Swimmer and Slavkin leave 'Smallville'

The recent Lana arc has shit all over that. Just how few weeks are going to pass before Clark goes from breaking the bed with Lana and almost killing himself so he can kiss her to being all in love with Lois again. And I say again, because they'd made good progress (particularly Lois had) up to Chloe's wedding when Lana returned.

 

Two more producers...and leaving to do an updated version of Melrose Place! Damn...if the CW isn't careful...I'm surprised they haven't imploded upon themselves with all of these teen-centric shows that somehow seem to generate decent raitings to warrant making them. I really want the series to have a grand series finale (I think I read in a TV Guide interview with that Ausrillo dude who gets all the scoops that the prdoucers have a big grand finale planned if they're not green lit on a ninth season) rather than another long drawn out and completely unneccessary season with an aging cast. NX hasn't turned his back on Smallville...he's just gone and jumped on a more interesting show called The Sarah Conner Chronicles, I don't blame him as I plan on going there after this season of Smallville has concluded.

 

I don't care what happens, I will be with Smallville as long as it goes on. It's just Smallville man.

 

Is that why they called that FF Miniseries a few years back "Big Town"?

 

Smallville is like a cockroach. It will survive a nuclear holocaust. I bet it exists on the Planet of the Apes. With a time-lost Tom Welling still refusing to wear the tights.

"I am not Superman! You damned dirty apes!"

 

QFT.

What they've done with the Lana arc has destroyed the credibility of Lois/Clark. If I was dating someone and they pulled that shit on me I'd never speak to them again.

For Clark to suddenly do a 180 and decide that Lois is the love of his life does not indicate maturity, it indicates an emotional adolescent whose feelings are all over the place.

They didn't do a thing to wrap up Clana in terms of the previous 7 seasons. Clark is still madly in love with her, nothing is wrapped up, nothing is changed, she is just disappeared again for the umteenth time, this is just something we have seen before, and Bizarro could just as easily resurface next week and suck the kryptonite out of her. Mind you I would pay admission to watch that...

The way to wrap up the Clana mess of the last few seasons would have been for Clark to realize that he cares about Lana but doesn't love her anymore. That he's moved on and grown up and doesn't see her as absolute perfection anymore. They've missed that chance. Lois is nothing but a second choice rebound chic, and that is an awful way to do the story.

 

But Clark and Lois weren't dating. They were just beginning to notice that there was an attraction between them, and were on the verge of a first kiss when Lana showed up.

This is speculating ahead of the evidence. Why assume there will be anything sudden about it? Why assume the producers of this show actually intend to make Lois and Clark an actual couple during the run of this series, or at least this season? It's a well-known trope that when a series is built around Unresolved Sexual Tension between the leads, it can be fatal to actually make them a couple. Countless shows have followed the pattern of keeping the potential couple at arm's length, always drawn to each other but never acting on it. Whenever such a couple is on the verge of admitting their love, something happens that pushes them apart and prolongs the unresolved tension. It's part of the basic UST formula. Moreover, it makes sense within the context of the Superman mythos. Lois Lane is suposed to be the love of Clark/Superman's life. If that relationship actually gets consummated during Smallville, then the story is over -- where do you go from there?

So I'm convinced that's what this whole Lana arc was about -- not only giving that character better closure, but justifying an indefinite postponement of Lois/Clark. Clark won't be ready to love anyone else for quite a while, and Lois will be too upset about his rejection to pursue him. So they'll go back to keeping their distance, at least until the end of the season.

Sure, something could be contrived to cancel out the kryptonite, but it's a gross misreading of the writers' intent to assume that's what they want. This whole season under the new showrunners has been about Clark getting rid of baggage from his past and finally beginning to grow into the man we know he'll be. And he couldn't really be free to do that unless the overriding issue of his past life, his relationship with Lana Lang, was brought to a decisive conclusion. Everything the writers have done this year has been about Clark letting go of his old patterns and moving forward. They've been aggressively repudiating the policies of the old showrunners. Listen carefully and you can hear them putting their frustrations with the old order into the characters' mouths -- having people say how refreshing and overdue it is for Clark to get out of his self-absorption and begin being a hero, having Lana say how much she's changed for the better in her time away, etc. The last thing they'd want to do is go back to the old Clark-Lana holding pattern. This story arc was about ending Clark-Lana permanently, but doing so in a way that served the Lana character well rather than just discarding her or killing her, and in a way that reaffirmed Clark's growth toward his heroic destiny. (If she'd died as a result of her involvement in his life, it could've turned him against being a hero. Now, with her embracing heroism herself, he's honoring her by doing the same.)

 

A buddy of mine said check Season 2 since it was one of the best seasons and Christopher Reeve stars in it. I got through most of the season...Clark gets his powers, Lana suspects he has a secret.... but even then I could see it was mostly all SOAP OPERA and no SUPERMAN . Soap Opera fanatics are a weird bunch. That's what happens to some under employed people, they waste their social life in front of the tv. Mix a bit of scifi into them soaps like the depressing 'Lost' or 'Battlestar' and those soap opera fanatics will call this stuff the best Science Fiction thing on tv. To be fair it's not just weird people who brag about this stuff, at one time some of the most intellgent and successful people thought "Dallas" was the greatest thing since sliced bread .

 

Bull. What was the "writer's intent" with the growing attraction for the last season? This wasn't someone he knew for 5 minutes in a bar and was dancing with.

If it makes you feel better, if I was single, feeling a growing attraction to someone for months, discussed it with my friend who encouraged me the other person felt the same way and needed me, was close dancing and about to kiss, and they turned away and ditched me for their ex who just walked in the door, I'd never speak to them again.

I was responding to Nx's spoiler, if you don't want to read it, that's your perogative, but don't acccuse me of assuming and speculating.

I'm under no illusion that Kreuk is going to suddenly sign on for the rest of the season, or that she'll be resigned for next season. She won't be back. But the effect is the same. They've left the door wide open, in this type of comic book world people don't even stay dead. Lana and Clark have no permanent barrier between them, the writers could have created one but they instead used one that can be removed at will. That choice affects the effect the storyline has on this viewer. The alternative choice, to show Clark growing out of an adolescent fixation, would have had a different effect on me. The choices a writer makes will effect the reader/viewer. You should think about that.

 

The intent of last season's showrunners is irrelevant, because they left the show and it's been obvious all season that the new showrunners are distancing themselves from the old policies as much as possible. The new team had to deal with the Clark/Lois attraction as established by the old showrunners, but evidently they decided to put it on hold.

Besides, your last sentence there is a straw man that has nothing whatsoever to do with my argument. It's entirely possible, even common, for people to know each other for years before discovering a romantic interest. Back in college, I had a couple of friends who knew each other for over two years, dating and loving other people, before they fell in love with each other and eventually got married.

Why are you making this personal? You're taking a confrontational, rude attitude that just isn't commensurate with a casual discussion about something as unimportant as a TV show. Relax.

Again, no need for the ad hominem condescension. All you do by taking that attitude is make your listeners less inclined to consider your points seriously. You're only hurting yourself.

 

To tell you the truth, I'm not even all that impressed with Allison Mack.

IMO, the best actor ever on that show was Michael Rosenbaum. By a LONG, LONG way.

The guys like Allison because they think she's hot or whatever...but as an actress? She's about the same as Welling, IMO - not bad...but much better as eye candy.

Rosenbaum is in an entirely different league.

 

Chris, an ad hominem occurs when someone tries to refute your arguement by attacking you personally, as in "You are wrong because you are stupid". This a fallacy because even though you may be stupid, you are still capable of forming a logical argument even if by accident.

There are no ad hominems in my post. I didn't attack you personally, I addressed your points. There are several good on-line resources that explain logical fallacies you may find useful. I admit to condescension, but I'm afraid I find you overly opinionated and self important. Anyone with a differing opinion to you is not just wrong, but "missing the writer's intent". Whatever.

I responded point for point with criticisms you made on my post, and I genuinely felt, and still feel, your criticisms are unfounded and simplistic. We have different opinions. Live with it. If you don't like my style of response, you're under no obligation to address me in the first place.

 

There are many people in the world who, even when they had no closure with a previous lover, still found a greater love. That arc changes nothing. Clois will still happen, whether or not it happens on this show.