The 10 Year Train Wreck: A Goodbye to Smallville
When Smallville premiered in the fall of 2001 it was coolest idea network television had seen in decades. Having a show dedicated to the early years of Clark Kent before he became the hero everyone knows as Superman, was innovative, intriguing and heartwarming. The image of Superman has been burned into American folklore as the ultimate hero that is synonymous with courage, justice, and the American way. Seeing the origins of that character played out on television struck a nerve that is hard to put into words. For myself, I had already gotten over my childhood love of the Superman character. Smallville was not able to reinvigorate my love of Superman, but it did create a new love for Smallville.
Scenes such as Clark floating over his bed in his sleep and him accidentally burning a screen at school with his heat vision are unforgettable. These goosebump inducing scenes, directly tapped into the things that make the Superman character magic and are the shining moments in the series. Later scenes, like Johnathan Kent’s funeral and the introduction of Bizarro carried emotions ranging from tears to rabid excitement. A lot of good came from the Smallville series, but sadly, most of that good was relegated to the first 5 seasons.
These days, I look at the first season of the show with glassy eyed naivety. It was fresh, creative, interesting and almost rebellious (at least that’s how I remember it). I’m sure if I went back and watched it today I would find that my nostalgia for the season is greatly tainted. In fact, its safe to say that I loved the first 5 years of the show. However, the first 5 seasons are far from perfect. If Clark wasn’t dealing with Chloe’s freak of the week, he was whining about his on again off again relationship with Lana (a relationship everyone knows doesn’t last into adulthood). The Lex character became more and more convoluted as the years passed. Is he evil, is he good? Again, we already know the answer to this, why the Clark/Lex relationship conflict was stretched out for 7 years, is a question that can’t be answered.
Somewhere along the way the magic faded. It could have been when Michael Rosenbaum (Lex) left the show, or maybe when the majority of it started taking place in Metropolis. Even, smaller events like Lana becoming a witch, or Lionel becoming a vessel for Jor-el, were ridiculous enough to warrant the questioning of the show’s future. Many fans point to the seventh season as the shark jumping season, since that brought the aforementioned Rosenbaum departure, along with fellow cast members John Glover and Kristen Kreuk (Lionel Luthor and Lana Lang) and show creators Miles Millar and Alfred Gough.
Personally, I think Smallville should have ended around the 5th season. Not that I think the story was over at the end of the 5th season, I think the writers allowed the arc to spin its wheels for far too long. There’s only about 5 years of core story throughout the series, but by using the magic of filler, repeated themes and cleverly positioned gimmicks the CW stretched it to 10 years. Even things added to the series that fans legitimately enjoyed, like Green Arrow, Martian Man Hunter, Chloe manning watch tower, Jimmy Olsen, Clark courting Lois, and a slew of other comic characters popping in through the years, were all just filler and gimmicks.
If we are talking story beats that directly lead to Clark becoming Superman, those are few and far between and end up being jammed down the viewer’s throats repeatedly. I have grown extremely tired of characters telling Clark that he will become the world greatest hero, and Jor-el telling Clark he isn’t ready and Clark deciding to sever ties with his family and friends for their safety. The phrase “I was doing it to protect you.” has been used so prolifically in Smallville that the producers might have a case if they wanted to trademark it. These same story beats were present all the way up to the finale. Its like they assumed no one watched Smallville the past 5 years and they needed to be reminded of the basic dramatic beats of the story arc. Clark is special, he will have trouble balancing his hero life with his personal life, and he’s been prepping to become Superman for 10 years. He’s an alien but he was raised human, so the nature vs. nurture conflict is there. Oh yeah, and there’s always a new kind of kryptonite to deal with: Red, Blue, Gold, Fuchsia, Green, Eggshell, Mauve, I can’t keep all these damned things straight.
Even the wedding scene in the finale was reused. Fans might remember that a wedding was crashed by Doomsday in Season 8 (Chloe and Jimmy’s). This time it was crashed by Darkseid via Oliver Queen. For me, the last 4 years have been hit or miss, with most of the episodes being misses. The complete botching of both Bizarro and Doomsday were buzz kills and despite being promised a justice league episode, most of the “league” action is done through video conference calls and off the cuff references to the other characters actions. With Clark already being a superhero as the Red-Blue Blur (later shortened to just the Blur) the transformation into Superman has turned more and more into a superficial nomenclature change. Hell, the Blur even has a uniform. The only fundamental differences in the Blur and Superman, are that Superman flies and the Blur doesn’t stop for pictures.
If Smallville has been mediocre at best for 4+ years, why do I still watch it? Not surprisingly I had to ask myself that question many times. Its because the entire show is predicated on Clark becoming Superman. We know how the series ends and the want to see the end greatly outweighed the want to stop watching. When the end was to come, I wanted to be up to date. I wanted to know all the frivolous plot lines and the ridiculous back stories of the irrelevant characters (I’m looking at you Tess Mercer). I wanted to see Clark fly and the Red and Blue suit be unveiled. I wanted the payoff! The experience is similar to the one provided by Star Wars Episodes 1-3. We know that story ends with the birth of Darth Vader and no matter how bad the flicks were leading up to it, I was more than willing to sit through 3 mediocre Star Wars movies to see it happen.
Needless to say Smallville has more than worn out its welcome and as happy as I am to see it go, it will be sad to not have that steady stream of cheese at which to poke fun, week after week. I completely expect the CW to try and spin off characters into their own series. Chloe and Oliver are ripe for having a their own Star City drama, and both Kara Kent and/or the recently introduced Conner Kent could be easily exploited. Knowing me, I’ll probably check them out if they happen, but seeing the book finally close on the Smallville saga is a good thing, that is easy to stand behind.
