Pulling the Plug on Smallville

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Pulling the Plug on Smallville
By Philip Schweier
April 6, 2009 - 17:16

One of the great things about being married to a non-comics person is I sometimes find my horizons broadened whether I want it or not. Case in point, Mrs. Wife and I recently started watching Survivor, which we normally don’t care for reality shows, but we’re finding it rather entertaining.

The cast of Smallville, season 1

However, it comes on opposite Smallville, which we haven’t been watching the past few weeks. But we recently watched an episode online and having been away from the show for the past several weeks, I was dismayed at how far the show has fallen.

I came into the show during its second season. I watched the premier, and didn’t care for a number of inconsistencies with the translation from comics to television. I was unable to reconcile them in my own mind, but I’ll be the first to admit I am very old school. This contemporary take on the young Superman lore was a little hard for me to digest.

But again, my wife broadened my horizons by watching it, and I eventually got sucked into it. By then it had moved past the kryptonite-freak-of-the-week and had begun to really explore the high school days of Clark Kent. A friend helped me by suggesting it was an Elseworlds story.

Life was good so long as Clark was in high school, but since then we’ve seen more than our fair share of tender barn scene moments with Clark and Lana. You know what I’m talking about – the usual speech of how Lana desperately wants to be with Clark, but he pushes her away for fear of her suffering due to his secret life as a superman-in-training.

Smallville's Justice League (l-r) Bart Allen, Oliver Queen, Clark Kent, Arthur Curry and Victor Stone

Now that the show is in its eighth season, we are treated to other clichés. Instead of a freak-of-the-week, we have a cameo hero. Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Green Arrow have proved popular enough to be added to the cast. So far, over the course of the series, we have seen seminal versions of Aquaman, Flash, Supergirl, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, Cyborg, Zatanna, and Perry White, as well as the Legion of Super-Heroes. It’s evolved into a gimmick to appeal to die-hard fans that are beginning to see through the show’s thin scripts.

Instead of the romantic angst between Clark and Lana, we have that of Jimmy Olsen and Chloe Sullivan. Series bad boy Lex Luthor has been removed, following actor Michael Rosenbaum’s departure from the show. Taking his place is Luthor’s protégé, Tess Mercer. Same song, different singers.

Since Clark’s maturation from 15-year-old student to 23-year-old reporter, much of the setting has moved from Smallville to Metropolis, other than the occasional moments at the Kent family farm. (Pa Kent died a few seasons back, and Martha was elected senator. She hasn’t been heard from since).

The cast of Smallville, season 8

When the show was being developed, it may have been expected to last only four or five seasons. It’s the nature of capitalism to produce a product so long as there is a demand for it, and the CW is unlikely to give up on what has been one its flagship programs. As long as it pulls in the ratings, the network is inclined to produce the show. But film is an art form as well as a business, and there comes a point when the story being told has run its course.

No matter how successful the series may be, it’s time to call it a day, and leave Smallville behind.

Praise and adulation? Scorn and ridicule? E-mail me at philip@comicbookbin.com