The Riots and The Virus....

[Kane]

Just making a seperate topic since this may venture out of the realm of the actual episode..

Was anyone else disturbed by how fast humanity devolved to primal behavior when the power went off? It seemed very unrealistic to me...I wonder why the writers were trying to portray Metropolis citizens in such a negative light...it seemed more like The Narrows or some ghetto...yet it was in the heart of the city outside Luthorcorp...

About 2 or 3 summers ago there was a major power failure in North America; Ontario, Michigan, New York etc....all without power for about 2 days....it didnt turn out anywhere close to this. The streets were safe and there wasnt chaos....yet the power goes off in SV for about an hour or less and its a warzone....people setting themselves on fire It was like South Park antics..

It was quite an extreme, unrealistic view..

 

[passerby]

This is exactly what I was talking about. It's just couldn't hapeen that way. In my opinion the people acted better in War of the Worlds thne in this.

 

[Morg]

The writer never can get anything right

 

[The Incredible Hulk]

Just making a seperate topic since this may venture out of the realm of the actual episode..

Was anyone else disturbed by how fast humanity devolved to primal behavior when the power went off? It seemed very unrealistic to me...I wonder why the writers were trying to portray Metropolis citizens in such a negative light...it seemed more like The Narrows or some ghetto...yet it was in the heart of the city outside Luthorcorp...

About 2 or 3 summers ago there was a major power failure in North America; Ontario, Michigan, New York etc....all without power for about 2 days....it didnt turn out anywhere close to this. The streets were safe and there wasnt chaos....yet the power goes off in SV for about an hour or less and its a warzone....people setting themselves on fire It was like South Park antics..

It was quite an extreme, unrealistic view..

Well for one it is a fantasy show, so things are going to be exaggerated, but not only did the power go out but also any and all computer systems went to pot too, which would shut down phones, hospitals, social services, television, food, etc. putting people back in the Stone Age. Thats basically what happened with Hurrican Katrina last year, and things went to hell pretty fast.
That being said, they really didnt say how much time really elapsed b/t Fine infecting the internet and Clark getting to Metropolis to talk to Chloe. Would people really go THAT crazy if such an event happens? Who knows? I dont think so, then again I didnt think New Orleans would turn into a war zone last fall either.

 

[Kane]

The difference with New Orleans is it wasnt just a simple power failure....people literally were fighting to survive the waters, the storm and most of their homes and local buildings were destroyed...destruction everywhere by natural causes... that forced people to resort to such actions to survive.

I wouldnt imagine much time elapsed between Clark in Smallville and then in Metropolis....he can travel so fast

I dont know if Emergency power (hospitals etc) went out. The Daily Planet seemed to have emergency power working.

Lex seemed to be able to use the phone service too...oddly enough.

 

[AgentPat]

...Thats basically what happened with Hurricane Katrina last year, and things went to hell pretty fast.
...I didn't think New Orleans would turn into a war zone last fall either.

It did, and quickly. My husband is a journeyman lineman. He was sent south last year for Katrina, Rita AND Wilma. While in New Orleans, his crew traveled with armed army officers because the locals were literally SHOOTING at rescue crews. It was the most surreal thing he had ever seen, and it was very, VERY real. He has pictures to prove it....

Quick story: After residents were allowed back into the city, hubby saw a family return to their home. (His crew was working on some power lines in East Nowheresville Louisiana.) The family entered the house to find their dead dog by the front door, drowned. Everything was destroyed. They left the house after a few moments, closed the door, and stood outside sobbing in each other's arms. It was a horrible scene. And that was NOTHING compared to all the homes his crew passed with spray paint on the doors, identifying the tally of dead bodies in need of removal from within.




Folks, this is "just" damage and loss of life from floods caused by a Cat 4 hurricane. It wasn't worldwide.

 

[The Incredible Hulk]

The difference with New Orleans is it wasnt just a simple power failure....people literally were fighting to survive the waters, the storm and most of their homes and local buildings were destroyed...destruction everywhere by natural causes... that forced people to resort to such actions to survive.

I wouldnt imagine much time elapsed between Clark in Smallville and then in Metropolis....he can travel so fast

I dont know if Emergency power (hospitals etc) went out. The Daily Planet seemed to have emergency power working.

Lex seemed to be able to use the phone service too...oddly enough.

It was basically played out to be the Y2K disaster everyone was fearing back in 1999. I think I read something the other day that like 85% of th worlds currency is stored electronically. Imagine if that was all wiped out..... Would it really go down that way? Probably not, but I dont think you can really say for certain without having seen it first. People en masse are morons and tend to panic. After spening time in the army in Bosnia in the mid 1990's and seeing genocide, I tend not to have faith in "people" as a construct.

 

[Kane]

Well I guess Im different. Cause I live in Toronto and I was following all the reports via Car radio when the power died for about 2 days across that region of North America... There wasnt any riots or killing across the states and in Canada. The police did make statements saying they were strategically placed and any type of looting would be dealt with seriously. I figured Metropolis would be even more civil, given the affluence of most of the city..unlike Gotham.

I guess this may be another suspension of disbelief moment.

 

[avidreader]

Agreed, completely unrealistic and I even questioned the riots while watching the finale initially in that thread.

Just because the power goes out, it's like earth is about to end.

The episode could have been just as good without the riots, if not better... and especially without that junky stock footage of the riots.

When the power did go out in NYC, the only thing that changed was more people were walking.

As Hulk said above, it wasnt just that the power went out, everything went out. Brainiac infected the World's Computer Systems.

That's why everyone was in a state about Y2K. No water, no gas, no electricity, no banking, everything now relies on computers.

It did happen very quickly. However, it is a TV show and they cant play stuff out in real time. I guess they could have all gone home to bed and when they woke up in the morning things started to go bad but that distracts from the flow of the story.

What they were really trying to show us was how dependable the human race is on electronics and what we would resort to without it within a short amount of time.

 

[Superfreak]

yeah, a few years ago when the power went out (i'm in toronto), nothing bad happened. Just had to empty the fridge, and live of zoodles for a while. No biggie. Most people just lay outside drinkin beers. It was like a free bank holiday. Had to actually go into a bank to get money, instead of a machine, that was the most shocking aspect of the whole thing

 

[Kaboom]

i have no doubt that would happen after a few days. it was unrealsitic in speed of occurrence, not in what would ahppen.

 

[avidreader]

yeah, a few years ago when the power went out (i'm in toronto), nothing bad happened. Just had to empty the fridge, and live of zoodles for a while. No biggie. Most people just lay outside drinkin beers. It was like a free bank holiday. Had to actually go into a bank to get money, instead of a machine, that was the most shocking aspect of the whole thing

We had our gas out for 2 1/2 weeks once. You should have seen the mayhem that caused.

 

[Strgts]

I liked the way things went in the Finale. However the one thing I know I will not like is if Clark comes back in a Matter of Minutes or just simply the next day. That would just simply suck. Think about it. Clark comes back, Zod is in control, Martha & Lois missing, last we saw Chloe & Lionel gets the **** kicked out of them the World is in Chaos. Imagined if that happened for at least a FEW YEARS. There can be room for some DAMN GOOD DEVELOPMENT. The World without the ONE PERSON who can stop all of this. Will I be the only one disappointed if Clark simply comes back 10 Minutes Later or something ? Clark comes back he is isolated & alone with everyone he cares about gone & missing & Lana well shes a ***** what can he do.

 

[The Kid]

Chloe and Lionel have to find a way to release him so he can defeat zod and save the world. that might take a few episodes.

 

[NHawk19]

Also think about looting and riots even during the rooling blackouts in California or after something like a football game. When it happens it happens fast and it doesnt take much to get it started. For as civil as humanity claims to be it really isn't . . . .

On a side note when did the virus change from biological to computer? Did Brianiac only want the vaccine so he could infect Lex?

 

[Threshold]

Sounds like they wanted to show a contrast so that perhaps when a certain someone shows up to save the day in september, we'll see the citizens given a sense of hope and a cause to be good people.

That's just my theory...

 

[Lara]

This is the type of thing I didn't have a problem with while watching but in retrospect was a little rushed. I for one thought the virus Lex/Fine created was going to cause the problem with people dying everywhere so I was a little confused. That's always the downside to spoilers. The people acting darker though fit's with the comic book world. It may not be Gotham level but Metroplois isn't supposed to be filled with all boyscouts.

 

[avidreader]

On a side note when did the virus change from biological to computer? Did Brianiac only want the vaccine so he could infect Lex?

That's it. I'm not a doctor, but the vaccine for all those viruses must have been pretty potent so it would have given his already strong imune system and extra extra boost.

When Clark wouldnt do what he wanted, he then released the Computer Virus.

Sounds like they wanted to show a contrast so that perhaps when a certain someone shows up to save the day in september, we'll see the citizens given a sense of hope and a cause to be good people.

That's just my theory...

I like that theory. We can then spend Season 6 with Clark trying to find ways of hiding his identity.

 

[Threshold]

I like that theory. We can then spend Season 6 with Clark trying to find ways of hiding his identity.

Exactly!

 

[passerby]

I liked the way things went in the Finale. However the one thing I know I will not like is if Clark comes back in a Matter of Minutes or just simply the next day. That would just simply suck. Think about it. Clark comes back, Zod is in control, Martha & Lois missing, last we saw Chloe & Lionel gets the **** kicked out of them the World is in Chaos. Imagined if that happened for at least a FEW YEARS. There can be room for some DAMN GOOD DEVELOPMENT. The World without the ONE PERSON who can stop all of this. Will I be the only one disappointed if Clark simply comes back 10 Minutes Later or something ? Clark comes back he is isolated & alone with everyone he cares about gone & missing & Lana well shes a ***** what can he do.

Clark will be gone for 3 months. Just like he was in Metropolis for 3 months. When the season 6 starts it will have been 3 months since ZOD took Lex's body and yada yada yada.

 

[Strgts]

I like that theory. We can then spend Season 6 with Clark trying to find ways of hiding his identity.

That should not take long all he has to do is think of the Bat Chick that already did what Clark will eventually do It seems kinda pointless now for Clark to just simply figure out how he is supposed to hide his identity when the answer has already been given to him. That would make Clark not that smart if he cant remember that

 

[Cmill216]

I think it was fairly realistic. All the power and computer systems going down in the world? No lines of communication whatsoever? People would go flippin' crazy. The government could not reach the people to update them on the situation or calm them because their shiznit would be down as well.

 

[BaK]

toronto ain't metropolis exactly..

the only way they'll go wild is if they won something in hockey..

 

[TwilightPro101]

I liked the way things went in the Finale. However the one thing I know I will not like is if Clark comes back in a Matter of Minutes or just simply the next day. That would just simply suck. Think about it. Clark comes back, Zod is in control, Martha & Lois missing, last we saw Chloe & Lionel gets the **** kicked out of them the World is in Chaos. Imagined if that happened for at least a FEW YEARS. There can be room for some DAMN GOOD DEVELOPMENT. The World without the ONE PERSON who can stop all of this. Will I be the only one disappointed if Clark simply comes back 10 Minutes Later or something ? Clark comes back he is isolated & alone with everyone he cares about gone & missing & Lana well shes a ***** what can he do.

I agree. Ten minutes back would completely waste the impact of the events on Clark and any chance of any kind of development for the character.

 

[Threshold]

He should probably come back five or six years later where he finds that Lana has moved on with his life and has had a child w/ Lexzod... She could even create a coffee special called "Why the World Doesn't Need Clark Kent"...