I'd rather see MR's voicework (if he were to agree to such a thing) used in conjunction with stunt doubles and strategic camera-angles and/or speaker phone calls to Tess in order to make it feel like Lex is still around behind the scenes manipulating things.


Seriously? Send Jimmy and Nois off to Siberia for a year on Lex's orders and use the money you'd pay ED and AA to get as many guest spots of MR and VO work as you could. Getting MR for just the premiere and/or the series finale would probably do more for the ratings next year than AA and ED ever could dream of offering.

I was thinking this too seeing as the stone was ment to controll the traveller, maybe Lex is wearing Clark as a meat suit. Lex's body can be *somewhere* and his spirit inside Clark. Clark spirit can be in there too. If they did have MR back as VO work, i would like for them to have some internal conversations. Or the can have the Gollam/Smeagal style aguments. This way Lex can see in Clarks mind and see Clark was not really going to take over the world and was never a threat and at the same time think Clark is weak for not doing anything with his powers and think he (Lex) can do a better job and resent Clark a bit for that, so while not flat out hating Clark there will be conflict between them in the future. I cant stand the thought of this Clark and Lex hating each other, i dont think this Lex could ever hate this Clark and the same for Clark. But i am still bummed MR is not coming back. Even if it were for the finale i would be happy.

As long as Jimmy is away from Chloe, I can tolerate his character, now why can't they get rid of Nois, we saw how useless she was to the plot in Arctic, it was just a wasted of screentime IMHO. Unless they have Jimmy and Nois date then I can handle the two of them.

I actually suggested that. Of all the characters, I believe Jimmy is the most expendable, and least liked.

I mean, I can see why it makes sense to get rid of Kara. For one, the special effects for the character are expensive. I guess they want to spend that money on Doomtender and Tess (and Clark). For another, with Kara around it's hard to plausibly have Clark dealing with things on his own. There's always the question of why he doesn't call Kara in for backup. So not bringing her back certainly focuses the action more on Clark.

I'm just bummed because I really liked Kara. I think she brought a really nice perspective to the show, as a Kryptonian who wasn't angst ridden, enjoyed her powers and was proactive. The relationship between she and Clark was really nicely played too, and the actors have good chemistry.

I think they could have found a way to have her in 13 episodes, and not tread on Clark's territory (and without having her disappear thirteen more times!).

But maybe with the Fortress being destroyed they're steering away from Kryptonian related stories next season?

On some level, I hope not. I don't think it needs to be the biggest focus of the series, but Clark still has a way to go in accepting his alien heritage. Unfortunately, with the Fortress - and presumably the AI with it - and Kara now gone, Clark has virtually nothing left to tie him to his alien origins. Personally, I don't think that'll last and either Jor-El or the Fortress - or possibly even both - will be back in S8.

One thing that did make me think the Fortress might be back is that it seemed to melt back into the ice, rather than blowing up, or just crumbling. There didn't seem to be any debris left. Maybe it can just regrow itself given the proper circumstances?

I'd be sad if the Fortress set wasn't around next season. It's very visually compelling. Certainly moreso than any of the other sets.

One thing they really dropped the ball on in season 7, and I hoped they'd pick up on in season 8 (but now they obviously won't) is that Kara could tell Clark what life on Krypton was like. General, day to day life. Clark has to be curious about that.

Also, she must have had at least some knowledge of how to work the technology at the Fortress. Yet they never showed her attempting to utilise it, or had Clark ask her how to control any of it.

I was thinking Doomtender was going to be some sort of Phantom Zone releasey, but it looks like they're going for a Jekyll and Hyde thing. Maybe meteor freak induced?

And I still believe Tess will be a Lex created clone, with meteor enhanced strength. One thing they can do with Tess that they never could do with Lex, depending on how strong we're meant to believe she is, is have she and Clark actually fight. Rather than just glare at each other, or storm into each's others offices/barns hurling accusations.

Tess can actually be an all out villain, rather than just a mastermind. But then... Would they have Clark punch a girl?

I think the FoS will be back, but with all the loose ends surrounding the Fortress and the whole PCoR plotline, I wonder if this won't be a way to explain it and then redeem it. I'm still not sure what we're supposed to think wrt Hal 2.0, but this seems like the perfect time to fix it. Y'know, since Lex destroyed it and all.

I think he'll be either Brainiac or LuthorCorp created/infected. I've convinced myself that either Tess or Doomtender is what Lex was referring to in "Sleeper" as his Quebec project. I also really think that Brainiac is not dead, and there is some precendence in the comics of him messing with Doomsday DNA and a human. So I'm leaning toward Doomtender as a Brainiac project and Tess as the LuthorCorp Quebec project.

IA with this.

If it's no longer Hal 2.0, I'd like it to be acknowledged as a side effect of what Lex did instead of OHHHHHHHHH, the Fortress just magically fixed itself or even ignore the fact that it used to be Hal 2.0. (Now Lex didn't plan it that way but I'd like it to be acknowledged that collection of crystal doohickeys was fracked up and needed a major reboot)

I think the cost factor is definitely a part of it, though if they wanted Kara without the special effects cost they could always depower her due to some weird phantom zone thing and, without the Fortress to fix her, it becomes a season long subplot for her to try and regain her powers via some other means.

But I think as much as anything they're trying to cut down on duplication of roles and, in that sense, Kara was ripe for plucking. Kara's two big things have been backup hero and T&A (taking over that role from ED). Clark does the hero thing and they can give the T&A back to ED which makes Kara's character not strictly necessary. With a tight budget it only makes sense to send her off (either leaving her in the PZ or rescuing her and then having her go off to see the world).

Sadly, I suspect that Jimmy is staying because still need him as a Chlark speed bump after Lana makes her final exit after 3-5 episodes. One of the things that seems to really help me in understanding this show is to realize that they seem to start from the relationships and then build plots around them, rather than starting with plots and letting the relationships grow up around the plot.

For that reason I suspect the focus of Doomtender is not going to be on the epic battle with Clark, but a Clark/Nois/Doomtender love triangle (though I think it'd be far funnier if it turned out to be a Doomtender/Nois/JIMMY love triangle... such a thing could be comedy gold) because that's what PS3 have been trained to write and they aren't going to have the budget for massive FX shots of Clark and Doomsday trashing half of Metropolis.

As a side note; the Superman/Batman comic just introduced a new version of Doomsday with kryptonite shards instead of the bony spikes that was created by a black government project using tissue samples from the original. A variation like that... say a Lex experiment using Titan's DNA combined with kryptonite... would probably work for the Smallville version of Doomsday.

My personal hope is that they make Doomtender more like a host for a Phantom-like creature (Doomsday) as opposed to a true multiple personality. I don't want to feel sorry for Doomsday so having us get some sympathy for Bloom and then having Doomsday kill him by more-or-less popping out of his chest "Alien"-style would be a good way to have their pity party for Bloom while still letting the audience hate Doomsday with a passion.

This is my working theory also. There was something unique that Lex got from Titan (and then the phatom that became Bizarro) that he needed to reanimate his clones. I'm fine with the notion that the essense eventually takes control and instead of the clone being motivated by his implanted memories, he has these to kill for the glory of killing, something bred from the DNA up.

Lex could have planted his clones all over the world, thinking he has a legion of instant followers and slowly their flawed DNA takes over and changes them into super baddies. (Legion of Doom?)

Maybe that is too far reaching. Though, it would allow for Superman to have a successive string of uber bad dude to contend with and keep him from being too strong and fast for any believable conflict. I had better stop this speculating before I come up with a season 9.

God. Forbid.

My prediction:

Chloe: Clark, whatever happened to Kara?
Clark: I'm sorry, who?
Chloe: Kara. Your cousin.
Clark: Sorry. Not ringing a bell.

Hee. The sad thing? This is almost sort of plausible, given that Clark doesn't know what happened to Kara. Brainiac never told him he stuck her in the PZ, just that she wasn't dead and it was "worse." I'm sure the PZ will be a possibility Clark will consider, but he doesn't know for sure.

Hopefully, they'll be smart enough to get LV back for at least the premiere or an episode shortly following. But then, look who we're talking about. I just prefer to see loose ends like Kara's tied up as quickly as possible to avoid the pain of having to go back later and address an issue that's already dead by virtue of everyone having ignored it for so long.

I wish the whole Doomtender/Tess thing would die. I'd much rather see Brainiac as the big villain of S8 for as many ep as JM can be in, and then, and I know this won't be a popular opinion, return to a FotW-ish formula for the eps in which he's not around. But then, there'd be no one for Lois to flirt with, hence making Clark realize what a gem he's had sitting right in front of him all this time (vomit). Without Kara, I also don't know how they'll explain why Clark stays in Smallville anymore. Everyone else is working in Metropolis and hopefully they'll fix the major blunder of having Nois and Chloe living above the Talon. He really should move on too. It just seems silly that anyone still comes to the farm anymore, and even if Clark isn't going to start at the DP just yet, it'd be nice to at least move him to the city.

Clark moving to Metropolis, becoming a reporter or him doing anything other than running the Kent farm is going to be another lightswitch/barn door moment. They haven't shown that he has any desire to be anything other than a farmer, and he has been a full time one since mid-s5 but because Clark Kent is supposed to be a mild mannered reporter,not a farmer, they'll stick him in the bullpen and act like that's what he's always wanted.

That's probably what they'll do, making the Buffy rip-off nearly complete. Then they can make Doomtender's other personality actually be Tess, making both Lois' and Clark's interactions with both just a little more hoyaytastic.... And I would probably prefer to this to whatever PS3 actually has in store for us.

I think I'd actually rather Kara be gone than see her in another depowered/amnesiac/missing storyline.

I doubt they're going to have her back early in the season though. I can them bringing her back around episode 12 or 13, maybe having her back for an episode or two, and then sending her off.

I think if Jimmy were exactly the same character, but by another name, he'd be gone. But because he's Jimmy Olsen, they're keeping him around. I think they feel like they have to keep him and Lois, because they're meant to end up working at the Planet with Clark.

I can't think of any other reason you'd stick with a character who is such an unsalvageable trainwreck. Even Lana was never this bad.

So that we can all cheer when Chloe finally kicks him to the curb around Christmas/New Years and finally hooks up with Clark?

Alternately because seeing Jimmy/AA in drag is perhaps the only HoYay we're going to be able to get in season eight due to the absense of MR (who frankly, could have oddly inappropriate chemistry with a brick wall if he exerted a modicum of effort)?

Since we HAD to endure Jimmy Bond I think we deserve something in return that is actually funny. Like Jimmy on drag maybe to try and visit Chloe on jail. I actually demand Jimmy on drag after this show ruining tango for me! Stupid show!

I only hope that the reason they let Kara go is because they plan to get Clark flying at some point on S8 and is too expensive having the two of them flying. I was not fond of Kara but I didnt hated her either I would had prefered other characters to leave instead of her but stupidity doesnt need special effects so I guess it was down to that.I liked LV and I wish her well on any future projects.

Hahahahaha. I nearly spit my tea over my keyboard. Thanks. Needed a laugh.

The sad thing is, you are so, so right. Maybe that's why so many SV characters were retconned to be stupid -- to save time and money. If they're not actually doing anything, just standing around looking stupid, who needs a good script or special effects?

I've heard theories that the upcoming character Tess was, among other things, Miss Teschmacher from the original Superman. Has anyone put out the theory that she's actually the SV version of Contessa Portenza, Lex's eighth wife from the comics. It seems like a better fit and better linguistic fit (Contessa vs Teschmacher).

Also, is Doomtender just a nickname for Doomsday on these boards?

Yeah, since it seems likely that Doomsday has a Dr. Jekyll CW-pretty bartending alter-ego.

Someone mentioned it a while back. I can't remember if it was in this thread or the spoiler one at this point, and the search function fails me. To me, Tess' personality just sounds like a Smallville-ized Mercy, with the name Tess as a nod to Miss Tessmacher.


Yep, coined by our intrepid mod.

I honestly still feel, two weeks after the announcement, that Tess is going to be a lot like Roswell's Tess. For one thing, that Tess came into the show and the alien lead Max could not resist her, even after finding his soul mate (whether you Clois or Chlark, it won't matter). The description of SV!Tess sounds like the same lame plot device.

I'm going to speculate that Chloe gets snagged back to the Arctic upon the destruction of the FoS. I like the symmetry of Chloe being there both at the beginning and the end of the FoS. Plus, if it delays a stupid trial plot, I'd like that too.

That really sucks for LV, especially how she found out about her departure. Kara, or supergirl in general is a redux of Superman and thus has never really caught on mainstream. When the announcement was made to bring her on the show it seemed like it would be a huge mistake. On some levels it actually turned out to be a good spark for the show. Still there's not much more they can tell with her story, and being given a guest spot or two to wrap up her arc could be the best thing to do. The show needs to focus on Clark's progress now more than ever.

Speaking of..

I am very disapointed that the CW cowarded to AM's demands. She's a wonderful actress but her character has no type of direction. No where to go. She's not in journalism anymore, she lives in Lois' house, she's stuck in a loveless relationship, and Clark isn't into her. Why pay all that money to bring her back when there's very little left to tell for her? They could have used her salary to lure back MR for the last few episodes, or they could have used it for special effects so that Clark could really show off his powers/fighting prowress. Plus with Doomsday on the show now they could use some of that money to make him into the force he needs to be.

Using that money on a character whose time has passed seems foolish to me. I was pumped to see how they upped the ante with Lois and these new characters of Tess and Doomsday, but now I know its going to be more of the same ole same ole. Clark faces a battle, goes to Chloe, Chloe tells him how to win, Clark takes care of the problem. Been there and done that, for 7 long seasons. Its cliche and past boring.

I thought season 8 was suppose to be the year of Clark, where he stopped depending on Chloe and became his own man, solved his own problems, become Superman on his own terms for his own reasons. Like what we saw in Apocalypse- I wanted a season like that, where clear cut maturity from Clark was shown. The show CAN survive with Clark being the independent hero able to make descisions for himself as that episode showed. But now because they resigned AM they are going to keep Chloe on his back, nagging at him to become a superhero. And to not make her completely useless they'll keep him making stupid decisions that he'll need to be talked down from, keep him slow thinking so that he would always need her to put the pieces together, and keep him immature so that he would need her pep talks.

Its a shame really. Without the Fortress, Jor-El, Lex, Martha, Kara, and Lana gone for almost the whole season Clark could have been shown putting everything together, on his own, and finally accepting his destiny by his own choice.

Right; I think they already tried to do the Contessa thing with Lana.



Agreed on all counts. Plus I guess it's a really lame way to have her be the 'right age' when Supergirl is 'supposed' to appear.



And now we see how Chloe finally gets to break up with Jimmy.



And thus Clark will have a headdesk moment whenever he gets her out.

If Chloe Sullivan is the only reason that the Man of Steel can't OWN THAT SHIT, well...I think that says it all. Chloe holds Clark back. Chloe holds Nois back. Why can't Clark and Nois be forced to step up their game in S8 rather than force Chloe to step aside? Why not better writing for Clois? Why do we give the writers the out that only one or two characters need to be written well? Every single character should be more than fleshed out after 7 seasons. That they aren't isn't the fault of a particularly winsome character. It's because the writers can't do pat head/rub tummy to save their lives. They're utterly incapabale of writing two smart, female journalists. They have no idea how to write Clark as taking the reigns and working WITH Chloe rather than going to her for help. Chloe doesn't need to step down in S8. Clark and Nois need to step UP.

I don't think we've gotten any type of indication that AM forced the network to their knees. Her Chloe is a popular character and, IMO, there is a lot left of her story to tell in S8. I LOVED the Brainiac/Chloe exchange in "Arctic" and I hope to see more of that in S8. I hope to see Chloe working with Oliver and the JL. I hope that she finds out more about her power, and that she can find a way back to the Planet, ultimately. And for me, this is just as important to see as Clark embracing his destiny and Nois not being a DumbShit because Chloe IS Smallville in many ways for me. She's the unknown factor. She the mystery. I know all about Clark and Lois already. JMO, YMMV.

What I took from "Apocalypse" is that Clark is able to make decisions for himself but he chooses to talk with/bounce ideas off Chloe. When Clark met Chloe in the AU, he asked her to work her magic to help him. When she declined, he went to the DP archives (where he met Nois and Jimmy). Now Jimmy helped Clark; then as I recall, instead of bouncing ideas off Chloe in the AU, the writers had Clark bounce ideas off Nois (who was inexplicably competent). They even had Nois suggest what he should wear. Of course that was acceptable because it wasn't Chloe "nagging"/thinking for him.

Well, I'm pumped to see more Chloe. I couldn't care less about Tess and Doomtender. Lois can take a long walk off a short cliff, not only do I hate what is written for her, I find ED to be a bad actress. I feel the entire show would have been better without her. I only hope they don't focus more on her next season.

You are welcome and I hate to be a Debbie Downer so I will expect to be wrong and that stupidity gets reduced on S8. Also I hope that at least half the season show Clark and Chloe being happy (if Lex were actually there I wished him the same) both had been so miserable and kicked while they were down that I think they deserve a couple of days off from Miseryville, hopefully this will get brighter after Lana leaves..for good.





I disagree we don't know how Lex experience and losing the fortress affected him I don't think that he going to Chloe makes him looks inmature or incompetent IMO he looks his best around Chloe. Lana is the guilty of the intelligence leaving the room syndrome and in this show EVERYONE nags Clark about being a hero or have a better life. Ollie, MM heck even Nois wants him to get a job at the planet so I think he choosing him to be a hero or not is something that is not Chloe's problem he will do it when he feels like or when all that voices on his head makes sense. I just hope that since Lex is missing he doesn't think that the Apocalypse events are not going to pass and he can hang around and do nothing.

What we saw in Apocalypse was Clark doing to Nois what he does with Chloe..

The argument that Chloe is holding Clark back is very tiring IMHO, because it's not supported by cannon. Siren had them working as partners, season 5 even. Phantom they worked across eachother looking for information on the Phantom. Combat Clark gained the police reports and stuff. In Cure, Chloe declined help and we saw Clark going in investigation mode. This isn't the first time he heads to Chloe for help/ they work together. Saying it's Chloe IMHO is not accurate with the majority of what we've seen. Yes there are filler episodes where Clark is usually obsessed with Lana that Chloe has to tell him what to do a crap *cough*Sleeper*cough* but it isn't the majority.

I would agree it's Lana who holds Clark back, but certainly not Chloe IMHO.

Now as for Nois, they don't know what the hell to do with her. Season 4 she was the guest star so she can do whatever, fill Chloe's role in an episode, build a friendship with Clark, focus on her family, make it Loisville, which was basically every episode Lois was in during Season 4. Then she was thrust to the background with Clark's parents, making her have more of a relationship with the Kents then Clark. On a show that is supposed to explain why Clois are destined to be together this is development between Clois is seriously lacking IMHO. Every iconic moment she has they trashed it. Entry into Journalism was a damn barned door, her entry to the DP was more focused on Chloe then Nois, and basically trashed that with making the DP's standards lowered, and such.

IMHO, it's not to late to write Clark better, it is however too late for Nois IMHO. Any improvement now will be regarded as a Lightswitch. That's the point now, that S8 shouldn't really develop characters they should develop relationships and situations. But a way t make them better isn't to thrust a developed character aside. It's like building a bridge. You added your supports, paved the road and the suspension cables and when it's basically formed and done, call it a parking lot. That's what Chloe is going to be if they push her aside so Nois can look better.

See it's not Clark who looks pale when with Chloe it's Lois. Everything Lois does will be compared to not only other incarnations but Chloe. And to top it off, they are cousins, family on more then one occasion stated they were as close as sisters and Chloe dreamed of everything Lois is supposedly destined to get. Chloe has always been the one who's thought of as tying everyone to their iconic journey. Chloe was supposed to make Lois a journalist same thing with Clark. With Clark, Chloe was supposed to motivate him to become this Superhero, Chloe was supposed to be a factor in the Clark Lex hatred. Basically Chloe's death was needed to be this catalyst for the saga, and they didn't do it. She's not used that way. She basically became this mythos plot device of Season 1-3 to a character all of her own.

My spec of season 8, I suspect a more Supermanish Clark Kent. Think Bizarro and Kara. Two episodes where Lana was thought dead, we saw Supermanish Clark. So we most likely see more then that.

I agree with others a few pages Back, I don't think Tess and Clark will form a relationship, Tess is said to be 28... I doubt they'll have a 28 year old date a 22 year old. I do howeve believe she'll lose her sex appeal.

As for this sorry excuse of Doomsday, It's the Hulk without turning green. The only thing I can see of is to deal with this Immortal issue that was brought up in Cure and then is being speculated about Chloe's power especially after Arctic. I foresee a scene where Clark is either dead or near dead unconsciousness, at night, Chloe cradling him, and we see the return of the ToS healing Clark, curing Chloe of her meteor infection and Clark left with a shorten lifespan, That's what I am speculating.

The Clois, they hint it every year, never hold up. I do believe we may have gotten more of a Clois season should AM hadn't signed, but since she did, I see somewhat more of the same. with Chloe actually given an arc. Hopefully we have a Liberate the Daily Planet arc.

By that description then they should have never brought Tom back either. His character has no type of direction. He's not into being a hero anymore, he still lives on his parent's farm, his series long relationship with the female lead just came to an end, and his two greatest foes (Lex and Brainiac) have been vanquished as well. Why not just leave him stuck in the ice up northing instead of paying all that money to bring him back when there's very little story left to tell?

Perhaps because the story's not over for Clark yet? Just as it's not done for Chloe either.

Maybe the reason for bringing Chloe back is so she can fight to get the Daily Planet redeemed (since Nois and Jimmy sure don't seem interested in putting the effort needed to do it) and out from under the thumb of Lex Luthor so she can get her dream job back.

It could also be so she can resolve the issues related to her being a meteor freak and just what about her is so special that Brainiac was left weakened and scared and wondering just what her deal was.

It could also involve her finally getting into a real relationship with Clark (22 episodes with TW and AM playing the ONLY characters appearing in ALL the episodes... that screams to me that they're going to go there).

If anything, I think the real question should be... "Why the heck did they bring ED back when they could have used that money to pay for some guest spots by MR?" Nois has zero direction. She basically slept with her boss and sat on her ass all season waiting for stories to come to her. She's not into journalism, she's just after fame. She mooches off her cousin's good will (Chloe is her only source when it comes to writing her stories and I don't believe for a second that Chloe wasn't paying an equal share of the rent and sharing in the carpooling duties), Nois hasn't had a relationship since she was screwing her boss to get ahead in the world, and Clark isn't into her (he's still into Lana). Why pay her any money to bring her back when there's no story to tell and even less interest in hearing about it?

I'm a Lex fan first and foremost on this show and if I had to choose between bringing Lex back fulltime and Chloe back full time I would have gone with Chloe. If you want to talk about having no direction, for years they shoved Lex from one plot to another with no insight into why, no ramifications for what he's doing and a lot of senselessness all around. I mean, the only character he had to talk to was Lionel and Lionel hated him. It wasn't until the end of S7 that they began to re-examine the core of Lex Luthor and gave him solid material to work with.

Unfortunately, knowing these writers, I sincerely doubt that would have continued and we'd have another 22 episodes of a wasted Lex with 4-5 minutes per episode and no real plot to call his own.

Chloe, at the very least, is Clark's only real connection to humanity. I have a lot of problems with Borg!Chloe and pod!Chloe. But even if she's just used for exposition, I think she's far more useful to whatever lame plots they come up with than Lex would have been.

I couldn't agree with you more. I'm a Lex fan, first, last and always. That's why I'm glad he's gone, and won't have to suffer any more of this torture. A character like Lex, played by a fantastic actor like MR, deserved so much more. The writers of this show have to be morons.

My own speculations about next season involve retconning. Clark will forget everything that we saw happen in the FoS, and Lex will be vilified and blamed for everything that goes wrong, including the weather.

IA. Not only because Lex was given virtually nothing onscreen but ridiculous plots that went nowhere (while in Offscreenville, he had 33.1, Scion, hired Gina, and met/created Tess), but because Lex is already at the end of his journey. Arctic was his endgame. To bring him back for more than one or two episodes would only screw with his character and involve more stalling.

Chloe, IMO, is still necessary to the show for practical reasons, and so I'm really glad she's coming back full time.

Re: Tess and Doomtender. When are new castmembers usually announced? LV was announced in July, right? I don't remember exactly when.

I agree with Tess actually being a short for Contessa Portenza. Her superhuman strength, her having the power of pusuation.. it matches. She takes a part in running LuthorCorp in the future as well, and thats the way the show is going to bring her in. All the signs point to it being Contessa which would be really sweet and an excellent choice by the producers.



Yes its the writers, but its ultimately about what having Chloe a part of the show does to Clark. Lana and she each stunt extremely crucial growth from Clark because they are an easy way out for the writers. Exposition, quick thinking, problem solving.. the writers give them these things and they take them away from Clark so that those characters won't be useless. An emotionally mature Clark able to solve crimes on his own has no use for Lana and Isis, or Chloe and her supercomputers. So they write him in a way so that he'll need them, always, literally always. And after 7 seasons I was looking forward to a bridge between Smallville and Superman.



I would hope not, but the report is that she in for all 22 episodes. Thats a shame, I would have hoped that the CW realized that Clark's development and his story was more important than a supporting character that hampers that. Plus my other concerns- that now that she isn't into journalism anymore 99% of her screentime will be used for just exposition, chimmy drama, and being Clark's wise and intellent thinker. And for only that, a pay raise? Really? Whats the CW thinking? Other characters can do that for free.



I don't think Lois ever takes away from Clark, he's completely Supermanly around her. Her skills and abilities work in harmony with his superpowers and because she isn't in the know he's allowed to be mysterious, heroic, quick thinking and decisive in his actions. She can't lecture him to step up and use his powers because she doesn't know that he has powers. I perfer that dynamic.



Smallville is known as Clark's hometown. Without him- there no story, no show at all. He's the only irreplaceable character imo. There is infinate amount of things they can do with Clark and never run out of things to tell. His story has no bounderies because he's a character with no bounderies. Clark comes into contact with many characters during his journey, but they all fade away eventually except Lex, Lois, and Jor El. But Clark is the one constant. The center of everything.

General thoughts and speculation:

I do hope that MR comes back, because there was never a Lex that was made me care so much for him. He and Glover were the best actors the show had. What a blow to lose them all. I also hope that Lionel makes a couple guest apparences as Lionel, even if its just dream sequences.

I too think Clark is going to fly this season, in the premier and throughout the season.

I hope and think Clark will develop some type of costume to wear, before finally settling on the Superman garb.

With MM, GA, Kara, Brainiac, Lana, and (hopefully) Lionel returning for a few episodes, next season should be able to weather Lex's departure at least to some degree. Still more villians are needed. I would hope that Knox returns at some point too.

I too don't think Tess and Clark will be an item. Since I think she's Contessa, I expect her loyalities to be to Lex and preserving his legacy. I do however think that she'll be conflicted, then smitten for Clark and eventually try to use her sex appeal to learn his secret, but he'll deny her. I'm thinking this relationship will eventually get to that of Angel and Lilah. In fact I think Tess will be very much like Lilah from "Angel", only with superpowers.

Lionel warned that what was coming was so terrible, and it looks like what he was warning everyone of was Doomsday. I like the approach of Doomsday not knowing what he is or where he came from, but knowing that he does terrible things. I think Doomsday will be releazed from another dimension and arrive similiar to how Clark arrived at the beginning of season 4- in fire, and probrably, with amnesia, and probrably naked.

I don't think the fortress melted or got destroyed- I think it merely shrunk to the crystal that it was when Clark combined the stones in season 4. I think Clark wakes up in the Artic to find no fortress and that the crystal to rebuild it is missing. Later in the season he finds the crystal and restores the fortress once he accepts his destiny. I also have a feeling that Tess will find it first but won't know what it is.

I don't think Lois and Doomsday will be an item either. Much like Clark and Tess, it'll be an attraction on the physical level that won't go anywhere. I do think that Clark and Doomsday won't see eye to eye in a lot of things and that Lois might be in the middle of things. When Doomsday remembers who he is and why he was sent I see him and Clark coming to a head in the finale or close to it.

Since I believe Craig 100% when he says that Chloe is out of journalism, I think she'll be used as a conscious for Clark. First, making sure that he doesn't take Lana back when she returns and tries to rekindle their relationship. And I think when she does that Clark turns her down and they stay friends that way. Next I think Chloe will be used to keep Tess away from Clark's secret throughout the season. Maybe even be a bridge between Clark and Jimmy becoming closer. I don't see any Chlark relationship happening though.

Clark and Lois will each realize and even state (maybe not to each other, but out loud to other people) that they are falling in love with each other, but won't get a chance to pursue a relationship with all thats going on. I think Tess and Doomsday will pick up on their attraction to each other, become jealous that someone else has their heart, and form some sort of evil alliance once Doomsday finally realizes who he is later in the season.

I think Chloe breaks up with Jimmy for good, and even gives him that bowtie.

I see Lois and Tess having a sort of Grant Gabriel/Chloe type of relationship at the DP. Won't like each other at all, and Tess will try to force Lois out of the DP many times. Tess will be shown constantly talking to someone on the phone (Lex) and she'll not like Lois from the start. She'll really make things harder for her after she figures that Clark loves Lois. Finally I think Tess will try her best to keep Lois from completing her Lex expose but won't succeed. Lois will get Tess kicked out of the DP, and then publish her expose at the end of the season.

I think we will finally see a hologram of Jor-El (Terrance Stamp in this case) and Lara when the fortress is restored later in the season.

In the Finale, when Doomsday (under Lex's control) is defeated and everything is at peace, just when you think Clark and Lois are finally about to confess to each other how they feel and start a relationship, Clark pulls a swerve and puts the world before his feelings. He leaves to do his training.

I'd pay real money for ISIS to develop a second workstation across from Chloe (rotate her position by 90deg) and Clark shows up and Chloe says "look up XXXXX". And after that they are always both plugging away. Having said that, the purpose of him pacing while she types is to provide movement on the screen -- literally. AM mentioned once that why she is always walking around the DP (filing, handing in papers, at the Xerox) is for movement. In ISIS, the multi-screens are visually compelling but they need motion. So Clark paces while Chloe expositions. I'd also pay real money for Clark to be typing away and Chloe pacing --- just once. They could have gone a fair distance if they had simply shown Clark in ISIS for a split second with a computer screen lighting up his face when Brainiac set off the alarm at the power station and started to draw power. Then Clark could have said "bingo" and zoomed out. It would have 1) explained how Clark knew where Brainiac was and 2) shown Clark doing the research. Cut for time or lack of imagination I guess.

Clark bounces ideas off of Chloe so we the audience knows what is going on. He bounced ideas off of Jimmy and Lois in the AU because Chloe wasn't there to talk to. It is a different dynamic with folks who don't know the secret but in the AU they quickly slid into Lois knowing Clark was special because it's hard to just be coy all the time. Even in S1-4 (before Chloe was there for superhero exposition) Clark had Ma & Pa. But in S1-4 he could coyly get exposition out of Chloe and talk about implications with his parents. Now Chloe is playing 5-6 roles: exposition gal, conspiracy adviser (Lionel), Krypto counselor (Kara & JorEl), Ma & Pa Kent. Sometimes I think Lois gets a wee bit of the Ma Kent "people issues" role (which is a good thing). Chloe gets all of the Pa Kent moralizing. Some Lex conspiracy stuff can go the Lois & Jimmy but much will blow back to Chloe. And Kara's Krypto counselor role was pretty thin so that doesn't really drive IMO. As for JorEl, I think he'll be back. I like Fallen One's suggestion of the crystal being reformulated. So, Chloe is a crutch. I hope they expand a bit with new challenges so that he goes to others for the "bouncing off" business. But I agree with others, Clark is his most Supermanly with Chloe. They generally have an excellent dynamic and Clark is most himself with her. On SWEET I theorized that Clark turned useless in Sleeper and suicidal in Apocalypse because they were making the point that Lana in pain gives him action paralysis. This was the justification for her realizing that if he can't function when she is in danger, she needs to move on. She was aware of his issue per Brainiac stating she knew what was going on but couldn't communicate. I'm hoping that this action paralysis is gone now and we won't have Chloe needing to prop his bum up.

I hope a lot of what Fallen One posted comes to pass on the show. I think it would do justice to some of the characters.

I also think that the writer's are incapable or reluctant to write a good arc for more than one or two characters. Those who are left either get left by the wayside or are given ridiculous plot points. I hope Clark becomes a lot closer to how Dean Cain's Superman was in season eight. I don't think Chloe has to be gone to achieve this, but she should be given a different purpose on the show. I like her as Clark's best friend and as a journalist, but I hope they don't continue having her be Clark's brain, sidekick, parent, etc.

I don't mind Chloe using the computers to research for Clark, but her super-hacking is illogical and unnecessary. What I would like to see is Clark investigating in other ways, much like superman would. He could have his own contacts, follow some of the bad guys to see what they're up to, and try to deal with the justice system. I know that in a lot of superman stories, it's easier to have him work with the police and DA because they know superman has powers, but I still think Clark could work with them somewhat. While he's doing that, Chloe could be using her computer skills, and it wouldn't take away from Clark's ability.

I like most Clark and Chloe talks on the show, but I wish they wouldn't always have Chloe be the intelligent thinker or the emotionally stable one between the two of them. I think seeing Clark calming Chloe would be ok, and Clark making decisions and doing the right thing without Chloe suggesting it would be welcome. I really don't think Chloe has to be killed or moved aside for Clark, Lois, or Jimmy to mature into their iconic roles. I wouldn't mind hearing how Chloe has helped Lois learn the ropes when it comes to journalism (I don't think that demeans Lois's role at all), or Chloe returning to journalism (she could either work alongside Lois, work on a different section of the paper, or perhaps be assistant editor).

I think Clark could become more of a problem solver and still keep Chloe as his friend and confidant. She could also be a co-superhero as a member of the justice league, or simple as Clark's partner. His mother and father helped teach him morals and decision making, but as he's become a grownup, I wish they'd stop using Chloe as the surrogate parent guiding Clark every step of the way. Jimmy could also move forward with Chloe remaining in the story. He could be seen helping Clark occasionally, or working on his own stories, and/or become a friend that Chloe can discuss her emotions with, since this season she doesn't really come to Clark with her emotional issues (although really the show would have been wise to have Lois fill that role on the show since they are cousins, but they didn't).

I'm glad Chloe's going to be a part of season 8. I hope her arc is used to move her character forward, instead of as a plot device for supplying Clark with information. I think they are moving Lois forward, Chloe forward, and they moved Lex forward. Now it's time to step it up with Lois, Clark, and Jimmy, and allow Chloe's character to grow in a way that's befitting her character.

I don't understand why we're so certain that everything that happened in the FoS will be forgotten. Honestly, we won't know until s8. Also, Lex will be vilified for the things he has done wrong, which I'm sure are fairly numerous.

And I agree with those who said that taking Chloe out of season eight wouldn't help Clark one bit. Like nzs said, episodes like "Apocalypse" and "Siren" show (1) Clark *can* do the research by himself and (2) he *chooses* to work with Chloe. I've seen Clark be more than just the brawn for the past two seasons, and he's fully capable and smart enough to do the research on his own. I just think having Clark working by himself would be totally boring. Not to mention that when they get Chlark out into the field, there's a chance for comedic moments like we got in "Mortal" and "Vengeance". It's not that they can't making Chlark investigating more fun, entertaining, and showing that both characters have the smarts, it's that they have been too lazy to do it for most of s6 and almost all of s7. And I think balancing out the scenes of investigation with scenes of them just being friends would go along way to making the Chlark dynamic seem fresh again.

My problem with this is "How do we know that Clark is solving problems and why would he be expositing aloud if there's no one for him to bounce conversation off of?" Clark talking to himself would not look all that mentally healthy.

Unlike a comic where we can get thought balloons to express exposition, the only way we can find out something in the medium of television (at least on Smallville where the format does not rely upon a narrator to express such things) is for a character to express it in some way (whether via words or actions).

This is the reason why Chloe is so important for next season. Because there's literally no one else left who knows the secret for Clark to be able to share his thoughts with. Lana will be gone. Kara will be gone. Jor-El appears to be gone (and as faceless entity isn't a good candidate for bouncing thoughts off in a visual medium anyway). Lionel IS gone. Martha is gone. Jonathan is gone. Pete is gone. Who is Clark going to talk about a Kryptonian-related problem with so that, we, the audience can get a sense of what he's thinking if not Chloe?

Even if all Chloe does all season is stand around listening to Clark express his thoughts and offering a little feedback, that's still more important to the story than Nois or Jimmy because, if we don't get Clark's thoughts we don't understand Clark, and if we don't understand Clark he becomes much less interesting, and when he's less interesting there are other channels to watch.


Except Superman (and superheroes in general), he is a changing. In recent Superman stories comicLois is right there Googling for Clark to get him the information on the bad guys. They even added a plot device wherein Clark's powers screw up computers so he CAN'T do that research and Lois has to do the research for him.

Likewise, stack Chloe up next to Pepper Potts from Iron-Man or Rachel (plus Alfred and Fox) in Batman Begins or Mary Jane in the rebooted Ultimate Spider-Man comics (where she started the series as his best friend/fellow science nerd and graduated to full-fledged confidante after two story arcs) and you'll see that Chloe fits right into the new wave of heroic reboots where the hero needs the support of others to succeed and the hero's love interest is a pro-active participant in the story.

Gone are the days when the love interest was kept in the dark "for her own safety" and was little more than a damsel in distress and I for one salute the effort to do away with the sexist garbage that the love interest needs to be lied to because "she can't handle it" or "to keep them safe" (never mind that they got kidnapped every other story anyway).

That's why I really don't see the problem with Team Chlark. We know Clark can do research, but Chloe does it better (just like in the comics where Clark is also the second best reporter at the Daily Planet because, even with all his advantages, Lois is just that much better at reporting). We know Chloe can handle herself against relatively normal people, but Clark can handle pretty much anything.

What I want to see in season eight is for them to continue to acknowledge that they're splitting the load in this cause. Chloe is doing the research not because Clark can't, but because she can do it faster/better. Clark is throwing villains thirty feet because he can do that a lot better than Chloe. And they're both talking to each other and bouncing ideas off each other and piecing together the clues because they do it so well together.

Superman and Lois Lane have evolved over the years and the partnership we see via Chlark is pretty much the version the comics are espousing, just as it's that type of partnership that the critics are praising in their movie reviews of Iron-Man.


Agreed. Frankly, I think everyone on the show could use an episode where nothing life-threateningly dramatic happens and instead we get something like a comedy of errors. TW and AM have good comedic timing, ED's been used for low-brow humor throughout the series... the phrase "Jimmy in drag" is comedy that practically writes itself.

That would be a freaking lightswitch IMHO. Clark had showed absolutely no interests in Nois. If this happens it's poor writing IMHo. They barely shared scenes for most of S7, and in S8 I really expect the same. Everytime they hint that Clois will happen it means less screentime for those two.



No offense to Craig, he's not always right. The writers don't always state what we see on screen. So saying Chloe is out of Journalism, especially when stating the reason was that the DP is corrupt means, when it's not corrupt she'll be interested.


When the world is on your shoulders, it's nice to have someone there help holding you up.


Really?

It may do Clark justice but it lightswitches his relationships with Chloe and Lois. Lois is completely Lightswitched to be written like Chloe. Chloe has to be written as a pure supporting character and be pushed aside. And disregard 7 years of development of Chlark to satisfy the Clois. So no, it won't do this long time fan justice because I value development and clearly Clois and Nois don't have any. So why sacrifice characters that do just for the sake of mythos?



Agreed


Season 1-3, I would agree, but since season 4 this series took a different direction and truly became it's own interpretation. I want to see if they have the guts to truly make it a universe of it's own. It's the reinterpretation thing I like.

No one does exposition like Allison Mack. Hopefully, the Chimmy drama will die a horrible death, because it's boring as hell. And who else can be Clark's closest friend and partner when no one knows his secret?

But you do have a point, which is that without journalism, Chloe really is a hollow shell of her former self. Journalism is so tightly woven into every aspect of her character's history that she makes no sense without it. Since the CW did go to the trouble of resigning her, I suspect the producers realize this, and that she'll be back into journalism next season. A DP redemption arc (which is badly needed) makes no sense without Chloe in it. A Clark-as-new-journalist similarly makes no sense without Chloe in it, not after he and Chloe worked together for four years. The golden globe has been associated with Chloe too long for them to suddenly drop that association.

No matter what the writers may have thought as they tried to get to a point where they could write Chloe out of the story if they had to, I'm confident they will have her working her way back into journalism next year. Otherwise, the moral of the story is "when you help the hero save the world, you have to give up all your dreams." As Chris has pointed out, the writers are fond of writing according to standard storytelling patterns, and good characters are not generally punished long-term for helping the hero in this sort of story. Since Chloe lost her job due to the villain, and she's one of the good guys, it's very reasonable to expect Chloe to eventually fight her way back into the Planet, IMHO.

I agree with the need for Chloe, and I am glad she's back. Having said that, she does need a role change, at least a little. It's time for Clark to want to be Superman; my husband, who is a huge Superman fan, and I were discussing this, and he was saying Chloe comes off as more of a hero than Clark, and at times, she comes off as smarter than Lex, and at times Smallville really seems to be the "Chloe is better than everyone else" show, which isn't what I signed up for. If the writers want to show how much Chloe rocks, then they should have let her get a spinoff show ala Veronica Mars where she could be smarter than everyone and better than everyone. If you go back to the earlier shows, Pete was in on the secret, and was sometimes in a position to be encouraging, but he never became the freaking hero. This is my problem with how Chloe is written and it DOES diminish Clark. Chloe saved Clark way too many times this season, and she pushed him to do what he should be doing anyway way too often. And yes, I know some of this is poor writing of Clark, but in order for them to write Clark better, they are going to HAVE to take away some of Chloe's cheerleader/superhero mode and give it to Clark. Clark's defeat of Braniac in Artic was way less epic than it should have been because of the focus on Superhero Chloe weakening Braniac first.

So, I want Chloe to remain Clark's best friend, but I would like to see him branch out and do things on his own, and also interact with other members of the cast. Jimmy and Lois, I think work very well with Clark. And I would love to see a friendly, nonangsty Lana in a position to help as well.

I disagree with this completely. Lana and Nois have both been lightswitched to be better than Lex as a villain (in Lana's case in the beginning of the season, to the point that she's telling Lionel she'll kill Lex if he hurts Clark and both Lionel and Chloe believe her) and Lex is apparently afraid of Nois, though for no reason I can see - she's apparently smarter than him in Offscreenville.

However, Chloe is the one getting arrested thanks to Lex.

IMO, you could say that about any character on Smallville. Lois goes from smart and cunning to brainless T&A / comic relief all the time. Jimmy has mad James Bond skillz, but was dumb enough to think Lex would accept his little rebellion. The damage done to Borg!Chloe and poor concussed Lex to justify certain stories is laughable. Lana might be the only person who escapes the occasional dumbing down to meet the needs of the script, but after all - she must be loved. YMMV.This would be a major, major lightswitch for me. Despite spending very little time together this season, I do believe the show has made it clear Clark and Lois are good friends (Siren, Apocalypse, Arctic). But it is a huge jump, IMO, to move from "good friends" to "falling in love." Especially since KK still has her last few episodes the shoot, and PS3 will undoubtedly try to get every drop of Clana angst out of that ship.

For Clark and Lois to suddenly look at each other in a brand new way, after four years, screams bullshit writing and anvils to me. It is like Lois being put in the Daily Planet by Grant - sacrificing story, character development, continunity and common sense so the character can be put somewhere, consequences and logic be damned. YMMV.To me, Doomtender is not Doomsday. A hot, emo bartender with blackouts is not the unstoppable killing machine who had terrorized entire worlds. Doomsday does not serve drinks, or get worried about his deep dark, Gary Sue-esque past. He breaks stuff and kills people. Maybe the show can turn me around on Doomtender, but the basic premise sounds pretty bad. YMMV.

Yes, and I'm glad. Lex needed to do that and it does remind us who the mastermind (well...kind of) is.

If Clark was written well, considering TW's talent and his chemistry with his costars, I don't think there would be any question as to who the hero of the show is. I cannot support sacrificing one character's being written well to prop another, even if it's Clark, even if it's the last season. The writers have a responsibility to every single character on the canvas, just as I am expected to do EVERY aspect of my job well, rather than just the most important ones. No Chloe in S8, or a Chloe that is rendered unavailable to Clark and unwilling to help isn't the answer. She's been called the sidekick and that's what she should continue to be. Clark can step it up without having to stick Chloe in Backburnerville.

Unfortunately, based on the Smallville Contrivance Theory, IMO they wanted Chloe out of the DP to prop up more Lois and Clark interaction. Now I suspect Peterson-gate was there original plan but alot has changed so I'm not sure where they are now. I think they do want to bring up Lois as a bigger deal. I don't expect a "Clois happiness 4evah" scenario. Perhaps if they mature Lois beyond comic relief this will allow Clark to see something more special in her. That would be an improvement. If Character X can grow, then Character Y can grow. IMO no one character or ship is going to end up happy happy. Practical matters and DC restrictions are likely to drive more than anything else and none of these scenarios where one character is suddenly what fans have been hoping for is likely to happen (even Clark).

I suspect we got half of the 10 arc of glory at the end of S7. They wrapped Lex, they initiated the wrap of Lana (which they will finish in S8). The did not wrap Chloe (except to push her out of the DP so as to make way for L&C) and they showed some progress of Lois towards a reporter and Lois & Jimmy. They could fall back to Chloe extremely propping up Clark but I think that (as stated before) was driven to show Clark falling apart over Lana's pain -- I think it'll settle more.

Now that Chloe is back, the real question remains in my mind is whether or not they are rethinking Peterson-gate (it's all about Lois & Clark). I don't think everything went "according to plan" when it came to working out S8. Was Peterson-gate after Goughlar was not re-upped? Did they think they would have a bigger budget? Did they learn anything in the process of negotiating with either MR (which did not succeed) or AM (which was harder than I suspect they thought). A lot of variables. I think Peterson-gate showed their initial intent but they may have altered. They are an arrogant lot, however, so they might contrive what they can to have their vision.

I guess being a fan of Superman is what makes this difficult for me. If I was a fan of Smallville first and foremost, maybe the concept of a joint heroship would make sense to me, but it doesn't. I thought this was supposed to be the story of Superman. Superman is sidekickless. He's much smarter and stronger than he comes across on this show, and with this being the last season, I am far more concerned about doing whatever it takes to make him come off that way, I am not concerned with whether Chloe comes off less than hero!Chloe, because she shouldn't be that in the first place. IMO

Yes, Chloe finally got arrested, and it rocked that Lex was finally being proactive and smarter than everyone else; I love Lex because he is a genious, and while Smallville did great in making him sympathetic and not a mad scientist type character, they didn't rock at making him genious, but finally they got it right. But prior to the last few episodes, Chloe was outsmarting Lex left and right, and don't even get me started on Lana. It saddens me that Lex never got to oneup Lana.

My sentiments exactly. However, I fear with PES3 taking over that they decide to turn their back on a reinterpretation and try to lightswitch the hell out of it so that at least the cornerstones are the same.