Dead Clana zombie horses come to mind. They'll follow the same pattern as in other seasons.



I figure more will come when Comic Con gets nearer - which makes me hope the actor's strike happens. I'm sick and tired of the sight of ED especially since her "I am a Lead" stunt with the Emmys.



Pretty much. Why pay all that money to get AM back without upping ED's eps, but getting JH on for 12 in the meantime? Plus Doomie and Tess?



IA - however, the PTBs haven't learned that if the journey to the ending isn't worth the audience's time anymore, they're not going to tune in. Already I've got the first two Chlark scenes scheduled for youtube and I know other Chlarkers/Chloisers who are already preparing to do the same.

Clark going somewhat undercover to keep an eye on Tess is really the only thing that makes sense to me. I'd even go as far to say that I'd like it if he was there because she is part of an injustice, not just to Chloe (even though, I would love that), but for lots of people. At this point, I would love for Clark to start getting compassionate for everyone.



That's the only thing I'm watching for, at this point. The problem with that is, aren't they going away by episode #2? It's a big stunt to get people to watch the premiere and hopefully, have people stick around.



I'd love to know how they feel about someone they work with sleeping with the boss and gets ahead or even just lies to their faces? Personally? I don't like either.



Bwah. That's totally what that was! :)



No joke.

At this point, Clark's nemesis has seen him without glasses and knows he is an alien and everyone in his "future" has seen him without the glasses and has known him for years. How in the heck are they going to pull a "secret identity" disguise?

Good luck with that. I mean, good...luck.

No, I too am psyched. I wonder if the Martian Manhunter leaves with Aquaman and Canary. I hope they mention where Flash and Cyborg are, as well as where MM has been since Cure!

I'm also excited about the Clark-Lois-DP dynamic (no surprise there). My enthusiasm for SV sort of tapered off after Veritas, but I'm quite pumped for the premiere. :)

It's like their interviews - talk big, but the actual season will be something different.

I actually think this is a horrible idea, and it's inconsistant with the point of giving Chloe the Chimmy relationship, imo. I don't think Chloe needs anything else at this point other than the Chlark. The idea of her receiving a cold blooded killer for a relationship before the Chimmy even cools in the grave is utterly absurd, I think. I just don't see where it really fits into the fabric of the show at this point. I remember Chloe bedding down with Jimmy only a few episodes ago. There was also a marriage proposal involved at the end of the season. I don't want this for Chloe or this show.

I just tend to think that Dooms will come to her attention under a different set of circumstances. What if Chloe is busted out of her confinement? It seems likely that she may possibly have to lay low for a while and avoid any public exposure--that depends of course on the conditions of her release. I've just got a sneaking suspicion that Chloe is going to recognize this guy from her time in confinement.

I know we call her Wrongda, but she called this a few days before TVGuide did:

I remember we all agreed that she was just speculating based on stuff we'd heard already, but everything she mentioned here came up in today's blurb. I know, she still could've luckily guessed it all, but the JL stuff seems rather specific.

Maybe she's not wrong all the time? :\

Maybe, just maybe, while Clark's sitting across from Lois at the DP, he'll mention that he's taking night classes at Met U or CKU?
*crossing fingers*

Technically, if Chloe is/was on a 4 year college plan, she'd be graduating this season. I wonder if there will be any mention of that?

I still think it's a lucky guess. I saw many feel that they would try to do another JL episode now that Hartley was signed on before Wrongda wrote about it.

I actually loved the SG1 reboot (would have prefered it was renamed so people stopped complaining that it felt like a different show-it was.) They kept the same characters but had them play with new characters that shifted the focus and had situations that had them reacting differently than they had in the past, but the show earned the reboot. It had gotten to a point that all the old issues had been resolved. All the old villians were mostly tamed and the lead of the show was gone. For the show to continue, it had to do a reboot. (I also loved the final season of Angel)

But the central questions of Smallville, how Clark Kent makes his journey to Superman has not been answered. Lex might be done (or hopefully only held off until a finale) but we aren't done with Lana (sadly) or Chloe or even had Smallville's fate taken care of (Is anyone ever going to neutralize the Kryptonite?)

What I'm saying is that Smallville wasn't done. To suddenly switch focus before those other stories were told is ridiculous. Clark Kent getting to the DP was part of the story, not just being there.

We have unanswered questions all over the place. The DP was a big part of the equation and that part is just being totally glossed over...no matter if he's spying on Tess or not, going from no interest in journalism (since graduation) to being hired by the end of the opening episode, there is no way any proper attention could be given to this transition.

And if this Lois&Clark Smallville is to be taken at face value, how we got to this point makes no sense and the characters themselves have to be lobotimized to ignore their past.

That being said I'm not ready to throw in the towel. I'm not convinced that we should take this new Lois&Clark arrangement at face value. This is the season of double identities. This is the final season. (Please, Please, PLEASE!!!!) This is when everything either falls into place or falls apart and at this point I really can't tell where we will end up.

Exactly. The only way a victory can maybe be salvaged is if Clark is working of Ollie to be the insider spying on Tess, to get the DP and Chloe's job back. That could maybe be a struggle that humanizes. But no struggle, no care. Why did Clark stay out so long otherwise, and why have the very writers who gave this interview lists Clark's three restrictions the last episode? Something has to be up.



Basically. And if Chloe's impeded by the feds at this time...



Well it never was, it couldn't from the time Zod walked Metropolis at the very least.



Bingo. But it's the Moonlight delimia - they are afraid to pay off, so they wait until it's lacking it's luster. Look at all they did with Lex but only when they thought MR was leaving of the show was over. They stall by showing all the things that can't work when most of the time we got that already, and then only at the end does Lex know the secret and kill his father.



Playing that angle may, may salvage it rather than WhamBamNewShow. But these writers have been there for 6-7 years and are trying to keep it inline (supposedly) with the older series. They have written some of the best on the show, and it was in fact these writers that highlighted all the issues in Arctic. To me if they want to be taken seriously as show runners and writers after this, then they've got to have something hidden up their sleeves about this.

See, I view that type of position by the show as deeply problematic at this point. It's season 8 and likely the final season of this series. Issues should start becoming increasingly more clear as the story moves forward, imo. That's where the problem lies, imo. If the show had dug deep into the Chlark bag somewhere in season 4 or 5 and gave the audience a passionate Chlark relationship, then the Moonlighting scenario would indeed be a concern. Season 8 should start with points that build immediately upon the show's end game. Now for me, that means obstacles need to start being removed from the very start of the final season--both emotional and circumstantial barriers.

For me, that means emotional obstacles are eliminated i.e. final Chimmy and Clana resolutions along with settling original character conflicts (read Chlarkana). That's the ONLY way I could find Chlark even remotely believeable or entertaining. It has to make sense for the story in the end. Most of what we've seen to this point does appear to point to Chlark as end game, imo. But, last minute contrived additional relationships for either character muddy the waters and drive the characters potentially further apart. The picture should get clearer, not more confused. That's why I hate the speculation about a possible Chloomie ship (even if it only lasted 2 ep's before Chloe finally woke up to the fact that the guy has a past filled with serial murder). It doesn't work, imo. I could see the show attempting some ham-fisted BS effort at re-creating a vague Crush scenario for Chloe, but that was then and this is now--the circumstancs are VASTLY different, imo.

I need to start receiving the immediate down payment on the financial and emotional investment that I've made in this show for 6 years now. It needs to start building from the premiere, imo. How could the show possibly see early season 8 developments for Chlark as risky when the show barely has any legs left to it and is actually lucky to even have a fanbase that still cares?

Well, I'll be dammed. Clark's at the DP..by episode 2 no less! How did it happen? Who cares? Who hired him? Who cares? The point is that he's there! I don't know...I guess I thought there would be... a moment for Clark's entry. Not just: look! He's there!

I'd really like to know who hired him. Tess? Did Ollie buy the paper during the 3 months, then hire him? Honestly, because filling out an application does not guarantee employement-so something had to happen in between.

I too believe that he is spying on Tess...but..whatever. I don't think he is stepping on Chloe's dreams or feelings or whatnot....but I expected more. I don't like the idea that Clark had to be forced into the DP or journalism for one reason or another. I was looking forward to some sort of realization that, to do what he needed to do, he needed to have access to information. I wanted verbal acknowledgement of his desire to be there because it stands for Truth...not a choice that he was pushed into. I'll wait and see though. I may be wrong.

I certainly do not like the statement that Lois becomes on obstacle to Clark saving the world. I NEVER thought "Lois Lane" would be "an obstacle" to that..of all things. It seems like an oxymoron...I understand that Lois doesn't know the secret, and must be kept in the dark...but to be a hindrance to saving the world?

My God. They might be going to ironic, iconic funny....but this does not sit right with me. As far as I know (and please correct me if I am wrong), in no verse is Lois Lane a hindrance to the job that Supes has to do. She might swipe his stories..but even in SR, Supes had to save the world first before he could go to Lois. I'm sure it won't be as bad as I make it. I'm surely over-reacting...but my mind just can't wrap around any Lois being an obstacle..even if it is "a little".

That one sentence strangely saddens me. I'm wary of the "unfortunate situations" for Clark as well.

Well, on to the question posed every year: Who has dibs on Chloe's death by end of season!? Now that everything is falling into place, there's no need for her. Maybe, in a horrible twist of fate, Doomie is going to beat the crap out of Chloe, inadvertently removing her self-healing powers. Hence she dies. Clark and Lois will work and cry together in their opposite desks, and Doomie's illegitimate son that he had with...Chloe?....will come back 20 years in the future to beat the crap out of Clark for allowing his dead beat dad to beat up his mom. Clark will then die. SV will then sync up with comics. All will be well in Superman mythology.

No, that gave me pause too. But then when I thought of it, I think they're just referring to that whole "in the dark" thing. Because Lois doesn't know and can't know, Clark has to do things in a roundabout way. It should lead to interesting ways for him to use his powers, which I think is a plus. A silver lining I guess. The spoiler is:

So, it sounds like she impacts time. Which I can see. Not that she's a hindrance so much, but it'll be like early on with Lex and Lana, when Clark always had to find a reason for his absence or showing up when you least expected him.

It was mentioned earlier I'm sure, but Clark can't be wearing that same jacket if he's at the Daily Planet, right? He'll have to mix it up a bit. A nice blazer and jeans? A tie? His entry into the DP was rushed, but his transition to the iconic suit and tie might be more gradual. By season's end, he'll have "the look".

Not really - he and Chloe dealt with that with Jimmy last season and it sucked big time. Not that it would be a stretch with Nois, but it made Jimmy look even stupider than he is, because they can't write convincing distractions. *shrugs* Just knock her unconscious and be done with it.

One of the great things about people knowing the secret was that the tired "Hey, how'd you do that?!" stuff was finally shelved, for the most part. If Nois and Clark are going to be spending so much time together (well, 12 eps worth), then we have to sit through all of that bullshit again, which really just takes the show backwards. This is exactly why it makes no sense to try and pull an L&C in this series--we've been there, done that. Whether you Chlois or not, for all intents and purposes, Chloe has essentially been the Lois of Smallville, and we've already seen the progression from curious friend to trusted, beloved sidekick and comrade. What new angle can they possibly give by rebooting the whole thing and virtually starting all over again with Nois? What exciting and fresh twist will this bring to the show? They've been telling this story in their own way from the beginning and they're way past all of this shit that's being hinted at. It really just makes no sense at all.

Guys as much as I don't like to make you panic had you noticed that Lana is not mentioned on the first two episodes? THAT is what make me panic!

What if they plan to bring her in the last 6 episodes to end the show on a Clana note? That is a scarier though than everything.

I can't believe I'm about to say this...but I think I'd rather the series end on Clana than The Adventures of Mopey and Dopey. At least it would make some sort of sense in terms of following series logic and history. In fact, I'd rather these new spoilers be about Clana working together than Clois. Yes, I'd rather see Clark being a receptionist at Isis than working across from Nois and the Daily Planet.

*ducks*

From the spoilers thread...



Chloe has hacked all series long. If she's paying the price for it at this point, I'd say it was a long time coming. As for consequences, IMO, nothing is worse than Clark destroying the ship back in season 2 and causing Martha to lose her baby. This thing with Chloe doesn't even come close to that.

Chloe has mostly hacked to help the hero of the show save the world. To me, that's not something she ought to "pay the price" for. YMMV.

Replying in the All Season thread.

Then I supose you want Clark arrested too? Since he worked with her, knew of his activities and even encouraged her making him is accomplice.
Actually you can make a case that he was the brain behind it all since is his activities and his secret what had pushed her further than she ever had gone.

I mean as a reporter only she wouldn't need to hack into homeland security so she probably will get a to pay a fine for hacking into hospital records and things like that but working with Clark saving the planet from Lex and Brainiac make her to get into the problems she has now.

So maybe we should make a campaign to get Clark arrested too you know because is the only fair thing to do and he has it coming.

Then let Ollie and the JL and Clark start facing consequences too. Heaven forbid though that Nois face consequences for sleeping with her boss and using DP money to get concert tickets etc. She doesn't need no stinking consequnces, she's Lois, Lois Lane, the Genera's Daughter: stepping all over her cousin since season 6 [/sarcasm]

I suddenly feel like a shoddy late night tv ad for some reason.

In thinking about it...what if Chloe and Clark are both back by end-premiere...and they find out that Tess has taken over for Lex at the DP. Together, they try and convince Nois that she shouldn't work there anymore, and Nois says some shit about taking Tess down and restoring the glory back to the paper (depending on how gross it gets, she might also accuse Chloe of wanting to sabotage her job out of jealousy). Chlark talk about this alone, and decide that the best way for Clark to look out for Nois and watch Tess is to apply for the job that Nois suggested. This way, Clark can't be accused of backstabbing Chloe, Clois fans get their team, and Chlark will still be working together behind the scenes to sort through the various happenings/hijinks at the Planet.

Ew.

She'll be missing a while, I expect. That way Clark can start to look Supermanly, ideally start a romance with Lois (whoever she may be), then have Lana return.

Oh and going back to Lana worshiping?! I hope not.
Of course it could mean that he will finally moved on from her, but knowing this show that seems to beautiful to be truth.

Here's just a potentially optimistic way to tie those two together. What if they do Clois romance and he drops her when Lana comes back. Can't we "see" that as showing this Clois as being facile, merely surface maybe even "rebound" while the Chlark relationship still remains strong? (I'm assuming it'll remain strong.)

(Is it bad that I'm still pulling for Chlark/Chlois mostly because the other options are just so horrendous?)

It's a fairly common reaction, I think. :)


If Clark is going to end up in the DP, I will only accept it as a way for the Chlark scoobying on Tess/general villain to continue, after a talk between the two. Anything less is OOC, and generally a bit rubbish.

So to conclude, TPTB will have Clark take the position to watch out for our favourite 'ace reporter'.


The pessimist in me thinks that they'll bring Lana back during Clois, so Clark can declare his true love for Lois by rejecting Lana. The optimist agrees with you though!

True, but isn't that going to be something Clark deals with for the rest of his life? He'll always be the one saving the day anonymously (not Superman, but Clark). Keeping his secret from Lois is part of the juggling act and I did say it'd be like Lex and Lana early-on, but it is what it is. This show has already dealt with some of Superman's greatest foes, does that mean his future is going to be devoid of them? I don't think so. This show has made repetition inevitable, but maybe, just maybe, they'll come up with a different way to tell the story or angle. Based on what those spoilers say, I'm rather sure that's where they're going with this "obstacle" for Clark. Lois is going to get in the way simply because he can't tell her about his power. The freedom of the AU from "Apocalypse" won't exist in the real world. Him and Lois will have to work together while sometimes working against each other.

Again, maybe they will this season. It's often lamented that Clark's powers aren't used to their fullest. Who knows? Maybe this season, they will be. It doesn't have to be big. It can be a small thing. Like the tossing of papers as a distraction. It was small, but it was only possible because of who Clark is. It doesn't have to be big explosions and special F/X. That's what I meant by "interesting."

I don't think that will happen, though I know it was the solution for Lana and Lex often enough.

I think we have little to fear from Real Chance Clois in the actual romance department. We will see Clark give horrified looks at Lois's writing, suggest corrections, steal the copy to rewrite it himself. Her incompetence will get in his way, and he will have to save her without revealing himself. All that will appear cute on the surface initially, but it will be made clear the real partnership is Chlark.

I oppose the moving Clark into the Planet because it will be annoying, and it undermines Clark's development, not because it makes me fear Clois. They would build more legitimacy to Clark's entrance, if it were their intention to play it straight. Just when we figure out that Lois isn't a real professional threat to Chloe, and Chlark get close, that's when Lana should return.


I would expect that we would all fear that, but it would be the final demonstration that he was able to resist. THEN we get the freak reveal after.

Anyhow, freak reveal or not, Lana has played a major role as series antagonist. I don't expect them to rush her back and tie her up the first few episodes. If she had agreed to more than 5 to 7, sure, but if they have to use her sparingly, she'll turn back up later to upset Clark's progress one last time.

Clark has tried to keep Chloe out of trouble for a long time now. Clark didn't force Chloe to hack for him. In the end, it was Chloe's choice. That's her way of getting information. If Clark was caught breaking into a building, I wouldn't want Chloe arrested unless she was there with him or supplied him with information on how to break into the building. Unless Clark gave Chloe information on how to hack into the government, he should be left out of it, IMO.



I'd have no problem with Clark being arrested, just as long as it was something that he was guilty of, like breaking into a building. I'm sure that in the end, Chloe will be released from jail and by the 3rd episode of the season, it will be a distant memory.



If she broke the law, she broke the law. Maybe she should figure out ways of helping the hero without breaking the law if she's going to get caught. To be fair to Chloe here, she has never been caught hacking before. From this point on, though, I think that she should figure out new ways to get information so that she doesn't get caught.



Well, heaven forbid Chloe face the consequences of communicating with Clark all of the time at the DP when she should be doing her job or having a movie date with Jimmy at the DP. I think that this hacking situation is on a different level than any of the above considering the fact that Chloe is now in big trouble with the government.

I'm sorry, but when was communicating with friends at work not a thing allowed in American society? How else did you mean that part?

The thing for me is the writers could have made Chloe face the consequences for all these things, but instead, she's faces consequences for essentially helping the hero of the show; while Nois does the something society abhors and gets away with it scott free. Yes, heaven forbid Nois face the consequences for anything, especially when she doesn't actually get why screwing Grant is something she shouldn't have done.

Which reminds me, with Chloe facing such consequences, Clark shouldn't have bothered applying for anything, because faced with Supermanly duties that often leave him coming off as a slacker, he should be fired asap.



Depends on POV. Speaking as female viewer, watching Chloe get dumped on for doing the right thing and Nois succeed for doing something I loathe, I'd say differently.

I really don't understand this. What "trouble" has Clark kept from Chloe?

It was Clark's idea (hard to believe since presumably Clark never uses his brain around Chloe). He's as guilty as she is.

I will never understand how Clark is supposed to go back to wanting to keep a secret from Nois; after experiencign seven seasons and it's repurcussions of keeping secrets with Clana; and while knowing that Nois won't be able to handle his life as Superman. I mean, he's learned nothing from the series then but I guess...no really, I have no idea why he'd go back to wanting to keep secrets from Nois and pursue a relationship with her after Clana.



Yeah, that's a good point too. I too don't think Lana will return early on. They'll save her for sweeps and such.

Communicating with friends, IMO, is a lot different than a friend, who doesn't even work at the company, coming into the office all of the time so that he could get help from a girl who is supposed to be doing her job during the day. YMMV.



Well, she broke into the tunnels in season 6 and was stabbed. Is that not facing the consequences for her actions?



We don't know when Clark will be applying for the job in relation to what is going on with Chloe. Chloe might be out of jail by the end of the first episode, before Clark even starts at the DP.



When it comes right down to it, Chloe being fired by Lex is not what is going to keep her out of the DP, IMO. Being fired there twice and being hired back is ridiculous, but I think it's also something that would never keep Chloe out of the DP in season 8. What will keep her out of there is if she doesn't have an interest in getting her job back in season 8. Judging by her reaction to being fired, she didn't seem to want to stay at the DP anyway. It's one of the reasons why I don't understand how Clark is not being a good friend if he decides to take the DP job next season. Unless Chloe wants the job, I don't see it being much of an issue for Clark to get the job. JMHO.



There have been times where Chloe has wanted to go with Clark to help him and he ran away because he felt that he coudn't protect her. "Sneeze" comes to mind here.



Only if he supplied Chloe with the information on how to hack into the government. It was her choice to hack and she was the one who handled it all. Unless Clark forced her to do it or was the brains behind it all, which was not the case, I don't understand why Clark is guilty.

Right, let’s be sure to call for Clark to get fired when he starts saving the day while on the clock then; gets visits from the JL; starts using the DP’s databases for things that aren’t to do with a story.



Yeah, when Chloe saved her and died for her troubles.



I actually meant that he’s going to be guilty of everything Chloe is – when he goes off to help Ollie while on the clock; when he does any investigating while on the clock of the DP, it’s all something he should be fired for.



It was the safest thing for the show to not go into that in detail at a time when AM’s contract was being renegotiated. Back then, people were wondering what was going on with the DP storyline, until the strike happened and we realized they’d pushed the redemption of the DP into season 8…and voila, here we are.



Because last season he looked sick at the thought of accepting Nois’ suggestions and taking the job and Chloe was a concern of his – that’s why if he takes simply because he wants a “normal life” he’s pretty disloyal when last season he was anything but.

The thing is, I'm not calling anybody out to be fired. It's Lois who is being called out on the fact that she does all of these things at the DP with Grant and gets away with it. I was just pointing out that Chloe does plenty at the DP as well that would go against her being a perfect employee yet nothing has happened to her as a result of it.



And Chloe will be saved by someone in season 8, unless you think that Chloe is going to rot in jail for the rest of her life.



But Chloe wasn't fired for any of those things. She got away with helping Clark for years at the DP. She was fired because she lied to Lex about what was in her desk. She also put herself in a situation to be fired by staying at the DP even though Lex was the owner of the place. Had Lois been fired by Lex, I'd say the same thing about her and her decision to stay at the DP even with Lex running the place.



I don't know if that's the case or not. If season 8 starts with Chloe moving on from the DP, I think that this will probably be proven to be false since AM now has a contract with the show.




But season 8 is 3 months later. I would have to assume that Chloe's spot would have been filled at that time and the job Clark will get in season 8 is a completely different one, just like I think that Chloe can attempt to get another job at the DP in season 8 if that is what she really wants.

True, but it is a tv show. Chloe exists essentially as the show's ILL (YMMV), and she worked at the Planet. The Planet is an iconic entity in the Supes-verse, and she connects Clark to where he will be working in the future. When you consider it in those terms, Lois & Clark have really been working at the Daily Planet for 3 seasons now. It's a purely organic development, imo.
Well, there's no cure for stupid, imo. Yes, she got stabbed after making an ill advised attempt to go up against an armed assailant with nothing but her bare hands and her breasts to protect her. So, yeah, she got snake bitten in Phantom. I think the point being made is that EDLois has managed to skate by on a wing and a prayer without her shady ethics and lack of skill and education catching up with her. At some point, her boss banging, UFO ranting, lack of talent and reckless activities should've come with some consequence, imo. The audience is still waitng for that now. I'm waiting for real journalists to return to the Planet in an atmosphere where only the very best of the best in journalism work and apply their skills. The Planet is the home of Pulitzer winners and distinguished professionals, not back ally junk journalists from the Inquisitor. At some point, logically, EDLois' total lack of qualifications should sink her...atleast it should.

Chloe not being happy at the DP while under Luthor control isn't a surprising development, imo. I think that situation pretty well speaks for itself. WRT whether Clark would or wouldn't be a good friend in this situation by taking a job there is subjective. Clark is totally and completely unqualified to work at the Planet by any reasonable standard, and Kahn would've surely laughed at him the moment he opened his mouth to ask for a job, imo. The moment she would've asked for college transcripts or a resume, Clark would've stood there with a blank expression on his face--I think Clark would ordinarily understand the absurdity of asking a legit newspaper for a job--unless it was as a janitor or possibly in the mailroom.

The issue for me is how Nois framed up this proposition for both Clark and the audience, and I'll translate that into my own terms:

"Look, Clark--it's your lucky day". "Now that your nearly life long best friend has been booted unfairly from her job by a snake like Lex, there's a world of opportunity for you at the Planet". "Now Chloe is no longer in your way or mine". "Heck, take advantage of her misfortune, Clark". "This is your golden opportunity to weasle your way into the Planet with no qualifications or skills--go for it, farmboy". "Sure, it might hurt Chloe's feelings and leave her in virtual disbelief at your lack of journalistic passion or skills, but heck, it worked out ok for me". "Don't worry that working at the Planet or winning a Pulitzer has always been her life's dream--her loss is your roadway to glory--go for it". "You win, she loses, don't worry about it".

That's how the entire exchange between EDLois and Clark struck me. It was insensitive and arrogant on Lois' part, imo. I thought Clark's response was appropriate. Journalism is Chloe's passion, not Clark's--not yet anyway. Chloe had to be unfairly booted by the villain of the story while assisting the hero, and that's what created the opportunity for Clark, imo. For Clark to slip in and take advantage of a situation where his soulmate and BFF was persecuted and paid a price to help him would be a pretty slimey move on Clark's part, imo. So, I thought Clark's reaction to Lois was appropriate in Arctic.

Agreed. I think it will be only a temporary roadblock.

There's no need to wait those 3 mos., according to the show. Chloe's misfortune set up the situation where Lois brings the appication by the farm for Clark to fill out in Arctic. The timing of this event made EDLois look so callous and opportunistic, imo. It came off as her trying to get Clark to buy into her own unethical methods. But, that's just my opinion.

I never understood this. If Chloe is helping Clark during working hours, she must be making up that time later (heck, she lives at the DP). Otherwise, her job/performance would be suffering. Seeing as we've had no indication that her performance was an issue; and her firing had nothing to do with lack of performance - she's making up the time. It's logical and it's something someone who's worked hard to achieve their dreams would do.

The thing that I find interesting to me... especially in relation to "The Odyssey" is that Clark's decision to take the job at the DP manages to surprise Nois. That implies that it IS actually a sudden change of course for Clark, not expected, and textually out of character for him. Going along with that is the whole "trying to lead a normal life... or at least appear to" bit. Why would his working at the DP only appear to be leading a normal life?

This leads me to suspect there's something more going on than just him taking the job for no real reason. There's going to be some twist on it because without a twist or some type of related drama, there's no story there. Nois being hired by the DP served as part of the inciting incident in Chloe's conflict with Lex's attempts to meddle at the DP where the most recent development was Lex firing her and then having her arrested. Clark's entering the DP after saying he wouldn't has to play some sort of role... either an inciting incident of it's own... or more likely to my mind as the latest plot development in the ongoing struggle for the DP.

Well... when Odysseus finally got back to Ithica he found his home overrun with ingrates and he had to disguise himself in order to get inside and get the lay of the land before planning to get his home back. In keeping with the theme of dual identities, Clark might decide to "undercover" so to speak as as part of a larger plan (with Chloe and/or Ollie) to get the DP back out of Luthor hands.

That's the only thing that actually makes any sort of sense to me in terms of character development.

The only thing here is that if this is the route they intend to take, then redeeming the DP is going to be a season long subplot and that does mean that it's likely Chloe will be on the outside looking in at the DP for a while (not that I expect her to stop investigating and trying to find the truth... just that she won't be doing it under the aegis of the DP until after the redemption plot has run it's course).

The possibility related to this too is the potential for compare and contrast. As others have pointed out, they went out of their way last year to contrast Chloe and Lana and why Clana doesn't work while Chlark does. It makes sense to me that they would compare and contrast Clark having to partner with Nois at work (where we already know it's going to cause Clark problems) with Team Chlark and how Chlark still works as they investigate other matters.

Replied, but moving to Discussion for All Seasons.

Guys, keep the focus of the posts about the future, please. Referencing the past when talking about the future is one thing, but it's another thing to rehash past events in here. There are other threads for that.

Thanks.

Well, I don't view Lois giving Clark a job application as unethical. I think that the unethical part would come in if Chloe really wanted the job and Clark clearly takes it away from her with Lois' help. In the case of season 8, I would expect Clark to apply for a job at the DP but Chloe's spot should be filled up by that time, so it's not as if Clark would even technically be taking Chloe's spot. We'll see if TPTB go into this when the new season begins.

I might respond to some other things in the all seasons thread....

Do you have non-spoilery news about the future of this show? Do you have a link to promo pics or other first-party info about the show? Do you have speculations about a future episode based on what you've seen of the past? Then this is the place to discuss them! Please do not post spoilers in here, even with tags. To know what's considered spoilery or not, please see this post.

Rehashing old debates: See this post in the mod thread about moving on from points that have been made many times before.

Compiled Info: Here's where you can find all the non-spoilery future info we know up to now, in one handy post.

This is the post for what we know so far in non-spoiler news about the future. If I've left any non-spoilers out (see pinned definition), please PM me. This post will be pinned and added to.

From KSite:

9.01 is called "Savior."

9.02 is called "Metallo."

9.03 is called "Rabid."

Also according to KSite, Bryan Q. Miller is writing episode 9.04.

Thanks for posting the TV guide stuff, Elly.

So my question is... How does Oliver find Clark? He might have been tracking Lex's movements and guessed Clark was with him when he disappeared, or he may have been in contact with Chloe, or he might have gone to J-Lo for information, since they both know Lex was interested in the arctic, and Jimmy knows he went there.

This whole JL saves Clark thing really makes me wonder how they are going to bring Tess in, assuming she is in the first episode.

IA, Chris. It cannot be as simple as "I'm going to work at the DP!" It makes zero sense on multiple levels and I refuse to accept it.

I was thinking he was tracking Lex and noticed some energy surge and went to check it out. Or MM realized something was wrong and told GA because he knows about GA somehow.

I just hope they mention how they can't find Lex. I would hate if they just find Clark and decide to close up shop without even looking for him, leaving Lex to die in the cold.

Both good ideas; I didn't think about the MM thing. But the thing is neither of those would take three months. But whatever. It's not like this show makes sense on a large scale, much less with the minutiae.

Is the MM involved in the JL storyline, though? From the spoilers, it seems like he's not. I have no idea what else he would be doing though.

Oliver? Leave Lex to die in the cold? Never!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure he won't care. Maybe Clark will say something.

Me too. Well, it was really crushed by Sleeper, since Descent was awesome, but still. Pumped for season 8!

I'm in a massive minority, but I'm actually glad to see Lex gone. In my opinion, the character and dynamic was played out (much like the Lana and Clark one) and it was holding the show back (not that any of that is Rosenbaum's fault, since he's awesome).



Everything she said WAS all stuff we were speculating about anyway. And she even phrases the Justice League stuff as a guess. That's what Wrongda does. She makes 'educated' guesses, and sometimes she gets lucky. When she does it's 'See I told you so', and when she doesn't it's silence or 'Oh, they changed their plan'.

Regarding the end of season Lana fears... Would Kristin really be willing to delay her Smallville return until next year? I'd think she'd want the committment out of the way so that she could move on to other projects. I'd at least assume that her episodes will run in the block filmed before Christmas.

And God help us all if these assumptions are wrong. Craig? Anyone? Help?

The Odyssey is nice and all but this is Smallville after all. I fully expect Clark's reasoning for taking the job at the Planet will be because of Lana. She did tell him she was just "holding him back" and he's had three months to think about it. Lana being gone was his reason for finally submitting to training under Jor-El in S7. I don't expect this year to be any different.

Well, I know she's not in the first two episodes at least... but my speculation is that they'll save her for November sweeps. I think the plan is five episodes.

Personally... and this is not a slam at Clana, at Lana, or at Kristin Kreuk... I feel that Lana's story is pretty much over. Would they really bring back the Clana for 5 episodes only to effectively kill it again? That being said though, I would REALLY like to see Kristin in the final episode... as well as that guy with the initials M.R... just because I do see a final goodbye as being part of the end of the Smallville story, and without Lana/Kristin, it'd be unfortunate.

(So basically, I guess what I'm saying is, I would rather have one episode of Lana at the very end than 5 in the middle.)

As far as I know Lana is not the reason for Clark taking the job.