TV Talk - Smallville

Hmm...Symbolism much?

So, today I am going to talk about a show that has been mentioned on this blog before: SMALLVILLE. It's true that Clark didn't become Superman until the last episode, but this is still a Superman show . I gonna try to do this type of format for the tv shows:  background, likes and dislikes of the show. I already did the best episodes in the other post.

Background
I watched the show for ten years and have seen other versions of Superman. I think that should make my background qualified enough to talk about the show.

Likes
So, what's to like about the show? There is a lot, and I'm gonna to be as short as I can.

• Lex's transformation from "gray" to evil - In the beginning, Lex wasn't EVIL (Geoff Johns, take notes). It was good that they started out Lex as not evil, but not too good either (kinda gray). We always saw that he could go towards a lighter path, but that dark path was just there waiting for him. It was awesome to see him go from trying not to be like his father to essentially becoming his father (.....by killing his father. Awkward.).
• Lionel Luthor - In the beginning, it seems like the show needed a villain of some sorts. Lionel Luthor was that villain, especially in seasons 2-4. He just wasn't a good guy. Strangely enough, his character went through a transformation in seasons 5-7. He became good, but not too good. I do have to admit that it was sad to see him go. 
• The Kents - It's here where we really see Ma and Pa Kents' influence on Clark. We see Jonathan more here than anywhere in the Superman media. Plus, they were well acted.
• Chloe Sullivan - I liked Chloe. She was  the show's Lois Lane in the first few seasons. After that, they made her Clark's confidant, and then their own version of Oracle, which was cool as well. She was spunky, nice, aggressive, and cute. 
• The slow transformation from Man to Superman - Yeah, it took a while for them to get him there...maybe too long, but oh well. His transformation was kinda like this: the Growing Years (seasons 1-4 where he was being pushed toward being a hero), the Dark Years (seasons 5-7, where it seemed like he did not want to do the hero thing), and the Daily Planet Years (seasons 8-10, where he took on the role of hero and finally wore the suit).
• Lois/Clark - It was nice seeing these two play off of each other from season 4 onward. 
• The DCU - If the show did anything right, it's that they casted the best for the heroes and villains of the DCU. Justin Hartley as Green Arrow - Cool. Phil Morris as J'onn Jones - Awesome. Lee Thompson Young as Cyborg - Not Bad. ...Blanky Blank-Blank as Aquaman - Now you're pushing it...Brah. 
• Season 9 - That season was just about all a fan could ask for: Zod, the JSA, Metallo, it was some cool stuff.
• The Acting - At times, the acting could be good.
• There's a lot I could list, but I'll stop here instead.

Oh yeah - DANIEL JACKSON AS HAWKMAN!!!

 :)

Dislikes
So, is there anything to dislike about the show? Yep, yep, and ...yep.

• "So, what do we do with Lana?" - After the high school years, they had no idea what to do with Lana. First, she's with Clark. Next, she with Lex. Then, she's pregnant, and then not preggers. Then she dies. Then she comes back. Then she's with Clark. Then she leaves "never to be seen again." Then, she's back as Trinity from the Matrix. Then she gets powers to be with Clark, but because of some dumb plot, she has to leave because she is the Smallville version of the Kryptonite Man.......See? That's a lot of stuff. When they brought her back in season 8, I thought we could get something like this: Lana comes back. She and Clark talk about maybe getting back together. Clark points at Lois. Lana understands and the two become friends. Instead what we got for the last two Lana episodes were "Power" and Requiem - two bad episodes. After that Lana never came back, and I'm kinda glad for that. 
• "Ten years.....huh?" -  I did enjoy the long, arduous ride, but ten years is still a long time especially when there are some bad eggs in that car.
• "Hey! Where's Bruce and Diana?" - Because of something (probably something stupid) Batman and Wonder Woman never appeared on the show, and that kinda sucks
• "Wah, Wah, Wah!" - Clark whined a lot throughout the show (mostly in 5-7), but he did less of it in the final years. At times, it was understandable, but at other times, it was annoying.
• "A.I. Jor-El is a Jerk!" - Nuff said. Watch the show and you'll see why.
• The acting - At times, the acting could be bad. Real bad.
• "Where was the reporting?" - What I mean by that is this: we never really saw Clark on this show do a lot of reporting, especially in the final years where he is at the Daily Planet. Now on L & C, he did a lot of reporting. They even had an awesome episode on Superman: TAS where Clark almost gets killed for reporting the news. All I'm saying here is that I wish that they focused on the "mild-mannered reporter" part of the whole mythos like they the the "hero" part instead of just showing little bits and pieces of reporting.
• There is more, but I'll stop here instead.

So, with all that said, do I recommend Smallville? Yeah, I do. It was a good show, and even though there were some bad times, it was still good. Plus, it's good to see a scifi show end on its own terms instead of it not ending on its own terms (there are too many examples to include here...sad). 

NEXT TIME: THE TIMMVERSE!!!!