Smallville Shower Count!

Ok, we've seen three episodes so far in the new season of Smallville. It's a good season so far, even if last night's episode was sort of lame, but there is a strange new trend on the show to depict characters in the shower as often as possible.

Episode 4.1: Lana showers in Paris. We get a full minute or two of watching her somehow much curvier silhouette behind the shower curtain. Gratuitous, but not unpleasant.

Episode 4.2: Lois busts in on Clark while he's in the shower, hijinks ensue. Also, Lionel Luthor takes a shower in prison. There are only two possible outcomes to scenes involving prison showers, and this scene follows that rule.

Episode 4.3: Radical Plastic Surgery Girl and Dumb Jock Boy make out in the boys' locker room shower, ensuring a lifetime of toenail fungus for both of them. No, wait, they're in the shower still wearing pants and shoes. I wouldn't shower in there without being mostly dressed, either. I'm not even going to count the scene with Clark in the dunking booth because it's not technically a shower, but it is sort of an overdressed bath.

So that's four shower scenes in three episodes. I wonder if they'll work one into every episode this season. I also wonder why. Did the WB tell them specifically to amp up the near-nudity content this year? Will it eventually turn into Buffy Season 6, from the glory days before UPN had a Standards & Practices department? If so, I want to see a lot more hot middle-aged action between Jonathan and Martha. They're the best TV parents ever, and quite attractive. I think part of being a good role model is letting those punk kids know that old married folks can still get it on, only it's way better because they have more experience and fewer neuroses.