grimorie | Bizarro [picspam and thoughts]

Smallville seems to be going from strength to strength, I've fallen in love with season 6 and now season 7 is just hitting it out of the park!

I didn't think I'd like Bizarro, I wasn't all that impressed with the season ender but I'm so glad to be proven wrong. Since I'm really a Lois fan this will be mostly Lois-centric.

I loved Lois determination to save Chloe and her tenderness towards her.

There's something in this scene I really like, I love the look of fascination and curiousity as she was drawn to the chamber of drowned soldiers, which quickly turned to... it isn't horror more like she couldn't quite believe what she'd seen. This is only confirmation for Lois about Lex's wrongdoings. For Lois, more than anything, this is another piece to prove that Lex isn't on the side of angels. Yes, Lex might have helped her with Lucy and they may have shared that moment of understanding regarding families but a lot of things have happened since then.

The 'muffin peddler' insult may have started Lois dislike of Lex (I really think Lois was just having a bad day and Lex may have been hamming up the 'I'm a good guy billionaire' thing, which of course could grate if it went on and on and we know at that time --'til now Lois doesn't have the best tact-- may have pushed her to snark at Lex just like the way she typically does with Clark. Since in a small way she considered Lex as a friendly acquaintance who she could rib. Unfortunately, Lex isn't Clark and bit back and hit a nerve. The rest of course is history.) but it isn't until Wes's death that she started her crusade against Lex. I mean during the campaign even though she disliked Lex she never really played it dirty the way Lex was obviously aiming for (Lexmas, Fanatic).

Speaking of, I think it's telling that the first episode Lois ever appeared in was called Crusade. When it comes to journalism I think Lois sees it more than just an outlet for her curiousity, for Lois it's a tool for her to help expose the truth and see justice done. It isn't just about the headlines for her.

Again, I love her gentleness towards the former phantom boy, she may not be great with kids but in a crisis she knows how to handle them and she's instantly in that caretaker mode she's used to with Lucy and to some extent, Chloe.

This is a short scene but it was gold. Lois was determined to get everyone out, trying to leverage the rubble out of the way and screaming for help all the while taking the time to assure the boy that Chloe wasn't dead.

When the wall collapses there's this expression on her face: hope, confusion and puzzled disbelief. Especially with *Clark* on the other end of the wall and Clark's very convincing lie about the unstable ceiling. For some reason, this screamed iconic Lois to me because her reactions seemed so real.

Clark's gentle response over Chloe's unconscious body made me really feel for him, all the characters have gone through the wringer in such a short span of time.

In Smallville Medical Center both Lois and Clark are pacing, waiting word for Chloe. Clark's so still but Lois is a marked contrast from Clark, she can't stand still, she's distraught and so very raw. You can really feel she's really barely holding it together. In between the grief, there's guilt mixed in there, she doesn't know what happened and she feels so very helpless.

But this scene reminded me more of Clark and Lois' hospital scene in Zod.

Lois: [ Chuckles ] Bad enough to know I'm still alive. Guess I have your mom to thank for that. You know, honestly... I don't even remember the plane going down. The cabin lost pressure and I was gasping for breath and then I was in this palace of ice. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I was bathed in this warm light, and I knew everything was gonna be okay.

Clark: Lois, you were, uh, hurt pretty badly. Maybe you were hallucinating.

Lois: No. It was real. I think I died and went to heaven.

Clark: Then I'm glad you're back.

--- Zod

Clark: Lois. You want to tell me what happened out there?

Lois: It's gonna sound insane. I don't know, Clark. Maybe I was unconscious and dreaming.

Clark: Maybe you weren't.

Lois: The last thing I remember, I was pulling an eight-inch knife out of my gut, and there was blood everywhere. I dialed Chloe, and I had this... this chill, and my hands started to tingle, and then I must have passed out.

Clark: So someone stabbed you?

Lois: A guard -- right here. [ She pulls up her shirt to reveal her unmarked stomach. ] I know. But there was this warm light all around me. And when I woke up, the wound was healed and Chloe was lying a few feet away, unconscious.

Clark: You said that Lex may have been doing some experiments down there.

Lois: When I was out, maybe one of his men did something to me... and Chloe. That's it. I can't just stand around here waiting.

--- Bizarro

In Zod, it was Clark who insisted she dreamt about the 'Palace of Ice', here it's the opposite, he's the one encouraging her to talk about this 'crazy thing' she's experienced and it's Lois who doesn't believe in what she's seen/been through. The girl who will write stories about flying barn doors and believe in heaven and stick to that belief 'til the cows come home is so shaken that she's questioning herself.

(Although, when Lois pulled up her shirt to reveal the missing stab wound I couldn't help laughing, it reminded me so much of Mal (Firefly) petulantly trying to show his wounds to Inara.

As Lois continues to explain we see Clark put two and two together and proceeds to turn away, I've seen some comments that Lois's conclusions about Lex were stupid but its clear that Clark led her to that conclusion. Of course, her reaction wasn't what he expected. Just like in Prototype where he thought merely offering condolence was enough for Lois, he thought that pat explanation would be enough for Lois. It wasn't.

Standing there and doing nothing is never enough for Lois. It's consistent with Lois since Crusade that she'd rather go after something than just sit and wait and slowly go crazy. She doesn't want people to see her breakdown and when it comes to facing the reality of someone she loves dying she can't stand it.

Asking her to stay put in times of a crisis is possibly the worst thing anyone could ask of her.

Clark tries to stop her for her own sake but Lois is having none of it and even goes on to suggest she could work with Lana. Just when Clark is gearing himself up to inform Lois about Lana's death Lois snaps back at him. I don't think it was particularly harsh, Lois was on the brink and whatever other people think of Lana Lois did genuinely liked her, learning about Lana's death isn't going to help and I think Clark understood that.

In fact I'm liking how TW plays Clark this season more and more, he's so much... quieter now and mature. It's clear that having seen Bizarro has also shaken Clark out of the revenge mindset he had earlier. Even then he was thinking about the similarities he had with his doppelganger. But, oh his face! I'm not a fan of Clark's puppydog eyes routine but here it works so well because you can see that he's trying to keep the grief to himself.

I think, in a way, Clark and Lois deal with grief in the same way, after feeling raw they'd both lockdown on the emotion and compartmentalize. Only, Lois is more eager to shove it away because she doesn't like being crippled that way.

Bizarro part II

*sources: Screencaps from: Home of the Nutty

Transcript from: Megasite