Voice of Reason: Season Five: Tomb

Tomb

Overall

Once the dark (and well executed) krypto-villain plot was peeled away, this was essentially a story about choices - how much trust Clark was going to put into Chloe. That's the part of the story we were probably unanimous in liking. And, interestingly enough, that angle of the story was very similar to (one could almost say "borrowed from") "Shattered".

Clark's friend starts demonstrating erratic behavior
Those in authority (and those without authority) think the friend belongs in Belle Reve
Clark, despite the evidence, chooses to believe in his friend
Clark turns out to be right

And, as in "Shattered," #3 is the favorite point.

The big differences that made this episode unique:

Lex and Lana were on the wrong side, and Lois was at heart 75% with them
The victim gets saved
Clark is justified in everyone else's eyes

I don't really object to any of these differences, provided we understand all the characters. In "Shattered" it was easy to believe everyone (Jonathan, Martha, at times Chloe, Lana) who thought Lex belonged in Belle Reve - at times we thought it ourselves. The writers made sure we saw things from their point of view as well as Clark's. That's how we knew how much faith it took for Clark to make the choice that he did - walking away from his parents with Lex, and walking away from the doctor in the mansion with Lex. In "Tomb," however, the writers showed only Chloe and Clark's point of view. This automatically made Lex, Lana, and sometimes Lois, the crew of villains.

In truth, it's easy to see where they were coming from. Lois found Chloe with her wrists slit in the bathroom, crying and begging for help. Lana saw Chloe staring at nonexistent footprints and talking about people who weren't there. It's understandable that they would think she needed help and even be frustrated by Clark. But their points of view were barely skimmed, and what we saw was nearly impossible to understand, much less sympathize with. Lana didn't come across as frightened for Chloe, but as a meddling Lionel "I know what's best for her" figure. Lois came across as more loyal later on ("I don't care if Daffy Duck hits her on the head with a hammer if it'll make her feel better!") but it was disturbing to hear her in the hospital saying, "I should have seen it coming..." as if a pattern of behavior had led up to this.

With everyone acting the villain except Martha, who wasn't seen interacting with Clark until the end, the atmosphere of this episode was "aloneness", that alert consciousness falling somewhere in between "solitude" and "loneliness". In some ways, this was a good Supermanish thing, that bonded him and Chloe uniquely. In others - coming so close after heartbreak - it lacked edge.

It's easy to make two characters awkward and clumsy in their interaction with each other. Sometimes it merely means writing lines that don't work, that ring hollow. But it's difficult and rewarding work to make characters have chemistry, to forge a connection between them, whether the communication is positive or negative. In "Shattered," Lex and Clark's interaction was intense, as was Clark's interaction with Lana, Chloe, and his parents. In this episode, Martha was apparently unaware of the events going on (strange that Clark wouldn't talk to her about it); and though Lex and Lana both had one-on-one time with Clark, in each of their conversations there was a total lack of connection between them.

The writers were, of course, trying to convey that Clark is losing or has lost both of them. But if the fact is going to mean anything to us, we have to be shown that the connection, the chemistry, the potential is all still there – it's only the outward communication that's warped and thwarted because of his secret. The best villains are the ones that you long to save; the best thwarted romances are the ones where the lovers belonged together. The external circumstances get in the way. This episode, there was no potential – there was no connection. The communication was not skewed, but flat – didn't have the wrong angle, but didn't have an angle at all. It contained no character. Clark's isolation was felt in this episode…but not the yearning to connect. There's a difference between being alone and being lonely.

To heighten the loneliness and bring back the character edge, Clark needed two conversations, one with Lana and one with Lex.

One with Lana, in which she and Clark vigorously disagree on what's right for Chloe and where she belongs. Clark claiming the right of knowing her better than anyone. Lana describing Chloe's strange behavior and the trauma of watching Chloe get sedated while screaming for help. Lana's reason for racing to Lex in the episode (as is) was because she was scared; if she had expressed that fright to Clark, and he had respected her opinion but gone ahead and rescued Chloe anyway, the message would be, "Lana goes to Lex because she's afraid to trust Clark to help Chloe." This would make a lot more sense than Lana going to Lex without including Clark as a factor in her equation.
One with Lex, as Lex tells Clark that he's arranged for Chloe to go to Belle Reve. "Chloe doesn't belong in Belle Reve." "Lana thinks she does." Clark's stunned pause. Then bitterness. "Lana thought you did, too."* Lex in turn gets a stunned pause. He still doesn't know what went on during those seven weeks. Clark sees that he's hurt Lex and tries to cover it up. "Lex, I would have done anything to keep you out of there if I could. I have to do the same for Chloe." Lex softens too – he's human. " Clark, I admire your faith in your friend. But have you ever thought that by putting so much trust in her, you could be keeping her from something she needs." Clark can't take this. "That's exactly what your father said, Lex." Clark walks past him, leaving Lex standing there, knowing what his father said about him. The message then would be, "Lex doesn't want to make the choices his father made, but is finding himself walking the same path."

Instead they both tiptoed around Clark, and what they did say was childishly accusing – "Nice work." (Possibly the most un-Lexed line they've ever given Lex.)

*Normally you shouldn't have the characters stating something that the viewer already knows, but in this case it makes a difference because he is telling Lex something that Lex does not know – something that will hurt him and affect his relationship with Lana. In this case, telling him about the past would affect the future.

Lois could also have used some interaction with Clark. I'm not sure why Clark didn't bring Chloe home, but, well, he didn't; and the fact that he brought Chloe to Lois shows that he trusts her. More than that, it showed that even though she disagrees, she's willing to cover for him and put some faith in his idea, at least temporarily. This was a trusted-friend relationship - the same kind that he had with Lex when he brought Kyle and Ryan to stay at Lex's house because he thought his parents would freak out. (In the first instance, Lex gamely went along with it; in the second, Lex worried but pulled through in the end.) With Lex no longer an option, it was an interesting but underdeveloped idea to have Clark turn to Lois. (Clark really needs some male friends these days, since Lex is apparently not an option and the only other male around is Lionel; but that's another essay...) Lois shouldn't usurp Chloe's place as co-conspirator, but she could use that former Lex role of comrade. As they make Lois more serious I become more reconciled to her being the Lois Lane (even though Chloe was published under her name…), but she still lacks personhood. This episode had potential for that old Lex-Clark trust, even in disagreement; and I felt the writers didn't use it as they might have between Lois and Clark. Lois needed to make a choice to trust Clark and Chloe: instead, she kept arguing but took no action. In other words, her choice was passive. The active aspect of that choice, to go along with Clark and Chloe, needed to be pulled more into focus.

In an episode full of varying decisions and intensely opposed points of view, more attention was devoted to externals - the horror aspects. The things that could be stripped away.

Verdict: What they focused on, the writers plotted and wrote well. Their focus just needs to penetrate deeper. 7

Details

I felt Chloe should have gone to her mother because she felt that place inside her missing, not because Clark talked her into it. Clark used to wonder and dream about his identity and connection with his parents, but that aspect, along with all other aspects of self-searching, disappeared after the third season. He doesn't visit Jor-El unless he's driven by desperation and/or wants a favor (not unlike his relationship with Lex after the first season), so having him talk to Chloe about finding her identity in understanding her parents was unrealistic. Clark tends to lecture to people about things that he does not understand, and though he should have understood this, his preaching only contrasted more vividly that lack. Chloe's need for her mother should have been evident to her without Clark's "counseling". (Probably one of two things I believed in S4's Clark-Lex relationship was the moment when Lex mocked Clark's propensity for offering "sage advice" to his elders.)
They should have shown Clark breaking Chloe out. It would have complemented his unsuccessful breakout attempt in Season Three, capitalizing on instead of evading the comparison to "Shattered" and "Asylum". Skipping it had the effect that "Solitude" had - evoking a discontented feeling that they skimmed off the best parts before presenting it to us. Anticlimactic.
The ending with Chloe and her mother, although not altogether original (reminded me of something from "Awakenings"), was still wonderfully handled. In Chloe's journey to strength this season, she has also become a beautifully tragic, isolated figure, whose sincere needs are obscured by Clark's self-preoccupation. (Although I doubt that last part was intentional.) Her neediness from the start seemed to be leading her to this episode.
I liked the graceful way Clark handled it when Lana came to him in the barn. "Hey." For one thing, the writers so often use the formula: he's resentful and accusing, Lana accuses him back, he grows defensive, she gets hurt, and it's nobody's fault and everybody's fault. It was refreshing to see him mature. He and Lana didn't have to go through a laborious discussion of why they were right or wrong about Chloe. For another thing, it was good to see him working on the tractor like Jonathan used to. In this scene, as Clark grew in wisdom and grace, he grew in responsibility. It was unfortunate that they used this scenario, with Clark at his best, to cast his relationship with Lana in the clumsiest possible light.
"Your mother used to be a corporate animal, believe it or not." This was a good line, ringing with Martha's motherly side. We haven't seen that in a long time. I liked it in the first season when she and Clark flung mother-son lines back and forth about girlfriends and teenageisms. ("I'm not familiar with this child. Where's the moody one – lives upstairs, runs real fast?" "He has a date…" "Clark, isn't Lana still going out with Whitney?" "She's not married, Mom.") ("I thought you were butting out on this." "Then you had better learn how to iron.") Not only was it a good mother-son line, but it hearkened back to the days of Season Two when she worked for Lionel and dispensed good business advice.
Martha really is more qualified to be Senator than Jonathan. The angle was always that she was savvy city girl and that it was strange she should marry land-loving farmer.
"I don't know how to talk to you any more." "We all have our secrets…" Lana's lines here were something like her Season Two hints, after Clark shielded her from the tornado, and she began to suspect he knew more than he was telling...except this was much more graceful (thank you, Steven S. DeKnight). She didn't press the issue like she did in the second season ("if you love somebody…" "if you want to be with someone…" etc.), but her dialogue did seem to fit the potential situation in "Reckoning" - the situation that she saw Clark on the highway and wasn't sure what to make of it.




Tomb Overall Once the dark (and well executed) krypto-villain plot was peeled away, this was essentially a story about choices - how much trust Clark was going to put into Chloe. That's the part of the story we were probably unanimous in liking. And, interestingly enough, that angle of the story was very similar to (one could almost say "borrowed from") "Shattered". Clark's friend starts demonstrating erratic behavior Those in authority (and those without authority) think the friend belongs in Belle Reve Clark, despite the evidence, chooses to believe in his friend Clark turns out to be right And, as in "Shattered," #3 is the favorite point. The big differences that made this episode unique: Lex and Lana were on the wrong side, and Lois was at heart 75% with them The victim gets saved Clark is justified in everyone else's eyes I don't really object to any of these differences, provided we understand all the characters. In "Shattered" it was easy to believe everyone (Jonathan, Martha, at times Chloe, Lana) who thought Lex belonged in Belle Reve - at times we thought it ourselves. The writers made sure we saw things from their point of view as well as Clark's. That's how we knew how much faith it took for Clark to make the choice that he did - walking away from his parents with Lex, and walking away from the doctor in the mansion with Lex. In "Tomb," however, the writers showed only Chloe and Clark's point of view. This automatically made Lex, Lana, and sometimes Lois, the crew of villains. In truth, it's easy to see where they were coming from. Lois found Chloe with her wrists slit in the bathroom, crying and begging for help. Lana saw Chloe staring at nonexistent footprints and talking about people who weren't there. It's understandable that they would think she needed help and even be frustrated by Clark. But their points of view were barely skimmed, and what we saw was nearly impossible to understand, much less sympathize with. Lana didn't come across as frightened for Chloe, but as a meddling Lionel "I know what's best for her" figure. Lois came across as more loyal later on ("I don't care if Daffy Duck hits her on the head with a hammer if it'll make her feel better!") but it was disturbing to hear her in the hospital saying, "I should have seen it coming..." as if a pattern of behavior had led up to this. With everyone acting the villain except Martha, who wasn't seen interacting with Clark until the end, the atmosphere of this episode was "aloneness", that alert consciousness falling somewhere in between "solitude" and "loneliness". In some ways, this was a good Supermanish thing, that bonded him and Chloe uniquely. In others - coming so close after heartbreak - it lacked edge. It's easy to make two characters awkward and clumsy in their interaction with each other. Sometimes it merely means writing lines that don't work, that ring hollow. But it's difficult and rewarding work to make characters have chemistry, to forge a connection between them, whether the communication is positive or negative. In "Shattered," Lex and Clark's interaction was intense, as was Clark's interaction with Lana, Chloe, and his parents. In this episode, Martha was apparently unaware of the events going on (strange that Clark wouldn't talk to her about it); and though Lex and Lana both had one-on-one time with Clark, in each of their conversations there was a total lack of connection between them. The writers were, of course, trying to convey that Clark is losing or has lost both of them. But if the fact is going to mean anything to us, we have to be shown that the connection, the chemistry, the potential is all still there – it's only the outward communication that's warped and thwarted because of his secret. The best villains are the ones that you long to save; the best thwarted romances are the ones where the lovers belonged together. The external circumstances get in the way. This episode, there was no potential – there was no connection. The communication was not skewed, but flat – didn't have the wrong angle, but didn't have an angle at all. It contained no character. Clark's isolation was felt in this episode…but not the yearning to connect. There's a difference between being alone and being lonely. To heighten the loneliness and bring back the character edge, Clark needed two conversations, one with Lana and one with Lex. One with Lana, in which she and Clark vigorously disagree on what's right for Chloe and where she belongs. Clark claiming the right of knowing her better than anyone. Lana describing Chloe's strange behavior and the trauma of watching Chloe get sedated while screaming for help. Lana's reason for racing to Lex in the episode (as is) was because she was scared; if she had expressed that fright to Clark, and he had respected her opinion but gone ahead and rescued Chloe anyway, the message would be, "Lana goes to Lex because she's afraid to trust Clark to help Chloe." This would make a lot more sense than Lana going to Lex without including Clark as a factor in her equation. One with Lex, as Lex tells Clark that he's arranged for Chloe to go to Belle Reve. "Chloe doesn't belong in Belle Reve." "Lana thinks she does." Clark's stunned pause. Then bitterness. "Lana thought you did, too."* Lex in turn gets a stunned pause. He still doesn't know what went on during those seven weeks. Clark sees that he's hurt Lex and tries to cover it up. "Lex, I would have done anything to keep you out of there if I could. I have to do the same for Chloe." Lex softens too – he's human. " Clark, I admire your faith in your friend. But have you ever thought that by putting so much trust in her, you could be keeping her from something she needs." Clark can't take this. "That's exactly what your father said, Lex." Clark walks past him, leaving Lex standing there, knowing what his father said about him. The message then would be, "Lex doesn't want to make the choices his father made, but is finding himself walking the same path." Instead they both tiptoed around Clark, and what they did say was childishly accusing – "Nice work." (Possibly the most un-Lexed line they've ever given Lex.) Normally you shouldn't have the characters stating something that the viewer already knows, but in this case it makes a difference because he is telling Lex something that Lex does not know – something that will hurt him and affect his relationship with Lana. In this case, telling him about the past would affect the future. Lois could also have used some interaction with Clark. I'm not sure why Clark didn't bring Chloe home, but, well, he didn't; and the fact that he brought Chloe to Lois shows that he trusts her. More than that, it showed that even though she disagrees, she's willing to cover for him and put some faith in his idea, at least temporarily. This was a trusted-friend relationship - the same kind that he had with Lex when he brought Kyle and Ryan to stay at Lex's house because he thought his parents would freak out. (In the first instance, Lex gamely went along with it; in the second, Lex worried but pulled through in the end.) With Lex no longer an option, it was an interesting but underdeveloped idea to have Clark turn to Lois. (Clark really needs some male friends these days, since Lex is apparently not an option and the only other male around is Lionel; but that's another essay...) Lois shouldn't usurp Chloe's place as co-conspirator, but she could use that former Lex role of comrade. As they make Lois more serious I become more reconciled to her being the* Lois Lane (even though Chloe was published under her name…), but she still lacks personhood. This episode had potential for that old Lex-Clark trust, even in disagreement; and I felt the writers didn't use it as they might have between Lois and Clark. Lois needed to make a choice to trust Clark and Chloe: instead, she kept arguing but took no action. In other words, her choice was passive. The active aspect of that choice, to go along with Clark and Chloe, needed to be pulled more into focus. In an episode full of varying decisions and intensely opposed points of view, more attention was devoted to externals - the horror aspects. The things that could be stripped away. Verdict: What they focused on, the writers plotted and wrote well. Their focus just needs to penetrate deeper. 7 Details I felt Chloe should have gone to her mother because she felt that place inside her missing, not because Clark talked her into it. Clark used to wonder and dream about his identity and connection with his parents, but that aspect, along with all other aspects of self-searching, disappeared after the third season. He doesn't visit Jor-El unless he's driven by desperation and/or wants a favor (not unlike his relationship with Lex after the first season), so having him talk to Chloe about finding her identity in understanding her parents was unrealistic. Clark tends to lecture to people about things that he does not understand, and though he should have understood this, his preaching only contrasted more vividly that lack. Chloe's need for her mother should have been evident to her without Clark's "counseling". (Probably one of two things I believed in S4's Clark-Lex relationship was the moment when Lex mocked Clark's propensity for offering "sage advice" to his elders.) They should have shown Clark breaking Chloe out. It would have complemented his unsuccessful breakout attempt in Season Three, capitalizing on instead of evading the comparison to "Shattered" and "Asylum". Skipping it had the effect that "Solitude" had - evoking a discontented feeling that they skimmed off the best parts before presenting it to us. Anticlimactic. The ending with Chloe and her mother, although not altogether original (reminded me of something from "Awakenings"), was still wonderfully handled. In Chloe's journey to strength this season, she has also become a beautifully tragic, isolated figure, whose sincere needs are obscured by Clark's self-preoccupation. (Although I doubt that last part was intentional.) Her neediness from the start seemed to be leading her to this episode. I liked the graceful way Clark handled it when Lana came to him in the barn. "Hey." For one thing, the writers so often use the formula: he's resentful and accusing, Lana accuses him back, he grows defensive, she gets hurt, and it's nobody's fault and everybody's fault. It was refreshing to see him mature. He and Lana didn't have to go through a laborious discussion of why they were right or wrong about Chloe. For another thing, it was good to see him working on the tractor like Jonathan used to. In this scene, as Clark grew in wisdom and grace, he grew in responsibility. It was unfortunate that they used this scenario, with Clark at his best, to cast his relationship with Lana in the clumsiest possible light. "Your mother used to be a corporate animal, believe it or not." This was a good line, ringing with Martha's motherly side. We haven't seen that in a long time. I liked it in the first season when she and Clark flung mother-son lines back and forth about girlfriends and teenageisms. ("I'm not familiar with this child. Where's the moody one – lives upstairs, runs real fast?" "He has a date…" "Clark, isn't Lana still going out with Whitney?" "She's not married, Mom.") ("I thought you were butting out on this." "Then you had better learn how to iron.") Not only was it a good mother-son line, but it hearkened back to the days of Season Two when she worked for Lionel and dispensed good business advice. Martha really is more qualified to be Senator than Jonathan. The angle was always that she was savvy city girl and that it was strange she should marry land-loving farmer. "I don't know how to talk to you any more." "We all have our secrets…" Lana's lines here were something like her Season Two hints, after Clark shielded her from the tornado, and she began to suspect he knew more than he was telling...except this was much more graceful (thank you, Steven S. DeKnight). She didn't press the issue like she did in the second season ("if you love somebody…" "if you want to be with someone…" etc.), but her dialogue did seem to fit the potential situation in "Reckoning" - the situation that she saw Clark on the highway and wasn't sure what to make of it. © Voice of Reason, 2007