Source: Smallville TV series (2001-2011)
Type: TV
Let me confess something here. If I told you I'd seen more than 2 episodes of Smallville, I'd probably be lying. And those were from the first season, back when it looked like, every week, kryptonite would infect someone and give them mutant powers, inspiring Clark Kent to heroic deeds. Bo Duke was his dad. Pete Ross was black. And Luthor had been split into two, his young bald self, and his curly-haired clone body from the comics played his dad. And that is truthfully all I remember from the show. Michael Rosenbaum's Luthor had an interesting and ambiguous role in the series, but I was never too sure when the show aired on whatever Canadian station (we don't get the WB), and the set-up didn't particularly grab me. So by the time reports of Clark meeting every other Justice Leaguer in their teens came out (and then the JSA, the Legion, etc.), I was too far behind to even contemplate checking it out. And the underwhelming response to the series finale didn't send my scurrying to the store to get some kind of 10-season mega-set (is it me, or is 10 seasons for a drama too damn long?).
So it's up to you, gentle reader, to change my mind or confirm it. How did you find Tom Welling in the role? Did the series become really cool? Or was it Twilight with superheroes, a Team Clark and a Team Oliver/Lex/Arthur/Bruce? I want to hear from all the Reigndrops out there.
Type: TV
Let me confess something here. If I told you I'd seen more than 2 episodes of Smallville, I'd probably be lying. And those were from the first season, back when it looked like, every week, kryptonite would infect someone and give them mutant powers, inspiring Clark Kent to heroic deeds. Bo Duke was his dad. Pete Ross was black. And Luthor had been split into two, his young bald self, and his curly-haired clone body from the comics played his dad. And that is truthfully all I remember from the show. Michael Rosenbaum's Luthor had an interesting and ambiguous role in the series, but I was never too sure when the show aired on whatever Canadian station (we don't get the WB), and the set-up didn't particularly grab me. So by the time reports of Clark meeting every other Justice Leaguer in their teens came out (and then the JSA, the Legion, etc.), I was too far behind to even contemplate checking it out. And the underwhelming response to the series finale didn't send my scurrying to the store to get some kind of 10-season mega-set (is it me, or is 10 seasons for a drama too damn long?).So it's up to you, gentle reader, to change my mind or confirm it. How did you find Tom Welling in the role? Did the series become really cool? Or was it Twilight with superheroes, a Team Clark and a Team Oliver/Lex/Arthur/Bruce? I want to hear from all the Reigndrops out there.
Comments
The only major complaints that come to mind are Lana being kept around too long and the obvious Dawson Casting in the first few seasons.
Frankly, Rosenbaum and Glover as the Luthors were the best part.
And Michael Rosenbaum as a young Lex Luthor was exceptional; he really came across as trying to be a good man, even as his station in life (always at odds with his ruthless businessman of a father) forced him to make hard choices. And for the most part he chose to be decent; he even showed a solid altruistic streak. His fall should have been a marvelous thing. It wasn't.
The main problem the show had was, its concept ("Clark gains powers and decides to use them for good, while Lex turns evil") allowed for maybe two seasons of stories, and they stretched it out for much longer than that. The only way to do that was to introduce weird plot twists like witchcraft, other superheroes all superheroing much better than Clark IN HIS OWN SERIES, and soap opera intrigue. Lex eventually turned evil, but it was done in a casual barely-thought-out way when the script started calling for him to be evil.
As the series played out, some of Lex's most constant antagonists were the Kent family themselves: Martha was pretty reliably kind to him, but Clark and especially Pa Kent were always, always expecting the worst motives in Lex. They could have written Lex's fall around that, where he came to conclude that goodness is just self-interest patting itself on the back; that would have been an improved version of the Silver Age hair-loss explanation. Or they could have had Lex do battle with his father, take over LexCorp, and discover that power tends to consume a person (see also 1949's "All the King's Men", the same concept but political in nature).
"Smallville" should have been better than it was; unfortunately, it was a victim of its own success. If low ratings had driven it to a second season cancellation, I bet they would have wrapped up the story properly.
I swear, all of Clark's personal problems came from this Great Big Secret he was keeping (especially from Lana) but over the years pretty much everybody figured it out and nobody cared and it didn't change anything.
Nevertheless, at least once per episode someone (usually Lana) would demand Clark explain why he wasn't there when she needed him or why he wouldn't open up, or etc., etc. etc. And then Welling would open his mouth to say something, reconsider and close his mouth, and then look away.
Every. Goddamn. Episode.
It got way annoying, really fast.
But I found "Smallville" amusing enough. In addition to the reasons listed by others (Erica Durance, Lex, etc), it was a modern take on some of the silly Silver-Age Superboy stories...and no matter what haters (i.e. Chris Sims) say, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z07MMlFqGvQ
Tom Welling looks very right as Superman, it's a shame we see so little of him in the suit.