Smallville (The WB / The CW)

FRAGILE
If I'm not mistaken, this was Tom Welling's directorial debut. And it turned out to be a pretty good episode. A little girl who's a second-generation meteor freak has the ability to break glass. So, she is blamed for the murder of her foster mom. Clark doesn't believe she did it and goes to great lengths to prove it. And...he was right. It was a neat episode because it showed that Clark isn't as cynical as those around him. Also, this was the episode where Lex and Lana hook up.

MERCY



WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS IS A SAW RIP-OFF?

This episode is a bit annoying. Recently, we were all complaining about the season 10 episode where they ripped-off the Hangover. But it was a harmless filler episode. You could just ignore it. Here, however, we have a case where a rip-off can't be ignored because it's also a MAJOR episode. This is the one where Lionel and Martha's relationship takes an interesting turn. This is the one where Lionel tells Lex that Clark is a son a father can be proud of. YIKES. This is the episode where Lionel reveals that being Jor-El's vessel has allowed him to gather knowledge about Clark and everything Krypton. This is the episode where Clark becomes a man and threatens Lionel. So, as you can see, this is one of the more important season 5 episodes and yet it's also a Saw rip-off. Great.

This episode aired on April 20, 2006. So, that might explain the following:


FADE
This is the third episode in season five where Lois Lane is half-naked. We see her doing sit-ups while in a sports bra and short-shorts. She has to keep that body toned. There's also a shower scene where she's being stalked by an invisible man.

Here's what I said back then:


I will agree that I preferred Lois in season 4. Anyway...

ORACLE
After like...half a season...the show gets back on the horse. Here we are treated once again to the storyline that the writers and producers seemed to have forgotten about for a while. Brainiac shows up and causes some trouble. Lionel uses his vessel skills. And it's a nice set-up for the season finale.

Here's what I said back then:

The season 6 journey begins...

This will be my last journey for now. I already re-visited season 7 during the summer. And, seasons 8 and 9 are recent enough that I don't need to re-visit them. Although, I need to re-watch some episodes so I can make a proper top 10 list. But we'll get to that sometime in the future. When Smallville ends in May, I'll just rank the seasons instead. I'll leave the episode rankings to Tornado.

But, anyway...

ZOD
This season premiere was pretty cool. For a second, I forgot I was watching Smallville. In season 5, the show did a 180. In season 6 it REALLY did a 180. Here, we see the Phantom Zone for the first time...ever. I don't think any other adaptation of Superman has shown the inside of the Phantom Zone. There, Clark meets another beautiful woman he'll never have sex with. She helps him escape and he returns to defeat General Zod. I think this was the first episode of Smallville that FELT like a Superman story. They really pulled all the right strings. But, at the end, you're reminded that it's Smallville. When Clark escaped the "Zone" he allowed a few Phantoms out. So, now, instead of Freaks of the Week it's gonna be Phantoms of the Week. I guess that's an improvement, but we know this show doesn't handle those type of storylines well.

Here's what I said back then:

Season 6 journey continues...

SNEEZE
Clark finally gets super breath. Hooray!

WITHER
In this episode, Lex and Lana have sex. Chloe and Jimmy take things to the next level. Oliver and Lois begin their romance. And...Clark is fighting Poison Ivy. So, everyone got laid except him. How typical. He's the new Chloe.

Here's the amusing conversations we had back then:



Oh, wow. MySpace. I had forgotten about that Smallville page. lol.

Season 6 journey continues...

REUNION
This is another one of those Lex origin episodes. We learn that when he was in high school he was bullied by Oliver Queen. But he desperately wanted to be his friend so he could be one of the cool kids. But his actual friend wasn't into that, so Lex got pissed and almost killed him. Meh. The only thing I found interesting about this episode is that the kid who played HS Lex is the same one they hired for Conner Kent.

This was the discussion back then:


Yeah, I still love the Lois & Clark thing. It reminded me of season 4. But anyway,

FALLOUT
This is the episode where Lil' Bow Wow plays a Phantom. I had actually forgotten about this episode. And now I know why.

This was the discussion back then:



RAGE
The hatred, by some, for Green Arrow started with this episode. He becomes a "drug addict" and becomes loose cannon. In many ways, it was a preview of the Green Arrow that would become common place in seasons 8 & 9. Although he said one thing that rang true and made me laugh. In one of his drug-influenced rages he asks Clark when's gonna get off his butt and do something. I laughed because Clark really needed to hear that. I don't think Clark has ever been more useless than in seasons 5 & 6. He really isn't doing s--t.

This was the discussion back then:


Yeah, that Lionel stuff was stupid. I know he's getting soft ever since Jor-El began to use him as a vessel, but that doesn't mean he should be invited to Thanksgiving dinner. Honestly, I think when Lionel went to prison in season 3 he should have stayed there. He was really useless during seasons 4 thur 7. I mean, really, why would Jor-El use Lionel as a vessel. Of all the people he could have chosen, he chooses the damn villain. Come on, now! But whatever, I guess it was nice to see him get pushed out of a window in season 7.

SEASON 6 JOURNEY CONTINUES. . .

STATIC
Here's what I said back then:


My opinion remains the same. So anyway, I decided to skip Subterranean, but that episode gave us the first preview for Justice. Let's take a moment to re-visit those initial reactions:



HYDRO
This is like the third episode that Tom Welling directs. Or maybe second. I don't know. But anyway, it was great. Not because of the plot itself, but because of the moments involving Clark, Oliver, Lois, and Jimmy. When Clark dressed up as Green Arrow and kissed Lois it was fantastic.

JUSTICE
This was the conversation back then:



There's not much I can add. Justice continues to be one of the best episodes of the series.


CRIMSON
I skipped Labyrinth even though that was the episode that gave us a proper introduction to the Martian Manhunter. In truth, Martian Manhunter was completely wasted on this show. They never took full advantage of him. So, I decided not to waste my time with such an episode. Anyway, Crimson was a pretty awesome episode. Season 6 is a little weak, but it gave us three episodes that are top ten contenders and this was one of them. In many ways, season 6 is like season 3. It's a bunch of standout episodes in an otherwise un-even season. One of those standout episodes in season 3 featured Red-K Clark. And here, in season 6, we get another one of those. But this time it's a little different. Instead of using Red-K Clark to show the Man of Steel loosen up a bit, we get a soapbox. I suspect that by this point the writers were frustrated by Gough & Millar. Maybe even the network. And definitely Tom Welling who has been rumored to have had a falling out with them. Keep in mind that season 7 was their last. In one infamous scene, Red-K Clark crashes Lex and Lana's engagement party and totally b---h slaps everyone in the room. He calls out every character on their bull s--t. It was glorious! It was almost like sending out a message to Gough & Millar. This is what these character's have been reduced to.

This was the conversation back then:

I don't know, dude. Your posts usually appear a bit late. It's your role in this thread. You're the foreigner. It's like how every season John is super excited in the beginning, loses interest somewhere in the middle, and then gets back into it at the end. Everybody has their own unique contribution to this thread.

I was going to do this after I finished re-visiting the previous seasons, but Tornado opened the door, so let the games begin.

MY RANK:

1) SEASON 2 - Smallville may have lasted 10 seasons and gone in a wildly different direction halfway through but we were initially promised a series about Clark Kent's coming of age. Season 2 gives us all of that without relying on gimmicks and teen soap operas. Now of couse, this series isn't perfect. We only love it because it's about Superman. If it wasn't, we would have kicked it to the side like Heroes. So there are some flaws to acknowledge. Jor-El being a jackass was stupid. Clark acted irrational most of the time. And the Native Americans were not given their proper due.

2) SEASON 3 - Clark and Lex are the two central characters. And this is the season where things blow-up in their face. Clark caused a big mess in the season 2 finale and it haunts him the entire season. He also struggles with his friendships. Pete turns into an idiot, Chloe backstabs him, and Lana leaves the country. Meanwhile, Lex goes after his father and doesn't win. The big flaw about this season is that it's too un-even. Gough & Millar made the silly mistake of creating seperate plotlines for the two halfs of the season.

3) SEASON 6 - This season suffers from the same problems as season 3. It's un-even. The two halfs are almost un-related. It also has another flaw. The second half of the season is terrible. I really did not care about the Lex-Lana bull s--t. The first half of the season, however, is awesome. Green Arrow is the best thing that ever happened to this show. He was the series' first true superhero and showed Clark how it's done.

4) SEASON 4 - Lois Lane's introduction was brilliant. They used her to the fullest potential and gave her a great deal of screentime with Clark. I loved every minute of it. I also enjoyed the story arc featuring Clark as a HS football hero. They were a bit cheesy but loads of fun. However, I could not stand that stupid "Lana as a witch" plotline.

5) SEASON 7 - Despite what Tornado says, this season was good. It was the series' natural conclusion. Gough & Millar were just too stupid to realize it. All the major running plots came to an end. Dr. Swann's secret society finally came to light. We also got to explore more Kryptonian backstory thanks to Kara. That even included Clark getting to meet his mother. It was refreshing considering that we had been dealing with jackass Jor-El for 6 seasons. So, in other words, Clark finally discovered that his parents weren't all that bad. Kara showing up was great. She finally motivated Clark to get his s--t together. The Clark and Lana nonsense finally stops. Meanwhile, Lex pushed Lionel out of a window and embraced his dark side. The season's biggest flaw, as mentioned earlier, is that Gough & Millar didn't wrap things up. Clark should have dumped Lana's butt when he realized that Bizarro would love her like he never could. Clark shouldn't have been such a wimp and learned what he needed to from Kara. Clark and Lex should have come to blows FOR REAL. Now, how do you fit Superman into this? Well... with an open ending. Lois gives Clark the application to the Daily Planet. He fills it up and joins. In his free time, he has Martha or Kara make him a suit and the series ends with Clark giving the suit a test drive. I know that isn't very exciting, but then again, I have my doubts of season 10 ending with Clark fighting Darkseid in the suit.

6) SEASON 10 - This season feels like an exhausting conclusion. We are getting nice things, but it took an awful long time to get here. This show over-stayed it's welcome. Let's just be honest. There's only two ways that Smallville should have lasted 10 seasons. The first option is if he had stayed in college. Season 5 thru 8 would have been the college years. Clark is getting his degree in journalism and dealing with Professor Fine from time to time. Then in seasons 9 & 10 he's in Metropolis, working at the Daily Planet, and starting his superhero persona. The other option is Clark traveling the world after high school. But we got neither of those. And so, this show lasted too long. It might not seem that way right now, but trust me, once you started re-watching the seasons you'll realize how tiresome things get after a while.

7) SEASON 9 - Clark finally became a superhero. We got the Absolute Justice episode. Lois & Clark started to date. All of those were good. But... Zod was a waste and the Suicide Squad ultimately did nothing.

8) SEASON 8 - Lana was gone. That was nice. Lois & Clark were working together at the Daily Planet. That was nice too. Green Arrow became a series regular. That was pretty cool, I guess. Although I preferred him in season 6. HOWEVER, Doomsday was a MAJOR letdown. Jimmy Olsen turns out to be a fake. So his three year relationship with Chloe was a waste.

9) SEASON 5 - This season was a turning point for the series. It moved closer to Superman and the mythology. We started getting classic villains instead of the meteor infected criminals. That was nice for a change. Sadly, Brainiac wasn't used to his full potential and the season had WAY too many filler episodes.

10) SEASON 1 - Four words: Freaks of the Week.

APRIL 15, 2011

Tess Mercer cleavage.






APRIL 16, 2011

So, it seems like HDNet is no longer gonna air Smallville. It's amazing how much this show has struggled in syndication. If I recall correctly, it didn't last too long on ABC Family a few years back. And now this. It makes you wonder if the series will have much of an after life. I'm sure TNT will air it at some point. So, we'll have to wait and see.

I generally lost interest to an extent because of all the hiatuses the show would take. I'm not very good at watching shows week to week, I'm a much bigger fan of watching at my own pace.

So shocking. She always seemed so sweet on the show and the last person I would expect to be sex trafficking young girls.

We’ll see more as the story develops... but man that is super messed up.

I would say this could hurt her acting career, but her acting career died after smallville 😂

Yeah, that's been brewing for a while now.  I first heard about the sex cult thing back when the show had just ended.  Reports that she was getting busted soon have been being reported for about a month now.  So messed up.  I gotta wonder if she gave all her Smallville money away to the cult.