Ep 3.6 - Relic

[JNottle]

Re saw this episode today, and it had a something I hated, right, so Lana finds out her ancestor is guilty, and wants to shift the blame to Clarks father/grandfather and Clark isn't the least bit upset by that? I know Jor-el's annoying at this point in time, but you would of thought Clark wouldn't want his family name disgraced at the very least.

[Supsfan]

Re saw this episode today, and it had a something I hated, right, so Lana finds out her ancestor is guilty, and wants to shift the blame to Clarks father/grandfather and Clark isn't the least bit upset by that? I know Jor-el's annoying at this point in time, but you would of thought Clark wouldn't want his family name disgraced at the very least.

I honestly don't remember it going that way(I thought the police chief was at fault) but this episode had alot to hate.

1. Jor-El is an adulterer

2. Lana's Great Aunt is a not so nice word

3. The old guy forgiving Lana's Great Aunt for cheating on him in such an easy fashion like what she did was alright and he gave his stamp of approval for her doing it(I don't care how bad a relationship is that doesn't give the other partner a reason to cheat)

4. While it not impossible, it would be very unlikely that Lana's great aunt is part asian, especially in a small town like Smallville, KS in the early 60s(just saying). As I pointed out above getting different actors to play Jor-El and Lousie(well at least Louise) would make it more believable, but that really wasn't the point of this episode.

[Arbar]

Random thoughts on seeing this ep:

I don't know why I bothered watching this again, but it at least cemented that I cannot stand these archetypal love stories; where two people 'fall in love' in the span of a second, and act as though it doesn't matter if everyone around them gets hurt because it's "Twu Wuv", and that excuses everything. (I might have been more sympathetic if the discussion about their respective fathers had been shown before the sex scene - the way it played out, they just seemed like they both wanted to get some at first)

Serious eye-rolling from me. It's the same kind if selfish 'love' that makes Clana not-so-nice to watch a lot of the time.

Great attitude by 'Jo' at the end; "I've got no reason to stick around now" (paraphrased). Um, how about making sure the wrong person didn't get blamed for the murder, since, you know, you were a witness, and could leave the planet whenever you wanted if things got too sticky and no-one believed you anyway.

Yes Lana - an unhappy woman who got murdered was 'lucky'. You pegged it!

And how snotty was Louise to her husband? Her eyeroll at him after she'd just ben mugged was amazingly obnoxious. It's not his fault she didn't defy her father.

.....

The Luthor subplot was awesome

Yay for Clark actually telling Lana and Chloe he was getting his hunches from 'memories' from the 50's (their look of "WFT?" was fab too). That's the way to share things with your friends, without compromising your own secret. Wish he'd done that more often.

Another yay for Clark dealing smartly with the mayor, and getting the confession.

And a third yay for the sheriff. I'm oddly fond of her, and I'm not sure why

[Supsfan]

Yes Lana - an unhappy woman who got murdered was 'lucky'. You pegged it!

Well she knew what it was like to be in "love" for a brief moment, because I guess for Lana cheating on your husband with some random stranger you just met equals love.

While I have a rough idea why the producers did this episode(see my posts on the previous page) I have no idea what the hell made them think this episode was a good idea. It just felt like cheap pandering to a particular fanbase and not much more, the story felt like it came out of a poorly written romance novel.

[Arbar]

Yeah, and on the 'love' matter - Clark sees them rolling around together, and concludes that they were in love from that scene...he's one naive farmboy

[Supsfan]

I saw this somewhere else but I thought it was a good point, if Jor-El thought it was a good idea to send Clark/Kal-El specifically to the Kents why did he end up a few miles away in a cornfield? Looking at it in that POV it does seem like a retcon since how would he know the Kents would find Clark in that cornfield and wouldn't he make sure the ship ends up on the farm.

[Chandu.Lahari]

Okay, I just watched this episode again because I wanted to see Jor-El on Earth... and it got me sooooo mad all over again! I'll start with the positives:

1. Tom Welling getting to play another character/personality. I love any chance he gets to show off his acting skills, even though this was a pretty minor shift in character compared to some other characters!
2. Getting some of Jor-El's story was good too. I don't understand why everyone thinks Jor-El is an awful person--he's a bit controlling of his son, but he DID send Clark to Earth for a reason (and a noble one at that) so he's just trying to prepare him in a rather misguided way. Still, Clark being able to see Jor-El's story, I think, helped him relate to him more, so that was nice.

Now for the things that had me growling in frustration.
1. Why? Why why WHY does even Jor-El have to have this "heartbreaking" love story before marrying Lara? And that too with Lana Lang lookalike? Is it not enough that we have to stomach Lana and Clark's doomed love drama? To be fair, at this point in the show, I still thought Lana and Clark were--eh--stomachable, but just barely so and seeing Jor-El fall for this random Louise character was like a punch in the face. Just. Maddening!

2. Louise--wow, what a fickle, selfish, HORRIBLE character! When did having affairs while married become okay, ESPECIALLY when the married party has no remorse for what they are doing?! She wants to go to Hollywood? Okay--GO! She wants to be less "safe", then DO something about it! Don't blame your husband who has been nothing but kind and caring towards you! Don't make him into the bad guy here, Louise, because YOU are completely at fault for what is happening in your life! It's fine if you want to continue with your affair but at LEAST realize that you are a horrible person and that there is NOTHING right about what you're doing!

3. "Joe"--you are an idiot. I can't believe you looked at Louise and thought--huh, here is a woman worth loving. Just... ugh, you are pathetic. No wonder your dad got pissed and exiled you to Earth!

4. Along the lines of #1: I hate "love" stories like these that are so very clearly about lust and nothing else. Louise was the damsel in distress who got saved by a hero and fell in love immediately because he was hot and "dangerous". Jor-El saw a pretty face and--yeah, there was absolutely NOTHING else there worth falling in love with. Way to be, both of you. Way. To. Be. And we're supposed to be sad this "love" failed miserably? I am sad that Louise died because death is sad, but can I just say--KARMA!

So. Many. Things. Wrong. With. This. Episode!

[Supsfan]

2. Getting some of Jor-El's story was good too. I don't understand why everyone thinks Jor-El is an awful person--he's a bit controlling of his son, but he DID send Clark to Earth for a reason (and a noble one at that) so he's just trying to prepare him in a rather misguided way. Still, Clark being able to see Jor-El's story, I think, helped him relate to him more, so that was nice.

1. Why? Why why WHY does even Jor-El have to have this "heartbreaking" love story before marrying Lara? And that too with Lana Lang lookalike? Is it not enough that we have to stomach Lana and Clark's doomed love drama? To be fair, at this point in the show, I still thought Lana and Clark were--eh--stomachable, but just barely so and seeing Jor-El fall for this random Louise character was like a punch in the face. Just. Maddening!

Let's be honest here this episode had absolutely nothing to do with "Jor-El" and was just a cheap excuse to pander to Clana shippers. Instead of Clark and Lana we got "Jor-El" and "Louise" *wink* *wink* kissing and hugging and saying everything Clana fans wanted to hear them say. If the show wanted to make the story feel legit they should have hired different actors to play Jor-El and Louise, but that never was the point. Beyond that if they wanted to give us more background on Jor-El they should have dumped the whole Louise plotline and just came up with a Jor-El story

2. Louise--wow, what a fickle, selfish, HORRIBLE character! When did having affairs while married become okay, ESPECIALLY when the married party has no remorse for what they are doing?! She wants to go to Hollywood? Okay--GO! She wants to be less "safe", then DO something about it! Don't blame your husband who has been nothing but kind and caring towards you! Don't make him into the bad guy here, Louise, because YOU are completely at fault for what is happening in your life! It's fine if you want to continue with your affair but at LEAST realize that you are a horrible person and that there is NOTHING right about what you're doing!

At times I wonder how much thought the writers put into coming up with stories, it seems they wanted to try write "Jor-El" and "Louise" as some star crossed lovers who overcame all these obstacles but in the end "Louise" just looked like the town bicycle.

[Simba_Muffy]

One of the worst episodes of S3 and the show.

[jon-el87]

Just rewatched it. Loved the Luthor subplot and I think they had an interesting premise with the memory pendant. Unfortunately, they had to built the plot around Jor-El hooking up with Lana's great aunt. And Louise comes across as extremely unsympathetic. She's married, but hooks up with this complete stranger, because her husband's "safe". Also, I'm not saying, that she got what she deserved, but her death was a result of her own behavior. If she hadn't hooked up with Jor-El, Tate wouldn't have sent Lionel's dad, to kill the guy, which is what caused the death of Louise. Furthermore, Louise isn't very much fleshed out. We're told that she had wanted to go to Hollywood and become a star (she says "become a star", not "become an actress". There is a difference.), which just makes her come across as shallow. I also question where she got her idea of romance. While talking to Jor-El, she insists that they'll be like James Dean and Natalie Wood in Rebel Without a Cause, which she thinks will be romantic. So, has she gotten her perception of love and romance, from movies, rather than real life? Louise is then someone, who wants her life to be just like a movie.

I also question the lead-in to the story. Lana is summoned by Louise's husband, who is sure that she'll uncover the truth, simply because she looks like Louise. Lana just accepts Dexter's story as facts and becomes convinced that the mysterious drifter is Clark's grandfather or father, simply because the picture looks like him. She even goes to ask Clark about the murder, despite the fact that (as far as she knows) Clark's never even met his biological father. Finally, the police sketch is so detailed, that it even contains the Kryptonian symbol on his medallion (I doubt police sketches are that specific).

The parts that I enjoyed was Clark and the others investigating the murder, along with Clark posing as the drifter, to make Tate confess to the murder.

[Aurora Moon]

Just rewatched it. Loved the Luthor subplot and I think they had an interesting premise with the memory pendant. Unfortunately, they had to built the plot around Jor-El hooking up with Lana's great aunt. And Louise comes across as extremely unsympathetic. She's married, but hooks up with this complete stranger, because her husband's "safe". Also, I'm not saying, that she got what she deserved, but her death was a result of her own behavior. If she hadn't hooked up with Jor-El, Tate wouldn't have sent Lionel's dad, to kill the guy, which is what caused the death of Louise. Furthermore, Louise isn't very much fleshed out. We're told that she had wanted to go to Hollywood and become a star (she says "become a star", not "become an actress". There is a difference.), which just makes her come across as shallow. I also question where she got her idea of romance. While talking to Jor-El, she insists that they'll be like James Dean and Natalie Wood in Rebel Without a Cause, which she thinks will be romantic. So, has she gotten her perception of love and romance, from movies, rather than real life? Louise is then someone, who wants her life to be just like a movie.

I think they did this story because they wanted something that would parallel the great CLANA romance. By having Jor-el and Louise hook up, they were probably going for some mighty biological connection between Clark and Lana, making them seem like they were meant to be.

But unfortunately for the writers, they just unintentionally made Louise look like the town bicycle who had delusional ideas about what was romantic. And by extension, this also speaks a lot about Lana Lang's character too because they kept on drawing parallels between Lana and Louise.

Think about it--
Louise was married to this random dude because he was "safe" and her security blanket... while leading on Tate, the police officer. But, something new and exciting just came along in the form of "Joe". So she pretty much discards Tate in favor of Joe.

Nell Potter is said to have done the same thing, even though they didn't show her behavior on screen. It's a word of god thing. It's said that she was dating Jonathan during high school and had him as her "backup" during college while she was dating Lionel Luthor. She parted with Lionel Luthor on good terms because she pretty much assumed that she always had Jonathan as her relationship cushion in the dating pool... so to speak. Only to find out that Martha snatched up her "relationship cushion" while she was away. She's also shown to date a lot in the background, even though isn't mentioned much. It's why Martha and Nell had such veiled animosity towards each other in the pilot.

Lana Lang carries on some of the same behaviors from both Nell and Louise. This behavior is called "cushioning". Although the term is new, the concept definitely isn’t. Urban Dictionary defines cushioning as “a dating technique where, along with your main piece, you also have several ‘cushions,’ other people you’ll chat and flirt with to cushion the potential blow of your main breakup and not leave you alone.” In other words, you’re in a relationship but keep in touch with other romantic prospects so you won’t feel as bad when your current situation ends up not working out.
So I guess you can really think of it as being more like a sign that your relationship isn’t going to last — or at least one person in the relationship doesn’t believe it will.
it simply highlights why her relationships were doomed to fail. Because she went in with the mindset that none of her relationships might not last, so might as well have a backup boyfriend. She wasn't very secure when it came to relationships and love.

In a way it might be why she kept on constantly demanding that everyone share their secrets with her too while not expending that same courtesy to others if they asked her about things. Because deep down, she was always insecure and wanted to know that they not only loved her, but trusted her as well.

But yeah, it doesn't speak too highly of her bloodline-- it's pretty much implying that Lana is biologically driven to end up like Louise-- leading on a lot of guys while looking for that one guy who'll be her security blanket while she goes around town.