It's not a question of them "getting rid of her," though. Since her contract expires this year, then the ball is in her court, not TPTB's.

Not when it comes to her filming schedule for the remaining episodes this season. If she doesn't want to come back for season 8, then my point is that I don't see TPTB allowing her to go film a movie that would take time away from how they would like to wrap up her character this season, since she is still under contract for Smallville currently.

Maybe the wrap-up for her character has already been planned out in such a way that it won't really take a great deal of screentime. Honestly, I think wrapping up Lana's character is probably the simplest of any of the characters. Or maybe they've just asked KK to come back for the first 2-3 of S8 to finish off any last touches.

If she doesn't intend to come back, and they are going to write her out anyway, maybe goughlar just decided not to be a couple of dickheads, and stand in her way of getting the lead in a film. Its certainly not how I picture them, but its entirely possible.

With the way this season has gone, and with the spoilers we have for the remainder of the eps, could it be possible that goughlar were already plotting things in such a way to create an easy exit for Lana? It certainly seems so to me. YMMV

I've got to agree with BadToad on this. Lana's "wrap up" really could be as simple as her deciding she's had enough of Clark, Smallville, wacky mutant stalkers and the mature wardrobe she's got to wear for Isis and resolving to, in the words of Samuel L. Jackson's character in Pulp Fiction, "walk the Earth." *g*

Seriously, though, of all the characters, Lana's the one whose story I really do think could be wrapped up in two episodes, tops. I really can't see Lana needing a third of a season or whatever to exit. The end of S3 is a perfect example of how it could be done. It took all of, what, a total of maybe 10 minutes of screentime across Truth, Forsaken and Covenant to not only lay the foundation for Lana leaving Smallville for an extended period, but to have a meaningful farewell with at least one of the male leads (Lex) before doing so? I see no good reason why, if KK decides that S8 isn't in her cards, the creative team can't use two of the final five episodes of the season to say goodbye to Lana. IMO, Lana's story wrap-up just doesn't require a lot of setup.

They don't even need to waste screentime in 2 episodes. The way all the good stuff happens on this show, they could have her leave in Offscreenville. :)

The problem as I see it is how can they know whether to wrap up any of the characters because it is very plausible that if any of the actors decide to sign a new contract it could take awhile to hammer out the details. That leaves the writers with a huge problem. I would think they would have to cliffhanger all three that aren't signed just in case.

EllyF what I meant was, if they are filming in Vancouver, they could be filming some of Kristin's part there to accomodate her Smallville filming. Then when she's done with Smallville they could film the rest in the other locations.

I see what you mean. I suppose it's possible, but I still think it would tend to substantially reduce her parts in Smallville (not that I mind personally!). Also, I guess it depends on how much she's doing in the various locations. Someone upthread indicated they thought she was already training in Thailand, so it's possible they'll start shooting there. Right now, I think we have insufficient information:-).

I moved the above posts from the media thread since they had a lot to do with out Lana's story would be affected for the rest of the season.

They could always have Lana fake her death again and this time she goes to Bangkok. With a red wig.

Has anyone wondered that maybe Zor-El tampered with the Jor-AI (pre-Krypton explosion)? It could have been purposely altered to stop Clark from trusting it, or to prepare him for Zor-El's rebirth.

This would be a major retcon, but it would make sense given what Lara and Raya told about Jor-El.

If it hadn't been so adamant that Clark not use the blue crustal to begin with, and then punish him for it afterward, I'd be more tempted to entertain the idea. But the AI appeared to be genuinely not in favour of Zor-El, even right from Kara when it warned Clark not to trust her simply because Zor-El was her father.

Honestly, I think they passed up their chance to have the Fortress be malfunctioning when Raya was there. If anyone would have known something was wrong, I'd think it would have been her. She also didn't appear to care when Clark told her it had caused him pain and in fact, she seemed to be of the opinion that was par for the course.

Damn, I thought I had a way to save the Fortress from hands of Goughlar.



That was my first shred of hope that was dashed. I hope Zor-El's SCIENCE! isn't my last shot.

To be fair Raya wasn't around for long. If the problem with Jor-el's AI is more subtle then its reasonable that she wouldn't have found it out especially since it wasn't working until she got there to repair it. I know that she ignored Clark's complaints, but she didn't know all the specifics and I took her reaction as an overreaction to critical remarks about Jor-el. Either that or she just thought Clark was kind of a wuss.

Maybe Lana can use her new magical l33t haxxor skills to fix it.

I've been running this thru my head: Goughlar has to have a position on whether or not they are planning for a S8 and who would be involved in order to write the remaining 5 episodes. If they have not been definitively told "NO", then I think they write the episodes presuming "YES". While I think they could wrap up the series in 5 episodes (at an ungodly pace, but I think they could do it), I think the plot lines are too complex to leave a vague ending that results in a finale that could be used as a series ender. The end of S3 could have served as a series ender -- Chloe dead, Lana moved on, Lex maybe dead, Clark absconded by JorEl, Jonathon maybe dead, Martha left with a symbol. The end of S4 could have served as a series ender (but much less believable) because you had Clark with a crystal to start the FoS. Lex (and theoretically Chloe) left behind. Only Lana and the Kents story said "unresolved cliffhanger" BUT, the main character had theoretical closure. S5 ender could never have served as a series ender --- Clark was in the Phantom Zone and the world was in deep kimche. S6 was also not remotely a series ender -- Clark was in mid-battle with Bizarro.

At this point, then, could Goughlar come up with a pseudo-series ender in case of no S8. I gotta say "no". The show has completely gone to serial format with no standalones (with the possible exception of the upcoming Hero). They didn't even bother to try for a pretend series ender for S5 and S6 so to me they would use the same approach for S7. I also think that vague endings for KK, MR, and AM are not reasonable. They won't close any of those plots in Offscreenville. SO, while contracts may not be signed, I think Goughlar is going to make an assumption and move on.

Which means, IMO, any spoilers we eventually get for the remaining 5 episodes may tip the Goughlar's hand on what assumption they are using for S8. At this point KK, MR, or AM could wrap (just like the series) and I think any spoilers will be revealing.

On the other hand, the spoilers could dry up JUST for this casting reason or if they are ending at S7. I think they would advertise the heck out of the last 5 episodes for a series finale as it usually scores big in ratings. Regardless, I think we get an indication in as little as two weeks.

I was kind of surprised to see a promo tonight. I mean, it makes sense to show one, but for some reason I wasn't expecting it.

Probably because it seems like most of the time nowadays we're lucky to get a trailer a week in advance, and it seems like it's been a long time since we've seen one several weeks in advance. The promo department must be bored right now or something.

The promo went by so fast- did they even show Chloe in it? Or Kara? I remember seeing Pete, Brainiac, Lana, and Clark and hearing Lex's voice.

*edited to remove unnecessary spoiler tags*

Promos are not a spoiler.

I think Chloe's voice said something about Clark's greatest fear. It's either being locked in a giant cage, or running out of red jackets.

I'm glad it was Chloe, I thought it was Lana.

Here's the trailer for the 3 upcoming episodes on youtube thanks to Riidiick.

What is it that Lex is looking at/doing in the beginning?

Awesome. Thanks, atem. Dammit, someone's on the ball in the PR department these days, aren't they?

I don't know what he's looking at, but as far as this whole thing with Clark goes, I hope that this is not another project that's just going to pop up out of nowhere that began on offscreenville. Lex hasn't been interested in those symbols in a very long time. I just want to see a realistic starting point to this storyline rather than joining it in progress like everything else that seems to happen on this show. This is another example where setup matters here, IMO. If it's contrived, the storyline will lose some of it's luster.

It was brought back up in Wrath, so it seems that was a deliberate reminder that Lex hasn't stopped looking into aliens and the symbols as a precursor to this.

At first it looked like Lex was part of the mafia with that music and Pete screaming like that. It was so short, but it's good to see something. What's up with Brainiac looking all meek?

Magnified version

It sure looks like the commandos are in the barn.

Thanks for that link Sue. I hope someone is able to get some good screencaps off that, since I have a feeling its going to be analyzed for a few weeks. All I can tell about the female in the barn that Lana is talking to is that he's got long hair, and its curled. It looks brown, but that could be a trick of lighting. I can't tell if Brainiac is in the barn, and ditto for the commandos. And I'm hoping to get a good screencap of Lex staring out the window so I can compare it to another cap.

I know Craig will have his caps up soon. :)

Hopefully they won't skimp on us with upcoming trailer if they are going to combo eps together. Here is a Hi Res and HD ver of the trailer. I wish they would've told more of a story with this one than just a few random clips. I noticed there are star names in the background. Not sure of those are relevant or not.

There are 5 stars next to the V I noticed on Lex's stained glass window in Fracture. Don't know what it means or how important it is...so, I'm guessing what you noticed means something. Good find!

At the end of "Fracture" Clark says to Lex that line about whatever's lost can be found again, directly echoing what Lex had told Kara earlier. Lex looked intrigued. Is he going to break into a rendition of "Can You Read My Mind?" or will he just discount it? He could reason that Kara probably told Clark about that conversation.

I don't think they'll make anything more out of it. Lex is just going to concentrate on Kara and try to find out the truth through her since he finished with approaching Clark directly about anything a long time ago (Arrival was the last time I think).

I don't think there's any reason why you can ever rule out Lex not putting two and two together on his own. Lex probably knows about Project Intercept and its possiblities and limitations. He's probably not going to be able to connect all the dots at once, but I'll never rule Lex out from understanding what happened when he was out.

I even suspect Lex knew about Chloe's meteor-infection before Chloe knew about it.

It's all about how many dots Lex can connect.

Thanks to Erika at Sweet for the tipoff. Hero summary



So... Pete has to protect Chloe's MF status and Lex apparently never forgets.

Finally, the spoilers for "Hero" makes more sense now. Is it okay to squeal a bit on this?

Thanks, SueB.


I think that depends on whether Lex means Chloe is a meteor freak in general, which he's known since Freak, or if they will have him remember Chloe saving him in Fracture. Based on that description, it could go either way.

Bet it's the ubiquitous Stride gum! Product-placement Pete is back!

Perfect. And meta. Extra double bonus points all around.

ETA: The SpoilerTV site appears to have a couple of pics (scroll down to Hero) I haven't seen yet. Not a new group of people, just additional shots of Pete, Kara & Jimmy (I think). spoilerTV

I think it's Kara. The hair looks blond to me, and it kinda looks like she's showing Lana the papers with the symbols that Lex showed her (well, I'm assuming he showed Kara).

I can't tell with the commandos, but isn't Brainiac standing next to the Kents' red toolbox thing? So I think it's the barn.

I'm going to disagree, the hair is most definately Imo, long dark, with spiral curls. It seems more clear in the HD clips. I'm guessing it will belong to Patricia Swann.

At first, I thought it was Patricia. However, I too think it's Kara...Drat.

I saw those still from spoilerTV on Smallville PH.

From the Spoiler thread:



Not sure this is the right thread to reply. But anyway. My take on this question is that Superman isn't like Batman. Batman is deliberately trying to instill fear into the hearts of criminals. He's human, and striving to seem supernatural in order to help him fight crime. Superman, OTOH, has the opposite problem. He's superhuman, and he needs to strive to come across as nonscary and helpful, or else public opinion will turn on him and his enemies (such as Lex) will manage to pass legislation banning metahumans.

Personally, though, I'd like to see the red underwear go away. I love the rest of the costume, and I love the blue with the red cape, and I even like the big ol' S. I just hate the underwear and the yellow belt. I think they look stoopid *looks sheepishly at other comics fans*. So if Smallville were to ever end showing us the suit, I wouldn't mind seeing it altered a bit, personally. I imagine that would create a big ugly flamewar among Superman fans, though.

I kind of want to see him designing it in concept space --- why have what bits. We may not see the final product so the comic fans are not annoyed.

I can hear the argument now:

CK: NO WAY. I am not wearing red underpants and a yellow belt
CS: It's not underpants it's shorts.. and you need a little ummm more ummmm fabric or something there, don't you think?
CK: RED??!
CS: It matches the cape. And the cape is really smokin' cool.
CK: <<<<rolls eyes>>>>> I need to call Pete, he'd help me with something cool. But the yellow belt is going.
CS: <<<<<<Mutters>>>>> We'll see.

I think this version of Supes is pretty darn grey so I don't think Technicolor really suits him. Also I always thought red boots were . . . .odd.

He does need something to disrupt a monochrome of blue from chest to boots but red underpants are not good. Also, why a yellow belt if he doesn't carry stuff in it?

I don't think there's anything wrong with an update and I think that considering everything that Goughlar has done to him . . . a different suit doesn't sound like the top of the list to be pissed off about as long as it looks good. (that said, not crazy about the costume people on SV and their wardrobe ideas . . . I'm talking if someone with some fashion sense decided to do the job)

If they decide at some point to bring out the Supes costume, I do think it would get an update. TW looked okay in the GA outfit, so, I think an improvement can be done.

BTW SueB, I suffered major hysterics reading this:



You should get a prize or something...

A friend of mine says that, with the boots, the lycra hotpants and belt make him look like some kind of go-go dancer. Maybe Clark will take up dancing in nightclubs to make some extra money next season, and get the idea from there.

Clark dancing in Lycra and red boots ... isn't that a sign of the apocalypse?

It's my understanding that the original concept for the Superman costume was based on the outfits Circus Strongmen wore. The tights were probably good at keeping loose and likely hazardous fabric from getting in the way, but probably too revealing on their own in the prudish start of the century, hence the shorts worn over the tights.

At this point as much as underware over pants pains me, I don't think it would really be Superman without them.

Isn't that just a regular Saturday night for Clark Kent?

The Fortress and the Jor-AI don't actually bother me that much. Yes, the Jor-AI is kind of an abusive asshole, but Kryptonians seem to have a slightly different morality, at least from the few we have seen. The Jor-AI just seems like the normal Kryptonian attitude taken to an extreme level. Or maybe just a level devoid of emotion.

Remember, these aren't humans, with human attitudes and values we're talking about, but aliens.

New Hero Teaser at SVFan:

http://svfan.com/content/view/844/28/

Just a quick clip with One Republic, Jimmy and Kara. Basically what we've already seen in the promo images that have been around forever. C'mon CW!