Season 7 Premiere - Bizarro (Spoilers)

[Cmill216]

I thought they did an adequate job of showing Lex figuring out it was the phantom since he did know that particular phantom was a body jumper.

I believe Raku was referring to the term by itself, "phantom". Why would Lex refer to Bizarro as a "phantom"? The only people who knew that term were Clark, Chloe, and John.

 

[Cmill216]

case and point on the quality of smallville production right here:

the bathed in sunlight bit. I mean honestly, to half of us it makes no sense. To the other half of us, who worship the show without question, they think its cool, without trying to figure out that the whole concept does not make sense


this is something they should have dealt with 6 months ago, when the epi was being penned. Someone should have just criticized that the whole sunlight thing, in the way it is used in this episode, is problematic, and still doesn't make sense.

at that point in production, they could have defined bizarro's weakness as anything. Anything would have worked better, air, water, earth, whatever. I mean honestly, how is a cool bad guy like bizarro supposed to survive for a decent amount of time in the series when he can't even go outside: SMALLVILLE PRODUCTION TEAM - TERRIBLE PLANNING.

The sunlight doesn't kill him, I'm not really sure why you have such a huge problem with it. He's the opposite of Clark, Clark gets his strength from the sun, so Bizarro should be weakened by it, which he is, which is why he sought kryptonite. It makes perfect sense to me. Direct, concentrated sunlight weakens him faster, just like direct exposure to kryptonite weakens Clark faster. I think it was used well.

Exactly.

 

[Prison Mike]

So did MM take him to the sun or to Mars? If Bizarro comes back, he should be completely weakened with his face all distorted since he had direct exposure to sunlight. He should even talk backwards since his mind is weakened too.

 

[AgentPat]

Here's the thing, SV is a reinterpretation of the myth. It's been the show's description since its inception. They change various elements in order to adapt them for the live action format and a modern audience. They take magical imps with purple bolas from the 5th dimension and turn them into foreign exchange students with mind control powers.

Why? Because THIS is best left in a comic book:

Bizarro is arguably in a similar situation. His backwards nature (shield logo, speech patterns etc.) have been reinterpreted and updated for SV's version. SV's Bizarro is opposite from Clark in more ways than just his power sources: Bizarro has no humanity. Considering just how important that aspect is to Clark Kent as a character on the show, it sets their version far ahead of the campy "I am Bizarro, Bizarro #1" oaf who can't do nothing right and is a proverbial pain in Superman's ass. He has however maintained many of the qualities we've grown accustomed to in the comics - he's still a clone of Clark, he has Clark's memories, cracked white skin, and a crush on Lois Lane LOL. I'm not sure why people are complaining about this. By making Bizarro a Phantom who's duplicated Clark, he's not just Clark on RedK. Bizarro is EEEEVOL in an almost mad scientist sort of way.

One other interesting benefit to SV's version is that he gets his power from Kryptonite. I speculated about this months ago, and it may be the direction they're going. In most other interpretations of the myth, Kryptonite is a rare mineral on Earth. In SV (the show), it's everywhere. But Bizarro has now effectively denatured a whole room full of it at Lex's lab, and when he comes back in future episodes ('cause we all know he's going to), he's going to rid SV (the town) of more of it. By the time Bizarro is finally dispatched, he may be responsible for absorbing most of the Kryptonite in the world.

On a side note, I did find it amusing that Clark sent Bizarro to Mars (with the help of MM). In the comics, Superman sends Bizarro to the moon.

Incidentally, the "sunny side of Mars" lasts a tad longer than it does here. Mars has a 25 hour day. So it'll be dark wherever Bizarro is on Mars pretty soon.

 

[The Joker_1000]

Smallville's Bizarro is a God because he wasn't mentally slow or backwards, just evil & not for anything Clark Kent is for. That's how Bizarro should be in all interpretations, not some mind warped freak.

 

[avidreader]

I thought the pacing was fabulous in this episode. Maybe that's what you noticed?

Maybe that's it. It was extremely enjoyable in that respect.

That's the greatest strength of this show, IMO, the balance of Clark's human and alien sides.

That's what its all about, isnt it?

Although, as someone pointed out, perhaps he was talking about the Phantom possessed kid. That would make sense too.

Hmmm.... I dont think so. If that had been the case, he would have referred to it as the phantom or the wraith, or whatever. Not given it some secret code name. I think the secret code name was used to keep us, the audience, in the dark as to what it actually is.

I can't wait for the full explanation about what happened with Lana. It's hard to imagine that she pulled of the ruse all by herself.

She must have had some help, because someone was driving that mail truck.

And avid, ITA that *if* Clark is truly in the dark about Lana, then he was suppressing his grief because there were other more important things to attend to (which were probably a welcome distraction to keep him from having to face the devastation of losing her).

I wonder if the next episode will start off with a funeral. The news report on the radio said that the funeral date hadnt been set.

This might be the time when we see Clark give in to his grief, although I tend to think that his emotions will let lose when she actually returns. That to me is more compelling.

KK was amazing in season 6. Perhaps you are letting your hatred of the character cloud your opinions of her acting.

Agreed.

case and point on the quality of smallville production right here:

the bathed in sunlight bit. I mean honestly, to half of us it makes no sense. To the other half of us, who worship the show without question, they think its cool, without trying to figure out that the whole concept does not make sense


this is something they should have dealt with 6 months ago, when the epi was being penned. Someone should have just criticized that the whole sunlight thing, in the way it is used in this episode, is problematic, and still doesn't make sense.

at that point in production, they could have defined bizarro's weakness as anything. Anything would have worked better, air, water, earth, whatever. I mean honestly, how is a cool bad guy like bizarro supposed to survive for a decent amount of time in the series when he can't even go outside: SMALLVILLE PRODUCTION TEAM - TERRIBLE PLANNING.

I'm not sure why if someone has a different interpretation of a scene than what you do, it should be deemed as Smallville Worshipping. I think that's a little dismissive and disrespectful.

If I had one nit to pick, it would be this:

How did Lex know to refer to Bizarro as a Phantom? As far as Lex is concerned, the wraith he was tracking across the globe was an alien being. How did he know to refer to it as a "Phantom?" Is it just a coincidence?

Didnt pick that up myself, and I guess it's really an oops. But I guess you could pull it off as Lex just making a word choice. Although he did refer to is as a wraith previously.

One other interesting benefit to SV's version is that he gets his power from Kryptonite. I speculated about this months ago, and it may be the direction they're going. In most other interpretations of the myth, Kryptonite is a rare mineral on Earth. In SV (the show), it's everywhere. But Bizarro has now effectively denatured a whole room full of it at Lex's lab, and when he comes back in future episodes ('cause we all know he's going to), he's going to rid SV (the town) of more of it. By the time Bizarro is finally dispatched, he may be responsible for absorbing most of the Kryptonite in the world.

I was thinking the exact same thing. It's a very clever way of lining things up with all other mythos.

Incidentally, the "sunny side of Mars" lasts a tad longer than it does here. Mars has a 25 hour day. So it'll be dark wherever Bizarro is on Mars pretty soon.

Okay, that one flew right over my head. Can you give us a little bit more of a scientific explanation there? t:

 

[LadyVader]

That completely defeats the purpose of what Bizarro is. He's not an evil Superman, he is Superman backwards. And just because you are uncomfortable with the character (oh, I don't want to see a bumbling bafoon) goes to show how effective he actually is, because Bizarro is far more human than Superman. He is imperfect. By making Bizarro simply evil you are robbing him of everything that makes him Bizarro!

That's ok for Smallville cause I'm used to that kind of stuff, but that is NOT what the real Bizarro is all about.

 

[The Joker_1000]

Lol, don't go jumping to conclusions. For one, I never said the character bothers me, just that I'd rather see an Evil Superman rather than a backwards Superman which makes much more sense. Btw, even if his character bothered me, that doesn't mean his character is effective at all, that's stupid logic.

 

[AgentPat]

Okay, that one flew right over my head. Can you give us a little bit more of a scientific explanation there? t:

In simple terms, Mars is a planet just like Earth. It orbits the sun (year) and also rotates on an axis (day). Every planet has a different rotation speed. Mars just happens to rotate a tad slower than Earth. Earth makes a full rotation in 24 hours. Mars does so in 24.5 - or thereabouts. I round up to 25 hours. So dropping Bizarro on Mars is about as effective as dropping him in the Sahara Desert. Sure, it's pretty sunny there. But the sun sets over the Sahara just as fast as it does on the deserts of Mars.

Now, if MM took him to the Sun, bye bye, Bizarro. But then he couldn't come back?


I'm getting flashbacks of discussions involving tethered helicopters... LOL

 

[Hush]

I see what you are saying Pat but the concentration of Solar radiation on Mars is greater than that on earth so wouldnt the surface of Mars more or less be like dropping Bizzaro in the sun? This is all taking into account the fact that Mars is closer to the sun.

 

[Ghostvirus]

Great attitude. Hate on an entire season that you haven't even seen yet.

Although, you do get point for a great avy.

I am not hating on the show. This is just simply how it has been for the last 5 seasons. Did they really need to wrap up all the cliff hangers in one episode? They could have spread these out a little.

I thought last season wasn't going to be as crappy because he had Phantoms to find, but some how they still managed to pack in a lot of boring Lana, & Lexx crap.

There were some good episodes last season, but not as many as there could have been.

I am just not going to hold my breath for this season.

 

[AgentPat]

I see what you are saying Pat but the concentration of Solar radiation on Mars is greater than that on earth so wouldnt the surface of Mars more or less be like dropping Bizzaro in the sun? This is all taking into account the fact that Mars is closer to the sun.

Earth is the third planet from the sun and 93 million miles away. Mars is fourth and is 142 million miles away - almost twice as far. Radiation levels could be higher however because Mars has a thinner atmosphere. Technically, the best place to drop Bizarro would be ON the sun, or in orbit around it, because he'd be exposed to solar radiation all the time.

...but then he couldn't come back. Gotta keep that in mind.

 

[Hush]

Earth is the third planet from the sun and 93 million miles away. Mars is fourth and is 142 million miles away - almost twice as far. Radiation levels could be higher however because Mars has a thinner atmosphere. Technically, the best place to drop Bizarro would be ON the sun, or in orbit around it, because he'd be exposed to solar radiation all the time.

...but then he couldn't come back. Gotta keep that in mind.

See i got my planets confused I thought mars was the 2nd closest. lol Yeah you are right man i feel like total idiot but im sure glad the show is backon the air and its new episodes me and my brothers love it. plus my 10 year old brother has the biggest crush on the new Supergirl. lol its so funny.

 

[avidreader]

In simple terms, Mars is a planet just like Earth. It orbits the sun (year) and also rotates on an axis (day). Every planet has a different rotation speed. Mars just happens to rotate a tad slower than Earth. Earth makes a full rotation in 24 hours. Mars does so in 24.5 - or thereabouts. I round up to 25 hours.

Okay, I had all that part figured out.

So dropping Bizarro on Mars is about as effective as dropping him in the Sahara Desert. Sure, it's pretty sunny there. But the sun sets over the Sahara just as fast as it does on the deserts of Mars.

Okay here is where I got lost. For some "bizarre" reason I had a momentary relapse and thought that the sun would benefit Bizarro. But dropping him on a planet where there's lots of sunlight is a good thing. Right? I think I've got it. t:

Now, if MM took him to the Sun, bye bye, Bizarro. But then he couldn't come back?

That's what happened in Lois & Clark. Clark and Bizarro became brothers by the end of the episode, but Bizarro was dying due to Lex's imperfect methods of cloning, and Clark flew Bizarro into the sun.

I'm getting flashbacks of discussions involving tethered helicopters... LOL

Hee, hee! They were fun times. t:

I understand this conversation a lot more than I did that one.

 

[AgentPat]

I am not hating on the show. This is just simply how it has been for the last 5 seasons. Did they really need to wrap up all the cliff hangers in one episode? They could have spread these out a little.

What cliff hangers did you want them to drag out? The flood? Chloe in a morgue? Lana stays dead? Nothing has really been resolved yet. We have no idea how Lana faked her death. Chloe's Krypto story is just starting. Lex is still under arrest for his wife's murder. One of his projects is AWOL. And despite appearances, they're not done with Bizarro yet. What did they wrap up in the premiere episode beside the dam break?

 

[The Joker_1000]

I have this feeling in my gut that Bizarro will return but if he does, I think he should be the same but his face should be permanently distorted & we should get another major fight with him & Clark but both don't hold back for anything.

 

[Serene]

Bizarro is arguably in a similar situation. His backwards nature (shield logo, speech patterns etc.) have been reinterpreted and updated for SV's version. SV's Bizarro is opposite from Clark in more ways than just his power sources: Bizarro has no humanity. Considering just how important that aspect is to Clark Kent as a character on the show, it sets their version far ahead of the campy "I am Bizarro, Bizarro #1" oaf who can't do nothing right and is a proverbial pain in Superman's ass. He has however maintained many of the qualities we've grown accustomed to in the comics - he's still a clone of Clark, he has Clark's memories, cracked white skin, and a crush on Lois Lane LOL. I'm not sure why people are complaining about this. By making Bizarro a Phantom who's duplicated Clark, he's not just Clark on RedK. Bizarro is EEEEVOL in an almost mad scientist sort of way.

In usual fashion, SV is able to take their versions of these characters and give them their own spin. One of the things I was glad they threw in about Bizarro were the few hints of Bizarro's origin. I don't have the exact lines, but it was something about how Bizarro never had the chance at humanity that Clark did, and he had no love and no one to care for him. It gave a certain level of sympathy for Bizarro without going so far as to excuse his homicidal behavior - at least it did for me.

 

[cheungcheung]

why would lex turn himself in if he did not place the bomb in lana's car? makes no sense.

why was kristin demoted in the opening credits?

i also wished that lana wore a red wig instead of a blonde one. damn.

 

[Hush]

What cliff hangers did you want them to drag out? The flood? Chloe in a morgue? Lana stays dead? Nothing has really been resolved yet. We have no idea how Lana faked her death. Chloe's Krypto story is just starting. Lex is still under arrest for his wife's murder. One of his projects is AOL. And despite appearances, they're not done with Bizarro yet. What did they wrap up in the premiere episode beside the dam break?

DO you mean AWOL? Cause if lex has control of AOL he has control over the show he was created in for fictional purposes and i guess that would mean he finally controls clark and his destiny! I think i just confused my self.

 

[The Joker_1000]

In usual fashion, SV is able to take their versions of these characters and give them their own spin. One of the things I was glad they threw in about Bizarro were the few hints of Bizarro's origin. I don't have the exact lines, but it was something about how Bizarro never had the chance at humanity that Clark did, and he had no love and no one to care for him. It gave a certain level of sympathy for Bizarro without going so far as to excuse his homicidal behavior - at least it did for me.

Yeah, it really made you wonder if he was as evil as we thought him to be. I loved every scene with Bizarro, especially the arse grabbing scene.

 

[AgentPat]

Bwaha!!! Yes, I meant AWOL. I typed "AOL" out of habit. LOL

Too funny.

 

[Hush]

Bwaha!!! Yes, I meant AWOL. I typed "AOL" out of habit. LOL

Too funny.

Dont worry i wont hold it against you. lol

 

[The Joker_1000]

So, how would you all rate Tom Welling as Bizarro? I'd give him a 10/10 anyday.

 

[Savage]

Oh yeah, definately a 10. Good stuff right there.

 

[The Joker_1000]

Agreed. He's portrayed the best Bizarro to date. He does a really good job of being evil.