458 replies to this topic

[acampbell]

I'm ready for a little something different to discuss besides Chlark, Chlois, and Nois, so how about if we kick around all those things left hanging on SV: those people that disappeared, never to be seen or heard about again, those unresolved storylines, crimes committed never acknowledged, WTF swings in characterization and/or relationships. Anything that we hoped would be explained, illuminated, concluded, etc., and never was, or hasn't been so far. I believe there are plenty of these to keep us going for a while!

I'll lead off with: Whatever happened to Gabe Sullivan? Why isn't he the one giving Chloe away at her wedding? Why didn't they just say he died in the safe house explosion if he were never going to be seen or heard from again?

[astrogea]

I'll lead off with: Whatever happened to Gabe Sullivan? Why isn't he the one giving Chloe away at her wedding? Why didn't they just say he died in the safe house explosion if he were never going to be seen or heard from again?

I'm starting to believe that he indeed died but that scene was erased and TPTB forgot to tell us. I mean even aunt Nell got more mentions and came to Lana's wedding.

My turn.

Lucas Luthor I mean I like Tess but he would had been more logical to be the one looking for Lex and taking over Luthorcorp also he is the only family Lex had left unless he took care of him after taking care of Julian to avoid having another sibling betraying him or something.

[Bkwurm]

Whatever happened to Gabe Sullivan?

My fanwank has been that he moved away and cut off all contact.

He is gone and never mentioned except in a universe where Clark and Chloe never knew each other so I think the show supports the notion that the reason he is gone is tied up with some of the weird stuff that Chloe persued or her association with Clark. Gabe might have even questioned her sanity in regards to her meteor rock theory. The wall of weird was something she kept at school, not home. Seems significant to me.

My other theory of why Gabe is gone (and usually I link the two) is he resented Chloe testifying against Lionel and generally screwing up his life (getting black listed) so when she graduated high school, he took off. (Probably even before since he didn't show up to the graduation)

Why come Martha never visits her home state and the constituants she represents?

Edited by Bkwurm, Oct 17, 2008 @ 8:03 AM.

[DeliriumBubbles]

My theory is that they were both sucked into a plothole by the Heroes Vortex Guy.

[Adela1985]

He is gone and never mentioned except in a universe where Clark and Chloe never knew each other so I think the show supports the notion that the reason he is gone is tied up with some of the weird stuff that Chloe persued or her association with Clark. Gabe might have even questioned her sanity in regards to her meteor rock theory. The wall of weird was something she kept at school, not home. Seems significant to me.

My other theory of why Gabe is gone (and usually I link the two) is he resented Chloe testifying against Lionel and generally screwing up his life (getting black listed) so when she graduated high school, he took off. (Probably even before since he didn't show up to the graduation)

I definitely think it's the former and not the latter. We know up until Recruit that Gabe and Chloe were still living together. It's why Lois ended up stay at the Kent farm because there wasn't enough room for her in their apartment.

[Omar G]

Yeah, I find is supremely annoying that it could have been resolved with a simple line of dialogue ("...like when my dad disappeared on a business trip for LuthorCorp...") but it never was.

Blarg. Unless they're planning to reintroduce him as a Kryptovillain in time for Chloe's wedding. That might be fun.

Edited by Omar G, Oct 17, 2008 @ 9:42 AM.

[Storm45]

I think it was said in season 4 that Gabe was no longer working at LC, was broke and lived in a tiny appartment with Chloe. They never explained if Lex offered his job back since he was unfairly fired by Lionel.

In fact the whole Chluthor arc from season 3 was completly forgotten and they left many of plotholes.

-Why Chloe went from being simply suspicious of Lex while being civil with him from the last time they shared scenes together at the end of season 3 to namecalling him and downright hating him in season 4?

Edited by Storm45, Oct 17, 2008 @ 10:53 AM.

[acampbell]

-Why Chloe went from being simply suspicious of Lex while being civil with him from the last time they shared scenes together at the end of season 3 to namecalling him and downright hating him in season 4?

Amen. Someone suggested once that Chloe got all hateful once she learned Clark's secret (protective mechanism) but that wasn't enough of an explanation for me. It was that namecalling and hate that caused me pretty much to lose interest in Chloe as a character, because before that it always seemed to me that, while she might not like Lex all that much, she would be the most likely of all the characters to understand and sympathize--especially after his revelation in "Truth" about wanting Lionel to love him and after what she went through with Lionel herself.

That attitude also made the relationship a lot more two-dimensional (similar to what they did when they stripped the Clex of the layers of subtext and made things all pissy and All About Lana) and diminished the possibility of any Chlex.:(

[CantThinkUpName]

Season 3.5 Summer of Love!!

Why did Brainiac need biological samples to create a computer virus?

Edited by CantThinkUpName, Oct 17, 2008 @ 11:48 AM.

[acampbell]

Season 3.5 Summer of Love!!

*facepalms* How could I forget? Lex and Chloe got hot and heavy in the safe house; Lex got distracted by stones and Egyptian stuff, dumped Chloe with little to no explanation--no wonder she's bitter!

Edited by acampbell, Oct 17, 2008 @ 11:53 AM.

[Storm45]

Amen. Someone suggested once that Chloe got all hateful once she learned Clark's secret (protective mechanism) but that wasn't enough of an explanation for me.

Some people tried to justify Chloe's attitude and none of their reasons made sense, IMO:

1. Chloe is angry at Lex because he fired Gabe

But it didn't stop Chloe to go see Lex, collaborating with him on other stuff and acting quite civil with him in the following episodes.

2. Lex wanted to use Chloe and his experimentations nearly cost her life in Truth

Its Chloe fault if she was infected since she broked into the lab. Also, it didn't stopped her to be ready to own the Talon with Gabe and ... Lex the following episode.

3. Chloe never trusted Lex and he only used her to put his father in jail while risking her life.

This justification is the one that baffles me the most. If you took the time to watch and listen to the Chlex scenes in Forsaken Covenant you would remember that Lex gave her way outs of this situation and warned her about the danger:

Lex: Chloe. It means a lot you're willing to do this for me. But if you come forward, you're putting yourself between my father and the FBI. That's not a very safe place to be.

Chloe: I know. But I can't get out from under your father's grip by myself. Besides, I know you won't let anything happen to me.

Chloe: I'm sensing you're having second thoughts. Lex, I understand if you want to back out. I mean, he needs to be punished for what he did, but he's still your father. And he's dying.

Lex: Yeah. And he's gonna draw his last breath in prison, not the VIP suite at Metropolis General. But only if you're still willing to go through with this.

Chloe: I don't think I like the sound of this.

Lex: Chloe, a dying man has little to lose. My father used a bizarre blood platelet cocktail to raise the dead, then pinned the murders of the research team on his son. Who knows what tactics he'll use to avoid going to prison?

Chloe: Yeah, but the FBI guaranteed our safety. I mean, they're putting me and my father in protective custody until after the trial.

Lex: Then what?

Chloe: Lex, are you trying to scare me?

Lex: I'm worried about you, Chloe. I want you to have all the facts before you walk into that courtroom.

Chloe: Your father's intimidated me long enough. I'm not backing down.



Lex warned her multiple times about that despite the fact that it would endanger him. Facing the danger was Chloe's choice only. I'm not a Lex apologist but I can admit that this time there was nothing faulty in Lex's behavior.

It was that namecalling and hate that caused me pretty much to lose interest in Chloe as a character, because before that it always seemed to me that, while she might not like Lex all that much, she would be the most likely of all the characters to understand and sympathize--especially after his revelation in "Truth" about wanting Lionel to love him and after what she went through with Lionel herself.

That attitude also made the relationship a lot more two-dimensional (similar to what they did when they stripped the Clex of the layers of subtext and made things all pissy and All About Lana) and diminished the possibility of any Chlex.:(

I agree. Chloe became less interesting after season 3 because they decided that she should be the perfect sidekick. The one who always must say and do the right thing, which include badmouthing the villain. Thus she many of the layers that made her fascinating.

The problem is that the writers didn't bothered with a build-up to why Chloe disliked Lex so much. It would have been a perfect way to see someone disliking Lex for what he has done and not because he's Lionel's son like Pete and Johnathan did.

[acampbell]

The problem is that the writers didn't bothered with a build-up to why Chloe disliked Lex so much. It would have been a perfect way to see someone disliking Lex for what he has done and not because he's Lionel's son like Pete and Johnathan did.

Which segues into another WTF?: why/how Lana fell "out of love" with Lex in S6 and decided she didn't want to marry him. They just never explained it, and had to resort to that (also) WTF maneuver of having her lock Chloe in the wine cellar so Clark would have to come and rescue her. Well, all of the reasons the Clana relationship wouldn't work before were still there! Sure, Lana discovered and knew his secret then, but Clark hadn't shared it with her. How did that make her sure he'd be "honest" with her (i.e., reveal EVERYTHING to her, which was SO important to her) in the future? It was one giant Begging of the Question, if you ask me, like they wanted us to think: "Clana! Of course they're MENT2B, so we don't even have to explain it! Grr. And we got the same thing with Clark, when he immediately went all starry-eyed in "Hydro" when he learned from Chloe/the newspaper article that Lana still "had feelings" for him. I could have believed that perhaps his own feelings had changed since he dumped Lana in "Hypnotic"--maybe he got really jealous of her relationship with Lex and decided he wanted her back, or maybe he decided that maybe he and Lana should take their chances at being together instead of trying to protect her by keeping it broken off--Clark's feelings could have changed for myriad reasons, but the Show. Never. Explained. Why. Or How. And, as Omar said above, so many things could've been clarified with a mere line or two of dialogue. Why SV usually opts out of doing this, I'll never understand.

I always thought it would make a hell of a lot more sense to have Lana discover all the horrors that were REALLY going on at Level 33.1. Sure, she indicated earlier in the season that she was largely okay with Lex's operations, but if they'd had her walk through alone, seeing all the captives and experimental stuff (something akin to Clark's discovery of the Clark Room in "Covenant") and deciding that, "pregnant" or not, she couldn't in good conscience marry someone who would engage in such unethical behavior, not only would it have made more sense, but it might also have gained Lana a bit of sympathy and understanding from the audience.

Perfect opportunity, and they just let it go by...

The problem is that the writers didn't bothered with a build-up to why Chloe disliked Lex so much.

Exactly. They always seem to think we're so gullible that, if they have one of the good guys declare Lex is EVIL, we'll just accept it and they don't have to bother SHOWING us. That's their typical modus operandi, and lazy, lazy. Makes me wonder what sort of hacks they hire to write this stuff.

I think if we'd gotten decent explanations for some of this stuff, S6 wouldn't have been such an infuriating disaster.

Edited by acampbell, Oct 17, 2008 @ 3:35 PM.

[Chiriru]

Why Chloe went from being simply suspicious of Lex while being civil with him from the last time they shared scenes together at the end of season 3 to namecalling him and downright hating him in season 4?

To me this was always obvious. Sure, Lex saved their lives, but Gabe never got his job back or their house back. Lex used them for his own gains and was developing projects that killed people. I don't think it was what went down in s3, I think it's what went down post-trial that accounts for the change.

[Storm45]

But its fan speculation. It was never shown or explained in the show. One or two throw-away lines about where her and her dad lives and her dad searching a job isn't an obvious way to explain a change in a relationship a change in attitude with one of the main characters in the series. It deserves better exposure, IMO.

For all we know Gabe might have not wanted to work for the Luthors again since he lost his job twice because of the father and son struggle (season 1. Tempest) and how her daughter got involved in their stories.

Nothing has been clearly explained.

Edited by Storm45, Oct 17, 2008 @ 1:26 PM.

[Chiriru]

But its fan speculation

Not saying it wasn't, but a lot of the pieces showed up after the trial was over and Gabe was Mr. MIA, still blacklisted and still broke. YMMV, but that always seemed to be the motive to her anger to me, he used and dumped her.

Which I suppose dove-tails nicely for the Summer of Luv people.

[Storm45]

Not saying it wasn't, but a lot of the pieces showed up after the trial was over and Gabe was Mr. MIA, still blacklisted and still broke. YMMV, but that always seemed to be the motive to her anger to me, he used and dumped her.

It could be. But that would lead to wonder why Gabe was still blacklisted. There was no reasons for him to remain like that as much as there was no reasons for Lex to do nothing about it. Unless Lex really couldn't undo what Lionel did.
Nothing about what ensued in season 4 really made sense, IMO.

Which I suppose dove-tails nicely for the Summer of Luv people.

The sight of Lex making out with that brunette in Bound must have angered her even more. It could also explain Lex's digs about Chloe's love life.

Edited by Storm45, Oct 17, 2008 @ 1:39 PM.

[SaveLevi]

The writers had the perfect opportunity last night to mention Gabe. I was actually sort of surprised that he didn't come up when Chimmy was leaving their party and Jimmy was talking about his father.

It's always bothered me that Chloe turned cold on Lex after S3. I tend to blame Clark, but that's my stock answer for most things. It really bugs that Chloe believed her mother had been put into an asylum for having mental issues and that these were hereditary and still she had nothing but disdain for Lex. I'm totally on the SoL train. They had a steamy affair and it ended badly. No other explanation is necessary.

I'd like to know why we never heard from Perry again. MM was great in the role and it would've been cool to see him come around. Maybe they're waiting for the finale, when justice and old guard journalistic integrity is restored, along with Chloe, to the DP and he takes the reigns from Tess.

Helen?

Did we ever get an explanation as to what the deal was with Nois getting the info. re: Patricia Swann's murder? Or did I FF through that?

What about Jimmy and Nois finding out that Lex killed Lionel? Even if they lost the photo, they could've pursued other avenues to find evidence.

[acampbell]

Helen?

Seconding. Was she really just after Lex's money? And when did she start working for Lionel--if she WAS working for Lionel? Did she survive that last, fateful meeting in "Phoenix"?

I was hoping that SHE was the touted Mystery Guest in "Promise". Now, that could've been fun, especially if she showed up at the ceremony with Lex's three-year-old child in tow. What the big deal was about Nell Potter being there, I still don't get.

Remember S5 and that business that was going on with Lionel and Jonathan regarding the senatorial campaign? There were hints that it was something dark and sinister, and, heck, the two of them got in a knockdown, dragout in the barn over the pic Lionel showed Jonathan (I imagine we were supposed to think it was something about Clark, although my pet theory is that it was a photo of Jonathan and Lois in flagrante delicto)--a fight that resulted in Jonathan's DEATH--and not only did we never get the details, but no one else on the show ever found out about that fight! I figure Lionel was expert at covering his tracks, but, still--no payoff.

[ava23]

I believe in the SoL theory as well. It just makes a whole lot more sense with it, than without it. I can see both of their characters going there at the time. They were making a connection and relying on each other. I can see Lex not knowing how to handle it afterwards. I can see Chloe taking that as rejection and feeling used, especially considering her low self esteem when it comes to the opposite sex. It explains the sudden hostility and distrust in season four. Lex really seems to get under her skin, and that started way before Progeny. As for Chloe telling Lana she only had sex once (with Jimmy), that's easy to explain. Chloe wouldn't have told Lana or anyone about having sex with Lex. She'd probably want to take that to the grave.

I too didn't quite get the Lionel/Jonathan thing. I started in on SV late. So I watched seasons 1-5 all together, over a few months. I wasn't sure if Lionel was really good or playing, but in the commentary for Transference, they say that he is bad. I remember being upset about being spoiled for that. But it didn't really play out that way did it? It's like they didn't commit one way or the other for quite a while, and then they just decided in season seven he was wonderful and Lex was a bad son. WTFever. Traveler certainly seems like a dropped story. I thought there would be payoff and we were going to find out Lionel really was bad, but no. I guess we're just not supposed to ask questions. Just go with it.

Helen showing up in Promise would have been very interesting.

[RepairmanBob]

The Teagues in season four are just a great big pile of "What the fuck?" as far as I am concerned.

Jason is runing away from his mom, then he is telling his mom to stay away from Lana, then he has been working for his mom all along... huh? Was that ever explained? Beyond "AlMIles wanted to have Clana hook up, so Jason needed to be evil"?
Mama Teague set up Lana and Jason to meet, thus unleashing Isobel, who wanted to kill them all... what? Why? How was that even a slightly good idea?
And the payoff for all these reversals and switches is that Isoble, who every other time she has showed up just wants wants the GSoK, kills Mama Teague and dsappears forever? That's the payoff to the entire Teague arc?

I do not even want to get started on the craptastic stuff from Justice and Doom, where we learn Zod, a bodyless spirit trapped in the Phantom Zone, contacted Isobel and Ancestor Teague 400 years in the fucking past to tell them to find the GSoK. Johnny Cochran's Chewbacca Defense is logical compared to that bullshit. ("Wookies don't live on Krypton! It just does not make sense!")

When you throw in the PRoC crap from season seven and Papa Teague, then the season four stuff makes even less sense! Why bother bringing the Teagues back if none of the crap from seaosn four was going to be explained? Hell, did we ever find out why Jor-El sent the humans Clark was supposed to "Rule with Strength" a guidebook on "How to Kill My Big Dumb Son"?

Edited by RepairmanBob, Oct 18, 2008 @ 12:53 AM.

[Darth Pipes]

Why come Martha never visits her home state and the constituants she represents?

That's what I'd like to know. Being a United States Senator doesn't mean that you can't come home from Washington. Members of Congress are home all the time. Hell, the spend more time away from Congress than actually in Congress. You would think Martha would be more of a presence in her home state since she isn't very well known and came to the position very suddenly.

Speaking of Smallville politics...what about the race between Jonathan and Lex? I liked the storyline but the writer's seemingly forgot (they probably did it intentionally) that the entire population of a state doesn't vote in a state senate race. A state senator represents a district like a member of the House of Representatives would. So Jonathan needing people from up north to help him doesn't make any sense. Also, why would a powerful billionaire like Lex Luthor be content with a puny state senators seat? I know you have to be thirty to run for the Senate (not sure what Lex's age is) but it would have made more sense for Lex to be running for a seat in Congress.

The Teagues in season four are just a great big pile of "What the fuck?" as far as I am concerned.

Jason is runing away from his mom, then he is telling his mom to stay away from Lana, then he has been working for his mom all along... huh? Was that ever explained? Beyond "AlMIles wanted to have Clana hook up, so Jason needed to be evil"?

Starting out one way and going in a completely different way is a Smallville hallmark. Lois is falling more and more in love with Lex and then she doesn't want to marry him. Jor-El wants Clark to rule over humanity now he wants him to be a hero. It just doesn't make any sense.

Excellent, excellent point on the Jonathan/Lionel relationship. The more I look at it, the more I realize Jonathan died for absolutely nothing. It seemed like Lionel was blackmailing him with knowledge of Clark's ability. But Lionel's recent death confirms that he was a good guy the entire time after he left prison. So basically, Jonathan wasn't protecting Clark from anything and died for nothing. I guess this is why Clark didn't break every bone in his body when he learned the truth.

Edited by Darth Pipes, Oct 17, 2008 @ 7:23 PM.

[acampbell]

That's what I'd like to know. Being a United States Senator doesn't mean that you can't come home from Washington. Members of Congress are home all the time. Hell, the spend more time away from Congress than actually in Congress. You would think Martha would be more of a presence in her home state since she isn't very well known and came to the position very suddenly.

I guess the obvious answer to that is that AOT hied herself out of there at the close of S6 and won't come back for love or money. But that doesn't mean they couldn't do the phone conversation thing like they did in early S7, with Lionel talking to Martha and telling her what a great senator she was being. It makes Martha look like even worse of a parent if it looks like she talks with Lionel but not with her son. Heck, they could even just give Clark a one-liner about something like getting a care package from his mom or like Martha having been at the farm a week ago, or something.

There are plenty of ways the people in charge of these scripts could fill in on some of these things--if they tried, and if they cared enough.

[CantThinkUpName]

To me, the worst WHW has to be Lionel. And that includes Lion-El, St. Lionel, Evil!Lionel and all his many incarnations.

Ever since Lionel got possessed by Lion-El we never got an explanation for his actions. We never knew if he was good or evil, acting or possessed. We got him pretending to be "good" to the Kents but being even more of a monster to Lex than he'd ever been. We got him working along with 33.1 but all the while claiming sainthood.

And did we ever learn where he stood? Did we ever got an explanation for why he did what he did? He was did bad up until the end (Clark in a box...no explanation). He just died a martyr for Clark. NONE of his actions were explained, and him dying to protect Clark's secret gives him no passes in my book.

I'm not sure how other people feel about it but I consider that such a No Payoff.

And Committed to me, was one of those episodes where they could have filled the complete emptiness with just general discussions about life and those matters. There were such long stretches of time of emptiness and not the good Mad Men emptiness but the bad "we need to fill time" emptiness that just have people aimlessly shuffling. If they could have used some of those moments of silence to have Lois ask Clark about his mom or Tess and Oliver in their scenes to have a discussion of how Oliver feels about Lionel killing his parents (other than "you were drinking for a month"), it would have benefited that episode (or any episode really) so much more.

Edited by CantThinkUpName, Oct 17, 2008 @ 8:24 PM.

[Strikera0]

To me, it has to be the "How is Lana going to react to my secret?" storyline. They hit us repeatedly over the head with it that Lana didn't like meteor freaks or people who have powers, there was the fact that Clark's arrival on planet earth during the first meteor shower killed her parents and the show also wasted several minutes of screentime to give us dream sequences of a Lana Lang who would lose it after Clark told her the truth about him. So, when we finally get the scene where he tells her she's an alien all she does is smile and tells him that it's okay. The topic of her parents death never came up again either. She probably just forgot about it. What a lame way to throw 6 seasons of build-up out the window.

[Eurybia]

acampbell, I love you for starting this thread. Such a great idea.

a lot of the pieces showed up after the trial was over and Gabe was Mr. MIA, still blacklisted and still broke. YMMV, but that always seemed to be the motive to her anger to me, he used and dumped her.

It could be. But that would lead to wonder why Gabe was still blacklisted. There was no reasons for him to remain like that as much as there was no reasons for Lex to do nothing about it. Unless Lex really couldn't undo what Lionel did.

Exactly. The theory makes a lot of sense (especially since Chloe's statement in Bound was something along the lines of "Never trust a Luthor") but it seems OoC for Lex to not give Gabe his job back if he could (and I can't believe he couldn't undo what Lionel did once he took over the company). And during S3, it never seemed to me like Lex was just using her.

I don't understand why half the characters on the show started hating Lex. One of the biggest, to me, has to be Oliver. The whole Duncan thing doesn't scream evil to me (very psychologically screwed up, yes, but not evil), but from the beginning of Oliver's time on the show, he goes on and on about how bad Lex is. He obviously knew about 33.1 and stuff, but from the way he talks, Lex was always evil. Which I just don't understand, because for a good chunk of time, we know Lex wasn't. We saw it.

To me, it has to be the "How is Lana going to react to my secret?" storyline. They hit us repeatedly over the head with it that Lana didn't like meteor freaks or people who have powers, there was the fact that Clark's arrival on planet earth during the first meteor shower killed her parents and the show also wasted several minutes of screentime to give us dream sequences of a Lana Lang who would lose it after Clark told her the truth about him. So, when we finally get the scene where he tells her she's an alien all she does is smile and tells him that it's okay. The topic of her parents death never came up again either. She probably just forgot about it. What a lame way to throw 6 seasons of build-up out the window.

Seriously.

[acampbell]

It almost seemed as though TPTB knew what a treasure they had in JG and opted to keep him around by plugging him into the plots in any way they could. That's why we had Ambiguous!Jor-el's Vessel!Lionel from early S5 on, yet also had Traditional/Original Evil!Lionel show up briefly in "Promise" because SOMEONE had to force Lana to marry Lex. Pfft. Why couldn't they just let him stay the MB we all knew and loved to hate!?!

As the seasons went on, SV became increasingly guilty of using its characters to serve the plot rather than the other way around. Just one of the reasons the WTF tally is so very high.

[Bitterswete]

For me, it was what happened after the end of "Asylum." After that, nothing this show does (dropping storylines, forgetting characters, giving big build-ups anti-climactic resolutions) surprised me anymore.

At the end of "Asylum," Clark (all angry, and determined, and filled with conviction) swears he's going to bring Lionel down for what he did to Lex. (The brain frying.) And I believed him. I remember being all excited about watching Clark go after Lionel. (And have to up his game to do it.)

And what happened? Nothing, that's what. Apparently, a good night's sleep cleared Clark's righteous indignation right up. He didn't even act particularly angry towards Lionel, from what I recall. Instead, we got to see them become buddies and pals. Got to see them share Thanksgiving dinner together, and watch as Clark ignored, glossed over, or otherwise tried to justify whatever bad things Lionel did, past or present.

Okay, the rest came later. But after "Asylum" was when I really realized that just because SV set something up, it didn't mean it would pay off, ever. And, now, I can't even count the number of times that's proven to be true.

[Darth Pipes]

Clark was phenominal when it came to promising something, then forgetting about it in the next episode. Remember last season, he told Chloe that Lex had to be stopped from getting the thing that could control him? So what does Clark do in the next episode? While Chloe is looking for the object (I forgot what they called it), Clark was spending the night next to Lana the Vegetable. There was nothing he could do for her and she didn't even know he was there. So he just wastes time not searching for Lana and gets angry with Chloe when she rightly calls him out on his bull****. He even says "I don't care about Lex!" evidently forgetting that he told Chloe that Lex had to be stopped. Pathetic.

I guess the obvious answer to that is that AOT hied herself out of there at the close of S6 and won't come back for love or money. But that doesn't mean they couldn't do the phone conversation thing like they did in early S7, with Lionel talking to Martha and telling her what a great senator she was being. It makes Martha look like even worse of a parent if it looks like she talks with Lionel but not with her son. Heck, they could even just give Clark a one-liner about something like getting a care package from his mom or like Martha having been at the farm a week ago, or something.

There are plenty of ways the people in charge of these scripts could fill in on some of these things--if they tried, and if they cared enough.

True, true. I understand about O'Toole leaving the show. But like you said, there has to be ways around it. For her not to have seen Clark or returned to her state in two years is ridiciolous and unrealistic. I mean, I get the impression she doesn't even call Clark. What's with the self-imposed exile? Then again, if Clark was my son, I don't think I'd want to go home either.

Fair point about Lex. He was a good guy throughout most of the show. But the guy had his demons, had a father who poisoned him (literally), and believed he had a right to learn what secrets Clark held onto. He was destined for a fall.

Edited by Darth Pipes, Oct 17, 2008 @ 10:55 PM.

[Bkwurm]

Fair point about Lex. He was a good guy throughout most of the show. But the guy had his demons, had a father who poisoned him (literally),

Speaking of Lex's poisoning and his health in general. Beginning of the 4th season Lex has to regularly (and seemingly indefinately) undergo some kind of treatment or he dies...and then it's never mentioned again. Also not mentioned again his supercharged immune system.

Here's another thing. Who is feeding the cows? Running the farm? I assume Clark is too busy spending time at the DP to be able to take care of the farm. He has to feed the animals at normal speed or it freaks them out, right? What about the dairy cows? We saw he still has them. Did he, in honor of their special relationship with his father, just turn them all into pets? If not, who milks them twice a day? And what about fence posts? They don't jam themselves into the ground all on their own, not to mention a certain tractor that I'm sure needs a fixing. Even if Clark could speed around at night and take care of everything, wouldn't the neighbors start wondering how he manages the farm all by himself while working a full time job in the City? Oh, and who was taking care of the farm that month Clark was hauling cavier? Did Shelby go super for a while?

Edited by Bkwurm, Oct 17, 2008 @ 11:39 PM.

[Darth Pipes]

Speaking of Lex's poisoning and his health in general. Beginning of the 4th season Lex has to regularly (and seemingly indefinately) undergo some kind of treatment or he dies...and then it's never mentioned again. Also not mentioned again his supercharged immune system.

Yes, yes! This was completely forgotten after the first episode of the season. Wasn't Lex going through regular blood transfusions?

Maybe the often-mentioned Mr. Hubbard is taking care of the farm while Clark is gone.