Full disclosure, I haven't watched today's Talkville so I might have to eat crow later, but while scrolling on Tiktok my algorithm did its thing and showed me this wonderful edit by brilliant user 𐙚˙⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 Am I turning into a fan of MR's current opinions? Maybe!!!
This is exactly how it feels every time I even remember the existence of this arc. Michael Rosenbaum king of relatability.
One that defined them, or definitely changed their trajectory, or just because you think is was their very best, which ones would you choose? For Clark, Lex, Lana, Chloe, Lois, Pete, Jimmy, Oliver and Tess.
They talked about it in this week's Talkville and apparently because of the economic crisis and Tom's contract ending, etc, they basically planned the season thinking that was it.
Welp... THAT WOULD HAVE SUCKED! Like storywise, that would have felt so anticlimactic. Of course (or so I feel), if they ended up making the decision to not renew, the final batch of episodes would have been somewhat different in order to close the whole thing in a better way. But seeing the full list of episodes and how the season developed, it didn't have the feeling of a satisfying final season at all even from the start (and I'm one of the few who thinks s8 is good minus a few filler episodes I'd absolutely delete from the existence of the earth). Like there's no way we can even compare s8 with s10 because of how superior s10 is, how of a good final season it was!
Honestly, if s8 had been the last season it would've been so disappointing I would've rather had it end before they moved the action to Metropolis.
Thankfully somehow a miracle happened and we have s9 and 10? Otherwise I would probably be a Smallville hater now xD
Disclaimer: this is not a ship vs. ship post. This isn't even a "how does Clark feel about Lois in s8?" post either, cause it's really not that important to the topic at hand. I mean, it would be for Lois, but I'm not Lois lol.
So, I guess this isn't new. Since forever I've seen a few people who have felt that at the beginning of season 8 Lois's romantic feelings for Clark were written/portrayed as out of nowhere or rushed? And recently said discourse has gained some traction since the Talkville podcast has been covering S8 and Rosenbaum and Ryan have sorta commented that Lois's feelings feel sudden? (can't recall their exact words)... And I really can't make sense of that perception, it feels like I'm watching a whole different show!
I mean. Let alone the real life fact that you can suddenly fall in love with someone you already were friends with, like you see them do something or hear them say something that make you go hmmmm hey yesterday i loved you exclusively as a dear friend but that shirt you're wearing today and the way you looked at me has me reevaluating my life choices??? wtf?? That's real. Happens everyday. BUT Lois has a whole arc of her feelings for Clark growing since S4!!
Lois, as we know, has built the equivalent of a fortress around her feelings. From very young, she will protect herself. Then she meets Clark for the first time and se obviously thought he was physically attractive. Gets to know the snarky version of him, whith whom she's amused and enjoys bantering with, BUT also learns her cousin has feelings for him, and he has very strong, unresolved feelings for this OTHER girl. So she gets from the start that any kind of romantic relationship with him is a no-go. She might like him a lot, she might get closer to him and his family (and they might actually become the closest thing she's had to a family), they might become REALLY good friends (Oliver even mentions Lois being one of Clark's closest friends), she might feel the pull frequently, but her barriers will remain up, because she won't invade her cousin's territory or get in the middle of Lana and Clark. That's a big NO.
UNTIL. Until Chloe meets the man she wants to marry, Clark and Lana go their separate ways apparently for good (which we know isn't the case but still), she isn't in a relationship, and until both of them get to spend 3/4 of the day together. That's the perfect combination for bringing a good portion of Lois's walls down.
Lois herself said it in Bride: there are moments when she can't ignore her feelings even if she really tries. She has been able to ignore them for years (there have been so many clues along the seasons of them feeling way more than they let themselves express, and specifically Lois for this topic, has had several of these self-awareness moments, and we know the writers were planting these moments on purpose because duh! endgame!) because even if they're close, they're doing their own thing, be it school, Clark at the farm, Lois with the senatorial campaigns or journalism... but now? Not possible! Way into s9, in a whole different context, Clark tells Lois "Pretend i'm not here". Her reply? "I can't do that". Lois historically can't ignore Clark's presence. She keeps being pulled towards him, one way or another. Having him THIS CLOSE at the Planet? It was meant to make all the feelings that had been welling up come out! And well, after Bride she obviously makes the walls come up again. She simply won't let herself be part of that specific love triangle.
But honestly, how are some people not seeing it? I mean, I guess everyone has their own perspective, it's just weird to me that they haven't detected all these clues along the seasons. You can say whatever about younger Clark. He's a mess, that guy. But Lois? how is it even ambiguous?
Edit: Yikes! Excuse the long-ass rant 🙃