As somebody who loves smallville I can genuinely agree that Welling's choice to not wear the costume hurts. Not to mention the show just spinning it's wheels for way to long (I feel they should have ended the show when he graduated high school and stuff stopped being in smallville (which is what the show is called)). To your point on filler that's really the CW/the time the show was airing's fault. Doing 10 episode seasons of pure plot/character development wasn't really a thing. Superman having a "destiny" definitely detracts from the message of the character. That he was raised to become such a good guy that he becomes superman of his own volition. While we get bits and pieces of that with the Kent's talks and lessons and even the contrast of Lionel (who is part of a secret superman committee who were destined to watch over clark which is it's own can of beans) we also get Jor-El beating clark over the head with it every time they talk. The JLA and other comic book elements were signs that the show didn't understand the character as well as they should have (Darkseid and Doomsday especially). In my mind at least Superman should start off a super heroics genesis (some would argue batman could/should but I'm not in that camp) and the fact that he doesn't kinda sucks. Finally in Crisis we have Clark giving up his powers. To me, as much as this sucks, it's true to clark's character. The way he's written and welling plays him it's clear as much as clark wants to help he doesn't want to be superman. Mainly because welling didn't want to be superman. But over the show you get the sense that clark doesn't want to be the hero the show is pushing him to be. While you could argue the brooding over the powers is part of a young clark's character (we see this in Man of Steel and most modern comics) he always comes around to the idea. Even in the last few episodes Clark becomes Superman because the situation calls for it (with Darkseid's invasion) rather than because he wants to. So yeah. I love the show.
Damn great write up! This reminded me of how I felt about the show as a kid. There are flaws, but most of that comes down to CW's style (especially during that era). But there is an undeniable magic to this show and I'm glad it exists for fans like you😊
I don't think he fully gave up on his powers, I believe he just wears a blue kryptonite watch and then if the situation calls for it he can turn back into superman.
Smallville season was basically, 1st episode finish off previous seasons cliffhanger setup season plot - filler until mid season - back to plot - more filler until the season finale
Honestly I only ever liked the first two or three seasons. I only started watching it because I heard they were doing the "younger Lex Luthor and Superman were friends" story and thought that might be interesting since that was always my favorite version of their backstory. And I really liked their relationship and dynamic in those first couple of seasons. Like you said the show constantly shows the differences between how they grew up and how Lex just wants what Clark has - a loving and supportive family. The writing tells us Lex is a hurt person capable of good who wants to be good if only people would give him a chance - for the first three-ish seasons - then dropped us off a cliff of "nope actually he's just evil because uh destiny or something". I definitely didn't go into Smallville expecting Lex Luthor to become my favorite character but he did, so that especially killed my enjoyment of the show. Plus they made Clark kind of an ass at the same time, and he never felt like he wanted to be there, which also really didn't help. I can absolutely believe that Smallville!Clark would just give up his powers and go back to being a normal farmer with his family. Ultimately that's all this version of Clark ever wanted, the rest was forced on him by destiny/the narrative. Smallville awoke a craving for morally dubious not really a "hero" or a "villain" sometimes antagonist sometimes antagonistic ally Lex Luthor in me and I've been starving ever since. Sure they teased it some with Lex joining the JL but then they pulled the Apex Lex and Entropy bs. I think Lex Luthor is a character that should exist in that middle area. When they write Lex as either a straight up villain or a straight up hero he's just bland, boring, and forgettable.
What always compelled me about Lex is that if he weren't so mad at Superman, HE would be the one saving the world. There is good in Lex, but it's clouded by jealousy and hate. Like you, I also really enjoy when that gray side of Lex is explored. It's a really interesting character angle, and Smallville shined when that was at the forefront.
Smallville's first 4 seasons were great, then it declined. Frankly I prefer Smallville approach to the Arrowverse shows because it took it's time more. When every single thing that happens is a reference to something from the Comics it get overwhelming, I like that Smallville was able to take it's time. I like the Filler, I'm sick of that being a dirty word. I'm tired of modern TV shows being set up so every single episode is a vital plot twist. Many Sailor Moon fans prefer the 90s Anime to the Manga and Crystal because of the filler, because you got to spend just chilling with the character and watching them deal with small scale stuff in-between the potentially world ending apocalypses. And when it comes to DC and Marvel based stuff, I feel the Comics themselves never having filler anymore with everything being written for the Trade is part of why no one reads them anymore. And I think characters like Superman and batman especially need those, how they handle the smaller things what truly defines them. Smallville really was the last Superman project to give us anything like that.
The thing you said about Clark essentially being Superman in character form the beginning is exactly why the first half of the show works for me, why I never cared about getting to see him in a Costume or not. What I truly care about from Superman media Smallville gave me better then most LA Superman media where he does wear a Costume. I never even wanted the show to end with him becoming Superman, it should have just ended when he Graduated and left to travel the world. And with Lex to say nothing changed is silly. During season 4 he crossed without us noticing it, that's part of why that season works so well. The problem with Lex after that is constantly needing to insist he wasn't evil enough yet. I do hate how the finale handled him, I really was all in on this being a continuity where Lex knows Clark is Superman. Since Smallville ended more and more Superhero media has chosen to not care about the duel identity stuff, and ironically I think Smallville is what prepped society for that. The first 3 seasons were perfect, the 4th is still Great, and the 5th is still decently good. But once WB changed to CW the show's tone changed, as if someone behind the scenes wished they had Batman show instead, but the Batembargo still going on so that wasn't gonna happen. The first two of those seasons till had good stuff, it was when the shows original writers left that things really lost it's way.
In my opinion Smallville is good, but compared to current CW shows is a masterpiece. Sadly, the new shows are horribles, Arrow had a more boring season 3 than smallville season 8 (my least favorite season) and it didn't recovered from there (except for season 5 that one was cool). Flash just told the same story for the first 3 seasons and each time it got worse with the second season being predictable and the third just being boring, in the fourth they tried to change the tone but the story was awfull. If you want to know how bad are these shows then watch the crisis crossover, 80% is filler and boring, is horribly written. Also I think that the reason why smallville is better is the acting, the acting in the new shows is good but just that, meanwhile in smallville the acting is excelent and I can call any of the actors the definitive versions of the characters, this is because in Smalville each of the actors give something to the characters that makes then unique, again the acting in the new shows are good but they could be replace (except for a few exceptions). Finally the reason why I also think Smallville is better is because for the first fourth seasons it was a character driven show so you didn't watch it for the story but instead you watch it to see how the characters grow each week or see how they react to a certain situation, it really became a story driven show in the fifth season. Meanwhile these show are story driven since the begining so their mistakes become more apparent quicker.
Honestly Smallvile is really bad, there are a few things I like about it (Micheal Rosenbaum is my favorite live action Lex Luthor) but I still can't bring myself to like it.
I respect your opinion but Man of steal just doesn’t top this man it ended amazing on a 10th season but Flash Arrow SuperGirl just doesn’t top Tom Welling he carried his entire solo show all by himself.
I'll take Smallville over Man of Steel any day of the week. Tom Welling was an optimistic, morally righteous Superman. Man of Steel was just miserable.
I agree and disagree with your assessment of the show. Whilst I would say many (not all) of your points are valid at the same time I think you view the show from a fundamentally flawed perspective. As you said yourself, perhaps its just not your thing. - Evaluating the show as bad because in comparison to later shows certain aspects are not as good. Its easy to ignore that Smallville came out about 20 years ago (2001). That is longer than you think, Iphone and social media were all still years away from existence, the first spiderman movie (with Toby Maguire) that launched the hero renaissance we know today only came out that same year. The fact it was still on 10 years later is part of why its hard to appreciate that’s it’s actually from a prior era but was at the time perhaps 5 or 10 years ahead of its time. Essentially it paved the way for all current hero shows that are the staple of the CW network today which follow the formula laid down by Smallville. They wouldn’t exist if Smallville hadn’t proved that translating hero stories to TV could be successful. Its like saying an Olympic athlete from 20 years ago isn’t good because their performance level isn’t as good as athletes of today. That’s just a completely incorrect and disrespectful way to evaluate ones achievements right?
- Smallville as a show is more of a teen relationship drama, the character is Clark Kent, not superman. The core of the show is driven by the relationship between the characters, so its a relationship driven show, not a plot driven show or character driven show which is the flawed angle your assessing it from. I don’t think you get that because the only relationship you even vaguely mention was the non romantic relationship between Clark and Lex. Perhaps its because you personally don’t care for romantic triangles and all that BS but its just a fact that the core of the show was about Clark and Lana. Then in later seasons, the core of the show is Clark and Lois. That’s what would makes someone tune in everyweek. The hero stuff and bad guy of the week are tv devices to get the characters in certain situations each episode. Its just as irrelevant in smallville as it is irrelevant in every TV show. Some episodes are more interesting than others but that’s not the point of the show. - With respect to fans of the superman lore, story and characters, I think you will find that a large number of fans find the actors portrayals on Smallville to be many peoples favourite from any version of the characters. That’s including Tom Welling as Clark, Michael Rosembaum as Lex, Kristen Kruek as Lana, Erica Durance as Lois Lane, John Schnider as Johnathan Kent. Chances are if someone’s a fan of superman they are going to like Smallville so telling them it’s not worth watching is a huge mistake right? - Finally. I will end with reiterating that the show is relationship driven, so if you look at the key relationships; Clark-Lois, Clark-Lana, Clark-Lex, Clark-Johnathan and look at where they started to where they end up, its nothing like the same. So you seem to judge something as good or bad purely based on development yet completely ignore the actual areas that the show spends most of its time developing. - People will like Smallville if they remotely find superman backstory interesting and like relationship dramas. If those aren’t your thing, yeah it probably just seems like an average show but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad show.
Well said! Thanks for the thorough write up, you make a great point. In a lot of ways the show is very much ahead of its time, and like a lot of superhero media from that era it hasn't aged terribly well by comparison to today. However, Buffy The Vampire Slayer was airing around the same time as Smallville and the story/relationships/style holds up a lot better in my opinion. I definitely see what you mean about the story, the show is very focused on relationship drama. Nonetheless, I think the focus on destiny ends up hurting a lot of the will-they-won't-they relationships for anyone familiar with the lore. With that said, the performances were overall solid so there's tons of entertainment in following them along. Like I said, it's just not for me, even though I have a lot of feelings about the show, haha. I'm glad it works for you! Thanks for sitting through my video and for the feedback 😊
As somebody who loves smallville I can genuinely agree that Welling's choice to not wear the costume hurts. Not to mention the show just spinning it's wheels for way to long (I feel they should have ended the show when he graduated high school and stuff stopped being in smallville (which is what the show is called)).
To your point on filler that's really the CW/the time the show was airing's fault. Doing 10 episode seasons of pure plot/character development wasn't really a thing.
Superman having a "destiny" definitely detracts from the message of the character. That he was raised to become such a good guy that he becomes superman of his own volition. While we get bits and pieces of that with the Kent's talks and lessons and even the contrast of Lionel (who is part of a secret superman committee who were destined to watch over clark which is it's own can of beans) we also get Jor-El beating clark over the head with it every time they talk.
The JLA and other comic book elements were signs that the show didn't understand the character as well as they should have (Darkseid and Doomsday especially). In my mind at least Superman should start off a super heroics genesis (some would argue batman could/should but I'm not in that camp) and the fact that he doesn't kinda sucks.
Finally in Crisis we have Clark giving up his powers. To me, as much as this sucks, it's true to clark's character. The way he's written and welling plays him it's clear as much as clark wants to help he doesn't want to be superman. Mainly because welling didn't want to be superman. But over the show you get the sense that clark doesn't want to be the hero the show is pushing him to be. While you could argue the brooding over the powers is part of a young clark's character (we see this in Man of Steel and most modern comics) he always comes around to the idea. Even in the last few episodes Clark becomes Superman because the situation calls for it (with Darkseid's invasion) rather than because he wants to.
So yeah. I love the show.
Damn great write up! This reminded me of how I felt about the show as a kid. There are flaws, but most of that comes down to CW's style (especially during that era). But there is an undeniable magic to this show and I'm glad it exists for fans like you😊
I don't think he fully gave up on his powers, I believe he just wears a blue kryptonite watch and then if the situation calls for it he can turn back into superman.
Here from ur Gotham video! You deserve more subs!
Thank you! The channel is growing steady thanks to viewers like you
Smallville season was basically, 1st episode finish off previous seasons cliffhanger setup season plot - filler until mid season - back to plot - more filler until the season finale
Honestly I only ever liked the first two or three seasons. I only started watching it because I heard they were doing the "younger Lex Luthor and Superman were friends" story and thought that might be interesting since that was always my favorite version of their backstory. And I really liked their relationship and dynamic in those first couple of seasons. Like you said the show constantly shows the differences between how they grew up and how Lex just wants what Clark has - a loving and supportive family. The writing tells us Lex is a hurt person capable of good who wants to be good if only people would give him a chance - for the first three-ish seasons - then dropped us off a cliff of "nope actually he's just evil because uh destiny or something".
I definitely didn't go into Smallville expecting Lex Luthor to become my favorite character but he did, so that especially killed my enjoyment of the show.
Plus they made Clark kind of an ass at the same time, and he never felt like he wanted to be there, which also really didn't help. I can absolutely believe that Smallville!Clark would just give up his powers and go back to being a normal farmer with his family. Ultimately that's all this version of Clark ever wanted, the rest was forced on him by destiny/the narrative.
Smallville awoke a craving for morally dubious not really a "hero" or a "villain" sometimes antagonist sometimes antagonistic ally Lex Luthor in me and I've been starving ever since. Sure they teased it some with Lex joining the JL but then they pulled the Apex Lex and Entropy bs. I think Lex Luthor is a character that should exist in that middle area. When they write Lex as either a straight up villain or a straight up hero he's just bland, boring, and forgettable.
What always compelled me about Lex is that if he weren't so mad at Superman, HE would be the one saving the world. There is good in Lex, but it's clouded by jealousy and hate. Like you, I also really enjoy when that gray side of Lex is explored. It's a really interesting character angle, and Smallville shined when that was at the forefront.
Smallville's first 4 seasons were great, then it declined.
Frankly I prefer Smallville approach to the Arrowverse shows because it took it's time more. When every single thing that happens is a reference to something from the Comics it get overwhelming, I like that Smallville was able to take it's time.
I like the Filler, I'm sick of that being a dirty word. I'm tired of modern TV shows being set up so every single episode is a vital plot twist. Many Sailor Moon fans prefer the 90s Anime to the Manga and Crystal because of the filler, because you got to spend just chilling with the character and watching them deal with small scale stuff in-between the potentially world ending apocalypses.
And when it comes to DC and Marvel based stuff, I feel the Comics themselves never having filler anymore with everything being written for the Trade is part of why no one reads them anymore. And I think characters like Superman and batman especially need those, how they handle the smaller things what truly defines them. Smallville really was the last Superman project to give us anything like that.
The thing you said about Clark essentially being Superman in character form the beginning is exactly why the first half of the show works for me, why I never cared about getting to see him in a Costume or not. What I truly care about from Superman media Smallville gave me better then most LA Superman media where he does wear a Costume. I never even wanted the show to end with him becoming Superman, it should have just ended when he Graduated and left to travel the world.
And with Lex to say nothing changed is silly. During season 4 he crossed without us noticing it, that's part of why that season works so well. The problem with Lex after that is constantly needing to insist he wasn't evil enough yet. I do hate how the finale handled him, I really was all in on this being a continuity where Lex knows Clark is Superman. Since Smallville ended more and more Superhero media has chosen to not care about the duel identity stuff, and ironically I think Smallville is what prepped society for that.
The first 3 seasons were perfect, the 4th is still Great, and the 5th is still decently good. But once WB changed to CW the show's tone changed, as if someone behind the scenes wished they had Batman show instead, but the Batembargo still going on so that wasn't gonna happen. The first two of those seasons till had good stuff, it was when the shows original writers left that things really lost it's way.
Great review ! I also remember to have been bullied by this show, like we had a toxic relationship ("maybe it's going to be nice... next time ?")
LMAO😂😂 I should have called this "my toxic relationship with Smallville" because that's too accurate!
@@ItsGregKon glad it's actually funny ! Maybe you can do a follow-up ? "How I finnally break-up with Smallville, and end a toxic relationship" 😅
In my opinion Smallville is good, but compared to current CW shows is a masterpiece. Sadly, the new shows are horribles, Arrow had a more boring season 3 than smallville season 8 (my least favorite season) and it didn't recovered from there (except for season 5 that one was cool). Flash just told the same story for the first 3 seasons and each time it got worse with the second season being predictable and the third just being boring, in the fourth they tried to change the tone but the story was awfull. If you want to know how bad are these shows then watch the crisis crossover, 80% is filler and boring, is horribly written.
Also I think that the reason why smallville is better is the acting, the acting in the new shows is good but just that, meanwhile in smallville the acting is excelent and I can call any of the actors the definitive versions of the characters, this is because in Smalville each of the actors give something to the characters that makes then unique, again the acting in the new shows are good but they could be replace (except for a few exceptions).
Finally the reason why I also think Smallville is better is because for the first fourth seasons it was a character driven show so you didn't watch it for the story but instead you watch it to see how the characters grow each week or see how they react to a certain situation, it really became a story driven show in the fifth season. Meanwhile these show are story driven since the begining so their mistakes become more apparent quicker.
I could only watch 5 episodes of the flash before I got bored, and I watched 217 episodes of smallville and wanted more.
Great video brotha 💪
Honestly Smallvile is really bad, there are a few things I like about it (Micheal Rosenbaum is my favorite live action Lex Luthor) but I still can't bring myself to like it.
Agreed, Rosenbaum carried the show on his back. The show is bad, but sometimes it can be fun bad 😂
5:23 facts
Welling would have been soooooo good in a full-on Superman movie
I respect your opinion but Man of steal just doesn’t top this man it ended amazing on a 10th season but Flash Arrow SuperGirl just doesn’t top Tom Welling he carried his entire solo show all by himself.
I'll take Smallville over Man of Steel any day of the week. Tom Welling was an optimistic, morally righteous Superman. Man of Steel was just miserable.
@@ItsGregKon Yes definitely
I agree and disagree with your assessment of the show.
Whilst I would say many (not all) of your points are valid at the same time I think you view the show from a fundamentally flawed perspective. As you said yourself, perhaps its just not your thing.
- Evaluating the show as bad because in comparison to later shows certain aspects are not as good. Its easy to ignore that Smallville came out about 20 years ago (2001). That is longer than you think, Iphone and social media were all still years away from existence, the first spiderman movie (with Toby Maguire) that launched the hero renaissance we know today only came out that same year. The fact it was still on 10 years later is part of why its hard to appreciate that’s it’s actually from a prior era but was at the time perhaps 5 or 10 years ahead of its time. Essentially it paved the way for all current hero shows that are the staple of the CW network today which follow the formula laid down by Smallville. They wouldn’t exist if Smallville hadn’t proved that translating hero stories to TV could be successful. Its like saying an Olympic athlete from 20 years ago isn’t good because their performance level isn’t as good as athletes of today. That’s just a completely incorrect and disrespectful way to evaluate ones achievements right?
- Smallville as a show is more of a teen relationship drama, the character is Clark Kent, not superman. The core of the show is driven by the relationship between the characters, so its a relationship driven show, not a plot driven show or character driven show which is the flawed angle your assessing it from. I don’t think you get that because the only relationship you even vaguely mention was the non romantic relationship between Clark and Lex. Perhaps its because you personally don’t care for romantic triangles and all that BS but its just a fact that the core of the show was about Clark and Lana. Then in later seasons, the core of the show is Clark and Lois. That’s what would makes someone tune in everyweek. The hero stuff and bad guy of the week are tv devices to get the characters in certain situations each episode. Its just as irrelevant in smallville as it is irrelevant in every TV show. Some episodes are more interesting than others but that’s not the point of the show.
- With respect to fans of the superman lore, story and characters, I think you will find that a large number of fans find the actors portrayals on Smallville to be many peoples favourite from any version of the characters. That’s including Tom Welling as Clark, Michael Rosembaum as Lex, Kristen Kruek as Lana, Erica Durance as Lois Lane, John Schnider as Johnathan Kent. Chances are if someone’s a fan of superman they are going to like Smallville so telling them it’s not worth watching is a huge mistake right?
- Finally. I will end with reiterating that the show is relationship driven, so if you look at the key relationships; Clark-Lois, Clark-Lana, Clark-Lex, Clark-Johnathan and look at where they started to where they end up, its nothing like the same. So you seem to judge something as good or bad purely based on development yet completely ignore the actual areas that the show spends most of its time developing.
- People will like Smallville if they remotely find superman backstory interesting and like relationship dramas. If those aren’t your thing, yeah it probably just seems like an average show but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad show.
Well said! Thanks for the thorough write up, you make a great point. In a lot of ways the show is very much ahead of its time, and like a lot of superhero media from that era it hasn't aged terribly well by comparison to today. However, Buffy The Vampire Slayer was airing around the same time as Smallville and the story/relationships/style holds up a lot better in my opinion.
I definitely see what you mean about the story, the show is very focused on relationship drama.
Nonetheless, I think the focus on destiny ends up hurting a lot of the will-they-won't-they relationships for anyone familiar with the lore. With that said, the performances were overall solid so there's tons of entertainment in following them along.
Like I said, it's just not for me, even though I have a lot of feelings about the show, haha. I'm glad it works for you!
Thanks for sitting through my video and for the feedback 😊
Eyyyyyyy