7.19 Confession (Part VI) by TW and JG

as retold by Bill C

JG: And we come back from commercials to Lois.
ED: Yeah!
TW: We fade in on a quarter-circle pan around her sitting on the corner of her desk at the Daily Planet. She's on the phone.
ED: Reading my stuff! "Hey, Teddy-bear--"
AM+KK: Teddy-bear?
JG [groans]: Dammit, can we change that? Ted shouldn't be called...that.
MR: Any more castration and Sherri Shepherd will be feeling up his man-boobs on national television.
AoT: If either one of them gets to "snookums," I will not be responsible for my actions.
TW: I gave you people the tank top. Shut up.
MR: Christ, Tom, at least go with Bitsy. Lois isn't smart enough for more than one endearment anyway.
ED: Lois is smart enough not to want to sleep with a robot!
MR [to TW]: How about a clone?
ED: She's still smarter than that!
MR [after a beat]: Even if it was a clone of a really hot guy? Say, Clive Owen?
ED: Ye--well, no...ye--nnn-- [thinks]
KK [monotone]: Logic conflict. Does not compute. Does not compute.
AoT: Congratulations, Michael. You might have actually short-circuited Erica's brain.
MR: And I wasn't even talking to her!
ED [through her teeth]: Goddammit!
JG: You can come back to that. Read your line.
ED [sighs]: "Teddy-bear, it's Lois. I'm back at the Planet for a minute--my contact didn't show up for the meet. Call me when you catch up to that guy, okay? See you later."
JG: As co-writer, I'm making a judgment call on that. We're going with Bitsy.
TW: John--
AM: Tom, the universe isn't going to end if we change that specific word.
TW [thinks]: Okay, fine. Bitsy it is.
JG: Thank you.
TW: As Lois hangs up the phone Evelyn, the reporter from KTMP, walks into the bullpen. "Lois?"
ED: "Oh, hey, Evelyn! You got my message?"
TW: "I admit, it's rare to get a call for help from the competition."
AM: Or in this case her betters.
ED: "In this case, we both win. I've been sitting on something I need some help with."
MR: Evelyn gets to massage Lois's ass? Ratings bonanza!
ED: You wish. "Remember the fight at the Slab?"
TW: "With the mysterious flying guy?"
ED: "Yep. I have video footage of a big chunk of the fight, up close and personal."
TW: Evelyn looks suitably impressed. "Okay, Lane, how the hell did you pull that off?"
ED: "No fear and a Handycam. The problem is, it's very shaky and we don't have the equipment to really process it here..."
TW: "So you want to use KTMP's gear to clean up the video?"
ED: "Exactly. You do it all the time, and I think we can identify the guy who put the button on Lex Luthor's big day."
AoT: Chloe with a laptop could do that. Or Jimmy. Or that one guy from a few episodes back.
TW: Dramatic effect.
AM: I do not think those words mean what you think they mean.
AoT: Certainly not on this show.
TW: "What's in it for me?"
ED: Lois considers that for a minute.
JG: Or ten.
ED: Will you stop that? "A copy for you and KTMP to use, as long as credit is properly given. But of course the Daily Planet gets their exclusive out first."
TW: Evelyn thinks about that. "Does anybody else know about this yet?"
ED: "Just my partner, but he's the soul of discretion."
TW: Evelyn sticks out her hand. "I think I can get my cameraman to set everything up. Bring the tape by in, say, an hour."
ED: Lois grins and shakes Evelyn's hand. "Then I think we've got a deal, Evelyn."
JG: And we cut immediately to a shot of the phone on Lionel's desk with the handset missing. Lionel is talking over the shot. "A deal is a deal, Senator Hayward...yes, of course I understand about your constituency. I also understand that your state is one of the three frontrunners for that new aerospace facility contract..."
AoT: Ah, to be rich and bastardly.
JG: There's no other way to live. "Yes, I'm glad we understand each other. Good day, Senator." Lionel's hand moves into the shot and puts the handset on the phone.
TW: Pan up and over to a profile shot of Lionel as he leans back in his chair, hand on his chin, deep in thought.
MR: Thinking of how Lex finally got one over on him?
JG: When was this?
MR: The Athena thing!
JG: Yes, we're coming to that...
MR: What? What are you doing, John?
JG: Lionel thinks for a few more seconds, then reaches for the phone again. It rings before he can pick it up, so he does. "Yes? Senator Kent? Put her through...Martha?"
AoT: Finally.
TW: And we cut to Martha walking into what appears to be a fairly plush living room, sunset shining through a window in the corner of the shot. She's got a cellphone balanced against her cheek as she's taking off her coat. Annette, I imagine you want to--
AoT: There was doubt? "Lionel, hi. I'm not catching you in the middle of anything, am I?"
JG: Back-and-forth cuts for the remainder of the scene. "Oh, no. Just the usual, trying to find ways to save the stockholders money...save the world..."
AoT: Martha by now is out of her coat--wait, what's she wearing?
TW: Whatever you want, Annette.
AoT [instantly]: Blue blouse, gray skirt, smoke-colored hose and high heels.
ED: Damn, Annette, you're supposed to think about your wardrobe.
AoT: I could make a trash bag look good, young lady.
JG: Which she has.
AoT: That was just the one time! I was drunk, my husband was away, that exploding baby episode had just aired--
AM [waves hands frantically]: Whoa, way too much information!
ED: I want pictures.
[TW takes out his cellphone, dials a number, and briefly whispers into it]
AoT: So...Martha makes her way over to a big couch and sits down, leaning back and putting her feet up on a coffee table. "You're good at that."
JG: Lionel chuckles. "This from the lady making waves all over Capitol Hill. Your own hidden talents never cease to amaze me."
KK: Wait. Is that...a double entendre?
AoT: "Lionel, I should probably cut the pretense."
ED: "I want you to do me like a fucking ruthless savage!"
MR: You would prefer cavemen.
JG: "Nonsense. You're good at delicately building up to things."
KK: There it goes again!
AoT: Martha laughs. "All right, all right. Have you heard anything about some West Coast senator pushing for a replacement for the Metahuman Rights Commission?"
JG: Lionel picks up a manila folder lying on his desk and looks at it. Quick cut to show a generic "ATHENA" label on the front, then back to Lionel. "A replacement? That doesn't ring any bells..."
AoT: "I haven't been able to find out much about it. Just that it's some sort of new, top-secret government project that has something to do with the Metahuman Rights Commission."
JG: Lionel puts the folder down and pauses for a few seconds to consider his words. "Martha, that actually sounds like Athena."
AoT: Martha, who at this point has taken off her shoes and is rubbing her own sore feet, pauses. "Athena?"
JG: "It's an international agency some people are putting together. Us, some of our allies..."
AoT: Profile shot of Martha wearily putting her feet back up on the coffee table, legs at full extension. [briefly looks at TW in surprise]
AM: Leg porn? We're dabbling in leg porn now?
AoT: I suppose someone needs to show you how it's done.
ED: Oh, please. We're getting along just fine, thanks.
JG: So you say.

AoT: "Let me guess. An international version of the MRC."
JG: "Not quite. Athena's purpose is to deal with significant threats to the country and its allies--metahuman or otherwise. More so the otherwise at this point."
AoT: "I see. So how do you know about it?"
JG: "Lex, actually. He's been approached to run it."
AoT: "Lex? You're kidding."
JG: "I'm quite serious, Martha. Senator Chandra came in person to offer him the job."
AoT: Martha frowns. "Chandra. First he adds that whole 'entity of mass destruction' clause to the MRA, and now he's working on something that no doubt would supersede its authority..."
JG: Lionel looks up and off-camera at a light tapping noise, then beckons someone with one hand. Cut to a tracking shot of Otis walking into the office and placing an oblong device on Lionel's desk.
MR: Is that...?
TW: Yes, it's the device Mr. Ferret gave Lex in the last episode.
MR: Dammit.
AM: At this rate, the only way Lex is really going to get over on Lionel is to kill him.
JG: That will never happen. Lex is a punk.
MR: Iron Lex will show you, old man!
JG [snorts]: Lionel picks up the device and turns it this way and that while talking to Martha. "I doubt he'll take the job, to be honest. Between rebuilding the Slab, LuthorCorp helping out with the reconstruction projects in Metropolis after the incursion and that Lobo attack, all his other obligations..."
ED: Hey, he's lying to Martha's face! Lex already accepted the job!
AoT: And Lionel is lying to Martha because...?
JG: Hello? He's a bastard?
AoT: Even to Martha?
JG [after a few seconds]: Well, a regretful one.
AoT: Martha takes a moment to unbutton the top two buttons of her blouse, rolling her head around on her neck a couple of times while rubbing the base of her neck and shoulders under the blouse. [to TW] Why are you writing Martha like an attractive woman?
KK: I was wondering that myself.
AoT: You're trying to make me forget that you haven't dealt with our friends [scowls] yet, aren't you?
TW: No, actually. And I haven't forgotten about our goddamn "friends." I thought you would just appreciate showing that Martha Kent isn't just Clark's mother...that she's a woman.
AoT: That sounds faintly insulting.
JG: And what a woman she is.
AoT: That, however, does not.
KK: Careful, John, your heterosexual side is showing.
JG [clears throat]: Okay, enough of that.
AoT [laughs]: Martha sits up on the couch, tucking her legs under her. "Lionel, I suppose something like Athena was inevitable after the incursion. Fine. But I don't want the MRC to be compromised to make way for this--it would be a disservice to the metahumans who helped us, to all the others who have done nothing wrong..."
ED: Okay, why is everybody calling it an "incursion"? What's wrong with a good old-fashioned "invasion"?
AM: It sounds more dramatic?
ED: It sounds like something from the History Channel! This is boring!

Continued...