SV 10.05 Isis
Kelly and Brian decided not reveal Clark's secret at the end of Homecoming. The reasoning so I hear was so that last scene could be just about the emotion of Clark and Lois exchanging their I love yous. The good news about that decision was it allowed the Smallville writing team to devote an entire episode to revelation of Clark’s secret.
The bad news?
The Smallville writing team devoted an entire episode to the revelation of Clark's secret.
I usually try to avoid talking too much about the episodes but this time I just couldn't seem to help myself.
Isis didn't disappointment me because it was bad. It disappointed me because it could have been good. Really good.
All I need to know to come up with a decent plot for this episode I learned from Chloe three years ago -- Isis may be known as the goddess of love and healing but she also happens to have brought the Egyptian sun god to his knees. The sun god which by the way was likened to Clark not only by Lana and Chloe way back then but again by Carter and Lois just a couple episodes ago. I know not everyone is particularly fond of that comparison. But if the writers are going to bring it up not once but twice is it too much for to expect them to actually run with it?
I can't claim to be any expert in Egyptian mythology but I can read Wikipedia. Isis never did find the last piece of Osiris (which wasn't his heart, by the way) and as a result she had to learn the magic before she could resurrect him. And how did Isis learn magic? By tricking the sun god, Ra, into revealing his secret name giving her power over him.
How in the world does an episode entitled Isis centered around Clark revealing his secret to Lois not make this connection?
Frankly I don't know which brings me to how Isis would have played out had I been in charge of the Smallville world. First off I'd try to make the episode about Clark and how the Isis story relates to him, not about Isis. And if the Isis story happens to apply to other characters I'd bring that in too.
In other words I'd probably start by highlighting the parallels between Oliver & Chloe to Isis & Osiris. After all, just like Osiris Chloe is gone, her digital trail blasted to dust. These two could commiserate. Once the ball was rolling I'd throw the monkey wrench that is Isis looking to bring Osiris back to life in the middle of Clark revealing his secret to Lois and see how things go from there.
I'd start with Isis possessing Tess rather than Lois at the museum. Here she encounters Oliver and the similarity of their impossible quests is explored. Oliver is bitter because he feels Clark could do more to find Chloe but Clark refused. (Damn that Clark, and his annoying commitment to trusting Chloe's decisions). Tess/Isis laments that at least Oliver still hope of reuniting with his true love (not claiming Chloe and Oliver have that, just following the show here). No one, even Clark can bring someone back from dust. Surprised Oliver asks about Jor-El's cloning technology which he assumed Tess knew all about. The clone technology piques Isis' interest so Isis as Tess seeks out Clark and witnesses him revealing to Lois that he's the blur. Later Isis attempts to learn more about the Kryptonian cloning technology as Tess but Clark rebuffs her. Temporarily defeated Tess/Isis retreats to the mansion to plan her next step where she encounters Alexander. Isis gives Alexander a homily on the necessity of ruthlessness to get what one wants. Alexander expresses his basic need for love which gives Isis an idea of how to attain her goal ultimate goal. Isis them possess Lois comes to Clark claiming that if he really loved her he'd tell her everything about him. Clark reveals his secret name, Kal-El of Krypton in addition to his weakness to Kryptonite. Still unsatisfied Lois/Isis pushes for even more, she wants to see his Kryptonian technology. Though surprised by Lois' insistence Clark eventually relents and takes Lois to the fortress. Here Isis pulls out some stashed kryptonite making her true intentions clear, the resurrection of her deceased lover. Clark has no choice but to comply. Taking the dust of Isis' deceased lover Clark applies his Krypto magic, all the while warning Isis that it's a bad idea. The Krypto magic seems to work at least initially when Osiris appears and the lovers have their long awaited moment of reunion. But soon the resurrected body of Osiris begins to crumble back to dust in Isis' hands. Enraged, Isis turns on Clark ready to destroy him. Clark greets her with one of his phantom catchers and sucks Isis' spirit right out of Lois' body. When Lois regains consciousness she marvels at the strange yet oddly familiar fortress. Clark begins to explain his alien heritage but Lois, noticing his nervousness, cuts Clark off telling him they'll have plenty of time details later. Lois just wants Clark to know she doesn't care what his name is. To her he'll always be "Smallville", the small town boy who no matter what always tries to do the right thing. The boy who's grown into the man she loves.
Admittedly such a major change would unfortunately get rid of most of the good stuff that was in the episode. And I didn't hate the episode. Cat was great. Tess was great. The Clark and Lois stuff was great.
But the the A plot? Wasn't so great.
Here's my theory about Isis: Kelly and Brian gave everyone in the writers room a shot at writing Clark's reveal and they selected the best one (meaning theirs) to stick. (I think Bryan Q Miller submitted "Bluriffic")
The first three runners up poor Ms Durance had to do all on her own. In her Isis costume.
They've given up all pretense at this point haven't they? They don't even try to come up a decent excuse for Lois' outfits anymore.
The fourth runner up Clark made to the wrong lady. And Kelly and Brian's version actually stuck.
I have to admit the scenario where Lois voiced both herself and Clark was of my favorite "fake" reveal. Lois seemed to get quite a charge out of pretending to be Clark!
One of the things that bothered me about Homecoming was the idea that Clark should to pay more attention to Oliver because Oliver needs him.
I'm come around a little bit on my thinking since then. Oliver does need Clark.
To tell him to shut the hell up.
So what if Lois didn't care enough to change out of that ridiculous outfit when she told Clark she knew all about his secret. At least she made sure every thing else was perfect.
That is everything else was perfect until Cat came back and ruined it all.
Lois thought she was a goner but the Cat came back...
I think I must have missed something here. No one thinks it strange an enchanted necklace just happens to disappear from Oliver's little show and end up in Lois' purse?
Yeah, I know, it's Lois. Goofy things happen to her. But come on! Nobody is suspicious? At all?
If you ask me it has Tess written all over it.
Lois gets to fly while Clark is stuck on the ground watching. Big surprise, show.
The one actor who maybe could have made the A plot tolerable was mysteriously unavailable.
Coffee and paper? Nice touch, Clark.
But now Lois wants to know why the hell you see fit to just leave her unconscious ass on the cold ground all the time.
As usual Tess is made of awesome.
I did mention Tess is made of awesome, didn't I?
And Oliver, karma is a bitch!
Cat knows evil when she sees it!
Creepy. But not as creepy as it could have been. Perhaps Cat's complaints about the satanic S.E.X ritual were based on the original version of the Isis story?
Just my opinion but Cat and Oliver are perfect for each other.
Yet another tweak to the original Isis story. And people complain the Smallville writers have no creativity.
Clark literally prevents hell on earth and Lois is not the least bit impressed.
You sure you know what you're getting into here Clark?
Did I mention I thought Brainiac had a point about Oliver needing Clark?
Meanwhile the writers continue feeding their pipe dream of luring Rosey back for the finale.
Tess, I love you and you're still made of awesome. But there ain't no way this is going to end well.
The blur zapped Cat to a cafe with complimentary coffee and a paper while Green Arrow locked her in a sarcophagus. Naturally Cat, who thinks Lois is the blur, decides to stab Lois. In the hand. With a pen.
If you think about this little microcosm makes almost as much sense as the entire episode.
Fortunately Clark was around to prevent Lois from punching Cat's lights out.
After all, the Cat must come back.
Clark attends to Lois' injuries.
Good thing Clark is the blur. Other wise he could have cracked open his head.
The bad news?
The Smallville writing team devoted an entire episode to the revelation of Clark's secret.
I usually try to avoid talking too much about the episodes but this time I just couldn't seem to help myself.
Isis didn't disappointment me because it was bad. It disappointed me because it could have been good. Really good.
All I need to know to come up with a decent plot for this episode I learned from Chloe three years ago -- Isis may be known as the goddess of love and healing but she also happens to have brought the Egyptian sun god to his knees. The sun god which by the way was likened to Clark not only by Lana and Chloe way back then but again by Carter and Lois just a couple episodes ago. I know not everyone is particularly fond of that comparison. But if the writers are going to bring it up not once but twice is it too much for to expect them to actually run with it?
I can't claim to be any expert in Egyptian mythology but I can read Wikipedia. Isis never did find the last piece of Osiris (which wasn't his heart, by the way) and as a result she had to learn the magic before she could resurrect him. And how did Isis learn magic? By tricking the sun god, Ra, into revealing his secret name giving her power over him.
How in the world does an episode entitled Isis centered around Clark revealing his secret to Lois not make this connection?
Frankly I don't know which brings me to how Isis would have played out had I been in charge of the Smallville world. First off I'd try to make the episode about Clark and how the Isis story relates to him, not about Isis. And if the Isis story happens to apply to other characters I'd bring that in too.
In other words I'd probably start by highlighting the parallels between Oliver & Chloe to Isis & Osiris. After all, just like Osiris Chloe is gone, her digital trail blasted to dust. These two could commiserate. Once the ball was rolling I'd throw the monkey wrench that is Isis looking to bring Osiris back to life in the middle of Clark revealing his secret to Lois and see how things go from there.
I'd start with Isis possessing Tess rather than Lois at the museum. Here she encounters Oliver and the similarity of their impossible quests is explored. Oliver is bitter because he feels Clark could do more to find Chloe but Clark refused. (Damn that Clark, and his annoying commitment to trusting Chloe's decisions). Tess/Isis laments that at least Oliver still hope of reuniting with his true love (not claiming Chloe and Oliver have that, just following the show here). No one, even Clark can bring someone back from dust. Surprised Oliver asks about Jor-El's cloning technology which he assumed Tess knew all about. The clone technology piques Isis' interest so Isis as Tess seeks out Clark and witnesses him revealing to Lois that he's the blur. Later Isis attempts to learn more about the Kryptonian cloning technology as Tess but Clark rebuffs her. Temporarily defeated Tess/Isis retreats to the mansion to plan her next step where she encounters Alexander. Isis gives Alexander a homily on the necessity of ruthlessness to get what one wants. Alexander expresses his basic need for love which gives Isis an idea of how to attain her goal ultimate goal. Isis them possess Lois comes to Clark claiming that if he really loved her he'd tell her everything about him. Clark reveals his secret name, Kal-El of Krypton in addition to his weakness to Kryptonite. Still unsatisfied Lois/Isis pushes for even more, she wants to see his Kryptonian technology. Though surprised by Lois' insistence Clark eventually relents and takes Lois to the fortress. Here Isis pulls out some stashed kryptonite making her true intentions clear, the resurrection of her deceased lover. Clark has no choice but to comply. Taking the dust of Isis' deceased lover Clark applies his Krypto magic, all the while warning Isis that it's a bad idea. The Krypto magic seems to work at least initially when Osiris appears and the lovers have their long awaited moment of reunion. But soon the resurrected body of Osiris begins to crumble back to dust in Isis' hands. Enraged, Isis turns on Clark ready to destroy him. Clark greets her with one of his phantom catchers and sucks Isis' spirit right out of Lois' body. When Lois regains consciousness she marvels at the strange yet oddly familiar fortress. Clark begins to explain his alien heritage but Lois, noticing his nervousness, cuts Clark off telling him they'll have plenty of time details later. Lois just wants Clark to know she doesn't care what his name is. To her he'll always be "Smallville", the small town boy who no matter what always tries to do the right thing. The boy who's grown into the man she loves.
Admittedly such a major change would unfortunately get rid of most of the good stuff that was in the episode. And I didn't hate the episode. Cat was great. Tess was great. The Clark and Lois stuff was great.
But the the A plot? Wasn't so great.
Here's my theory about Isis: Kelly and Brian gave everyone in the writers room a shot at writing Clark's reveal and they selected the best one (meaning theirs) to stick. (I think Bryan Q Miller submitted "Bluriffic")
The first three runners up poor Ms Durance had to do all on her own. In her Isis costume.
They've given up all pretense at this point haven't they? They don't even try to come up a decent excuse for Lois' outfits anymore.
The fourth runner up Clark made to the wrong lady. And Kelly and Brian's version actually stuck.
I have to admit the scenario where Lois voiced both herself and Clark was of my favorite "fake" reveal. Lois seemed to get quite a charge out of pretending to be Clark!
One of the things that bothered me about Homecoming was the idea that Clark should to pay more attention to Oliver because Oliver needs him.
I'm come around a little bit on my thinking since then. Oliver does need Clark.
To tell him to shut the hell up.
So what if Lois didn't care enough to change out of that ridiculous outfit when she told Clark she knew all about his secret. At least she made sure every thing else was perfect.
That is everything else was perfect until Cat came back and ruined it all.
Lois thought she was a goner but the Cat came back...
I think I must have missed something here. No one thinks it strange an enchanted necklace just happens to disappear from Oliver's little show and end up in Lois' purse?
Yeah, I know, it's Lois. Goofy things happen to her. But come on! Nobody is suspicious? At all?
If you ask me it has Tess written all over it.
Lois gets to fly while Clark is stuck on the ground watching. Big surprise, show.
The one actor who maybe could have made the A plot tolerable was mysteriously unavailable.
Coffee and paper? Nice touch, Clark.
But now Lois wants to know why the hell you see fit to just leave her unconscious ass on the cold ground all the time.
As usual Tess is made of awesome.
I did mention Tess is made of awesome, didn't I?
And Oliver, karma is a bitch!
Cat knows evil when she sees it!
Creepy. But not as creepy as it could have been. Perhaps Cat's complaints about the satanic S.E.X ritual were based on the original version of the Isis story?
Just my opinion but Cat and Oliver are perfect for each other.
Yet another tweak to the original Isis story. And people complain the Smallville writers have no creativity.
Clark literally prevents hell on earth and Lois is not the least bit impressed.
You sure you know what you're getting into here Clark?
Did I mention I thought Brainiac had a point about Oliver needing Clark?
Meanwhile the writers continue feeding their pipe dream of luring Rosey back for the finale.
Tess, I love you and you're still made of awesome. But there ain't no way this is going to end well.
The blur zapped Cat to a cafe with complimentary coffee and a paper while Green Arrow locked her in a sarcophagus. Naturally Cat, who thinks Lois is the blur, decides to stab Lois. In the hand. With a pen.
If you think about this little microcosm makes almost as much sense as the entire episode.
Fortunately Clark was around to prevent Lois from punching Cat's lights out.
After all, the Cat must come back.
Clark attends to Lois' injuries.
Good thing Clark is the blur. Other wise he could have cracked open his head.