by Ibrahim
Contrary to popular belief, SMALLVILLE was not a television show. It was actually two television shows. Yep. Two. It's possibly the most hilarious joke in the history of television; that in attempting to produce a show about a young Clark Kent, Millar and Gough created not one, but two television series. Serieses?
The first show is the show that the creators present to us. That's the show about Clark Kent, superpowered teenager, who lives in the town of Smallville. He's been developing these
incredible abilities, and he often wonders if he'll be able to live a normal life of any sort while being stronger and faster than any human being on the face of the earth. His personal problems are compounded by his crush for Lana Lang, the perfect, beautiful princess of Smallville; kind, thoughtful, intelligent, pretty, and dating Whitney Fordman, the golden boy of Smallville High. We feel for Clark because he can't go out with Lana; Lana's dating Whitney, and Whitney is mean to Clark. Poor Clark. And man, Whitney's a jerk. We don't like Whitney. In the backseat, we have the irrelevant Pete Ross and Chloe Sullivan, who helps explain the supervillain of the week. She has a crush on Clark, but it's not really important; just one of Chloe's quirks, and we're not supposed to care about Chloe anyway.
That's the first show.
The second show is the show that most discerning, analytical viewers actually see. That's the show where Clark Kent is being a bit rotten, because he wants to destroy a relationship between Whitney and Lana, as he wants Lana for himself. That makes a romance between Clark and Lana unattractive to anyone with a sense of morality more developed than a three year-old's. A romance between Clark and Lana is morally bankrupt, since it involves demolishing a perfectly valid relationship between Whitney and Lana, and while Whitney did some stupid things, it's certainly not remotely right or good for Clark to steal his girlfriend. The very core of Clark Kent is his morality; about how he's a man of compassion and kindness in a world that has no respect for those values. If you take away Clark's sense of right and wrong, you don't have Clark Kent, and so, the romance the show expects you to care about is completely off for the character. The result is that the romance of this show doesn't work on any level except maybe a, "Oh, Lana and Clark are soooooo cute, they HAVE to be together," sort of way. The show is about Clark with superpowers, but the emotional point that the show revolves around is completely wrong.
And yet...
There's Chloe.
Chloe Sullivan, who's light, fluffy, friendly, sarcastic, and has a cute crush on Clark Kent. But even though they're not dating, they spend plenty of time around each other, exchange words, sharp and barbed, warm and gentle, and they like and respect each other very much. The first show has Lana being the girl we all want Clark to end up with. The second show has Chloe being the girl we wish Clark would be with, simply because Chloe loves Clark already, but is okay with just being friends hanging out with him like that because she likes him.
And that's the second show, where the viewers realize the serious deficiencies in a Clark and Lana romance and see the Clark and Chloe relationship as something sweet, fun, romantic, snappy, and positive. Friends who respect each other. Friends who care about each other. Friends who might be more. All the other stuff; the superheroics, trying to maintain some
semblance of a normal life, is still there of course, but for the romantic side of the show, it's Clark and Chloe all the way. Lana is the roadblock in the path; the girl Clark sees as being perfect, but for whom his love is based completely upon what he imagines her to be.
The first show was always a presence of course, and often, it grew unbearable as Clark made a direct attempt to steal Lana when Whitney seemed to grow inattentive, regardless of whether or not Whitney and Lana were still together. Or when Lana would endlessly hint at the possibilities of a relationship between herself and Clark despite the fact that she was still Whitney. The first show would often grow infuriating, especially when Whitney, portrayed by Eric Johnson, one of the best young actors of his generation, was little more than a device to keep them apart, to the point where Whitney wasn't so much a character as he was a plot constructed barrier. The second show was what kept sharp-eyed viewers who didn't simply accept whatever they were told to accept watching. The show where Chloe would grin thoughtfully and wishfully at Clark, the show where Chloe would erupt with jealousy and then struggle to keep it under control. It's obviously the show that the Superman-God, Mark Waid himself, was watching. Mark Waid is a veteran DC Comics writer and a huge fan of Superman. (Ask him Superman's social security number at your own risk.) And his words on the situation, were very simply, "Can you find me one single carbon-based
life form on this planet who wouldn't say 'Chloe?' Believe me, if she were just a couple of years older, I'd be making a move on her."
And as the first season neared it's end, suddenly, the second show seemed to gain dominance over the first, as Clark admitted that he did see Chloe as someone special, and revealed that his very first kiss, ever, had been with Chloe Sullivan. Fans of the relationship between Chloe and Clark hit the ceiling with happiness. Chloe's increasing annoyance with Clark being oblivious grew more and more compelling, and Chloe's
screen time on the show was increasing to the point where if one used the opening credits as an opportunity to refill the Mountain Dew and Pepsi (send cash for product placement to my box at the post office), they might think that Chloe was actually the female lead. Chloe was the mover and shaker of the show; the one who sought out the Smallville-brand weirdness and figured out what the hell was going on each week. Chloe was the one who was gaining ground with Clark. Lana sat in her coffee shop, and very easily got tired of weirdness and bowed out of investigations. Lana was dead weight to the show's action oriented plots, while Chloe was useful and a joy to watch.
Clark asked Chloe to the Spring Formal. Finally, the chokehold of the first show was gone. We now had the second show. The real show. Chloe was the female lead; Clark's love. The show was now about characters that actually affected the weekly plots where some monster or villain would have to be fought. The season ended, and fans eagerly awaited seeing the next season, and wondered how Lana would fit into everything now that Chloe was where the action was when it came to the ladies on the show.
A few episodes into the season... it wasn't subtle, it wasn't slow -- but the first show was back. The show was suddenly about Clark and Lana again, with the only thing in the path of their romance being Clark's refusal to tell the truth. Chloe and Clark? The plotline was unceremoniously dumped, and despite a few scenes that suggested it was only a new stage, with Chloe being angry at Clark, things very quickly snapped back to normal. As in, Chloe has feelings for an oblivious Clark. One would be hard-pressed to watch the second season and think for a single moment that Clark had any feelings for Chloe beyond her being a useful search engine with legs. Chloe had little
screen time, and what time she had was spent making snappy and angry comments about Clark, who had inexplicably lost his feelings for Chloe. It got to the point where Clark and Chloe barely had any scenes together, and the ones that we had didn't have them really interacting. The state of their relationship was not dealt with; it was ignored. We didn't get to see them being friends anymore. At the time of my typing this, we're on the fifth episode, and I can't for the life of me determine if Chloe is still friends with Clark, or where her feelings for him have gone. They barely talk. They're not dealing with one another. It's as though the writers suddenly didn't want to deal with the Clark and Chloe relationship and are desperately trying to avoid it.
The Clark and Chloe plot just vanished and it was Clark and Lana all the way. Chloe didn't even seem to dig into mysteries anymore. But what was worse was her new role on the show; she existed to listen to Lana's problems and Lana's life and Lana's issues. She existed to hang around Lana and listen to Lana's bellyaching. This reached it's ultimate nadir in "Nocturne", when Chloe's role was relegated to listening to Lana talk about her new potential romance, and then, in the most horribly out-of-character scene yet, Chloe left the investigation. She had to bring Pete his Playstation, Chloe claimed, and so, she stopped investigating the weirdness.
Chloe gave up looking into this week's devilry in order to bring Pete his videogames.
This is the same woman from the first season? This is the character we fell in love with? The
strong willed, independent woman who was nobody's foil, nobody's sidekick, and dove into Smallville oddities and mysteries with relish?
The first show is back. Worst of all, the first show is all that there is now.
And this is why I like BIRDS OF PREY more.
back
to essays
