Smallville

[The Q]

Sure, it is a big deal. But there was no build up. From a story telling POV, it was throw-away. And she didn’t know about his powers going in, but I think she kinda put it together when he was able to create an already-cut diamond by compressing some coal.

The episode where she officially confirmed her suspicions was OK. The Uber-teen-angst manner in which she did it along with the faux-heel turn for Lionel was all a bit much, but the story telling device used was interesting. Was there a guest director for that episode?

Also they talked a lot about how Clark needed to tell Lana his secret to have a real future together.

him and Chloe talk about that multiple times in the first 10ish episodes of s5.

 

[calsnowskier]

her beliefs were confirmed before that. They were confirmed when lex stabbed Clark with the chisel (don’t get me started on how someone with super speed let’s that happen) and she stole the evidence.

that was a decent build.

She confirmed everything else with her trick locking chloe in the wine cellar in the episode you mentioned.

but she already was having a few ideas about him before that.

But the true reveal used an entire episode to unravel. 5-12 did the reveal in the pre-credits scene.

and as far as the chisel goes...

Are they saying that if Lex went to a construction site with the exact same chisel and tried to stab one of the steel supports, he would be able to mangle the chisel? I know they try to establish Lex as a world class level hand to hand fighter, but they never established him as having super strength...

 

[calsnowskier]

Also they talked a lot about how Clark needed to tell Lana his secret to have a real future together.

him and Chloe talk about that multiple times in the first 10ish episodes of s5.

I don’t think I am explaining this well...

Smallville is a TV show. It is all about telling stories. About having long term payoffs and about having short term payoffs. No way would they have a long term payoff (officially having Lana join Team-Secret) without any short-term build up. It just isn’t good story telling. That is how the secret gets revealed to one-off characters. Not second-billing characters.

 

[The Q]

But the true reveal used an entire episode to unravel. 5-12 did the reveal in the pre-credits scene.

and as far as the chisel goes...

Are they saying that if Lex went to a construction site with the exact same chisel and tried to stab one of the steel supports, he would be able to mangle the chisel? I know they try to establish Lex as a world class level hand to hand fighter, but they never established him as having super strength...

It happened In Clark’s barn. After Clark and Lois crashes the wedding party and Clark dropped the epic “but this is the present” line.

lex lunges at Clark with the weapon and got him...and it bent.

 

[The Q]

I don’t think I am explaining this well...

Smallville is a TV show. It is all about telling stories. About having long term payoffs and about having short term payoffs. No way would they have a long term payoff (officially having Lana join Team-Secret) without any short-term build up. It just isn’t good story telling. That is how the secret gets revealed to one-off characters. Not second-billing characters.

sure.

I’d argue they’d been building up to that for 4.5 seasons. This wasn’t a one season build

 

[calsnowskier]

It happened In Clark’s barn. After Clark and Lois crashes the wedding party and Clark dropped the epic “but this is the present” line.

lex lunges at Clark with the weapon and got him...and it bent.

Right...

But lex simply doesn’t have the strength to mangle an iron chisel. It doesn’t matter that Clark is inpenatrable.

 

[calsnowskier]

sure.

I’d argue they’d been building up to that for 4.5 seasons. This wasn’t a one season build

Exactly my point.

and the TRUE reveal took an entire episode with a unique story-telling device to pay off. The 5-12 reveal was done in the first 2 minutes, then off to the rest of the show. It was clear that it was going to be undone.

 

[The Q]

Right...

But lex simply doesn’t have the strength to mangle an iron chisel. It doesn’t matter that Clark is inpenatrable.

the point was supposed to be that Clark’s impenetrable skins broke the chisel.

like in the Superman returns movie his body folds the bullet that hits Him in the eye

 

[The Q]

Exactly my point.

and the TRUE reveal took an entire episode with a unique story-telling device to pay off. The 5-12 reveal was done in the first 2 minutes, then off to the rest of the show. It was clear that it was going to be undone.

clark tells Lana in the middle of the s6 finale.

so it wasn’t like they dragged it out for a whole episode

 

[calsnowskier]

the point was supposed to be that Clark’s impenetrable skins broke the chisel.

like in the Superman returns movie his body folds the bullet that hits Him in the eye

I get what they were trying to say. It just doesn’t make sense.

assume for arguments sake that “Superman” exists in the real world. If someone were to try to stab him with a chisel (or a knife or whatever) it would deflect to the side. Or if we’re stabbed at a perfect angle, maybe the stab ears grip would fail and their hand would slide up the chisel. The chisel itself would suffer no ill effect.

The bullet from SMR, however, reacted somewhat true to physics. The bullet would collapse upon itself. Same as if someone were to shoot a steel wall. Maybe it would deflect. I will give you that. But the force was there to cause the damage to the bullet.

I understand I am applying too much “logic” to the show. This is a fun “disappointment” I have in the show. It just places the realism at a lower level than the Dark Knight movies. And tbh, I never got the feel that SV was intended to be a true, gritty take on the comic book genre.

 

[The Q]

I get what they were trying to say. It just doesn’t make sense.

assume for arguments sake that “Superman” exists in the real world. If someone were to try to stab him with a chisel (or a knife or whatever) it would deflect to the side. Or if we’re stabbed at a perfect angle, maybe the stab ears grip would fail and their hand would slide up the chisel. The chisel itself would suffer no ill effect.

The bullet from SMR, however, reacted somewhat true to physics. The bullet would collapse upon itself. Same as if someone were to shoot a steel wall. Maybe it would deflect. I will give you that. But the force was there to cause the damage to the bullet.

I understand I am applying too much “logic” to the show. This is a fun “disappointment” I have in the show. It just places the realism at a lower level than the Dark Knight movies. And tbh, I never got the feel that SV was intended to be a true, gritty take on the comic book genre.

I think some of the stunts in batman probsbly defy realism as well. But that’s not really the point.

I get what you’re saying, but we also don’t know the exact physics of how that body would work in our world so I try to give the show the benefit of the doubt

 

[calsnowskier]

clark tells Lana in the middle of the s6 finale.

so it wasn’t like they dragged it out for a whole episode

That was a technicality. It was already established that Lana knew, through an entire reveal episode, and many follow up episodes where she discussed it with Lionel and used the revelation to dictate her new view of the world. Clark telling her, at that point, was a minor reveal. But it was still built up to and happened mid-episode in a manner that made sense (and in a season finale).

At the point that I am at in the story, there have been, essentially, 4 reveals...

1) Pete - This was the first one. It happened after an entire episode building up the reveal. There were misdirections and fights before Pete discovered the truth. When it happened, it was a shock, but it made sense given where the overall story was.

2) Lionel - This happened through a major key-piece usage and was accompanied by a major face-turn by Lionel. And it wasn’t fully confirmed right away anyway, and the depths of the reveal took seasons to be fully explained.

3) Chloe - Much like Lana, she knew before Clark told her. And her reveal was the culmination of a season-long 4-episode arc (the Sarah Carter episodes spanned about a full season from first to last, and encompassed 4 total episodes, iirc).

4) Lana’s REAL reveal actually happened at the beginning of the episode, but the viewer did not know it until about 3/4 of the way through. The story of it was told before the viewer knew it. Clark telling her came half a season later, after Lana’s character had already been irrevocably changed due to her reveal.

The Bart, AC, Oliver, Canary and all the other meteor freak reveals were relatively minor, so the casual manner in which they happened were appropriate, in a story-telling POV.

 

[calsnowskier]

I think some of the stunts in batman probsbly defy realism as well. But that’s not really the point.

I get what you’re saying, but we also don’t know the exact physics of how that body would work in our world so I try to give the show the benefit of the doubt

Clark’s body no longer becomes the deciding factor, is my point. Lex simply doesn’t have the strength to cause any damage to the chisel.

Unless you are hinting that there is some kind of chemical or atomic reaction going on that affects the strength of the chisel when it comes in contact with Clark. I don’t buy that, but if that is the argument you are proposing, then OK. It is as good as any other theory, I suppose.


Relatedly, I rolled my eyes in SHAZAM when he caught the bus when it drove off the bridge. He caught it by catching it on the front windshield. I don’t care how strong he is. The windshield would instantly fail and the rest of the bus would crash down. And that is ignoring the physics of what happens in a fall. When someone falls from 500 feet, it isn’t the ground that causes the damage. It is inertia that causes the damage (think Dale Earnhardt). The only time this has ever been handled properly in a comic book Movie was when MJ died in Amazing Spider-Man. I loved that scene because it actually addressed that pet peeve of mine.

 

[The Q]

Pete was also a mid episode reveal. After Clark stole the ship from Pete’s shed.

they never said exactly when Lionel knew. But it was at some point while taking his blindness.

Don’t forget Lana knew about Clark’s Powers, she had no idea he was an alien. She thought he had powers starting in season 2 (after the tornado). That’s a huge secret that wasnt revealed in any of your examples except Pete.

 

[The Q]

Clark’s body no longer becomes the deciding factor, is my point. Lex simply doesn’t have the strength to cause any damage to the chisel.

Unless you are hinting that there is some kind of chemical or atomic reaction going on that affects the strength of the chisel when it comes in contact with Clark. I don’t buy that, but if that is the argument you are proposing, then OK. It is as good as any other theory, I suppose.


Relatedly, I rolled my eyes in SHAZAM when he caught the bus when it drove off the bridge. He caught it by catching it on the front windshield. I don’t care how strong he is. The windshield would instantly fail and the rest of the bus would crash down. And that is ignoring the physics of what happens in a fall. When someone falls from 500 feet, it isn’t the ground that causes the damage. It is inertia that causes the damage (think Dale Earnhardt). The only time this has ever been handled properly in a comic book Movie was when MJ died in Amazing Spider-Man. I loved that scene because it actually addressed that pet peeve of mine.

this is all totally fair.

smallville has plenty of things like that.

In one of my favorite Espinosa of season 2 they use this chemical to freeze the vault and break it...with their bare hands. No protective gloves...

 

[calsnowskier]

Pete was also a mid episode reveal. After Clark stole the ship from Pete’s shed.

they never said exactly when Lionel knew. But it was at some point while taking his blindness.

Don’t forget Lana knew about Clark’s Powers, she had no idea he was an alien. She thought he had powers starting in season 2 (after the tornado). That’s a huge secret that wasnt revealed in any of your examples except Pete.

Lionel knew when he and Clark switched bodies.

Mid episode reveals make sense. Half the episode for build up, half the episode for reaction. That makes sense.

Lana strongly suspected something was up. She didn’t know. So a quick “oh, by the way” reveal is very anti-climactic.

 

[calsnowskier]

this is all totally fair.

smallville has plenty of things like that.

In one of my favorite Espinosa of season 2 they use this chemical to freeze the vault and break it...with their bare hands. No protective gloves...

There are also plenty of scenes where Clark is wearing work gloves around the farm. Why?

Spoiler

Because Tom Welling is not a Kryptonian.

 

[The Q]

There are also plenty of scenes where Clark is wearing work gloves around the farm. Why?

Spoiler

Because Tom Welling is not a Kryptonian.

lol.

I would imagine partly for cover. Although he forgets a few times (he forgets to bring a tool to pretend to hammer Fence posts into the ground when he’s throwing them in.

 

[calsnowskier]

lol.

I would imagine partly for cover. Although he forgets a few times (he forgets to bring a tool to pretend to hammer Fence posts into the ground when he’s throwing them in.

I would buy the “to maintain cover” argument if it were consistent.

Again, I don’t really care about this. I understand shows can’t be perfect, and something totally minor like that simply isn’t worth addressing in a show that is ultimately about his relationships more than his actual powers and the actual physics behind them.

 

[The Q]

I would buy the “to maintain cover” argument if it were consistent.

Again, I don’t really care about this. I understand shows can’t be perfect, and something totally minor like that simply isn’t worth addressing in a show that is ultimately about his relationships more than his actual powers and the actual physics behind them.

this is absolutely fair.

sometimes I also remind myself that he’s still a kid so his usage of those should be inconsistent. He should get complacent. But I doubt they did it intentionally.