(S09E08) The whole alternate timeline or alternate future concept has been around sci fi for ... well, I don't know how long. The most famous example I can think of is the classic Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror," though I'm sure there are many more. We've already had alternate timeline stories in Smallville (such as Lana's "death" in the 100th episode), and now we have an alternate future story.Although it used an old television and sci fi concept, this particular story served a dual purpose: it let the viewer know what happened to Lois between the 8th and 9th seasons and also let us know the stakes of a potential Zod victory (although we probably could have figured that one out on our own).
The beautiful thing about alternate storylines is that you can do whatever you want with the characters without screwing up the actual continuity (or letting any actors walk out of their contracts). We had the gruesome deaths of most of the series regulars (Tess, Chloe, Clark and probably Oliver) and we got to know where Kryptonian Ninja Woman from the season premiere came from (it turns out she was alternate future Kryptonian Ninja Woman).
Stewart came back, lackey that he is. Obviously, he's slated to appear in another episode, otherwise he wouldn't have survived a point-blank bullet from Tess. The kid isn't as bright as he thinks he is anyway. If Tess saw the word "Chloe" on his cell phone while she was calling, I think she would have figured out that he's a double agent.
I'll start with the obvious question: How exactly did the Kandorians have powers under a red sun when Clark didn't? I'm sure there's some sort of microwave technology involved, but I couldn't follow the technobabble.
With everything going on in the future, Lois STILL can't figure out Clark's secret? Some investigative reporter she is. It is somewhat ironic that their first kiss from Lois' perspective was not their actual first kiss. The ending was great, though. It's about time they hooked up. On the other hand, the show still has 13 episodes this season to screw with the relationship.
Chloe was incredibly ruthless in this episode, particularly in her future murder of Tess. If she continues, there will be a falling out between her and Clark over philosophical differences.
While we knew Lois would get out of the situation safe and sound (and bring Ninja Woman with her), it was still a fun ride. I also note that Zod was the only Kandorian who didn't kneel before Kal-El. Trying to reason with Zod is likely a big mistake, but Clark is a bit of a tree-hugger in this series. Clark has become the biggest whiner on the show in place of Lana.
Smallville continues its upward trend in quality, concentrating less on the melodrama and more on the geeky coolness (and that's a good thing). If it was like this since the beginning, I would have gotten into the show more. Next month is Geoff Johns and the Justice Society. I can't wait for that one.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-21-2009 @ 2:36AM
Kanamekun said...
The kiss was actually Lois and Clark's fifth kiss ever:
http://smallville.wikia.com/wiki/Lois_and_Clark#Sexual_Escapades
Lois kissed Clark as the Green Arrow in Hydro (Season 6), but didn't know it was him... and also kissed in Crimson (also S6), while both were under the influence of Red Kryptonite. So even before the two kisses this season, they've kissed twice... Lois either didn't know or she forgot.
Their kiss in the future kinda falls into that category too - she forgot about it, especially after Dr. Hamilton's mind-hacking in this episode.
That said, judging from the extra future scenes shown in Idol, Lois and Clark did a lot more than kiss in the future. :-) Clark only ever has sex without his powers, so in that sense the red sun hooked him up! He hasn't had sex since Lana got superpowers in Season Seven's "Wrath"... poor guy.
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11-21-2009 @ 6:07AM
Josh Man said...
Oh your forgetting Season 8. After Project Promethius gave Lana superpowers she and Clark got so busy they broke his bed :P LOL that I believe was the last time he "participated" in sex....lol.... Guess Superman ain't so super unless hes dating Lana, Wonder Woman, a kryptonian, or under a Red Sun, or affected by Blue Kryptonite........poor Lois haha
11-21-2009 @ 3:28AM
Keith said...
Clark got to experience a lot more than a kiss with Lois. Since he was hooked into her memories via the Kryptonite electrode thingy, he got to experience sex ... with himself. Remember, he was riding along with Lois' memories, so everything he experienced was from her point of view.
Kinda kinky.
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11-22-2009 @ 4:50AM
Kanamekun said...
Ah good point!
Although if it was really all from Lois' perspective, then the visuals would have shown life from her eyeballs: she'd have been looking at Clark (ala Being John Malkovich) rather than having the camera be the visual equivalent of "third person omniscient"!
11-21-2009 @ 3:09AM
Joseph said...
Pretty great episode, aside from Clark's continuous whining,,,
The only real place they dropped the ball was that "Kryptonian Ninja Woman" continued to have powers after the sunlight shifted back into yellow, and she kept her powers when she went back in time - until she magically procured a chunk of blue Kryptonite. Oh well, its's still Smallville after all...
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11-21-2009 @ 3:48AM
backbackheyhey said...
Smallville is finally starting to feel less like a crappy CW soap opera, and more like a super hero show. I couldn't be happier. Now if only Tom Welling could learn to act.
Clark in this episode kind of reminded me of the hippy chick you see in bad sci-fi movies who's sure that if only we'd try to reason with the aliens, we'd all be BFF's. She usually gets eaten.
I'm going to go off on a tangent here with a nitpick, but "Mirror, Mirror" was an alternate universe, not an alternate timeline. The new Star Trek movie is a better example of an alternate timeline in Trek, as are "Yesterday's Enterprise" (TNG) and "The Visitor" (DS9). There are probably others, but those are the three I can think of off the top of my head.
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11-21-2009 @ 7:12AM
rachel said...
I love Smallville. TW adn ED are great together! Chloe and Oliver are fantastic characters.I love them!
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11-21-2009 @ 8:25AM
OakRidge said...
Anyone catch the Green Lantern ring in the preview for the JSA episodes?
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11-23-2009 @ 12:05AM
chuck said...
Ok, so it's like this. Some Kryptonians have powers under a red sun, while Superman had powers under a yellow sun. Would that be such an obvious question if the reviewer was a true, or even moderate, Smallville fan? Probably not.
I think the "Kryptonian Ninja Woman" is Faora, Zod's wife. She has the eyes, the brutal style, and I think Zod takes a special interest in her.
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11-21-2009 @ 11:31AM
BugKiller said...
No, not "some" Kryptonians have power under a red sun and some don't.
NO Kryptonian would normally have powers under a red sun.
The reason why Zod and the Kandorians do is because Jor-El laced the weird orb thing which housed their DNA for cloning with blue kryptonite.
The Blue Kryptonite takes away their powers under the Yellow Sun, and obviously gives them powers under a Red Sun (can't remember if that part was true in the pre-Original Crisis mythos, though).
That's why Ninja Woman didn't have powers when she traveled back in time in the first episode.
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11-21-2009 @ 12:42PM
Kanamekun said...
But Ninja Woman (aka Alia) *did* have powers when she traveled back in time in the first episode. That's the part I don't get. She used heat vision, super speed and super strength in "Savior"... even though she was under a yellow sun?
11-21-2009 @ 2:02PM
BugKiller said...
She didn't have powers when she first showed up.
She did have them after gaining blue kryptonite.
So that gave her back her powers under the yellow sun and took Clark's away.
At least this is what I'm guessing.
But Jor-El DID does the orb with blue kryptonite, this is why they don't have their powers.
The Smallville peeps aren't known for their best adherence to either comic canon or their own.
Just roll with it. Since season 7, I've usually checked out by now because the eps were so lousy.
This season is perhaps the best they've EVER done. Enjoy it while it lasts and try not to nitpick.
It's what I do.
11-21-2009 @ 12:54PM
Jimmy_MO said...
"With everything going on in the future, Lois STILL can't figure out Clark's secret? Some investigative reporter she is."
You know, this has been the backbone of the Superman mythology since 1932 when Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster first created the character. Just accept the conceit of the mythology and move on.
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11-21-2009 @ 6:02PM
Jennifer said...
Yeah as far as I could tell Jor-el messed with the orb so they wouldn't have powers, but it apparently changed them so they had them under the red sun instead, but of course Clark didn't. It made enough sense for me to just go with it. :)
What I keep kicking myself about is that somehow I missed why these Kryptonians are called Kandorians. Was that the name of their city? They keep saying it and every time I'm like "Dang, I really wish I hadn't spaced out during that line that explained this!" Can anyone clue me in? I'd appreciate it as I feel like a huge dork! :)
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11-21-2009 @ 9:31PM
Mike said...
@Jennifer,
You can read about the Kandorians here. http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Kandorians.
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11-24-2009 @ 5:21PM
Axel Harris said...
Hasn't the JSA eps been pushed back to Feb? That's 3 months. Ugh.
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11-27-2009 @ 11:02PM
Brittany said...
PLEASE CONTINUE WITH THIS AWSOME SHOW ITS THE BEST ON MY LIST AND I VOTE NUMBER 1 SMALLVILLE
I WHAT KELLY SOUNDERS TO KEEP WRITEING AND PRODUCE MORE SEASONS TO COME LIKE 10 AND 11 AND 12 ITS MY FAVORITE SHOW EVER.
IF YOU AGREE WITH ME THEN VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE
SHOW TO KEEP GOING? AND SEEING MORE SEAONS TO COME LIKE 10 AND 11 AND 12 ARE YOU ALL WITH ME.
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