Smallville Redux
Smallville got off to a great start. The special effects had reached the point where this kind of show could be done believably (I still remember that poor stunt man being hauled straight up the side of a building in the old Spiderman series). The chemistry between the actors was better than average, the pace of the episodes was well done, and the writing was better than expected- for the most part...
One problem writing for Superman is finding a villain worthy of the Dude of Steel. Very few of any real-world enemies or problems would require more than a second or two for Superman to put down. For Smallville this issue was addressed in part by having kryptonite radiation induce superpowers in humans (The pilot started with baby Kal-El's ship landing while Smallville and surrounding parts of rural Kansas was blasted by a meteorite shower). An interesting idea on paper, it rapidly devolved into a regular crutch the fans dubbed the KFOTW (Kryptonite Freak of the Week).
Another problem was Clark himself. Granted part of the premise was that while teens normally go through their "I'm all alone/weird/outsider and no one understands me" phase, this would be especially trying for Clark. And I can see how he would feel more isolated than most people; he learns he isn't even remotely human, he has to be careful about revealing his secret powers (and he develops new ones every season)- he has to be careful in even normal social interaction; he can shatter people's bones with just a casual touch.
Properly used, this could have been one of the series strongest points. Again, it was done to death- and beyond. Every week we see Clark whining about how special and alone he is, how his secrets have cut him off from his One True Love, Lana Lang... it reached the point that even on-screen, Chloe made a remark about his "Super-whining." Yeah, being able to finish a day's farm chores in two minutes sucks. Being able to see through things is such a terrible curse (Any other teenage boy, they'd never be able to pry him away from the girl's locker room). And in a town as violent as Smallville, being impervious to almost every known weapon is such a horrible burden- poor, poor alien...
Unfortunately, too many episodes also centered around Clark being impervious to clues, as well (not that he was alone in that; except for Chloe the meteorite shower seemed to have lowered the average intelligence of the entire town). I can accept superpowered metahumans and non-humans, evil secret corporate laboratories, and even the introduction of Lois Lane way too soon... but how super-dense was Clark that he kept mooning over Lana when there was a beautiful, brainy world-class hottie like Chloe mooning over him??
And then once Clark finally got Lana, he kept pushing her away to protect his "secret." Forcenturies at least two or three seasons they would get together only to break up again over the Mystery That Is Clark Kent. And really, how dim does Lana (as well as half the town) have to be to not have noticed already that There's Something About Clark?
But the biggest mistake the producers made was to scuttle the Clark/Lex friendship too soon. Ideally, we should have seen their friendship grow over the years, to the point where they thought of the other as a brother... and then some cataclysmic event leaves each one feeling betrayed by the other. It's betrayal by one you love that leaves a deep and powerful hatred. By having their friendship strained and suspect by the first season finale, their bond never really grew that strong. You can't feel betrayed by anything an enemy- or even a casual acquaintance- does.
This ties in with their second mistake. Lex was originally shown as a young man who wanted to be a good man, to rise above his darker nature, but who was raised by an ultra-Machiavellian father. Instead of seeing him struggle to embrace his nobler sides in spite of his upbringing, Lex started randomly being good or evil, depending on what the script needed for the week. Still, Glover and Rosenbaum played their characters so well that even this season's weekly scenes of Lex and Lionel arguing over who's turn it was to be evil this week were often the most compelling part of the whole episode.
Re-reading the above it must look like I'm trashing the show. That wasn't my intention; I still rank Smallville as one of the best superhero series TV has produced. It's just that in the last few seasons the show has stumbled over some of their own mis-used premises. I think it's still a good show, it's just that I can see how it could have been awesome.
One problem writing for Superman is finding a villain worthy of the Dude of Steel. Very few of any real-world enemies or problems would require more than a second or two for Superman to put down. For Smallville this issue was addressed in part by having kryptonite radiation induce superpowers in humans (The pilot started with baby Kal-El's ship landing while Smallville and surrounding parts of rural Kansas was blasted by a meteorite shower). An interesting idea on paper, it rapidly devolved into a regular crutch the fans dubbed the KFOTW (Kryptonite Freak of the Week).
Another problem was Clark himself. Granted part of the premise was that while teens normally go through their "I'm all alone/weird/outsider and no one understands me" phase, this would be especially trying for Clark. And I can see how he would feel more isolated than most people; he learns he isn't even remotely human, he has to be careful about revealing his secret powers (and he develops new ones every season)- he has to be careful in even normal social interaction; he can shatter people's bones with just a casual touch.
Properly used, this could have been one of the series strongest points. Again, it was done to death- and beyond. Every week we see Clark whining about how special and alone he is, how his secrets have cut him off from his One True Love, Lana Lang... it reached the point that even on-screen, Chloe made a remark about his "Super-whining." Yeah, being able to finish a day's farm chores in two minutes sucks. Being able to see through things is such a terrible curse (Any other teenage boy, they'd never be able to pry him away from the girl's locker room). And in a town as violent as Smallville, being impervious to almost every known weapon is such a horrible burden- poor, poor alien...
Unfortunately, too many episodes also centered around Clark being impervious to clues, as well (not that he was alone in that; except for Chloe the meteorite shower seemed to have lowered the average intelligence of the entire town). I can accept superpowered metahumans and non-humans, evil secret corporate laboratories, and even the introduction of Lois Lane way too soon... but how super-dense was Clark that he kept mooning over Lana when there was a beautiful, brainy world-class hottie like Chloe mooning over him??
And then once Clark finally got Lana, he kept pushing her away to protect his "secret." For
But the biggest mistake the producers made was to scuttle the Clark/Lex friendship too soon. Ideally, we should have seen their friendship grow over the years, to the point where they thought of the other as a brother... and then some cataclysmic event leaves each one feeling betrayed by the other. It's betrayal by one you love that leaves a deep and powerful hatred. By having their friendship strained and suspect by the first season finale, their bond never really grew that strong. You can't feel betrayed by anything an enemy- or even a casual acquaintance- does.
This ties in with their second mistake. Lex was originally shown as a young man who wanted to be a good man, to rise above his darker nature, but who was raised by an ultra-Machiavellian father. Instead of seeing him struggle to embrace his nobler sides in spite of his upbringing, Lex started randomly being good or evil, depending on what the script needed for the week. Still, Glover and Rosenbaum played their characters so well that even this season's weekly scenes of Lex and Lionel arguing over who's turn it was to be evil this week were often the most compelling part of the whole episode.
Re-reading the above it must look like I'm trashing the show. That wasn't my intention; I still rank Smallville as one of the best superhero series TV has produced. It's just that in the last few seasons the show has stumbled over some of their own mis-used premises. I think it's still a good show, it's just that I can see how it could have been awesome.
