[happy mom]

Hostage
May 7th, 8/7c

Much to Clark's (Tom Welling) surprise, Martha Kent (guest star Annette O'Toole) returns to Smallville with her new boyfriend, Perry White (guest star Michael McKeon) in tow.

Lois (Erica Durance) and Perry realize they are both working on the same story about the Red Queen, and decide to team up, which ultimately puts them in serious danger.

Chloe (Allison Mack) helps Clark search for the Book of Rao, which they believe contains information on how to stop Zod (Callum Blue) and his army.

Glen Winter directed the episode written by Jordan Hawley & Anne Cofell Saunders.

Shows - Smallville - Episode Guide - Hostage

Discuss!

[ocfan27]

it was okay....

[now.it.all.begins]

My apologies for this very late and very long review. I meant to get it done earlier but real life got in the way. So this episode marked the return of Martha Kent and Perry White to SV and I have to be honest, I was a bit let down by it. I had my expectations set way too high for it, and I think that effected the way I viewed the ep. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the episode, but I didn’t LOVE it as much as I thought I would. Anyways here’s the review:

Lord/Tess/Ollie: I thought it would be best to lump these three together in one category. The way that the scenes at the Luthor mansion were shot were pretty jarring in comparison to the scenes at the Kent farm, so I’m glad that they explained it later as Lord messing with Tess’ mind. I do wonder how Lord kidnapped Tess in the first place though. Apparently Lord’s powers are more powerful than we thought they were. I was under the impression that he could only see people’s memories. I wasn’t aware that creating virtual reality in their minds was another one of his abilities. Also, if Lord was trying to make things seem realistic in Tess’ mind, why did he look like some kind of commando with the scruff and the vest? And how on earth could he have thrown Ollie into the room like that? It’s not like Lord is a huge guy. Anyways, it was nice to see Lord again and see him work his mojo. Oh I have another question: Did Lord die at the end of the ep when the cellphone went wonky or what exactly?

With regards to Tess, the woman has had one hell of a crappy year. We started the season with her being physically tormented by the Kandorians and now we’re ending the season with her being mentally tormented for info pertaining to the Kandorians...there’s some kind of weird symmetry with that. Tess running around her bedroom and finding that there was no way out kind of reminded me of Forever when Chloe realized there was no way out of the “school” because the fotw didn’t want them to leave. I liked the shot of her looking up into the camera and shouting, “What did you do to this place?!” The poor woman then gets tossed aside by Lord who’s looking for the Book of Rao (which will be referred to as the BoR from this point on). The next time we see Tess is when Lord throws Ollie into the room like he’s a pebble on the beach. His chest is still all nasty and branded from the last ep and Tess is appalled by what Zod did to him. I wonder how Ollie is actually doing with his recovery now. Tess asks Ollie what he wants and he says something about the BoR and what not and then he accuses Tess of dragging him in there to get info about the BoR and that she’s the Red Queen. Tess looks completely shocked. On a side note, Justin still looks hot even when he’s all beat up and bloody. How does he do that? He did a great job at conveying his pain in this scene. Also congrats to him for getting his ep count bumped, I just wish ED could have gotten her ep count bumped too.

In their next scene, Lord is back in the room and he’s torturing Ollie, hoping to get info out of Tess that way. Ollie says, “I can’t believe you’re doing this to me, Red.” Tess says, “I’m not this Red Queen” and Lord either shoots him in the leg or his groin. Thank God for Chloe that none of that actual happened because that could put a serious damper on their “favourite indoor game” . Tess puts herself between Lord and Ollie and begs him not to hurt Ollie. Lord says he’s not asking again and Ollie somehow miraculously stands up and starts talking to Tess about how he loves her. Tess closes her eyes for a minute and realizes that none of it is real then she headbutts Ollie and grabs the gun from Lord. She says, “Nice try” then fires the gun and the mirage disolves. Tess snaps out from under Lord’s spell and grabs a knife. She cuts Lord’s throat with it and tells him that he had her going until he made Ollie confess his love. Lord says they want the BoR and Tess warns him to stay away from her as she scurries out of the room. I can see how this Tess plot works into this ep, but like I said it felt rather jarring for me.

After Lord’s mental torture, Tess goes back to the Luthor mansion to retrieve the BoR and Mama Kent, a.k.a. the Red Queen, pulls a gun on her from behind and forces Tess to give it to her. It works that Tess wouldn’t know who Martha is or recognize her voice, since they’ve never met before. Tess realizes that the Red Queen meant for her to get away and wonders how she knew that she’d go there. Martha says that Tess is predictable. How long has she been watching Tess? Martha pegs Tess as saying that she’s saving the planet, while actually only caring about herself. She figured out Lord’s charade because she knew that Ollie’s declaration of love was a lie. Martha tells her she has no idea what it means to protect someone she really loves and warns her to stay away from Clark. Tess sheds a few tears and when she turns around Martha’s vanished. I think this episode really highlight just how isolated Tess is. She doesn’t have any friends, family, or anyone who cares about her and thought to look for her when she was kidnapped by Lord. She was devoted to Lex last year, but after finding out about the camera he had installed on her, she cut him out of her life, she’s never gotten along with Clark, Chloe, or Lois, Ollie, the one man she actually did give a damn about, turned his back on her when she needed help the most, and Zod could really care less about her and was just using her to get info/scratch a mutual itch. If Tess died, I don’t think anyone would really mourn her loss and that’s incredibly sad. Poor Tess.

Chloe: I think this episode did a great job of showing how isolated Chloe has also been this season with the way they have her holed up in the Watchtower until her last scene with Clark. I’m very glad that Chloe told Clark that she knew about the BoR from way back when and they had Clark ask her why she withheld that info from him. I’m also glad that they had Chloe admit that she hid herself away from the world and that maybe it wasn’t the best idea for her to be big sister. I thought Allison’s delivery of “I want to plug into the real world” was particularly moving and I liked seeing her have a moment of doubt in her abilities and saying “I’m not the hero here”, because it seemed to me like she was tooting her own horn quite a bit this season and calling herself a hero. I like the shot of Chloe opening up the window and letting in the light. It was a nice way to visually show us that Chloe is actually trying to let the people in again. IMO, Chloe’s last scene with Clark in this ep, was one of her best moments this season.

Martha/Clark/Lois: Oh Mama Kent, it’s good to have you back! You have been missed. And your kids are desperately in need of your guidance. So Martha surprises Clark with a visit to the farm and Clark is shocked but happy to see her. She says she thought he’d be at the DP and he says that he’s working from home. Lois is surprised that Clark lied to Mrs. K, but she goes along with it for now. Mrs. K invites Lois to stay for dinner, in a way that implies she expects her to stay for dinner and then says there’s pleny of food for the four of them. Clark asks, “The four of us?” and we realize that Mrs. K is now dating Perry White. He walks into the farmhouse saying, “I don’t know why you need all these clothes. With my help you won’t be needing any.” AWKWARD. Wow. That’s probably one of the most awkward moments on the show. It’s bad enough to find out that your mom is dating someone else, but then to hear about their sex life at the same time? Yikes. Poor Clark, probably wanted to go back in time so he wouldn’t have had to hear that comment. Clark is shellshocked that Perry’s dating his mom, while Lois’ reporter antenna go up and all she can think about is that this is “the Perry White”. Heh.

After the credits, Martha is in the barn fondly staring at Jonathan’s old tool box and work gloves. Clark tells Martha that she thinks about him everyday and Martha tells him about the story of her first date with Jonathan. She tells Clark that she couldn’t face the memories and that it’s hard coming back to the farm. Poor Martha. She may be in a relationship with Perry now but it’s clear that her heart will always belong to Jonathan. Clark tells her that he’s just glad that she’s there and they embrace. Martha explains to Clark how she ended up with Perry and says she hopes he doesn’t mind. I’m glad that Clark says it’s okay and doesn’t get upset at her for it or try to shut Perry out because he’s in a relationship with his mom. It has been roughly five years since Jonathan died and it’s only natural for Martha to get lonely and want some companionship. Clark mentions the Kandorians and Martha says she’s so proud of him for what he’s doing to help his people. Huh, I think she may be the first person who knows his secret who’s actually told him that. It must mean a lot for Clark to hear her agree with what he’s been doing. Clark tells her it hasn’t been easy and more than ever he’s been living two lives. Martha says, “One of those lives is full of sacrifice, so I’m glad to see that the other one has Lois in it. I sleep better knowing you have someone special in your life.” Awww, well if Mama Kent giving Lois the okay to wear her wedding dress didn’t show us that she approved of Lois and Clark’s relationship, that scene certainly did. I’m very glad that they finally gave Clark someone to talk to about his relationship with Lois with Martha’s return, since he hasn’t exactly been forthcoming about his relationship with Chloe or Ollie this season.

In Martha’s next scene, she looks down sadly at her apron before putting it on and pasting a smile on her face for Lois. I’m guessing she got lost in her memories for a moment. Lois tells her, “I gotta hand it to you Mrs. K, running senate committees by day, cooking rocking meals by night. You put the ‘m’ in modern woman. Me, I put the ‘t’ in takeout.” Mrs. K laughs at this and asks Lois to tell her all the news and “How are you and Clark?” Lois is cornered and tries to pass it off that everything’s “peachy. You know us chocolate and peanut butter, yin and yang, Tarzan and Jane. Okay maybe not the pulling hair jungle love of it all.” Oh Lois, I bet you wish the latter were true. I know I do. Also her list reminds me of Crimson when Lois compared herself and Clark to “hot fudge and halibut”, two things that don’t really go together, but now she’s comparing them to things that do go together and even complete each other...and to a famous couple that everyone knows by their first names....like “Lois and Clark”. Martha says, “Perry mentioned you aren’t writing together? Is everything okay?” Lois says, “Yeah” in a way that makes it clear that she’s lying. Martha knows that something’s up. She’s always been able to read Lois well and Lois has never been good at hiding things from Martha, like in Fade when Lois tried to cover how upset she with the whole invisible hitman thing by chalking it up to her way of “living la vida loca” and Martha knowing that Lois needed a heart to heart, which led to their great “my Jonathan” conversation. Lois asks Martha, “Have you ever wanted to do something really important with your life?” Martha kind of gives her a look that says, “Well yeah, remember the senator thing?” Martha tells Lois that it wasn’t easy for her to leave Clark and go to Washington but a part of her needed to take that next step. Lois is excited about this and starts to open up to Mrs. K about the Blur but stops herself before she actually says his name. Mrs. K gives her a searching look that says she’s happy Lois is finally opening up, until Lois clams up and just says “this friend. We used to work together and when I helped him, it was like I had a higher purpose. Like I was saving the world.” Martha smiles at this. Since she was a big city girl before she married Jonathan she genuinely understands what Lois means. I love how AoT delivers the line, “I went from being a city socialite headed for law school to a farmer’s wife marooned on a island of corn.” Lois makes a comment on this and I love AoT’s laugh here, because it sounds so genuine. Martha talks about a job she had working for a federal judge and then how she helped Jonathan save twenty families by blocking the river with sandbags. She says, “I didn’t know what my purpose was until that rainy day. I just needed to look inside myself.” I love the way her voice softens when she talks about Jonathan. This was a really good scene between Lois and Martha...probably one of their best scenes together on the show ever. You can see the kinship between the two of them and how Martha has embraced Lois as a daughter and how Lois respects and admires Martha. Lois is enthralled by Martha’s story and takes what she says to heart. She knows that she can learn a lot from her experiences. I can see them having these kind of conversations and bonding moments well into the future and can’t help but think that Martha will relish being able to talk to Lois about Clark once he finally lets her in on the secret.

The moment when Martha sees Perry standing in the doorway wearing Jonathan’s jacket was just...wahhhh! I miss him too, Martha! AoT played that small moment brilliantly. You could see the hope in her face and how badly she wished it was Jonathan, then how she tried to compose herself when they realized Perry was wearing Jonathan’s jacket. This does beg the question though: Why was he wearing the jacket in the first place?

I think I’ll skip most of the dinner scene and just cover it in the Clois part of my review but I have to say that I love all the non-verbal communication in this scene, particularly between Martha and Clark, when Martha realizes that Clark’s been talking to Lois as the Blur without letting her in on the secret. Clark looks kind of guilty and Martha gives him this knowing look like, “Clark, honey, what were you thinking?” I also loved her reaction after Lois left and Perry spilled his papers. They tried to use Tess as a herring for who the Red Queen really was, well this scene definitely indicated (if we didn’t already know that Martha was the Red Queen, since the stupid promo crackmonkeys gave it away in the trailer) that Martha was up to something. After Perry and Lois leave, we have a shot of Martha and Clark watching them as they left...I think it’s interesting how this ep shows both Martha and Clark holding Perry and Lois at arms length because of their secrets and how Perry and Lois are unwittingly looking into their secrets. Oh what a tangled web we weave...yeah I’m pretty sure I said that in another review recently but it still works here.

After Lois and Perry have left, Clark and Martha clean up the remains of their disastrous dinner. Martha and Clark have another nice heart to heart about his relationship with Lois and she tells him that maybe he should be honest with Lois. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Martha ever advocated for Clark to tell Lana the truth this clearly when they were dating. Clark opens up to Martha about what it was like for him to talk to Lois as the Blur and how it made him “fall deeper” (*happy sigh*) and Martha tells Clark, “If you want her back, you’re going to have to take the next step in your relationship, otherwise you’ll have to let her go.” I’m pretty sure I know which option both Mrs. K and Clark prefer . Listen to your mother, Clark!

In her next few scenes we have Mrs. K being a total badass and standing on rooftops...how did she get up there by the way? Did she climb up there before? B/c I didn’t think she was that agile...anyways, yeah so she’s a badass and she douses Clark with green K and we find out she’s the Red Queen. Mama Kent, that is so not cool. She gets the BoR from Tess and gives Tess a verbal smackdown, that as I mentioned before, really demonstrates how isolated Tess is. She also warns Tess to stay away from Clark Kent, aww I can get behind that one. When Tess turns around, she’s gone. How did she do that? Did she get super speed or something?

In her last scene with Clark, Clark’s put two and two together and realizes that his mom is the Red Queen. I love his line about her easing up on k-nite the next time she visits. Oh snap. I love it when Clark gets to be smart and cheeky. Martha tries to deny it, but Clark won’t let it slide and she caves. He asks her why she didn’t come to him with this and she says it’s because she didn’t want him in the line of fire. While I can appreciate the sentiment, I don’t like it that another person in Clark’s life feels the need to keep him in the dark “for his own good”...he’s a grown man for crying out loud. Let him make his own choice for the love of God! Martha explains to Clark how she became the Red Queen so that she could protect him and she gives him the BoR. After Martha gives him the BoR, she turns away from him and gets very emotional. Clark asks her if she’s okay and she says, “It’s just..I told myself the world needs Clark Kent even more than I do, but the truth is I’m so afraid of losing you.” Clark tells her that she’ll never lose him and that he’ll always be there for her, but she explains that the BoR can be used to transport the Kandorians to another plane of existence. Clark thinks this is a great idea, until she clarifies, “Clark, if the Book of Rao is used to send the Kandorians away, all Kryptonians will be exiled from Earth, including you.” Ruh roh. There’s gotta be some kind of loophole right? Because if Clark gets sucked into this other dimension, then that’ll make 6 season finales out of 9 that Clark either runs away to do whatever or he gets transported somewhere else. In S2 he got high on red K and ran off to Metropolis, in S3 he got sucked into the cave wall, in S4 he got transported to the FoS, in S5 he got sent to the PZ, in S7 he got trapped in the FoS and was missing for a few weeks, and in S8 he declared Clark Kent dead and went off on his own. It’s getting a smidge old, dontcha think?

Perry/Lois/Clark: Hee I loved Michael McKean’s return to SV as Perry White. I liked him the first time around and still love that scene where Clark nearly nails him with a tractor , and I still like him now. To be honest, I don’t think anyone will ever live up to Lane Smith’s portrayal of Perry White in L&C:TNAoS, but I think MM did a solid job in making the role his own, without trying to imitate LS’ Perry White. I could definitely see MM’s Perry working with SV’s Lois and Clark and being their editor in chief at the DP. His scenes with Erica were the highlight of the ep for me, but I’ll get into the more later.

His opening line in this ep is, “I don’t know why you need all these clothes. With my help you won’t be needing any.” Does anyone else think this sounds like something Lois would say? Like Lois, Perry seems to have a case of “foot in mouth” syndrome...you can tell that they’re going to get along splendidly already. I love how excited Lois is about meeting Perry and how she has to take a picture with him like a groupie and wants to send it to her high school journalism teacher. “Who’s sorry now, beyotch?!” Her delivery of this line was dead on, I love how her voice goes up when she says, “beyotch” Perry mentions that he’s read some of her work with Clark and compares them to Woodward and Bernstein. Hee. Lois spies Perry’s next story and she kind of gets like a shark smelling blood in the water and instantly pounces on it. She does her lower lip bite thing that shows she’s really interested in it and wants to know what he’s up to, but Perry tries to brush her off. Lois says, “Too bad, Ahab” and tells him that the story she’s working on will make “quite a splash.” He wishes her luck on reeling it in all by herself, and you can tell he’s not really taking her seriously yet. Lois shows him a blurry picture of what I think is the Blur and Perry laughs at it. He says, “You gotta be kidding me. This is a goth guy on trampoline in a jogging suit!” You know that kind of sounds like something Lois would have said about the Blur prior to Identity. Lois insists that it’s the real thing and stops herself before she reveals how she got that picture. At this point Perry is still humouring her, until she shows him a picture of the BoR. I love how Lois keeps going and doesn’t take Perry’s reaction to heart. Since he seems to be one of her idols, you’d think the way he scoffed at her would have hurt her a bit, but she knows she’s on to something so she keeps going until she gets his attention. When she shows him the picture, his expression changes completely and Lois knows she has him. He says, “I’ve seen this before” and Lois tells him, “You gotta give some, to get some.” Oh Lois, playing hard to get I see. Work it girl. Perry caves and tells her all about the story he’s been working on involving Checkmate and the Red Queen. They realize that their two stories are really the same story and they decide to join forces. Okay, so Lois not only gets to meet Perry in this ep, but she gets to write a story with him too?! This. Is. Awesome!

Perry has a nice scene with Clark in this ep, when he invites Clark to sit and have a drink with him. I like the continuity with the writer remembering that Perry used to be an alcoholic and having Clark glance warily at his drink, before Perry reassures him that he’s only drinking club soda. Perry lets Clark know that he’s working on a story with Lois, and Clark is surprised and unhappy with this news. Oh Clark, this is Lois we’re talking about. Of course she’d jump at the chance to work with Perry White. Perry gives Clark some more of his backstory and talks about how he spent the first 20 years of his career living out of his suitcase and chasing down story after story, believing he was saving the world. Unfortunately it cost him two marriages and after that he realized “what matters most is having someone around to share your life with.” Clark thinks about this and takes a moment for it to sink it before Perry drops the bomb that he wants to ask Martha to marry him. However, after his earlier conversation with his mom in the barn, Clark knows that Martha’s heart will always be with Jonathan and gently lets Perry know that he’s not sure that he’ll get the answer he’s looking for. Aww poor Perry. You know, I thought I’d be totally sickened by the Perry and Martha pairing, but I actually didn’t mind it.
During the dinner scene, Perry asks Lois and Clark what’s it like for them to be working together and also brings up the engagement announcement. Oh dear. Martha told him that topic was verboten, but I guess he conveniently forgot that. Again with the “foot in mouth” syndrome. Lois chokes on her potatoes and by this point it’s very clear that all is not well with Lois and Clark. Clark tries to play it off like everything is okay and it looks like Martha is willing to go along with the pretense, but Perry notices Lois giving Clark a “WTF?” look out of the corner of her eye and asks her how things are working out for her. I like the concern he shows for Lois in this scene with asking her how things are going and then making sure that she gets safely home after things explode.

When they reach Lois’ place, they realize that somebody trashed it. I love how psyched they get about that. I also love how Lois tells Perry that she needs the distraction, since it’s very in character for Lois to throw herself into work as a way to distract herself from her problems. Another touch I like is the continuity with Lois’ costume closet and how she hid Checkmate’s phone in her Wonder Woman outfit. Lois and Perry’s telephone tag team scene is one of my favourite scenes in the ep and I love how snappy their dialogue is. Lois dials the number and says, “I know this phone is a direct line to Checkmate, so here’s my order: Red Queen, nothing on the side, just her.” The guy on the line says she’s called a Mexican restaurant but Lois persists, “Oh right, Taco Dan’s? Is that the best you can come up with? I thought all you spy guys went to Yale.” The guy says, “Lady you have the wrong number.” She responds with, “Oh no, Austin Powers, I have your number. I know that you work for a covert organization dedicated to defending the planet from an alien invasion, that your boss was Amanda Waller, and that that little chateau of yours in the Rocky Mountains was blown to bits, probably by aliens after the Book of Rao, which is why you’d better stop with this guac and chips act and get us some facetime with the Red Queen right now.” Heh I love how Perry shows her the picture of Checkmate’s headquarters and makes the explosion motions behind her while she’s saying all of this and then how he cuts in and takes the phone from her. “Or else we’ll yank her majesty off the chessboard and put her on the front page of the Daily Planet.” The guy on the other end of the line hangs up on them and they sink down on the couch in defeat. Lois wonders if that was actually a Mexican restaurant, until the guy calls them back and gives them the coordinates to meet the Red Queen. Hee, they’re so made of win.

Perry and Lois decide to stakeout the location and wait for the RQ to make her appearance at Metropolis’ one and only coffee shop. They spot the RQ on the rooftop across the street from them and make a beeline to where she is. Lois scampers up the ladders on the side of the building with ease, while Perry pauses and wheezes inbetween each step. He tells Lois, “Look, Lane, if for some reason I don’t make it and you do-“ Lois interrupts him with, “Don’t talk like that.” He continues, “It’s not pretty, but it has to be said, I think I deserve first position on the byline.” LMAO. Hee again that sounds like something Lois would say. They’re reporters through and through. Perry climbs up the last ladder and utters a “Great Caesar’s Ghost!” before the ladder snaps off and he’s left hanging in the air. Lois gives him a cable and he grabs onto it. When he does he slams into a billboard and it goes crashing down. Fortunately for the people on the street who don’t have the common sense to get the hell out of the way, Clark zooms in and catches it before it turns them into pancakes. This reminds me of a scene in LnC when a little girl ran back to grab her teddy bear just as a billboard was falling down. This scene also highlights why Clark desperately needs to go public and get his Superman disguise in gear, because there were a ton of people in that scene who fortunately just saw the back of his head, but it would have been so easy for someone to see his face there. Lois has either been working out during her unemployment stint or was just granted some super strength because she manages to pull Perry up onto the roof all by herself. When Perry’s safely on the roof, the people below them cheer and Lois comments that she could get used to this. Too bad Martha was long gone by the time they got up there.

In their last scene at the DP, Lois is marvelling at the sight of her nameplate and Clark’s nameplate back where they belong. I love Perry’s proud and satisfied smile when he sees her reaction. “Oh my god, Perry. You’ve raised the dead! You have single handedly brought my flatlined career back to life.” Perry says he just put in a good word with Stern, and Lois makes sure that he knows that she’ll never forget this and neither will Clark. Perry tells her that they make a good team and that he’s heading to Nairobi to hunt down the Red Queen. He asks Lois if she wants to come with him, but she says, “Normally, I would jump at the chance to run away from my problems, but after one day in the trenches with Perry White, I realized that I don’t have to go anywhere to find my higher calling. I just- I needed to find the hero inside of myself.” Aww yay, Lois! I’m so glad that after working with Perry, she’s realized that she can use journalism to make a difference in the world and that she’s found peace with herself. This is an excellent message to send to young women. IMO it’s very important for someone to be happy with themselves and not just look to someone else to fill something that’s missing in their life. Perry says his goodbyes and tells Lois that she’s the real deal. Lois says, “See you, Chief”. Oh the iconicness of it all gives me chills. Perry tells Lois to tell Clark that they’re even now and after he leaves, Lois turns back to her desk. She feels a rush of wind and sees a note left for her by “the Blur” saying that it’s time of them to meet. Given the way their last conversation went down, she looks like she’s very suspicious about this note.

Clois: Like I said earlier, I loved how they used the return of Martha and Perry to give Lois and Clark an outlet to talk about their relationship. I loved all the heart to hearts they had with these two older, wiser individuals and all the parallels we saw between them. We didn’t actually get a lot of Lois and Clark interaction in this episode, but we got a lot of indirect interaction with them and important insight into their relationship and how much it means to them through their conversations with Perry and Martha.

In the opening scene, Clark hears someone making a racket in his pantry and doesn’t realize it’s Lois until he suprises her and she turns around. She asks him, “If you can’t recognize my butt in a pair of jeans then what are you thinking about?” He responds with, “I know, I’ve just been distracted.” Heh, I love the verbal acknowledgement that Clark checks her out and that’s okay...actually that he’s supposed to check her out now. This reminds me of Clark referring to how tight Lois’ clothes were in Hex and Stiletto last year. Lois says, “Well forgive me for getting between a man and his tractor, but our unemployment situation has just gone to defcon one.” I think this line, clearly shows that Lois just thinks that the other things Clark’s dealing with right now have to do with the farm, which explains her frustration later on. Clark tells her it’s not a matter of life or death and she tells him that it is. The DP isn’t paying her phone bill anymore and the dry cleaners has half of her wardrobe held hostage. Lois tells him she’s found a story that will get them their jobs back, but Clark says he can’t drop everything right now and turns away from her. Lois grabs his hand and pulls him back to her. He looks a bit surprised by that move, since that’s usually something that he’d do. She puts her hand on his cheek and says, “Hey, I have been pounding back double double expressos, just trying to keep us on some kind of a masthead and you’ve been doing what exactly?” She has her arms wrapped around his waist and she’s trying to reach him and asking him to let her in, but he brushes her aside again. Lois isn’t going to let it slide this time. “Well here’s something that I can’t ignore. I need a purpose, some kind of bigger mission in life. You don’t seem to need that.” She’s being honest with him and letting him know her frustrations, but he chalks it up to her “overreacting”. This is kind of like when Clark told Lois in Crossfire that she shouldn’t get all worked up like she normally does. That line didn’t go over all that well the last time he said it and it goes even worse now. I can understand why Lois is acting this way, since she just lost her job and her relationship with the Blur, two huge parts of her life. I think that if Clark wasn’t so distracted by the Kandorian problem, he would be much more understanding, since he did realize in Persuasion just how much her job means to her, when she told him that she quit the DP to be his ball and chain. Clark asks Lois to give him a break. Uh oh. Wrong choice of words, Clark. Lois takes this literally and suggests they take a break from their relationship, Clark’s not thrilled by this suggestion to say the least, but they’re interuppted when Martha walks in the door. Clark welcomes his mom home and she says she was expecting to find him at the DP. He lies and tells her that he’s working from him. Lois looks surprised by his lie. I think Clark’s trying to compartmentalize his life still and he’s putting all of his focus onto one of his problems, while hoping that his relationship problems with Lois will either sort themself out or that she’ll wait long enough for him to work out his stuff with the Kandorians, so that he can fix things with her after things with them are back on track. Unfortunately, since Lois doesn’t know his secret, she really has no idea what’s going on and all she sees her boyfriend disregarding her feelings, being distant, and now asking her to lie for him. In a way, Clark will do this later on when Lois has to lie to protect his secret, but at least then it’ll be her choice. Martha assumes that Lois will stay for dinner and Clark gives her a pleading look to go along with it and act like everything’s fine. When she agrees, he smiles and breathes a slight sigh of relief.

As I mentioned, Lois and Clark’s convos with Martha and Perry where very important in this ep. Through Lois’ convo with Perry, we see that she’s very disappointed that Clark brushed her aside and that they’re not writing together at the moment, and through Clark’s conversation with Perry, we see that Clark clearly doesn’t like Lois working with anyone else and is actually a bit jealous about it. I love the way TW delivered the line about trading up for a more experienced partner. Also, Perry’s conversation with Clark about how he realized that all that mattered was having someone to share your life with seems to strike a chord with Clark. It’s like he’s thinking about how he wants to share his life with Lois and he won’t be able to do that unless he tells her everything. Like in Persuasion, this shows us that Clark’s relationship with Lois is an “always and forever” kind of thing. He’s pictured a future with her and he desperately wants things to work out between them.

I already went over Lois’ conversation with Martha, but I want to revisit it briefly because I think it played an important role in the dinner scene. You can tell that Lois is very uncomfortable lying to Mrs. K and she’s just dying to tell her the truth, but she’s trying to pass off that everything’s okay, because she knows that’s what Clark wants. I love how she compares herself and Clark to things that do go together now, as opposed to “hot fudge and halibut”. I also love how this scene shows just how much in common they have and how they’re both big city girls who want to make a difference in the world. After hearing Martha’s story about saving twenty families and needing to look inside herself, Lois realizes that that’s what she needs to do to, which brings us to the delightfully awkward dinner scene.

Lois and Clark exchange awkward sidelong glances while everyone stares at their plates and gorges on their food as if they hold the key to life. Perry compliments Martha on the dinner then asks Lois and Clark what’s it like working together and dating. Clark says that it’s never been better and Lois chimes in, “It’s kind of like being in a chain gang with your ball and chain.” Everyone chuckles at that. Clark says, “You know sometimes our job gets in the way, but we always work it out.” Lois looks at him like he’s crazy and says, “Except for when we don’t.” Clark tries to play it off like she’s joking. At this point Perry brings up the engagement announcement from Persuasion and Lois chokes on her potatoes. I love how Clark automatically moves to pat her on the back and help her out. Hee I also love how Erica tweeted about that scene and said that she actually did choke and Tom helped her out with that. Clark explains that they got their signals crossed and says that they’re just enjoying taking it slow. Clark, there’s slow and then then there’s glacial. Guess which speed you’re moving at. Martha says that’s a good idea and tries to keep the peace and play along, but Lois shoots Clark another look that suggests that he’s crazy. Perry picks up on Lois’ non-verbals and asks her how things are going for her and she can’t take the lying anymore and comes clean with everything. She explains that they were actually fired from the DP and that they’re not “taking it slow”, they’re “taking a break”. When Lois admits this to everyone, Clark slumps back in his chair in defeat and Martha looks at Clark with a mixture of sadness and sympathy. Lois tells Clark, “I need to find a way to make a difference with my life, and I realize now that I can’t look to you...or even the Blur to make that happen for me.” She briefly looks at Martha and Martha realizes that that’s the “friend” Lois was talking about during their earlier conversation. Martha and Clark exchange glances and Clark looks a bit guilty about this. Lois continues, “So maybe what we need right now isn’t a break...it’s a break-up.” Her voice wavers when she says this and she struggles to get the words out. Clark looks at her in dismay. He has the same look on his face that he had in Persuasion when she told him she had to leave Smallville. Lois excuses herself and leaves the table with Clark following closely behind her. She makes it to the door, but he grabs her and says, “Don’t do this.” I find it interesting that this shot looks a lot like the shot in Persuasion when Clark told Lois he wanted to have a more traditional relationship with her. Now he’s just asking her for a relationship period. Lois says, “If you care about me, you’ll let me go” and he sadly releases her and watches her leave.

Lois’ timing wasn’t great, I’ll admit, but I completely understand why she had to put an end to the charade they were putting on. Lois hates lying and Clark put her in a really awkward position, and I think she just couldn’t take it anymore. Also, Lois has always been the kind of person who likes to confront her problems head on instead of sweeping them under the rug and hoping they’ll go away. I really love it that Lois doesn’t hurl any accusations at Clark during this scene or say anything that’s deliberately meant to hurt him, like “I don’t know how I could have ever loved you”. She makes it clear that it really is about her and needing to figure out who she is and how to make a difference. As for Clark, well like I said before, I think he was just compartmentalizing his life way too much and hoping that Lois would just play along with him and pretend that everything’s fine until he could actually give her the attention he deserves. I’ve brought this up before on othe threads, so I’ll just paraphrase/quote what I’ve already written: I think it’s very interesting to note in this scene that Lois mentions the Blur and needing a purpose...this reminds me of Reckoning when Clark told Lana his secret because he was on the verge of losing her. Clark could have easily told Lois the truth as she was heading out the door to stop her from leaving and give her some of the purpose she needed, but he didn’t do that. Instead he gives her the space she asks for and I think he trusts in them enough to realize that they will still work things out. Also with regards to the secret, Clark’s had the chance to tell her the truth when her life was in danger in Charade, but he ultimately decided not to tell her then. If he told her the truth in this episode it would have looked like one last desperate attempt to save their relationship, and if he told her the truth when her life was in danger, it would have looked like he only told her the truth to keep her safe, and because he had no other choice. Now that they've covered both scenarios and didn't have him tell her his secret under either of those circumstances, I think we can safely say that whatever happens next and however Lois finds out, it's because Clark wants her to know, not because he was cornered and had no other option.

This brings me to Clark’s second conversation with Martha. I love how Clark admits that he’s messed things up with Lois and how he talks about “falling deeper” for her when he talked to her as the Blur. He actually verbalizes here that he needed those conversations with her, just as much as she did. Btw, I love the way TW delivers the “fall deeper” line and shows how Clark’s completely head over heels in love with Lois. I think the way he talks about himself as Clark Kent vs. the Blur here, clearly shows Clark trying to compartmentalize his life and how even he doesn’t really understand that he needs to completely embrace both sides of himself. I think that when he does tell Lois the truth, he’ll finally be able to accept himself, because Lois will. It will mean the world to him to have the woman he loves love him for who he is and not place him on some kind of pedestal because of his abilities, but still see him as Clark...the guy she calls “Smallville” and teases about having a plaid fetish. I love how Martha encourages Clark to tell Lois the truth and how TPTB have now made that the key to their relationship truly working out.

Meanwhile, Lois decides to “bury her heartache in her job” and thanks Perry for providing her with a welcome distraction. I think if it wasn’t for Perry, it’s very possible that we would have seen Lois crying into a tub of Rocky Road a la Siren. Through her work with Perry, Lois finds the hero in herself and I really love the proud look on Clark’s face when she pulls Perry to safety. Instead of jumping to the rescue right away, he understands that she needs this and he stands back and lets her be the hero. You can see that he’s just in awe of her, how he admires her and how he’s definitely not going to let her go. I love how TW can convey so much with a simple look. After Lois gets her job back at the DP, she makes sure to thank him on Clark’s behalf and her voice softens when she mentions him. I think her line about not running away from her problems signifies that she wants to stick around and work things out with Clark instead of heading for the hills like she did after their kiss in Crossfire. When Lois falls for someone she falls hard and she’s repeatedly talked about Clark this year as “the one [she wants] to get it right with”, so now that she’s got some stability back in her life, she’ll try to fix things with Clark.

Overall this was a strong ep, but I was expecting a bit more from it. I’m anxious to see what happens next with Lois and Clark and I really want to see what happens with them in the season finale!

[Chase.This.Light]

Just dropping off my review!

And so Hostage became yet another widely anticipated episode. What with Clark's "The question is am I enough" seemingly being unanswered followed up by one sucky Loisless week with one more or less insignificant mention. What exactly would Hostage have in store for our beloved Clois? I can't exactly recall where my thinking was before watching the episode because there'd been so much speculation around what could potentially happen in Charade with Clark's hand on Lois' shoulder and with the spoiler about their relationship hitting a bump or something and we'd been rather hopeful that the bump was the secret. But nope and I'm getting off track rather early.

I was sort of disappointed that Ollie and Tess were in the episode, because we thought there was far too much going on already without them being in it. Especially because I think this bumped Justin's episode count and took away from Clois time.

The return of Martha and Perry was without a doubt a stroke of genius, for me the jury is still out on Martha and Perry a couple. It's just still too weird to me. Now had Martha had a different love interest all together, then I think I'd have been fine with it.

So, Clark's tearing up the farm looking for the book of Rao. Now colour me confused, but didn't Chloe see Jor-El put something/do something at the farm in Kandor? I'm a little hazy on the putting something in the wall panel v taking something out since I've only watched the episode once since it aired.

Clark hears a noise within the house and doesn't think to use his X-ray vision, why not? Also, why'd he need to see Lois' face before realising it was here? Aside from Lois thinking Clark should be able to recognize her in butt in a pair of jeans, hasn't Clark seen Lois from behind enough to pick her out of a line up? I take it this was perhaps to show us the viewers just how distracted Clark is. And because Clark is so distracted by the alien crew he says some things either without thinking or that he clearly doesn't mean. Like the when he says having no job isn't life or death. Don't you know Lois and how she loves her job?? Of course you do, when she told you she gave up her job in Persuasion you knew then something was up, so to me this proves that Clark is not thinking straight.

Also, I've noticed lately the writers have a thing for dropping the episodes title into the episode, like in Escape Clark mentioned the title twice that I recall. Here we have it ladies and gentlemen, the true hostage in this episode...Lois' dry cleaning.

Lois mentions having a story that will get them their jobs back and Clark pretty much tells her he doesn't have the time for it. This here is the moment I would jump in and want to throttle Clark and tell him to freaking tell his girlfriend he's too busy trying to thin of how to save the world, but now that I know that she knows, I don’t really have the energy to get worked up about something I know she knows about. Understand? Plus I totally understand that Clark is rather distracted by things, so much so that he's about to say something he's going to regret...although I wonder with hindsight if Clois hadn't broken up in this episode would he have been so willing to be self sacrificing in Salvation and use the book of Rao? Would he have told Lois the truth or broken up with her? I guess those are questions for the next review

BTW, the hand grab Lois grabbed him for a change! You do know that if Clark hadn’t been so distracted this would have been one of those moments like in Conspiracy with the “hello” or Upgrade with the “Hi”, right? Except maybe with a bit more passion and a bit more tonsil tennis. Damn you Zod and your making Clark all stressed. Why couldn’t you play nice! Anyways…And that moment when Lois cups Clark's cheek, I want to savour that moment, hold the scene on pause because Clois are a couple. I want to will them to kiss so much but it doesn't work. They just keep talking, Lois has been trying to get them a story and she has no clue what Clark's been up to. He's had some "responsibilities" to take care of and I get it Clark, I do, but freaking tell her already!! Oh, apparently I still have the odd outburst in me.

Lois tells Clark she needs something in her life and seems to think Clark doesn't, he thinks she's under a lot of stress, which people may interpret as meaning she's over reacting, oh wait, Clark just said that.

I love the way Erica delivered the "to what".

“My life falling apart”.

I don’t know why, but this part makes it sort of seem like Lois and Clark maybe haven’t talked too much about the fact they’ve lost their jobs and the implications for Lois of the Blur no longer being in her life post-Charade. Maybe that’s just the way I read it.

Eh, wrong choice of words Clark, don't ask for a break that never ends well...I know that Clark doesn't mean it like that. He's stressed. But I suddenly have Rachel in my head saying she "needs a break from us" and Ross yelling "We were on a break". If Clark had maybe taken a little time to talk to Lois and address her feelings about her life falling apart, things may have been different. The break up may not have come. But that may have happened if Clark were thinking in his right mind but he isn't. If anyone is stressed it's him.

This seems to be getting more of a reaction from me than when I first watched - obviously I was far too distracted by Ericamania!

I feel for both Lois and Clark in equal measures here.

“Maybe we should take a break from this relationship”.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. No breaks! And certainly no break ups.

I sort of wonder, if Clark hadn’t seemed so distracted would Lois have added the “from this relationship” part. Because she doesn’t add that part until Clark’s added by the laughing outside. But she sure got his attention with that. You really didn’t see that coming Clark. Not at all. And I sort of wonder, when Clark goes to open his mouth, what was he going to say?

Martha, I love you really I do and I’m glad you are back. But your timing sucks like nothing has ever sucked before…well aside from Warrior! You couldn’t have held off for a couple of minutes so Clark could say something to his girlfriend who just said they should break up. It’s obvious Clark’s superhearing isn’t from your side of the family

BTW, when Tom says “Mom” it sounded like he had a cold. I tried asking Erica if he had a cold but she didn’t reply Also, he sounds like that in the rest of this scene too…and the rest of the episode. Also there are times when you can kinda see he doesn’t look his usual self, right? Like when they set the table.

“I’m working from home” yeah, I guess Mama Kent don’t know about the firing. And I have no idea how she wouldn’t know, because Clark Kent, the fact all is not right with the world is written all over your face. Maybe Lois is right that you have a terrible poker face. And Lois knows now he hasn’t told his mother the truth, would she approve?

When Martha mentions Lois staying for dinner, Clark looks somewhat hopeful, right? And then he sort of smiles in apology. “I’ve got plenty for the four of us”, wow Clark, you really are getting it on all fronts today aren’t you? Aliens, on the outs with the girlfriend, your mother doesn’t know you were fired and she has a new boyfriend. Can you ever cut a break?

Perry’s first line is hilarious…and yet I feel the fact I can’t quite grasp Martha and Perry together means that shouldn’t happen.

Tom plays Clark’s total surprise well and I love how Clark and Lois have totally different reactions here. Clark’s all “this guy tried to expose my secret” and Lois is all “OMG, cool”. I wonder if Clark’s reaction to his mother dating comes from the fact it’s Perry White or the fact she is dating at all. And Martha’s expression after saying Perry’s name shows she’s not sure how Clark will take it. Which begs the question, why didn’t she forewarn Clark.

Despite the fact Martha is dating someone else, I feel like Jonathan is very much a part of this episode, from the stories Martha tells Clark and Lois to just the fact Martha is here.

“The senate broke early for recess”…I need to find the book of Rao, dose you with some kryptonite and make dinner. That recess is handy.

When Martha said she couldn’t’ face the memories I was a little taken aback, because she managed to live there was a couple of years after Jonathan died. Or does she mean because she’s been away for so long it makes it harder to come back?

Clark says he’s okay with Perry and he actually looks like he means it (btw, such a sexy smile Tom, I can’t help it). Clark just doesn’t want any more stress.

My heart almost bursts with pride when Martha talks about Lois and how she’s happy Clark has “someone special” in his life. To hear Martha say this about Lois seems genuine, Martha knows Lois well from when she stayed with them and even when she didn’t and was Martha’s CoS. Unlike a certain deleted scene from S6 with someone else Clark once dated. Also, I like to think that Martha and Lois talk somewhat regularly. And Clark’s smile at hearing this!

I heart the Lois/Perry scene and how she acts like she’s totally star struck. So, Perry appears to be a big name reporter once again. Would it have been too much to ask that TPTB had maybe dotted Perry’s rise to infamy once more through the last season or so? Nothing major or anything. But just so it doesn’t come like a bolt out of the blue that Perry has major pull with Stern?

“This is a Goth guy on a trampoline” haha, doesn’t get old. Even when it’s from the leaked scene! Lois is almost ready to spill her source, sort of but bites her tongue. I love how Lois refers to Tess! When Lois says, “there are aliens here on our planet” I love Perry’s laugh. MMcK’s reaction was great. Please can we have him again this season Universe, I’ll be a good girl I promise! Perry doesn’t appear to be buying her story until she shows the drawing of the book of Rao (which I want to know where they got that from, since Clark only knows about it from Faora), so it makes me wonder, did Perry know about the alien angle before she showed the drawing? Or does he only know about the drawing?

“Ya gotta give some to get some”! Seriously, is there no end to how awesome Lois’ lines are?

So, Perry has been trying to look into Checkmate but has been blocked by the Red Queen.

I love Perry’s this is your big break, but did he ever consider it was his lucky day? He gets to write a story with Lois Lane? She’s pretty renowned for her stories on the Blur.

Eh, Tess I kinda don’t care…although I sort of have a Savior flashback. Lord is very violent and even Tess doesn’t deserve that.

Why does Martha seem so sad and then plasters a smile on her face for Lois? Lois so doesn’t know how to peel a carrot btw.

“Okay, maybe not the pulling hair jungle love of it all”. Gosh I wish!

Martha mentions Perry saying Clois aren’t writing together, but my understanding was that Clois rarely write together, right? Or are we meant to think for the last little while when they’ve worked on a story together, like in Echo, they wrote together.

I like that when Lois tries to tell Martha that everything is okay with her and Clark, Martha doesn’t seem too convinced.

And again, Lois almost blurts out talking to The Blur. But again, she talks about needing a purpose and having a higher calling, something Martha knows a lot about not only for herself but for Clark. I love the way that Martha and Lois can talk to one another with such ease, which again lends to the theory that Lois and Martha converse on the phone in OSV. And when Martha tells Lois about when she found her purpose and the look on Lois’ face, it makes me well up a little.

Does Chloe only have scenes with the computers and her cell phone in this one? I know she talks to Clark, but he’s at the farm. And since when was Martha computer savvy? And we have Clark saying the word “Hostage” too. Do we take it then that Clark’s rank of priorities at this point are: the kandorians and then dealing with his break up/talking to Lois?

I enjoy the Clark/Perry scene so much; from Clark looking sort of sad that Lois is working with Perry to Perry pretty much telling Clark that work it’s everything, not if you don’t have someone special to share your life with. Even Perry is subconsciously screaming to Clark TELL HER! The irony of Clark’s reply to Perry about saving the world being a big job for a simple reporter is not lost on this gal at all. But the big moment is when Perry tells Clark he’s gonna ask Martha to marry him. OMG Now Clark, sweetie I love you, I really do but oh my the look on your face is too funny. Welling, not that you didn’t own me before, but OMG don't ever stop with the facial expressions, the sexiness and well, the generally being awesome.

It’s like Clark’s face is saying, “could this day really get any worse”?

First, the superpowered aliens are MIA. Secondly this mysterious book of Rao goes missing apparently from under his nose, maybe not today but at some point. Thirdly his girlfriend, not understanding his stress (but really how could she when she doesn't know of said stress) thinks they should break up, partly because she needs and sense of purpose and partly because is appears he doesn’t need one, oh if only she knew…wait that’s the issue. Fourth, his mother shows up with a new boyfriend who just happened to want to expose Clark as an alien a few years back, oh and he’s a reporter! Fifth, his friend that’s trying to look into the missing aliens is having technical issues and now, the guy that’s dating his mother wants to propose.
I mean, really all Clark needs is some orb or portal to open up and transport him to the PZ and his day would be complete. Or maybe Clark would welcome the vacation.

Clark doesn’t say if he would give his blessing, which I don’t know if we’re meant to interpret as he can’t do it. But I feel for Perry when Clark says he doesn’t think his mom would say yes.

Finally, he gets two seconds alone kinda to talk to Lois, but of course Clois can’t actually have a conversation these days without some sort of interruption. Martha go away. I like that Clark’s just telling her flat out that he still believes in them, because honestly, earlier in the day he wasn’t so convincing, ya know, because of the stress! Did Martha really not hear Lois say that about lying about them?

And the ghost of Jonathan Kent is still ever present when Perry puts on his jacket. Actually, Tom looks sort of unwell in this scene.

And the dinner scene, that’s so not awkward at all! Clark trying to glance at Lois out the side of his eye and then he braves looking at her. Even Martha and Perry seem awkward and Perry doesn’t make it any easier by asking about the dating and working together. And actually before Tom speaks, it looks like he’s about to laugh, or he smiles and maybe I’m reading too much into it. Clark tells a bare faced lie and I love how he sort of looks hopefully in Lois’ direction, wondering if she will let the cat out of the bag. So when she says the ball and chain line, which is a total call back to Persuasion he’s so happy. And he couldn't leave it at that, no he keeps going with the “we always work it out” and Lois can’t leave it at that. Perry mentions the engagement! Love ya Perry, I’m so glad that was included! And I love that the editors or whatever chose to include the moment with Erica as Lois chocking on the potatoes. That’s just so funny and totally adds to the scene, plus it’s hilarious that you see Tom sort of break from acting. I know I mentioned this already on the Wellance thread but it’s just far too funny that he almost overrode his automatic reflex for the scene and then decided it’s what Clark would do anyways.

Why does Lois look at Clark sort of funny when Clark says “people are in such a hurry these days”?

Is it wrong that I sort of want to throttle Perry for keeping the conversation on Clois?

When Lois has had enough and needs to tell Martha the truth, I feel for her. She has too much respect for Martha to lie to her about everything. My heart goes out to Clark because it’s almost like he didn’t want his mother to see part of his life falling apart. He looks so dejected and btw, as Erica delivered the “we’re not taking it slow…” line she looked so effortlessly stunning.

Yeah, this scene gets more of a reaction from me now than when I first watched it. Again, chalk it up to Ericamania. I love how Lois has decided to heck with it and mentions she can’t look to the Blur (as well as Clark) for her sense of purpose. I think the reason she’s able to say this so openly as opposed to before when she stopped herself from mentioning The Blur is as a result to her conversation with Martha earlier. I love the way Martha switches from looking at Lois to Clark on hearing that Lois has been talking to the Blur. I take it she didn’t know this piece of information…which makes it appear that Martha didn’t hear of Lois press conference invasion from Idol. Lois thinks they need a break up I sort of don’t get exactly what the difference is between a break and a break up, aren’t they more or less the same? You can clearly hear the emotion in Lois’ voice and you can tell she’s trying hard not to cry.

I love that Clark didn’t let Lois just walk away without trying to stop her, because it reiterates what he said earlier about him still believing in them. And for one a manhandling doesn’t leave me in the gutter, it actually makes me want to cry. Wow, even as they are breaking up and on pause mode while I type this, there’s still so much HESH!

“If you care about me then let me go”.

So cliché and yet still heartbreaking. So I take it earlier on when Lois first mentioned the break up she may not have been set on the idea and it’s only as the day has gone on she decided that I think. Because she said something like “what we need isn’t a break, it’s a break up”. Clark’s day really has gotten worse!

I know some people were still very raw from Charade and the how can she be ready to “L” the guy and then breaking up with him and why doesn’t the break up seem to affect Lois and why is there a lack of emotion from Lois. IMO, I can totally relate to and understand Lois, as I either said in my Charade review or earlier on this thread, she’s not one of those people who will let her happiness and life’s course be dictated by a guy. She needs to make herself happy before she can be with someone. Her world crumbled and while we will never know exactly what happened after Clark asked if he was enough at the end of Charade, clearly she needs more. Another way of looking at it is, Clark for how long was just a farm boy by day and saving people by night (I know it wasn’t time of day specific) but he decided he needed something else in his life and that’s why he applied to work at the DP…I also say he wanted to be closer to Lois

Also, I can clearly see that Lois is affected by what’s happening, you can clearly hear it in her voice and okay we may not have seen her crying her eyes out over the break up I think this is partly because Lois buries herself in her work or because she cried in OSV, on her way to the Talon.

So, Martha sees the image of the book of Rao fall from Perry’s briefcase.

And Clark doesn’t seem in such a hurry to go see Chloe now…I wonder if his priority list has reshuffled.

Blah – Tess/Ollie/Lord it’s sort of boring.

Martha – I love you! “Maybe you really need to be honest with her”. Hmm, Martha who is in no way related to Lois at all, they don’t share kin or family history and she thinks Clark should tell Lois. Get out! Did you run that one through Chloe? She wouldn’t agree with you Mrs K. Oh right, I forgot Lois gave you the reason you couldn’t tell her. Oh Clark, you still love irony I see. Come here ya big dumb alien *hugs* You can’t possibly be hurting over the fact that Lois doesn’t show you the side she shows the Blur when you don’t show her the side of you that is the Blur and granted you talk on the phone and admire her beauty while she is unconscious and all, but seriously dude, I will smack you if you wallow in this. If you Clark, were to be honest with Lois and share that you are the Blur, then she would totally get to share that side with Clark Kent. Just like in Charade when Lois thought you, yes you were anti-Blur and she was seeing a side of you she wasn’t a fan of, if only she knew! It’d make life a lot simpler.

So, at the talon, before Lois turns on the lights there’s a sort of whooshing noise I think, is that meant to be some Kandorian? It cracks me up that Lois and Perry see Lois’ apartment being broken into as a good thing. When Lois is looking through her closet, is that the thing she had on her head when dressed as maid Marion on the door? I love Lois on the phone to the “Mexican restaurant”

I love that Martha can outfox Zod! So, when Vala tells Calrk that the Red Queen is Tess, I take it she gets her info from Zod? Clark doesn’t like the sound of something happening to Lois.

Eh, Tess/Ollie/Lord again. This part of the episode makes it seem rather disjointed because you don’t quite know what’s happening. What’d Martha do to Lord? Wait; don’t bother answering I don’t care.

I wonder exactly what Martha had planned to happen once Perry and Lois saw her, was the fire escape falling part of the plan? I don’t think it was. Perry can’t keep up with Lois. Love the “great Caesar’s ghost” line.

I do have questions over if Lois would have the physical strength to save Perry when he’s falling. I really do, but I love the moment and especially when Clark sees it and the total look of pride on his face.

Green K, Mrs K? Really uncalled for. I’m sort of glad Clark didn’t find Tess in this episode because I have a feeling it wouldn’t have gone well for her.

Oh, Clark now knows it’s not her. Does Chloe not see sunlight anymore? At least not in this episode. So I was right, Chloe knew about the Jor-El footage months ago. I sort of gave her the benefit of the doubt that she forgot about it or something. Won’t happen again Chloe. So, the excuse now is she retreated into herself and Clark wasn’t in her life, or something like that? But Clark was in her life in some form then. I guess Chloe’s one of those people who thinks knowledge is power and she likes to have that sense of power.

And so I'm guessing the reason Tess knew where to find the book of Rao is because of when she hacked Chloe's video surveillance which I think we learned about in Persuasion. And didn’t Martha more or less give away her identity by telling Tess to stay away from Clark not long after saying something about knowing what it means to truly protect someone you love.

I love that Perry got Lois and Clark their jobs back, again how does this man have so much sway with Stern? I love that they managed to resolve Lois struggle for her calling in short order as opposed to it being something that dragged on forever, like Clark and his “stepping up” as Ollie would call it. So, if Lois had taken Perry up on his Africa offer here, would she still be working for the DP? I love that Lois mug is on her desk! And I like that Lois doesn’t appear eager to meet the Blur, like she has doubts. Also, for some reason when I first saw this episode I was surprised by the note left for Lois from “The Blur”, I guess I just expected Zod to tell Lois his lies in Salvation, not for it to begin here. And for a split second I thought Clark was taking his mothers advice even though I know spoilers and all, how can someone who is spoiled not know stuff?

I knew for sure though when Clark was at the farm. Martha says she’ll “be back soon”, I hope that’s a promise. Say it’s for the engagement party and the wedding and I wondered how Clark would bring up the ‘my mother is the red queen’ thing but I love how he just mentioned her laying off the kryptonite. There is something sort of ironic and yet at the same time poetic, that the mother of Clark Kent would want to keep him out of the line of fire. I mean, the man of steel getting protection from his mom! That’s sort of adorable.

“I’m gonna need the book of Rao”. What would he have said if she’d said no?

I love that just when you think Clark is gonna defeat Zod and have time to get Lois back all easy with this wonderful book of Rao, the rug is pulled from under us. What the book of Rao does is sort of a cliff-hanger in itself because it leaves you wondering what will happen to Clark when he uses it. Thinking how can he possibly use it and leave Lois and if he doesn’t what else would he do?

I know we all had high expectations for this one, like so many others and while the Hostage in the episode was not who I expected it to be it’s still pretty great overall. Despite the Clois break up we clearly know Clark loves Lois and we’ve finally had Clark verbalise to someone just what Lois means to him because I thought I’d be waiting forever for that.

[TomsEnough]

I am closing this thread now.

[livstevi21]

Thanks Fatima!

[TomsEnough]

You're Welcome, Liv.