Smallville 11/10 Spoilers

[Steverooo]

SuperBrat's SEVEN (Known) Weaknesses:

Yes, magic has long been one of them, in the comics... I recall seeing the cover of the one where they introduced it; it had a Gypsy putting a pin in a Supes doll, and Supes grabbing his chest...

Clark's other (known) weaknesses are:

Kryptonite (at least three different types, in Smallville, more, in the comics).
Himself (he messes things up, a lot, on Smallville).
Women (Lana, Chloe, Lois...)
Red suns (Superman becomes normal in red sun systems)
Luck! (As Myx showed us, a couple of weeks back!)
Age (yes, he gets old, and will die, eventually... if left to himself)

One also wonders if certain alien diseases and poisons might not also affect him. He was affected by the kryptonian worm-things in the Choache caves, for example...

 

[Steverooo]

Another Kveshtion:

After Isabella gets her come-uppance, I was expecting the tatoo on Lana's back to "magically" disappear, much as it had come... Yet if I recall correctly, it was still there... she showed it to Clark...

So, not only are the hours between the time when she was "branded" and awoke still unaccounted for, but she is still "marked". Y'think we'll be seeing her "transformation" between now and next Halloween? I get the feeling that we'll be seeing more of her, and magic, in Smallville... I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna like that!

 

[Bihor]

Mabe next week a big spaceship will come to smallville, put a dome over the village nd we will lern that not all the Kriptonian died.
And a bunch of Kriptonian télépath want Kal-el to be wed with a pricesse...

no ... this is not smallville
Oh man, another bad flash back from Lois and Clark: A adventrure of superman

sorry all.

 

[Arnwyn]

That episode of Smallville was a big load of suck.

 

[Mort]

That episode of Smallville was a big load of suck.

While the episode wasn't the greatest, I'm really glad to see the writers doing non-kryptonite plots; those are getting really old.

 

[Umbran]

If I had to hazard a guess... Kryptonian science is not magic, but knowledge of Kryptonian language (such as that "water" symbol) can fascilitate easier accessability of sorcery

That would be supported if the magic-using ladies had spoken Kryptonian. It sounded to me like they were speaking Latin. So, the symbols still seem sprurious.

My thoughts - Isabella, or someone before her, learned about the power in this season's McGuffins. Wanting to tap into that power, they did some research, and wound up rather where Clark was when he first found the cave - faced with Kryptonian language and symbols.

So, it isn't necessarily that Kryptonian symbols are directly related to magic. They may just be related to a source of power which magic can manipulate, so magicians are interested in them.

 

[Filby]

That would be supported if the magic-using ladies had spoken Kryptonian. It sounded to me like they were speaking Latin. So, the symbols still seem sprurious.

My thoughts - Isabella, or someone before her, learned about the power in this season's McGuffins. Wanting to tap into that power, they did some research, and wound up rather where Clark was when he first found the cave - faced with Kryptonian language and symbols.

So, it isn't necessarily that Kryptonian symbols are directly related to magic. They may just be related to a source of power which magic can manipulate, so magicians are interested in them.

Yeah... I like your explanation better.

 

[Maerdwyn]

While the episode wasn't the greatest, I'm really glad to see the writers doing non-kryptonite plots; those are getting really old.

Yes, but they've replaced the teen krypto freak episodes with teen sex freak episodes. Both are examples of lazy writing, IMO.

 

[Umbran]

Yes, but they've replaced the teen krypto freak episodes with teen sex freak episodes. Both are examples of lazy writing, IMO.

One man's "lazy writing" is another man's "reaching the target audience".

Clark is Superman, for cryin' out loud. He needs to have conflict with beings with super powers. The krypto freaks are not lazy - they are merely one of the few even vaguely plausible ways to give the main character serious challenges on a steady basis.

Teen sex freaks... well, the show is largely targetted at teens, rather than adults. Teens are largely concerned with sex. So, it pays to give them some of what they want every once in a while.

Let us remember that the overall viewing public frequently doesn't respond to really good writing.

 

[Maerdwyn]

I understand all that - but at least with Krypto freaks, I could basically watch the show with my kids in the room. Also, as you say, at least there is some connection to the point of the show: He is superman, he needs villains to oppose him.

But some of their best shows in the past few years have proven they don't need to kyrptonite powered, and sometimes they don't need super powers at all. Lionel Luthor, for one example, and Clark trying to find a cure for his dying friend as another. It got to the point in the last seasons where you had two distinct types of episodes: ones that advance the mythos somehow(Clark and Lex's relationship, etc.), and krypto freak episodes, where an infected teen is introduced, goes homicidally insane, and gets neutralized by Clark all in one episode. The latter were clearly fillers. The writing was much worse, the stories lacked consequence, and generally forgettable.

Now, maybe some fillers are necessary in course of a season. But when you make fillers that feature basically the same villain (and here I mean same power - not recurring individuals), and the same plot, as they did several times, that's L-A-Z-Y-lazy.

Lot's of people complained about it, and they started moving away from such story lines. Cool. Unfortunately they replaced them with teen sex episodes. Sigh.

The episodes this year haven't featured "some of what they want every once in a while." Except for two episodes ago, it's been every week. It may be that they think (possibly correctly) the best way to sell superman to their target audience is through sex. Doesn't mean that the way they've been doing it isn't lazy, or of very poor quality, as I think it's been.

You may be right that most people don't respond well to good writing - but I don't respond well to a show about Superman where the coolest thing they can think of in order to get viewer's attention is a coven of seventeeth century witches who say things like (and if this isn't a direct quote, it's close) "Look at my breasts!" with ecstasy on their faces, and decide to put off their dreams of world domination (and given the S&M fest later in the show, that word's appropriate) in order to throw a naked rave in the Kent Barn. It's just not what I want when I watch a show about Superman. American Pie? Sure. Smallville? No thanks. If that means I'm just not compatible with the target audience anymore, then I guess that's the way it is.