In an instance of the worst timing ever, Smallville‘s scheduled episode for February 4 features a tragic storyline that is eerily similar to the recent events in Arizona. According to the official episode description, Martha Kent, Clark’s mother and a congresswoman, appears at a pro-vigilante rally and gets shot on national television.
Here is the full episode description from the CW: “Clark is surprised to see Martha on the news speaking at a pro-vigilante rally. However, surprise quickly turns to horror when he and Lois watch as Martha gets shot on national television. Meanwhile, Lionel reveals himself to the world and reclaims LuthorCorp from Tess and Oliver. Lois and Chloe decide to cheer Clark up by showing him videos from thousands of vigilante supporters professing their support for The Blur. Videos were created and submitted by actual Smallville fans.”
The episode was obviously written and filmed long before the Giffords shooting, but in the wake of that horrible tragedy, it is eerie how similar this storyline seems. BuddyTV has contacted the CW and is awaiting a response regarding the scheduling of this episode.
However, logic dictates that this episode of Smallville will be preempted. Given the way the Giffords shooting has impacted the country, to have TV show feature a plot line about a congresswoman getting shot at a rally would be in bad taste, even if it is a super hero fantasy series.
This is not new for TV. Buffy the Vampire Slayer preempted two episodes in 1999 at the end of season 3 regarding high school students using guns and blowing up the school following the Columbine shooting, even though the storyline revolved around the kids fighting a giant snake. More recently, an episode of Bones about a death at a college was postponed following the Virginia Tech shooting.
We will provides updates on the Smallville episode as soon as we get a comment from the CW.
(Image courtesy of the CW)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
