Ah, here we are again. The final review, concluding the ten seasons of Smallville I have journeyed through, we are now at the end, and it is time to share how I felt about it. As is always the case with a great show, it is not easy to conclude, but alas, it has to be. The first five seasons reviews can be found here.
Overall, Smallville scores a 7/10. It is worth the watch, and I enjoyed it.
*CONTAINS SPOILERS*
Season 6
Synopsis: We get a glimpse of the Phantom Zone for the first time, and learn of the prison as it is. Lana (Kristen Kreuk) has gone into secrecy about the space ship that she saw. Huge difficulties crop up due to Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) being the vessel for the evil General Zod, and Lionel Luthor (John Glover) becoming Jor-El’s vessel. It seems as though Lionel wants to turn his life around, and starts to do what appears to be good. Lex and Lana become engaged, and Lana is pregnant. The shift in their relationship leaves Clark (Tom Welling) battered and bitter. He is still trying to deal with his father’s loss, and now his love moves into the arms of his nemesis. The first glimpse of the Justice League is shown to us, too, and quite a few more DC characters come into play. Lois (Erica Durance) dubs Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley) The Green Arrow Bandit, without knowing who it is, and Clark and Oliver strike up a deep friendship when they establish who and what the other is. Chloe (Allison Mack) falls in love with Jimmy Olsen(Aaron Ashmore), and Lois and Oliver start a rocky relationship. Lana discovers betrayal from Lex, and at the same time uncovers Clark’s secret. She is desperate to be with him, but is coerced into marrying Lex. Clark is still searching far and wide for the escapees from the Phantom Zone, and soon finds out Lionel and Lex are in the same boat. Lex has embarked on his dubious 33.1 endeavour, and it is sure to end badly. Chloe finds out that she has a meteor power, and no longer knows who she is because of it. Martha Kent (Annette O’Toole) moves off to Washington to represent Kansas at the US Senate, while Lana is killed in a car bombing. Clark vows to make Lex pay for her murder, and Lionel attempts to head him off and prevent him from doing something stupid. This all enables Bizarro, an escapee from the Phantom Zone, to get in tune with Clark’s body, and replicates him.
Best Episode: Justice
Worst Episode: Subterranean
Rating: 7.5/10. I really loved the way the skeleton of the Justice League was introduced, and was thrilled to see Oliver Queen make his debut. This season was well executed, and intense, gripping and fascinating. It started just a little rocky, but hastily gained momentum. I was disgusted at how Lana finally agreed to marry Lex. If I were him, I would have told her exactly where to get off, but I suppose the pro’s of marrying Lana to get under Clark’s skin far outweighed the cons. There were so many scenes in which the message and the cinematography completely reeled me in. Well done! I thought this season was fabulous!
Season 7
Synopsis: This season continues directly from the end of season six. Clark battles Bizarro to the end. Lex survives the fatal blowing up of the complex he was working in. Lionel has been taken by a crazy woman employed by Lana. Lana turns out not to be dead, and Lex is released for her murder, and is convinced he survived the whole drowning ordeal because he was saved by an angel. Lana returns to Smallville, and her and Clark finally begin an easy relationship. Clark is having difficulties when he discovers he has a surviving cousin, Kara (Laura Vandervoort), and that she now has to fit into earth after nineteen years in suspended animation. Lex discovers the formation and meaning of the group Veritas, and begins an in-depth and obsessed hunt for the truth behind the Traveler, that could either save or destroy the planet. Lois calls a distinct end to any future with Oliver Queen when she finds out that he is The Green Arrow, as she cannot bear the uncertainty and sharing him with the world. Before buying out The Daily Planet, Lex organizes to have Grant Gabriel (Michael Cassidy) become the new editor. Shortly after, Gabriel hires Lois and they strike up a steamy relationship, which crumbles when Lex threatens Gabriel about Lois discovering too much. Gabriel turns out to be a terrible experiment of Lex to bring his deceased infant brother, Julian, back into their lives. Lionel rises to the occasion with gusto, and is brutally disappointed when “Julian” is again agonizingly ripped from his life. Lex’s mania with Veritas and the secrets it holds reaches its crescendo when Lex confronts Lionel about a key, and ends their discussion in violence. Clark is now alone defending his secret again. Lana slips into a deep coma because of BRAINIAC (James Masters), and Clark is desperate to save her. Chloe and Jimmy move on to take the next big step in their relationship: engagement, when Chloe is kidnapped before she can answer. Lana comes out of her coma after BRAINIAC is finally destroyed, but deserts Clark and implores him not to go looking for her. Lex having uncovered the key means he can now unlock the means of controlling the Traveler, and Clark needs to stop him. There is a fierce argument in the Fortress of Solitude, and Lex takes the irrevocable step.
Best Episode: Fracture
Worst Episode: Fierce
Rating: 5/10. This was really an absolutely dreadful season! It took me forever to dredge myself through it, I really did not enjoy it one iota. It was boring, and Lana is still a bitch. However, I was insanely enthralled with the way things concluded between Lionel and Lex, I honestly did not foresee it coming. I did like the focus that was wrought on Lex’s good side that was forever waging the good war against being killed off by the darker side of Lex, and it was so well illustrated how Lex Luthor as we later know him eradicated the good. Fracture really was the perfect episode to see the broken side of Lex. The entire concept of Kara just completely got on my nerves, and it took a lot for me to try and overlook it. I was always relieved to come across an episode that did not have anything to do with her. I loved Jimmy taking a much larger part it in, and I loved his James Bond style act he had going at a stage. I did not really like this season as there were not too many twists, but tons of annoyances at every step of the way.
Season 8
Synopsis: The Fortress of Solitude has collapsed, and Clark and Lex are missing to the rest of the world. Lex’s new acting CEO of Luthorcorp, Tess Mercer (cassidy Freeman), is on a hunt to find her missing boss. Clark turns up in a Russian crime camp, and the Justice League saves him. It turns out that Chloe has been infected by BRAINIAC, and has become superiorly smarter. Clark is desperate to find a way to make it stop. Chloe returns and her and Jimmy announce their engagement to the world. Davis Bloome (Sam Witwer) makes an appearance as a paramedic, and he has a difficult relationship with Chloe. Clark finally makes the move to be in Metropolis more as opposed to on the farm, and is making a huge effort to make a difference to people. Jimmy catches a photo of “The Blur” and it is published in the newspaper as a beacon of hope. With Lois and Clark working closer together, you can almost feel the chemistry between them, and naturally they become closer. Clark is becoming more adept at balancing the hero identity and himself. Chloe takes over the Isis Foundation, and things get complicated between her and Davis. His secret threatens to come out more and more, and he refuses to acknowledge the destiny laid before him that his mother escaped the Phantom Zone to tell him about. Kara is rescued, too, but moves along rather quickly. Chloe and Jimmy get married, and it ends in turmoil when Chloe is snatched by a massive Beast, which turns out to be Davis Bloome, a.k.a Doomsday. Oliver Queen takes Lex Luthor’s life once he has been tracked down, but not before Lana Lang’s return to both Smallville and Clark. Her and Clark begin a relationship together, and Lana gets fitted with alien technology that was designed for Lex to keep him alive. Bad thing? It retains Kryptonite, and in a showdown with Lex and a Kryptonite bomb over the city, they are torn apart due to Lana having to absorb the Kryptonite, and Clark can no longer go anywhere near her. After Oliver exterminates Lex, he falls into a depression, and Clark banishes him from the League. Chloe and Jimmy have a nasty divorce when Davis convinces everyone that Jimmy is losing his mind. Chloe runs away with Davis when his suicide plan failed (seeing as he is an experiment designed to adapt to anything and everything, which makes him virtually indestructible), as she is the only person that can tame the Beast in him. The series ends with a crazy showdown between Clark Kent and the now-split-from-Davis Doomsday. Davis survives, and ultimately kills Jimmy. Clark runs away from everything, and Lois disappears into the future, while Tess brings Zod (Callum Blue) to earth.
Best Episode: Doomsday
Worst Episode: Instinct
Rating: 8/10. I really, really liked this season. It was so full of information, and new things that were happening. The only thing that really made me a bit mad was Lana’s return, as I was so glad to see her leave Clark by the end of it all last season. It was really sad, however, how they were forever parted from one another, I can only imagine that pain. I really miss watching Lex in the show, and his father scheming endlessly. Tess Mercer will take some getting used to. She is very good at what she does though. It is sad to see Oliver spiraling out of control and losing a sense of himself. I was really crazy about Davis Bloome, and was greatly saddened knowing what he was destined for, and I cannot believe how Jimmy was written out! It was cruel, and that much more depressing knowing that Davis was in his full capacity and mind when he committed such a heinous act. This season was highly entertaining and drew me in effortlessly. I thought it to be the perfect way to bounce back from the last ghastly season.
Season 9
Synopsis: Clark Ken has finally gotten on board with completely embracing his calling as a superhero, and finally goes through to complete his training with his father, Jor-El, in the fortress. He has cut himself off from everything and everyone, and literally just focuses on saving people. However, Lois returns from the future, but brings along with her an assassin from the future, and all hell breaks loose later, while the assassin dies with Clark, but not before telling him he would be the end of his people. Clark still has no idea that Tess Mercer has freed Zod and his people, but the Kandorians have a bigger problem: they are powerless under the yellow sun, and they are getting incredibly uptight about it. However, it turns out the Kandorians that have been released on earth are as they were before everything went to hell on Krypton, and Zod is still on the verge of becoming the poisoness bastard he will grow to be. Clark’s father, Jor-El, comes to earth and hides to Book of Rao, and is later killed. Clark desperately tries to have the Kandorian’s integrate with human beings, to make a place in the world, but is seriously battling with keeping the sides separate. Chloe has Tess’s best computer hacker/security guy, Stuart (Ryan McDonell), working as a mole for them. Tess is desperate to find out where Lois went for those three weeks when she had the Legion ring on, and eventually kidnaps her to get inside her head. Clark races to save her, and instead is also sucked into a ghastly future where the Kandorians have created a tower to change the colour of the sun, ultimately stripping Clark of his powers and imbuing them with theirs, and earth pretty much falls to its knees for General Zod and his army. Clark returns to the present, full well knowing what is to come, and is still convinced that he can keep the Kandorians in check alone. He does, however, destroy the RAO Tower that was supposed to make them strong while crippling Clark. Many more DC Universe characters get introduced in this season (Metallo, Roulette, Toyman, etc), and the Justice Society of America is introduced to us, the first crime fighting group that was taken down. Oliver Queen is on a really bad track, and his life is unceremoniously falling apart, and people are starting to get worried. He shuns his identity as the Green Arrow, and is later thrown into a terrible situation by Chloe, that forces him back onto the right path. Clark and Lois finally come together completely, and Oliver Queen backs off and eventually becomes extremely close to Chloe. Clark and Chloe drift apart when she is no longer purely satisfied with just being his sidekick, and weaves an intricate web of manipulation and lies and has them all hanging in the balance. Chloe has completely retreated into Watchtower after Jimmy’s death at the hands of Davis Bloome. Checkmate is presented in this season, and they are on a mission to recruit/apprehend as many superheroes as they can find and have them join their ranks. Eventually, a new player comes in and puts them out of business: The Red Queen. Oliver Queen is taken to be brought into an “army” as such, and Chloe is desperate to have him back. Zod deceives Clark ultimately, and betrays him, and the Kandorians blindly follow. Clark has to be fast in finding a way to save the world, and decides to sacrifice himself and go to the new world with his people.
Best Episode: Salvation
Worst Episode: Warrior
Rating: 7/10. The season was not bad. Not as good as the last, though. There is one specific thing that is bothering me (just before I continue): where the hell was Lana Lang when the Kandorians were taking over? Her Kryptonite shell would have been the one thing that would have brought them to their knees, or did I completely miss something somewhere? I don’t recall that suit being made with Clark’s blood, nowhere did they say she died? Don’t mistake me, I was thrilled not to see her, but I really thought with earth falling to pieces and that she would have tried to make a difference? I did like seeing Major Zod prior to his becoming General Zod, and to see Tess drown in her own twisted and underhanded game. I thought that this season was not too bad, there were quite a few things that happened, and I was thrilled to see Lois and Clark get their act together. I also think Oliver Queen and Chloe are just super sweet together. I loved the transformation that we observe with Tess Mercer gradually changing sides over, and trust being build from the roots up with the Justice League.
Season 10
Synopsis: Season ten kicks off literally moments after where season nine concluded. Clark falls to his death, where Lois finds him, blue Kryptonite jutting out of his chest, and she saves him and stalks off before Clark revives and discovers that she now knows about him. Their relationship reaches a more simplified level as Lois no longer doubts him, but begins to wonder if he will ever trust her enough to confide in her. Eventually, she runs off to Egypt, taking Perry White up on his offer as the field reporter out there in Africa. A new reporter, Cat Grant (Keri Lynn Pratt), starts at the Daily Planet at Lois’s desk, and she is everything Clark cannot gel with: silly, blond, high pitched, stupid, naive and worst of all, a vigilante hater. Tess Mercer makes a harrowing discovery of Cadmus Labs: Lex Luthor the man may be dead, but there are plenty of clones of who he was just waiting to take over, to perfect him as he was. Tess accidentally releases the “bad” Lex clone, and he razes the building to the ground. She manages to save a young child Lex, whom she dedicates time to raising, nurturing and loving, specifically so that he will not turn out the way he had before. It turns out that Chloe sacrificed herself to free Oliver Queen when he was taken and she had put on the mask of Doctor Fate. The Superheroes of the world and Metropolis are dealing with serious forces trying to out them and tag them, to exterminate and expose them, and to break the nation’s faith in them. Oliver Queen deals with Chloe leaving, and it takes a lot out of him. A dark force is permeating earth, and Clark is too angry and bitter to take it on, and his trials go cold when Jor-El blocks him out. Kara returns as Supergirl, and becomes the poster girl for the superhero movement. Clark and Lois become ever closer, and General Sam Lane (Michael Ironside)steps in to block the path and take Lois from Clark. She fights him back, and Clark asks General Lane his permission to take his daighter’s hand in marriage after all their issues are sorted out, and their sides rallied. BRAINIAC 5 arrives from the future by using the Legion ring, and gives Clark an eye opener to things that he is blatantly missing, and things that he should not be missing. General Sam Lane was fully backing the Vigilante Registration Act until The Blur saved Lois, where he becomes much more forgiving on the front. Tess Mercer discovers that the “vigilantes” have been flagged and are being tracked by Rick Flag (Ted Whittall), who will stop at nothing to ensure their safety and their identities remaining secure, even murder. Oliver Queen reveals his dual identity to the world, and registers with the VRA to see exactly what trials they will be put through, and what will be done to heroes. Colonel Slade Wilson (Michael Hogan) is in charge of the act, and seems very anti-heroes. It is established that Darkside is permeating earth far faster than anyone had ever suspected, and everyone is susceptible due to the darkness they all house in them: anger, insecurities, etc. Nobody has any idea on how to deal with it. Lois and Clark become engaged and are at their engagement party when Oliver Queen leaves early and is attacked after trying to save someone as he has gone into hiding because of the VRA, and Hawkman saves him and Lois, while at the same time sacrificing himself. Clark visits an alternate universe where he is not a hero, but a murderer, playboy and menace, with Lionel Luthor as his father, and none of his good side. The evil Clark is on our Clark’s side of the universe, and not prepared to let go. Clark eventually makes it back to the right side, sending his evil doppelganger back, but brings the other side’s Lionel Luthor back with him, posing more problems than they need. Oliver Queen is infected with the darkness, and on a mission to bring earth to its knees. Lois and Clark have one extreme bachelor party, compliments of Zatanna (Zerinda Swan), Chloe and Oliver finally tie the knot. Clark and Oliver make a trip to the Phantom Zone to destroy the portal after they tracked General Slade back on earth, and they encounter Zod, who has become a type of king who drives Oliver and Clark to fight to the death. It is discovered in this season that Tess is Lionel Luthor’s daughter, abandoned as a child, unimportant. She fights to eradicate the stigma of her past, the bonds to her family. Lex’s clone rises gloriously to the occasion to kill off Lionel Luthor, and makes an attempt on Martha Kent at an anti-VRA rally. Clark hunts him down, and it is discovered the Lex clone is forgetting his memories. Clark finds out later that half of Lex’s clone’s DNA is his own, and there is permanently a good side fighting to make itself known. Lex’s clone, Conner, also has Clark’s abilities, and Tess and Clark band together to hide Conner from Lionel, to prevent him from turning him into something so evil. The Toyman (Chris Gauthier) has banded together a group of supervillains, all out to do away with the Blur, and Lois and Clark finally attempt to tie the knot, but are interrupted when Darkside makes it known that he has possessed Oliver’s body. Clark banishes the darkness from Oliver, and Clark rushes to the Fortress to speak to his father. For the first time, Clark Kent dons the Superman suit, and learns to fly. He saves the world from the impending doom of Apokolips, the planet, colliding into them. Hope is born in Metropolis again. A bona fide Lex Luthor returns after Lionel sells his soul to have his son return by being reconstructed with all the perfect parts from the Lex clones. Seven years down the line, Clark and Lois are still not married, but Perry White is finally in his office, and Lois and Clark are higher up on the food chain. It appears that Chloe and Oliver have a little kid of their own, so happy days it would seem, and Lex Luthor steps up in the world as president.
Best Episode: Fortune
Worst Episode: Booster
Rating: 7/10. To be honest, I was enjoying the majority of this season, although I felt the nemesis for this season was not as hardcore as the others. I did not like Darkside. I thought him mediocre. I thought the whole core concept of this season was a little too bland. I loved the episode Fortune, it was buckets of fun and highly amusing, and it had a great close to it. I will not lie, I have become so overly attached to Dr Emil Hamilton. He is just too cool! I think what got to me the most is that I got goosebumps when Clark finally got the suit, but that it was shown for literally the last few minutes of the last episode of the last season! I truly felt that after ten seasons, the series finale would have been a far greater wow moment, and it wasn’t! I really do enjoy the dynamic between Lois and Clark, and I love watching Oliver and Chloe together. I was a bit disappointed by the slightly dwindling plot for a series closer, but it could have been far worse. I was thrilled to see Lex Luthor return. I wish I could express my excitement. More than anyone else that returned or was featured, he is the one character that I have missed the absolute most in the show. So to conclude ten seasons, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip down Clark’s memory lane, but I was slightly let down this last season. Apparently Smallville continues in comic book format, so I might just continue as such!
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