8.13 - Power - Discussion Thread (Spoilers)

[Serene]

As much as I'm trying to avoid any more of the nasty fallout over this episode, I do want to make one point.

A lot of the controversy, as I see it, has to do with how you (generic) interpret Lana's decision, and more specifically, her motivation for taking the suit Lex was having made.

If you see her as only taking it in order to make her Clark's equal and to save her relationship with him, then yes, it's not exactly the most "empowering" storyline.

If you see her as primarily taking it so that Lex would never have the power it would give to him, then that's a little easier to take. Even if you can't abide a Lana with superpowers, it does show her empowering herself, and using her newfound strength to help people. In the process, she completely derailed Lex's evol plan and effectively stopped him (for now) from being more dangerous than he's ever been.

Dude.. she even got out of bed with Clark because she wanted to go patrol the streets instead. Insanity, YES , but it does go to show her devotion to helping people over her own selfish desires concerning Clark.

Me, I tend to to take some from column A and a bit from column B.

Again, not my first choice of storyline choices for her, but I don't think it's nearly the disaster that some people do. But I've always liked Lana, and I've never viewed the show in terms of what happens after he becomes Superman. Not that there's anything wrong with that, because I do completely understand that perspective, but it's just not the way I've ever looked at the show.

 

[blksuperman2]

My problem w/ Lana isn't that she gained Superpowers. It isn't even her motivation in doing so. It's the way she went about it. We spent season 1-6 w/ her preaching "secrets & lies" and how she and Clark couldn't be together if he continued to lie to her. Now her whole storyarc involves her sneaking around doing deceptive stuff which ultimately destroys their relationship.

If Lana's main goal was to prevent Lex from getting his hands on it then why not be honest w/ Clark and say "Hey I've been training w/ this Ex- Navy Seal/Army Ranger dude becoming all empowered so I can wear this suit that Lex has secretly been planning on wearing so that he can destroy you and take over the world." Clark would at first tell her that it's not a good idea or whatever but, come on he'd do whatever Lana asked him to and would go right along w/ the ridiculous plan.

All I can say is that I'm glad this is over.

 

[Serene]

If Lana's main goal was to prevent Lex from getting his hands on it then why not be honest w/ Clark and say "Hey I've been training w/ this Ex- Navy Seal/Army Ranger dude becoming all empowered so I can wear this suit that Lex has secretly been planning on wearing so that he can destroy you and take over the world." Clark would at first tell her that it's not a good idea or whatever but, come on he'd do whatever Lana asked him to and would go right along w/ the ridiculous plan.

I have to disagree. I think Clark would have destroyed the whole project before he would have let her take the risk of putting that thing on/in her body. Not that this would have necessarily been a bad thing.

Lana knew that he'd never approve of what she was doing, how could he? He's ALWAYS been about protecting her, almost obsessively so, as she made a point of telling him. She made a decision and she did what she had to do to follow through with it. Perhaps it wasn't the greatest plan (certainly it hasn't been the most popular plan ), but it was her taking control of her own life and not letting anyone else stop her. Right or wrong, her decision, her responsibility.

 

[SV Fan]

My problem w/ Lana isn't that she gained Superpowers. It isn't even her motivation in doing so. It's the way she went about it. We spent season 1-6 w/ her preaching "secrets & lies" and how she and Clark couldn't be together if he continued to lie to her. Now her whole storyarc involves her sneaking around doing deceptive stuff which ultimately destroys their relationship.

If Lana's main goal was to prevent Lex from getting his hands on it then why not be honest w/ Clark and say "Hey I've been training w/ this Ex- Navy Seal/Army Ranger dude becoming all empowered so I can wear this suit that Lex has secretly been planning on wearing so that he can destroy you and take over the world." Clark would at first tell her that it's not a good idea or whatever but, come on he'd do whatever Lana asked him to and would go right along w/ the ridiculous plan.

All I can say is that I'm glad this is over.

While I agree 100% with everything you say the biggest problem for me was this storyarc was terrible closure from Clark Kent's perspective. I ceased to care less what Lana or Clana do the past few season, I just learn to put up with it, but why the producers felt not to give Clark proper closure is what pisses me off the most

 

[avidreader]

Again, not my first choice of storyline choices for her, but I don't think it's nearly the disaster that some people do. But I've always liked Lana, and I've never viewed the show in terms of what happens after he becomes Superman. Not that there's anything wrong with that, because I do completely understand that perspective, but it's just not the way I've ever looked at the show.

Ditto. t:

 

[Mike_D202]

I'm going to have to agree with triplet on this.

Too many cooks in the kitchen on this story arc. Kristin had a lot of say on where she wanted to take her character. She went from an over-dramatic cheerleader who turned into a witch, a vampire, had sex with 2 aliens, and gained super-powers temporarly when her and Clark got struck by lightning and turned into a power-hungry evil doer.

And now, all of a sudden, we get Lana whose determined to take Lex Luthor down by any means necessary, knows kung-fu, and is no longer a "victim"...now with a super-suit grafted onto her skin that gives her super powers...and wheres Clark? Oh, hes getting lessons in being a hero from Lana.

I mean...wtf.

 

[Webhead2006]

yea well lana arc is over and hopefully we dont have a moopy clark for the rest of the season and he gets back on track like his character was pre lana arc.

 

[04nbod]

I just remembered, really really late I know but did anyone read Rob Liefield's/ Alan Moore's Supreme series http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_(comics)
It was a Superman analogue for another comic company that Moore especially used to praise the silver age of comic books. Anyway in Supreme this happened

Following the defeat of Darius Dax, Supreme would find an ember of Judy Jordan's consciousness still in her body, which he transferred to a Suprematon android. Her new artificial body was endowed with superpowers, but Judy found trouble adjusting to another body and having missed the last 20 years of her life. S-1, the only other sentient Suprematon, would confess his love for Judy. S-1 changed his name to Talos, and the two were married by Supreme in the Flying Citadel. The new couple leaves Earth and finds an uninhabited planet to live.

Darius Dax is Supreme's Lex Luthor and Judy Jordan is his Lana Lang. I thought it was eerily similar. Think of the Suprematon as her power suit which eventually drove her and clark apart.