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#Touching Face: Clana
kent-farm · 8 months
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—Smallville, "Mortal"
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evilwickedme · 1 year
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" I'm going to bed now but let me know if anybody wants to know my full analysis of why Lana's ending is the worst scene in the whole show"
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@ritachiquitafajita
Two requests?? how could I refuse
So as I've mentioned repeatedly before, this show's main theme is choice and destiny. The central question of the show is, do we choose who we become or are we bound by fate? And the show repeatedly responds with "it's about choice, it's about fate, we are constantly choosing to become who we were meant to be". The show's main thesis is that we only know the end because these characters were naturally going to make these choices. You take Clark's powers away and he still chooses to be a hero, you give Lex a taste of goodness and he still chooses to be selfish.
So when it comes to the end of Clark and Lana, the issue is not that they're not actually given a choice by the narrative, but that Clark doesn't make the choice at all. Superficially, Clark and Lana are given a choice on that roof - be together or defuse a kryptonite bomb, and they make the choice to defuse the bomb. But the thing is Clark still holds on to Lana even after her touch literally poisons him.
There are a few problems with this. The first is that it's not a character driven choice, but rather a plot driven one. The most important choices in the series - whether it's Lex choosing to kill his child self or Lana choosing to marry Lex or Clark choosing to work at the Daily Planet and become a hero - are motivated by their character. Here, Lex is threatening the lives of countless people. Of course Clark and Lana are going to save those people even when their relationship is at stake. It's not even really a choice at all, but if you still view it as a choice, it's a diminished one because it's not motivated by their character development. Clark would have made this exact choice in season one or four or six, before Lois was a proper love interest.
Which leads us to the second problem, which is that Lois is not involved in this choice at all. Clark should, ideally, be faced with his two main love interests and make the explicit choice of Lois over Lana. Lois is not seen in the show from the episode where Lana comes back until after she leaves, which is a colossal mistake narratively. If Clark is meant to be constantly choosing who he will be, he shouldn't be making a choice that involves only not having Lana anymore, he should be making a choice that involves having Lois from now on.
Finally, and the biggest problem of them all: Clark doesn't actually make a choice here at all. The final scene is Lana making his choice for him. He says to her, we can still make this work, and she's the one who leaves. It makes it so that Lois is who he's with because the better option isn't available, rather than because she's his soulmate, which is utter bullshit. I repeat: in this show that is entirely about choosing your destiny, Clark does not choose his destiny.
This is not a bad scene in that it's badly acted or that the phrasing is awkward, it's a bad scene in that it betrays the entire ethos of the show. The show had already dragged Clana far beyond its natural lifespan - ideally by season six they should have written her off and kept Lex and Clark's rivalry alive with other means - but when they did finally start building Clois up they only ever did it with Lana off screen at the end of season seven, and the moment Lana is back Clark immediately abandons Lois in favor of who should've have been his puppy love and nothing else.
If I were to write this exact same arc with seasons one through seven exactly as they are, I would've still had the Clois kiss interrupted by Lana's return. I think that's actually a wonderful choice on the writers' part, creating real tension. However, I would have Lois in at least two scenes in every following episode. I would have Lois and Lana have a conversation immediately after the wedding, preferably with Clark within their sights, with Lana suspecting their true feelings for each other and seeing their chemistry. And when Clark realizes he can choose happiness, I want him to go back to a scene that has both of them there, with the ending remaining ambiguous. I wouldn't have the supersuit at all. Instead I would have Lana return so she can defeat Lex once and for all, saying it's to protect Clark and not seeing Clark's side of things, and I would have Clark realize they are not compatible with each other. Clark then looks at the person Lana has become, one who thirsts for power - yes, to help other people, but who's still driven by the power first and foremost and the need to help others second - and looks at the person Lois is - one who seeks justice and truth even when she's entirely powerless - and he tells Lana that he doesn't want her, and this time we know he means it. Lana is written off the show naturally as she decides to travel the world and help people elsewhere, and the episode ends with Clark at Lois's desk, asking her about the day's news before speeding off to help someone.
Maybe I'll write this into a fic. It's certainly a fix it that needs to exist.
Anyway yeah thanks for asking folks I have an entirely normal amount of feelings about this show
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It was almost like Smallville tried to convince us into believing that Clana was so tragic by Lana’s end. Lois and Clark had so much chemistry between them that they didn’t need for that stupid Lana story line with the Prometheus suit. The writers made it seem like Lois was Clark’s second choice because he can no longer physically touch Lana. That’s unfair and like a HUGE slap in the face to Lois and the diehard Clois fans who waited almost 5 seasons for a pay off to their build up.
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