Hmmm...so HNR is doing a bit of false advertising?

Smallville pictures by the end of the week! Sweet!

I just wish we were getting promotional photography of the cast. Episodic photography is great, but I want a damn photoshoot.

You and me both.

I thought it had been announced they were doing new promo pics for this season?

At the very least I'd expect them to do a shoot with Sam and Cassidy, and maybe Hartley as well.

If you're going to add Hartley to your cast you really should capitalise on the pretty.

After all, God gave with both hands... :P

As much as I love Matt Mitovitch, it sounded like he was just guessing.

I hope he wasn't.

Hee! My thoughts exactly.

I'm going with the theory that they want use to know this stuff, so it's okay to post here - yes? No?

Charlotte Sullivan is Maxima...and oh joy, she arrives and kisses two guys.

I want to say Ollie is the second guy, but I bet it's Jimmy. *rolls eyes* This is making me cringe, it really is. Like we don't have enough of big-haired blondes macking on Jimmy because they think he's SO Awesome. ugh. After the Kara crap last season, I can't wait to see how he plays his wandering eye in this.

You nearly gave me a heart attack, Liv. My first thought was that Charlotte Sullivan was Chloe's relative - man, talk about being clued out. :p

ETA: Lol! Thanks, Liv. :)

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0838000/



LOL! I know, I was amused by the name too!

It's not just the name...thanks for the link Liv, she looks like an adult Chloe. She's gorgeous.
Considering Oliver isn't in this episode, neither is Davis, Jimmy is the only other guy.

So She hits on Chloe's guys... go figure

Does she? I thought she was working her Kara-look here. I do like her extra short hair look on the IMDB page.



Yes, like Nois will apparently. *shrugs* I just am not looking forward to how they're going to play Chloe and Jimmy in this. It has great potential for the return of Doormat!Chloe patting her boy Jimmy on the head and telling him he's naturally awesome which is why strange women like macking on him. And of course, Chloe would never ever mind that...*gag*

No it's a perfect set up, for the downfall of Chlimmy. The uneasiness won't be just on Chloe's side via the Fever Letter, it would be on his side via a kiss with Maxima. I mean despite what she feels for Clark, she never kissed him while with Jimmy, in fact she hasn't kissed anyone since being with Jimmy. Chloe has been the faithful girlfriend while Jimmy hasn't been a good boyfriend.


Yeah but she has those green eyes like Chloe while Kara had blue, and that short haired pic is the one I'm looking at LOL.

The article says something about Charlotte Sullivan making her "first appearance" as Maxima. Does this mean she's coming back? Hmmm...

It could mean, first appearance in the sense of Smallville.

Didn't they use the same words with Linda Carter when she guest starred.

So can I assume the actress will be dying her hair red?

She's pretty and everything, but Maxima? I'm really not seeing it.

Wasn't Jolene Blalock up for the role? Now her with red hair? Totally Maxima. Maxima, in my opinion, should be over the top (and the one time it's completely required is when this show chooses not to!), not just another generic Canadian actress.

They're kind of all Chloe's guys this season, so I don't see what other choice she has.

As for Chloe and Clark's disagreement...everyone's just going to come out of this Davis/Doom thing looking like an idiot, aren't they?

To be honest, I'd rather they'd have kept the secret altogether. Just maybe let out that we were to get a mysterious new character without telling us who he'd be. Between promos and pimping, this show leaves nothing to be revealed later. Then I think that maybe Tess is something special that they're keeping under wraps. Then I remember that this show is pretty much all about disappointing me.

Even the Fever letter will be ruined forever. They already took the Vessel kiss and stuck a fork in it.

It's premature for this statement considering we have yet to see the episode.


Well that was done in Zod when it was shot down. So if you're referring to Gemini, I don't see why it is even an issue.

Some of these exact same conversations are happening in both the Spoiler Discussion thread and the Spec W/O Spoilers thread.

Is the thing about Chloe/Clark/Doom available anywhere besides in Ausiello's report? If not, then it should be discussed in the spoiler thread.

Craig posted the spoiler at K-site<snip>AA just reveal what is the reason for their argument. So it's really a spoiler at first that AA just made it more public.

From the Spoilers threadClark and Chloe making major, life changing decisions, based on events that took place during their three months in Offscreenville, screams lightswitch to me. It screams lightswitch from the mountaintops.

Now, I am happy Clark wants to be proactive. I am glad he wants to get off the farm and help people. But after seven years of being content to let the world outside Smallville go to hell, I want a pretty darn good explanation for his change in attitude. Just saying "Oh, it's Smallville" does not cut it for me. If PS3 want to play with their cute new Clois team up, then I damn sure want to know why Clark is doing a 180 of his well established "Fuck the world so long as my friends are safe and I can have Lana" attitude. It does not have to be a great reason - Lex became competent after getting shot in the head and being stuck in Lionel's mind rape machine. But it has to be better than a flying barn door, especially when he will be working for Lex's replacement. YMMV.

Chloe is in the same position. Based on Comic Con it appears clear she is now Chlemma Frost, runner of Isis and protector of the meteor infected. Well, I want one hell of a goods explanation - more than "She is so mad at Lex!" (AM), or "Lex and Grulian were mean to her, so she was happy to run away!" (writer who talked to Craig). I completely disagree with the argument that Chloe's identity as a meteor freak is important that her previous desire to be a reporter. IMO, that theory simply throws away 6 years of character growth and development. Everything prior to Bizarro - gone, because she has now has glowy hands. If Clark can have powers and be a reporter, why not Chloe? Why has her brand new pro-meteor freak identity, an arc that has taken place almost entirely in Offscreenville, cause everything else about her to be null and void? Other than being an excuse to get Chloe out of the Daily Planet so PS3 can have Clark and Lois work together, of course.

Do I think i will get a good explanation for the fairly large character changes? Not really - i expect more crap of the NotBaby variety, combined with lots of screen time for the new characters, wacky Clois antics and Jimmy whining like a little bitch. But just because the changes are done on Smallville does not mean I will excuse them if they are bad. YMMV.

Exactly Bob.



Saying that is another way of saying it's destiny and what must be must be because the comics say so while screwing over the characterization the show built up in the seven seasons before this one.

It's bullshit. Utter and complete bullshit and pandering to a small comics crowd when they have many more fans invested in the show than a comic that as I understand it, is doing terrible these days.

Also, the movie's completely a bust and they don't know what to do to get it back on track. IMO, pissing off fans invested in the sole remaining
Superman visual media program so not the way to go.



I think this could be great if it's played out well, but I don't want to see the argument overdone ie Chloe yelling to the high heavens just because Davis is her friend and could never be a killer Clark is wrong, while Clark comes off as the beaten down hero who is just trying to helop his friend and that bitch just won't listen to him ---> that's what I don't want to see at all. So if someone else is outed as a killer for the ep, cool, it still plays with the tension otherwise, I'm not in the mood for Shrew!Chloe because Clark needs to look more proactive.



Word.




Oh IA. Nois gets billionaires and banging a clone with no repurcussions - Chleo gets a douchebag, a serial killer and Clark, who apparently is prone to having "sexy" misadventures with her cousin and kissing whichever set of New Boobs get thrown his way - and all wrapped neatly with a bow with Doormat!Jesus!Chloe who's going to save the whole wide worlds just because it doesn't interefere with destiny. *rolls eyes*

I haven't seen the first episode yet, obviously, so I'm not sure how TPTB are going to make all of this play out. However, when looking at "Arctic", I expect some major, life changing decisions to be made. Clark had just been controlled by Lex. The fortress is gone and his powers might be as well. He's going to spend his summer in the arctic somewhere. When he returns, I think it's reasonable to expect a Clark Kent who is going to make some different choices. As for Chloe, she just used her power to weaken Brainiac and then died again in "Arctic" before coming back to life. Then she was arrested, which could impact what her future is. These are some pretty major events in the lives of Clark and Chloe so at this point, nothing would seem like a lightswitch to me. Also, one of the problems with this show, IMO, is the fact that characters don't change enough based on the events that take place. These characters have been in near death situations constantly and some have actually died yet nobody seems to skip a beat. I welcome any drastic character changes at this point. YMMV.



Well, I think that Chloe being a meteor freak has forced Chloe to become a different person. I think that overpowers any of her previous thoughts or desires. This girl can heal people/weaken Brainiac and die as a result of it all prior to coming back to life again. That's a fairly huge deal and I have a feeling that in season 8, we're going to see a Chloe character that is willing to embrace who she has become rather than try to ignore it like in the early part of season 7. If that's the case, then major changes in Chloe's life are expected. YMMV.

I have zero doubt that Chloe will return to journlism because Chloe leaving journalism makes as much sense as Ollie giving up his arrows and leather chaps = none. They've established that the important characters are drawn into their destinies by their natures and that their natures are revealed by early childhood. That's why they showed Ollie with his little arrow set, Lana with her pink princess outfit, Lex being sneaky and listening at doors, Clark enjoying toys that fly and Chloe with her front page headline of the Metropolis Elementary Gazette.

Matt Weiner of "Mad Men" gave an interview recently where he said that he wanted to focus on the truth (as he sees it) that people's natures don't change. To me, that is a very definite theme of Smallville and the reason they brought up the story of the Scorpion and the Frog so early on, because they believe in the truth of that story. Chloe will go back to reporting at the Daily Planet.

I agree wholeheartedly. Especially seeing as it wasn't her decision too. It was the bad guy having a bad day and taking it out on Chloe. If Chloe had decided that she wasn't interesting in truth-seeking and reporting and that the DP was beyond redemption, that's one thing. But to have the bad guy fire her for helping the good guy? That screams redemption, imo.

We don't know if Clark was "controlled by Lex." And he seems to have amnesia in the work camp so he didn't really have time to re-evaluate his entire life.

But that is a light switch. Just because you have a crisis doesn't mean you make a drastic decision without it having any connection to who or what you are. If Clark decided to become a scientist, would you consider that a light switch? A librarian? A teacher? At this point, I think Clark might be more likely to go into politics than become a journalist.

A difference between Clark and Chloe is that Clark never really seemed to have any dreams (other than Lana). It's harder to say "Clark wouldn't work for the DP because all his life he wanted to ..." since I never got any sense of a dream job from him. (He farmed because he was supposed to but I don't get that he loves it.) And what good is it for Clark to start working for the DP at the end of the first episode. There's no struggle, we won't get why he's passionate about it, it would just be handed to him (like it was handed to Lois) and that doesn't make for a good story.

And again, it's writing for the DP. You're in Metropolis, even if the DP is still a rag (which we really don't know), you can find 100 more qualified people (who also want to work there) to intern there at Met. U, let alone at all the other colleges in the area.

I think that if it fits with what he wants to do in regards to his destiny, it's not a lightswitch considering the fact that Clark has been exposed to journalism all of his life. If he decided in the season 8 premier that he has this grand passion for journalism and has dreams about being a great journalist, I would have a problem with that just like I would have a problem with him having a sudden passion to become a scientist or teacher. But if he is using journalism as a way to fulfill his destiny as a kryptonian, I honestly have no problem with that.

OK, then please stop discussing it in here, everyone.

It sounds like it's still spoiler territory by our site's definition. Most of Ausiello's items are considered spoilers here.

What destiny? His destiny to "rule them with strength"? His destiny to mope about Lana until KK returns?

PS3 or AlMiles saying things happen because of "destiny" reeks of shoddy writing to me. It is otherwise random events or changes that are used to justify major changes, based on the needs of the script. It is a clear lightswitch moment. It is, IMO, saying Clark ends up at the Daily Planet because Clark always ends up at the Daily Planet. Now, am I happy Clark is being proactive? Sure, but that does not give the show a pass it they dop it in a dumb, ham-fisted or crappy manner. Lois Lane entering journalism should have been a good thing... and look how that went.As CTUN said, we don't know any of that. More to the point, if none of Clark's other life changing adventures had an impact on him (Sumer of RedK Fun, Summer of Cave Wall Fun, Phantom Zone, losing his powers multiple times, a few deaths, losing Bo, Clarksickle), why is this one so special? Why is it so drastically different? If PS3 basically say "Because it is, and look - Clois banter!" I'm not going to be pleased. YMMV.IIRC, Chloe did not die in Arctic. She involuntarily used her powers against Brainiac. I agree that being arrested would suck - good job, Jimmy.So, the past seven years mean nothing? Chloe's glowy hands > seven years of Smallville? The glowy hands, I might add, which she mastered and learned to accept in Offscreenville?

I call shenanigans on this argument. Shenanigans! IMO, it says what you are is more important than who you are. Chloe's career, her drive, her previous plans and hopes? All less important than the stupid ToS. I like RealChloe a lot more than Borg!Chloe or Chlemma Frost, no matter how much AM or PS3 try to sell the change. Especially when it was done, IMO, for no other reason than to boot Chloe the fuck out of the Daily Planet so PS3 could play dress up with Clark and Lois. YMMV.

WORD to your whole post Bob!


This reminds me of Lex's words in "Legacy":


IMO, Chloe has been a reporter in Smallville since the first day we met her. Even before that according to "Progeny". That is the relationship I, as a viewer and a fan, have had with Chloe so far. Now, IMO, the MF-ness just got thrown in (a) to create conflict into the Chimmy relationship and to parallel Chloe to Clark and (b) as a plot device we all know this show loves to use.

To me, Chloe is not defined by who she has been the last time I saw her, she is defined by who she's been the entire time I've "known" her, so to say. Saying that Chloe no longer wants to be a reporter because of being in jail/33.1 is as big a lightswitch as having Lana come back and decide that she wants to be a reporter and work at the DP. I know Lana is usually lightswitched, so it might not be so shocking for her.

Chloe has gone through terrible things almost throughout the show. At the end of season 3, she was almost blown to pieces and was missing for three months. We know Lex protected her, but Lionel kept trying to kill her even when she was under witness protection. She has faced bigger threats and never once has she had the epiphany to drop Journalism all of a sudden, and then she was even younger and yet she dealt with everything as it came without changing her resolve to report the truth. Lex kidnapped and tortured Chloe and her mother, yet the end result was that Chloe decided to write the "Progeny" article. True, it never made it to print, but if Chloe did not get scared of the Lex then, I don't see how she will be scared now for being fired. YMMV, but IMO, Chloe just changing her dream in offscreenville will be the most disappointing lightswitch of all times. Even with an explanation, it will still be the most disappointing story-arc ever in SV.

JMHO. YMMV.

I was reading about Mercy on wikipedia, and apparently in the comic books Mercy is an amazon with super strength. Apparently she's traded punches with Superman before.

I just thought that was interesting given that we know Tess is a mixture of Miss Tesmacher and Mercy, and that Tess apparently has enhanced strength. Maybe that part of the character has been drawn from the comics version of Mercy.

I also didn't realise that Mercy was another character that started off in the animated series, then moved to the comics.

Eh, I'm just keeping my expectations as low as possible, Griffin. That way, if it's only partially ruined, then I can take some comfort in it not being completely ruined. It's how I survive the show.

But it's tantalizing to think it might not be because... and the remainder goes to the spoiler thread!

I thought the stregnth was dropped (in favor of a connection with Oliver- bad trade, heh)?

Also, I'm pretty sure Mercy is only Amazonian sometimes. I think currently Mercy is just a regular female bodyguard, and in some versions, she's more of an executive assistant (like Gina *tear*).

ITA. And if they wanted us to believe that she was done with it, then they should have followed up her complaints about Lex running the DP and her new interest in helping people with her quitting, not her being fired. It would have worked just as well in that scene. They chose to have her be fired unjustly from the job she wanted for years by the villain of the piece.

As Bob said above, Clark doesn't know what his "destiny" as a Kryptonian entails. He has a lot of contradicting information. People tell him he needs to go on and be a hero, true, but people also tell him to go control the planet.

Also, Clark has been exposed to policework for at least the past seven years. On more than one occassion, Sherrif Adams asked him to join the police force. If Clark decides he wants to help people, then why wouldn't he want to be a cop? That certainly makes a lot of sense, considering all the bad things that happen in Smallville and his intimate connection with them. People tell him the world needs him, but does it? All the bad stuff that has gone down on this show is "Clark's fault" (In quotes because it's not Clark's fault, he either believes it is or it is connected to his existence on earth or his actions). So why would he decide the DP and reporting is part of his destiny when up until now, he's been cleaning up Kryptonian messes in and around Smallville?

I really believe that there has to be another reason for Clark joining the DP. If he just does it, it doesn't hold water to me.

Hey, maybe that device really did control him, and that's how Clark is going to become Superman. *snort*

Great post Bob. I too agree the argument is Shenanigans. I never bought into the "Chloe is done with journalism because she has meteor powers" argument. It not only makes sense with what we've seen before but also doesn't make sense considering how Clark becomes a reporter and he doesn't have nearly the level of passion for journalism that Chloe has. There's also something very martyr-y about Chloe as the Mother Theresa of meteor freaks which I don't think fits the character. (There's a difference between sacrificing oneself*, which Chloe might do, and choosing to live one's life as a martyr.)

Clark's in journalism because we said so. Chloe's out of journalism because we said so. These people have life-crisis situations every week and they come out of it practically the same. Suddenly everything changes? That, to me, is a light switch.

Unfortunately right now all I just see a lot of light switches and a progressively weaker Chloe, continuously saddled by Jimmy.

* Another Chlex Similarity: they both were willing to sacrifice themselves for Clark's sake (in Fracture and Arctic)

Destiny is just a lame word the writers use to make it sounds like they have some sort of plan. Just saying something is "destiny" doesn't make it good writing. But these people continuously show that they don't care.

One thing to consider is that it's not Allison repeating the "Mother Theresa" quote over and over... it's actually that the CBR interview was from the same press junket both I and the Comics Continuum were at. So as far as I know, that's the only time it's been said.

Yup meaning this was just an episode thing, IMHO

We've had no news that it was dropped. We've had almost no news about Tess at all! It was part of the original description for the character, so it could have changed, or they could just have failed to mention it since then hoping to keep it a secret (since I don't think that initial description was intended to get out).

I really hope it hasn't been dropped. It adds a dimension to the character that is extremely appealing to me.

My mistake. I was under the impression that it was some sort of season/part-of-season long storyline for her.

It's hard to know what to believe about the n00bs. A lot of information contradicts earlier information, which I guess is part of the growing process when you begin to actually write. At this point I don't know if either Davis or Tess have amnesia, which they were originally supposed to have.

Canada's sci-fi channel did a brief bit about SV at Comic-con, which they just showed the other day, and Cassidy says Tess is a "very.... strong woman", with a little smile and then talks about how she'll get things done in Lex's absence. I took that to mean Tess still has strength, but they're keeping it quiet. Granted, I could have totally misread it, but she certainly put emphasis on the word "strong".

Hee. I'm gone for two weeks,and I get the chance to check in on my way home, and what do I see? New amazing lame spoilers that are just as amazingly lame as the old spoilers. Makes my decision to begin obsessing on "Heroes" and drop "Smallville" much easier, for sure. It is nice to hear that the "Mother Theresa" quote is only from one quote, though; thanks, Craig. I'd still like to think the writers will remember that Chloe is first and foremost a REPORTER, but I'm not seeing much to make me hopeful at this point. I really think I should have just surfed over to the "Heroes" boards without even bothering to check in here, honestly.

I have to admit I was hoping for a spoiler that would expect how the heck Clark gets into the DP. As someone pointed out below, there's simply no buildup for it, and there are plenty of jobs that would make more sense for him. I'd love to see a spoiler that gives me something I can believe, rather than the simple implication that "everyone knows Clark winds up at the DP!" Bah.

Laura Vandervoort announced at Fan Expo 2008 that she will be returning in October to film an episode. If my math is correct (which, admittedly, it may not be, heh), that sounds like either episode 9 or 10.

Does anyone else think they're really going with the Supergirl leaves with the Legion thing? Because I've supported that idea since we heard the Legion was coming. :)

I really hope this is the case. Because it will be a waste for them not to do so...So they probaly won't do it this show never let us down when leaving something good to waste.

This would be a perfect plot for that episode. They rescue Kara, and she leaves with them, considering based on her words in Blue against her father, and such, Kara is already willing to defend Earth.

I'm really glad to read the Kara info here. I didn't care for Kara much last season, they did all sorts of wrong by her character, imo. That said, I do think Clark would have enormous guilt if Kara's situation is not resolved, which impedes my enjoyment of Inmyheadville.

It's hard to think Superman would just leave Kara there in the phantomzone--but what can be done? I'm guessing Kara might know about the El portal and be able to use it.

I was wondering about that. Kara is an El but can she open the portal? I though that it could had been a descent of Jor-El since he knew his brother was a mad scientist! so allowing him and his offspring to be able to scape sounds stupid...but again this is Clark's father we are talking about so :/

Since LV has stated that she's coming back, I'm guessing that this is the case. I fanwank that her bracelet links her permanently as an El, it's almost like a dowry for her, if her life fails in someway, she can always return to the Els.

I'm wondering now if Lana's return and Kara's return are related. Lana's Brainiac induced coma started with Kara's disapperance. It might make sense on some plots to return them to SV at the same time.

Speaking of Brainiac, I really hope that he will be making an appearance again in season 8. James Marsters is awesome, and I would really like to see more Chloe/Brainiac scenes! The one they had in "Arctic" was soo great, IMO. Plus I thought it was really lame to kill Brainiac with the same exact thing that he (Brainiac) uses to power himself up! I would rather he returns and they use one of the silly kryptonian SCIENCE!crystal dildos to get rid of him...

Kara back? Fantastic! Did Laura specifically say it was just for one episode?

Hell, even if it is just one episode I'll take it! As long as they resolve the characters situation and give me a plausible reason for why she won't be around anymore.

As far as Clark knows though, Kara could be dead right? I can't remember exactly what Brainiac said to him. Clark certainly doesn't know she's in the Zone though.

And as much as I'd enjoy seeing Kara go into the future with the Legion, I really think having Kara come back, resolving her situation and then sending her on her way needs an episode all of it's own.

Shoehorning her into the Legion episode wouldn't work for me, since they'll already have a lot going on in that episode as it is.

I think Clark knows that Kara is not dead, because when he asked Brainiac whether he killed Kara, Brainiac said "oh no, something much worse".
As far as Kara coming back next season, I honestly hope it's for only one episode, just to wrap up the character. They didn't do that much with her last season, and instead wasted her on amnesia, then secrets and lies and basically disappearing every two episodes, so I did not get to know the character all that much.


Unless the Legion is a being written purposely for Kara, thereby being a Kara-centric one. The LoS could the ones to save Kara, then she goes off with them giving the character a nice closure.