SupaScoot's Smallville Review Part 2

Season 1 & 2 - "Kill Me Now"


Smallville first aired October 16, 2001. I was 15 years old, and firmly rooted as a die hard comic geek. I first heard of Smallville in the pages of Wizard Magazine, where I got most of my comic news at the time, like most of my fellow comic brethren.


I was ecstatic. One of my all time favorite heroes in a live action TV show? I couldn't have been happier. And then I watched it.


Keep in mind I was a dedicated trivia nerd. Continuity was huge for me, and I knew all of the ins and outs. So obviously one major thing bothered me throughout my early viewings.


What in the hell was Lex Luthor doing in Smallville? That didn't happen in the comics, I can assure you. A point I used quite a bit that year as I tried to follow the first season. This isn't how it happened, that's all wrong, why isn't he flying? Who the hell is Chloe Sullivan?


But I drifted out of interest. The show wasn't what I wanted my Superman to be. So I left it. 


During my time re watching the first season, I felt a lot of the same feelings come around. But I was dedicated.


Doesn't mean I enjoyed it. 


I'm going to go through the seasons using different categories to keep me from rambling and jumping all over the place. I'm also covering the first and second seasons together, because frankly, they kind of blended together for me. So let's get started.


The Cast 

Tom Welling - Clark Kent 
Michael Rosenbaum - Lex Luthor
Kristin Kreuk - Lana Lang
John Schneider - Jonathan Kent
Annette O'Toole - Martha Kent
John Glover - Lionel Luthor
Allison Mack - Chloe Sullivan
Sam Jones III - Pete Ross


Guest Stars that caught my attention:
Amy Adams, Eric Christian Olsen, Tony Todd, Shawn Ashmore, Adam Brody, Krista Allen, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Paul Wesley, and the original Man of Steel; Christopher Reeve.


Where to start. I guess I'll talk about who I liked first, because it's quicker. 

The best casting choice of this entire show easily goes to John Schneider. He made one of the best Pa Kent's I've ever seen, because he was believable. I believed that man had worked hard on his family's Kansas farm his whole life, and his sincerity when it comes to cleaning up Clark's mess was... well... inspiring. 


Not to put down Annette O' Toole's contribution to the family. Also a great Ma Kent, the type of Ma everyone wants to have. Supportive, understanding, bang on. Dramatic... very dramatic.


Michael Rosenbaum pulled off a good Lex, but as I said, I had trouble with him being in the show at all. I know, what good is it to have a Superman show and not have Lex in it. I get it. But at the time I started this I was still pretty dead set on keeping my grasp on continuity. It was easy to let go and move with the story, however, because I was intrigued by the goodness he portrayed, with that hint of future evil always on the sidelines.


Tom Welling... meh. Seriously, I just felt so bored watching him all the time. I get that he was trying to act out Clark's penchant for keeping things internal, but it came off pretty stiff most of the time. 


Lana... I might have liked her if she wasn't with Whitney (Eric Johnson) all the time. That dude was seriously the worst character on the entire show. Hands down. But because of him, I pretty much dreaded every scene Lana was present in. Especially since she spent most of the time in silent dramatic stares, near tears. Your stronger than that Lana...

Chloe I have a love/ hate relationship with. Sometimes her character is just too good, too chippy, too much. But what I love is her place on the show. In the early seasons, she is invaluable to Clark, as well as part of the inspiration for his own reporting career. And Allison Mack pulls off the part well, no doubt. 


Pete I liked from the get go. It wasn't the best acting I've ever seen, but I almost got the sense that Sam Jones III knew that, and worked with it accordingly. He knew that whatever his scene was in required a dumbing down, and I learned to enjoy that. Especially once he finds out about Clark's abilities.

And the best choice for the role model of the series was John Schneider, but best villain? John Glover. Man, Lionel is the greatest. Really, I wish Lex would have died on that bridge and we could deal with Lionel for the rest of the series. Bad ass. That's all that needs to be said.


The Story


Ummm... what story? 


No central theme, connecting factors, just one meteor rock infected freak after another. It's a tried and true method of TV, the 'Freak of the Week" story. Sure, Clark learned a lot about his powers, but there's only so many new characters with lame powers that you can take.


There was a chick who could control Bees, a dude who goes all insect, a chick who eats kryptonite infected vegetables to get skinny. I'm not even making that up. Whitney got a kryptonite tattoo which allowed him to walk through walls. Pure comedy. But not really, humor is pretty scarce in these seasons.


The one benefit to the FotW style of TV, was the frequent appearance of guest stars. There were some good showings, like Adam Brody as a telekinetic art psycho. But there were a lot of bad ones, like JTT and his appearance as two JTT's. That alone almost condemned this show in my mind.

And if it isn't a Freak of the Week, it's an episode where someone finds out about Clark, but he's so clever they decide it wasn't him, or something happens that causes them to forget the discovery. This town would have a Guinness record for most cases of random amnesia per capita. 


And very lackluster season finale's, that bring about so much possibly cool stuff, but then totally disregard it in the following season premiere. Lana sees Clark FLYING IN A TORNADO as he rips the door like tissue paper and saves her life. Holy shit, she just found out about Clark... oh wait, amnesia. I forgot that's how we solve problems in Smallville. LAME.


The one thing I do love is the use of Red Kryptonite in the series. It actually makes Tom Welling enjoyable to watch. I think he does some of his best acting under the influence of kryptonite, or being possessed, or whatever takes him over.


Other than that, I obviously wasn't too impressed with the first 2 seasons story lines... or lack thereof. 


The Smallville-ness


In this section we'll cover set, direction, lighting, wardrobe, etc. Everything that makes the show what it is, pretty much.

First we'll talk about the set. The town of Smallville, and the various locales our merry bunch hang out at. The Kent farm is a key part of the show, especially Clark's barn loft, which is awesome. I would have loved that as a kid. As I watched through the seasons there was always something new to look at in the loft, quirky little pieces from Clark's childhood. 


I loved the little touches, like the microscope in the loft. Sure, he can use it to look in on Lana, but an adopted alien looking to the stars for answers? That one kind of writes itself. 

Most of the locations in the show primarily reflect the character who occupies them. The Talon is Lana's home away from home, and it's really got her style and attitude etched on the walls. Chloe's office is all conspiracied up, as she is most of the time.  I love Lex's mansion, one of the more sophisticated sets of the show. But seriously, doesn't that guy work? I wish I was rich enough that I could work from home... EVERY day.


And then we move to the worst part of the show, which is unfortunate as it's kind of the main theme. The High School. Nothing too spectacular here, it looks like a high school. Full of freaking kids with problems. Some of the hardest scenes to watch, i just really found myself not caring.


Which leads us to the direction. I think whoever was in charge of each episode was given a set of rules to keep the show coherent and fluid. Probably one rule... go watch Days of our Lives for a few weeks. And then do that... but with superpowers and teenagers. Throw in a copious amount of long stares and dramatic pauses set to music, and we're golden.

Really brings out the teen angst in their eyes, but I guess that's the roots of the show. I learned to accept it... after a few seasons. Much like I learned to deal with the West Wing influences walk and talk, and the repetitive amount of highways Clark manages to save people on, but they do manage to get some beautiful area shots of the Kansas cornfields.


Moving on to the wardrobe, I really only have one thing to say. How many red and blue shirts and jackets can Clark possibly own? That's why he lives in the barn loft, the house won't fit his gigantic multi-colored collection. The lack of glasses bother me, but young Clark didn't wear them in Donner's Superman, so I can move past that.


The Wrap-Up


I know, I can ramble on for a while. So I'll try to summarize my feelings on these seasons. Did I enjoy the first couple of seasons? 


No, not really. It was honestly hard to get through them, and if I hadn't been as dedicated as I was, I would have quit. I will say that after the finale of Season 2, I was almost looking forward to Season 3. It's that damn Red Krypto, it wins me over anytime. 


We'll cover Seasons 3 & 4 next time, which was also not an awesome chapter of my life... Mainly because I had listened to this about 50 times already:

<--- Part 1              Part 3 --->        

                                                                  (coming soon)