Since I've been reviewing all the comic-based shows this year, I figured I may as well include the one that started them all. I've caught a few episodes here and there, but since this show isn't available to stream I'll be doing these reviews whenever I can get my hands on them between the mail and the nearest actual video store.
These reviews will also be more in-depth than my First Impressions reviews.
Spoilers after the jump.
Spoilers after the jump.
You've been warned...
Episode 1: 'Pilot'
Episode 1: 'Pilot'
The Good: The show started in 2001, but begins with Clark's landing in 1989. (Yes kids, it's more than a Taylor Swift album.) I graduated high school in 1989 and went to college where I met my wife. So 1989's a big deal for me. Moving on...
* The casting of the Kents. John Schneider and and Annette O'Toole truly embody Jon and Martha. Extra points for getting Lana Lang from Superman 3 as Clark's mother.
* The tribute to Superman: The Movie (as in Clark's running super fast) was cool, which brings me to...
* ...Clark's powers. As of this episode, Clark already has strength, speed and invulnerability. An argument could be made that the invulnerability is new. It would explain why he's surprised at surviving the crash, talks to his dad about it, and eventually learns he's an alien and sees the ship for the first time. It also explains Jonathan's reaction when Clark puts his hand in the shredder.
* The overall color palette of the show. There's reds, yellows and blues all over the place. Right down to the football jackets with a red 'S' on a yellow background. Which is funny...since the Smallville High School team is called the Crows.
* Chloe's Wall of Weird. It explains that crazy shit's been happening since Clark's landing, and not just now when Clark's going to school.
* Lex and Clark being friends. That's a throwback to the Silver Age, where they wind up enemies only after Lex blames Superman for the loss of his hair.
* The casting of the Kents. John Schneider and and Annette O'Toole truly embody Jon and Martha. Extra points for getting Lana Lang from Superman 3 as Clark's mother.
* The tribute to Superman: The Movie (as in Clark's running super fast) was cool, which brings me to...
* ...Clark's powers. As of this episode, Clark already has strength, speed and invulnerability. An argument could be made that the invulnerability is new. It would explain why he's surprised at surviving the crash, talks to his dad about it, and eventually learns he's an alien and sees the ship for the first time. It also explains Jonathan's reaction when Clark puts his hand in the shredder.
* The overall color palette of the show. There's reds, yellows and blues all over the place. Right down to the football jackets with a red 'S' on a yellow background. Which is funny...since the Smallville High School team is called the Crows.
* Chloe's Wall of Weird. It explains that crazy shit's been happening since Clark's landing, and not just now when Clark's going to school.
* Lex and Clark being friends. That's a throwback to the Silver Age, where they wind up enemies only after Lex blames Superman for the loss of his hair.
The Bad: I'll start with the obvious one first. Twangst. Smallville is set during Clark's high school years, so unlike Arrow, Flash, Gotham, Constantine and heck even AoS, it deals with teenage angst, pinings and yearnings. Ugh.
* The music. I didn't listen to those kinds of songs when they were new, hearing them now makes me reach for the mute button.
* Clark's a stalker. I mean yeah, he's shy and all, but he lives next door to Lana Lang and hangs around in the barn...with a telescope. Need I say more?
* Speaking of stalking, the scene in the graveyard (where Clark meets up with Lana) was weird. He's already there waiting for her? Creepy. The blatant visual of him standing in front of the angelic monument was too over the top. And the "listening to Lana's parents" bit was just silly.
* Lex saving Clark after Clark saved Lex. I understand why they did it - to have Lex remember what he saw before the meteor shower, and to keep Lex from thinking he "owed" Clark - but it seemed too convenient.
* The music. I didn't listen to those kinds of songs when they were new, hearing them now makes me reach for the mute button.
* Clark's a stalker. I mean yeah, he's shy and all, but he lives next door to Lana Lang and hangs around in the barn...with a telescope. Need I say more?
* Speaking of stalking, the scene in the graveyard (where Clark meets up with Lana) was weird. He's already there waiting for her? Creepy. The blatant visual of him standing in front of the angelic monument was too over the top. And the "listening to Lana's parents" bit was just silly.
* Lex saving Clark after Clark saved Lex. I understand why they did it - to have Lex remember what he saw before the meteor shower, and to keep Lex from thinking he "owed" Clark - but it seemed too convenient.
* Secrets. Jon and Martha keeping Clark's past from him. Clark keeping his feelings for Lana secret. Lex being, well, Lex. Chloe keeping the Wall a secret. Clark keeping his powers a secret so he can't join the football team. There's just too many, especially for the first episode.
The WTF?: Before Clark landed (circa 1989), there were 25,001 people living in Smallville - Creamed Corn Capital of the world. By the time Clark's in high school (circa 2001), Smallville's now the Meteor Capital of the World, with a population of...45,001. So exactly 20,000 people moved to, or were born in Smallville in the passing 12 years? A farming town in the middle of nowhere Kansas?
* What hit the bus? Was it a red herring that fell from the sky? Did Clark run into it? I don't think it was "Electric Guy".
* Lex was 9 when the meteors fell, making him 21 here. Based on how old Clark looked when he landed, he'd be about 17 or 18...and he's a high school freshman?
* Getting back to Clark's powers - if we assume the invulnerability to be newly developed/discovered, it brings up an interesting point: he's had super strength and speed for some time already...and didn't see them as odd? His parents never saw him out on the farm somewhere doing something very quickly or with great strength without bells going off or flags being raised? I call bullshit.
*Lex's license plate: "Metropolis U.S.A."? No state at all huh?
* The "meteorite" in Lana's necklace glows when Clark is around. She never noticed that? Even though she's had the thing for years? Lex noticed it after seeing it once.
* Clark blaming himself for essentially everything he sees on the Wall, including Lana's parents' deaths. I can see it as an immediate reaction, especially after just finding out he's an alien and still mad at his parents for keeping the secret, but he shouldn't have needed the heart-to-heart with Jonathan. Clark should have realized it wasn't his fault once he calmed down.
* At the very end, after the dream dance, Clark says Lana's name and Lana reacts as if she heard it on the wind. Sorry, but Lana should damn well know the Kent farm is right next door. Even without telescopic vision, the Kent Barn is sticking up out of a field and is by far the closest building to her. So if she thinks she heard her name whispered on the wind, she would have at least been looking in the barn's direction.
* What hit the bus? Was it a red herring that fell from the sky? Did Clark run into it? I don't think it was "Electric Guy".
* Lex was 9 when the meteors fell, making him 21 here. Based on how old Clark looked when he landed, he'd be about 17 or 18...and he's a high school freshman?
* Getting back to Clark's powers - if we assume the invulnerability to be newly developed/discovered, it brings up an interesting point: he's had super strength and speed for some time already...and didn't see them as odd? His parents never saw him out on the farm somewhere doing something very quickly or with great strength without bells going off or flags being raised? I call bullshit.
*Lex's license plate: "Metropolis U.S.A."? No state at all huh?
* The "meteorite" in Lana's necklace glows when Clark is around. She never noticed that? Even though she's had the thing for years? Lex noticed it after seeing it once.
* Clark blaming himself for essentially everything he sees on the Wall, including Lana's parents' deaths. I can see it as an immediate reaction, especially after just finding out he's an alien and still mad at his parents for keeping the secret, but he shouldn't have needed the heart-to-heart with Jonathan. Clark should have realized it wasn't his fault once he calmed down.
* At the very end, after the dream dance, Clark says Lana's name and Lana reacts as if she heard it on the wind. Sorry, but Lana should damn well know the Kent farm is right next door. Even without telescopic vision, the Kent Barn is sticking up out of a field and is by far the closest building to her. So if she thinks she heard her name whispered on the wind, she would have at least been looking in the barn's direction.
Adorkification Moment: Daily Planet newspaper logo...Queen Industry CEO Presumed Dead headline...Fastest Man Alive on the computer screen...nice to see the WB throw a few easter eggs in there.
* Friedrich Nietzsche. Man or Superman. Nice!
* I know they went with the "No Tights, No Flights" rule, but they sure as hell played with the look of the character. After the crash, when Jonathan shows up, both Clark and Lex are wearing towels. Makes sense, they're both cold and wet. But the towels are red. Pretty long ones too, since the one Clark's wearing almost touches the ground. In fact, as he walks away with his father, it kinda looks like a cape - if it weren't for the damn jacked Jonathan put on Clark...over the towel.
* The scarecrow ceremony/tradition. The red 'S' on the chest. Over the top? Sure. Still cool though.
* Friedrich Nietzsche. Man or Superman. Nice!
* I know they went with the "No Tights, No Flights" rule, but they sure as hell played with the look of the character. After the crash, when Jonathan shows up, both Clark and Lex are wearing towels. Makes sense, they're both cold and wet. But the towels are red. Pretty long ones too, since the one Clark's wearing almost touches the ground. In fact, as he walks away with his father, it kinda looks like a cape - if it weren't for the damn jacked Jonathan put on Clark...over the towel.
* The scarecrow ceremony/tradition. The red 'S' on the chest. Over the top? Sure. Still cool though.
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