I have some insightful readers!

Week after week, my columns over at Inside Pulse have received some wonderfully insightful and enjoyable comments. This past week, two have jumped out at me, which I thought I'd share here (and hey blog readers, there's a fun little "Comment" link at the bottom of my posts here as well!)

First, in response to the most recent episode of Smallville, Mary has this to say:

Matt, nice review but I think you missed a few things that were important to take from this episode regarding important character development. This episode was not filler as many expected it to be. On the contrary, it was the calm before the storm giving us a close look at Clark and Lois’ emotional and mental state.

There was a nice parellel in this episode between how Chloe wanted Clark to handle the District Attorney and how Lois ultimately chose to handle it. Chloe wanted Clark to let the DA smear his name and remain in the shadows. Lois recognized that the shield was beacon of hope for the city and she came forward to defend Clark in public and begged the city to leave him alone. Utimately, Lois’ plans were closer to where Clark’s heart is right now and she did the right thing.

The scene on the rooftop was very important. Lois was willing to give her life so that Clark could remain a beacon of hope for the city. Clark, for his part, gladly would have jumped after Lois and outed himself to the cameras if she had fallen. Luckily, the wonder twins provided the cover of the fog so that Clark could save Lois without having to out himself. Lois has proven that she would die for him so the fact that he’s keeping his secret from her is not about trust. The problem is that she WOULD give her life for his secret and I think that’s what scares him. He doesn’t want her put in that position.

The last scene in Lois’ therapy session was very important. Lois admitted that she as fascinated by the heroics of the Blur. But her thoughts kept coming back to Clark. He is the man that she loves above all else. That was a big realization on Lois’ part.

Again, the last scene between Clark and Lois in the copy room was adorable and important. Clark revealed the famous glasses and he rather touchingly admitted to her that he wished he could be two people for her. Little does she know…. This time Lois was the one who got over her fear and kissed him so that he was clear on how she felt about him. Then of course she had the seizure.

You also missed talking about the opening scene from Lois’ dream of the future. Clark and Lois waking up in some kind of abadoned building after making love and there’s a red sun in the sky….that was important.

I’m not criticizing because I always think you do great reviews. I just think there was some important character development that was very important in this episode that you missed in your review. As much as I love action packed episodes I also really appreciate it when Smallville takes the time to really get inside their character’s heads. This was a very important episode in that respect. I loved it.

I thought your comments on Chloe were spot on. The ends do not justify the means. She’s been out of line several times this season. I’m intrigued as to how it’s going to play out.

Thanks for your review! Hope you don’t mind my comments.

First off, never apologize for leaving a comment -- especially one so well thought out. I enjoy these interactions, so as long as you're respectful (which, for the most part, everybody has been), feel free to disagree!

Secondly, I purposely didn't mention Lois' visions because I knew that the following episode would focus almost exclusively on them. As such, I decided to just sit back and wait to see how all of that plays out.

That being said, perhaps I did sell this episode a bit short. I do agree that it was the calm before the storm, giving the audience a bit of a reprieve between what is sure to be two huge episodes (kinda like how they put a Divas match in between two main events). And that's perfectly okay.

However, Mary made a great observation comparing Lois' and Chloe's advice on how to handle the DA situation. It was another example of how Chloe's somewhat darker methodology has drifted from the Clark's purity and nobility (which in itself is somewhat ironic, since Chloe apparently tried to pull Clark from the dark side earlier this season). Over the past two seasons, Chloe has really descended into a much different person. And I think this has played a part in Clark's developing closeness with Lois. Despite her tough-as-nails exterior, beneath it all she shares Clark's values.

The final therapy session WAS worth mentioning, and in hindsight I wish I had. Mary was spot-on: It's important for the viewers to understand that Lois loves Clark the aspiring journalist, and that she's not just interested in him because of the possibility that he's a superhero.

In response to this week's episode of Heroes, dickrat, ahem, left this comment:

The Shanti Virus suppresses the abilities until they’re cured of it. That’s why both Sylar and the Haitian retained their original abilities.

Sylar tried to kill himself after killing Brian Davis, so I would say that he was a bit more emotionally empathetic with that kill than with Isaac.

Claire can regenerate appendages if they’re cut off. She did it with her pinky toe in season 2, so her foot would regrow it’s self leaving the severed foot.

First off, dickrat is absolutely right about the severed foot deal. As we saw at the beginning of season two, body parts regenerate for Claire, so my reattachment comment is a bit moot.

I cringe whenever I have to think about last season's obligatory flashback episode, because it basically re-wrote Sylar and Elle's character, completely contradicting what we had known about them up until that point. Of course, they would ultimately revert back to their original characters, so it was all for nothing. But, since it did happen on the show, I will accept it as "fact."

But I do have to wonder this: Does it matter? So what if Sylar had empathy for Brian. If we are to believe that Sylar was back to square one, except for his original ability, he would have lost Brian's ability -- empathy or not. Sylar cannot simply absorb any person's ability by simply attaching himself emotionally to them. For example, he knows full well that Mr. Petrelli can absorb and eliminate people's abilities by making contact with them. However, nothing we've seen can lead us to believe he can just magically have that ability by thinking of Petrelli. From what we've seen, he still has to be near that person, much like when he used to slice their heads open.

So whether Sylar acquired that ability through empathy or slicing is inconsequential. If he lost his original set of abilities, as most people argue, he shouldn't be able to use telekinesis until he's faced with another person who has that ability. Does that make sense?