Smallville Season 8 Spoilers

So, anyone catch tonight's ep? I actually like the Legion appearance. I think I loved that fact that Chloe got ALL of her memories back, including Clark's secret. I hated that they took that away before the break last month.

I missed it! But I need more spoilers!

I really have a love/hate relationship with this episode.

I'll go ahead and start with the positives:

Overall, it was a good, interesting, engaging episode. I'm not terribly familiar with the Legion outside of the fact that they are from the future and Superman works with them there (and my knowledge of that is mostly from the existence of that recent animated series). I'm otherwise not familiar with the individual characters.

But overall it was still a good episode on it's own. They did some cool things with the Legion characters. And I do like how the conflicts with their knowledge of history and what was history really was/is, was sort of similar to the differences in story and continuity of the Smallville series and the Superman comics (i.e. no record of Chloe, etc.).

And it ended well, with Clark being given the ring, so hopefully we'll see these characters again. It would be pretty awesome to see these Legion charcters show up in an episode with the Justice League characters, and have some kind of ultimate team up happen.

And, I am also glad that Chloe got back her memory.




HOWEVER, onto the negatives:

While I do think the episode was good in-and-of itself, IMO it was actually a very poor choice as the follow-up to the cliffhanger at the end of Chloe's wedding.

Doomsday had just shown up, who is a pretty major villain at this point in Superman history. While it is to be expected to keep any really, really epic battles between Clark and Doomsday until later in the season, I was hoping to see more of him, and specifically Clark and Doomsday fighting some more.

And this wasn't the only issue. Basically, we had this whole story building up from the previous episode, and I'm sitting there ready to see it continue/finish up, and then out of nowhere these guys from the future show up, and it was just handled like the writers randomly pulled this out of their collective ass.

I think the worst part about it was the fact that we didn't actually see the Legion characters time-travel based arrival to the past. But instead, out of nowhere this crazy dude with an Axe materializes out of nothing, and then these Legion characters just suddenly come in from different angles, with no explanation of how they got there or who they were, and it was all very confusing.

And this confusion is amplified by the fact that these characters are pretty obscure in the grand scheme of Superman lore. I have no problem with the makers of this show throwing things in for the comic fans. But, it really needs to be done in a way that makes sense to the general audience who hasn't read the comics.

Odds are most of the non-comic-reading/non-cartoon-watching audience of Smallville has never even heard of the Legion. They just aren't as well known in general as the Justice League. So, to have them pop up out of nowhere, help Clark, and say "Hey, we're from the future and are here to help you!" is just going to seem like a totally random cop-out to most people not familiar with the Legion (at least I would estimate that to be the case).

I think if there had been more of a proper build up, it would have worked better.



Then there's the issue of Chloe's memory. Now, like I said earlier, I am also glad that she got it back.

But, while I thought that it was really, really stupid for them to even have Jor-El erasing that part of her memory in the plot at all, to me the fact that they even bothered doing that only to have her get her memory back THIS QUICKLY is even more stupid! If they're going to erase her memory, then they should at least go somewhere with it. Do more with it. Write in more events that show the awkwardness of Clark and anyone else who knows his secrets when they are around Chloe, having to now treat her like she doesn't know after being so used to the idea that she does now.

That's really been one of the biggest problems with this show. They start to building something up, have a big cliffhanger, and then more often than not they go nowhere with it.

When they first introduced Brainiac and they had him working under the guise of being a college professor and Clark became his student assistant or whatever... that had potential. That had the making for a nice season-long story arc where Clark is working as his assistant, and then gradually discovers the truth about him. But NOPE! They burst that bubble within a couple of episodes, then did just a little bit more with Brainiac before having him basically disappear for most of the rest of the season save for a few brief appearances here and there.

And often times they end the season on a Cliffhanger, often involving some major character from the Superman comics being brought into the mix, only for them to come to their demise in a most anti-climatic way during the following season's premiere.

Yes, this season has been better overall than the past few, and this Chloe issue isn't as big of a deal as some of these other past examples. But it still shows that despite what has improved within the show, these writers still don't quite know how to build up to something and then properly pay it off.

I watched it today. I really liked it! My favorite moments where all the alluding to the ridiculous of the show itself. Like, the Legion not knowing about Chloe and Clark not being able to fly. PLus... Did you see Cosmic Boy! SMG! He was perfect!

Maybe more so than Justin Hartley (green arrow)!!

Originally Posted by Dynamo of Eternia

I really have a love/hate relationship with this episode.




I think the worst part about it was the fact that we didn't actually see the Legion characters time-travel based arrival to the past. But instead, out of nowhere this crazy dude with an Axe materializes out of nothing, and then these Legion characters just suddenly come in from different angles, with no explanation of how they got there or who they were, and it was all very confusing.

And this confusion is amplified by the fact that these characters are pretty obscure in the grand scheme of Superman lore. I have no problem with the makers of this show throwing things in for the comic fans. But, it really needs to be done in a way that makes sense to the general audience who hasn't read the comics.

Odds are most of the non-comic-reading/non-cartoon-watching audience of Smallville has never even heard of the Legion. They just aren't as well known in general as the Justice League. So, to have them pop up out of nowhere, help Clark, and say "Hey, we're from the future and are here to help you!" is just going to seem like a totally random cop-out to most people not familiar with the Legion (at least I would estimate that to be the case).

I think if there had been more of a proper build up, it would have worked better.

I didn't find it confusing at all. You see him appear out of a portal. then they show up. then they take the ring off of him and he goes back. So anyone could assume they showed up the same way and the ring was the way they did it. Even if they didn't explain it. As for non comic readers not knowing who they are............ They explain that pretty well.. If a person pays attention they will know who they are.

I remember when I saw the preview to this episode, when I saw the "dots" on the guy's jacket, I instantly knew that the Legion was coming.

Overall, I thought it was a nice episode, nothing special, but I got a big kick out of it when I saw it'd been written by Geoff Johns.

But I'm not entirely convinced that Chloe did regain her knowledge of Clark's powers. I personally liked the idea of her knowing.

I enjoyed this episode for what it was. While I'm not a big Legion fan myself, I did like their representation on the show. (Lightning Lad was just as annoying)

While I agree that the Doomsday appearance & Chloe memory elements were "resolved" too quickly, people seem to forget that that's been one of Smallville's biggest weaknesses since Season 1. Their pacing has always been very inconsistent, and they always feel the need to return everything to "normal" by the end of every episode.

While I'm glad Chloe got her memories back, like many others, I would have liked to see her go a while longer without them. It would have made for an interesting scene(s) for her to have a conversation with Lana or Ollie about Clark's powers/abilities/secret, not knowing what the heck they were talking about. Speaking of which, I've made no secret my disdain for Lana the past 3 or so seasons, but I will say they seem to be doing a better job with her character this year. (At least in regards to her position on Clark's importance to the world - I'm still not sold on her whole secret assassin thing she's doing)

Either way, this season has been much better than the last few. Here's hoping that IF the show gets renewed for a 9th season, the quality continues to improve....

Just finishing up the season seven box set. Three more eps and then I will watch the new one and join in discussion

Season 9 negotiations in the works?

http://tv.ign.com/articles/946/946416p1.html

Originally Posted by Skullface

Season 9 negotiations in the works?

http://tv.ign.com/articles/946/946416p1.html

that is awsome news

Originally Posted by Hoosfn

that is awsome news

I cannot believe that this show has been on for 8, almost 9 seasons!
I remember when it started. I kinda hated it. Now it has totally become a guilty pleasure, since passions is over I have to have some ridiculousness in my life!

Zatanna makes her debut this season - and she's REALLY hot!

http://tv.ign.com/articles/947/947292p1.html

Originally Posted by illicitjedi

I cannot believe that this show has been on for 8, almost 9 seasons!
I remember when it started. I kinda hated it. Now it has totally become a guilty pleasure, since passions is over I have to have some ridiculousness in my life!

I can't believe I actually watched Passions for two seasons until Y & R saved me from the absurdity.


Bulletproof was an okay episode of Smallville, but it could have done without the Clana moment at the end. But, from the spoilers I've heard about, it is sounding more and more that Lana's short guest stint could very well be the final death knell of Clana forever. That will be something to fully rejoice about.

Originally Posted by Hordak Alpha

I can't believe I actually watched Passions for two seasons until Y & R saved me from the absurdity.


Bulletproof was an okay episode of Smallville, but it could have done without the Clana moment at the end. But, from the spoilers I've heard about, it is sounding more and more that Lana's short guest stint could very well be the final death knell of Clana forever. That will be something to fully rejoice about.

2 years! I watched it for 8 years! I wrote this article about it when it ended that was on out in america. lol.

I really enjoyed Lana's fight scene. I thought it was going to be horrible when it started, but was pleasantly surprised.
Doesn't she play chun-li or something??

Originally Posted by illicitjedi

2 years! I watched it for 8 years! I wrote this article about it when it ended that was on out in america. lol.

I really enjoyed Lana's fight scene. I thought it was going to be horrible when it started, but was pleasantly surprised.
Doesn't she play chun-li or something??

Yes, she does, as far as I know. Something tells me Kristin Kreuk is definitely going to be happy to move away from the character of Lana. I'll just be happy that Clana will finally be over after eight years, however it would only be about two and a half years for me since I've only been watching the show on a regular basis since season six. I have, however, caught reruns of the previous seasons of Smallville and didn't care for them all too much. Season six caught my interest when they were FINALLY showing glimmers of Clark becoming the kind of person he was meant to be instead of farm boy who doesn't advance anywhere in life.

Have to catch up on this, as I've been busy the last few weeks, and haven't watched since it came back, but I just read online that tomorrow's episode features the debut of Toy Man.