Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Lois & Clark Barbarians at the Planet/The House of Luthor Episode Discussion Thread

I decided to combine the discussion of these two episodes into one thread since it’s a two part storyline. As a season finale, I always thought these two episodes delivered a lot. They wrapped up the storyline of Lex Luthor, and they also threw in a few big, surprise moments. With Clark proposing to Lois, Lois almost marrying Lex, the Daily Planet being blown up, and the reappearance of Kryptonite, there was a lot going on in this episode.

I’ve long debated whether or not Lois not being able to see through Lex damaged her reputation as an intelligent, award-winning investigative reporter. After all, she wasn’t often fooled by the disguises of other criminals. Why was Lex so different? In the end, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is best to look at it as Lex being a master manipulator who could fool most people easily rather than to see Lois’ lack of figuring out who he was as reflecting badly on her. After all, he really did have everyone fooled except for Clark. It wasn’t just Lois who he’d fooled. To me, the fact that he was able to hide his true personality is one of the reasons he’s among my favorite villains that appeared on the show. It was this trait that made him a true threat to Superman.

In some ways, I was a little sad that this was the last episode where Lex was a regular character because he was such a great villain. However, I do think that the good thing about losing Lex at the end of season one is that it allowed us to see other villains, such as Intergang, that we might not have seen otherwise. Overall, I’m glad that we had a little bit of variety in terms of the villains throughout the show’s run.

I enjoyed seeing Clark, Perry, Jimmy, and Jack work together to investigate Luthor. I would have enjoyed seeing Lois and Cat in on the investigation, too, though I understand why Lois was left out of it. Still, I do think Cat should have been involved in the finale in some way, especially since she didn’t return to the next season.

These two episodes have spawned *tons* of great fanfics. There are so many, I can't do them justice. Just a few:

Nan Smith, one of my favorite authors, has several FH/HOL - related fics. For example, there is "Fly Hard Revisited" where Lois doesn't go with a wounded Luthor, but instead goes off with Clark. Although that's good, I like "A Night At The Office" better - it's longer, and there's more patented Nan happenings. Its sequel is "Strange Relationships" , also recommended.

Then, of course, there's Nan's take on what if Lois did marry Lex? In Wedding Day ; Wedding Aftermath ; Wedding Consequences ; Wedding Rearrangement ; and Wedding Accomplished. BJ also covered this in Master of Disguise which starts with Lois married to Lex, but certainly doesn't end that way!

Of course, one of my absolute favorites for L&C relationship exploration is Caroline K's awesome If I Were You . Superman, upon being told that Lois would love him if he were an ordinary man, goes and shows her that he is an ordinary man - Clark Kent. And things go on from there.
Caroline hits it out of the park again with her Field of Dreams . "Lois goes through the events of the end of Season 1 without ever having met Clark. He's still in Borneo, and in the aftermath of the Fall of the House of Luthor, Lois flees Metropolis and finds love and healing in a tiny Smallville, Kansas farmhouse."

ML Thompson shows us A Final Au Revoir" . As the description goes, "Intergang, Mayson Drake, a lover from Lois's past, and a bad case of miscommunication combine to wreak havoc on the lives of our favourite duo. Will the truth come out before it's too late, or will Lois and Clark be lost to each other forever?" ML also has Lois thinking about her options on the night before she is to marry Lex Luthor, in Midnight Gambit . Don't miss it.

Sue S. works her patented brand of magic in The Buddy System . In a re-write of "Fly Hard", Lois and Clark are tied up together in a closet. Hmm.... this has possibilities!

Bobbart shows what might have happened if Lois had returned to the Daily Planet building after the events of "Fly Hard" in Flying Easy . Read it.
Bob also has a rare Lex Luthor-POV story in Lex's Best Day , where Luthor is sitting there contemplating things just before the wedding.

What if Superman hadn't been able to get out of Lex's kryptonite cage? Tank Wilson tells us what happened in Dark Revelation .

And, once the wedding-that-wasn't is all over, BJ explores what happens to both Lois and Clark in the hilarious Wasted Revelations . Extra credit for the title's double meaning.

I am not sure it ever really made sense that Lois agreed to marry Luthor.

I do have to say that Lois backing out at the last moment was a good touch.

Another favorite issue to some is wheather it makes sense that Clark withdrew his declaration of love to Lois. I understand why he did it, and that he wanted to keep her as a close friend, and figured there was no way to move forward yet. I am less certain he made the right decision.

Well put, John. One of my favorite fics by Wendy Richards, The Healing Time , deals with this. Did he make the right decision? It's debatable, and therefore good fodder for fanfics!

I just realized that Mrs. Cox seems to have actually only appeared in these two episodes. With how much she shows up in some fan fic I am surprised by that. Maybe I shouldn't be, but I am.

That's how I felt about Ralph. I researched all of his appearances for a story I wrote, and was amazed to find out he only shows up on screen for three episodes and is only mentioned by name in two others. Moreover, he was only introduced in the show's final season. It's a tribute to the actors who portrayed both Mrs. Cox and Ralph, as well as to the writers who wrote the characters, that these two characters have become so firmly established in fanfic.

Joy,
Lynn

Maisie beats even that. She had one brief scene in GGGoH. I don't even know if she gets mentioned again in the series. Some people have said that Ralph is supposed to represent Steve from the comics. (I don't understand how the producers can have access to bit characters from comics, like Cat Grant for the show, and not Steve. Lana and Zod make a little more sense copywrite wise, but Steve?)

I'm not sure about Ralph representing Steve Lombard. I watched the show before reading the comics, and I'll admit that when I first saw Lombard, I did immediately equate him with Ralph. But the more I read, the less similar the two characters appear. Yes, both are womanizing jerks, but that seems to be the end of their similarities. Lombard had played professional football, for example. he was also an inveterate prankster. There was a period in the comics in which one of the requirements for all writers was that Lombard would have to pull a practical joke on Clark, and Clark would have to either foil the initial practical joke or else subsequently get revenge. Ralph does not strike me as athletic, and I can't recall him ever pulling any practical jokes.

I agree with you about Maisie, though. And a quick search of the transcripts reveals that she is not ever mentioned by name again. For that matter, Rachel Harris is also a single-episode character.

Joy,
Lynn

True, but Rachel is a stand in for Lana because of copyright issues, and we learn she went to prom with Clark, maybe dated him more. So she clearly has a long-standing connection with Clark.

Of course Lana herself is an even more extreme example, since we never actually see normal universe Lana. However I guess since she is so entrenched from the comics and Smallville, the amount she shows up in Lois and Clark fan fic says nothing about the power of her character in the show, and just that she is pervasive within the general Superman universe.

Reading that in the 1970s build-up to "Superman: The Movie" at one point the script called for Clark to be a television reporter made me consider something about the whole Lois goes to television role.

There is no evidence that Clark turns down the role because he is afraid of more exposure on television. I guess though to be fair it seemed that Lois was more in production than on screen, it seemed she managed the stories behind the scenes, and was not actually on screen, so maybe that would not be an issue for Clark.

Also, I guess with Perry's BILLBOARDS of "The Hottest Team in Town", Clark going on television would not expose him much more to the public. Although having to be on air at a specific time would put a crimp in his Superman style if that was when a rescue was needed.

FWIW, Clark had actually been a news anchorman at WGBS in the comics during the 80's (pre-Crisis). It was not by choice. Morgan Edge, who owned both the Planet and WGBS, told him, in essence, that if he wanted to continue working, he would have to switch venues. After a while, he also did some work at the Planet, too. And yes, it definitely did complicate his getting away to wear the cape.

Joy,
Lynn

Can someone explain to me how Lex could have flown Lois to Milan, Italy for dinner? (I know, I know, I need to suspend belief for Hollywood and for a show which has a man who flies, but still...) Firstly, it was surprise dinner. We all know that Lois is always prepared, but would she carry her passport *on a date*? (We know that with Clark, she doesn't need one, but that's another scenario entirely.) Secondly, my research shows that it takes roughly *8 hours* to fly between NYC and Milan, Italy. That's 8 hours THERE and 8 hours BACK. 16 HOURS in the plane TOTAL. Even on a private plane, how in the world would that be considered romantic? Yawnsville! Lex would have to feed her at least two other meals within that timeframe.

Now, we of the suspended disbelief do understand it is completely logical that Clark can fly Lois to Thailand for dinner (mentioned during the NK arc, when she returned his sweater when he was packing for his marriage to Zara and trip to NK) because Superman doesn't fall within the bounds of physics and therefore, neither does Lois, while she's flying with him.

BUT Lex does. His planes may be fast, but from what I could find on my (albeit quick) search on the Internet that private planes take approximately the same time to get to a destination as commercial planes. And NYC to MIL is 8 hours, so unless Metropolis is actually London, England I find this whole scenario ludicrous. Although, it does explain why it is light outside the plane as they are returning to Metropolis.

/steps on venting box/

steps back onto venting box

Okay, and all of the above is not taking into account that Milan is 6 hours ahead of the Eastern seaboard of the USA. Therefore, Lex's flight to Milan would have to have left Metropolis at 6am to reach Milan by 8pm. That, in itself, seems like an awfully early date for dinner.

"Wake up, Lois, I'm taking you dinner!" :rolleyes:

6am + 8 hours of travel time = 2pm + 6 hours of time difference = 8pm

Please correct my math if it's wrong and tell me how this trip (or the same one Monica took on Friends when she dated that millionaire) was at all possible. Thank you.

/steps off venting box again, and hopes now EW will be able to sleep... although, it's not looking good/

Those billboards always seemed pretty stupid to me. Lois goes undercover pretty often, and that only really works if no one knows what she looks like. I remember it mentioned in the comics that Lois and Clark refused to have their pictures by their bylines because it would inhibit their undercover work.

Also, I have never paid any attention to who writes the front page articles. I'll notice who writes the features that I like, but not the news stories. Does the general populace really care who the top reporters are at their chosen newspaper? And what about turnover? Even if promoting a particular reporter works, it's only beneficial as long as that reporter stays at the paper. Then if they move somewhere else, the entire benefit of that ad campaign goes down the drain. It seems like the DP would get more mileage out of an ad campaign more along the lines of "The Daily Planet: The Most Trusted Name in News" than just promoting two reporters out of their whole staff.

Altogether, the "Hottest Team in Town" campaign seemed more like what would be done to promote a pair of TV news anchors. In that case, the anchors really are the face of the news program, and they actually benefit from the face recognition.

Maybe Lex's plane is faster than a normal plane. Also, if Metropolis is more like when Boston is, I think that would cut a little on the trip to Milan. If you really, really push it to the maximum possible speed of any plane, maybe it gets there at the speed of 6 hours one way. Even that is faster than I think is reasonable. I do not think there is any realistic way for it to be either a surprise or very romantic.

Lex might misinterpret "being with me" as Romantic, and he could have stolen Lois's passport and put it in his plane, so that would deal with that issue. Although if Superman can secretly land in other countries, why can't Lex?

If Lex is so in love with Lois, why would he risk having the bomb set off at the DP while she's there? I had always thought that Lois was out of the DP when the bomb went off, arriving in time to see Jack being carried out by SM, but having re-watching this episode recently, she was clearly one of the people Clark herds to the stairwell and tells to leave. It does bring to question, whether Lex really was obsessed with Lois (romantically or due to Revenge) or if he was just trying to rid himself of a problem.

Over in the Wrong Clark discussion thread, Mrs. M brought up a good point:

Can privately held companies have a board of directors who can voted 'yea' or 'nay' on the ownership of said company without permission from the 'owner' or is that, like we believe, only something that happens with public companies? In other words, who do YOU think owned the Daily Planet, before Lex bought it?

I'm back with yet another gripe about HoL. I'll preface this by saying that I have limited experiences with weddings, except maybe seven to ten in my family and a couple of close friends, and what I've seen on TV. So, I don't know if this just traditional for TV and some families or just my own, but...

WHY would Luthor take Lois out to see Othelo the night before their wedding? Isn’t that night traditionally wedding rehearsal dinner? Did this seem strange to anyone else, or was it just a case of bad editing? Or is Superman in the cage longer than one night?

Okay, okay. I know that neither Lois nor Lex (supposedly) have family that came to the wedding (Lois's mom only seems to arrive at the last minute). Neither of them have close friends attending (Mrs. Cox turns on Lex and Nigel has beaten it out of town). You can see this in their total lack of bridesmaids and groomsmen.

I know it isn't *required* to have a Maid of Honor and a Best Man, because anyone can sign the register as witnesses, but I'm surprised that a wedding THIS big, Lex hasn't hired people for those roles, because I can't see any society columnist missing those key players and therefore that tasty morsel of gossip.

Also, WHY oh WHY does Lois kiss Lex on the lips when she's already told him 'no', just because her friends arrive?

Is she kissing him 'goodbye' because she thinks Clark's coming to stop the wedding or is she just excited that her friends hadn't abandoned her after all and she needed to kiss someone? I had always thought she kisses his cheek (a more appropriate good-riddance kiss in this case), until I re-watched this scene recently.

If anyone can explain either of these strange occurrences to me, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

I really love BATP/HOL...probably one of my very favorite two-part story-lines, and I'd say, easily two of the episodes I've seen the most (we're talking 'mouthing-the-words-almost-throughout-the-whole-thing'--yeah ). Anyway...

Great point, Virginia--had NEVER noticed this . And thinking about it, yeah, it is weird?!?. I always assumed the scene in the limo, talking about Othello, was the night b/f the wedding, but I guess I just took it for what it is worth. But IMO the night b/f the wedding normally would be the rehearsal dinner/etc--and not so much time to see a play. I haven't been to a ton of weddings, but thinking back to mine--rehearsal dinner, my sister's--rehearsal dinner, multiple friends--yet again, rehearsal dinner....I'd say my experience would agree with your thoughts ). I think overall though, the kiss means relief/validation to her--that she DOES have friends that DO care for her...and also, possibly it means more of a final goodbye to Lex--she told him no that she couldn't marry him, and now that her friends are here, it's a very firm no she won't marry him. Overall, though, have never really liked the kiss--seemed unnecessary.

Interesting reexamining some of these scenes

Laura

One more quibble. If the wedding is being officiated by the Bishop of Metropolis, shouldn't the wedding be in a church? I know that Deadly Chakram and I have discussed this on occasion, and I think she mentioned that Catholic weddings (which it would have to be if the Bishop were officiating) *have* to take place in the church, instead of LexTower's conference room, right? I'm not going to get into the whole 'Luthor donated so much money to get who he wanted, where he wanted, and when he wanted' argument, because it wouldn't look good for the Catholic church to be seen as willing to accept bribes, and I'm not one to bash anyone's religion. Just curious about the vaguer details.

My take on this is the board of directors are the majority stock holders in the company. That is the only way for the issue to make sense.

However, even if that was the case, it really does not make sense. The whole sequence really seams like an odd merger of how public and private companies work.