Sometime into season 2 of Smallville I started to really lose interest. I can only take so much of Lana and Clark’s on again, off again relationship; and Lex not being able to decide if he’s good or bad. I still watched the show, but only because I feel it’s sacrilegious not to involve myself in all things Superman. It’s been painful though, because it’s really just Dawson’s Creek with the occasional dash of super powers. If I wanted to watch lame-ass teenage dramas I’d tune into the OC or… I don’t actually know any other ones that’s how little I really care about them. I watch Smallville because I like to get my televised dose of superheroes and my options are limited (at least until this years “Heroes” on NBC).
This season of Smallville has redeemed itself somewhat though with the addition of Green Arrow. They’ve also started to get Clark to man up to the responsibility of his powers. I like Spider-man he’s great, but I like Superman more because he’s always just accepted his responsibility and never complained about it. Smallville has really left that aspect out of his character until this season. The shows improving though (after 6 seasons) and I’m getting back into it. The biggest step they could take towards greatness is to get rid of Lana. I hate the character like I’ve never hated a character before (that includes her comic book version, who I’ve never liked either) she needs to go. I can only take so much whining and crying in an hour of television, she blows right on past that tolerance level.
I wanted to do a comparison of this weeks “Justice” episode to past episodes, but the more I got thinking about it, the more ridiculous I though it would be. Justice was a whole new level of quality for Smallville. In comparison to the overdramatic slop they’ve been putting out in the last few seasons, this episode was like a whole new series. It really was leagues (pun totally intended) ahead of the show’s usual tone. Let’s look at the reasons why this episode stood out:
- No freak of the week – Seriously people, how may times can you have Kryptonite mutated humans show up and wreak havoc without at least attempting to come up with something new?
- No memory loss – How many times have we had to watch someone learn about Clark and then conveniently lose his or her memory at the end of the episode?
- Lex didn’t walk the line – Lex Luthor is a bad guy. We like him as a bad guy, stop making him try to be a good guy.
- Lana – Lana was not in this episode. This character has gotten increasingly irritating through the seasons, to the point that this purist would not complain if she died in the show.
- Appropriate sappiness – It’s right near the end of the episode, but if you’re a real believer in “the greater good” you’ll get it.
- Responsibility – Clark is starting to finally get that he’s got to help save the world; he has no choice, it’s destiny.
- Fewer secrets – I appreciate the need to keep secret identities, but sometimes it’s best to tell people. It can make the episodes interesting too.
- Costumes – We’re superhero fans, we like it when the heroes have uniforms and emblems!
- Power usage – We like super powers. Use them often, make them look cool.
- Easter eggs – If you know your comic books, then a comic based show should reward you for it.
Smallville has the potential to be a fantastic show. Justice showed us it’s there and it’s ready to be done. Now all we need to do is make sure they run with it. Enough with the lousy teenage melodrama, no more riding the fence with the characters and most importantly, use superpowers in a show about a guy with superpowers!
Nothing will get done about it unless the fans make it heard that they want a change. Right now the people telling them it’s still a good show are the ones with ratings boxes in their homes. These people are probably watching EVERYTHING on television. So of course Smallville is still being “watched,” but by whom: Comic book fans or the same person that watches Desperate Housewives, the OC, Survivor and Jackass? So speak out, we need to let Millar and Gough know we want more episodes like Justice.
Posted: Saturday, January 20, 2007