Smallville: PANDORA — Hope is Alive

Season 9 Episode 9

Review and Recap by Holli aka baudyhallee

Written by first time Smallville writers, Andrew Landis and Julia Swift, who have also penned episodes of Book of Daniel and DC.  Directed by Morgan Beggs, who is one of the unit directors of the show.  He also guided BULLETPROOF last season.

Rating:  SUPER, man! If you took CROSSFIRE and KANDOR, stirred them, baked them with Kryptonian heat vision, and served it with a maple doughnut, then what you would get is this episode.  Clark IS Clark Kent/Kal-El/almost Superman – as close to him as the Blur can get at the moment.  Permitting this character to have all he needs, to do what he does, allows Tom Welling to flesh out his character to new heights.  As the Blur he will have the open, stoic face and authoritative, heroic voice.  As Clark Kent he can be the congenial, mild mannered, loving journalist the Modern Age fans know and love.  Massive growth for the character as he comes to realize his desires both in his emotional life and destiny.  He is starting the balance.  This episode is his jumping off point for the second half of the season.  Again, everyone did a superlative job.

There are, however, missing pieces to the puzzle.  We do not see all that Lois saw in the future.  I’m hoping we will see some of these during the second half or at least during the last six episodes of this season.  PS & Co are raising the bar yet again for themselves, their cast & crew, and for the fans.  Bravo!

RECAP:

Tess aka Pandora opens the orb, the smackdown in the DP between Tess and Lois in DOOMSDAY, “What orb?”, Alien technology, taking over the world with aliens, saving the world, smackdown on the train in SAVIOR, Lois 3 weeks missing, ninja clad assassin, in the future, 3 weeks of blocked memory, Zod naked in the garden, why don’t the Kandorians have powers under a yellow sun, Zod’s pledge to find out why or die in the quest from SAVIOR, the solar tower, Alia smackdown with the Blur, “It’s the only chance before you destroy our world”, “Clark, never in a million years would risk what needed to be done.”, Lois going catatonic in the copy room while remembering & kissing Clark in IDOL, Tess getting dogtags, Zod chopping heads, Lois’ usual memories of death and destruction, the last shot of a worried Clark holding an unconscious Lois Lane.

Pandora opened the box – we don’t know why and we’re not sure if she’s naïve or a villain.  Somewhat similar to our Tess in this story.  We do know one thing.  Tess is Ms. Crazypants.  Why she thinks Lois took the orb or even knew about the orb in the first place remains a mystery.  But Mercy is under the delusion that Lois was hot on the trail of the orb and Tess’ obsession to save the Earth, as in the actual planet.

TEASER:

Luthorcorp. Ollie is pacing on the phone trying to get yet another neuro physician to treat Lois.  They are working with a very small window of time.  Clark strides into the room looking worried and informing him Lois is missing from Met Gen.  Clark took her to the hospital and was with her all night, but when he stepped out to check his phone, she was gone.  Nothing in her chart, no releases and no witnesses.  Ollie tells Clark that the hospital called and that Emil requested Lois’ test results.  Clark finds that strange.  “Why would Emil care about Lois?”  Ollie suggests it could be who Emil works for.  Clark clenches his jaw in anger.  “Chloe!”  So it looks like the bros have been discussing blondie and her arrogant, manipulative ways.  Bet Clark got an earful from Ollie (see ROULETTE).

Feet dragging down a hallway. Two goons have an unconscious Lois Lane still in her hospital gown.  Sorry guys, no shots of the flap in the back.  Lois with green k electrodes to her skull while laying in a basket deal similar to MEMORIA.  Yea, they’re using old props. Thanks, Mark Black!  (not just a name plaque in the DP)  Stuart!  (I do like Stuart.)  He’s moving equipment around while telling Tess she’s gone a step too far with spying on Lois’s computer, hacking her shrink’s files and now kidnapping her out of a coma ward.  (There is a lot of head trauma on the show.)  Apparently Crazypants loves a mystery and now is the time to solve Lois’.  Stuart types on a keyboard and spouts what he knows about Lois’ data.  “They’re called boundaries, Stuart, I suggest you find some.”  (Yea, she’s bonkers.)  She thinks the futuristic flashes may have some validity.  “Besides, Lois was investigating Zod’s orb when she vanished for three weeks.”  (Uhh, no she wasn’t.  She was looking for blondie & her boney lover – The Only Jimmy We Ever Knew hacked Tess’s computer.  Lois just stumbled onto Regan’s warnings about the orb by accident.  And yet, Crazypants thought Lois stole the orb via the inside of her vault when it just decided to take a tour of the mansion and then check out the garden.  See DOOMSDAY)

Stuart realizes Tess is talking about possible memories as we look at the monitors of Lois’ brain.  (Think FRACTURE)  We see some familiar distorted pics.  “Can’t you get more than just fragments!” shrieks Cruella.  Stuart tells his boss Lois’ mind is like a metal mosh pit at the moment.  She tells him to pause the display as she sees the solar tower already constructed.  “Lois has been to the future.”

Lois remembers the fight in the DP about the orb which she knew zilch about until she was accused by Tess.  Picking up the Legion ring, purple haze (all in my brain – sorry, Hendrix started playing in my head), and Lois revives with the ring firmly on her finger.  She gets up and looks around yelling for Tess.  The DP bullpen is deserted.  She wipes at the dust on her desk. Similar to the motion she did in the Kent kitchen in METALLO.  Only this time she is not drawing Blur symbols.  She touches her scalp wound that is bleeding, examines the Legion ring on her finger and realizes that there is red light coming through the stained glass window.  She walks out from the Daily Planet Employee Entrance which has a revolving door.  (see Superman the Movie)  There are fist posters of “For Our World.”  She walks out into the desolate street.  Metropolis is barely recognizable (probably because they used the Watchmen set).  Lois turns to see the sun is now red.

At the other end of the street is the solar tower.  One tower has a red beam shooting into the sky and the other looks as if it has been bombed.  Margaret Hamilton comes riding on her broom, err make that, Basqat, flying Kandorian arrives looking all bad ass in black with a ‘painted’ Zod symbol on his shirt.  He wants to know why she’s out of uniform.  Lois makes a quip about not being in the Girl Scouts anymore.  “You’re bleeding.  You’re nothing more than a filthy human.  This zone is off limits to your kind.”  Lois tells him it’s her dream.  “It’s not your place to ask questions.”  Apparently this is not a democracy.  “I’m a reporter; asking questions is in my blood!”  You tell him, Lois!  He says it would be a shame to spill it.  Don’t have to tell her twice – Lois runs for it.  Basqat cuts her off at the phone booth – yea, THAT phone booth.  “The Red Blue Blur!  He’ll stop you.”  Basqat almost chuckles.  “Not under a red sun.”  Lois gulps.  “Look around you.  Your Blur is dead.”  His gaze goes to something in the sky.  Lois walks closer to get a better look.  The Blur’s shredded black tee is blowing in the breeze in front of the red sun. (see Death of Superman comic for reference – or OSCK’s campaign symbol for the REAL Clark Kent – we’re getting it now! YEA!)  Credits.

In DOOMSDAY, we had a Clark Kent pronounced dead and becoming a full time Blur.  In the future where Lois has been missing a year, we have a Blur who is declared dead as a powerless Clark Kent does what he can.

ACT ONE

Belle Reeve Sanitarium.  Crazypants has Lois hostage here.  And she’s shoving sharp pins into her own skull – because she’s out to save the world, y’know.  Freaky.  Tess is going to take one for the team by synching her and Lois’ brainwaves.  Stuart is very apprehensive about this.  He mentions Summerholt since it’s their equipment.  Tess wants to find out how Zod’s towers change the world.  Stuart goes for it.

Tess is now in on Lois’ memories. Lois remembers awaking in the Kent barn with rats, a big Zod symbol and children.  She tries to talk to the kids as their mother comes and tells them it is time for food.  It’s a human prison complete with barbwire, cages, guards and a big ole Kandorian flag.  She watches Alia drag a guy out of the barn and hold him up by the neck.  Apparently he has stolen something.  To make an example out of him, she tosses him to the ground and burns a Zod symbol in his back with her yellow heat vision.  She sees Lois staring at her and approaches her.  Lois explains she’s just hungry.  “You want food?  What do you have to trade?”  Lois has only the clothes on her back and her jacket is gone.  Miraculously a watch appears out of nowhere.  It’s Clark holding up his father’s keepsake.  “Take this.”  The music soars as we get the first glimpse of our hero.  Lois is shocked to see him.  “Smallville?”  He’s looking a little scruffy.  “It’s all I have.  It’s yours if you let her go.”  Alia tells them it will do for now and walks away.

Clark grabs Lois into a tight hug.  “I thought I lost you forever.”  The longing in his face and voice is breathtaking.  “Clark.  Thank God.”  Remember Lois saw Clark just a few hours ago (DOOMSDAY) and not on the best of terms.  Clark has not seen Lois in a year!  He still has a hold of her.  “I can’t believe you’re still alive.”  Lois thinks her dream just got ten times brighter.  In secretive whispers, Clark tells her it is no dream.  He’s obviously a prisoner on his own farm.  With a red sun, he is powerless.  “Since when did the Kent family farm become a prison and why would you give away the one thing of your Dad’s that meant so much to you?”  Clark stares into her eyes.  “I did it for you.” It is no stretch of the imagination to believe that Clark Kent helped humans from the city survive on the farm.  Perhaps he did it in Lois’ memory.  It would be something she would have wanted.  But then it became a prison controlled by the Kandorians.  Clark giving up the last thing he had to save Lois was done in a heartbeat.

Lois makes a list of her recent experiences.  “Have we been invaded by the Wizard of Oz?”  Clark’s explanation is that it’s more like another planet.  “Aliens?” queries Lois as Clark nods.  The thought doesn’t faze her.  She tells Clark of Tess’s rantings about an alien technology orb that had life inside it.  “This invasion, Tess knew about it.”  She sees all the suffering around her.  Clark tells her Tess may have helped but the alien’s leader’s name is Zod.  Clark confesses he tried to fight him.  The horror of that decision is evident on his face.  “I made all the wrong decisions.  A lot of people died.”  Lois wonders if blondie was one of them.  Clark doesn’t know. “After I thought I lost you, I went off on my own.  I haven’t talked to her in months.”  Lois is confused as Clark tells her she vanished a year ago.  She tells him that she was just fighting Tess a few hours ago.  Now he’s confused.  “And then I grabbed that gold ring.”  Lightbulb goes off for Clark.  “The Legion ring?  It must have brought you here when you put it on.  Do you still have it?”  Lois nods and gives him a big smile.

A voice offscreen singles out Lois.  It’s Basqat.  General Zod wants to see her.  (Obviously someone’s been doing some tattling – and since when is Zod a general?)  “Protect the ring,” whispers Clark (even though there’s a guy with superhearing right behind him.)  Lois nods as Clark throws a punch at Basqat who tosses him across the barn.  In the trailer we saw Lois scream Clark’s name as Basqat grabs her and drags her away.  Not shown here.  Clark recovers in time to see Lois fruitlessly trying to get free.  “Lois!”  She turns to look at him as Clark grabs at the wired door barring him from going after her.

So Tess is witnessing all this.  She sees how much Lois means to Clark.  She knows Zod is now a general – probably of his own doing since there’s no Council on Earth.  Metropolis is off limits to humans, the solar tower is functioning even if has been attacked, the Kent farm now holds humans perhaps through Clark’s generosity and connection to the Kandorians – albeit slim.  And she also knows of the Legion ring.

ACT TWO

Watchtower. Blondie typing again while looking at Lois’ medical records.  Well, I’ll give her one point – there’s a picture of Jimmy on her desk.  Her only saving grace – and his biggest mistake.  Clark zips in.  First thing out of his mouth, “Where’s Lois?”  Blondie plays dumb.  Clark is peeved.  “Someone moved her!  And I know you had Emil look into her records.”  Clark, look at the big monitor next to your head?  Blondie gets defensive.  “She’s my cousin, Clark.”   Now she remembers she and Lois are related.  “Chloe, you’ve been hiding things from me for months!  Now I think you’re hiding Lois!”  If he’s been talking to Ollie, he knows she’s done wackier things.  Blondie is, of course, appalled that he would dare call her out on her crap.  She tells him right accusation, wrong girl.  She Chloe-speaks enough to make Clark realize it’s Tess.  “And we can work on your apology later.”  Excuse me?  Ms. Manners needs to be pimp slapped.  She’s got cameras up everyone’s butt – and yet she never found out about the Kandorians at the mansion, in the warehouse, etc etc etc  Or is that one of the things she considers a ‘deep dark secret’ that she can use to manipulate people later?

Blondie has a whole dossier of Tess’s monitoring of Lois.  Clark wonders how she’s going to get any info since Lois is in a coma.  Blondie reminds him that she could still run tests.  (I wonder if a chill went up Clark’s spine with that fearful thought.)  “You think this has something to do with her trip to the future?”  Emil found out that Lois suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  “Every time she has a memory, her body relives the trauma.”  Keep that one in mind for later scenes – and do witnesses experience the same reactions?  Blondie does have one redeeming line about Lois’ heart not being able to hold out much longer.  “I have to find her!”  Blondie speed dials her man on the inside, Stuart.

Stuart is not answering because he’s got two women mind melded on equipment he didn’t invent.  Not everyone is at Blondie’s beckon call.  An alarm goes off and Stuart is frantic.  Lois remembers being in the Luthor mansion handcuffed with lots of Zod symbols on the wall.  Yea, Zod is on an ego trip.  I’m wondering how that is going down with the troops – who are all superpowered now.  Hungry Lois sees some food and goes to take a morsel.  “Try the truffle,” says Zod from the villain balcony.  “It’s my favorite.”  She reaches for one but before she can bring it to her lips, Zod is beside her and takes it from her.  He starts in on his menacing act.  Talking about her kind starving without food.  He takes a nip of the delicacy and then breeches Lois’ personal space.  And we all know how Lois reacts to that.  Soft and low Zoddie introduces himself as a general.  “And all of this, is mine to give.”  I love Zod.  He’s like a cobra.  Up close, personal and deadly.

He wants the name of the person who got her into the restricted zone.  She tells him her daddy’s a general, too.  But neither of them is going to know how she finagled taking a M1 Abrams tank to prom.  She goes to walk off when Zod grabs her arm and pulls her back to be within inches of him.  He warns her that no amount of resistance fighters will get to his tower.  He digs into her jeans pocket for the Legion ring.  “What is this?”  Zod is distracted by someone entering the room.  Tess.  “You?  You red headed rat!”  Zod asks if Crazypants knows Lois.  She tells him that Lois used to work for her before she vanished.  Lois takes the opportunity to slap Tess along side her head with her handcuffed hands.  “Traitor.”  Zod is amused by this.  Tess takes the opportunity to touch Lois’ chest.  “I’m this planet’s Savior.  I helped General Zod take power to ensure this Earth’s survival.”  The rationality of that escapes reason.  “Tess Mercer, the ultimate eco-terrorist.”  Yea, Lois has hit on the head – this concept that humans are parasites on the Earth probably came in real handy when Zod wanted to take over the planet.  So is Crazypants saving the planet for Kandorians?  Because the plant life and human life ain’t doin so great.

“And what are you?” quips Zod to Lois.  “I understand that you were talking to Clark Kent.  It was only a matter of time before the resistance got to him.”  So Zod knows that Clark was the Blur?  Did Clark fight Zod and his evil plans as the Blur and then had to stop when they made the sun red?  More about this later.  Lois, who usually takes the bravado option of fight or flight, tells both wackos that the only thing she’s resisting is, “to kick both your asses.”  That’s our girl!  “And if Clark were here right now, he’d back me up.”  So much faith and hope.  She must think of him as a hero.  (see IDOL)  Zod drops the bomb.  “The only reason Clark Kent is alive is because I hoped he’d join us.  To bridge the gap between our people.”  Lois looks puzzled by that revelation.  “Trust me, Zod,” interrupts the traitorous redhead.  “No one has worked as hard as I have to get Clark to see the good that we’re doing.”  (I bet that was hysterical.)  “But I think we’ve fooled ourselves long enough, he won’t come around.”

Zod moves onto plan B.  He gets in Lois’ face again and explains his ‘dilemma.’  “Neither of you are any good to me alive.”  It hits her like a ton of bricks.  “Excuse me,” she whispers.  The cobra has struck.  “Double execution will send out a strong message to anyone who would dare defy me.”  Nice snarl.  Even Tess is stunned as Lois lower lip quivers.  If looks could kill, Zod is a dead man.  Zod chuckles and then acts as if he wants to kiss her in a show of dominance.  “Take heart, Lois, at least you can enjoy a glorious last meal.”  He grins and walks away.  A tear falls from Lois’ eye.  Her mouth is slack in shock.  Tess seems satisfied with her intimidation.  Another tear slides down Lois’ determined face.

ACT THREE

Luthor mansion terrace. The place where Lex liked to scream in the rain.  It’s a Kandorian initiation ceremony.  Tess gets her dogtags.  “Today, two lives end, but another begins.  Tess kneeling before Zod receives her reward as the red sun shines in the background.  Lois gets to witness it all.  She is fighting mad.  So Crazypants is a soldier in Zod’s army now.  She’s human.  She is at the mercy of every Kandorian.  Well, I guess they don’t call her Mercy for nothing.

Zod grabs his jacket from a nearby soldier as he walks into the office.  Tess is admiring her new trinket as Lois tears into her.  “You betray the entire human race for some crappy dogtags?  Way to go!”  Clark is there waiting.  “Lois!”  He tries to go to her but Basqat stops him.  “Let her go!  Take my life and let her live!”  Clark Kent screams at Zod.  Lois is shocked that he would give up his life.  “Clark.”  Zod approaches him with a sword.  “Your bravery is commendable, but by defying me you have forced my hand.”  He signals Basqat who shoves Clark to the floor.  Lois gulps his name.  Her fear is tangible.  Clark looks up at his executioner.  “I wanted you to join me on this New Earth, but now I must bury you beneath it.”  Clark glares at him, Zod raises his sword as Lois screams, “No!”  A green tipped arrow shots through a window and takes out a nearby soldier.  Clark immediately grabs Lois and protects her.

Combatants crash through the skylight.  They are all armed with kryptonite arrows and crossbows.  Guess who!  Yep, Blondie and Ollie and resistors.  Faora superscurries Zod from the room because of the kryptonite, but not before he and Clark have a glare battle.  Fighting continues as Ollie takes a kryptonite knife and slits a Kandorian’s throat.  Basqat bites it when trying to kill Blondie – Ollie!  Stop that!  Oliver wearing a toboggan and black leather takes off his mask.  Clark still holding onto Lois.  Ollie has a key to the cuffs.  “Hey Legs, long time no see.”  (remember he called her legs in SAVIOR)  She hugs him and thanks him and his merry band.  He tells her it’s not his.  That’s when we see blondie maskless, too.  Lois hugs her.  Her cuz tells her she didn’t think she’d ever see her again.  Well, she didn’t do much to find Lois except watch someone else put a picture of her on a wall somewhere.  It is not old homeweek for Clark and the others.  “I guess we owe you our lives.”

Some eye talk before Ollie hears something and walks towards the sound.  It’s Tess who has been shot with an arrow.  He holds her in his arms.  “You always were a good shot.”  No more the power mad psycho, but a fearful woman.  Ollie will probably always remember her as the spirited oceanographer who wanted to save the Earth.  Very much as Clark will probably always see blahna as the pink princess of his childhood.  “I didn’t do this to you.  I didn’t.” says reassuring Ollie.  Crying Tess confesses, “No I did this to myself.  It was a risk choosing Zod over my own people, but someone had to save the Earth.”  (Could someone explain that to me?  To be conquered by maniacal and tyrannical alien force is saving our planet, how?)  “I couldn’t give up on that.”  Tess takes her last breath as Ollie cries.  He closes her eyes and mourns her.  He hugs her while thinking and then he realizes someone is standing behind him.  It’s blondie peering down at him.  “I had the shot.  I had to take it.”  No remorse.  Just cold hearted.  She was a real sourpuss in the future and the present.  She needs to get laid.  Too bad she has to wait a whole winter hiatus.  Hey, someone should feel fans’ pain.  Ollie kisses Tess’ forehead as blondie walks away.

Tess in a white shroud in the ground looking gorgeous.  The Earth not looking so gorgeous.  The red sun is really taking a toll on the environment.  Not what Crazypants was going for.  Oliver snaps away her Kandorian dogtags.  He’s definitely wearing a designer tee.  Really beautifully made cloth.  Lois is there as the ground smolders.  No Clark or blondie.  Where are they supposedly?  Lois watches Ollie bury Tess.  A shoveful of dirt lands on her face.  (Cassidy took one for the shot! She’s awesome.)  Tess in the present immediately sets up gasping for air.  “Chloe kills me.”  (Oh, if Crazypants and blondie go at it in the second half, you could sell tickets at stadiums.  Since they were the only two ‘alive’ in last season’s finale, it may be clash of the non mythos crazies to see who survives this season.)  Stuart assures her she’s fine but wants reassurance that his actions met with her approval.  She wants him to wipe out Lois’ memories as they are too dangerous.  Stuart argues that could make Lois catatonic.  He refuses to follow her order.  “We are literally messing with someone’s mind here.”  Stuart is a geek – and to them their minds, brains, smarts are never to be screwed with.  It’d be as if someone took a few minutes of Batman’s memories – ask Zee and GA how well that turned out!

Tess shoots Stuart in the back. She’s sorry too, NOT.  She goes to the controls to do it herself.  Clark zips in without jacket or tie.  (People lose a lot of jackets on this show and in this episode.)  There’s kryptonite around so he’s doing the wobbly dance right away, but he’s got it together enough to hear Tess lie and blame Stuart for Lois’ predicament.  He shoves Tess aside.  “What did you do to her!”  Tess is knocked out.  He grabs one of the electrodes from Lois’ head and the spikes puncture his now vulnerable skin sending him to the floor and in synch with Lois’ memories.

There’s a big “For Our World” fist tarp on a wall in an alley. Ollie is there checking out his crossbow.  Blondie has a map of the city which she opens up on a convenient table.  Lois and Clark are following her.  Zod will fight back harder now.  Clark wants to take a stand now.  “Lois vanished a year ago after she put on the Legion ring.”  See Clark in the present has to get up to speed on what’s been happening so far.  How cool is it that he finds out the facts from his future self.  Blondie asks Lois if she time traveled there (as if she had a choice).  Lois gets her on track.  “The thing is I lost the ring.  That one name wonder, Zod, took it.”  Clark tells them they need to get the ring back.  “Then Lois can return to the past and prevent Zod’s tower from being built in the first place.”  Blondie who has her own stroke going apparently pipes up and says, “That’s not a bad plan, Clark, but why should I trust you now?  You already left us once to go fight on your own.”   Apparently Clark didn’t like being under her thumb then either.  Not much faith and hope there.  Ollie says that Clark abandoned them.  Clark explains he thought he could fight Zod by himself.  “I tried to take on Zod as my enemy and I was wrong.  But I’m here now.”  Blondie does not look convinced.  Man, something crawled up her butt.  Lois interrupts the tension by getting between blondie and Clark.  “But c’mon, aren’t we all in this together?”  Clark tries to get them to see reason.  “You guys shut down that tower and bring back the yellow sun.  You know that I’m your best chance to get back that ring.”  Sourpuss gets her sneer on.  “Maybe.  I still don’t trust you.”  Guess blondie has been doing some abandoning of her own.

Lois wants to know about the tower.  Blondie explains that the tower takes the sun’s radiation, turns it red by beaming it through the Luthorcorp satellites.  Hello Oliver!  Pay attention to business!  “If we take the tower down, we shut them down.”  Lois tells them they are seriously outnumbered.  They would never reach it.  Blondie tells them they won’t have to.  They have a secret weapon.  (See normally this is when they would say Clark, but that hope was abandoned a long time ago.)  Watchtower is the secret weapon.  Blondie powered down the complex so the Kandorians couldn’t find it.  How helpful was that?  She gets to decide the fate of the world by taking down its defenses?  Blondie’s plan is to put a virus into the towers’ control center and shut it down remotely.  Why this was not attempted before, who knows?  “You guys bring back the yellow sun and I’ll take the others to find the Legion ring.”  (What others is he talking about:  humans or Kandorians?)  Lois has just one more question.  “How does turning the sun yellow make Clark our number one draft pick for taking on the Zod guy?”  Blondie and Ollie are letting Clark take that one.  “Zod and I have history.”

Red moon.  A reflection of the sun’s light.  Shirtless Clark has just shaved with a razor.  (Would love to see him do the stubble burn with his heat vision sometime.)  He’s rinsing his face with cold water from a pan.  There are candles burning.  Looks like a blown out Talon apartment.  (There was a blue & red stained glass window in IDOL.)  Since Clark is probably not living at the farm, he has to be within walking distance.  Lois lived in the apartment so maybe he lived there to be closer to her even though she vanished.  Lois walks in and he asks if she is okay.  “Define okay.  So far today, I’ve traveled through time, fought off flying aliens and almost got my head chopped off.”  She shuts the door and crosses the room.  Despite all that she wants to know why he and blondie are on the outs.  “It’s not her fault.  I turned my back on her.”  He physically does that now to Lois.  “Lois after you disappeared, I couldn’t . . . “  He shakes his head.  “I couldn’t be around . . . Oliver or Chloe.  It reminded me of you and that hurt too much.”  Lois’ eyes are wide open.  Clark is being vulnerable with her.  “So . . .”  He turns back to Lois.  “I left and trained myself to fight Zod.”  There is sadness and compassion in Lois’ eyes.  She takes a step towards him.  “Clark, what did you mean by having a history with him?”  Clark gulps.  “Let’s just say that I made some mistakes.”  Lois says the one line he’s needed to hear for a long time.  “Stop beating yourself up.”  She takes another step.  “You’re not alone in this.  The truth is . . . we could all die tomorrow.”  He looks into her eyes.  “Lois, I died when you left.”  (The heart and soul of Clark Kent now lives on the series Smallville.)

Lois takes his hand and places her hand on his chest.  “I’m here now.”  Clark kisses her and goes for the buttons.  Louis did a terrific job on this score.  We hear buttons fall away as Lois goes for the jeans and then they hug each other while kissing.  Clark pulls her blouse from her shoulders and then takes her to the mattress on the floor.  The blouse is off and he’s making up for lost time.  We see the clips shown during Comic Con last July and that were aired during Lois’ flashes including the neck kisses, leg rubbing, and the grabbing of the sheet by Lois.  “If we had more time . . .”   We see some of the For Tomorrow inspired clips shown in IDOL.  Short, sweet.  A good first time that will be wiped away except from Lois’ body.  Clark was powerless which is the same as in the comics for their first time.  Something tells us that their first time in the present will be Clark with powers and Lois still human.  There is no doubt that those scenes will not disappoint.

ACT FOUR

Emil shines a light into Clark’s eye and asks if he can hear him.  (I don’t think that’s one of his superpowers.)   Blondie comes crashing in stating the ambulance is on its way to take the still alive Stuart and Crazypants to the hospital.  She wants to know how Clark is.  Never mind Lois, right?  Emil is concerned that the machine has linked Clark and Lois’ brainwaves.  “Clark is literally locked into Lois’ memories.”  He’s about to pull them out of it.  Blondie cockblocks that idea.  (It’s what she does best.)  She does bring out a handy axiom though.  Every time Lois spoke with her shrink, it unlocked more of her memories.  “Chloe, these memories are physically damaging.  Do you really want to put their lives in danger?”  She argues by pulling Clark out now may not give him enough time to save lives.  She tells Emil what Alia said abot Clark destroying the world – which is not exactly what she said.  Alia told Clark he would destroy ‘their’ world.

Clark is having a bumpy ride on his Lois journey.  We are not privy to what happened previously to this scene.  There must have been some altercation with the Kandorians before Ollie, blondie and Lois arrive at the Watchtower.  No Clark so that means Lois was not with him at the time or we’re missing a scenario or two.  Perhaps for future memories?  Blondie tosses Lois bandages for her obviously hurt hand.  Lois begins to wrap it.  The significance of this is . . . she arrived in SAVIOR with said bandage.  How her hand got hurt is still a mystery.  Ollie finds his GA crossbow behind a secret panel.  “Honey, I’m home.”  He’s so tickled to see it again.  Blondie hits the power switch and immediately every computer is booted up.  That’s some UPS she has there.  Best Lois line:  “Okay Chloe, remember when we were ten and I kicked you out of my club house for spilling soda and you said you’d just build a cooler one?  You win!”  (Was this during the same time they made a pact to only marry their soulmates?  COMMITTED toast)   Mack is great in this scene.  Unfortunately if blondie smiled or lightened up she’d probably shatter.  We see decimated cities.  (Yea, Tess was really saving the Earth.)  “So this is what happens when there is no Blur.”  Yep, Lois it is.  No hope because he had no hope.  Oliver walks in wearing his GA gear.  “That’s why we need every hero we can get.”  He hands Lois a kryptonite knife in a lead sheath.  “Even in the future, you know how to charm a girl.”  Blondie sounds like a automaton saying the firewall is down on the solar towers.  “Take that Mastercontrol,” as she releases the virus.  (Possible TRON reference.) The virus will take a few minutes to complete its work.  Then the yellow sun will shine again.  Oliver warns the Kandorians are coming and he will scout ahead.  Lois waits for blondie who tells her to go ahead.  Blondie has a knife of her own.

Lois running through the debris’d streets of Metropolis.  She hides behind a wrecked vehicle.  She calls out to her cousin.  Lucky’s Bar is now Lucy’s Bar.  Blondie runs for it as Elphaba, err Alia flies across the sky.  “C’mon you can make it!” encourages Lois.  The assassin lands in front of blondie pulling out her blade.  Short stuff reaches for her knife but is not fast enough.  Blondie is gutted as Lois screams, “No!”  Karmic justice – blondie got shishkabobbed like her faithful husband and her boney boyfriend.  She caused it.  Oliver yells at Alia to get away from her.  And the assassin leaves.  HUH?  She has an opportunity to kill off a resistance fighter and just gets the hell out of Dodge?  Why?  Was blondie an assignment?  Was there some kind of history there?

Lois rushes to her cousin telling her she’s going to be fine.  Shades of Wes Keenan. (see PROTOTYPE)  Blondie takes her last breaths not believing she’s biting the big one.  Lois is distraught.  Her beloved cousin is dead.  “The best way to avenge her death is to get that ring.”  Lois refuses Oliver’s advice.  She won’t leave her cuz.  “She’s still alive in the past, Lois.  You can save her.  Make sure this future never happens and you save all of us.”  Lois knows what she has to do.  She kisses her cousin’s forehead.  “You better get going.  Clark’s heading for the tower.  I’ll cover you.”   Lois takes off running as Oliver watches the skies.  A plague of Kandorian locusts are heading his way.  He bravely aims a solitary arrow at them.

Zod is dragging Clark by his foot through the streets of Metropolis.  He could just laser him or superspeed him somewhere – but apparently humiliation is what Zod is going for.  Zod is kicking up a bitch.  “I should have known you’d come after me.  All to save a doomed race.  While facing a crumbling world, these humans would rather die than unite under a single leader.”  Clark is more or less spread eagled and looking as if Zod’s ruminations are giving him a headache rather than the asphalt.  “And do what is required to build a glorious new world.”  Zod drops his prisoner’s foot.  Clark rolls over in the middle of the street to see Lois Lane hiding behind an abandoned car.  She gives him a little wave and he gives her a little smile.  Zod’s still yammering.  “It’s tragic.  You thought you could take me on like this.  Metropolis would not have been destroyed if you all had just stopped fighting and joined me!”  Man, he’s throwing a temper tantrum.  I’m the bloody dictator here, don’t you stupid humans know that???? Clark is defiant with Lois nearby.  “We’ll never stop fighting, Zod.  Humanity will never lose its spirit.”  He looks at Lois.  Zod throws him down with two fingers.  He turns his back on Clark.  Lois slides the knife to Clark who covers it with his hand.  Zod steps on Clark’s hand as he screams in agony.  Zod spies Lois then he bends down to Clark.  “Goodbye, son of Jor-El.”  Kicks Clark down the street into a pile of rubble.  Clark out cold.  Lois gets up and runs for him.  “Clark!”  Zod steps in front of her and grabs her by the neck.  The tower starts to stop its transmission.  Zod releases Lois as he stares at his evil plan gone awry.  “Oh, no.”  The yellow sun appears.

“Zod!”  It’s Clark standing in the middle of the street looking like Gary Cooper in High Noon.  “Your reign of terror is over, Zod.”  Clark walks towards him.  “I’m sending Lois home to the past.”  He’s always sending that girl home.  (see BLOODLINE.  At least he kissed her first this time.)  “So she can warn us about your tower before it’s ever built.”  Zod is not giving up his tirade or his guilt trip.  “You chose to fight me.  You forced me to unleash my power!”  (Is that how it works, really???)  “We could have made this planet a paradise!”  Clark grabs the madman by his lapels.  “It always was but you never gave humanity a chance.”  (Of course Zod was dealing with Crazypants – not the best example of humanity to start with.)  Clark rips away something from Zod’s jacket.  It’s the ring.  “They’ve made you weak,” snarls Zod as he sticks Clark in the gut with the kryptonite knife.  “If she travels back in time then the life we know will cease to exist.”  He twists the knife, literally.  Clark is dying.  “You’d have destroyed our world.”  (see same line by Alia in SAVIOR)  Clark sends Zod sailing into a van to knock him out.  Clark falls to his knees in the street and removes the knife tossing it away.  Lois comes running screaming his name.  She kneels in front of him in a panic.  He’s smiling at her likes she’s the most beautiful thing in the world. “Take the ring and put it on.”  She refuses.  She can see he’s mortally wounded.  She doesn’t want to leave him.  “You have to, now!”  He’s adamant.  Lois is breathless.  “What if I never see you again?”  Taking his last few breaths, he grabs the side of her face.  “You will,” he says as he kisses her.  He gives her a little grin just before he hears Alia zip nearby.  She apparently has powers under a red sun and a yellow sun.  Maybe she is not Kryptonian afterall.  Clark looks at her as if he knows what she’s about to do.  Lois gives out a little, “yea,” as Clark puts the ring on her finger.  It starts to activate as masked Alia superspeeds towards the couple.  Clark struggles to get the ring on her in time.  Alia puts her hand over the ring and then present day Clark experiences the train wreck.

He wakes up and crawls to be near Lois. Blondie greets him.  First thing out of his mouth.  “How’s Lois?”  (That’s our guy!)  He’s weakened by the kryptonite.  He hangs on the railing of her bed and has a hand on Lois.  Blondie informs him that Lois just needs a couple of aspirin.  Really???  Damaging memories, kryptonite electrodes, mind melding with Crazypants and a Kryptonian and she’ll only need a couple ASAs?  Our Lois is one tough broad!  You go girl!

Emil is more technical in his explanation.  He found the area of the brain where she was synapsing at an accelerated rate.  He injected her with a chemical inhibitor to reset those cells.  Clark boils it down for his kryptonite haze.  “So her memories from the future are gone, right?”  Emil explains further.  “If she had them while under the influence of the machine, she won’t now.”  Clark seems relieved to hear that.  Blondie wants to know what he saw of the future.  He ain’t talking.

So Lois may have more memories to come.  Maybe those she buried deeper because of their content.  And maybe we’ll get to see those missing pieces of the puzzle later in the season.

What did Clark experience when melded with Lois?  He knows that blondie does not have constancy in her faith in him.  She won’t always trust him.  Lois always does even when she doesn’t know his secret.  He knows how bleak his life was without Lois for three weeks, multiply that by nearly 20 and that’s how much his future self longed for her.  Lois Lane brings hope to Clark Kent’s life and he then brings hope to the world.  She is the one thing that he truly desires – Superman II.  She is humanity to him.  Her spirit never diminishes or dies.  To find that one person who completes you – is not always experienced by fans or comic writers.  But for those who have or know it’s possible – Clark’s story will always be about having Lois Lane in his life.  It’s not about ‘ships’ but about being part of a life affirming couple.  It’s hope and that’s what Superman is all about.

ACT FIVE

DP present day. Two revolving doors at the DP entrance.  Clark hands Lois a small bag.  “You just got back from a trip from the hospital, not Hawaii.”  (In other words, it was no honeymoon.  Clark and Lois spent their honeymoon in Hawaii in the comics.  Clark was powerless then and Lois had to save him.)  “You have to take it slowly.”  Motherhen Clark is always amusing.  Lois has hypoglycemia and has to eat every three hours.  She takes a bite of the maple doughnut he got her.  “Happy?” she munches.  “Very,” he says grinning.  And he looks it.  (Goodbye angsty wimp ass Clark!)  “I almost lost you once.  I don’t want it to happen again.”  He walks to his desk and sets down his stuff as Lois wonders what he is talking about.  She’s still munching away studying something on her desk.  Clark watches her with this endearing grin.  He walks over to her.  You know his hands are going into the pockets.  “Lois, what are we doing?”  Lois looks at him like ‘what?’  “I’m eating a maple doughnut and you’re kind of invading my personal space.”  Clark forges ahead (just like Lois).  “I mean us.”  He waits for the reaction.  Lois gives him the big eyes.  She stunned.  So she won’t slough it off,  he goes for the gold.  “Lois and Clark. Clark and Lois as a couple.”  Lois is in shock.  “Whoa there cowboy!  You just went from ten to like a hundred and ten in two seconds flat!”   Clark does a little nod like ‘yea, I did.’   “Let’s just slow it down.  I still need to get my feet back under me,” she says sitting in her chair.  Clark advances.  (Keep it up, Big Guy, you’re doing great.)  “You can lean on me for strength.  I feel stronger when you’re around anyway.”  Houston, he just said he needed her.  (And we have a LnC:TNAS reference, Ordinary People)  Lois smiles and chuckles.  He hasn’t sold her quite yet.  “Clark, I have done this dating thing wrong so many times.”  In his mild mannered way, he tells her what she needs to hear.  “Well then let’s do it right.  Let’s take our time.”  (Remember it was future Clark that kept saying ‘if we had more time’, he was thinking of all the possibilities they would have had together.  They could have had it all.)  “Really,” she says.  He gives her a modified version of his lop sided grin.  She rises from her chair and gives him the once over.  “In that case . . .”  She takes his arm.  “Let’s go get a real cup of coffee.”  (Yea, get him to get off the curb! See INFAMOUS)  They start heading for the elevators.  “And then we’ll have lunch, the first of many.  There will be ice cream and chalupas.  Picnics in the park.  Dancing in the rain.”  She punches the elevator button.  Clark is all happy.  “And you will take me to a monster truck rally.”  She gives him a shrug and goes into the elevator.  He has the ‘that’s my girl’ look on his face as he follows her in.  They grin at each other and face the open doorway.  The camera pans down as Lois takes Clark’s hand and he squeezes hers.  A very sweet handhold.  Little things mean a lot.  Elevator doors close.  Let the courtship begin!

The Watchtower.  Clark Kent is walking on sunshine with a contented grin on his face.  Oliver makes an observation.  “For a guy who just got a mondo dose of kryptonite, you sure seem happy.”  Clark looks out through the yellow sun filled stained glass window also based on the For Tomorrow art.  “Well, the sun is shining.  Lois is going to be all right.”  Hey what better criteria does he need?  Blondie goes clinical stating that Emil took every possible test.  Lois is healthy and doesn’t remember a thing.  Something that blondie is concerned about.  Can’t have Lois knowing Clark’s secret now can we?  Would put blondie out of a job!  “Except, of course, the flowers that Clark sent to her room but who could forget five dozen roses.”  Clark looks proud of himself.  Ollie is in awe.  “Five dozen roses?  Wow, that’s subtle.”  Clark grins a secret smile.  He is now officially the winner of the pissing contest in ARROW.  Blondie can’t stand so much happiness.  She’s gotta buzzkill if she can’t cockblock.  She doesn’t understand the grins at all.  “We’re all going to die terribly tragic deaths in the not so distant future.”  Redundant much?  She really doesn’t know everything does she.   Clark points out.  “Because if we do something in the present, we can change all that.”  The same thing that Ollie told Lois in the future – Lois won’t remember because she was on the machine, but Clark remembers and that is what is important. . . for now.  Ollie wants to take Zod out now.  Clark refuses.  “In the future that I saw, I tried to fight Zod.  All I did was turn him into a more powerful enemy.”  Blondie snides him about learning about team work.  “Going up against Zod will cause him to come back with everything he has.”  Wow, a resolute Clark.  Love it!  “So what?  You two can just hug it out?”  Ollie snark.  “When my father said ‘save Zod’ what I think he meant was save Zod from himself.  Now if I can befriend him, show how good life can be here . . . “  That is the Clark way.  Blondie interrupts, of course.  She tells him he’s wrong and that Zod will fly psychopathic circles around him.  See no faith or hope.  “Chloe, I’ve seen what happens when I treat Zod like the enemy.  This time I am going to do things the right way.”

The Kandorian warehouse. Major Zod is marshalling his troops.  The tower must be built at all costs.  One soldier is assigned City Hall for any legalities that might trouble them.  Another soldier is told to infiltrate the present power plant to divert the power needed.  And then he comes to Alia.  A known assassin.  “And you . . .”  Before we can hear her assignment.  Drat!  We hear a superspeed zip.  Zod grins and turns as if he has been expecting whomever showed up.  It’s Clark in his Blur outfit.  “I understand you’ve been looking for me.”  Zod stands in front of his troops.  “My brother and sister Kandorians.  He has come.  Kneel before Kal-El.”  Clark looks troubled at this turn of events.  They kneel.  Faora, Basqat and Alia are the last to do so.  Zod never does.  Clark is wondering what his game is.  He’s not going into this situation completely blind.

Pandora opened a box and all hell broke loose.  But, the only thing left in the box was hope.  Lois is hope to Clark.  It drives him to bring hope to the world.

Lois may have a few more memories to reveal.  Since her other memories rose to the surface after confiding in someone, whom better to discuss her ‘dreams’ with than her very close friend, partner and beau, Clark Kent.

Clark has just exposed himself as the Blur to Zod.  Will he keep his ‘secret identity’ as Clark Kent from the wily Kandorian?  Looks like he’s going to be needing to wear those glasses more often.  And how does Zod know Clark’s Kryptonian name?  Did Crazypants tell him?

Some of the things that happened in the future will be changed because of Lois returning to the past and also because Clark and Tess have snippets of that possible future.  Ollie already has pledged to cover Clark’s back – something that didn’t happen in the future.  Ollie and Clark seem to have their doubts about blondie’s motivations and methods.  It may be the bros who don’t trust her.

If Zod does meet Lois, I’m guessing it will be because of the Blur and not Clark.  He knows Lois is his confidante.  (see IDOL)  Zee better hurry up and get those magic glasses on our hero so he can fool mastermind Zod, not just Lois Lane.

Smallville returns January 22, 2010 with new episodes.  If that date changes, we’ll let you know.

TRAILER:

On Feb 5^th, the CW will be presenting a two hour movie of Smallville:  Absolute Justice.  Most of the clips from this trailer were from that episode.  JSA meets JLA.  Clark falling off the Statue of Liberty and Ollie doing a flip flop in his GA uniform.  “You’ve done a hell of a job saving the world on your own, Clark.  I’m here to help you now.”  FRIDAYS ARE LEGENDARY.  JSA table uncovered.  Zod.  Ollie looking at a wall of reconnaissance photos. Alan Scott’s Green Lantern ring.  The S symbol burn for Jor-El’s headstone.  Shirtless Clark & Lois in PANDORA. Ollie fighting someone. Sandman. Blondie in a windtunnel.  Dr. Fate.  Ollie falling in the Watchtower.  “Something tells me . . .”  Clark’s heat vision.  A bloody JSA written on a board.  “ . . . soon the world will need all the help we can get.”  Clark at the museum looking at the JSA portrait.

If you’re not down with that, we’ve got two words for ya . . . You’re nuts!

See you in January!  Happy Holidays!!!