thurSday

[xparrot]

The non-spoilerery reaction to SPN "All Hell Breaks Loose Pt.1":

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
*cough*
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

(--and it doesn't count! not if he's--because--argh! AHHHH!!)

And now a few comments on Smallville 6x21 "Prototype" from gnine and myself:

1. Lex is hot.

2. Lex is evil.

3. Lois is still in my good books, and has a genuine reason to be mad as hell and out to take Lex down. As opposed to Chloe, who blames Lex for, um, bringing her mother out of her coma. Still confused on that one.

4. Lex is hot.

5. Our Heroes are Dumb. And I want to smack them around. 'Oh, yeah, Lex used to be a bit shady but now he's gone black as the inside of a ninja's navel at midnight. Why? Oh, we have no idea. You know, he just is. The script says so. Why ask why?'

6. Clark is awful pretty. Dumb, but awful pretty.

7. Lex is trying to save the world. Yes, in a wrong and evil way. Still. Saving the world.

8. Lex is on the fast track to supervillain-hood for reasons I don't buy. If he's so convinced of the reality of the metahuman threat, why does he have to mind control soldiers to do his bidding? Couldn't he talk them into it? Especially when the guy had signed on willingly? Also, what about the aliens he knows are out there? Why doesn't he care? I'm totally fanwanking from this point on that Lex's number one priority is still alien invasion, he just doesn't have evidence enough to get people to believe him. Except that the doc at least knows aliens are real...

9. At least they're setting up the appropriate anti-Superman tension, with his whole metahumans = THREAT TO HUMANITY (totally justified) paranoia.

10. And Lex knew Lana was listening! And totally knew he wasn't the man she loved, either. Why he's still trying to win her affections, I have no idea. Just kill her, Lex. Please.

11. He needs to be better with his help, however. Threatening them is all very well, but no need to lose your cool. Though he is quite young, not as imposing as a fully mature supervillain, still feeling the chill of Daddy's shadow. And that momentary flash of guilt (?) when facing his successful test subject in the teaser...shows of temper to hide his own uncertainties, perhaps.

12. None of this changes the fact that Lex is hot.

13. Seriously. Hot. The no-tie and top-button-undone and black slacks and jacket and yow.

14. And he has good taste in brainwashed soldiers. Mmm, Tahmoh Penikett. One wonders what else those implants did.

15. And Lex has a minion, too! That dark-haired guy following him around is so going to die. Or betray him. Please, if you must go, do so saving your boss, Unnamed Minion! You know how much fanatic minion loyalty turns me on.

16. Um. So Clark totally just killed a guy. Even if he sort of wanted to die. Clark killed a victim of Lex's. I was expecting Lex to mention a preprogrammed self-destruct function, but no. Clark killed a guy.

17. I realize that I no longer care about anyone in this show except for Lex. And Clark, but only because Lex cares. This is not the best mindset to enjoy the show. Sigh. I might give it up over the summer. We'll see.

18. Did I mention that Lex is hot?

Comments

[aelora.livejournal.com]

I've never commented here before but I just have to say:

16. Um. So Clark totally just killed a guy. Even if he sort of wanted to die. Clark killed a victim of Lex's. I was expecting Lex to mention a preprogrammed self-destruct function, but no. Clark killed a guy.

Thank you!!! *throws hands in air* I jsut read someone justifying it saying that Clark was in a 'life or death situation'. WTF?!? Clark can't *BE* in a life or death situation unless Kryptonite or Doomsday are involved!! Just - no! He killed (again) plain and simple - but everyone is blaming the death on Lex. Whatever.

I just wrote a huge rant that I'll probably get flamed for by the Clark et al fans on my list but I really don't care. This show baffles me with it's weird version of morals.

But at least we got Lex in all black with his shirt unbuttoned, eh?? *FLAILZ*

[bagheera-san.livejournal.com]

Sigh. I might give it up over the summer. We'll see.

No, no, no! Who will then explain the show to me in ways that make things awesome?

Lex was hot, just like the last three weeks. So was everyone, actually, except Lionel. He and Chloe have bad hair this season. No, wait, that was not what I wanted to say...

Ah, yes! World saving. Although Lex always delivers that justification in a way that sort of makes me doubt it's genuine, I can see no other motivation he could have for building an army of supersoldiers... so he's trying to do good in evil and non-sensical ways. Which is sort of what everyone on this show does, only they're not all quite that evil. But still. I see a theme here. *sigh*

And the Lex/Lana confrontation was awesome. Also, the show acknowledged that they're not having sex!

[ladydreamer.livejournal.com]

I have to sigh on the Chloe/Lois thing. Chloe has a genuine reason to hate/fear Lex! He had her kidnapped and experimented on! Never okay! That's enough! But they keep pushing this mother thing, and they didn't do it well enough for us to keep getting these weekly reminders of "What Lex Did to Chloe's Mother!"

(I can't stop exclaiming!)

And Lois, bless her heart. Though her plot with Lex's New Boyfriend felt real, it's just... dammit, why does everyone have to be a petty bastard? Look, I know that Lois was investigating Senator Fatman on her own, but they've repeatedly put her in the position of hating Lex for experimenting on/being the irrational obsession of her boyfriends (Aquatool, Ollie, Wes). That's subtle, but it's still disgusting, and it positions a strong woman firmly in the role of X's Angry Girlfriend instead of investigating Lex of her own right because hey, something hinky is going on there! What a random luck of the draw, for Lois's first love to be the prototype for Lex's anti-alien army! And Now It's Personal (tm)! *sighs* Well, it's personal for everyone, isn't it, Miss Lane? Why don't you ALL get over yourselves, forget your stupid grudges, and try to save the world instead of your bffs, K?!

And re: 16. Clark killed another dude. He SO did. Clark is so out of control. What, he couldn't have supersped the guy to the hospital? I mean, it makes it easier for me to write Clark as turning to Lex's side because if he's cool with murder but not torture, they could probably work something out. :P

Lex WAS really hot tonight. I think it was a combo of GOOD camera angles (cause when they shoot him in the wrong light and from bad angles he just looks weird or roundfaced... same with Clark and the nosecam), MR's acting, and really, they need to stop putting him in suits that cut off his neck. (that and his KIOS orange tan of doom is fading) He was in fine form.

I think Lex must have multiple goals, and one of them HAS to be aliens, because dur, Zoners are aliens and since Clark has been playing with his balls in the barn moping over Lana, they're still out there. He knows this hand has proof. The ones Clark hasn't killed, anyway. They just... totally, ripped off Marvel with the metahuman population boom threat to humanity. So that... okay. We have now ripped off Terminator, Heroes, and Civil War to do the 33.1 storyline. Brrrrrilliant. Now I feel better about ripping off Xavier to have Lex take in lil metas for training.

[attaccabottoni.livejournal.com]

System malfunction... Exposed to high temperature from sexy villainy... Cannot compute except be in total agreement with your logic...

Lex is Hot...

[greenlady2.livejournal.com]

"8. Lex is on the fast track to supervillain-hood for reasons I don't buy... Couldn't he talk them (the Superhuman Soldiers) into it?"

But that would make sense. Nothing -- well, very little anyway -- on this show makes sense. Except that Lex is Hot.

"11. ...shows of temper to hide his own uncertainties, perhaps."

I'm not excusing Lex's mistakes, or blaming them on someone else. But it's simply true: of course Lex is paranoid and insecure. Who wouldn't be in his situation. I keep thinking 'if only, if only, if only', re: Clark and his parents. But of course, there's canon. Damned canon, anyway. And SV got rid of a lot of canon, including a Clark Kent who was a hero, so why not this? Why not Clark and Lex working together to save the world, and having a lot of heated arguments about their methods along the way? Would have been a more interesting show, in my opinion.

"17. I realize that I no longer care about anyone in this show except for Lex. And Clark, but only because Lex cares."

The SV writers made me stop caring about anyone else on the show, by turning them all into super-self-righteous hypocrites, which is worse, in my book, than being a supervillain. I have more to say, obviously, and will do so later. :-)))

[jakrar.livejournal.com]

I so completely agree with you and gnine that there is not enough emphasis in the world. Also not enough squee, especially over #1, 4, 12, 13 and 18. And, yes, I noticed the unnamed minion of #15, too, and share your hopes, along with a partial hope that he and Lex have been getting it on during the Lana-freeze. (Or is absolute minion-loyalty even sexier without consummation?) Agree again on #16, and am baffled by those who insist that, 'unlike Lex, Clark is not a killer' when, in fact, Clark's racked up quite a body count. And #7 makes me very happy. *eg*

[jakrar.livejournal.com]

Ooops! Forgot to add that I am totally with you on the first half of #17, but the second half leaves me quaking. What would we do without your take on Lex? Without you and gnine to shine the light of sanity into the dark chaos created by the SV writers and AlMiles? *contemplates throwing self at your feet* Don't abandon us! We have The Sexy and The Pretty for you to muse upon and slash together unto eternity! *gives you the infamous Clark Kent puppy eyes* Stay? Pretty please?

Motivations for Mind-Controlling Lex and Doofus Clark

[trienne-hovus.livejournal.com]

I have a niblet of a theory about why our boys act as they do, and it goes back to the psycho-mutagenic effects of Green Kryptonite (aka gK).

The theory that gK is a Monkey's Paw - that it grants wishes in the worst possible way - is long established in fanon, and maybe canon. And Smallville is so soaked in the stuff, I posit Clark has been affected in the way his mind works, even when the gK isn't making him physically ill.

Lex's touchstone - over and above even Saving The World From The Alien Menace - is knowledge. Knowledge for its own sake, knowledge for strategy's sake, knowledge as a means of keeping himself safe. Adding the Monkey's Paw factor, that means his quest for knowledge is carried out, and fulfilled, in ways he didn't intend or want, originally.

Mind-control thus becomes part obsession with knowledge, and part Monkey's Paw wish fulfillment. It would keep people loyal, or at least keep them from betraying him without his knowing about it ahead of time. Also, the more he knows about mind control, the more he knows how to prevent it being done to himself.

Clark's a little trickier, but here's my theory: Clark's overriding desire is to be accepted for himself. Thanks to the gK's Monkey Paw factor, he's put up with almost anything for that.

He put up with Pete's various betrayals, he accepted Alicia's manipulations of other people (turning against her only when she manipulated him), and now he accepts the brutish tactics of Ollie and Co. without the anger and self-righteousness he shows Lex. A case could be made that he only turned against Lex once and for all when it became clear that Lex would not "accept him for himself," but would keep questioning and investigating him. In the future, Clark will put up with becoming Superman - sentencing himself to a kind of multiple-personality disorder, and the double life that goes with it, not to mention being humankind's Mr. Fix-It, in order to find the acceptance he craves.

gK took their natural longings and turned those longings into a trap that neither will escape from.

[sholio]

*joins you in the SPN screaming*

I have remained blissfully(?) unspoiled for the next episode, so aside from "OMG NOOOOO" I have nothing useful in particular to add.

However, I stand by my theory that low-level kryptonite exposure from childhood is having much the same effect on Clark's brain as lead poisoning on any normal child's brain...

[naye]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...oh, Dean.

AHHHHHHH!! I wish I hadn't been so upset about the whole triple-A thing (I liked them, goddamn, more than all of the other BOTWs...), then I could have enjoyed it more. Sam has Main Character Immunity, the A's didn't, and - still, that last scene is wrenching, and it DOES count even if he is, doesn't it? And YAY for Dean's instincts to hug and hold and touch, unlike what Certain Other People do when their brothers are dying...!

[lukita.livejournal.com]

Just finished watching "Prototype", dood, Lex should dress like that more often. XD XD XD Eeeee~ Saving the world Lex, I think he's still waiting for the Alien Invasion, though I believe being against meta-humans is comics canon (or is that Batman?) whatever.

WTF happened to Lionel's hair? But he totally just seperated Clark from his mom, evil~

My opinion on Lex and his low EQ is several things combined. High IQ and bald, I'm going to guess that even with hair, Lex probably would have a hard time relating to kids his age and the older kids would just ignores him, add being bald and the other kids picks on him as well, S1-S3 mentioned that a few times, the biggest one being "Memoria". Rich kid, everybody knows everybody, given that it looks like Lex only had one friend before Clark, it doesn't look like his social peers were interested in being his friend. Lionel Luthor, this actually isn't even supported by canon but given how much Lionel controls Lex, I won't be surprise if Lionel chooses his companions as well, Lionel also plays mind games and heaps emotional abuse on Lex like there's no tomorrow. Errr... I think I can rant about what Lionel did to Lex for a very long time, except it's kinda late, maybe I'll continue this tomorrow.

[littlehollyleaf.livejournal.com]

I might give it up over the summer

Please please don't! I'm relying on you to make it right again!

Oh, and didn't you think Lex was particularly hot in this episode? :p I loved the bit when he confronted Lana about her listening. Ha! Silly girl trying to outdo our Lex, he is SO on to you. His 'whenever I give my love to someone I cared about I'm always disappointed' line also got me grinning. Clark! You disappointer you!

18. Did I mention that Lex is hot?

[ender24]

nope, you didn't mention it sufficiently.
lexishotlexishot...lalala...and clarkkilled...lalala

lex is hot should be inserted in every post you have!!!!!!

and damn, don't you dare to leave us. whether you leave the show is up to discussion :D