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Three Things The Third Season Needs (Smallville Rant)

Chiriru details what she’d like to see in Smallville Season 3.

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An open letter from Chiriru To: Mr. Gough & Mr. Millar From: Your Local Fangirl

Dear M&G,

I’ve written this list to try to help you guys out for your coming season. Here are three things that you guys should know or at least listen to:

1. Missing Normal

It has come to the attention of this and other fans that a big thing missing from S2 would be the view point of the normal Smallville citizen. While Pete with his new knowledge has become a forum for the actual fan, someone who knows all the characters, knows Clark’s secret, and is always backing our favorite alien up, what the audience is missing is the counter to Pete’s knowledge.

What the show is missing is a steadfast rock of hometown averageness.

Clark obviously can’t be the normal one because, well, he’s an alien. Lex, as a future villain, won’t be seen as normal — plus we already know he’s meteorite mutations. Chloe, as our proto-Lois, has vibes of average but still her quest for knowledge and curoisity steps her outside of the running. Martha and Jonathon work good as parents, but they raised a child and hid his spaceship in the storm cellar — not so much with the normal there.

So, in Smallville’s second season, who do we have to show us what normal is?

Lana Lang, the girl who is obsessed with her dead parents and abandonment issues with others that she is in fact to blame for. She’s a former cheerleader, everyone loves her no matter what, and according to “Precipice” she can even learn how to kick ass in under a week.

This is not a very good average character.

The person who played our eyes into the normal Smallvillian was Whitney Fordman. Everyone had a high school jock in high school, knew an overprotective boyfriend, or craved so badly to leave his/her hometown only to never make it very far. Everyone has made mistakes.

Whitney, whether people realized it or not, was accessible to the vast majority of viewers. Fans didn’t even need to like him to relate to the character, in fact part of the reason he worked so well was there was always a little bit of him you weren’t sure if you liked or hated.

Eric Johnson’s character gave everyone a check point against alien Clark, paranoid Lex, or intrepid Chloe. People were more likely to sympathize with Lana because he loved her, and it made her actions more understandable because we weren’t forced to try to see Lana as normal person. She’s not, and that’s okay that she isn’t — most characters on the show aren’t.

But when the check and balance that Whitney gave to keep one foot in reality gave way, well suddenly plot lines and characterization drifted. Sure, we gained Lionel a real villain for Clark to handle, but we lost the stability that the quarterback brought to the show.

Evil deeds by a Luthor can be done from far away. Keeping a normal outlook on the teen characters is a much harder, and much more necessary task for the writers.

I say, bring the normal back! But, oh, you guys…killed…Whitney for some strange…unknown reason. Having the normal as Lana’s boyfriend won’t work. Introduce him as the new Talon manager now that Nell’s gone, as Chloe’s Oz-like photographer, or Pete’s new best friend. The character has to interact and cause forward, organic motion in the plot line.

It was the forward motion and Whitney’s full-circle understanding of Clark that brought a terrific and continuing arc around season one, a season long arc that was missing and detrimental to season two. Hopefully, the normal will be back for season three or else Smallville is going to fall off the map.

2. Arcs and Other Basic Things

This is a very simple thing, something that I mentioned earlier that season 1 had. Season 1 had at least four different arcs going on through each episode (and we complained about continued here). The four were:

  1. The Episode Arc
  2. The Multi-Episode Arc
  3. The Seasonal Arc
  4. The Series Arc

All of these are very, very straight forward. The question is how did parts three and four slip through the writer’s fingers? I mean, we did get a lot more of number 2, with almost 75% of the episodes drawing off a previous one in some manner or another.

However, despite that there was no major feeling of connection past episodes in a row. Where season 1 had many organic changes from the Pilot to Tempest (the change of Luthor power from Lionel to Lex, the change of friends from only Chloe and Pete to Lex and Lana, the Chloe/Clark relationship, the Whitney/Clark eventual friendship, the change in the Kents as parents) when I look back on season two there are only a few such as Lionel turning fully evil, Pete finds out, and Whitney is dead.

As for the series arc, it was obvious that season one screamed potential. There was mythos and drama, at the same time there many life lessons that were worth hearing — treasure your friends, don’t be afraid to chase a dream, don’t give up. Season two seemed to cultivate a feeling that the show was no longer about life lessons or Superman drama, it was more about some boring Clark/Lana scenes. Correction: some VERY boring Clark/Lana scenes. And the life lessons are, what? IF you whine enough you’ll get your way?

Get back to story lines that will take many episodes to resolve, and actually resolve them. LexCorp and the Helen situations are prime examples, the story lines were there but never used. Get back to the organic growth of characters. You want Chloe to investigate Clark? Make her remember bits of her parasite experience and have her dig rather that make her bitter about Clark/Lana.

Season one showed a lot ‘throw and see what sticks’ — Organic storylines stick. Lex, Clark, Chloe, even Whitney, stick. The Luthor family, the Kryptonite and from this year, the caves, stick. Clark/Lana doesn’t stick, it lost a third of viewers. Claiming your audience is ‘here for the soap’ is a lie and the numbers don’t support it.

These things are what every good television show needs. Make these four things tighter, more logical, with everyone in character and Smallville will be the show everyone knows it can be. But failing to do so only sends it further down the downward spiral.

3. Remember the Fans

This has been key in the other parts of this column, but remember your fans. You know what they like, the ratings prove it better than anything else. I’m not saying to give the audience exactly what they want but treat them with some respect. The fans are what make you money, they are what keep you on the air; stop treating us like we are idiots or that you don’t care about us.

We, the fans, are the people who buy your products, who watch your shows, who see your movies. In essence, we pay you. And we aren’t happy.

And here are some things that fans want in no particular order:

  • Plots that don’t contradict other episodes
  • More stories that focus solely the characters and secondary characters
  • Less Clana/Lana in general.
    Check out Omar if you don’t believe me, and no he’s not just kidding around
  • More back story for everyone, especially the secondary characters
  • Women written as actual women are
  • Doris Egan
  • Better writing all around
  • Organic growth of character and plot
  • Stop the ‘mind-altered’ episodes. IT’s OLD.
  • No more repetitious dialog! We do not need the same Clark/Lana conversation every episode!

Those are only a few of the long list that’s growing, and I can’t remember all of them off the top of my head. But fans don’t appreciate feeling like the show that they watch, that they support doesn’t care about them. Remember that MR and KK have come out about being unhappy with the show as well — the fans aren’t idiots. We aren’t seeing things. These problems are real and we want them fixed.

Treat us with a little bit of respect, give us at least some of what we want, and make it the show we all know it can be. It’s not that hard, just swallow your pride and do it.

You’ll be happy that you did.

— Love, or rather barely-there tolerance,

Chiriru

Note: The views of Chiriru don’t necessarily represent the thoughts and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite. Chiriru would like to thank KryptonSite for the hosting of this column and to (in no particular order) SullivanLane, JollyCynic, MissWindy, Maveness, LightstarAngel, PaperBkryter, LJC, and HuffyTheCampfireSlayer among other members of the KSite Message Boards for their views and discussions for the past two years.

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Opinion

Who Are the Surprise Guests in the Superman & Lois Finale?

KryptonSite looks at the speculation of who could be guest starring in the Superman & Lois finale.

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Last summer at the Comic-Con International in San Diego, it was hinted that some surprise guests would be showing up in the series finale of Superman & Lois which airs tonight (December 2) on The CW. While this post isn’t meant to confirm or deny any fan speculation, there has been a lot of it in the past week, and this post is a way in which we can share what’s been talked about… you know, in case one of these actually does happen.

We can tell you that almost all of the former series regulars for Superman & Lois are confirmed to return — a list that includes Emmanuelle Chriqui as Lana, Erik Valdez as Kyle, Inde Navarrette as Sarah, Wolé Parks as John Henry, Tayler Buck as Nat, Sofia Hasmik as Chrissy, and possibly more.

For what it’s worth, though, here’s some of the speculation, in no particular order, plus a few extras we threw in for this post. Enjoy:

Barry Allen/The Flash (Grant Gustin) or Oliver Queen/Green Arrow (Stephen Amell): Since the finale of Superman & Lois is the effective end of the Arrowverse (even if it’s not on Earth-Prime), what if the show revisits one or both of the heroes who started it all? Barry could surely find a way to travel Earths and Oliver is still the Spectre last we checked, so… maybe? Though they might not be as likely as….

Kara Danvers/Supergirl (Melissa Benoist): It was her show that first introduced us to Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman. Is there a Supergirl on this show’s Earth? Now is as good of a time as any to find out.

John Diggle (David Ramsey): He was there at the start of the Arrowverse ever since the first episode of Arrow, and unlike those folks up above, he has appeared on Superman & Lois. If he does show up, though, he better have a green ring!

The Justice League: Peacemaker ended with a Justice League we’ve had to say goodbye to; what if Superman & Lois does the same thing, either with established characters, or folks just cast as a special one-shot treat?

Bruce Wayne (David Giuntoli?): Bitsie Tulloch has hinted that Grimm fans should be sure to tune in, so we’re assuming a Grimm cast member, most likely her real-life husband David Giuntoli might be appearing in the finale. Popular speculation has him playing Bruce Wayne if he was to show up.

Lucy Lane (Jenna Dewan): Jenna Dewan is super busy with The Rookie but since she missed Sam’s funeral, maybe she’ll be back for the show’s last hurrah at least?

Tom Welling: Because why not.

Jon-El (Jordan Elsass?): The Bizarro World version of Jonathan Kent is still out there, as far as we know, and that storyline was revisited as recently as the penultimate episode. What if this other Jonathan still looks like the first actor to play this role, Jordan Elsass? Or could we see Michael Bishop donning the 1990s-inspired suit and red pants?

Tom Cavanagh (Again): We saw Tom Cavanagh as recently as episode 7 this season, playing Gordon Godfrey, but considering how many characters he played on The Flash, surely there’s one more in the tank before all is said and done? A Wells, a Thawne, a Pariah…. there are lots of possibilities out there.

What do you think? Are any of these speculations correct or are we BS-ing you this whole time? Leave your speculation in the comments below and ENJOY THE FINALE tonight at 8PM ET/PT on The CW!

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Opinion

Review: Rosenbaum & Welling’s Live TalkVille Show Is A Success

The first live Smallville TalkVille Podcast event from Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum was a fantastic experience.

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Several weeks ago, Smallville stars Michael Rosenbaum and Tom Welling took their “TalkVille” podcast and made it a live performance combined with their exclusive “Smallville Nights” that they’ve had on the convention circuit. Their first stop — extended to two shows after the first sold out — was at the Bourbon Room in Hollywood.

I’ve long said that for fans of the show, it’s costly but you need to do “Smallville Nights” at least once. It’s an interactive thing where fans get to re-enact scenes with the actors themselves, and all get the chance to offer the perfect delivery for “I am the villain of the story!” At the live TalkVille event, this was especially cool because each and every attendee got the chance to do the thing.

The “TalkVille” element of the show was different from I at least hda originally expected — it was more of a freeform discussion between Rosenbaum and Welling, discussing some of their favorite memories of the show, and answering questions from the audience. It would have been fun to see them do an actual show from the podcast in front of the audience, but realistically, that could be a recipe for disaster in case any cuts are needed or anything like that.

One strong thing I felt when watching Tom and Michael on stage is that the source of one of the criticisms of the podcast seems to be identified: Sometimes it has been noted that Michael would interrupt or speak over Tom, when it appears the actual problem is that when recording the podcast, there’s a slight video delay so Michael might not even realize he is talking. So, it’s not a matter of being rude, but perhaps a technical difficulty that might be solved in a future show or two where Tom actually recorded in person at the studio. Both guys (and Ryan!) got time to talk at this event, and there wasn’t any such interruption.

There were some stories told at the event that I didn’t even know or realize — for example, how Kristin Kreuk helped Tom with his audition. Both had a gratitude for the show and I think events like these really make them see it first hand. Tom joked more than once that he tried to cancel the event, but he seemed to do really well with it when it happened. I was touched and surprised that I got a few shoutouts in person… and even hugs when the guys realized I was there! Sadly, there weren’t any individual photo ops or anything, but the memories will remain very strong, and there was a very cool “poster” given to all attendees with awesome artwork by Mickael Journou (MikePosters on Instgram). You can see that artwork up above; hopefully it’s okay that it was used for this post. Apparently, this art was also being sold on a T-shirt, but I didn’t see one!

Beyond getting to see two of the leads of Smallville, a great part of the night was a 45 minute to an hour intermission between Smallville Nights and the TalkVille presentation, and that was also a lot of fun because it gave the opportunity to meet other fans and talk. So many of us started watching the show at different times and it was so much fun to share those experiences with one another. After all, we were all there because of loving Smallville! It was just a lot of positivity and fun, and I met some cool people and hopefully made some cool new friends.

As someone who has covered the show since the beginning, it is also really fun to see Tom being joyful about talking about the show. It really highlights how overwhelmed he must have been when the show was on the air. I still can tell when fans are recreating scenes from Smallville that he still thinks like a director, which is so cool. He’s also such a dad now. His shoes were sticky so he took them off to reveal neon socks, which were actually not as uncool as he thought because…. maybe it was kryptonite. Haha. Still, all in all a good time!

Any negative feedback? A venue with easier parking and a less expensive menu would be nice, but as for the show itself, it was a great time. If and when the TalkVille guys do this again, I highly recommend that you check it out.

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Opinion

Is Superman & Lois Starting Season 4 with “The Death of Superman?”

Bitsie Tulloch may have hinted at “The Death of Superman” to kick off Superman & Lois Season 4 this Fall.

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Season 3 of Superman & Lois ended with what looked like a fatal showdown between Superman and Doomsday, reminiscent of the events of the legendary Superman #75 comic book by Dan Jurgens over 30 years ago. Now, some new comments from Bitsie Tulloch combined with some analysis from our good friend Ben Rolph of the Ben’s Take YouTube channel (formerly TheDCTVShow) begs the question: Is Superman & Lois adapting “The Death of Superman” in Season 4?

In the original comics, the Death of Superman was followed by an acclaimed storyline called “Funeral for a Friend” as the folks in Superman’s orbit as well as the people of the Daily Planet deal with the loss of Metropolis’ greatest hero. That led months later to a “Reign of the Supermen” story where four folks – including John Henry Irons, making his first comic book appearances – tried to become Metropolis’ new hero, with some including the Cyborg Superman claiming to the the real steel deal.

So what made Ben think they’re going full force into “Death of Superman” territory, and why do we agree with him?

Bitsie Tulloch recently appeared at the Metropolis Celebration in Illinois this past weekend, and she made a certain major tease:

“You guys are not going to believe the first episode,” she teased. “It’s bananas. It’s emotional. What they did was based on one of the comics. It was a very bold decision on their part to do to do this and to pull it off for the first episode of Season 4.”

Bold decision? Based on the comics? Killing Superman would be pretty darned bold, yeah?

You can watch video of Bitsie’s panel below, courtesy of the Superman Homepage, and then leave some thoughts in the comments! Superman & Lois Season 4 – the show’s final season – is scheduled to premiere this Fall on The CW.

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