Oracle's Ratings

[Stephan]

Hey all,

Got this from MediaWeek.com


The WB, as usual, stood well above last-place UPN with dramas Smallville (Overnights: #5, 3.2/ 5; Viewers: #5, 4.44 million; A18-49: #4, 1.9/ 6), and the season-finale of the compatible Supernatural (Overnights: #5, 2.8/ 4; Viewers: #5, 3.83 million; A18-49: #5, 1.6/ 4). Although nothing has been officially announced, expect Smallville and Supernatural to occupy upcoming The CW’s Thursday line-up next season.

I think last week's episode had the same ratings as Oracle did. It remained unchanged. It looks like we will definitely have a Season Six. :) Bring on the Zod! Cannot wait to see the finale.

[superhippie2000]

i would have thought the rating would have been higher that was a kick ass episode. i really hope next weeks episode will do even better. i hope the promote it alot. it may be the start of something huge. 4.44 million people is alot of people.

[Kreukie]

Actually last week did better, which isn't saying much since last week did worse then the week before.

That's pretty bad considering Oracle is the second to last episode of the season and it's the opening for the finale.

5 million is the usual finale number for Smallville during the first two episodes and last two episodes.

[myankskent]

Originally posted by Kreukie
Actually last week did better, which isn't saying much since last week did worse then the week before.

That's pretty bad considering Oracle is the second to last episode of the season and it's the opening for the finale.

5 million is the usual finale number for Smallville during the first two episodes and last two episodes.
Well they lost a lot of people along the way in the second half of the season and they haven't been able to get those people back.

[Kreukie]

Originally posted by myankskent
Well they lost a lot of people along the way in the second half of the season and they haven't been able to get those people back.

They've been losing people ever since Hypnotic.

Odd, because the first episode of the arc usually does the worst because people forget there's a new episode. Yet Hypnotic did better than all the episodes we seen so far in this arc.

I wonder what happened in Hypnotic that set people off and what happened in the rest of these episodes that kept them off.

Maybe I should ask Mr.Owl. :p

[myankskent]

Originally posted by Kreukie
They've been losing people ever since Hypnotic.

Odd, because the first episode of the arc usually does the worst because people forget there's a new episode. Yet Hypnotic did better than all the episodes we seen so far in this arc.

I wonder what happened in Hypnotic that set people off and what happened in the rest of these episodes that kept them off.

Maybe I should ask Mr.Owl. :p

If you ask me, it's Clana and Lexana along with the copout that was Reckoning, but we won't go there.

[Kreukie]

Originally posted by myankskent
If you ask me, it's Clana and Lexana along with the copout that was Reckoning, but we won't go there.

Of course not... ;)

[EricN68]

There could be lots of factors we don't really know about -- the long break between new episodes; we need to consider what other things are playing on other networks; etc. As long as WB/CW can sell advertising and make a profit there shouldn't be any problems.

[Kreukie]

There was no long break between Hypnotic, Void, Fragile, Mercy, Fade and Oracle.

[Poweranimals]

Hmm, they break up Clana and the ratings drop. Interesting.

[myankskent]

Originally posted by EricN68
There could be lots of factors we don't really know about -- the long break between new episodes; we need to consider what other things are playing on other networks; etc. As long as WB/CW can sell advertising and make a profit there shouldn't be any problems.

Smallville never went up against different competition on Thursdays. They always went up against Survivor. That's the only big show that is on at 8pm. As for the breaks, as Kreukie stated above, there were none after hypnotic. Plus, there were some mythology based episodes thrown in there too, starting with hypnotic and the return of Brainiac. It doesn't make sense why the ratings wouldn't go back up at this point. Zod is coming and no one seems to care anymore. Something ticked them off this season to not return to the show.

[canon]

Originally posted by myankskent
Smallville never went up against different competition on Thursdays. They always went up against Survivor. That's the only big show that is on at 8pm. . It doesn't make sense why the ratings wouldn't go back up at this point. Zod is coming and no one seems to care anymore. Something ticked them off this season to not return to the show.

Perhaps...... some are dissappointed in killing off Papa Kent in Reckoning or bad preview of Hypnotic (clark making out) turned off mothers who used to let their kids watch Smallville, no public appearance of cast members to promote last two episodes etc...,

[OutlawAngel]

Ive missed 2 episodes since this arc started. Not because I aint interested just because I have had a busy life lately. Many things could be hurting the ratings.

[Thil_EL]

smallvil;le has been beating that 70's sow and now we are doing worse? what the hell? that sucks
aghhhhhhh damn clana fans!

[paolinki25]

I seriously doubt that the low ratings are due to Clana ending. Like some of you have said, the show after "Reckoning" was just not the same, and I think Jonathan dying had a big impact on the show. Also, marketing hasn't been all that good. Hopefully they'll do better on the CW

[attitudejc]

man....i thought that they would have been much higher. i wish we could get back those people we lost....

[lanakk1]

ever since that 100th episode, the ratings had gone down

[Absentee]

I don't think those people are coming back :rotfl:

Something did tick them off that's for sure.

Last year's "Forever" did better than this :eek:

[myankskent]

Originally posted by Absentee
I don't think those people are coming back :rotfl:

Something did tick them off that's for sure.

Last year's "Forever" did better than this :eek:

Which is an absolute disgrace by the way, I don't want to hear that the promotions are the problem. How could they have possibly promoted that piece of trash better than oracle?

[xrayvision]

I wouldn't call forever a piece of trash, but they're promoting sucks big time. Their marketing dept should be fired and rebuilt.

[myankskent]

It wasn't a great episode. Ageless was worse, but I don't think you can blame promotions on the bad ratings now because the ratings have always been bad, and yet Smallville was getting pretty high ratings the first half of season 5 in spite of it.

[kh1]

I haven't watched an episode since the 100th episode Reckoning, it royally ticked me off, I am a Clark and Lana fan and I watch all of these years just to see her finding out his secret, and him asking her to marry him all before the opening credits, with no talking, no questions from her or answers given by him, nothing but for her to die mid way through, and then him altering everything and not telling her anything. What a copout, I was so disappointed, disgusted, you name it, and you know I use to talk to about 6 others that watched the show at work, and not one of them is still watching, yet we all watched for almost the entire series prior to that episode.

[Absentee]

The thing is, i don't think they understand what gives them ratings.

They probably will never know. Just because they really could care less nowadays.

That's just sad.

[myankskent]

Originally posted by kh1
I haven't watched an episode since the 100th episode Reckoning, it royally ticked me off, I am a Clark and Lana fan and I watch all of these years just to see her finding out his secret, and him asking her to marry him all before the opening credits, with no talking, no questions from her or answers given by him, nothing but for her to die mid way through, and then him altering everything and not telling her anything. What a copout, I was so disappointed, disgusted, you name it, and you know I use to talk to about 6 others that watched the show at work, and not one of them is still watching, yet we all watched for almost the entire series prior to that episode.

I'm not surprised by this. I think there are many like you out there.

[Absentee]

Think of it like this, Smallville is like a test, see what works and see what doesn't. And since they have Aquaman, it's sorta the "show" to help them transition the mistakes from Smallville and do it "right" with Aquaman.

Which mean once again, they really could care less about Smallville. I mean come on! You're given a second chance, something completely new you can start with, a clean slate.... would you care so much about what you did wrong on the other one? Not really.

Hey it's just business. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't, unfortunately for Smallville its the latter.

Why try your best to make it perfect when it's just beyond repairable? Hell, i'd take the clean slate too.

That's why this show will never recover. EVER.

[myankskent]

Originally posted by Absentee
Think of it like this, Smallville is like a test, see what works and see what doesn't. And since they have Aquaman, it's sorta the "show" to help them transition the mistakes from Smallville and do it "right" with Aquaman.

Which mean once again, they really could care less about Smallville. I mean come on! You're given a second chance, something completely new you can start with, a clean slate.... would you care so much about what you did wrong on the other one? Not really.

Hey it's just business. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't, unfortunately for Smallville its the latter.

Why try your best to make it perfect when it's just beyond repairable? Hell, i'd take the clean slate too.

That's why this show will never recover. EVER.

Before we say that they don't care about Smallville and all they care about is not making the same mistakes with Aquaman, let's see Aquaman pick up first and get some ratings. We don't even know if Aquaman is going to happen or what kind of show it is. It will be tough for them to make a show like that compete with what Smallville has become.

[tmkfan]

couldnt be happier about the ratings drop

ahhh am i the only one who thinks this has a little to do with the way they broke up clana? i mean jonathan died in reckoning yet the next few eps didnt have as bad ratings are the ones after hypnotic..

ahh it feels good :D

[Watching Smallville]

Originally posted by kh1
I haven't watched an episode since the 100th episode Reckoning, it royally ticked me off, I am a Clark and Lana fan and I watch all of these years just to see her finding out his secret, and him asking her to marry him all before the opening credits, with no talking, no questions from her or answers given by him, nothing but for her to die mid way through, and then him altering everything and not telling her anything. What a copout, I was so disappointed, disgusted, you name it, and you know I use to talk to about 6 others that watched the show at work, and not one of them is still watching, yet we all watched for almost the entire series prior to that episode.
Yep. As MBCorp always says... Wreckoning.

[xrayvision]

I seriously hope the movie causes next seasons #s to increase.

[jcore0429]

With all the publicity WB is putting into Superman, things can only go up from here. I think the movie will create even more Superman fans. PS does anyone else hate this shows season fanalies? I mean sure they have awsome cliffhangers but, the three month wait for the conclusion is just murder! But that just makes us tune in.

[Absentee]

It might help it for a few episodes especially in the beginning of the season, people check it out and see if it's anywhere near as good as the movie.

But knowing Smallville's history especially with continuity, i doubt people will stay and watch it. But i may be wrong, guess we'll see.


Originally posted by myankskent
Before we say that they don't care about Smallville and all they care about is not making the same mistakes with Aquaman, let's see Aquaman pick up first and get some ratings. We don't even know if Aquaman is going to happen or what kind of show it is. It will be tough for them to make a show like that compete with what Smallville has become.

Aquaman is Smallville, the plot, characters and ideas are the same. The hero, the girl the hero's inlove with, the girl's boyfriend who is a jock, the hero's best friend who is btw a girl... you get the idea. ;)

[fash292]

I think that they just stopped advertizing it as much you forget but b4 this break they advertized Smallville a lot!!! Remember the 100th episode that was advertized like crazy I just think it's that..... All it needs is some advertizing it's the season finale!!! And ratings will go up!

[kuang]

I think many people watch smallville by downloading from BT.
I do not live in America(in Asia), so I need to downloading from this way to watch my favorite series.
And find that smallville's rating in BT is higer than other series.
Maybe many people watch other series at 8:00pm on Tuesday,
and then download smallville to collect.

[canon]

Originally posted by kuang
I think many people watch smallville by downloading from BT.
I do not live in America(in Asia), so I need to downloading from this way to watch my favorite series.
And find that smallville's rating in BT is higer than other series.
Maybe many people watch other series at 8:00pm on Tuesday,
and then download smallville to collect.
HA..HA I'm that kind person.


I dont even know why they allow that download thing. It should be shut down if it's free and without permission from Warner Bros.


How can I get a Nielsen box to get that rating up? I watched Smallville everyweek whether the eppy is good or crap. I even watch reruns when it's hiatus time.

[warriorrenegade]

Lets face it the cop out that is " Reckoning" killed the show for those fans that were on the fence of leaving the show for good or staying and continuing to watch. It was such an oppurtunity lost having Lana die and they blew it. If you think about it you can actually pin point the moment those fans tuned out. Remeber the commercial break just after Jonathan pulled Clark away from Lanas bloody carcass? They come back from commercial and we see Clark babbaling in the fortress to Jor-EL whaaahh whaaahhh You killed her. As soon as the " Time Crystal " appeared it was over, done, finished. We haven't seen them again. They will never come back even if Zod comes back or even if Clark flies period. I believe the ratings for "Vessel" will be just as bad as all the rest after " Hypnotic".

[myankskent]

Originally posted by warriorrenegade
Lets face it the cop out that is " Reckoning" killed the show for those fans that were on the fence of leaving the show for good or staying and continuing to watch. It was such an oppurtunity lost having Lana die and they blew it. If you think about it you can actually pin point the moment those fans tuned out. Remeber the commercial break just after Jonathan pulled Clark away from Lanas bloody carcass? They come back from commercial and we see Clark babbaling in the fortress to Jor-EL whaaahh whaaahhh You killed her. As soon as the " Time Crystal " appeared it was over, done, finished. We haven't seen them again. They will never come back even if Zod comes back or even if Clark flies period. I believe the ratings for "Vessel" will be just as bad as all the rest after " Hypnotic".

If seeing the crystal to turn back time is what caused people to stop watching the show, then why have the episodes that followed Reckoning been much higher in terms of ratings than the ones that followed hypnotic? Why did Cyborg, three episodes after Reckoning, do a 4 rating with a 6 share if it was based only on Reckoning. Now I admit that Reckoning was a part of it, but Lana living did not turn people away from the show, or else ratings would've suffered immediately after Reckoning and never recovered.

[canon]

Originally posted by myankskent
If seeing the crystal to turn back time is what caused people to stop watching the show, then why have the episodes that followed Reckoning been much higher in terms of ratings than the ones that followed hypnotic? Why did Cyborg, three episodes after Reckoning, do a 4 rating with a 6 share if it was based only on Reckoning. Now I admit that Reckoning was a part of it, but Lana living did not turn people away from the show, or else ratings would've suffered immediately after Reckoning and never recovered.


4 weeks in hiatus, then we got Hypnotic which was really a crappy episode. I dont know what the writers were thinking and why they had to do an eppy like Hypnotic with Clark making out with some girl just so the writers can show the viewers the nail in the coffin for the total demise of Clark/Lana relationship.........when I thought their relationship ended back in Reckoning. Killing off Pa Kent probably lost some of his fans. Then they had their promo dept ran Lex/Lana kiss in Fragile/Fade/Oracle which probably turned off some more.

Oh well, at least Smallville still has me to tune in....too bad I don't have a Nielsen box so it won't matter if I tune in every week.

[tmkfan]

blaming lana not dying for the bad ratings is soooo stupid, cuz then the ratings for every ep after reckoning shoulda been bad. but the ratings started going down after hypnotic, wich besides being a horrible episode, broke up clana in the worse way posible.

[Omega31]

I'm no Clana fan, but the handling of that has certainly disappointed many people, and I can't blame them. I may have been tortured to death by their relationship for five years but it was an important part of the show and should have been handled with all the seriousness and importance of a significant event. It just seemed like their whole breaking up arc was slapped together, not to mention all the parts where they are obviously going for the cheap, teen-angst drama. I believe that the silliness and yo-yoing of this has trickled into the subsequent episodes. Certainly both characters have suffered from it and gone down in the estimation of some viewers.

I was disappointed in "Reckoning" too. I was more let down by the time-travel stuff and the predictability of the storyline, but I think the appeal of the show to many people was the family dynamic between the Kents and that was pretty much broken with that episode. I know a few people who have quit watching because of it.

Lexana seems to be a killer to some I know as well. I myself have no interest in their relationship. In fact, I find it rather pointless and unnecessary. Only loyalty to the show (and the fact that I still have my moments of liking it despite my gripes) has kept me from tuning out a few times because of Lexana, and I‘m more than a casual viewer of the show.

I realize that there is nothing in this that other posters in this thread haven’t touched on before but I just wanted to throw in my two cents.

I also think, although I really don’t have much to back it up, that the rocky continuity has turned off some fans. The show’s continuity has been pretty consistent with Season Five as a self-contained entity. However, the overall continuity of the seasons has suffered (as usual, sad to say). The writers keep retrofitting the characters to these plot-bombs rather than trying to develop the plothooks from what we know of them.

Don’t want to leave out the FOTW and filler episodes. Can’t exactly draw attention with those and they seem to be rough on the hardcore fans. I’m not sure how they affect the more casual viewers.

The release of “Superman Returns” may draw some new viewers to the show. If it wants to keep them, however, I think they should concentrate on delivering some well-written episodes.

[GooN]

i see. well, my way of thinking is that, ive watched this show for 5 seasons now, i wouldn't just stop watching it cos i don't like a couple of episodes.....if i thought like that i woulda stopped watching last season cos of that magic ish.

[Watching Smallville]

Originally posted by warriorrenegade
If you think about it you can actually pin point the moment those fans tuned out. Remeber the commercial break just after Jonathan pulled Clark away from Lanas bloody carcass? They come back from commercial and we see Clark babbaling in the fortress to Jor-EL whaaahh whaaahhh You killed her. As soon as the " Time Crystal " appeared it was over, done, finished.
I think you're right, unfortunately. When that crystal popped out, I said to myself, "Oh, no."

They never should have killed Lana in the first place. What was the point? That Clark would do anything to save her? We already knew that. What's the lesson for Clark when Jonathan dies? Don't mess with destiny because it will come back and bite you in the a**? I don't know what the point was, at all. And it left us with a bleak show without one of its strongest, most positive characters.

I think casual viewers might have been willing to hang in there until the next break. But having a few weeks to get away from the show, and having nothing to come back to, presumably, the less-than-die-hard viewers let it go. And why should they come back? I mean, what was there to come back to but a sleazy Hypnotic? That's not why people were watching SV.

[dhacker615]

Originally posted by warriorrenegade
Lets face it the cop out that is " Reckoning" killed the show for those fans that were on the fence of leaving the show for good or staying and continuing to watch. It was such an oppurtunity lost having Lana die and they blew it. If you think about it you can actually pin point the moment those fans tuned out. Remeber the commercial break just after Jonathan pulled Clark away from Lanas bloody carcass? They come back from commercial and we see Clark babbaling in the fortress to Jor-EL whaaahh whaaahhh You killed her. As soon as the " Time Crystal " appeared it was over, done, finished. We haven't seen them again. They will never come back even if Zod comes back or even if Clark flies period. I believe the ratings for "Vessel" will be just as bad as all the rest after " Hypnotic".

The second half of "Reckoning" certainly felt like a classic Jump-the-Shark moment. The fact that the run of episodes that followed it couldn't seem to figure out Lana & Clark were still a couple sure didn't help. I, for one, needed those three episodes to have more of them trying to work it out, refering back to what happened, etc.

That said, 'Cyborg' and 'Tomb' were decent enough that I didn't regret the hour I invested. Solid sci-fi action TV is fun enough by itself for me.

However, 'Hypnotic' felt like a slap in the face. I am not a huge ship guy. I like the plot driven stories and meta-stories using the Superman mythos. I'd really like to see the Legion of Super-Heros, for example. That said, the ships are a big part of the show.

The Clana took two freaking years to set up. Prior to S5, we'd only seen them as an actual couple for, like, three episodes. Forty episodes of set-up and three episodes of pay-off was annoying. Jason was decent character, but after wasting all of S3 it was getting weird. In S5, we were finally going to see them as a real couple. You knew it wouldn't last, but at least the wait would be over.

After all that, having it ignored and then watching the actual break-up totally butchered was totally insulting. The quality of the episodes has picked up a bit recently, but my faith is shaken and I consider myself a pretty hard-core fan. If I wasn't curious how they were going to turn this Lois & Clark into the adult versions we know, I might've stopped watching as well.

[jack1487]

The WB needs to promote the show more. Also we don't know what they are allowing the writers to write as they (WB) has full control on what happens with the show. Look what they did to L&C totally blew it out of the water.

But I agree the marketing department has not been doing there job and seems like they are just letting it hang out there, all by itself.....


Jack :rolleyes:

[jaime,oburg]

I must say the ratings slip has caused me some concern. I thought we would see a gradual climb after hypnotic because of the long break the show had. That could explain why the first returning episode after a few weeks off did not do so well. Yet Hypnotic did better then the second to the last episode? Yikes!
I don't think you can blame any ship (Clana/Lexana). Perhaps Reckoning was so hyped that it left many fans disappointed when it did not deliver for them. I know all I posted preReckoning was just don't use time travel, stick to whatever happens and WTH did I get.... extactly the last thing in the world I wanted to see. THEY HIT THE RESET BUTTON! *Jaime getting frustrated* So if I was let down perhaps so were alot of other less diehard fans then myself. Maybe they weren't as forgiving and didn't return.

Hopefully after Superman Returns this summer it will draw fans to the SV season premiere, but it is up to good writing to keep the new found fans in S6. *Jaime crosses her fingers*

[Watching Smallville]

Yeah -- after the break, we really needed a strong episode to show people there was something to come back to. It should have been the anti-Reckoning: "See, this is why we did what we did." But we got a weak episode, a sleaze plot line, and a final scene that made every single Clana fan angry.

It's little wonder the ratings fell after that.

Let's hope the movie gives the show a boost.

[enamored]

It seems to me that it is the viewers that have invested a lot of themselves into particular favorite characters or ships and feel that they have been let down in some way that have stopped watching.

I guess that I just enjoy the show for what it is without such expectations of the direction the show should go in. My only real expectation was that Clark and Lana would end because Lois is Clark's future.

When viewers expectations are dashed for whatever reason some of them are going to tune out. Now why anyone expected Clana to go one forever is beyond me since the mythos does not have them together in the future. Clearly, it is Clark's destiny to be with Lois eventually so his relationship with Lana was not meant to last. I would have expected Clana shippers to understand this and accept the inevitable break-up.

It is never possible to make everyone happy but I for one am not going to abandon a show just because they didn't write things the way that I feel they should have done it. Even when I'm somewhat disappointed with a show or with the direction they seem to be taking something, I am more interested to see just what they do with it and where it will end up.

To me the show is still lots of fun and I intend to see where it takes us.

[dhacker615]

Originally posted by canon
Yeah, Hypnotic was just really worst episode after a month's hiatus. I'm baffled why Al and Miles went with that kind of storyline. I'm no Clana fan but the way the final breakup was written was completely awful......totally in bad taste.

I think it was a combination of things. They set out with a lot of ambition for this season, but the overall talent level on the writting staff has degraded over time. Almiles haven't written anything themselves all season. Second tier writers like Kelly Souders & Brian Peterson got big episodes, like "Hidden". Rather than making mistakes in filler episodes and FOTW episodes, they made mistakes in big episodes.

The irony is that the continuity (the big problem in prior seasons) has gotten better. Little mistakes started to snow-ball. Take "Hidden" for example, it was a strong episode overall, but after Clark got shot Jor-El point blank said someone was going to die. A little ambiguity on that would've helped in "Reckoning", since Clark pretty much chose to have someone else die in the middle of the episode. On the other hand, Jor-El was a long way from clear about why he did it, or how it worked. That has hurt with Lionel/Jor-El arc. Jor-El has always been portrayed as bad guy just like Lionel, why do two bad guys become one good guy?

By the time "Hypnotic" rolled around things were a total mess. Were Clark & Lana still a couple? Why didn't she believe him? There was no way of knowing.

[canon]

Originally posted by dhacker615
By the time "Hypnotic" rolled around things were a total mess. Were Clark & Lana still a couple? Why didn't she believe him? There was no way of knowing.

You know I really thought Clark-Lana broke up in Reckoning. I was quite surprised that they open Hypnotic with the two of them at the Talon discussing their relationship as if it wasn't over..... a mental lapse on the part of writers I supposed. Smallville ratings slightly declined after Reckoning but still a good number of people were watching it -- a little over 5 million I think, and around 6 million when Cyborg aired. It was post Hypnotic episode that ratings drastically decline with just a little over 4 million watching. :-(

Hope the season finale will bring ratings up.

[dhacker615]

Originally posted by canon
Hope the season finale will bring ratings up.

I think that 'Smallvile' probably gets renewed no matter what, so I just hope that the season finale is good enough that people keep watching into S6. The show still has some life in it.

God forbid, TPTB learn from the heavy slide in the ratings over the course of this year and have milestone episodes that build on top of each other and keep the relationships straight in the filler and FOTW episodes.

Not a lot to ask really. Maybe they could even straighten out a few of the characters on the motivation side.

[Fly by guy]

Last summer, TPTB must have learned something becuase the start of season 5 was great. With syndication assured they did what they wanted for themselves, Lexana. I think season six early on will be watershed time for SV. Either they want to have good numbers and care about the fans or they say, "This is the last season, I've enjoyed all I can stand" and they continue with the just plain awful shows that started after Reckoning. Does anyone go back and watch those shows again, besides Cyborg?
A visually challenged person could hear this ratings fall coming. Lana forgetting 5 years of Lex's crap.
This season doesn't need another meteror shower. The ratings can be the substitute instead. Hey, look out, fans falling by the millions........AHHHHHHHHHHH


Lots of posts this morning, just got around to viewing Oracle. SV just doesn't seem that important anymore. I've got Grey's Anatomy tonite. I'm covered.:\

[Kreukie]

Originally posted by enamored
When viewers expectations are dashed for whatever reason some of them are going to tune out. Now why anyone expected Clana to go one forever is beyond me since the mythos does not have them together in the future. Clearly, it is Clark's destiny to be with Lois eventually so his relationship with Lana was not meant to last. I would have expected Clana shippers to understand this and accept the inevitable break-up.



See, you don't get it.

What upsets Clana shippers is that Smallville was meant to be about Clark's life in Smallville, his time before Superman, Lois, the Daily Planet...ect.

Lana has always played a big role in that timeline in Clark's life.

But now they brought Lois in and now every other episode we're beated over the head that Lois is the one and Lana isn't.

Why is it such a need for Clois to be so over foreshadowed and Clana to be broken up, when Clois doesn't happen anytime soon and we're still in the timeline where Lana has her biggest role in Clark's life?

This is like if the productors of Lois & Clark had in Lana for 13 episodes for two seasons and everytime she's was on the series we're beated over the head about her past with Clark.

So they don't pair Clois as quickly as they could have, because they want to continue doing flashbacks to something that happened 10 years ago between Clark and Lana.

Then when fans start complaining about it, we'll have people such as yourself saying "I don't get it, why are all the Clois fans so upset over the fact Clois aren't together yet? You guys should know they're destiny to be together."

Then Clois fans will be like "You're missing the point, this timeline is about Clois, not Clark and Lana, why are we being informed about something we already know has already happened? Why can't they just put Clois together like they should be already at this point in the story, why are they lagging when it comes to pairing them up?"

Clana fans are saying the same thing, just what's the rush in breaking Clana up when Clois doesn't happen anytime soon?

Do you understand why Clana fans are so turned off by the series at this point?:confused:

Also doesn't help that they're pairing Lana up with Clark's Foe when Lana has never ever shown interest in Lex in that way until recently out of nowhere, so soon after her break-up with the man she loved with all of her heart. :rolleyes:

A lot Clana fans, are Lana fans sometimes before Clana fans. So when you go screwing with her character, you going screwing with a lot Clana fans.

So there's a lot more to why Clana fans are upset with this seires besides the Clana break-up.

[enamored]

I personally have liked the Lana/Clark pairing up. I think that they have great chemistry together but I'm not a shipper of any kind.

I figured that we have already had five seasons of Clark's obsession with Lana and feel that it was more than time for something different. The unfortunate fact of TV is that when a couple that viewers have rooted for finally get together it usually spells the end of their relationship or the end of the show. It is the anticipation of the relationship that catches the viewer's interest. Once the relationship is cemented it apparently becomes boring. Just look at TV history---Sam and Diane on Cheers, Lois and Clark on Lois & Clark, Tony & Angela on Who's the Boss, etc.--all of these pairings becoming permanent spelled the end of the shows.

On Smallville, there had already been so much back and forth with Clark & Lana. I think most viewers were ready for some kind of conclusion to the relationship--either stay together for real or break up entirely. If they had remained together I think that their relationship would have hindered the possibility of Clark fulfilling his destiny because he would always be worrying about whether his actions might cause Lana harm. And again, would viewers lose interest in a happy couple as they have in the past?

As for the whole Lexana thing. Who better for Lana to turn to. Although she has not always trusted Lex, he has at times been her mentor and advisor. Additionally, Lana has just had her heart ripped out by Clark. She has always sought approval on some level and probably needs that now more than ever. She already knows that Lex has feelings for her. Who better to stroke her ego. Not only that but the encounter with the spaceship profoundly affected Lana and Lex is as eager to get to the bottom of it as she is. They have a common cause so it's not really out of nowhere.

[dhacker615]

Originally posted by enamored
I personally have liked the Lana/Clark pairing up. I think that they have great chemistry together but I'm not a shipper of any kind.

I figured that we have already had five seasons of Clark's obsession with Lana and feel that it was more than time for something different. The unfortunate fact of TV is that when a couple that viewers have rooted for finally get together it usually spells the end of their relationship or the end of the show. It is the anticipation of the relationship that catches the viewer's interest. Once the relationship is cemented it apparently becomes boring. Just look at TV history---Sam and Diane on Cheers, Lois and Clark on Lois & Clark, Tony & Angela on Who's the Boss, etc.--all of these pairings becoming permanent spelled the end of the shows.


Here's the difference between SV and the shows you mentioned, SV is a sci-fi/action show. The ships are what makes the show fresh and different, but they aren't the absolute core of the show. On any given FOTW episode, it hardly matters if Clark is single, or Clark is with Lana, or Lana is with Lex, or whatever combination you'd like. The writers just need to keep it straight and throw a scene in to give you a nod that way.

The big mistake SV made was in S3, IMO. After they paired up Clark & Lana at the end of S2 they should've left it alone for the first 12-15 episodes of the season. The back-and-forth killed a lot of interest in their story. That is why I think they should hook Clark up with a girlfriend for most of S6. It is too late for Lana, but a nice steady relationship would eliminate a lot of the hints, winks and nonesense.

[Watching Smallville]

Originally posted by dhacker615
The big mistake SV made was in S3, IMO. After they paired up Clark & Lana at the end of S2 they should've left it alone for the first 12-15 episodes of the season. The back-and-forth killed a lot of interest in their story. That is why I think they should hook Clark up with a girlfriend for most of S6. It is too late for Lana, but a nice steady relationship would eliminate a lot of the hints, winks and nonesense.
I agree about Season 3, although I loved that season. SV writers have this habit of creating these extreme events that the characters can never really come back from. They blew up Clark's ship and killed Martha's baby. You can't really come back from that. Then they send Clark to Metropolis and turn him into a thief, a loose canon, and a fugitive. You can't really come back from that. Then they give Jonathan heart trouble, and finally they kill him off in Reckoning. They throw these huge events at us that change the tone of the show, change the nature of the characters, and then expect the audience to go along as if we're watching the same show. When we're not.

The right move for season 3 would have been to give Clark and Lana their chance and still do what they did with the mythos and the FOTWs. And lose irresponsible/Red-K Clark who killed his mom's baby and gave his dad heart disease.

[dhacker615]

Originally posted by Watching Smallville
The right move for season 3 would have been to give Clark and Lana their chance and still do what they did with the mythos and the FOTWs. And lose irresponsible/Red-K Clark who killed his mom's baby and gave his dad heart disease.

I agree with most of what you said. Season 3 was overall my favorite so far, but they took "Exodus" and "Exile" a bit too far. I get that Clark was being tempted by the proverbial Dark Side, but that was a bit much. The accident that killed the baby was never raised after "Exodus", which was the start of a bad trend. Althoigh none of that bugged me as much as turning Supergirl into a throw-away FOTW in "Covenant".

As the show moves into Season 6, they really need to move off the soap opera a bit and focus on making the mythos coherent and having scary, sci-fi driven episodes again. The irony is that I think the best way to do that is to give Clark a stable girlfriend for a while. They blew their chance with Lana is S3, which hurt this season IMO. The break-up drama was too much the same thing again. I really believe it too soon for Lois and it runs the risk of being more 'secrects' driven nonsense. In the current cast, that leaves Chloe.

I've been banging this drum pretty hard lately, but I really think it is a good idea. For one thing, it makes Chloe a bit less of a pure plot device (a real weakness this year). For another, it reduces the temptation for her to be such a Mary Sue. I think the writers really don't want Chloe to fade into the background and become a blonde Pete, so they have made her super-skilled. If she is Clark's girlfriend, then the pressure to keep her involved falls off. He can chat with her about whatever exposition he needs to disscuss in bed, or over breakfast, or where-ever. It is only been one season and they've over-played the little Daily Planet set. Finally, it puts some pressure on to move the Lois story along. With no Clois hints to drop, then maybe they'll try to put the current muffin peddling drop-out/political guru on her path toward being the Lois that Superman fans know and love.

They've covered a lot of the classic 'Superboy' ground to one degree or another. I wasn't a fan of what they did with Krypto, but at least they touched on it. The one piece they haven't touched on is the Legion of Super-Heroes. Like Brainiac, that strikes me as a potential whole season worth of plot. They know Clark's whole future, they have distinct powers and their own threats. The additional virtue is that they are pretty obscure, so most viewers wouldn't immediately know who the chick with the mind-reading powers is.

I think that dense stories are hard to do when Clark is single. I am not a fan of the Lexana, but if that is the new status quo it is better to leave it alone. The focus on the prospect of a new ship, a break-up, or a back-slide takes up too much time and/or energy. The show needs a new status quo that makes sense after the events of the first five seasons.

[warriorrenegade]

Originally posted by dhacker615
I agree with most of what you said. Season 3 was overall my favorite so far, but they took "Exodus" and "Exile" a bit too far. I get that Clark was being tempted by the proverbial Dark Side, but that was a bit much. The accident that killed the baby was never raised after "Exodus", which was the start of a bad trend. Althoigh none of that bugged me as much as turning Supergirl into a throw-away FOTW in "Covenant".

As the show moves into Season 6, they really need to move off the soap opera a bit and focus on making the mythos coherent and having scary, sci-fi driven episodes again. The irony is that I think the best way to do that is to give Clark a stable girlfriend for a while. They blew their chance with Lana is S3, which hurt this season IMO. The break-up drama was too much the same thing again. I really believe it too soon for Lois and it runs the risk of being more 'secrects' driven nonsense. In the current cast, that leaves Chloe.

I've been banging this drum pretty hard lately, but I really think it is a good idea. For one thing, it makes Chloe a bit less of a pure plot device (a real weakness this year). For another, it reduces the temptation for her to be such a Mary Sue. I think the writers really don't want Chloe to fade into the background and become a blonde Pete, so they have made her super-skilled. If she is Clark's girlfriend, then the pressure to keep her involved falls off. He can chat with her about whatever exposition he needs to disscuss in bed, or over breakfast, or where-ever. It is only been one season and they've over-played the little Daily Planet set. Finally, it puts some pressure on to move the Lois story along. With no Clois hints to drop, then maybe they'll try to put the current muffin peddling drop-out/political guru on her path toward being the Lois that Superman fans know and love.

They've covered a lot of the classic 'Superboy' ground to one degree or another. I wasn't a fan of what they did with Krypto, but at least they touched on it. The one piece they haven't touched on is the Legion of Super-Heroes. Like Brainiac, that strikes me as a potential whole season worth of plot. They know Clark's whole future, they have distinct powers and their own threats. The additional virtue is that they are pretty obscure, so most viewers wouldn't immediately know who the chick with the mind-reading powers is.

I think that dense stories are hard to do when Clark is single. I am not a fan of the Lexana, but if that is the new status quo it is better to leave it alone. The focus on the prospect of a new ship, a break-up, or a back-slide takes up too much time and/or energy. The show needs a new status quo that makes sense after the events of the first five seasons.

I agree with the statements on Chloe. They really need to take advantage of her character popularity before they destroy it(plotdevice) . Here lately I've been thinking "What if they have her move into the field of Law enforcement" I feel its a natrual progression for her. Shes always helping Clark with "cases" and maybe shes inspired by Clark to find her true calling. I know shes a reporter, its been her dream ever since a little girl, but what if she becomes that reporter and finds out its not what shes wanted to do. Its become mundane. It doesn't have the same excitement it once had. Then we'd have Clark go on and continue toward his daily planet future. Lois will follow and rest is history.

[SmallvilleMan]

Hey Al/Miles glad you enjoy the lexana, it only cost you abotu 2 millions people in ratings, but hey it was worth it. Right?:rolleyes: Playing Clana right would have been a key in keeping the ratings up. Killing Clana the way they did, also killed Lana and Clark.

[tmkfan]

Originally posted by dhacker615

That is why I think they should hook Clark up with a girlfriend for most of S6. It is too late for Lana, but a nice steady relationship would eliminate a lot of the hints, winks and nonesense. [/B]

Thats not gonna help in any way! for starters everyone will get mad, only the people that watch for the Mythos will be happy with this, but all of the shippers will get mad they hooked up Clark with a totally different girl. Plus if Clark cant tell Lana his secret, hes not gonna tell anyone else either. It wouldnt make any sense.

[dhacker615]

Originally posted by tmkfan
Thats not gonna help in any way! for starters everyone will get mad, only the people that watch for the Mythos will be happy with this, but all of the shippers will get mad they hooked up Clark with a totally different girl. Plus if Clark cant tell Lana his secret, hes not gonna tell anyone else either. It wouldnt make any sense.

I agree that the various ship fans would freak out if they introduced a new female lead. However, they need to do two things in Season 6:
1. Tell a major plot heavy story that ties into the Superman mythos and advances Clark toward his destiny.
2. Clean-up the mess they've made of Lana and the Clana relationship.

I have addressed why I think #1 would be well served by a new GF for Clark. However, #2 is a real problem, since I don't think anyone wants to see Clark & Lana in round 3 as a couple. However, it is a major part of the series and it didn't get a chance to end with much respect. In other words, they need to have Clark and Lana playing scenes together without much risk of a back-slide. I don't think the Lexana serves that purpose.

So, you need a female character to be the new GF. To avoid another round of the played out "Secret & Lies", it needs to be someone who knows Clark's true nature. To avoid an outright revolt from the shippers, it should be a character that is popular on her own terms. To avoid an outright revolt from the fans of the cannon, Lois shouldn't be the person prior to their time together at the Daily Planet, which at least five years in the future.

Luckily, the show has a character who fits that description perfectly: Chloe.

Even better, it makes sense from a character stand-point. Chloe has always had a crush on Clark, but he has never shown much interest back. However, after getting his head kicked in by a needy, unstable Lana for five years, it makes sense that he would look for the most stable person he can find.

[SmallvilleMan]

1. Tell a major plot heavy story that ties into the Superman mythos and advances Clark toward his destiny

That's what Clana should be doing, advancing Clark toward his destiny. If they played Clana the way it should have been, then it would have lead him to his destiny, instead of sending him back the way they did it.

Chloe wouldn't be a good option IMO, because he has shown nothing toward her but friendship. She's his friend and nothing more. And as the way Clana has been played out, would only be a rebound to Clark.

[myankskent]

I still don't think that Lana has held Clark back from his destiny. I don't think you can blame Lana any more than you can blame Jonathan and Martha. It's Clark's decisions to either listen to and respect JorEl or not. It's not like Lana is saying, "no Clark, you can't talk to JorEL because you need to be by my side every second of the day."

[SmallvilleMan]

I still don't think that Lana has held Clark back from his destiny. I don't think you can blame Lana any more than you can blame Jonathan and Martha. It's Clark's decisions to either listen to and respect JorEl or not. It's not like Lana is saying, "no Clark, you can't talk to JorEL because you need to be by my side every second of the day."

I was talking about what the writers did, not anything Lana did in general or should I say purposely. All Clark has been doing ever since reckoning, is moan, whine and sulk over his decision. Now this whole lexana thing, you can see the guilt in his eyes. If Lana had stayed with him, it would probably would have been different, because he would have had one less thing to worry about. In fact, he probably would be trying harder to protect Lana

[dhacker615]

Originally posted by SmallvilleMan
That's what Clana should be doing, advancing Clark toward his destiny. If they played Clana the way it should have been, then it would have lead him to his destiny, instead of sending him back the way they did it.

Chloe wouldn't be a good option IMO, because he has shown nothing toward her but friendship. She's his friend and nothing more. And as the way Clana has been played out, would only be a rebound to Clark.

So, what is wrong with a rebound? That doesn't happen in real life? Can't rebounds last for months, or even years? Isn't there drama in watching something like that?

I don't get the objection.

[myankskent]

Originally posted by SmallvilleMan
I was talking about what the writers did, not anything Lana did in general or should I say purposely. All Clark has been doing ever since reckoning, is moan, whine and sulk over his decision. Now this whole lexana thing, you can see the guilt in his eyes. If Lana had stayed with him, it would probably would have been different, because he would have had one less thing to worry about. In fact, he probably would be trying harder to protect Lana

I agree with that, but still, even if Clark was moping around, if there was a major threat, he'd have to deal with it. The moping around is just something used as filler so the writers don't have to make Clark do incredible things all of the time.

[SmallvilleMan]

So, what is wrong with a rebound? That doesn't happen in real life? Can't rebounds last for months, or even years? Isn't there drama in watching something like that?

Rebounds don't last for months and they sure as heck don't last for years. That's why they're rebounds, they don't mean anything and certainly don't last long. Because sooner or later you realize why you're here. I don't see the drama in watching Clark go with Chloe on the rebound. I don't see the fun in Clark going through the motions as Chloe grows more and more in love with him, only for him to break her heart. I don't see the fun in watching Lana give envy eyes to them either. Haven't there been enough rebound boyfriend and girlfriends?


I agree with that, but still, even if Clark was moping around, if there was a major threat, he'd have to deal with it. The moping around is just something used as filler so the writers don't have to make Clark do incredible things all of the time.

There's been a major threat ever since hypnotic and I don't see him doing anything with it. Fine was been out there for a while now and I don't see Clark doing anything worth while about it. Like, oh I don't know, going to seee Jor-el, who seems to know everything.

[Watching Smallville]

Originally posted by SmallvilleMan
Rebounds don't last for months and they sure as heck don't last for years. That's why they're rebounds, they don't mean anything and certainly don't last long.
This isn't true. Some rebounds end in marriage.

I'd like to see this show change its focus from ships to mythos. That's what's interesting about the show. If SV would move ahead with Clark's development and keep whatever ship it decides to do in the background, I think the show would do better.

[SmallvilleMan]

This isn't true. Some rebounds end in marriage.

Not from what I've seen, but to his, his own.


I'd like to see this show change its focus from ships to mythos. That's what's interesting about the show. If SV would move ahead with Clark's development and keep whatever ship it decides to do in the background, I think the show would do better.

Clana would have done that, but oh well.......:\

[myankskent]

Originally posted by Watching Smallville
This isn't true. Some rebounds end in marriage.

I'd like to see this show change its focus from ships to mythos. That's what's interesting about the show. If SV would move ahead with Clark's development and keep whatever ship it decides to do in the background, I think the show would do better.

Well this will never happen. Al/Miles need their ships because they like to watch shipper scenes over and over again on their dvd players.

[SmallvilleMan]

I wonder if season 7 will be the creation of Chlana? I mean, why not? They've already screwed up the ratings enough, why not live the dream?

[myankskent]

I've heard rumblings that the big climax of season 6 is a pentagon between Clark, Lex, Lana and Chloe with Shelby being the fifth. Apparently Shelby is really upset being only featured in split second scenes where he is seen lying on the floor in a corner. Al/Miles feel bad so they are going to throw him in there. Of course, you might be asking why Lois isn't going to be featured in the pentagon to make it a hexagon but the answer there is that she is going to try and get it on with Lionel confusing the whole Mionel situation as well.

[SmallvilleMan]

Come on, I want the Lana, Lois and Chloe triangle. LIVE THE DREAM!

[Watching Smallville]

Originally posted by SmallvilleMan
Not from what I've seen, but to his, his own.
I know cases. Happy marriages, too.

Originally posted by myankskent
Well this will never happen. Al/Miles need their ships because they like to watch shipper scenes over and over again on their dvd players.
Sadly, I fear you may be right. :lol:

[dhacker615]

Originally posted by myankskent
Well this will never happen. Al/Miles need their ships because they like to watch shipper scenes over and over again on their dvd players.

The ships served a purpose once upon a time. Do you remember "Forsaken"?

I rewatched the other day and it reminded how good SV could be. Lana was leaving, so Clark had a big choice to make about his secret. He felt like he was being ... foresaken. The whole episode turned on the theme. Emily Dinsmore came back for the suspense/action stuff. Lionel and Lex had their major rift. But Pete proved to be the key, since he showed Clark that telling his secret wouldn't fix everything.

It was a great episode in retrospect, but it didn't seem like it at the time. Because almost every episode was that good in Season 2 & 3. The problem isn't the ships anymore than it is the FOTWs. The problem is that TPTB got lazy and started taking the fans for granted.

[CK&CK]

Originally posted by Watching Smallville
I know cases. Happy marriages, too.




That's because people who are obsessed with someone....will not allow their feelings to deepen for any else other than the person they want. If Erica D's Lois had been there in place of Chloe.....it would have been the same exact thing........(Crazy as Clark is to pass up a body like Lois' to be with a thin Lana)......but if he had allowed those feelings to deepen for another (like with Chloe at the Spring formal)....... then whether it was with Chloe or even Lois.....it would have been...."See ya' Later Lana!". And I've seen things like this happen (and on more than one occasion).....so no one can convince me otherwise. A cousin of mine couldn't believe that she almost lost someone special to just such a situation. Me.....I'd like to see that happen to Chloe......but in the end (and to remain faithfull to mythos as he does end up with Lois)....I'd rather see Chloe (due to her mom's illness) be the girl that got away.........Man....Lucky for that idiot Clark that Chloe and her cousin are so much alike.....that stupid BDA.....He doesn't deserve that kind of luck.


*I just saw this Animated Superman episode and thought the writting was just so cool......Superman pretending to be Batman.....and with side kick Robin no less.......Gotta Love it!
----------------------------------------------
Brainiac to Superman (who happens to be disguised as Batman, from "Knight Time" The Animated Adventures of Superman).

Brainic - "I suspected that we might meet Batman. You are every bit the detective that your followers on the Internet believe"

Batman(Clark in Batman disguise) - " I can't allow you to leave"

Brainic - "What you allow does not concern me....while your deductive skills are impressive.....you are still only human"

Brainic, with his powers, begins to blast Batman with Deadly force. But man......is Old Brainy Boy in for a big surprise.

[Old Juan]

Lucky for that idiot Clark that Chloe and her cousin are so much alike.....that stupid BDA.....He doesn't deserve that kind of luck.

But Lois isn't like Chloe.

[Fly by guy]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by SmallvilleMan
[B]Rebounds don't last for months and they sure as heck don't last for years. That's why they're rebounds, they don't mean anything and certainly don't last long.

Sorry to disagree. I know of rebounds that ended in marriages that lasted over 10 years because neither side would admit the obvious mistake. People can be married and still not have much of a life together.

Back to the Oracle ratings. Just plain awful. All the regular viewers knew it was the lead-in for the finale and yet the ratings are down 2 million from Cyborg. Heavy mythos and stars usually bring in the ratings, Aqua and Solitude too, but James has been so misused, under promoted with slow methodical air time.
Let the stories flow, open up some kickass for those fans, let all the characters explode on the screen instead of riding the walking escalator.

Kill Lexana, dump Choe's super hacker powers, make Lionel the MB he has always been and make the scenes between Clark and Lex be more powerful, not high school poorboy babies that we keep seeing. Is Lex evil? Can Clark do anything himself? Did Lana have a labotomy?
Qestions that should have been answered in time to save the season, but it's the two minute warning and the coaches haven't come out of the locker room since half time. A golden opportunity this season to score and the quarterback got sacked, again.
:( I thought last season was frustrating, this tops it easily.

[xrayvision]

I think this season has been much more watchable than last season. Last season was ridiculously filled with 'ships. This season started off well, then tanked, but still wasn't nearly as bad. I could have done without Aqua (more of a ship episode than 1 dealing with a future superhero), Tomb, and Fragile. I liked Fanatic & Lockdown. The best ones were Arrival, Mortal, Hidden, Splinter, Solitude (my favorite), Cyborg, Mercy, and Oracle (so far). I also liked Void, Fade, and Lexmas. Thirst wasn't that bad as a filler, Exposed could have been much better (Wopat was underused). Vengeance could have been much stronger. Hypnotic was good for me since it ended something that we all knew would never be, and something that was really holding the show back. Reckoning was an exciting episode, but had bad results with the death of Jonathan Kent, a character many loved and didn't like seeing killed off. The problem with the episode was that they had the 1st half. As nice as it was to see Clark tell Lana the secret, it should have never happened like that since it wasn't meant to be, and it just pissed off fans even more when they went back to her not being told again. That was just stupid.

But I could watch S5 all over again much easier than I could ever watch S4. Episodes like Ageless, Recruit, Krypto, Lucy, Facade, Gone, and more were just bad and didn't do anything for the show.

[canon]

Originally posted by xrayvision
But I could watch S5 all over again much easier than I could ever watch S4. Episodes like Ageless, Recruit, Krypto, Lucy, Facade, Gone, and more were just bad and didn't do anything for the show.

Yeah I agree. Season 5 for me was great too. Enjoyed all the episodes except for Tomb, Thirst, Hypnotic. Hypnotic was just sleazy storyline for me even though I was glad it finally ended the relationship for good (that is if the writers really mean it).

[dhacker615]

Originally posted by xrayvision
But I could watch S5 all over again much easier than I could ever watch S4. Episodes like Ageless, Recruit, Krypto, Lucy, Facade, Gone, and more were just bad and didn't do anything for the show.

There wasn't anything nearly as bad as 'Ageless', but there wasn't anything nearly as good as 'Crusade' either. I'd take the Top 5 episodes from S4 over the Top 5 from S5. However, I would take a random episode from S5 over a random episode from S4 any day. As bad as it has gotten at times, TPTB have made some strides forward on issues, like continuity and slowly bringing in key elements from the Superman mythos.

Here were the lowlights:
- Hypnotic. Just a slap in the face.
- Fanatic. Interesting premise with a poor execution (i.e. Lois is suddenly a Campaign Manager ???)
- Fragile. The worst FOTW story of the season. More absurd Lois-related stuff. TW had a hard time directing himself.

[CK&CK]

Originally posted by Old Juan
But Lois isn't like Chloe.
Thanks Old Juan......you made me realize that I didn't really explain this well. But then again.....I never said that they were twins. To me....they are the cousins who are really sisters....and they do have moments where they are very much alike (the ones that pop to mind at the moment are the scenes where they're munching on cereal in the dorm, finishing the same deductive sentence "exactly" [from...."Devoted"], or flashing that Journalistic/Investigative side ("Exposed"and "Facade" for example). Although, Lois' skills tend to be buried a litte deep inside her at the moment. But as people go, they are both sweet, caring, and emotional deep down.....Lois' side of this isn't actually buried that deep......it's just her loud side tends to hide it a lot.

I also think I may have been thinking of Chloe in terms of being a lot of what Lois Lane will eventually become. Of course, and despite the fact that they are family, the two main differences (that I see) between the two are that Chloe is more the Deductive/Detective/Reporter orientated type of girl....where as Lois, at the moment, is more the Abrasive.....jump into the thick of things before she looks... type of girl..... at the moment.....ahhh, whom am I kidding....she'll always be jumping into the thick of things.......So just like Chloe insinuated in "Pariah".....LOIS IS NOT SUBTLE. I can see why she will need saving a lot by Supey in the future. Yeah, this side of Lois will logically be her strength and yet weakness at the same time. But the plus side is that it will give Supey a lot to do.


Originally posted by Fly by guy
[QUOTE]Originally posted by SmallvilleMan
[B]Rebounds don't last for months and they sure as heck don't last for years. That's why they're rebounds, they don't mean anything and certainly don't last long.

Sorry to disagree. I know of rebounds that ended in marriages that lasted over 10 years because neither side would admit the obvious mistake. People can be married and still not have much of a life together.



I've seen what you say....and I've seen the opposite (people happily in love).....so it only proves to me that anything is possible as far as rebounds go.......but I still would prefer it to be a slow developing process between Chloe & Clark.....the slower it proceeds....the less of a "rebound" debate it will become. After all, if we think about it......Clark couldn't stand Lois for most of seasons 4 & 5....but we all know how that will turn out. As in life.....things change.....( Clark will always care about Lana...especially on this show).....but things do and will change. If some fans prefer for it not to happen....that's cool......but I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to assume that it will automatically be a rebound.....otherwise.....technically and years into the future....Lois is simply a rebound to.


As far as the ratings, why does everyone talk like 6 million is the norm......like as soon as the show hits 6.2 or 6.4 million it's got to stay there or the ratings are going bad. There's really a lot of things to consider as far as the ratings.....but firstly....I don't judge it by 6 million. It's like running the 100 yard dash and expecting to do your "All Time Best" or better every single time. It's just not realistic. For some reason (and this is not scientific) I keep thinking that anything around or near 5 million is great. I do think that some people did jump ship because the Smallville Love Boat sailed against their wishes. I also find it interesting that the more (Hero/Mythos) based episodes are what push Smallville over 6 million. It's also funny that for the most part (from Ratings in millions from "Devoted to Smallville" site)...the up/down "pattern" for the ratings from episode to episode as compared to last year.....seems to be about the same (with the exception of a few key episodes like the 100th episode).

[Fly by guy]

^^^^^
And last years numbers were DOWN!! That is why everyone was so excited early on that numbers were back up.
To see how far they have fallen. Compare Rossetta 7.8 million(#17 episode) to season 4 (#17) Onyx 3.9 million, and then season 5 (#17) Void 4.2 million. The .3 raise from seaon 4 to 5 is nothing but the fall of nearly 4 million is huge. Of course, Rosetta was a landmark episode, but what about Slumber 6.9 season 3 highest episode?Season 4 highest Devoted 6.2, Season 5 so far Aqua 6.4.

So if Aqua, Reckoning, and Cyborg can get over the 6 million hump, why do they have so many episodes in the last half of season 5 in the low 4 million range?
Hypnotic, Fragile, Mercy, and Fade had NOTHING going for them to bring back fans after Reckoning. Oracle as the Vessel leadin should have done in the mid to high five million range.
If Vessel doesn't break the 6.0 number, it bodes poorly for hope that SV fans can expect next season to recapture those fans lost AGAIN with absolutely no excuse but writing that couldn't care less about the characters or fans.

[dhacker615]

Originally posted by Fly by guy
^^^^^
And last years numbers were DOWN!! That is why everyone was so excited early on that numbers were back up.
To see how far they have fallen. Compare Rossetta 7.8 million(#17 episode) to season 4 (#17) Onyx 3.9 million, and then season 5 (#17) Void 4.2 million. The .3 raise from seaon 4 to 5 is nothing but the fall of nearly 4 million is huge. Of course, Rosetta was a landmark episode, but what about Slumber 6.9 season 3 highest episode?

I think "Slumber" is a telling example of why the ratings fall has happened, actually.

It was the fourth episode of season 3 and the first three had all been pretty good (Exile, Phoenix and Extinction). Clark and Lana had finally gotten together at the end of Season 2. Clark broke up with her in 'Phoenix' in an attempt to keep her safe, but everyone knew that it wouldn't last. The episode was heavily promoted with one of the series iconic images, Lana and Clark skinny-dipping in the lake. The ads also implied that maybe there was some kind of X-Files style menace related to the lake.

Sure enough, the episode opened with a great flirty scene at the lake, but then the problems started. You see, the big scene in the lake never really happened .... it was all a dream.

It would've been annoying had it happened just once, but it happened over and over in Season 3. Lex saw Clark use his powers, but in the next episode he had his memory erased, etc. TPTB looked at the slide in the ratings from Season 2 to Season 3 and drew the conclusion that the tone was too dark, but I think it was that fans of the show felt robbed by tuning in to episodes that they thought were going to change the status quo (and in the case of 'Slumber' only slightly), but were really fake-outs.



Season 4 highest Devoted 6.2, Season 5 so far Aqua 6.4.
Devoted followed 'Crusade' and 'Gone', which were exciting episodes. The trailer was a little more honest by making the K-torade part of the promo, but it also featured Chloe wearing nothing but Clark's football jersey in the loft. There was an implication that something was going to happen between them. That might be a hint of where TPTB might want to go to get fan interest going again.

'Aqua' was promoted with a lot of skin from ED and the promise of a very bad Lex. Again, the promise of a sexy episode was the big draw for the season.

Clearly, this isn't rocket science.

Viewers want the ships to focus on the pretty cast members in sexy scenes. They don't want anyone's memory erased, nor any dreams, nor anyone travelling through time to undo anything that just happened. Oh ... and I'm just guessing that a little better continuity would be welcome. Heck, refering to events and returning characters from earlier seasons might even spur DVD sales.

The good news is that none of this is very hard to fix.