Well, it's been a while. I've started getting back into watching shows lately, but I haven't really had the drive to make full-on seasonal reviews of them, until Smallville. Being a massive ten-season show with each season containing around 20-ish episodes, there's quite a lot to sift through here, so I thought this was as good a time as any to bring TV reviews back, at least for more longform series like Smallville.
Smallville aimed to be a younger, edgier interpretation of the Superman mythos, showing Clark Kent attending school as he slowly comes to grips with his powers. It's very much a teen drama combined with a superhero show, blending together episodic Freak Of The Week storylines with a metric ton of romantic angst, and it's a surprisingly refreshing combination. With Clark's arrival came a meteor shower that hits Smallville, killing Lana's parents and leaving her a chunk of kryptonite she carries around, searing Lex's hair, and leading to a trend of kryptonite-affected "metahumans". This premise allows the show to really recontextualize Superman mythology in a way that feels natural and cohesive, and it paves the way for a Buffy-esque formula where Clark investigates kryptonite-related incidents around town with his friends from school while also keeping his powers a secret and dealing with the trials of being a teen. It all just clicks together really well. That being said, this season does feel a bit too episodic. While there is a sense of continuity and a few running subplots across the season, there isn't one grand storyline tying the entire season together. The whole season feels pretty quaint and small-scale, though I'm assuming that's intentional and will change as the show goes on.
Such a procedural formula needs a strong cast that I'd want to follow over the course of the season, and thankfully, Smallville has quite the great cast, for the most part. Tom Welling makes for a really great Clark Kent, he just gets every aspect of the character down pat. His grounded farm boy naivety, his dorky awkwardness with others, his noble selflessness, and on top of all that, he simply looks the part. The fact that Clark in this show is still a volatile teen who doesn't have full control of his powers yet also allows me to actually feel scared for him when he gets in over his head. Of course, Michael Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor is great too, and his friends-fated-to-be-enemies dynamic with Clark is super engaging even if it's laid on a bit thick. Regardless, if Lex has a major role in an episode, he's likely to be the most interesting part of it. Clark's show-original friend Chloe Sullivan was also a surprise highlight (barring all that controversy with her actress), she has the quick-witted snark and go-getting personality of a Lois Lane but has just enough added dorkiness to help her stand out as her own character. Lana Lang didn't really land for me at first, Kristin Kreuk's performance felt really wooden for the first half of the season and most of Lana's scenes felt dull and sullen. Thankfully, Lana did improve in the final stretch as she showed off her assertive side more and Kreuk's acting improved, but she was still probably the weakest link most of the time.
Highlights:
Nicodemus: While most of this season was enjoyable on a base level, there weren't many individual episodes that really impressed me, except for Nicodemus. This episode was just pure fun. The main premise is about a mysterious flower that removes the inhibitions of everyone who sniffs its pollen, from Jonathan Kent going full rage mode, to Lana trying to hit on every male character in her close radius, to Pete almost murdering Lex out of jealousy. I just love how unabashedly nuts this episode was, there's a very chaotic and campy energy to it all. Kreuk gets to ham it up as uninhibited Lana, and the climax has a super fun bit where Clark pretends to be infected by the flower.
Tempest: If there's one thing I knew about Smallville prior to watching it, it's that its infamous for its chaotic, cliffhanger-heavy season finales, and Tempest was one hell of a first impression. I've always had a soft-spot for the trope of paralleling a dramatic story beat with a literal storm, and Tempest ends the season with a giant tornado hitting Smallville and affecting pretty much every character. Lana getting swept up in the tornado, Clark ditching Chloe at prom to save her, the ship activating right in front of Martha, Jonathan chasing Roger Nixon out into the storm over proof he has of Clark's powers, and Lex having to decide whether or not to let his father die to falling debris, that's five goddamn cliffhangers! But on top of that, Tempest also manages to bring every character's arc to a pretty satisfying close, so it doesn't feel like an incomplete episode. It's everything a good season finale should be, just amped up to eleven.
Overall, Smallville's first season was fun, but it was definitely meant to be a more simple introduction to the series. The cast is strong and the formula is solid, but the individual episode quality didn't truly impress me, the acting had a bit of growing pains, and plot progression was minimal. However, the show definitely has its hooks in me and with such a slam-bang finale, I'm very excited to see how it evolves in Season 2.
2/5 Stars
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