I have always been a big comic book fan. And though not on the top of my stack, Superman has always been a hero that I have liked. Some found him too trendy, some just didn’t care. I respected him, and on occassion I would pick up a story arc or two.
So when they announced Smallville was coming out, I fell right in love immediately. This was the untold chapter. Pure Superman mythos gold.
Then it soon became apparent that they couldn’t keep to the Superman story of the movies or books and admittedly began to tangent introducing their own takes on the relationship of Clark and Lex as well as Kal-El’s ties to his lost homeworld of Krypton.
This has been handled as well as you could without starting a riot of geekic proportions. And so far I have been impressed with the world they are building.
That is until this season.
I have just LOVED Lana turning dark. We all know that Clark eventually ends up with Lois, but we are content to ignore that for now, but we also know that means no matter how much we want Clark to get with Lana we know it isnt going to stay. I found the Lex relationship storyline with Lana was a waste and thought it would have been far more interesting if Lana DID die at the end of last season. Now I want her to go dark and just disappear. I have no use for her alive.
Then they introduced Supergirl (Kara). I guess we didnt have enough eyecandy on the show (Lana, Lois, Chloe) so we bring in another character to attempt to recapture some of that mystery and discovery that made the first couple seasons so magical.
So Kara is innocent and almost awkward with her abilities and can’t fit in with these humans. She has to hide her powers from the one she likes as she tries to be “normal” while using her abilities to help others. Sound familiar. That was Clark the first time round. This character is useless.
I was starting to think some hack scab writer crossed the picket lines to write this story arc and then they decided to bring back Clark’s mom (Lora-El) and Kara’s dad (Zor-El) from the afterlife who reveals he is as evil as Jor-El had warned. And I let out an audible groan.
This is like watching a good friend fall to drug addiction. Something you feel so close to getting violated right before your eyes. It is painful.
The final moments of this week’s episode make me have a little hope for the series. I won’t spoil the whole episode, but the very things I didn’t like about the current direction seem to be taking care of themselves. Maybe Smallville hasn’t Jumped the Shark but they are getting lined up to do so.
I can only wait to see the next episode next month (Smallville doesn’t return until Dec 13)
This post was Authored by Rodney Brazeau, Senior Editor for the TVShow Blog and Our Resident Authority on all things Heroes and Smallville
Comments
I felt that Smallville jumped the share awhile ago. I still watch it…but have no idea why. Maybe I just hope it will get better. Even Beverly Hills 90210 grew up when the kids left high school. This show has more teen-angst than when Clark was a teen.
Lana, light or dark, annoys the hell out of me. A terrible character and a terrible actress…definitely not eye candy.
But, I still watch the show…so I have noone to blame but myself.
This show holds itself back because it won’t allow itself to move on with the established legend. Clark’s transformation into Superman doesn’t have to be an overnight thing and it would be nice spending a few seasons seeing this transition take place. At some point, the show will have to make a nod to what we all know eventually happens. Now is the time to start and it would be a story I’d love to see play out.
Smallville jumped the shark last season by having Clark pursue a married woman. Not very Supermanly, in my opinion. Then they decide to “kill” Lana and bring her back, only to put them in a relationship again! 6 years of that crap wasn’t enough, they had to beat the dead horse some more? The producers have killed this show by making Clark Kent a nutless wonder around Lana. Nice job, asshats.
he was a clone, shark not jumped
Shark still jumped, has been jumped ever since they made Lana the reason Clark and Lex dislike each other. Nice job writers, making two iconic characters look like petty high schoolers.
If you’re referring to Bizarro, he wasn’t a clone but a phantom who took Clark’s DNA and first killed people, had no concsience but when he came back to take Clark’s place became a nice person because everyone in the universe wants Lana Lang. Now Lana turns souless murderers into sex slaves. The Smallville Universe revolves around Lana and that’s always been the problem. It was supposed to be a show about Clark growing up but it’s all about poor abandoned Lana.
Lana has always been a self-centered, backstabbing witch just as she was in the comics and we should never have had to endure the horror of Clark wanting to sleep with this nasty girl, twice, the second time being especially offensive.
Clark hates Lex because he lies, kidnaps and tortures people but when Lana does the very same thing he hugs her and tells her she’s not that bad. And now, worse still, Lana accepts Bizarro as Clark and is so excited that “Clark” now wants to sleep with her again she beds Biz without a thought because after all, having a man who caters to and worships you, a guy who makes it all about Lana, is what she wants. Lana’s BFs are all interchangeable; all that matters is that she gets to be the center of the universe. She doesn’t care that “Clark” might be giving up his life, his land or his destiny and his ability to help people as no one else can.
WHy the producers of this show ever thought if was a good idea to shove Lana down our throats for seven years and trash the hero as they do it is inexplicable. Smallville jumped the shark long ago in season five with the first awful Clana sex and with a few exceptions such as Vessel and Zod, has gottten worse and worse. And don’t even get me started on the equally awful Not-at-all-like-Lois Lane. She’s another ridiculous addition to the show we could have done without.
Smallville has ruined what could have been a wonderful and memorable additon to the Superman legend and they should be thrown out of the Writer’s Guild for doing it.