This
detailed section's main purpose is to describe the Ultimate Contrivance argument
that very strongly supports the Smallville Twist or Chlois theory.
An important second purpose is to illustrate the power of the Clark-Chloe
relationship, including evidence of the effect it's had on ratings.
Recall
that our definition of Chlois has two parts. The first, her Lois
Lane-like nature, is factual. The second remains speculative: the
Smallville twist on the story where Chloe is not just the Daily Planet reporter
character but also the Ultimate Romance destiny of Clark/Superman.
The
first factual element exists and has been built up for five seasons.
The writers could kill off Chloe, or turn her evil, or wipe her memory
and have her become Supergirl, or have someone learn that Chloe was
never Lois Lane's cousin at all, or write Clark Kent as an autistic boy
who's reading a Superman comic and dreamt the whole series during a nap.
None of that would change that for five or more seasons we had this
previously unheard of cousin of Lois and the contrivance of countless
aspects of her Lois Lane-like nature. Forget that the
"fixes" would only make the contrivance worse and/or destroy
the series in any case, making it much more an object of derision.
The point is that it's just too late to effectively alter or erase five
years of that factual part of Chlois, her extreme Lois-like nature.
And
make no mistake, it is extreme. It was enough of a coincidence
that there just happened to be a character referred to as an "intrepid reporter",
right there in the very first episode, with a crush on Clark. But
it gets progressively worse. Having set up that
"coincidence" in the two-hour pilot, Chloe gets saved
from a burning building by Clark in the second episode. The
Lois-like saving has begun and will continue. Fast forward to
episode 5 "Cool", in which Clark gets jealous when a member of
the football team (turned freak of the week) makes a move on Chloe.
This is the first clear sign that Clark also has a thing for our
intrepid reporter, and he ends up saving her again in that episode.
It's
around that time, only five episodes into the series, that Chloe
Sullivan has basically become the Endearing Character in Smallville,
through the premise, the writing, Mack's acting and her chemistry with
Welling. You could see it before that, but by #5 that episode has
pretty much sealed it. Online posts are buzzing about this very
Lois-like character and how she's stealing the show. Arguably, even at this
very early stage, it's already reached the point where either Smallville
is going to be the Ultimate Contrivance and Ultimate Failure, or it's
going with the great new twist on the story where Chloe is The One, the
Daily Planet reporter character and Ultimate Romance destiny of Clark
Kent aka Superman in this incarnation.
In
Smallville, the premise is that everything is condensed. Lex
Luthor is there, Metropolis is just over yonder, and the supervillains
like Brainiac and Zod show up before Clark leaves his teens.
In the Smallverse, it's not just fitting that the real Lois Lane of this
Smallville incarnation was there from the start and had a crush on Clark
Kent before he even knew he was an alien from Krypton, or that he had
heat vision. It's one of the greatest twists in the history of the
Superman franchise, or genre fiction for that matter. It's
unthinkable that they wouldn't follow through with that when all the
elements are there to make it work beautifully.
But
again, let's say they blow it all into Ultimate Contrivance oblivion
instead, and continue analyzing it on that basis...
It
keeps getting worse, much worse. It never stops getting worse in
fact, all the way through season 5. We're not even 25% finished
with season 1 yet though. In 1-11 "Hug" Chloe and Clark
are investigating two kryptonite freaks who each have persuasive powers
at the touch of a hand. One of them uses his powers for good or
not at all, and the other one is bad.
The
good one is coaxed by Chloe to demonstrate his power. It's used as
a writing opportunity for the first Clark-Chloe kiss of the series.
Persuasive Man takes Chloe's hand and tells her she wants Clark.
Clark snickers skeptically, but sure enough Chloe goes into an altered
state. Allison Mack pulls off the transformation and the kiss in a
way that demonstrates what a "good little actress" she is, and
the "different energy" and scorching good
"chemistry" that she has with Welling; in other words, what
Executive Producer Al Gough noticed (Gough's words cited in the
previous
section are
worked into the quotes in this sentence).
In 1-16
"Stray", the mind-reading boy Ryan lets Clark in on what the
Big Dumb Alien supposedly doesn't get yet, which is that Chloe likes
him. In fact she wants Clark to ask her to the prom (actually the
Spring Formal). She's even picked out a dress. Clark doesn't
believe it, until later when Chloe owns up to it and Ryan's mind reading
powers are thereby confirmed. That leads to the balance of season
1 during which... well, it gets worse. :-)
By 1-19
"Crush", as Clark dallies, Chloe is having the move made on
her again, yes by another dashing beau turned freak but who's counting?
This one's named Justin and he has telekinetic powers. Let's pick
it up with the following conversation between Clark and Lana:
Clark:
Chloe likes me.
Lana: So how do you feel about her?
Clark: Like maybe we could be more than friends. When I
saw
her with Justin today I got
kinda -
Lana: Jealous?
Clark: It's like you find out this secret and it colors
everything. I
can't believe I never saw
it before.
A Clark character profile
suggests he had seen it, but
we'll let Chloe give you a hint what's going on, with this line from
later in the episode:
Chloe:
What's with you, Clark? Do you have some kind of savior
complex? If I'm in
trouble you'll rescue me but other than
that you remain emotionally
unavailable.
And now, more truly
incredible fodder for the Ultimate Contrivance, if they're foolish
enough to go that route.
In 1-20
"Obscura", we learn by the end of the episode that Chloe will
intern at the Daily Planet that upcoming summer. Yes, that
Daily Planet. The one we really wouldn't have expected to have
much to do with the series at all, let alone in season 1. But it
just happens that our intrepid Smallville reporter is in the process of
graduating to the big leagues, on the strength of her piece for the
Smallville Ledger covering the events of this episode: a bad sheriff
deputy who kidnaps Chloe.
Chloe
probably would have made it to the Planet anyway via her interview for
one of four rare internship positions at the paper, but that got
interrupted by the little kidnapping problem. Fortunately, Clark
saves Chloe from being buried alive, in a dramatic rescue scene that's
even more effective than the earlier ones that first season. Why?
Because those last three episodes of the first season are where Clark is
facing up to and struggling with his feelings for Chloe. The
burial rescue evokes desperation on Clark's part, the kind that Reeve's
Superman had when Lois "died" at the end of the first movie.
When
Chloe was still missing earlier in the episode, Clark and Lana had the
following gem of a scene at Clark's loft. It provides some great
backstory on the first Clark-Chloe meeting and on Chloe being raised in
Metropolis, which of course gives her the conventional big city
background of Lois Lane. Here's the long Clark dialogue segment:
Clark:
I keep wishing Chloe would just walk up those steps. I
never appreciated how much
she meant to me until now.
The thought of never seeing
her again...
You know I remember the first time I met her. It was the 8th
grade. She had just
transferred from Metropolis and I was
assigned to show her
around. The first thing she wanted to
know was where she could
buy a copy of the Planet so she
could keep in touch with
civilization.
(laughs)
When she found out I lived on a farm, she insisted I invite
her over to experience it
first hand. She thought I was
Amish.
(laughs)
When I brought her up here she just kissed me out of the
blue.
Lana:
Why'd she do that?
Clark:
She said "I know you've been thinking about that all day
so I figured we'd get it
out of the way and be friends." It was
my first kiss.
Towards
the end of the episode, Chloe tells him she got the Daily Planet job and
Clark congratulates her. She says she'll be spending the Summer in
Metropolis and asks Clark if she'll be visiting her. He says yes
and then...
Chloe:
Well I just wanted you to be the first to know. So I'll see
you. Bye.
Clark:
Chloe...um... do you have plans for the Spring Formal?
Chloe:
(turning back) Not at the moment.
Clark:
I was hoping... uh... I was hoping you'd go with me... as
my date.
Chloe:
I would love to Clark.
(before turning to go)
Now I'm going to go before
my Karma runs out.
Clark:
Chloe... I'm sorry I didn't ask sooner.
Chloe:
(turning back again) It's okay. It was worth the wait.
They
went on to the dance in the season 1 finale, which was interrupted by a
series of twisters in the cliffhanger ending. It was actually
Chloe who wound up breaking off their budding relationship at the
beginning of season 2, a "defense mechanism" she told Pete
Ross. From a writing point of view, this was
necessary because Clark-Lana had yet to play out and it would be too
early, under the Chlois approach, to have Clark and Chloe get together.
It's interesting to note, though, that the highest spike up in
viewership for the series coincided with Clark and Chloe getting
together. The season 2 premiere jumped up 45%, and early season 2
was the ratings peak of the series. Reruns over the summer,
including The WB's EasyViews on Sunday, and positive word of mouth were helpful, but
one of the key reasons behind that was the Chloe character and Clark-Chloe relationship in season
1.
The
mid-season 2 episode "Rush" marked the second-to-last time
Smallville would ever see 8+ million viewers. The episode had Pete
Ross and later Chloe exposed to a Kryptonian parasite that had a Red
Kryptonite-like effect on humans. Pete exposed Clark to Red K so
he'd similarly lose his inhibitions, and that set up more Clark-Chloe
scenes that were promoted, including Chloe learning Clark's super secret (though
she would forget by the end of the episode). Chloe's transformation, both in look and
behavior, was pulled off incredibly well by Mack, and Welling also played
a great Red Clark. They made out in the back of a car and later at
the Talon, again demonstrating chemistry unlike any other on the show.
Several
episodes later was "Rosetta", the first in which Christopher
Reeve guest starred. That was the last Smallville episode to break
8 million viewers. In fact "Visitor", the episode after
"Rosetta", dropped 32.2%. That still represents the
largest drop of the series. There were several factors including a
hiatus in between, but the relegation of Clark-Chloe to periodic
maintenance status was wearing thin and that was part of it.
In
"Fever", the episode before "Rosetta", the series
telegraphed even more that Clark-Chloe was going on the backburner for
awhile. It was a beautifully written and acted scene that had
Chloe reading her secret love letter to an unconscious Clark. It's
either one of the biggest Chlois moments in the series, or more sealant
for the Ultimate Contrivance coffin...
Chloe:
I want to let you in on a secret. I'm not who you think I
am. In fact my
disguise is so thin, I'm surprised you haven't
seen right through me.
I'm the Girl of Your Dreams
masquerading as your best
friend.
Sometimes I want to rip off this facade, like I did at the
Spring Formal (pause) but I
can't (tears) because you'll get
scared and you'll run away
again. So I decided it's better to
live with a lie than to
expose my true feelings...
My Dad told me there are two types of girls, the ones you
grow out of and the ones
you grow into. I really hope I'm
the latter. I may not
be the one you love today, but I'll let
you go for now, hoping one
day you'll fly back to me,
because I think you're
worth the wait.
The
scene ended with a feverish Clark saying Lana's name, much to Chloe's
chagrin. Again, it telegraphed what appeared to be, and indeed
proved to be a more lengthy Clark-Chloe doldrums period. The next
episode "Rosetta" itself also disappointed, in terms of
expectations that people had of there being more to Dr. Swann, the
character played by Reeve. Smallville has a way of selling the
sizzle of steak and then serving up a slice of baloney or generic deli
meat. Failure to follow through with Chlois would be the worst
example of that, so hopefully they'll follow through with it. In
any case the Clark-Chloe doldrums period did correspond to the start of
the big ratings decline of the series.
Even
within that, though, there were episodes where Clark-Chloe was
maintained or serviced, if you will, by the writers. In 3-7
"Magnetic" Chloe kissed Clark in a records room that they'd
just been caught investigating in, to provide cover. The episode
was the last time the show saw more than 6.8 million viewers.
These occasional encounters were fun, but less so when throughout this
period there continued to be some question about whether they might
really be stupid enough to not do the great new Chlois twist on the
story. It becomes tiresome and the show bleeds viewers, the longer
it waits to get on with this.
Getting
on with it doesn't mean engagement, marriage or anything close to that.
But it does mean the show needs to commit, on-screen, to a revelation
that establishes Chlois and where it's going. That will get people
on board in increasing numbers for the long haul, and there are all
kinds of ways to do this. Lois & Clark's episode "Tempus
Fugitive" did it for Lois & Clark for a full season of stellar
ratings, before that series blew it with the Lois-is-a-clone wedding.
Smallville can't blow it like that because, notwithstanding the Clark
proposal to Lana in the Timeline That Should Never Have Been in #100
"Reckoning", engagement and marriage are well beyond the
horizon of the Smallville TV series. If it goes to a movie series
as it has very strong potential to do, then that may become an issue at
some point.
The
"reveal the destiny, enjoy the ride" approach is inherent in
Superman, and was proven in Lois & Clark. In Smallville, we've
already seen the "President Lex" vision twice, and we all
expect Clark to become Superman. There is no beneficial
"suspense" in threatening to do the Ultimate Contrivance
rather than the Ultimate Romance, and therefore the lack of a destiny
revelation at this point -- with the show at all-time ratings lows as
noted later -- will only get it canceled. Even in non-Superman
stories, like the 2005-2006 comedy "How I Met Your Mother",
which draws more viewers than Smallville, the "reveal the destiny,
enjoy the ride" approach works. It can only work here with
Chloe though, not Durance's Lois. We don't wish to be overly
negative about the latter, but suffice it to say that antipathy for the
character, as the conventional Lois, is very evident both online and
off. A Sacramento newspaper poll on best Lois Lanes ever had Teri
Hatcher win in a landslide, but was most notable for mentioning that
Durance's Lois got as many "Worst Ever" votes as Best
Ever. Much greater damage will be done to the Lois Lane character
by not doing the Clark-Chloe twist on the story.
Smallville's
episode 5-11 "Lexmas", though a Lex dream, came close to
the kind of Chlois revelation they need to have to set the series
on track the rest of the way. It has to be clear though, not
ambiguous.
Episode
3-11 "Delete" became a very interesting and in the end a
negative example of the ambiguity problem. Chloe, at the Daily
Planet and wanting to get a specific story published, had to convince a
junior editor to run it. Chloe was in the doghouse with the senior
editor. She suggested to the junior one that she use a pen name,
that of her cousin who she said had no interest in journalism.
You guessed it, the junior editor reads the name and it's Lois Lane.
At the
time there was much speculation that perhaps this supported the Chlois
theory. The "not interested in journalism" part helped,
and there were other speculations, for example that Chloe might have
just made up the name out of thin air, foreshadowing her future use of
that pen name.
Some
also thought that Lois Lane, if she ever showed up, might otherwise
prove to be implausible as the Ultimate Romance destiny of Clark,
thereby supporting Chlois. In fact that's what happened to a large
extent. But in the end the mention of the name and cousin, which
had been known about off screen since an Al Gough interview just before
season 2, hurt the show. The next 10 episodes after
"Delete" drew fewer viewers than the 5.5 million that
'Delete" got. The mere mention of a Lois -- despite
the sugar coating of it with possible loopholes -- hurt the series.
It evoked the Ultimate Contrivance baloney, or at least that rather
distinct possibility, instead of Chlois and the steak sizzle and great
new twist on the Ultimate Romance.
The
season 3 finale "Covenant" broke the losing streak with a faux
"Kara" or "Supergirl" promotion. The bait and
switch worked temporarily and drew 5.92 million viewers. That
continued through the season 4 premiere, which drew about the same at
6.07 million. A Chloe death cliffhanger was part of this and,
though many knew Chloe lived, it hurt enough to drive viewership down
more than 600,000 by two episodes later. So much for the
appeal of Durance's Lois Lane, who'd also been introduced in the season
4 premiere.
Episode
4-3 did feature the first full return of Chloe though (including to the
credits) and it promoted the next episode "Devoted", featuring
Chloe as a cheerleader in Clark's lap and making out with him at one
point. "Devoted" drew 6.2 million viewers, what would
prove to be a season 4 high. It was fun, but it was yet another
"it doesn't quite count" kind of episode. Kryptonite
spiked gatoraid of sorts caused Chloe to lose her inhibitions, though
her underlying feelings for Clark were genuine.
Worse
still, the episode twice foreshadowed more Clark and Chloe on the
backburner after that one. Clark tells his mother, when asked
whether he has feelings for Chloe, that "the problem is I'm not
over Lana yet... I'm not sure I'll ever be." It was like
putting up a sign that read "Warning: More series death by
Clark-Lana will ensue, and Lana even has a new boyfriend Jason now so
you can imagine how much this season is gonna suck!".
Then,
towards the end of the episode, as Chloe admits her underlying feelings
for Clark remained and contributed to her behavior, Clark says he wished
he could say he felt the same but he couldn't... at least not right
now. The writing needed that qualifier at the end, of course,
else more viewers might have been lost right away. Chloe was also
fine with that, again because that's the way you want to write this if
the option of returning to it is to be preserved. But it did
nothing to sell season 4.
In
popped Durance's Lois into that scene, right after Chloe left, to tell
Clark that she (Lois) was heading back to Metropolis, but if he broke
Chloe's heart she'd be back to break his legs. Once again, that's
potentially great Chlois support if and when they want to run with it,
i.e., to have Durance's Lois Lane be the cousin of The One, Chloe
Sullivan, the Daily Planet reporter and Ultimate Romance destiny of
Clark Kent aka Superman. Cousin Lois not only isn't a threat to Chloe
in that scenario, or perceived as such by the viewership, but she's a
potentially very strong character with an unknown destiny.
But as
with "Delete", in fact even more so with "Devoted",
there remained the nagging feeling that The Powers That Be were being
highly disingenuous. That what they really had in mind was to test
the Durance's Lois waters, see if it worked, and if it had they'd have
simply charged ahead with the Ultimate Contrivance in an instant.
It got
them what they deserved, which was to never see 6+ million again for the
rest of season 4. In fact the series looked completely dead in the
water until a two-part episode that started with 4-11 "Unsafe"
on January 26, 2005. That was the first episode after an unusually
long 8-week year-end break. The episode drew what to that
point was a series low of 4.21 million viewers, but it featured a
popular Clark love interest turned "villain" named Alicia
(she'd only appeared in one episode prior to that, but she had
teleporting power and made an impact). "Unsafe" also
featured a promo for the next episode that showed Chloe learning
Clark's secret, apparently for real this time and indeed that's what it
proved to be. The new dynamic was a big enough winner to halt the
ratings death spiral, viewership steadily increasing for four
straight episodes to 5.26 million.
That
episode after "Unsafe", titled "Pariah", saw Chloe
witness Clark catching a car in mid-air, without Clark being aware Chloe
saw it. Alicia had arranged for Chloe to see it. She
teleported both Chloe and herself out of the car -- leaving it without
any driver or occupants before it went flying -- thinking that would
freak Chloe out and turn her against Clark, which it did not. The
scene itself was a visual tribute to the cover of the 1938 Action #1 comic, in
which both Clark Kent aka Superman and Lois Lane debuted. More Ultimate Contrivance
fodder, if it isn't just part of the great new Chlois twist on the
story.
Episode
4-16 "Lucy", another Lois-centric episode that didn't work,
slammed the series down again to 4.51 million and to a new series low of
3.85 million the episode after that (with a hiatus in between).
What some consider to be the worst episode of the series, the
Clark-Lana-centric episode "Ageless", sent the series below 4
million for the second time for the episode that followed
"Ageless". That was the second to last episode of season
4 and it drew a mere 3.96 million. The season finale, featuring
the cliffhanger of the second meteor shower and the arrival of General Zod's
disciples, rescued the series this time and it bounced back up to 5.47
million. Strong mythology then carried over into the rejuvenated season 5.
In the
season 5 premiere, Chloe found herself the first human at Clark's Fortress of Solitude,
where Clark saved her from freezing to death and learned that she knew
his secret. The scene had the following line:
Chloe:
I know you can run faster
than a speeding bullet Clark.
Take me along for the ride.
Again,
that's very Chlois-supportive or subject to such interpretation. Several episodes later, Chloe would return the
favor with another trip to the Fortress of Solitude, saving Clark, and Earth, from
Professor Fine aka Brainiac. Best case scenario, just another
Chlois day at the office. Clark had this to say to Chloe:
Clark:
You know, Professor Fine said human beings were
insignificant and couldn't
be depended on. He obviously
didn't know you very well.
But
worst case scenario, it's all just the ridiculously contrived escapades
of a second Lois Lane character in Smallville. The mountain
of contrivances continued all the way through season 5, including in the
third to last episode, 5-20 "Fade", when Chloe even had her
first front-page Daily Planet byline at the age of 19.
Note that
the most serious problem here is not so much that Smallville has (i) a character
named Lois Lane; and (ii) another named Chloe Sullivan who has been and
is everything that Lois Lane should be, in fact the best Lois Lane ever
in the opinion of many including this writer. It's true that that
duplication has been a
ratings problem because of what it threatens: to replace the character
with whom viewer sympathies lie (Chloe) with the new arrival, Durance's
Lois. But it's easily addressed whenever they decide to do so, assuming the series
survives. There are many possible uses of the new character named
Lois Lane, cousin of The One. Some of those would be quite
interesting.
The major, show-killing problem will arise if and
when that threat is carried out -- when the series tries to press
Durance's Lois into the Daily Planet mold in any tangible way, and/or
tries to undo five years of Chloe Sullivan's Lois-like character development to
make way for Durance's Lois. In either case, it will usher in the
Ultimate Contrivance rather than the great new twist on the story.
It would also, many have pointed out, recall the movie Single White
Female where a character steals the life of her roommate.
Chloe Sullivan is a character who has worked hard and earned her
position at the Daily Planet. Also consider that the new
Durance character has been portrayed as a "muffin-peddling college
dropout" with no interest in journalism.
Can
Smallville really intend, or even be entertaining, the thought of this
cousin Lois Lane infiltrating herself into the life of Chloe
Sullivan? Is that all Lois Lane is or ever was, a character who
mimicked the life of her cousin, right down to her job and her romantic
interest? Apart from the Ultimate Contrivance problem, and the
reality of viewer sympathies being with Chloe, great damage would be
done to the Lois Lane character for that reason too. Some have
said it would be downright misogynistic, given that Chloe has been the
strongest female character and the real Lois Lane of Smallville, to just
toss her aside in whatever way.
A
carefully conducted survey in the first half of 2006 (a link to a
FAQ-style page on it will be posted later) confirmed that Clark-Chloe is
the most popular romantic relationship, and that Chloe, along with Clark
and Lex are the three most popular characters. Moreover, the only
two times that the Superman story has experienced spectacular success --
the first Reeve movie, which went top 5 all time, and Lois & Clark
at its peak, which had 22+ million viewers -- the story was about
the Ultimate Romance. In each case the romance element even
overcame campy villains and cheesy storylines. The disappointing
box office results of Superman Returns, which didn't make good use of
the romance element, is yet another indicator of how important that
element is to the Superman story. Especially at a time when it's
coming off its worst ratings ever for the latter part of a season and
for a season finale episode, Smallville should take note, more than
ever, and promote and follow through with the great twist on the story
that it's been setting up for five seasons now.
