Wow, been awhile, but I can't let the series finale of one of the longest running shows, a show I grew up with, go by without saying something about it.
Smallville was my, as well as many others I'm sure, first introduction into not only the Superman mythology, but the entire DC Universe, as well. I started watching the show when I was 12 years old. It was already well into it's third season, but I caught up through re-runs and syndication. Smallville started in a time when the DCU was waning in popularity. Marvel had just entered the movie making business and found huge success with the first Spider-man film. After that there was an onslaught of superhero movies and animated series from the Marvel universe.
Looking back on the first couple of seasons, Smallville seems like the typical teen melodrama except the main character had superpowers. Despite soup opera nature of the earlier seasons, there was still an amazing story buried beneath it all. The tragic tale of the doomed friendship between Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, destined to be mortal enemies, Clark finding new powers as he grows older, learning how to control them, and use them for good, and Clark eventually learning about his origins and his greater purpose in the world.
Halfway through its run Smallville switched its focus. It was no longer a superhero teen drama and started becoming its own miniature version of the DCU. At this point the show already left Smallville and was mostly centered in Metropolis. This was when they expanded the Smallville story and started adding many other superheroes to the mix. Now Clark was no longer the only one trying to figure out this whole hero thing. It really helped add to the sense that this was really the DC Universe and not just Smallville.
For whatever reason, when it comes to movie adaptations (except Batman) DC can never get their act together these days. This is what made Smallville so great for a lot of hardcore DC fans. It was like this persistent DC Universe on TV, loaded with cameos from some of the more obscure DC characters. Green Arrow, Impulse, Booster Gold, Dr. Fate, Hawkman, the list goes on. Smallville was the only place to see live action versions of these characters, since many are so out of the mainstream movie adaptations are simply out of the question. When are we ever going to get a Green Arrow movie, let alone a good one? As someone who rarely reads comics I only know the Marvel Universe from all their movies and I only know DCU, in all honesty, because of Smallville.
Any show that goes on for ten years will obviously have its share of bad episodes, and unfortunately in Smallville's case, the bad outweigh the good. Looking back, so many seasons were filled with pointless and uninteresting story arcs and poor character development. Lex Luthor marrying Lana Lang, Clark visiting Krypton through some time portal, Jimmy Olsen dying, but him not being the real Jimmy Olsen so it's okay, Doomsday (infamous as the only creature to ever kill Superman) taken out in a fight lasting only one minute, numerous terrible movie parodies like Saw, the Matrix, and James Bond. Smallville has had a lot of rough spots, yet I and so many others stuck with the show throughout its run. Why? Because when the show is good, it can be some of the best Superhero action seen on the small screen. Episodes like "Justice," the one always mentioned, focusing on the exploits of the soon-to-be Justice League, "Justice Society" where Clark meets the remaining members of the Justice Society and gets a glimpse at Check Mate and the Suicide Squad, meeting the Legion of Superheroes, stopping BrainIAC when he possessed Chloe. The list doesn't end there. Wrapped up in the bad seasons there are still a lot of great moments worth revisiting; the death of his adopted father Johnathan Kent, meeting his real father Jor-El for the first time, the creation of the Fortress of Solitude, the introduction of Lois Lane, time traveling to the future and seeing his destiny first hand, going to the Phantom Zone (several times), meeting the then Major Zod, stopping a nuclear bomb. These are the reasons I tuned in every week.
And now Smallville has come to a close, but its impact on the DCU will live on. Many characters introduced on Smallville, like Chloe Sullivan, have found their way into the comics. Many people now know about the smaller DC characters who are rising in popularity. A lot of people I'm sure will be upset with the lack of action we got to see Clark actually do in the Superman suit, but I felt satisfied. Smallville was never about Clark Kent as Superman, it was his journey to become him. We got to see Clark save the day one last time as the man we all knew he would one day become. That's good enough for me. I've stuck with Smallville for close to its entire run, through all of the good and A LOT of the bad. I'm glad the show has finally given us closure, but I have to say I'm going to miss it.
Peace.
