bad just because Lois isnt in it, also i dont agree, that epis is good just because it had focus on Chloe/Lois/others.

However the trend this season was, that episodes with Lois are closer to the mythos, have fun moments and generally show Clark closer to his future counterpart and arent taking focus off of Clark, episodes without Lois, on the other hand, are mostly dark, filled with alot drama and mistrust between characters and lately, take focus off of Clark to Chlavis.

Everyone is watching show for their entertainment, mythos fans for Clois and DP, Chloe fans for Chloe, etc. and others should respect that, but the show is supposed to be about Clarks progression to Supes, not Tales of the Doomed Chlavis couple, they shouldnt be "stealing" spotlight from Clark, even tho i have to admit, post Requiem, Clark is almost always acting as a true Supes, even with his limited screentime, which is always good.

also, s1-3 being superior to present episodes is personal opinion, too, I didnt really liked the first 3 seasons that much and the show became more enteraining for me since the arrival of Lois, everyone has his own preferences.

but tbh, Lois wouldnt be pointless in several episodes, she is the Chloes cousin, so it makes LESS sense for her not to be in several episodes, because frankly, it really wouldnt show Lois as good, caring cousin, if she didnt care why was Chloe loosing memories or is missing from town without call.

[Vindellavon]

Oh, it proved something alright. Climaxes do indeed include crying humans and babbling Kryptonians, and don't need loud reporters who talk incessantly about their failing careers. Though I must say, Saint!Oliver wasn't needed, plain ol' Oliver with a littlebit of heart would've been fine, neither was druggie!Jimmy. Pfft, whatever happened to iconosity?

[xrayvision]

Oh, it proved something alright. Climaxes do indeed include crying humans and babbling Kryptonians, and don't need loud reporters who talk incessantly about their failing careers. Though I must say, Saint!Oliver wasn't needed, plain ol' Oliver with a littlebit of heart would've been fine, neither was druggie!Jimmy. Pfft, whatever happened to iconosity?

I think this was the first ever climax-less episode. Hmm, maybe since Ageless or Power, though I'm sure something of a climax could be found in those episodes by viewers who really liked them. :\

[Sarevokcz]

^^ oh yea, this show cant have an episode without Chloe crying, amirite? since Turbulence, the only epi she didnt cry was Hex, 4 epis out of 5, gotta be new record!

again, you may watch for crying Chloe and devastated Clark, others are watching for lighthearted humor and heroic, happy Clark, that doesnt mean episode is bad without one or the other.

[Vindellavon]

I think this was the first ever climax-less episode. Hmm, maybe since Ageless or Power, though I'm sure something of a climax could be found in those episodes by viewers who really liked them. :\


True. Only the ones who liked it, found the climaxes. I found the climax, and that's all pertaining to Clark, for once. He matured, for onc, he didn't b*tch out in the middle of a phone conversation or his best friend, instead, he chose to deal with it on a level headed manner, and then proceed to lose it when the conversation was over. It was Clark's climax, the decision he's going to make, is the one which is probably born from the phone convo. And Chloe, Chloe's loyalty was vague throughtout the season, now we find out that she's in for Clark, and for Clark. Those were the point blanks, but then again, to each, his own. :)

[xrayvision]

True. Only the ones who liked it, found the climaxes. I found the climax, and that's all pertaining to Clark, for once. He matured, for onc, he didn't b*tch out in the middle of a phone conversation or his best friend, instead, he chose to deal with it on a level headed manner, and then proceed to lose it when the conversation was over. It was Clark's climax, the decision he's going to make, is the one which is probably born from the phone convo. And Chloe, Chloe's loyalty was vague throughtout the season, now we find out that she's in for Clark, and for Clark. Those were the point blanks, but then again, to each, his own. :)

They did a half-assed job convincing me that Chloe was in it for Clark. Other than the nightmare with Clark ripped in half, the rest of the episode didn't justify Chloe doing what she did for Clark. As much as I dislike Ollie, what he told her was right. Chloe's reasoning for thinking she was saving Clark from his ethics was pure 100% wrong. She has no idea what the Phantom Zone is about or what it is used for. There was never a more perfect use for it than sending Davis there. There is nothing unethical about Clark sending Davis there. The mere fact that Clark didn't try to kill Davis for all the murders he committed and sought out the only solution that would allow him to live speaks volumes of Clark's well thought intentions and virtues. Jor-El used the Phantom Zone as an alternative to killing prisoners. It's the most humane way and Clark realizes that. Chloe doesn't. Chloe like Clark knows that Davis can't be killed, yet she chose to keep him free to roam & kill. She didn't think of the consequence about what if something happens that will make Davis' transformations happen regardless of her presence or that she is a mortal and as soon as she dies, Davis would return to his killing ways. If anything, I think Chloe was motivated by feelings for Davis.

The main point I took from Beast is that the biggest mistake Clark feels he ever made was to allow Chloe to get as close to his secret as she did. This episode clearly justifies Clark's decision in Abyss in telling Jor-El from withholding her memories. If she hadn't remembered his secret, she would have never been able to stop him from sending Davis to the Phantom Zone, something that would have prevented any deaths possibly caused by collateral damage from the big fight. This episode just clearly that what Clark does at the Fortress and as a hero isn't & was never meant for any mere mortal, but solely for him.

[rajman]

It really depends on whay lois is doing in the episode that will make people watch it

also, i think getting the storyline all cleared up is more important, this season has clearly been focused on how clark and chloe will change and stuff

[TopBanana]

I miss Lois terribly when she's not in episodes, but there are times like this when I'm so glad she's not there. She doesn't need to bear witness to her cousin going on the run with a mass murderer.

[Heilige]

They did a half-assed job convincing me that Chloe was in it for Clark. Other than the nightmare with Clark ripped in half, the rest of the episode didn't justify Chloe doing what she did for Clark. As much as I dislike Ollie, what he told her was right. Chloe's reasoning for thinking she was saving Clark from his ethics was pure 100% wrong. She has no idea what the Phantom Zone is about or what it is used for. There was never a more perfect use for it than sending Davis there. There is nothing unethical about Clark sending Davis there. The mere fact that Clark didn't try to kill Davis for all the murders he committed and sought out the only solution that would allow him to live speaks volumes of Clark's well thought intentions and virtues. Jor-El used the Phantom Zone as an alternative to killing prisoners. It's the most humane way and Clark realizes that. Chloe doesn't. Chloe like Clark knows that Davis can't be killed, yet she chose to keep him free to roam & kill. She didn't think of the consequence about what if something happens that will make Davis' transformations happen regardless of her presence or that she is a mortal and as soon as she dies, Davis would return to his killing ways. If anything, I think Chloe was motivated by feelings for Davis.

The main point I took from Beast is that the biggest mistake Clark feels he ever made was to allow Chloe to get as close to his secret as she did. This episode clearly justifies Clark's decision in Abyss in telling Jor-El from withholding her memories. If she hadn't remembered his secret, she would have never been able to stop him from sending Davis to the Phantom Zone, something that would have prevented any deaths possibly caused by collateral damage from the big fight. This episode just clearly that what Clark does at the Fortress and as a hero isn't & was never meant for any mere mortal, but solely for him.



So you think it was the right thing for Clark to do; to go to the FOS and have Chloe's memory of Clark's secret erased? Wouldn't she have still been in danger anyway?

[xrayvision]

Well, with Davis around she would have always been in danger. But that would have been true regardless of her knowing the secret or not since Davis is a predator & if he wants to come after her, there is little she could do. And in addition to this, now she stopped Clark from disposing of Davis in the least destructive of ways & rejected his primary action to protect not only Chloe but the world & himself from Doomsday.

If Chloe knew his secret and maintained a distance from Kryptonian affairs, it would have been OK. But she didn't do that. She kept intervening at the FOS and eventually, like Lana, thought of herself as Clark's equal (without stating it outright like Lana did) going so far as to make her own judgements of what's right & wrong for Clark. This was the biggest outrage for me.

Chloe was right about one thing in her quote about not saving Clark after throwing away all those meteor rocks, and it wasn't even her intentions for that statement. She thought she didn't save Clark by throwing away all those meteor rocks because she thought he was throwing away his ethics, but she was wrong. She didn't save him because she got him used to her meddling with Kryptonian affairs & everything she did since Arrival made him the BDA he became and allowed him to delegate his responsibilities---responsibilities that were strictly meant for him & nobody else---to Chloe. I have said all along that Superman never had a partner who saved his butt from all those dangerous circumstances involving Kryptonians by meddling in the FOS and other things they weren't meant to as seen in Arrival, Solitude, Quest, and so many other times that Chloe showed up. Sure it's the writers' fault for it because they wanted to throw Chloe into the action and this came at the expense of Clark after he looked like an idiot. But since Chloe was the vehicle through which it happened, we have to blame her too. My biggest complaint about the show since season 5 was finally justified in this horrible episode. Clark finally realizes how bad his overdependence on Chloe has been and how much it wrongfully inflated Chloe's own ego.

[Kid Collins]

Every bad episode this season had Lois missing from the cast. If TPTB are smart (BIG IF!!), they will have Erica for all 22 episodes next season and keep some sanity to the season. The whole Lana arc in the middle of this season made me want to puke and now this one. Next week is also without Lois and that already makes me want to puke.

Well, not all eps with Lois in them are good. Stiletto was a horrible, predictable, cheesy bore.

And I absolutlely loved Lana's arc. :D

[Night_Hawk90]

As much as I agree with the fact that they were superior, it wasn't because Lois wasn't there. It was because of their utilization of Clark & his screen time and the complementary use of the supporting characters, who were left as supporting characters are weren't elevated to Clark's level. There was 1 hero. No JLA. No other gimmicks. No unrealistic supersidekickChloe, and on top of all that, Clark & his decisions, actions, and choices were not defined by Lana or any other female he had the hots for. They were defined by morals he was taught by Jonathan and fears that he would be controlled into a ruler (specifically whenever Jor-El showed up). We saw him doing things that denied Lana's wishes (in Hug, Shimmer, Duplicity and various other episodes where he withheld his secret) and even defied Jonathan when the morals he taught Clark went against Jonathan's own judgement against Clark helping Lex in Shattered & Asylum.

None of these things had to do with Lois. As long as the key elements of the show would have been kept constant, the show would have maintained its quality in season 4. They have a huge opportunity of turning it back to those key elements next season if they forget about the JLA, if they eliminate characters with actions & judgements that are destructive regarding Clark, and if they continue developing the remaining aspects of Clark that are required to be developed.

Well said !i am not dissing lois or anything all i was saying was that from season1 to season 3 the storylines and the way each episode was crafted around all its characters where a lot better than what i am seeing in season 8 thats it. Not dissing lois at all.

[HeroesUnlimited]

I hate to tell you this but in the comics Lois is typically portrayed as the hot shot reporter. She's the one with more awards. She's the star reporter. The reason for this is basically because Clark can't spend all his time as a reporter. He's the hero, Superman, so his reporting can suffer a bit. He's still a good reporter but he makes that sacrifice because of who he is.


I think it also has a lot to do with Clark avoiding the spotlight. He doesn't want the extra scrutiny.

----- Added 44 Seconds later -----


Me neither. But I think she could very well end up standing in his way of career development like Lana did with Clark's hero development. I hope it doesn't happen because I don't want to resent her as much as I have & continue to resent Lana.

I was very disappointed that Clark got nothing for his troubles in Stiletto. He was the one who was the most involved and look a beating & bullet for it & still got nothing.

I don't want him to be Lois' doormat for her career. He is always shown sacrificing things (whether it's development, his education, or his happiness) to build up other characters. If Clark is made into a doormat once more, then I will watch the rest of the series without any enjoyment. None of these characters have shown any guilt for it either. Lana was a complete scumbag and treated him like crap. She showed no appreciation for Clark doing nothing in his life in seasons 6 & 7 (which I blame the writers for placing Clark is such stupid plots & love triangles that prevent him from having his own storylines).

Good post. Well said.

[Night_Hawk90]

Well, not all eps with Lois in them are good. Stiletto was a horrible, predictable, cheesy bore.

And I absolutlely loved Lana's arc. :D

i also liked lana's arc i think it gets hated on way too much

[HeroesUnlimited]

This is why I want the core of Clark, Lois, Jimmy, Perry, Pete, Martha, and Intergang next season.

Pete adds nothing to the show for me. He's always been too competitive with Clark.

----- Added 2 Minutes later -----


Clark at the DP is a plot device to be used in whatever way he's needed. Notice how he's hardly shown at the DP when Lois is not around. That tells me the whole story.

Interesting. Never really thought about that before

----- Added 5 Minutes later -----


I really enjoyed tonight's episode. It was very well executed and Tom Welling did a stellar job.

As for the Lois factor - while I do like what she brings to the table, I'd never say she needs to be in all 22 episodes. More than 13, perhaps - but really, IMO, the only person who should be in all 22 is Tom Welling.

I agree. I enjoyed Beast much more than Stilleto, but not because Lois WASN'T in it. I just don't think the writers wrote a very good story for her in last week's episode. Beast had the feel of a "build up" episode for the finale.

----- Added 6 Minutes later -----


I can't speak for the pro Lois people, but I don't think the issue is how do you fit Lois into the plot, more so the direction of the plot itself

Agreed. If Lois doesn't fit into the story, then don't use her!

----- Added 8 Minutes later -----


I don't know if I could take 22 episodes of Lois. The way she jumps to conclusions without getting the full story drives me insane, also how she thinks she knows what's right and that everyone else is either naive or just plain stupid pisses me the hell off. So I wouldn't want 22 episodes of that, though I do enjoy the comedic element she brings to the show. But I'm fine with her not being in a lot of episodes.

Agreed. If you put her in that many episodes, then Smallville turns into "The New Adventures of Lois and Clark" A soap opera.

----- Added 12 Minutes later -----


I didn't really miss Lois in this episode at all, there is no need to cram too many characters into one episode

Then you're going to hate the finale, lol

[Mythosgirl]

I missed Lois last night and I don't think she needs to be in every episode. Her cousin was in a terrible place and she was no where to be found. I am also a comic book reader and for me she is an integral part of Superman's success and humanity (and his personal happiness). Having her gone so much and not there supporting him makes no sense to me. I am also of the opionion that Lois is actually alot more supportive of Clark and says alot less. His friends are always spouting about how they want to protect and support him, but there are lies on top of lies. She actually does support him and when she is wrong she fesses up...

She doesn't have to be in every episode and and I am not in love with every episode she is in, I just think she is way underutilized.

[HeroesUnlimited]

2. For far too long, Clark's existence on this show has not been about or surrounded by achievement or merit. His existence was wasted on promoting love triangles and garbage that the majority of viewers did not want to see.

You hit the nail right on the head.

----- Added 4 Minutes later -----


Chloe's reasoning for thinking she was saving Clark from his ethics was pure 100% wrong. She has no idea what the Phantom Zone is about or what it is used for. There was never a more perfect use for it than sending Davis there. There is nothing unethical about Clark sending Davis there. The mere fact that Clark didn't try to kill Davis for all the murders he committed and sought out the only solution that would allow him to live speaks volumes of Clark's well thought intentions and virtues. Jor-El used the Phantom Zone as an alternative to killing prisoners. It's the most humane way and Clark realizes that. Chloe doesn't. Chloe like Clark knows that Davis can't be killed, yet she chose to keep him free to roam & kill. She didn't think of the consequence about what if something happens that will make Davis' transformations happen regardless of her presence or that she is a mortal and as soon as she dies, Davis would return to his killing ways. If anything, I think Chloe was motivated by feelings for Davis.

Boy you're on a roll XRay Vision. You really sound like you "get it". You should write for the show.

----- Added 8 Minutes later -----


Well, with Davis around she would have always been in danger. But that would have been true regardless of her knowing the secret or not since Davis is a predator & if he wants to come after her, there is little she could do. And in addition to this, now she stopped Clark from disposing of Davis in the least destructive of ways & rejected his primary action to protect not only Chloe but the world & himself from Doomsday.

If Chloe knew his secret and maintained a distance from Kryptonian affairs, it would have been OK. But she didn't do that. She kept intervening at the FOS and eventually, like Lana, thought of herself as Clark's equal (without stating it outright like Lana did) going so far as to make her own judgements of what's right & wrong for Clark. This was the biggest outrage for me.

Chloe was right about one thing in her quote about not saving Clark after throwing away all those meteor rocks, and it wasn't even her intentions for that statement. She thought she didn't save Clark by throwing away all those meteor rocks because she thought he was throwing away his ethics, but she was wrong. She didn't save him because she got him used to her meddling with Kryptonian affairs & everything she did since Arrival made him the BDA he became and allowed him to delegate his responsibilities---responsibilities that were strictly meant for him & nobody else---to Chloe. I have said all along that Superman never had a partner who saved his butt from all those dangerous circumstances involving Kryptonians by meddling in the FOS and other things they weren't meant to as seen in Arrival, Solitude, Quest, and so many other times that Chloe showed up. Sure it's the writers' fault for it because they wanted to throw Chloe into the action and this came at the expense of Clark after he looked like an idiot. But since Chloe was the vehicle through which it happened, we have to blame her too. My biggest complaint about the show since season 5 was finally justified in this horrible episode. Clark finally realizes how bad his overdependence on Chloe has been and how much it wrongfully inflated Chloe's own ego.

Yeah, they've really created a monster with Chloe. She went from side kick to major pain in the rear end. I understand her motives for doing what she did, but once she discovered there was an alternative to her plan (sending Davis to the Phantom Zone), then she should have backed off. The fact that she didn't tells me she DOES have feelings for Davis.

[xrayvision]

Pete adds nothing to the show for me. He's always been too competitive with Clark.

It's funny to read so many fans post this opinion of Pete when he was only shown to be competitive in Velocity. I don't even count the crap that was Hero since that episode made a mockery out of Pete & Clark as well and was written by writers who never wrote another episode before or after it.

Pete is the least competitive with him because he stepped out of the way for Clark regarding Chloe (as he said in Truth) and never made decisions for Clark or held his hand & turned him into a BDA like Chloe did, but was always supportive, especially when Clark needed his help (like in Fever with being a decoy, Lineage with tainting the DNA test, etc)

For these reasons & for the fact that Pete nearly died twice after refusing to rat out Clark's secret, I'd say Pete was the best friend he ever had & along with Jimmy & Lois would make for a great circle of friends for Clark---a circle of those that wouldn't elevate themselves to take over Clark's role & allow him to be himself.

----- Added 4 Minutes later -----


You hit the nail right on the head.

----- Added 4 Minutes later -----



Boy you're on a roll XRay Vision. You really sound like you "get it". You should write for the show.

----- Added 8 Minutes later -----



Yeah, they've really created a monster with Chloe. She went from side kick to major pain in the rear end. I understand her motives for doing what she did, but once she discovered there was an alternative to her plan (sending Davis to the Phantom Zone), then she should have backed off. The fact that she didn't tells me she DOES have feelings for Davis.

Thanks. But I think the big mistake was making her into a sidekick. She should have remained as a friend who knew the secret & helped him on a very infrequent basis, like they did with Pete. It was when they turned her into a fulltime sidekick that to me they ruined her & more importantly made Clark a BDA who couldn't think or act for himself. Arrival marked the moment Clark was no longer his own man. I stand by this statement because it's the truth.

[HeroesUnlimited]

It's funny to read so many fans post this opinion of Pete when he was only shown to be competitive in Velocity. I don't even count the crap that was Hero since that episode made a mockery out of Pete & Clark as well and was written by writers who never wrote another episode before or after it.

Pete is the least competitive with him because he stepped out of the way for Clark regarding Chloe (as he said in Truth) and never made decisions for Clark or held his hand & turned him into a BDA like Chloe did, but was always supportive, especially when Clark needed his help (like in Fever with being a decoy, Lineage with tainting the DNA test, etc)

For these reasons & for the fact that Pete nearly died twice after refusing to rat out Clark's secret, I'd say Pete was the best friend he ever had & along with Jimmy & Lois would make for a great circle of friends for Clark---a circle of those that wouldn't elevate themselves to take over Clark's role & allow him to be himself.

You make a good argument, but even when Pete wasn't being competitive with Clark, he was ALWAYS jealous of what he could do. Sometimes that bubbled to the surface, sometimes he hid it. I never got the impression he was truly happy for Clark that he had his abilities and that if he could, he would "steal" them for himself.

[xrayvision]

I just never got that impression. I never felt like Pete was jealous of him except for Velocity. I do think he was jealous of Clark's friendship with Lex, and I don't really blame him for that. Clark used to spend a lot more time with Pete before the Porsche accident when Clark became friends with Lex. I think if anything, Pete was jealous of that. He was happy for Clark after hearing about the action he got from Alicia in Obsessed and did see the downsides of Clark's powers (like in Perry when the powers were out of control & Clark was being investigated & in Duplicity where he even admitted that being Clark isn't easy).

[dokken-fan]

The difference between episodes with Lois are they're full of little jokes, it's hard to have a serious episode with Lois in it, to be honest. I love Lois' character but there has to be a serious point in the story line and unfortunately they have her as the " make a joke about everything to ease the tension " which as far as I remember she wasn't always this strong of a smart ass.

I agree, lois has become the fun part of the story. But there's nothing wrong with that, it makes the episodes more fun to watch.

----- Added 5 Minutes later -----


Every bad episode this season had Lois missing from the cast. If TPTB are smart (BIG IF!!), they will have Erica for all 22 episodes next season and keep some sanity to the season. The whole Lana arc in the middle of this season made me want to puke and now this one. Next week is also without Lois and that already makes me want to puke.

I would LOVE to see ED on evry episode, heck I would love to have her at home!!! But if she was to appear on each episode her story line had to be too serious. Is better to have her coming in and out from time to time. What we really love about her right now is the love tension between lois and clark. Keep it simple with the sweet touch. AAHhhhh!!!:rolleyes:

[galatians221]

It's funny to read so many fans post this opinion of Pete when he was only shown to be competitive in Velocity. I don't even count the crap that was Hero since that episode made a mockery out of Pete & Clark as well and was written by writers who never wrote another episode before or after it.

Pete is the least competitive with him because he stepped out of the way for Clark regarding Chloe (as he said in Truth) and never made decisions for Clark or held his hand & turned him into a BDA like Chloe did, but was always supportive, especially when Clark needed his help (like in Fever with being a decoy, Lineage with tainting the DNA test, etc)

For these reasons & for the fact that Pete nearly died twice after refusing to rat out Clark's secret, I'd say Pete was the best friend he ever had & along with Jimmy & Lois would make for a great circle of friends for Clark---a circle of those that wouldn't elevate themselves to take over Clark's role & allow him to be himself.

----- Added 4 Minutes later -----



Thanks. But I think the big mistake was making her into a sidekick. She should have remained as a friend who knew the secret & helped him on a very infrequent basis, like they did with Pete. It was when they turned her into a fulltime sidekick that to me they ruined her & more importantly made Clark a BDA who couldn't think or act for himself. Arrival marked the moment Clark was no longer his own man. I stand by this statement because it's the truth.

X: you do hit the nail on the head. The writers went from producing a drama to a soap opera and you are right in that they elevated supporting characters to co-stars and lost their way in the process. The main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing and the main thing is Superman. Lana, Lex, Lionel, Chloe or anyone else, including Lois have to play a back seat to the Man of Steel.

[Supsfan]

Pete is the least competitive with him because he stepped out of the way for Clark regarding Chloe (as he said in Truth) and never made decisions for Clark or held his hand & turned him into a BDA like Chloe did, but was always supportive, especially when Clark needed his help (like in Fever with being a decoy, Lineage with tainting the DNA test, etc)

I have to agree, Pete's helping of Clark was much better then Chloe helping Clark in terms of how Clark looked in the process. In all honesty nothing against Chloe but I wish they kept Pete on the show instead of Chloe for the role of BFF. Post Season 4 Clark was definantly lacking male presence in his life and it seemed to often the writers would write some situations to applease shipper fans more then Clark fans and Clark's character took a beating for it.

[xaosthry]

sorry i was all reading agreeing and disagreeing, until I saw the name dokken fan. Wow, there's a band i havnt heard from in a while.
neway, back to topic Chloe is a crackhead, Clark needs to think for himself, Oliver needs to get over himself, and what ever drugs Jimmy is on he needs to break out cuz then maybe everyone else will have a clue.
Im glad Lois wasnt there to see to see the...i cant even think of a work strong enougth to describe the cluster f*ck Chloe has created. I love her to death but comeone.

[Lilah]

Lois was definitely there before Clark was, but we don't know by how much. We know that Clark was travelling the world & helping people before he appeared as Superman for the first time, so he did have plenty of things to write about wherever he worked for prior to joining the Daily Planet. I could just imagine how many people he helped out of situations like hunger, disease, dictatorships, natural disasters (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes/tsunamis, tornadoes, floods), war, and other terrible things. It's easy to understand how with articles about all these experiences on his resume, Clark was able to land a job as an ace reporter on Perry's team with Lois. Smallville didn't show Clark traveling the world or writing about all the stuff he did between highschool and the present time, mainly because he did almost nothing other than be on standby for Lana's dumb mistakes.



Well, Chloe was shown writing articles, but not every one. Even Chloe, who wrote as many articles as she did, was hardly seen writing them. She was mostly seen investigating and doing research. Clark was the one who really did the most physical investigations while working at the Torch by going out and finding clues and getting to the bottom of the story. Perry looked through his articles (note the plural) and said that he had talent & to look him up if he gets to Metropolis. So Clark definitely did his fair share of writing articles too. He wouldn't have written that he saw himself studying journalism in 5 years (in Redux) if he only wrote 1 article the entire time he was there. Don't forget that most of Clark's tenure at the Torch was when Chloe didn't know his secret, so he was finding out things she never did & had to be the one writing about it. The Torch experience and the investigations of the freaks he did was excellent experience for him for what is to come ahead.



This is where I start having problems with the writing. Clark before going to the DP had much more experience writing articles than Lois did before she went to the Inquisitor. Yet, Lois instantly became a reporter (due to a barn door :rolleyes:), but not Clark. I can understand that the DP is more respected, etc. but I would expect there to be some standards even at the Inquisitor. In real life, neither Lois not Clark would ever get a job at any newspaper without a college degree. So looking past the fact that neither of them have one, looking at their pre-career credentials, Clark definitely had more than Lois. I don't like how Clark even took a job he didn't deserve and didn't like how Lois took her job back in season 7 because she didn't deserve it either (Grant hired her because he had the hots for her). Given Clark being the one having the greatest moral code on the show, he should have rejected it like he rejected all those gifts from Lex. Since he didn't, I would like to see him quitting his job going forward for these very reasons and because he has to start off at a lower paper but actually get a chance to write stories to not only make his reporter identity look convincing, but also to warn the public about all the bad & dangerous things he finds out as a hero. That in itself is a moral responsibility. Beast is an excellent example of it. He could have easily written an article about Davis and the murders he committed and how it is impossible to kill him. This would educate the public with information that only Clark could get from his hero/Kryptonian identity. I can't put it any better than this. Being a reporter is a moral obligation that Clark in every form felt he needed to do.



Again, if this is suitable for Clark at this late point in the game, then these are the same type of articles they should have given Lois is season 6 & 7. But instead she was investigating for her articles on things/people like Duncan & his vegetative powers (even though she didn't write the story), Lionel Luthor's disappearance (Action), the Green Arrow, and so much more. So my statement to TPTB is either give Clark an actual reporter job where he can at least start writing articles just like Lois had in seasons 6 or 7, or make this version of Clark the first one to be a fulltime hero & not a reporter. In other words, either show him convincingly being a reporter who gets a spot on Perry's team out of achievement, or have him be only a hero.



I agree Lois isn't there yet, as I don't think she should since she is very young (again, I'm ignoring the fact that she didn't go to college, which would make any possibility of her or Clark for that matter working at the DP or Inquisitor null & void). I don't think either her or Clark should. What I would love to see is them working at seperate papers and have a rivalry, but despite the rivalry, still help each other out when needed. This would show that they're both interested in their jobs while at the same time caring for one another to help themselves out.



Yes, but like I asked before, what will Clark's big story be? The RBB story will get Lois out of the basement. What will land Clark out of the basement? It must be something big and in order to make it convincing, they must start working on it now. This is my reason for posting this thread:

http://www.kryptonsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122583



I hope he doesn't promote Clark until Clark deserves to be promoted. Clark should not have his legendary job unless he has merits to land him the job. It's not fair if they have Lois deserve her job but throw Clark in his just for the heck of it. That's a slap to his face. If I was Clark, I would leave than take such a job. I would tell whoever offers me such a job to stick it where the sun don't shine. Clark doesn't need a free job handout. And Clark doesn't need to be partnered up with Lois as far as hand-holding in their investigations go. If they can be partnered on a given story with each being given different aspects/elements to investigate, so that Clark & Lois are investigating seperate areas/people at a given time, then that's cool. Otherwise it makes no sense to waste both reporter resources (Clark & Lois) for investigating the same thing at the same time.

What I really want is Clark to leave the Planet. Ignoring all of Clark's prior Torch experience of which he has plenty, Lois should keep her job & continue working on the RBB story. But I think Clark needs to be given a serious job title with the same chances Lois got in seasons 6 & 7 to grow as a reporter. This is why I want Perry to be his mentor. I want Clark to quit or get fired from the Planet & join the Metropolis Journal with Perry as his editor and be given an actual reporter job. If his past merits as a reporter at the Torch don't count, I at least want to have his past merits in saving Perry count. But the magic with Perry is that both, his merits at the Torch & in saving Perry would be why Perry gives Clark a chance. Perry knows & admires both of these merit types of Clark's. Clark would finally be able to use the knowledge he learns from his heroics to help boost his career and write spectacular articles that nobody else would be able to write. He would boost the image of the Metropolis Journal and Perry's credentials as editor would also increase until Clark gets the major scoop that will land him & Perry national recognition & the Daily Planet will offer them both jobs.


So my main points are:

1. There is an inequity in the circumstances/opportunities that Lois had/was given in seasons 6 & 7 when compared to those that Clark has now. Lois was always a reporter & never a copygirl, intern, errand girl or whatever other various job titles we saw Clark have this season. Clark needs the same opportunities. If these opportunities are impossible at the Daily Planet, then he needs to be at another paper for his development to occur before coming back to the Planet.

2. For far too long, Clark's existence on this show has not been about or surrounded by achievement or merit. His existence was wasted on promoting love triangles and garbage that the majority of viewers did not want to see. These things all made him look bad & took away important time that should have been spent building Clark up. The show has finally returned to focusing on Clark's achievements as a hero this season which hasn't been the case since season 3. It should have been shown by now that everything Clark did at the Torch was important and not brushed aside. Even though this hasn't happened except when recognized by Perry White in his 1 & only appearance on the show, they need to start now. Chloe's background at the Torch definitely helped her land her job in Thirst, because without it, she would have gotten nothing. Clark needs the same thing. More importantly, once the inequities between Lois & Clark's employment opportunities (as pointed out in Point #1) are eliminated and Clark finally has a job that can let him write articles, he needs to show achievements and merits that land him the legendary job Clark Kent has always had. Clark is Jonathan's son, and no son of Jonathan would ever accept nepotism or be hired out of empathy or non-merit. If this happens, then it would destroy his credibility and would make one of Jonathan's biggest lessons to Clark meaningless.

3. My last point is something based on my interpretation and also fact. One thing I noticed on these forums is that many here are either mad at or dislike Clark, especially due to his contributions to the Clois relationship. My interpretation, whether I'm correct or not, is that there are many Lois fans. I myself am a Lois fan, but only after being a Superman/Clark fan first. I think my points about giving Clark & Lois seperate storylines/plots are negatively viewed by Clois shippers and I'm not sure if it's because they want Clark to always be with Lois, on Lois-standby (as he was on Lana-standby in seasons 6 & 7), or if they want Lois to get all the storylines while Clark is just a heroic fixture at the Daily Planet who never gets his own stories, or if it's some other reason. I hope I'm just wrong and my points about Clark & Lois having seperate storylines are positively viewed by everyone. Because as being a fan of Lois myself (after being a Clark fan first), I wouldn't want a Lois Lane who gets her stories solely on Clark's heroics as she got throughout season 8 so far. Look at Plastique and the work Clark did and how little Lois did in comparison to get the story, which she got at the end. As a Lois fan too, I'm not satisfied with that. She's supposed to be investigating herself and be involved in the thick of things. She's not supposed to just sit back and get her stories on Clark's back. No version of Lois ever did that. So if not for Clark's development, Lois fans should want Clark & Lois to have seperate storylines for Lois' own development at the very minimum.

These are my thoughts based on my several frustrations I've had over the years. I thought about these points for a long time and they are very important to me if this Clark Kent is to be portrayed as the iconic character we have seen for 70 years. Smallville's Clark not being like the iconic version of the Clark of the comics isn't a result of something as mundane as his holdups on getting together with Lois, but for various significant character traits & development issues that have been ignored for far too long to build up other non-essential characters. They have mostly corrected his hero traits, with the exception of stuff seen in Beast when others who have no business making his hero decisions make them (Chloe).

This is my last post on this subject for now. I pretty much pointed out everything I could, so I can't do a better job trying to convince these points any better.

I see Lois' big story being about the RBB soon to be named Superman (hopefully) and Clark will break the story on Intergang. Perry White will join the DP, remember Clark, promote him and Lois and they'll be working together next year. If we have all this stuff about Clark leaving the DP, working at the MJ, or going to be a full time hero its going to waste a season... time's crunched as it is... All they gotta do is give one big story to Clark and one big story to Lois.

You said it, neither one of them should be there technically anyway since they're both college drop outs... I'm IN college and having a difficult time getting a job at any mediocore paper in my area.... so how they landed the big cahoona is beyond me. But they're there....

Unless they finished school somewhere in "offscreenville".:rolleyes:

[galatians221]

I see Lois' big story being about the RBB soon to be named Superman (hopefully) and Clark will break the story on Intergang. Perry White will join the DP, remember Clark, promote him and Lois and they'll be working together next year. If we have all this stuff about Clark leaving the DP, working at the MJ, or going to be a full time hero its going to waste a season... time's crunched as it is... All they gotta do is give one big story to Clark and one big story to Lois.

You said it, neither one of them should be there technically anyway since they're both college drop outs... I'm IN college and having a difficult time getting a job at any mediocore paper in my area.... so how they landed the big cahoona is beyond me. But they're there....

Unless they finished school somewhere in "offscreenville".:rolleyes:

I hope you're right. We don't need comic book characters or freaks of the week or intergalctic lizards threatening the world. I grew up with the George Reeves TV show with Perry White, Inspector Henderson, Jimmy, Clark and Lois. Each week they solved crimes in and around Metropolis. It was interesting and the feature was Superman. The current writers are not enamored of this "strange visitor from another planet with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal man". It's not enough that he can shoot fire out of his eyes, see through solid objects and that bullets bounce off of him like popcorn. Instead they give us intergalactic lizards and comic book characters and freaks of the week and instead of the drama that it started out to be it regressed into a soap opera. That means that Lana comes center stage and now Chloe and it's not about the Man of Steel any longer. They want the other characters to be just as interesting and they keep Clark in a state of half doofus. Lana now has his power and is not affected by kryptonite. Clark seemingly can't do anything without Chloe's approval and even if he does it she'll read him out show after show as if he reports to her. The writers seem to get it right when Lois is on the show but I suppose they'll throw that out of balance also and give her superpowers or something. They simply are not satisifed or enamored with Superman.

[Autumn]

I don't think Lois was needed in this episode at all. Would have been forced.

[xrayvision]

I don't think Lois was needed in this episode at all. Would have been forced.

I thought the same, but now I'm thinking the plot we got in this episode wasn't needed at all as it had no point and was a waste of an episode. I think it would have actually been constructive to have major Chloe-Lois interaction in this episode while having Clark try to put Davis in the Zone, only for Davis to have somehow made it through the portal just after Clark had exited. It would have made it interesting and forwarded the plot. What we got instead was just Clark's & Oliver's realization of how screwed up Chloe and her line of reasoning is---something that could have been accomplished in a matter of minutes than wasting an entire episode on. All this episode did is prove what Oliver told Clark when the 2 spoke towards the end of Bloodline---that Chloe or any human for that matter have no business messing around with Kryptonian matters.

[Autumn]

I thought the same, but now I'm thinking the plot we got in this episode wasn't needed at all as it had no point and was a waste of an episode. I think it would have actually been constructive to have major Chloe-Lois interaction in this episode while having Clark try to put Davis in the Zone, only for Davis to have somehow made it through the portal just after Clark had exited. It would have made it interesting and forwarded the plot. What we got instead was just Clark's & Oliver's realization of how screwed up Chloe and her line of reasoning is---something that could have been accomplished in a matter of minutes than wasting an entire episode on. All this episode did is prove what Oliver told Clark when the 2 spoke towards the end of Bloodline---that Chloe or any human for that matter have no business messing around with Kryptonian matters.

A waste? I disagree. It's setting up the last two episodes. It was a great episode. I personally didn't miss Lois at all.

[justme_007]

Me neither. I didn´t miss Lois .

[LookUpDown]

I didn't miss her. She's not a part of this storyline. Besides, she's probably too busy making up news stories.

[Clana Kent]

Every bad episode this season had Lois missing from the cast. If TPTB are smart (BIG IF!!), they will have Erica for all 22 episodes next season and keep some sanity to the season. The whole Lana arc in the middle of this season made me want to puke and now this one. Next week is also without Lois and that already makes me want to puke.
I hate to give you this newsflash, but this episode in fact did a lot better without Lois than last week's episode, which had "Lois" written all over it.

I'm starting to like Lois more and more lately, but what you're saying is your opinion, not proof.

[HeroesUnlimited]

I just never got that impression. I never felt like Pete was jealous of him except for Velocity. I do think he was jealous of Clark's friendship with Lex, and I don't really blame him for that. Clark used to spend a lot more time with Pete before the Porsche accident when Clark became friends with Lex. I think if anything, Pete was jealous of that. He was happy for Clark after hearing about the action he got from Alicia in Obsessed and did see the downsides of Clark's powers (like in Perry when the powers were out of control & Clark was being investigated & in Duplicity where he even admitted that being Clark isn't easy).

Pete really turned me off in Velocity and again in Hero. I think the "true Pete" really came out in those episodes.

----- Added 5 Minutes later -----


I didn't miss her. She's not a part of this storyline. Besides, she's probably too busy making up news stories.

:lol::rotfl:

[Promise]

Agreed. If you put her in that many episodes, then Smallville turns into "The New Adventures of Lois and Clark" A soap opera.



Exactly and you saw how quickly that show ended.

[wafflles87]

I don't think Lois was needed in this episode at all. Would have been forced.

I have to agree... Lois really wouldn't have fit in this episode, or any episode that focuses on DD sadly, because she's the only character to have almost zilch to do with the plot. She does have her own RBB plot this year, so that's cool... :D

[Promise]

It's funny to read so many fans post this opinion of Pete when he was only shown to be competitive in Velocity. I don't even count the crap that was Hero since that episode made a mockery out of Pete & Clark as well and was written by writers who never wrote another episode before or after it.

Pete is the least competitive with him because he stepped out of the way for Clark regarding Chloe (as he said in Truth) and never made decisions for Clark or held his hand & turned him into a BDA like Chloe did, but was always supportive, especially when Clark needed his help (like in Fever with being a decoy, Lineage with tainting the DNA test, etc)

For these reasons & for the fact that Pete nearly died twice after refusing to rat out Clark's secret, I'd say Pete was the best friend he ever had & along with Jimmy & Lois would make for a great circle of friends for Clark---a circle of those that wouldn't elevate themselves to take over Clark's role & allow him to be himself.

----- Added 4 Minutes later -----



Thanks. But I think the big mistake was making her into a sidekick. She should have remained as a friend who knew the secret & helped him on a very infrequent basis, like they did with Pete. It was when they turned her into a fulltime sidekick that to me they ruined her & more importantly made Clark a BDA who couldn't think or act for himself. Arrival marked the moment Clark was no longer his own man. I stand by this statement because it's the truth.


I'm glad to see you and people like Heros Unlimited bring some balance to the boards, there are many others as well, but just feels good to see people talk about Smallville overall without letting ships get in the way, and there is a time and place for that, but you know what I mean.

I miss Pete though. With him still in Smallville, the story plots could of went different ways, especially for character development. Anyways, just wanted to add my 2cents of talking Smallville. Good post.

----- Added 4 Minutes later -----


I have to agree, Pete's helping of Clark was much better then Chloe helping Clark in terms of how Clark looked in the process. In all honesty nothing against Chloe but I wish they kept Pete on the show instead of Chloe for the role of BFF. Post Season 4 Clark was definantly lacking male presence in his life and it seemed to often the writers would write some situations to applease shipper fans more then Clark fans and Clark's character took a beating for it.

You said it better to the point I was making about keeping Pete on Smallville. I agree.

[galatians221]

I hate to give you this newsflash, but this episode in fact did a lot better without Lois than last week's episode, which had "Lois" written all over it.

I'm starting to like Lois more and more lately, but what you're saying is your opinion, not proof.

It is my opinion you are correct. I hope I'm entitled to it. I like Superman and don't care about these other characters. I like the Superman of TV and not of the comics or cartoons. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[HeroesUnlimited]

I'm glad to see you and people like Heros Unlimited bring some balance to the boards, there are many others as well, but just feels good to see people talk about Smallville overall without letting ships get in the way, and there is a time and place for that, but you know what I mean.

Thanks Promise

[Lilah]

I thought the same, but now I'm thinking the plot we got in this episode wasn't needed at all as it had no point and was a waste of an episode. I think it would have actually been constructive to have major Chloe-Lois interaction in this episode while having Clark try to put Davis in the Zone, only for Davis to have somehow made it through the portal just after Clark had exited. It would have made it interesting and forwarded the plot. What we got instead was just Clark's & Oliver's realization of how screwed up Chloe and her line of reasoning is---something that could have been accomplished in a matter of minutes than wasting an entire episode on. All this episode did is prove what Oliver told Clark when the 2 spoke towards the end of Bloodline---that Chloe or any human for that matter have no business messing around with Kryptonian matters.

I agree. All they did in 42 minutes was rehash what we've known from the pilot... that Chloe has no business in this alien stuff cause all she does is get in the way...

[galatians221]

I have to agree... Lois really wouldn't have fit in this episode, or any episode that focuses on DD sadly, because she's the only character to have almost zilch to do with the plot. She does have her own RBB plot this year, so that's cool... :D

My point is that if Lois is in there we probably wouldn't have dark, bloody episodes like this. I don't want a situation comedy but I don't want the Dark Knight either. Balance is needed and Lois helps provide balance.

[xrayvision]

My point is that if Lois is in there we probably wouldn't have dark, bloody episodes like this. I don't want a situation comedy but I don't want the Dark Knight either. Balance is needed and Lois helps provide balance.

I want Lois to be in all episodes, but I also think that Lois isn't a prerequisite for avoiding episodes with as much blood as this one had. Lois wasn't on the show in its first 3 seasons, and as much as I like her, those were the best years the show ever had & will ever have based on the writing and the priorities TPTB had. These producers & writers will never be as creative as the producers & writers were back then, when 'ships didn't define the show. I keep saying it & will continue to do so--the minute they let 'ships steer the show is when it went downhill. Yes, there was Clana, but it didn't guide the show. Instead, the development of the central character and events regarding the characters around him (mostly Lex & Lionel) guided the show. The 'ships were there as a background, not the foreground. They didn't plan Clark's development by flipping a coin to decide which female character he should be with "this time". Thank God it wasn't like that, otherwise I would have never been a fan of this show.

Even though season 3 episodes were dark in nature, they all pitched in towards very important lessons in morality that Clark & other characters learned:

Clark:
Exile & Phoenix - He learned that running away isn't the solution to problems, he learned what the consequences are when his powers are misused (based on what happened with Morgan Edge)
Relic - He learned not to prejudge someone's guilt or innocence & that his biological father wasn't as bad as he thought
Shattered & Asylum - He learned that sometimes choices have to be made between following the law and doing what's right (he made the right choice by choosing to help Lex in both episodes, though things didn't work out for him due to inexperience)
Herefter - He learned the consequences of saving people and how some he saves may turn out to kill someone else & that when called to do so, he should save first & ask questions later
Velocity - He learned that to help people sometimes he has to break the law & steal from others, but he doesn't have to like doing it (the fact that he was so against doing it showed how morally intact Clark was)
Resurrection - He learned about the consequences of running away to Metropolis and how his father had to pay the price but also that Jonathan was the one who made the choice to do that
Legacy - He learned lessons from Jonathan's regrets
Memoria - He learned not to trust his greatest enemy at the time (Lionel) to prevent his friend (Lex) from getting memories back that include Clark's secret
Talisman - Even though a prophecy provided him a weapon to murder his greatest future enemy, he doesn't have to go through with it (the fact that he didn't proved the prophecy to be true since the Starblade crumbled instead of being used as a murder weapon)
Forsaken - He learned the true burden keeping his secret is to his closest friend and how Pete was really his best friend after all he did (even Lex realized this)
Covenant - He learned that warnings by Jor-El are to be taken seriously

Chloe:
Whisper - She learned what happens when you accept a favor from Lionel and back off out of your end of the deal (Gabe was fired)
Delete - She learned the aftermath & consequences of her deal with Lionel
Truth - More lessons learned about her deal with Lionel and how not to use her temporary powers to find out her best friend's secret

Lana:
Extinction - She learned that the murder of those who do wrong to you isn't right & that meteor freaks didn't choose to have their lives changed
Relic - She learned not to prejudge someone's guilt or innocence
Magnetic - She learned that getting involved in the wrong crowd to make someone jealous is wrong & backfires

Pete:
Velocity - He learned not to take Clark's powers for granted and that when Clark tells him not to do something, it's best to stay open to reason & hear him out

Perry White:
Perry - He learned to give up alcohol & not to take those who do nice things for you for granted

Lionel:
Memoria - He learned how wrong he was when he blamed Lex for Julian's death

Jonathan:
Legacy - He learned sometimes extreme action is needed to keep a great enemy (Lionel) away from his son's secret
Covenant - He learned that warnings by Jor-El are to be taken seriously & that he should have given Clark back to Jor-El in Legacy when he asked for him

Season 3 had many other lessons & examples of right/wrong, like the ethics of bringing dead people back to life using that serum, using fake FBI raids to steal things, the lengths someone is willing to go to even hurting their own family to cover their past crimes, and a few more. Season 3 also didn't have all the blood that this season had, though when you bring Doomsday on the show, you have to expect a lot of blood since he's a killing machine.

Basically, they can have non-bloody episodes without Lois, even though I'm hoping next season she's in all 22 episodes and that Chloe (after being disgusted by her actions in Beast) is gone, because to me she's turning into just another Lana.

[Lilah]

Wow s3 was so dark and its one of my favorites.... weird.

[galatians221]

Basically, they can have non-bloody episodes without Lois, even though I'm hoping next season she's in all 22 episodes and that Chloe (after being disgusted by her actions in Beast) is gone, because to me she's turning into just another Lana.[/QUOTE]

I agree and doubt if the budget will allow for improvements in SPFX if they have to keep AM's salary. I read some talk about Lex returning and doubt it for the same reason. Focus on Clark and bring Lois along and get some new writers with Welling having some creative control and things will improve imho.

[xrayvision]

Wow s3 was so dark and its one of my favorites.... weird.

What I loved so much about that season is that it had great storylines between characters that had nothing to do with relationships:

Clark-Lionel
Clark-Lex
Clark-Pete
Clark-Chloe
Lex-Chloe
Lionel-Chloe
Clark-Jonathan
Chloe-Pete
Clark-Morgan Edge
Clark-Perry White
Chloe-Perry White
Jonathan-Perry White
Lex-Perry White
Lionel-Morgan Edge

The list goes on & on. There were so many single episode & recurring guests who had great interaction with characters. I even liked the Lana-Adam interaction and how dark & creepy Adam got.


That season had some of the best episode endings:

Exile: Jonathan tackles Clark out Lionel's office window on the 60th floor

Talisman: Lex's interpreting Sageeth as the hero

Covenant: No words needed to explain how awesome the ending of this was

Memoria: Except for that song that played, that Clark-Martha ending was awesome

Hereafter: Very sad & disturbing ending that really hits home

Obsession: Adam having been captured by Lionel has the serum withheld & is screaming Help Me as the screen fades (very disturbing)

Velocity: Clark rejected Pete's offer to play basketball after the events ending with the death of Dante (the music that plays really underscored the seriousness of the situation)

Legacy: Awesome, still unexplained ending with Swann having the key

Delete: Lex going to Dr. Garner outside Summerholt & telling him he wants his 7 lost weeks of memory back

Shattered: Johnny Cash...Lex in a padded cell...total awesomeness!!!

Crisis: The camera taking Lionel's POV as he points a loaded gun towards his mouth with opera/classical music playing...DAMN!!!!!!!


The character writing & development that season were amazing. Chloe did an unbelievable amount of maturing. We found so much about Lex's childhood & his brother Julian's death & its impact on Lionel and the way he treated Lex throughout his life since that event. We saw Clark learn a lot in the aftermath of running away to Metropolis & saw him step up his game to awesome levels in Shattered when he created a master plan to protect all his friends & family involved in the mission and executed it all by himself. He was clearly Superman in the making in that episode & throughout the season. He defied Jonathan's orders by helping Lex after analyzing the situation & finding Jonathan to be contradicting the very morals he taught Clark. After everything happened in Asylum & Lex still received the electroshock therapy, Clark vowed to take down Lionel & not let him get away with what he did. That had Superman written all over it. To this day, Clark is still not as decisive & headstrong as he was then. The Clark of season 3 would have never let Chloe walk all over him like she did in Beast. Even though he had a thing for Lana back then, there were certain boundaries for how much he would let her get away with that certainly disappeared later on in seasons 5, 6 & 7 (even in 8 when she got the suit in Power).

It's a shame they didn't keep the same rules & dynamics of season 3 flowing through season 4 & the rest of the series. Even the fillers of season 3 played to the seasonlong theme & plot of morality, legality, decisions & consequences. It was brilliant writing and the show was at its apex of having high-brow, sophisticated plots. And it avoided plotholes like the plague.

----- Added 2 Minutes later -----


Basically, they can have non-bloody episodes without Lois, even though I'm hoping next season she's in all 22 episodes and that Chloe (after being disgusted by her actions in Beast) is gone, because to me she's turning into just another Lana.

I agree and doubt if the budget will allow for improvements in SPFX if they have to keep AM's salary. I read some talk about Lex returning and doubt it for the same reason. Focus on Clark and bring Lois along and get some new writers with Welling having some creative control and things will improve imho.[/QUOTE]

Michael Rosenbaum is getting his own show on NBC, so Lex isn't coming back. I'd say don't expect to see MR as Lex again. I'm sure he wouldn't be allowed to make a single appearance due to some no compete clause or something.

[Lilah]

^I whole heartedly agree! All those episodes were amazing...

[rebecavaldez]

As much as I hate to admit it, I liked this episosde, even if Lois wasn't in it.

[hero`s passion]

As much as I hate to admit it, I liked this episosde, even if Lois wasn't in it.

same here, it` was well written and rather interesting:) but I still want Lois in it... she even doesn`t know about Chloe and Doomy, how will they bring her back in "Doomsday", I have no idea, I hope she won`t only for 5 seconds in this epi...

[Snow40]

True but she can also be deadly serious I.E stilleto when clark gets shot, or the end of infamous and the lie detector in committed.

Forgive me if this is stated already(didn't feel like reading 9 pages). . . .Having Lois in the episodes is far better than when she's absent. I know it was said that when Lois is kind of like comedic relief. While Lois can be funny, she's not always, and she's the one who gets Clark thinking the way he should be - which he appreciates and enjoys as you can see on his face. When Lois is in the episode(s) and they aren't so dark, so what. Clark Kent/Superman is not about an angst, brooding, moody, woe is me, attitude, that's Bruce Wayne/Batman.

[Promise]

Thanks Promise

:cool::D

[galatians221]

Forgive me if this is stated already(didn't feel like reading 9 pages). . . .Having Lois in the episodes is far better than when she's absent. I know it was said that when Lois is kind of like comedic relief. While Lois can be funny, she's not always, and she's the one who gets Clark thinking the way he should be - which he appreciates and enjoys as you can see on his face. When Lois is in the episode(s) and they aren't so dark, so what. Clark Kent/Superman is not about an angst, brooding, moody, woe is me, attitude, that's Bruce Wayne/Batman.

When Lois is in there it has a feeling of really being the story of Superman. When we have giant lizards and people who are not part of the mythos it seems like something different. We all want to see as much of Superman as we can and when Lois isn't there it seems like a step back from the real story.

[galatians221]

Things aren't veering off course, there's multiple storylines going on in this season. There's the Chloe/Davis/Clark/Doomsday whatever thing, there's also Clark/RBB/Lois, there's the whole Chloe/Jimmy fiasco, plus the AoS, heck, Oliver's all over the place too. Different arcs get attention at different times.

As far as I'm concerned, it'll be better when Doomsday is over. Everyone involved in it has gotten twisted around and it's hurt their characters. Let's just have the fight already, with Lois there to report!

I can agree with that. For the first time I'm not anxious about the season finale and don't expect to even enjoy it. I am however very hopeful for S9.

[SGuthrie27]

We had three whole seasons without Lois that were perfectly fine, so just because an episode is without Lois doesn't make it automatically terrible. xrayvision proved that point admirably by pointing out all the great storylines that there were in what is ALSO MY favorite season (Season 3). Hey, even one of my favorite episodes of Season 2 doesn't even have any Chloe in it -- "Insurgence." So, you don't need a certain character to make it a stellar episode. That being said, I LOVE Lois this season, so the more that they show her and use her in clever, interesting, and thoughtful ways, the better! Who else is hoping that she has a full 22-episode contract for next season?

--SGuthrie ><>' :)--

[AgentChaos]

We had three whole seasons without Lois that were perfectly fine, so just because an episode is without Lois doesn't make it automatically terrible. xrayvision proved that point admirably by pointing out all the great storylines that there were in what is ALSO MY favorite season (Season 3). Hey, even one of my favorite episodes of Season 2 doesn't even have any Chloe in it -- "Insurgence." So, you don't need a certain character to make it a stellar episode. That being said, I LOVE Lois this season, so the more that they show her and use her in clever, interesting, and thoughtful ways, the better! Who else is hoping that she has a full 22-episode contract for next season?

--SGuthrie ><>' :)--

I'm certainly not hoping for 22 episodes of Lois, but I also loved Insurgence. It's my favorite episode of Season 2, and leaving Chloe out didn't take anything away from the story. Shoehorning Lois into the episode would have made no sense whatsoever, as she is not involved with the Doomsday arc at all.

[SGuthrie27]

Well, if having 22 episodes of Lois took away from Chloe's importance, then I wouldn't want that either, since I've loved seeing her having more to do. But you're right, the episodes Lois hasn't been in for the most part wouldn't have made much sense for her TO be there. The only exception would be that I thought it would've been interesting to have her appear in at least ONE other episode that Lana was also appearing in, just to get her reaction, and see Lana's to her. That being said, I'm glad to know that you're a fellow "Insurgence" fan who is also a fellow "Chloe Sullivan Groupie."

--SGuthrie ><>' :)--

[SnowBird]

I do miss Lois when she isn't in an episode and I hope we see more of her next season. I am glad she didn't have a big roll in this dark Doomsday arc and was saved for more entertaining, lighter episodes to give us a break from death and destruction. I would like to see her in dramatic (not blood thirsty) episodes with Clark as well as a few comedic ones. She is a good all around actor which she has proven over the years in Smallville and will continue to play a big part in Clark's future journey.

[galatians221]

I do miss Lois when she isn't in an episode and I hope we see more of her next season. I am glad she didn't have a big roll in this dark Doomsday arc and was saved for more entertaining, lighter episodes to give us a break from death and destruction. I would like to see her in dramatic (not blood thirsty) episodes with Clark as well as a few comedic ones. She is a good all around actor which she has proven over the years in Smallville and will continue to play a big part in Clark's future journey.

Spot on. If Erica is in the cast perhaps the writers won't see the need to have bloody, half eaten bodies hanging in the laundry room and dismembered people in bloody body bags. That's not the spirit of Superman. These writers are not enamored with the wonder and capabilities of the Man of Steel.

[Diego*Chloe]

My point is that if Lois is in there we probably wouldn't have dark, bloody episodes like this. I don't want a situation comedy but I don't want the Dark Knight either. Balance is needed and Lois helps provide balance.

Lois isnt the only one who can provide a balance if PS wanted they would bring some of the Chloe from S1-3 and she can be the funny side of the show again just like she did in "Truth".

Also if they dont want funny full of energy Chloe back they can always use other characters to do that balance not just Lois.

[galatians221]

Lois isnt the only one who can provide a balance if PS wanted they would bring some of the Chloe from S1-3 and she can be the funny side of the show again just like she did in "Truth".

Also if they dont want funny full of energy Chloe back they can always use other characters to do that balance not just Lois.

No argument. I'm only saying that imho, when Lois is in the cast we don't tend to get these gruesome episodes. It's a chicken and egg thingy; some say it's too dark to have Lois and I'm saying if we had Lois it wouldn't be so dark.

[Diego*Chloe]

No argument. I'm only saying that imho, when Lois is in the cast we don't tend to get these gruesome episodes. It's a chicken and egg thingy; some say it's too dark to have Lois and I'm saying if we had Lois it wouldn't be so dark.


Well I dont think it would be dark for her but hard to put her on this episode(at least its hard to PS :rolleyes:)

But then again without Lois we had funny episodes or something like that on a season that was pretty dark(S3)

So I dont think Lois is needed to make an episode less darker :p

[green_arrow_girl358]

well considering we're near the end, i think the gross aspect adds a little edge. i'm sure there's been gross lois epis (none come to mind) but she just jokes about them.

[Kal-ed]

So I dont think Lois is needed to make an episode less darker :p

Very true, the problem is that whether its on purpose or not, the writers have a tendency to write lighter episodes that balance the season with Lois in them. I agree they can have Chloe´s spunk again and use it to create humour, Jimmy can be pretty funny, TW, as shown through out the earlier season and most recently in Hex, can seriously perform in a comical way.

There´s no reason why episodes with Lois should be the only ones that carry some humor but the fact is that´s how it happens, lets look at this season, which can be considered the darkest episodes?? IMO Prey, Abyss, Requiem, Eternal and Beast. Im not saying dark=bad, Im not saying Lois/ED is the only one that can bring lightheartedness but there is a pattern going on here, one I dont like cause although Id love ED to have a full season, it wont happen, so Id like to not have to worry about every episode without her being this heavy and dark, I think a good Clark, Chloe and Jimmy episode could make a very fun and light episode, even one that progresses Clark´s duties as the RBB, they have great chemestry, all three have great comedic skills, yet the writers have a tendency to forget it.

[Inkpen23]

I actually enjoyed the episode without Lois in it. I usually enjoy Lois free episodes. Go figure! ;)

[CloisFan17]

I love Lois but I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this episode so I was fine without her :)

[galatians221]

Well I dont think it would be dark for her but hard to put her on this episode(at least its hard to PS :rolleyes:)

But then again without Lois we had funny episodes or something like that on a season that was pretty dark(S3)

So I dont think Lois is needed to make an episode less darker :p

I guess what I'm really saying is that I don't like the dark episodes; I prefer those with Lois in them. I mean she was in Bride and gave it balance but stuff like Beast is just over the top on the gruesome chart for me and Lois would hopefully force the writers to behave and not go into chopped up bodies and Davis trying to claw Jimmy's eyes out and Clark cut in two and his blood all over the floor and half of him hanging in the basement and on and on. Give me some more Lois please and less Friday the 13th.

[galatians221]

Very true, the problem is that whether its on purpose or not, the writers have a tendency to write lighter episodes that balance the season with Lois in them. I agree they can have Chloe´s spunk again and use it to create humour, Jimmy can be pretty funny, TW, as shown through out the earlier season and most recently in Hex, can seriously perform in a comical way.

There´s no reason why episodes with Lois should be the only ones that carry some humor but the fact is that´s how it happens, lets look at this season, which can be considered the darkest episodes?? IMO Prey, Abyss, Requiem, Eternal and Beast. Im not saying dark=bad, Im not saying Lois/ED is the only one that can bring lightheartedness but there is a pattern going on here, one I dont like cause although Id love ED to have a full season, it wont happen, so Id like to not have to worry about every episode without her being this heavy and dark, I think a good Clark, Chloe and Jimmy episode could make a very fun and light episode, even one that progresses Clark´s duties as the RBB, they have great chemestry, all three have great comedic skills, yet the writers have a tendency to forget it.

I agree that Smallville is blessed with outstanding actors but the writers tend to take them too far while leaving Clark behind. I don't know if Chloe can return with any credibility after what she did to Jimmy and now Oliver and of course Clark. She's not a team player and that applies to marriage, business and solving crimes. She's gone from Clark's sidekick to constantly being his butt kicker. They have gone too far.

[galatians221]

Proof? how is this proof? Since you didn't like the episode that automatically makes this a bad episode for everyone. Oh wow, I guess since I don't like onion rings that means nobody else does either!

I'm telling you the truth.........the day you posted this I went to White Castle and ordered some onion rings. You messed up my mind.

[kg1507]

I agree. Episodes with Lois in them usually are ten times better than ones without Lois. I'm curious to see how much better the ratings are for next season if we get more episodes with Lois in them compared to this season.

[galatians221]

I agree. Episodes with Lois in them usually are ten times better than ones without Lois. I'm curious to see how much better the ratings are for next season if we get more episodes with Lois in them compared to this season.

Particularly if we get new writers to replace the two who are leaving and they are Superman freaks. Also if Welling negotiated for artistic control to any degree we could see a much better product.

[xrayvision]

Well, Jeph Loeb & Greg Beeman are available again. I hope Loeb returns. I'm not sure about Beeman. I think he was a Lana nut along with Al & Miles. So if that's the case, I'm not interested in the Lana-ization of Lois like they already did to Chloe as proven in Beast.

[galatians221]

Well, Jeph Loeb & Greg Beeman are available again. I hope Loeb returns. I'm not sure about Beeman. I think he was a Lana nut along with Al & Miles. So if that's the case, I'm not interested in the Lana-ization of Lois like they already did to Chloe as proven in Beast.

We need writers who are true Superman fans and not soap opera writers and not comic book afficionados. The main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing and the main thing is Superman. I'll settle for the Blur for now but I don't care about Chloe, Oliver, Tess, Jimmy or Davis and I don't need Lex or Martha back. I want to see Superman in Metropolis at the Daily Planet solving crimes and working with Lois Lane. The teenage drama arcs and the freaks of the week along with the recent bloody Freddy Krueger stuff is hopefully going to pass away and we will get better writing.

[Supsfan]

We need writers who are true Superman fans and not soap opera writers and not comic book afficionados. The main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing and the main thing is Superman. I'll settle for the Blur for now but I don't care about Chloe, Oliver, Tess, Jimmy or Davis and I don't need Lex or Martha back. I want to see Superman in Metropolis at the Daily Planet solving crimes and working with Lois Lane. The teenage drama arcs and the freaks of the week along with the recent bloody Freddy Krueger stuff is hopefully going to pass away and we will get better writing.

For me it doesn't matter which characters are on the show(although admittingly I am a Lois fan), I just want them to drop alot of the dark angsty "drama". As you say at times Smallville seems like a real bad soap opera and that not the proper mood for a Superman show.

As long as Clark is the main focus and we don't see him angry, depressed, angsty or looking stupid alot I am a happy camper. With Lana out of the picture they have there chance to change the tone of the show to be slightly more positive.

[xrayvision]

Well Jimmy is certainly important because he is a big part of Clark's Superman life. I could care less about Chloe, Oliver, or any Justice League character. I think it would be good having a set of villians such as Intergang.

I think it's important to start catering to the comic fans because we have been ignored for too long. And the comic fans I'm talking about are Superman comic fans, not JLA fans or fans of other DC comic heroes. Superman fans have been getting the shaft. The mythos that Smallville was building for itself, which I loved more than anything else about the show, is now desecrated with all the incomprehensible plotholes & retcons.

What attracted me and many other fans (from reading posts in these forums) to the show was the mythos and the Clark-Lex dynamic. They messed up on both. They made the Clark-Lex friendship all about Lana in season 5. We hardly saw any of it in season 4.

I do want Clark & Lois related plots next season, but I also want Jimmy and a good set of villians. Intergang is perfect because it would allow for continuously good episode plots unlike Doomsday, who only has so much you can do with him until the big fight. I want to see Jimmy become the legendary photographer he becomes. More importantly, I want Clark to become the reporter he becomes. It's atrocious how he has been shown involved in writing articles since the first season and is the one who hasn't written anything for the longest time.

I want Clark immediately to get a reporter job in season 9. Not a copyboy/errandboy or everything but a reporter's job that he has now. I don't want him to become Lois' doormat & get into Perry's team due to cronyism. If they can't respect Clark Kent & decently develop him, then they had no business continuing this show after season 3, because Clark hasn't done anything progress-worthy since then. I like that this season he has kicked up his heroic deeds, but it stinks because we don't even see him due to the budget. All we mostly get is that superspeed sound effect and a person is saved.

I'm still hoping that Clark gets fired next season and works on his own at the Metropolis Journal. Clark is not supposed to go out & investigate things with Lois. He and Lois are supposed to go on their own with Superman (or in this case the Blur) helping her out when she gets in trouble. Having the 2 go out like that to do their job is as annoying as having Lana accompany him as a hero in Requiem (well maybe not that bad, but still pretty bad). The traditional way it's done is they get an assignment where each checks out various aspects of the investigation. If they work together, this is how I want it.

Also in every form of Superman, Clark Kent was already an established reporter before working with Lois. It's obvious he isn't going to get the opportunities to get started as a reporter while working with her. Once he's developed, then yes. But not now. If Clark works for the Metropolis Journal after what happens to him at the end of this season, then he can get those chances and he & Perry White can build their repertoire so we can visually see how & why Perry is hired back at the Planet and how Clark gets his legendary job. Because it wouldn't make a lick of sense having Clark work with Lois, who has written many front page articles & is already established. That's like having an entry level employee work with an employee who already has many achievements on their resume.

It would be very Clark Kent like to leave the Daily Planet now & go to the Journal because he would have to know that he doesn't deserve the job he has and Jonathan taught him not to accept things given to him without merit. So I would rather see him climb the ranks of reporting throughout the next season and cross paths every now & then with Lois while working on a story. It would make things very interesting seeing a rivalry across the 2 newspapers and headlines. It would bring out the best of Lois & Clark. And having Jimmy as a freelance photographer who could work for either paper before being hired back by the Planet would work out nicely & give him a lot of exposure.

Having Lois & Clark work for different papers would also allow them to talk about non-business related matters when they meet outside their jobs. I have no doubt that this would be a win-win scenario for everyone. It would give Clark an actual mentor for his career, and we know how great Clark & Perry White interacted in that 1 episode.

[VagrantDream]

I loved this episode myself. minus the shipper wank that everything is always for clark.

I loved it so much more than lois prancing around and posing for photoshoots in stiletto, IMHO.

[galatians221]

Well Jimmy is certainly important because he is a big part of Clark's Superman life. I could care less about Chloe, Oliver, or any Justice League character. I think it would be good having a set of villians such as Intergang.

I think it's important to start catering to the comic fans because we have been ignored for too long. And the comic fans I'm talking about are Superman comic fans, not JLA fans or fans of other DC comic heroes. Superman fans have been getting the shaft. The mythos that Smallville was building for itself, which I loved more than anything else about the show, is now desecrated with all the incomprehensible plotholes & retcons.

What attracted me and many other fans (from reading posts in these forums) to the show was the mythos and the Clark-Lex dynamic. They messed up on both. They made the Clark-Lex friendship all about Lana in season 5. We hardly saw any of it in season 4.

I do want Clark & Lois related plots next season, but I also want Jimmy and a good set of villians. Intergang is perfect because it would allow for continuously good episode plots unlike Doomsday, who only has so much you can do with him until the big fight. I want to see Jimmy become the legendary photographer he becomes. More importantly, I want Clark to become the reporter he becomes. It's atrocious how he has been shown involved in writing articles since the first season and is the one who hasn't written anything for the longest time.

I want Clark immediately to get a reporter job in season 9. Not a copyboy/errandboy or everything but a reporter's job that he has now. I don't want him to become Lois' doormat & get into Perry's team due to cronyism. If they can't respect Clark Kent & decently develop him, then they had no business continuing this show after season 3, because Clark hasn't done anything progress-worthy since then. I like that this season he has kicked up his heroic deeds, but it stinks because we don't even see him due to the budget. All we mostly get is that superspeed sound effect and a person is saved.

I'm still hoping that Clark gets fired next season and works on his own at the Metropolis Journal. Clark is not supposed to go out & investigate things with Lois. He and Lois are supposed to go on their own with Superman (or in this case the Blur) helping her out when she gets in trouble. Having the 2 go out like that to do their job is as annoying as having Lana accompany him as a hero in Requiem (well maybe not that bad, but still pretty bad). The traditional way it's done is they get an assignment where each checks out various aspects of the investigation. If they work together, this is how I want it.

Also in every form of Superman, Clark Kent was already an established reporter before working with Lois. It's obvious he isn't going to get the opportunities to get started as a reporter while working with her. Once he's developed, then yes. But not now. If Clark works for the Metropolis Journal after what happens to him at the end of this season, then he can get those chances and he & Perry White can build their repertoire so we can visually see how & why Perry is hired back at the Planet and how Clark gets his legendary job. Because it wouldn't make a lick of sense having Clark work with Lois, who has written many front page articles & is already established. That's like having an entry level employee work with an employee who already has many achievements on their resume.

It would be very Clark Kent like to leave the Daily Planet now & go to the Journal because he would have to know that he doesn't deserve the job he has and Jonathan taught him not to accept things given to him without merit. So I would rather see him climb the ranks of reporting throughout the next season and cross paths every now & then with Lois while working on a story. It would make things very interesting seeing a rivalry across the 2 newspapers and headlines. It would bring out the best of Lois & Clark. And having Jimmy as a freelance photographer who could work for either paper before being hired back by the Planet would work out nicely & give him a lot of exposure.

Having Lois & Clark work for different papers would also allow them to talk about non-business related matters when they meet outside their jobs. I have no doubt that this would be a win-win scenario for everyone. It would give Clark an actual mentor for his career, and we know how great Clark & Perry White interacted in that 1 episode.

Great points. I suppose I'm wrong in associating comics with other space creatures. I want Superman and you lay it out quite well here.

[Promise]

Well Injustice is another episode with no Clark and Lois adventures. Loving Smallville.

[galatians221]

Well Injustice is another episode with no Clark and Lois adventures. Loving Smallville.

I don't have high expectations for the remaining two episodes but especially tonight. At least Lois will be in "Doomsday" and I for one think that she will learn Clark's secret and that alone should be interesting. As for him fighting a giant Iquana, it doesn't interest me.

[bigblueplanet]

^^^Who is giant iguana, galatians? Doomsday? LOL

There is some common thoughts between me and xrayvision (5 posts above) but not exactly. I also enjoy episodes with Lois in it especially this season. Why? For me, the answer is very simple. It’s because her time has come. Someone mentioned that the first 3 seasons were great without Lois. Well, dah! Of course they were because it wasn’t her time yet! (So was S4 to S7. She didn’t really have a purpose to be on the show.) It was Lana’s time, and it was Lex’s time as his storylines was nicely retold & made to be fit in the early Clark’s life (and it wasn’t the first time Lex was introduced in Pre-Superman story) with that ‘best friends becomes arch enemies’ angle. For me, Lana becoming witch in the S4 was the first sign that her time was running out.

Each character has their rightful places in Clark’s life and now that he starts working at DP, Lois and Jimmy’s time has finally come and that’s why we feel right every time we see them on screen, imo. For example, if Lois was introduced for the first time in this season, I bet no one had screamed to their TV screen that it’s too early for her to be on the show. That’s what I mean. It’s all depends on where Clark is at, imo. Now he is in Metropolis most of the time and working at DP. So it’s very natural to have these supporting characters who are also around DP.

You said they’ve ruined Jimmy’s character galatians, but I disagree. Jimmy Olsen is no one’s love interest and whenever we see glimpse of his true self (e.g. Identity) he instantly shines because he is an arch type character that survived & loved many decades along with his co-supporting characters. They’re brilliant as they are. These show runners just couldn’t write his younger self interestingly because they’re not that creative, imho. Now in its 8th season and soon to be 9th, we’re as close to Superman era as never has been before, and it’s time for these significant supporting characters to shine right next to Clark Kent. JMO

[galatians221]

^^^Who is giant iguana, galatians? Doomsday? LOL

There is some common thoughts between me and xrayvision (5 posts above) but not exactly. I also enjoy episodes with Lois in it especially this season. Why? For me, the answer is very simple. It’s because her time has come. Someone mentioned that the first 3 seasons were great without Lois. Well, dah! Of course they were because it wasn’t her time yet! (So was S4 to S7. She didn’t really have a purpose to be on the show.) It was Lana’s time, and it was Lex’s time as his storylines was nicely retold & made to be fit in the early Clark’s life (and it wasn’t the first time Lex was introduced in Pre-Superman story) with that ‘best friends becomes arch enemies’ angle. For me, Lana becoming witch in the S4 was the first sign that her time was running out.

Each character has their rightful places in Clark’s life and now that he starts working at DP, Lois and Jimmy’s time has finally come and that’s why we feel right every time we see them on screen, imo. For example, if Lois was introduced for the first time in this season, I bet no one had screamed to their TV screen that it’s too early for her to be on the show. That’s what I mean. It’s all depends on where Clark is at, imo. Now he is in Metropolis most of the time and working at DP. So it’s very natural to have these supporting characters who are also around DP.

You said they’ve ruined Jimmy’s character galatians, but I disagree. Jimmy Olsen is no one’s love interest and whenever we see glimpse of his true self (e.g. Identity) he instantly shines because he is an arch type character that survived & loved many decades along with his co-supporting characters. They’re brilliant as they are. These show runners just couldn’t write his younger self interestingly because they’re not that creative, imho. Now in its 8th season and soon to be 9th, we’re as close to Superman era as never has been before, and it’s time for these significant supporting characters to shine right next to Clark Kent. JMO

I generally agree but Jimmy is always a bit of comic relief and usually says "Golly Mr. Kent" about four times per episode and they've turned him into a bitter, drug addict who has been turned into a hater. It's all over the top just like they did with Lana, now Chloe and before long, Shelby will be kickboxing pitbulls and able to fly. They just don't seem to know where to stop with this stuff and it gets a little over the top imho.

[bigblueplanet]

I generally agree but Jimmy is always a bit of comic relief and usually says "Golly Mr. Kent" about four times per episode and they've turned him into a bitter, drug addict who has been turned into a hater. It's all over the top just like they did with Lana, now Chloe and before long, Shelby will be kickboxing pitbulls and able to fly. They just don't seem to know where to stop with this stuff and it gets a little over the top imho.

This Jimmy in your mind…… isn’t he from ‘The Adventures of Superman’ in 50s? :p Maybe it depends on our idea of who Jimmy Olsen is. These are timeless characters but they do evolve in order to reflect the times. Nowadays I don’t see Jimmy as a comic relief especially not in comics. I’ve never seen him say “Golly Mr.Kent” in post-crisis comics, nor in LnC or cartoon shows. (Not even in SR if I recall correctly.) And these Jimmy(s) I mentioned are not even same age as Clark. Usually they’re much younger than him. SV’s interpretation of Jimmy is 1), almost same age as Clark 2), therefore CK will be never ‘Mr.Kent’ for this version of Jimmy and they’re based on a more equal relationship.

Besides, AAJimmy once again showed us how classy he is when he told Chloe “Whatever you do Chloe, stay away from that monster” in ‘Beast’ instead of “I told you so.” to a woman who never trusted him and let all the mess happened. He has a great caring hearts no matter how crap he is treated. Also Jimmy’s character has been portrayed before that he can be very weak and can fall easily for darker side but he would do the right thing in the end. I don’t see anything over the top with the SV version of Jimmy apart from being merely used as Chloe’s love interests in this show.

In my eyes, he didn’t fall that far. He is redeemable and I believe he’ll stand on his own two feet in no time and becomes more and more closer to his iconic self next season. (Or this is just my wishful thinking…)

[jpfort1957]

It's been time for Chole to take a seat to Lois for quite some time. In all other Superman productions..........there was only Lois & Clark. And that combo has worked for over a half century!!!!!!!!!