Persuasion (914)

[GateWorld]

SMALLVILLE SEASON NINE PERSUASION EPISODE NUMBER - 914 Clark gains the ability to make people do whatever he wants, inadvertently turning Lois into a traditional housewife. Zod and Tess posture at one another as the Kandorians plan to activate their solar tower, and Clark seeks the identity of his father's killer. VISIT THE EPISODE GUIDE >

[LtColCarter]

Interesting episode! I enjoyed it...although it didn't fully keep my attention this week.

[Cree]

For an episode that i thoguht would be completely a filler ep, this had a lot of stuff i really enjoyed with regards to the season as a whole! the whole clark and zod relationship is really starting to get extremely interesting and i cannot wait to see the fallout after the end of the ep!

[entil2001]

This is one of those sneaky little episodes that seems to be a stand-alone holiday-themed romp, and quickly becomes something a bit more substantial. It’s something that the best genre shows have mastered in the past, and it’s good to see “Smallville” take a page from that book. Too often, it’s easy to see where the writers are planning to go by episode’s end.

Frankly, that’s a good thing. If there’s any doubt that Erica Durance’s version of Lois Lane has evolved into something solid, her shift into a more “traditional” mold should silence the critics. Lois may be occasionally softer than one would expect, but she’s a far cry from the passive homemaker in this episode. Some of Lois’ usual drive and spark shined through, but it was still damned disturbing.

I was also wary of how the writers would treat this latest spin on kryptonite when Chloe decided to protect Clark “by any means necessary”. Her confrontation with Lois just didn’t seem to go far enough. Given Chloe’s darker turn of late, I would have expected something more violent and shocking. Perhaps this was just a matter of working within network constraints, and the pragmatic need to keep Lois and Chloe on relatively good terms.

That said, the fight between Tess and Chloe was surprisingly good, and Clark’s brutal treatment of Tess went about as far as the writers could have taken it, while still keeping Clark’s hands relatively clean. Taken in conjunction with the behavior of the Kandorians this season, I am reminded of how many people were stunned by Jor-El’s original harsh directives to Clark in earlier seasons.

Jor-El’s demand that Clark take his place as something of a ruler over humanity was a surprising direction to take, but the Kandorians are actually acting in a similar mold. While Kara and Jor-El were a bit more measured in their arrogance and violent temperance, it seems that Kryptonians as a people were fairly bloodthirsty and violent. They may have been enlightened in some academic areas, but they certainly had a draconian society.

Of course, that may have simply been the military’s code of justice, or something specific to Zod. But since Zod was, at this time in his career, considered to be a hero of Kandor, his methods and traditions could be seen as representative of Kryptonian ways. What Clark (and the audience) is led to assume as particular to Zod may not be so specific. After all, Alia killed Jor-El, and it doesn’t seem that it was under Zod’s orders, either. Zod keeps having to execute people for taking extreme action and violating moral codes.

This is an intriguing point, because it could so easily be lost in translation. Zod may be absolutely right when he says that Clark is rejecting his Kryptonian legacy, and thus rejecting his people on Earth. Zod’s ambition for power may be incurable, but it might be cultural in origin. This isn’t an excuse for Zod’s behavior; it simply changes the nature of the problem. Clark isn’t fighting someone evil to the core, and corrupting others in his image. He’s fighting a symbol of everything that was wrong with Krypton as a whole.

And that could be seen as an outward expression of an internal battle that was supposed to be at the heart of the season, and hasn’t really been that obvious. In the wake of Doomsday, Clark was intent on embracing his Kryptonian legacy. Major Zod and the Kandorians are that legacy, and Clark is discovering just what that is. While using Zod as an antagonist has worked well to flesh out the character’s back story, making it more viable within the “Smallville” mythos, it may have also distracted from the big picture by providing a character that is too inherently easy to label as “evil”. It’s hard to think of Zod as simply another Kryptonian, even if that’s what he essentially is at this point.

Clark’s decision to destroy the tower is all but a declaration of war against Zod and the Kandorians, and it should be interesting to see how long it takes Zod to realize that fact. It certainly sends the season arc into a different direction. Hopefully this isn’t another example of the writers changing the game in the back nine of a season. Too often, the writers stick with the original premise of a season, only to falter in the resolution. So far, this season has been fairly cohesive, so if the writers can stay on course, this could end well.

[LtColCarter]

For an episode that i thoguht would be completely a filler ep, this had a lot of stuff i really enjoyed with regards to the season as a whole! the whole clark and zod relationship is really starting to get extremely interesting and i cannot wait to see the fallout after the end of the ep!

I thought it was going to be a filler episode as well. However, I was pleasantly surprised.

[Ashizuri]

I didn't enjoy this episode much at all.

I liked that it progressed Zod's story, as he hasn't had near the development I think his story deserves as of yet. I liked the Tess/Chloe fight and I'm interested to see if now that Chloe is in her right mind if she takes Tess up on her offer to work together.

The Lois/Clark stuff was ok. I'm a bit over the show forcing Lois to admit her feelings or otherwise broadcasting her feeling/thoughts to Clark against her will or without her knowledge. Bride, Infamous, Committed, Pandora, Echo and Persuasion have all left Lois open to Clark in ways she had almost no or absolutely no control over and it's grating. I'd rather Lois and Clark have these types of moments with no whammie/torture etc. needed because it's starting to feel to me like the characters just aren't ready for their relationship yet.

I didn't at all like the way Clark treated Chloe in their first scene together. In one episode he's telling her she needs to open up more and then we she tries he shoots her down. Hard. It's pretty obvious this frienship is in its death throes and I wish they would just end it allready or make an actual move towards fixing it.

I'm also a bit mixed on his destruction of the towers. I have no problem with the fact that he took them out, in fact, it was nice to see Clark actually take a stand. My issue is how he took them out.

Burning, destroyed buildings at Clark's hands as he stood by watching. They put Superman in black and had him blow up buildings while reporters and, no doubt, countless innocent civilians ran screaming in terror and Clark watched from a rooftop, dare I say it, like a villian, doing absolutely nothing. You want me to think that's heroic? Clark committed a reckless, careless act of destruction with no consideration for the reprecussions. It's completely naive to think that people didn't die just because the buildings were empty. Burning debris falling onto other buildings, dust inhalation, not to mention the fear he likely just instilled in the citizens of Metropolis....that's not heroic at all. And that's not even touching the 9/11 subtext. Twin towers with the top floors burning, just beginning to collapse as the episode ended. Why did they think it was a good idea to have acts committed by Superman be remincient of acts of terrorism?

Not cool, Smallville, not cool at all.

[the fifth man]

IMO, taking down those buildings was the right thing to do. It may have been crossing the line a bit for Clark, but in the end, I think he may have saved a lot of lives. Both in Metropolis, and the world. If the Kandorians had been allowed to gain their powers, and if Clark had lost his, the end outcome would be very bad. Really good episode IMO. Much better than I thought it would be.

[Heaven]

While Kara and Jor-El were a bit more measured in their arrogance and violent temperance, it seems that Kryptonians as a people were fairly bloodthirsty and violent. They may have been enlightened in some academic areas, but they certainly had a draconian society.

I really don't see it. it's not like humans don't have capital punishment
and murder is fairly common as well

it looks like once again Clark is creating a monster
Zod was betrayed first by Jor-El after he saved his life
and then by Clark, and the funny thing is Zod didn't betray anyone

[LoneStar1836]

I'm also a bit mixed on his destruction of the towers. I have no problem with the fact that he took them out, in fact, it was nice to see Clark actually take a stand. My issue is how he took them out.

You're not the only one.

I thought it was rather reckless myself. Didn't cast Clark in the best light with that choice. It needed to be done...so I'm glad Clark came to his senses and did what needed to be done, but it should have been done differently, but I guess the writers wanted a more visual impact of their destruction rather than something that would have just merely disabled them.

Otherwise I thought the episode was better than I thought it would be, even though it still missed in a few spots.

[valerie910]

good episode this week...there was so much going on..we have lois acting like a real clingy girlfreind..then theres chloe doing her usual protect clark thingy..except this time it gets her into a fight with tess...which i must say was the best fight this season..tess is a beast...lol..Shes got into a fight with all three girls on smallville..wouldnt mind seeing a fight between tess and mia..both experienced fighters..sad that aileas dead..she was the only cool kandorian..although the other girl that was with her seems interesting too..happy the towers burned thoe..