Smallville 02.18.04 [SPOILERS]

[Henry]

It's not necessarily a matter of power corrupting. Another way to look at it is that the infusion of power brings to the surface a corruption that was already there.

The only thing I offer in disagreement is, why haven't we seen anyone who got powers from Green K who is STABLE? Every one of 'em so far is loonie toons in some fashion. It would be nice if they showed someone who had Green K powers who was actually decent. As it is so far, you get bopped by a meteor rock, expect some mental wackiness coming your way.

 

[Hand of Evil]

The only thing I offer in disagreement is, why haven't we seen anyone who got powers from Green K who is STABLE? Every one of 'em so far is loonie toons in some fashion. It would be nice if they showed someone who had Green K powers who was actually decent. As it is so far, you get bopped by a meteor rock, expect some mental wackiness coming your way.

To this I have to agree it does look that way and next week's show may support this even more

Spoiler

Clark's blood to counter the effects of Kryptonite madness

. It does make you wonder about Pete, he has had more contact with the green glow stone than anyone else, will he be the Green Lattern?

 

[Staffan]

NO ONE who has been "infected" with Kryptonite has been good!

Not quite. In first or second season, there was this pair of salesmen who had been given mindcontrol powers through kryptonite. One of them turned bad, while the other went all hermit but helped Clark in the end.

 

[John Crichton]

Some interesting thoughts on the Kryptonite Villains, here.

I think there are many factors to the people infected by the Kryponite and their morality. I think the show has established that everyone (including the infected) has a choice. Many of the characters that we have seen were already a little twisted before getting their powers. Outcasts, bigots, overly obsessive, the vengeful, the jealous, the scared and so on. I don't think the Kryptonite causes folks to go nuts, I think Wrath of the Swarm was on the path I am thinking.

Power does corrupt but people do things that could be considered nuts all the time, especially when it concerns loved ones or something that they really care about. You add superpowers to the list and the person simply becomes more dangerous. Others just can't deal with their powers and do go a little crazy depending on what their abilities are. And in many of these cases the parents don't seem to help much or they can't because there isn't anything they know how to do to stop their superkids.

There have been enough non-wackjobs in the show that have been infected to convince me that the Kryponite doesn't make you nuts. There was the kid from this season who could see into the future, the loner salesman, the fat chick who was turned into a vampire-like being - there are a few others but I can't think of them right now. My point is that generally good folks have been shown on the show but when they get infected they have to deal with it. Some do it better than others.

In a few cases, the rocks may do mental damage depending on how the person was infected but I think these cases are rare. Sometimes the person appears crazy because of the choices they make (usually to kill). Again, these are usually individuals who were cracked to begin with and had problems before they were infected.

I would also contend that there are hundreds of Smallville residents who have minor to moderate powers who have not been and never will be shown on the show because they are just normal folks who can, say, levitate up to a 5 pound object with their mind but this person just uses it to help clean the house. These people are no fun to show and are not dramatic unless something drastic happens to them. Then, they make it onto the show.

 

[WayneLigon]

I think the show's creators are using the Kryptonite as a plot element on the build of who Clark will be, power corrupts and it is easy to be evil, you just let go, megamania, god complex.

Watching "Leech", where Clark's powers were transferred to one of the class nerds, really brought that home. Eric asks him 'What would you do with this power?'. Clark answers 'Stop people like you.'.

 

[Datt]

There have been enough non-wackjobs in the show that have been infected to convince me that the Kryponite doesn't make you nuts. There was the kid from this season who could see into the future,

I was hoping someone would mention him. He could see people die and the only thing "psycho" about him was when he tried to warn people that they were going to die. Sure to the outside person he would look nuts, but he wasn't. I don't remember the salesman or the chic though. But also like John said, there are lots of people with little powers. Like the gas station guy who got killed by the psycho kid who came after Clark with K bullets.

 

[Steverooo]

I believe that kryptonite ALMOST ALWAYS makes people psychotic, once they reach the toxicity level. For a while, there, I wondered about why there were so many homicidal maniacs in small town America, but then I realized.

Apparently, however, it's not an all-the-time kind of thing... or at least not right away. The guy at the gas station who Chloe saw reach for a wrench farther away than the length of his arm wasn't homicidal (as far as we know). It is unclear whether or not the skinwalker or the mind-reading kid were connected to the kryptonite. She was homicidal, but he wasn't. As far as I know, though, everyone else was.

It makes no sense, John, to say that all these people were cracked before the meteors. The guy who absorbed body heat, for instance, murders his girlfriend, right off the bat. He may have been a bit jerkish, before, but that's outre'!

Nope, kryptonite makesya kill-crazy, no doubt about it. Maybe not 100%, but at least 95... Now for some predictions:

Lana Lang Must Die! - Yep, she's been infected for quite some time!... When the gas main blew up, she got a good dose, and started displaying psychic powers; the ability to see the future! Her personality has been erratic for most of the show. She dropped cheerleading and all her old friends, was angry with Clark Kent for like a month because she thought, maybe, he MIGHT be hiding something from her, then caught him literally making out with Chloe in the Talon, and forgave him by the next week! She gets clobbered by Lex and dumps Clark, then wants him back, again... Yep, unstable as all get-out, check! Super-power? Check! Exposure to the green, glowing rocks? Check, check! (She wore one around her neck for years, people!)

Besides, she can see the future... and she, herself, told us: "I've always had the feeling that I would die young." And so she will!

Before that, however, Kristin Kreuk will get her wish... She will get to play the vixen, as Lana deteriorates further. We had a glimpse of this when she got spritzed by the krypto-flower.

Besides, we all know that Lois Lane, not Lana Lang, is the great love of Superboy's life. In the original comics, Clark Kent knew her from early on. She was Lana Lang's cousin... In this version, Chloe told an editor at the Daily Planet that Lois was HER cousin, and had no interest in reporting, so they could use her name as a byline for Chloe... Hmmm!

So Lois Lane could be introduced, or she could be Chloe... It could go either way.

As for Lex, we know he is doomed. He was at ground zero when the meteor hit, and had what was it? Hodgkins? After the meteor strike, there was no sign of it, and he's never been sick a day since... Super-powers? Check! Exposure to kryptonite? Check, check! Instability? DUH!

I agree, though, that the "Freak of the Week" formula is stale. I'd like to see Clark begin exploring his powers, and Pete asking him more things like "How far can you jump?", then the two of them trying to find out...

Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound? HARDLY! Clark couldn't even make it from the Daily Planet to the roof of LutherCorp, next door! And he STILL hasn't figured out that he can fly (at least when he's asleep)!

So, Lex and Lana will descend into insanity, and Lana must die. Maybe Lois will show up at the funeral (unless she's Chloe, in which case, Lana will be removed as competition... eventually). Before that, Lana will become more and more unstable. She will get to be a real vixen, before her death (or the series' end).

We'll see if I'm right. Stay tuned!

 

[John Crichton]

I believe that kryptonite ALMOST ALWAYS makes people psychotic, once they reach the toxicity level. For a while, there, I wondered about why there were so many homicidal maniacs in small town America, but then I realized.

Apparently, however, it's not an all-the-time kind of thing... or at least not right away. The guy at the gas station who Chloe saw reach for a wrench farther away than the length of his arm wasn't homicidal (as far as we know). It is unclear whether or not the skinwalker or the mind-reading kid were connected to the kryptonite. She was homicidal, but he wasn't. As far as I know, though, everyone else was.

It makes no sense, John, to say that all these people were cracked before the meteors. The guy who absorbed body heat, for instance, murders his girlfriend, right off the bat. He may have been a bit jerkish, before, but that's outre'!

Nope, kryptonite makesya kill-crazy, no doubt about it. Maybe not 100%, but at least 95...

I respect your disagreement, however I don't agree. Humans, by nature are self preserving just like any other animal. In some of the cases, including the one you gave with the heat-sucker killing his GF, the person doesn't want to kill, to kill; they do it for survival. At that point, morality is less of an issue. Yes, we are evolved being with choices but when it comes right down to it, most people would kill rather than die themselves (sure maybe not a loved one but that is different).

The one bad thing about this debate is that for some of the characters we have no knowledge of them before they got their powers or much about them at all with the exception of whatever the Scooby Ga... er, Chloe, Clark, Lana or Pete dig up on them. So, I'm basically going off of what we have been shown and discounting those who we know very little about. I like to think of it as an explanation of the human condition rather than just a "people go nuts when exposed" theory.

As for my thinking that many of the Krypto-villains were damaged goods before the infection - it is certainly viable. The things that happen to many of these characters are beyond comprehension. Imagine having any of the numerous abilities/curses that these people have had to deal with. Some aquired the powers suddenly, to others it came slowly. Now imagine being just a little jilted/emotionally off-kilter before that.

I have already conceeded that some of the people infected were certainly wack-jobs. That was shown by the ones who deliberately continued to kill for sheer personal gain. That could also be a sign of mental problems brought on by a sudden and extreme gain in extraordinary power. It does corrupt and not every person can handle it. That, I think, is one of the drawing points of the show (like Buffy before it although Buffy did it much better).

Lana Lang Must Die! - Yep, she's been infected for quite some time!... When the gas main blew up, she got a good dose, and started displaying psychic powers; the ability to see the future! Her personality has been erratic for most of the show. She dropped cheerleading and all her old friends, was angry with Clark Kent for like a month because she thought, maybe, he MIGHT be hiding something from her, then caught him literally making out with Chloe in the Talon, and forgave him by the next week! She gets clobbered by Lex and dumps Clark, then wants him back, again... Yep, unstable as all get-out, check! Super-power? Check! Exposure to the green, glowing rocks? Check, check! (She wore one around her neck for years, people!)

Besides, she can see the future... and she, herself, told us: "I've always had the feeling that I would die young." And so she will!

Sounds like you are reaching a bit with Lana being infected but I wouldn't put it past the writers. Many of the things you mentioned happen to many high school kids. Well, not that dramatically but this is TV.

As for Lex, we know he is doomed. He was at ground zero when the meteor hit, and had what was it? Hodgkins? After the meteor strike, there was no sign of it, and he's never been sick a day since... Super-powers? Check! Exposure to kryptonite? Check, check! Instability? DUH!

Not so fast. Recall that papa Luthor recovered from blindness. Sure, he had some exposure to Kryptonite but using only what the show has revealed to us (which is the only way to go about these things in any logical way) one could claim that that the Luthors are a resilient bunch physically and emotionally. As for Lex having Hodgkins, I don't recall that one bit. Is that from the comic or the show?

Lex doomed? He is to be Clark's arch-nemesis and most hated rival. Doomed to be an evil man? I can see that. It's one of the best things about his character. Without Lex, I stop watching the show a few eps into season one.

 

[Steverooo]

Not so fast. Recall that papa Luthor recovered from blindness. Sure, he had some exposure to Kryptonite but using only what the show has revealed to us (which is the only way to go about these things in any logical way) one could claim that that the Luthors are a resilient bunch physically and emotionally. As for Lex having Hodgkins, I don't recall that one bit. Is that from the comic or the show?

Not so fast there, yerself! Was Lionel ever really blind, at all? Or was it just a ploy to gather info?? (Tune in next week...)

Lex doomed? He is to be Clark's arch-nemesis and most hated rival. Doomed to be an evil man? I can see that. It's one of the best things about his character. Without Lex, I stop watching the show a few eps into season one.

Of course Lex survives... but he is still doomed!

As for the rest, like I said, time will tell whether or not I'm right...