SMALLVILLE 6.18 (4/19/07) - "Progeny"

[gastrof]

Okay...

So far we have Chloe remembering waking up one morning when she was little, to find her mother gone (only daddy Gabe being there), and her never seeing the woman again.

More recently we have her finding her mother in a hospital, and hugging the blonde woman (who apparently recognized her).

Now, we see a flashback to a Chloe that HAD to be older than the age previously described, saying "bye bye" to a DARK haired mommy, Gabe nowhere to be seen, but Chloe apparently knowing fully well mommy was going away.

HUH?

Also, I'm not sure WHAT was going on with the doctor in the hospital and Lana.

Was he hired by Lex to convince Lana she was never really pregnant?

WAS she ever pregnant?

Is this all an evil plot? DID Lana have a baby in her womb even thru some "unnatural" means? Is Lex growing tired of her now that he's had his fun crushing Clark by way of a wedding, and is he now trying to get rid of Lana?

WHAT in the world is going ON here?

Plus, what's with Queen Industries, seemingly an equal match for everything Luthorcorp does, not being able to come up with a treatment for Chloe's mom? (And what's with Chloe giving up so easy?)

Oh...and real nice scene, Chloe leaving Clark suffering from K exposure, to be found who knows when. She seemed to have enough of herself still working where it was HER making certain choices, despite Mommy influencing her. So she takes a chance at Clark DYING so she can get away without him interfering? (I mean, how did she know exactly how long he could last, or when exactly Martha might come home?) Not a "makes sense" situation, writing-wise.

Also, at the end, did it seem to anyone that the scene between Chloe and Lex was slightly out of phase with the rest of the episode, almost as if it was filmed at another time? I know Lex mentioned the "ran him off the road" incident, but something didn't seem quite right. And Chloe was so mad, I find it hard to believe she gave into his threats.

I dunno. Maybe her going to Clark and telling him what Lex did was the beginning of her reaction? (And oddly enough, even THAT seemed out of sync a bit with what actually happened in the scene between Mack and Rosenbaum.)

I wondering if at some point in the past the producers had certain scenes filmed that could be used later if needed, if someone left the show for some reason, establishing the character's departure.

Anyone else get a feeling of "something's not quite jiving here" as those two scenes played out?

[Peter000]

Did we watch the same show? Everything seemed to make a sort of Smallville-ish sense to me. It was obvious that the doctor thought Lana was faking the pregnancy to get Lex to marry her, and not "hired" by Lex to tell her that stuff. I mean, what would Lex have to gain by telling her (through the doctor) that he faked her pregnancy?? There's no up side to that. No, this was a way to reveal that to Lana so she would know what was going on, without Lex knowing she knows.

Chloe, while under her mother's influence, just did whatever what was necessary to accomplish her directive. And if that meant hurting her friends, so be it. That's why the Kryptonite. She wasn't acting normally.

Dunno. You seem to be reading more things into it than it deserves. It's not a very complex show.

But I did like tonight's ep. Seemed to have a more directed feel to it as if to say "we're getting to the point. This is about the core characters, not the JLA or meteor freaks." Seems like Lex has just totally given into his dark side with no looking back. Clark knows it, and is resigned to having to fight the battle, even looking forward to it a bit.

[Figaro]

What ever happened to Chloe's dad?

[busyba]

Why doesn't Chloe just have Clark pummel Lex until he gives up the miracle mommy drug?

Lex has pretty much given up all pretenses now, hasn't he? The Cold War is about to get pretty hot....

[atrac]

Lynda Carter.

Worth watching alone for her.

Not a bad episode either. Not awesome, but I agree the character development was stronger in this one.

[balboa dave]

Lynda Carter.

Worth watching alone for her.The part that cracked me up was her DOB on the flash drive record. Only nine years off.

[gastrof]

What ever happened to Chloe's dad?


When Chloe stopped playing ball with Lionel (during her brief flirtation with "the dark side"), he kindly arranged for her dad to be unemployed.

This led to the Sullivans (having just purchased a new home in what Chloe called the "brat flats" section of Smallville) moving into a one bedroom apartment. (And let's not forget that lovely little explosion at the FBI safe house when Chloe was the prosecution's star witness against Lionel...I still don't get her trusting him on the evening of Dark Thursday and getting into his limo with him... Amazing what you'll do when surrounded by a crazed mob, I guess.)

I have a feeling Gabe may not even be in Kansas any more, and that he's doing whatever he can where work is concerned.

[gastrof]

Why doesn't Chloe just have Clark pummel Lex until he gives up the miracle mommy drug?....

Because Lex can only believe so many explanations on why Clark showed superior strength or speed on this or that occasion.

The aim is NOT to give him reason to believe Clark's a superman. :p

[gastrof]

Did we watch the same show? Everything seemed to make a sort of Smallville-ish sense to me. It was obvious that the doctor thought Lana was faking the pregnancy to get Lex to marry her, and not "hired" by Lex to tell her that stuff. I mean, what would Lex have to gain by telling her (through the doctor) that he faked her pregnancy??...

Since when has being twisted and sneaky for his own reasons been beyond Lex?

Chloe, while under her mother's influence, just did whatever what was necessary to accomplish her directive. And if that meant hurting her friends, so be it. That's why the Kryptonite. She wasn't acting normally.

Maybe. Still, it's not like her mother totally took over her body. It was still Chloe, with Chloe's knowledge of things. And her mother never came across as not caring at all about others, letting Chloe do just anything. Of course, we do know Chloe's mom's family doesn't produce the most stable of women. I suppose it's possible she might have left Chloe with "instructions" that were "take no prisoners" flavored.

Dunno. You seem to be reading more things into it than it deserves. It's not a very complex show.

But it can be at times, especially where the Luthors are concerned. Who knows WHAT they'll be revealed as being up to. We're still not all that clear as to how Lionel got out of prison when the evidence was so clear, exactly to what extent he'd gone "good" due to Clark inhabiting his body, and to what extent he went bad again when Black-Kryptonite Lex slashed his face with the sword.

We've seen Lex say to him "Let's face it...you're NOT the good guy you want the Kents to think you are" and Lionel actually looked confused and hurt.

There is, despite some appearances, SOME thought given to things (at least where the Luthors are concerned) on this show.

The only problem is, we may NEVER actually find out just what's what with them and their doings.

[TAsunder]

The yaris comic with the justice league was kind of fun.

[cyke93]

lana not really pregnant.. didn't see that one coming .. ohhh how interesting

[tivolovr]

lana not really pregnant.. didn't see that one coming .. ohhh how interesting

Actually they have been foreshadowing this (or at least something related to the pregnancy) for several episodes. Lex has been very careful to control all doctors having anything to do with Lana. He even murdered her OB when he threatened to reveal something to Lana (note: in cold blood and on his wedding day!).

This is why it makes absolutely no sense that he knew she was in the hospital and suddenly seemed to have no fear of Lana uncovering the truth.

Unless they find some way to explain this -- it seems like a crater sized plot hole to me.

[gastrof]

...He even murdered her OB when he threatened to reveal something to Lana (note: in cold blood and on his wedding day!).

This is why it makes absolutely no sense that he knew she was in the hospital and suddenly seemed to have no fear of Lana uncovering the truth.

Unless they find some way to explain this -- it seems like a crater sized plot hole to me.

For one thing, Lex didn't out and out murder the guy...at least not deliberately. That wasn't his aim. He was roughing the guy up and he hit his head. I think even Lionel pointed out Lex's "cleanup" was anything but efficient.

It wasn't planned, and was a legitimate accident...one that Lex had no intention of admitting to, of course.

Lex not worrying about Lana knowing the truth? He's got enough money and pull to control just about anyone. The Luthors can hire people to lie about you and get you thrown into prison if they want. (Just ask the poor guy who was Lionel's cellmate.)

Lex has little in the way of fear, and less in the way of morals.

In his own words 'Lionel's finally gotten the son he always wanted'.

[PJO1966]

I guess we can put to rest the debate from the episode where Lana saw Clark use his powers. It wasn't a mistake in editing. They used the same shot for the "previously on" segment. Then later when Chloe and Clark are talking by Lex's car, he makes it to the car and back without her even noticing.

[TAsunder]

So if she was never pregnant what was with lex seemingly having warm and fuzzy thoughts looking at the sonogram after the miscarriage?

[hawk4hire]

I wonder if they cast Linda Carter as a dig to the person who owns the rights to Wonder Woman. Thats the same person who wouldnt let them use the WW character on the JLA eposide....

[odrybenj]

So if she was never pregnant what was with lex seemingly having warm and fuzzy thoughts looking at the sonogram after the miscarriage?

Apparently, the OB the Lex "murdered" was talking about an experiment. My guess is Lana had something (someone) in her that Lex put in somehow. They took it out whenever it wasn't needed anymore. As for the reasons, I see two things. 1) to force Lana to marry him, 2) it's a meteor freak thing that Lex is trying to pull out and he needed a body for incubation or something.
A third reason could be mixture of both....

[gastrof]

I wonder if they cast Linda Carter as a dig to the person who owns the rights to Wonder Woman. Thats the same person who wouldnt let them use the WW character on the JLA eposide....


That choice is apparently one made by Time Warner, just as it was their choice to not allow SMALLVILLE to use Bruce Wayne. They didn't want it watering down the value of the character for the BATMAN movies. :(