Robin’s “Charade” Review
Earlier this season, at the end of “Idol”, my big question was whether Zan lowered Lois down to the ground with his billowy mist or did Clark catch her. Little did I know that the question would be whether or not the ex-DA who had her thrown off the roof of the Daily Planet would be back to try to kill Lois one more time. That’s right, kids. Sacks is back. And this time he wants to take down the Blur, too, by offering a million dollars to whoever catches a photo of the Man of Trenchcoat.
This catches the attention of a new player in the game of Checkmate, Maxwell Lord, who has the power to scan your mind, annoying called a Jedi mind trick by Sacks, who I’m thinking needs a Star Wars rewatch. Maxwell is the black king in this game, and he is frustrated with how little the White Queen has accomplished from behind her desk. I’m thinking he’s being a bit unfair to Ms. Waller. She at least came out of the castle once to slam the side of a van while bellowing at Tess.
But while Waller wants to recruit metahumans (a word I just had to add to my spell check’s dictionary) for her Suicide Squad, Maxie wants to kill them all. So, along with a pizza delivery guy that snapped a photo of the Blur, Lord kidnaps Lois to hook her up to some contraption that I think I last saw on the alien ship in The X-Files. Could this room be any creepier? I think Maxie and Dr. Chisholm from Conspiracy should get together and create a Megacreepy Lab. They were both no problem for Clark to defeat either, so maybe they should get some henchmen, too.
In the end, Maxie is thrown in a limo by some guy from LA Confidential. While I’m sure he was hoping to see Ed McMahon in there with a couple of supermodels, instead he comes face-to-red-pump with the Red Queen. If those end up being Martha Kent’s legs, let me be the first to high-five her Pilates instructor. That’s one foxy pair of legs. And if that turns out to be Perry White, let me be the first to retract that last statement.
But seriously folks, that wasn’t really the main focus of Charade. In this episode, the writers decided to put our emotions through a grinder by tackling the Clark/Lois/Blur triangle head-on. Clark has invited Lois to do a candlelit dinner and some stargazing, and Lois excitedly tells Chloe that the “L bomb” is about to be dropped, after they confess each other’s secrets. When Chloe confronts Clark about it, it turns out he isn’t telling her anything. He just wants her to tell him what she’s been keeping secret. But then he starts to entertain the thought that maybe it’s time to trust Lois with everything.
But after a near death experience with one of Ray Sacks’ henchmen, Clark realizes that Lois has been talking to someone other than him. As Clark, he tries to get her to give some information on who she thinks is the Blur. Out of this we get a great speech from Lois, who makes Clark realize again why he shouldn’t tell her.
“I am sure he is dying to tell me, but how could anyone who cares about me put me in that kind of position! If I knew his true identity, then every lowlife with high hopes of hurting him would come after me. And he would never put me in that kind of danger just to get a secret off his back. That’s why I trust him!”
Ahh, the plight of the everyday superhero. You try to save the world, but you can’t ever be honest with the one you love. And quicker than you can say “Can You Read My Mind?”, Lois shares a tender moment with the Blur after getting rescued, holding his hand but refusing to turn around to protect his identity. Clark soon realizes that in order to protect Lois, he needs to break her heart. What struck me here was how intense Lois’s feelings for the Blur were. I suppose after being saved countless times and being trusted with what she defined later as a “calling”, it makes a lot of sense. But the question remains, with the Blur gone, will Clark be enough? I think Lois might just be calling it quits soon in her relationship with Clark. If she does, does that make her a lesser person?
Other random thoughts I had:
1. Since when did Clark start spraying that S on his shirt with Day Glo? I still thought the shot of him on the roof, as CGI as it looked, still was pretty darn cool. How about when Clark jumped to get to the roof? It sure looked like he was taking off flying to me…
2. Who is Rick Degroot? The camera seemed to linger on his record as Chloe was talking about how Sacks’ cellmates were released. Was he Sacks’ henchman? Or is he yet someone else to look out for in the future?
3. Hey, that indoor/outdoor café has a name – the Brasserie Georgina. I spotted the name on Lois’s menu.
4. I think my favorite line might have had to be when Lois was talking about how Clark’s kiss altered space and time. I could see him making a mental note of that.
5. Clark finding out Zod has been calling Lois on top of him eventually finding out that he’s been holding Kandorian Survivors/Bloodletting Parties in the Fortress is most certainly going to lead to a big battle. I cannot wait.
DeGroot was the guy who shot at Lois and Ollie in Crossfire(Speedy’s pimp).
Great Job with another awesome review. I also thought that scene of the bliur on the roof just looked EPIC! I think the Jedi mind trick reference was pointed towards his mind control powers.
It seems as if a lot of people keep ignoring the fact that Lois TWICE said that her feelings for the Blur were not the same as her feelings for Clark. She is clearly in love with Clark, but said/indicated TWICE that what she did for/with the Blur gave her purpose and made what she had with Clark seem selfish, and it’s more than likely because of how strongly she feels for Clark. In other words, especially since Clark was the one that articulated this on the roof, the writers were putting Clark and Lois on equal footing with regard to their mutual sense of duty with their Blur-related activities and their personal relationship with each other. Do I think Lois loves the Blur? Of course. But I don’t think she’s IN love with him and I think SHE doesn’t think she’s in love with anyone but Clark, otherwise the writers wouldn’t have had her say to John Corben just one episode ago that Clark was IT for her, nor would they have made a point of having her essentially dismiss the Blur so she could go after Clark in Upgrade either (re: that selfishness they were talking about).
Just keep in mind that Lois not only lost her purpose with the Blur, but also her job in Charade. And as Persuasion proved, Lois isn’t the type to sit at home to wait on her man. So in that sense, without a job (where she uncovered the truth) and her “higher calling” with the Blur, no Clark isn’t enough just as Clark wouldn’t be satisfied just being Clark or just being the Blur (he’s done both, re: Hex, Savior, Metallo, and each time he had to return to that other half of his life to feel complete).
Basically Clark has to tell Lois his secret in order for BOTH of them to be enough for each other.
Thank you for the review Robin. It’s great having another awesome column to read on this site.
Natasha makes some excellent points and I totally agree. It seems like some people missed some of the dialouge in this episode. The problem is that if you don’t pay close attention to what Lois said—then you misinterpret what really happened in this episode.
The episode clearly stated that Lois was NOT questioning her feelings for Clark. It also made clear that her feelings for the Blur were not romantic: they were feelings of duty. Lois told the Blur during their emotional phone call, “When I’m with you it’s about more than what I want…WHO I want.” (The person she wants is Clark.)
Lois specifically said on the rooftop, “It’s NOT like this….with you.”
In other words, it’s not the same kind of love or desire that we feel for each other.
Lois’ speech about having a “calling” was really a unique way for the writers to mirror what we all know Clark has been feelings for the last 9 years. He feels that his personal emotions and desires are selfish. He doesn’t feel that he deserves to take happiness for himself because it will pull him away from his calling. This line of thought should be familar not only to Smallville fans but to all Superman fans. Clark strugging with the idea that his love for Lois is “selfish” can be found throughout canon. The most famous example of course being the emotional confrontation with Jor-El in the Richard Donner cut of Superman II. (Which, in my opinion, was far superior and more emotional to what wound up being used in Lester’s cut.)
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Jor-El: Is this how you repay their gratitude? By abandoning the weak, the defenseless, the needy, for the sake of your selfish pursuits?
Superman: Selfish!? After all I’ve done for them? Will there ever come a time when I’ve served enough? At least they get a chance for happiness. I only ask as much, no more.
Jor-El: Yours is a higher happiness. The fulfillment of your mission, as inspiration you must have felt. You must have felt that happiness within you. My son, surely you cannot deny that feeling.
Superman: No, I cannot… any more than I can deny the other, which is stronger in me, Father. So much stronger. Is there no way then, Father? Must I finally be denied the one thing in life which I truly desire?
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Now, unfortunately, the Superman films ended on a rather sad note for Clark and Lois. Superman WAS denied what he truly desired. He was forced to sacrifice his life with the person he loved in order to serve humanity.
But fortunately for Clark, the Superman canon has changed quite a bit since the Richard Donner films were released. Superman is no longer doomed to a life of isolation and sadness which personally I find much more inspiring. In the modern Superman canon, Clark learns that he can find a way to have it all. He can serve humanity and he can still have a life with the person he loves. His passion for Lois becomes his hope and inspiration to keep fighting. His duty to the world is closely linked with his passion for the woman he loves. They can’t be seperated.
Lois understands the duty that Clark feels to the world. She feels it too in a different way. But unlike Lana, Lois isn’t going to try to change herself physically to try to compete with Clark. Lois it NOT out to try to usurp Superman as the hero. Instead, she’ll be his supportive system and she’ll save the world in her own special way: through the power of the press. She’ll also introduce the world to Superman and the world will see Superman through Lois’ eyes. She’ll help them to trust him and to believe in him.
That’s where this is all going. To a full and honest partnership between these two. We aren’t there yet….but we are slowly getting there. If Clark and Lois do break up for a short time period (and I’m not convinced that that is what is going to happen) it will NOT be because Lois is questioning her feelings for Clark. She is in love with Clark. There is no one else that has her heart that way. But until Clark can come clean about EVERYTHING to Lois they are both going to feel incomplete.
The episode also gave us another contrast between Clark and Lois and Chloe and Oliver. In the kitchen scene, Chloe told Clark that she and Oliver realized that their “relationship came second to a higher calling.” The problem is that this will NEVER work for Clark and Lois. They aren’t capable of putting their relationship second all the time. They love each other too much. Instead, their relationship and their feelings of a higher calling become one. But the love is the driving force that holds it together. The relationship doesn’t come in “seconde place”—it’s the inspiration for everything.
Honestly, I think this is all very complicated stuff. It’s the deepest and most complex look at the modern day Triangle for 2 that has ever been presented in the Superman canon. I’m interested to see how it all pans out.
smallville fans all i have to say is eric johnson(whitney johnson) ftw
@Natasha I think it’s great how you said that the writers putt Clark and Lois on equal footing with regard to their mutual sense of duty cause that’s eyactly what I felt because of her feelings of a higher calling while working with Blur,because of her deep understanding of how he must feel and because she herself chooses to stay in the dark considering the identity of superman,They showed deep respect to her character that way and the character of Clark cause he doesn’t come off as such a liar all the time and so righteous deciding just on his own whether she should know and what,or not as it usually is in the canon..they actually share the sense of duty and the responsibility for the choises so I really think this IS definitly the best way of dealing with the triangle for 2 so far! And you reminded me..yes Lois in Upgrade actually hung up on Blur to go after Clark and in this episode she was actually calling the Blur because she thought Clark was in danger going after Sacks on his own so she wanted Blur to protect him.Those are the kind of details MJ is talking about people missing and they mean a lot! So she is in love with Clark..whether they stay together or break up for a while I don’t think is that important at all..and is atracted to Blur because of the higher sense of purpose,but also subconciensly knowing it’s Clark,the man she loves.,so she’s drawn to his heroic side,or persona for the reasons she still cannot explain to herself even! Nevertheless in order for both of them to be complete,they need to share everything and I think that time is coming soon,but since they both realized it’s not yet time for her to know the hole truth,circumstances should be diferent for that to happen..like for example they should clearly and anavoidably change in such a way that she is in bigger danger by staying in the dark than knowing the truth just by being close to him in any way..so he has to decide in order to keep her safe,to either completly cut all ties with her even as Clark whether he is or isn’t her boyfriend or to come clean about everything..just an example!
@MJ
Word!
@James & MJ, exactly. I did like Robin’s review, I just wanted to make sure that Lois wasn’t being misconstrued wrt her feelings for the Blur and Clark. Let’s also not forget that in Idol, which is the prequel to Charade, Lois stated that her “thoughts are with Clark”. She felt something stur when she spoke the Blur, but she couldn’t get Clark out of her head. But at the same time like both of you said, the fact that both the Blur and Clark are illiciting these feelings of love and duty from her, then he MUST tell her the truth to reconcile for Lois why she feels the way she does for “two” men, but for Clark as well to realize that he doesn’t have to separate his human and Kryptonian sides and that he can have it all.
@ eat it twilight: Beware! Geek Moment!
Whitney’s last name was Fordman, not Johnson. See Bulletproof, Clark pays homage to Whitney and Jor-El by using the name Joe Fordman as his cop-cover.