on Smallville

[xparrot]

Just watched 7x13, "Hero," posted this mini-rant on bagheera_san's post and thought why not repeat it here, share the love. Or intense pain, in this case.

The only reason I watch Smallville is for the sexy men. And to get context for watching music vids. Okay, the two reasons I watch Smallville are for the boys, the vids, and because I enjoy the catharsis of a good rant now and again. --Okay, the three reasons--never mind!

My point is, Smallville is a fascinating show for me. Usually I watch shows for plot, concept, writing, f/x, etc, but I fan on shows for the characters. Except this is impossible with SV, because every character on the show is detestable, except for Lex - who has the excuse that he's supposed to be evil/insane and has finally started embracing it, so more power to him (even if he did let Jimmy overhear everything. THE HELL? If this were JLU, letting Jimmy eavesdrop would've been a delightfully Machiavellian scheme; no such luck here, sigh) - and Kara, who has amnesia. I would be rooting for her and Lex to get it on, except it's in the stars (apparently on the Luthor's crest?) that it will end as an exact retread of Lana, that she will turn on Lex for no particular reason and run back to the lying liars who lie to her. (...Okay, I was rooting for them to get it on anyway. Right now I think the show should consist of people coming into Lex's various offices and having sex with him. It would much deeper and more sensical than what we watch now.)

I will always love how the "good guys" know that meteor mutation causes lapses in judgment and Must Be Stopped, but Lex is still Wrongy McEvil for trying to stop them. It never gets old!

Really, I have to hand it to Smallville, I've never watched a show that's so consistently able to inspire emotional reaction in me. Right now it's mostly shock and awe that it's still on the air. People watch this? Really? I mean, other than masochistic fangirls?

On the other hand, it makes the sweetly incompetent writing of SGA look like Shakespeare.

Comments

[naye]

Aww, a Smallville rant! I've almost missed them. You're really entertaining when you rant. ♥

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

And nothing gets me ranty quite the way SV gets me ranty!!

[lukita.livejournal.com]

I confess I've stopped watching SV back during the episode with that Kryptonian love triangle thing but still looks for fics to read. :p We need to find an intelligent show to watch except the characters are only as good/intelligent as the writers/directors so it's not very likely. OMG what are we doing still up?

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I think sticking to fic is the way to go with SV (I'm in the camp that believes the True Story is Lanning's Identical AU anyway, and the show itself is just a dumb AU XP) The fic writers are far more intelligent and creative than the show writers...and while I have great respect for many fic'ers anyway, in this case that's not really a compliment, as monkeys before typewriters would have more consistent stories than SV's writers...!

[tringasolitaria.livejournal.com]

LOL - I've missed your Smallville rants too. I thought maybe you'd finally quit watching. I can't watch anymore - the whole thing just makes me want to tear my hair out. :S I vowed I would quit watching after S6 when I found out Lana was coming back, and then I fell back into it when Dean Cain guest starred, but then after Blue, I finally gave up for good.

Really, I have to hand it to Smallville, I've never watched a show that's so consistently able to inspire emotional reaction in me. Right now it's mostly shock and awe that it's still on the air. People watch this? Really? I mean, other than masochistic fangirls?

On the other hand, it makes the sweetly incompetent writing of SGA look like Shakespeare.

OH yeah! As frustrated as I've gotten with SGA at times, they have absolutely nothing on Smallville.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I keep meaning to quit, but the truth is, I, er, kinda like ranting, so I keep checking it out just for the excuse to screech. When MR leave I'm gone, though. ("Blue", if it's the ep I think it is, I liked more than most, but mainly 'cuz it was so very comic-booky wacky and it had Chris Heyerdahl, who I kinda have a thing for after SGA ^^;)

SGA at least has broadly consistent characterizations, and most of the plot holes you can see WHY they did 'em, to cut down on time or get to a particular scene or whatever. In SV stuff just *happens*, apparently because they, I dunno, roll a die or something to find out what the chars are gonna do next!

[tringasolitaria.livejournal.com]

"Blue", if it's the ep I think it is, I liked more than most, but mainly 'cuz it was so very comic-booky wacky and it had Chris Heyerdahl, who I kinda have a thing for after SGA ^^;)

I don't think it was so much "Blue" itself as that I'd just gotten to my last shred of patience with the show. There was a break of three or four weeks between that episode and the next one, and by the time it came back, I figured out that I just didn't care anymore.

You know, the show always did have....issues, especially with the deal about everyone magically knowing that Lex was going to be evil. But even with that, I felt like the show took a sharp nosedive for the worse in S6. It seemed like they abandoned even the pretense of character continuity that season and like you said, just kind of rolled the dice.

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

Clark has been Brainiac since the very beginning

Now I want this story ...

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

the last episode ever we should find out that this is actually another 'verse altogether, and Clark has been Brainiac since the very beginning

This would be very satisfying! The only way I can see it now is that Lex is actually the anti-hero, and we're supposed to be disliking the 'good guys'. Or else we're not supposed to be remembering anything that happens from week to week. So Pete's multiple betrayals don't add up, and Lex's evilness just is, and...argh. (At this point Lex has been concussed so many times that I don't think he can be held responsible for his actions anyway XP)

[bluepard.livejournal.com]

My dad and little brothers genuinely adore Smallville. I like the cameo episodes. Needs more Bart. Haven't seen any of it since the Justice League episode. Because it had Bart.

See icon.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

SV I think works better for non-fan people, who don't bother trying to make sense of char or story and just enjoy the action. It's an awful headache if you're the sort to actually try to analyze chars, because they change motivation from week to week...

Bart was one of the more likable chars to appear! Even if he's a terrorist now...

[bluepard.livejournal.com]

He's a terrorist now? ...well, that means he must've gotten more episodes, right? That's good, anyway.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

...eheh, okay, technically the show doesn't say he's a terrorist. Well, Lex says he is, but no one listens. Still, he's working with Green Arrow blowing up privately-owned buildings around the world - even if they're EEEEVIL LuthorCorp buildings, that's pretty terrorist-y. (Seriously, there are no heroes in this show anymore, just different shades of villains. It's depressing as all get-out!)

[bluepard.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, was that in the JL ep?

Ahaha, that's still outright heroism according to the comics. You don't want to know how supervillainy some of the heroes have been lately.

on Smallville

[maxinemayer.livejournal.com]

I watched a few eps just at the beginning of Smallville series and then stopped until I found Lex/Clark slash fanfic! I've been watching the episodes for the last couple seasons and I find them entertaining but nothing like as fanworthy as Stargate SG1 and Atlantis, for me! The SV fans (those on my flist, that is) seem to hate Lana while I think she's attractive, a pretty interesting character, and the actress damn good at what she does with what she's given! There are never enough scenes with Lex and Clark to suit my taste! And I still haven't decided whether I like Chloe!!!! So, you see, I'm not a fan of SV but I do enjoy the show! Never rewatch eps, never even consider writing fic about the show, but it's fun to watch eps one-time!

Your rants are, of course, delightful to read! I often wonder how much one can expect from a series based on a comic book....

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Love ya, max

Re: on Smallville

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Reading Clex fanfic is far more entertaining than watching the actual show! XD To be honest I'm one of the Lana-haters, but that's mostly people with a history with the show. In the last couple seasons she's become one of the more interesting characters, but we're still bitter about early seasons, where she was in one pointless storyline after another and didn't have much point. I still don't like her, but as I said, I don't like anyone in the show these days! It's fun to rant against, though... XP

[jakrar.livejournal.com]

I will always love how the "good guys" know that meteor mutation causes lapses in judgment and Must Be Stopped, but Lex is still Wrongy McEvil for trying to stop them.

That's SV, where the lack of logic is eclipsed only by the horror of CLana and the sexiness of CLex.

Right now I think the show should consist of people coming into Lex's various offices and having sex with him.

Now, that would be something to see! Especially if Clark were constantly lurking outside, using his x-ray vision to spy on all of this, and muttering angrily to himself about how evil Lex is and how hot Lex is and why doesn't Lex ever try that nifty tongue thing with him....

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Especially if Clark were constantly lurking outside, using his x-ray vision to spy on all of this, and muttering angrily to himself about how evil Lex is and how hot Lex is and why doesn't Lex ever try that nifty tongue thing with him....

YOU ARE TOTALLY HIRED TO WRITE NEXT SEASON!

...er, y'know, if I had any power over these things. Seriously, though! (even if it would be difficult, what with MR being gone, we'd have to replace him with a CGI Lex!)

[jakrar.livejournal.com]

CGI Lex would be better than no Lex!

[aerynvala.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, it makes the sweetly incompetent writing of SGA look like Shakespeare.

*falls over laughing/crying*

oh that is so true, so sadly, totally, completely in every single way true.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I don't harbor that many illusions about SGA. Well, a few, because I'm squee-blinded. But I really, really don't watch it for the writing. But SGA actually has lines I laugh at and quote, while as in 7 seasons of SV there's hardly ever been a line that's even cracked me up, let alone good enough to be memorable...!

[aerynvala.livejournal.com]

*nod* I've stopped watching both SGA and SV this season, and wow was that hard to do despite the pain SV in particular inflicts. But SGA manages to have good bits of script far, far more often than SV. And many more likeable characters. I mean, I got invested in secondary and tertiary SGA characters. Far more than I could in SV ones.

[greenlady2.livejournal.com]

I watched SV when the show first started. There was something wrong about the show, I thought. It had pretty good special effects, and the acting wasn't too bad, but there was something wrong with the characters. I finally put my finger on it. The only character I cared about was the supposed villain -- Lex Luthor. This made no sense to me, because I've never been one to take the side of the villain over that of the hero.

But Lex's story gripped me. Here he was, fighting his father's power and influence, struggling to do the right thing, while everyone around him put barriers in his way. All the other characters were so petty. Their struggles were as nothing, compared to his. He was supposed to be the villain, but I loved him, and soon hated, or at least disliked, everyone else. I had to stop watching the show, because it was so painful for me.

I've been reading some of the reviews of the last few episodes. It amused me to see Clark described as finally becoming Superman, because -- get this -- he doesn't yell at Lex after mind-raping him. He just calmly tells him he, Lex, knows what's right, all the while continuing to lie to him. That's all it takes to be a hero these days? Calmly lying to someone you just assaulted?

Someone else describes the scene at the end of 'Hero', where Clark walks, calmly and heroically, in slow motion, to bury Kara's bracelet in the barn. Then he looks all sad at the evil of humanity. Yeah, he's really becoming Superman at last.

Geez, you know, I can do all that. Well, except for the mind-raping part. And I don't have a barn or a magic bracelet to bury in it. But I can look calm and judgemental and walk in slow motion. I guess I'm a Superhero. What shall I call myself? Wonder Woman's been taken. I'm too old to be Supergirl.

Superwoman?

[littlehollyleaf.livejournal.com]

It amused me to see Clark described as finally becoming Superman, because -- get this -- he doesn't yell at Lex after mind-raping him. He just calmly tells him he, Lex, knows what's right, all the while continuing to lie to him

I read that one! And it confused the hell out of me! The writer said it all with such confidence, I honestly thought I'd missed a major plot-point somewhere along the line for a while, and wrote a long rambling post trying to re-assess everything I'd seen of Clark and Lex's relationship and Clark's development. Only to conclude, thank god, I wasn't crazy and my understanding of the show (as much as it can be understood) really was valid after all and Clark really can be called a Dumbass (and worse) legitimately.

Even I am not insecure enough to call Clark's burial of the bracelet 'heroic' though. WTF? Why doesn't he just GIVE it to Kara? And tell her the truth? The way I see it he is deliberately keeping vital information about her self and her identity from her. I'm no doctor of course, but shouldn't you tell someone with amnesia everything to help jog their memory? He's not being heroic, he's being an IDIOT and potentially HARMING her by not saying anything! It's Lex and Belle Reve all over again, only this time there's no Lionel threatening death should the lost memories be retreived.

Woes...

And I'll call you Superwoman! You'd make an awesome one :D

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

So being sanctimoniously smug, and thinking you're smarter than everyone else and have the right to make all their decisions for them, is the key to heroism? (great news for Rodney McKay! Except for his whole story, he's been learning just the opposite, and is coming out increasingly heroic for it. See, this is why SGA is more satisfying to watch XP)

I can only assume SV's writers are hoping that we're so tangled up in the web of lies every char spins that we'll just start accepting them as a matter of course, and if the music sounds heroic why then the person it's playing to must be, too!

[greenlady2.livejournal.com]

"And I'll call you Superwoman! You'd make an awesome one :D"

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind tomorrow at work. I'll just keep humming to myself, 'I'm a Superwoman!' :-)))

Can the show be understood? That's what I keep hoping. I try and try to analyze it, and get nowhere.

I suppose one could say that it isn't worth analyzing because it's so bad. But no. I don't think that's true. I think it is important to try and figure out why something doesn't work.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I didn't watch any of the show until after I'd started reading Clex, so I came into it biased. And then I didn't really watch the whole thing until last year, and seeing it all at once...is hard on SV, because it highlights how non-existent the continuity is, both character and plot.

But, yes. I often like villains myself, but I don't always sympathize with them. But with Lex...it's so hard to even see him as a villain; he's suffered so much, and he tries so hard. And the way people turn on him, repeatedly and unreasonably...if they made Clark et al more sympathetic, then maybe we'd be siding with Clark. But a hero who spends most of his time moping that he doesn't get the girl, who saves people mostly when it's convenient for him - the "good guys" have so few qualities that let us root for them, that Lex's perseverance is more compelling than any of them.

Someone else describes the scene at the end of 'Hero', where Clark walks, calmly and heroically, in slow motion, to bury Kara's bracelet in the barn. Then he looks all sad at the evil of humanity. Yeah, he's really becoming Superman at last.

Oh good grief! I haven't been reading ep reviews and this is probably good, as it would be detrimental for my blood pressure. gnine and I were screaming at the screen at that scene. WHY, CLARK? WHY?! I don't understand why he's lying to Kara, except for the specific plot point of driving her to Lex (just so she can turn on Lex later, naturally.) This show has started equating lying with heroism - no, wait, it's done that all along. But it still freaks me out. It's not just that the chars are trapped in Sitcom World, wherein they never learn their lesson about lying because it allows for new wacky hijinks every week. But we viewers are actually expected to see lying as heroic? Um. No.

(I can't see Clark as a Superman anyway if he keeps casually killing people. Okay, fine, maiming them for life. The way he tosses Lex's muscle in this last ep - and the guy wasn't even a meteor freak, far as I could tell - that'd kill a person easy.)

Oh, yeah, that's the Smallville rage! It's all coming back to me!

Superwoman?

You'll have my vote!

[greenlady2.livejournal.com]

Thanks. That's two people who think I'm Superwoman. I'm well on my way to Superherohood. :-)))

I wouldn't recommend reading ep reviews. It's not good for one's blood pressure at all, as I can attest. And the resulting mental confusion is also rather troubling.

Clark has probably killed and/or maimed far more people than has Lex, by now. Maybe all that blood in Cassandra's vision wasn't Lex's fault, but Clark's? :-)))

Lex has done bad things. That doesn't make him a villain, or evil. Clark has done good things. That doesn't make him a hero.

It takes consistency and purpose to make a villain or a hero, I think.

[littlehollyleaf.livejournal.com]

Agree! with everything ('cept maybe the SGA comment cos I've never seen it... but from SV's writing I have no doubt that you're right so... yeah, agree with everything).

I too no longer watch the show for plot, characters etc. It is either for the pretty, or the context. And also research for fanfic...ish (gotta see the glaring wrong parts to make sure I do right!)

It really is weird, the way the show can hold you even while being bad... Still, nearly over now. I mean, this is the last season, right? ...right? :/

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

(gotta see the glaring wrong parts to make sure I do right!)

Hee! If you take SV as a guide to writing, and be sure to do the exact opposite of everything they do - consistent characterizations! Emotionally valid decisions! Relationships that consist of more than 'Break up - get back together - break up - get back together - lather rinse repeat' (Jimmy & Chloe are out to break Clana's record, or is it just me?)

It's the last season for me no matter what, what with MR leaving - no Lex, I am so out of here (what would I rant about, without Lex to apologistize for?)