Smallville

Apparently I have not mentioned Smallville once on this blog, and that is odd simply because it has been a part of my life for such a long time. Smallville just ended it's tenth season; back in 2003/2004 I got into this show by watching three seasons within a time frame of two weeks. Now that's a madness all its own, but the fact is I was hooked. The freak of the week episodes were tiring, but there was enough geeky goodness in there to keep you going. And that's how the show was for its entire run: it drives you crazy, every episode, but they sprinkle in some really awesome stuff that keeps you coming back. At one point, you realize you've invested so much into the series that not watching it is not an option. You're in it for the long haul.

How strange it felt when they announced the show would end. If I were to draw a graph of my enjoyment of the series, it would start out quite high, then drop down to a low near season 4 through 6, then start climbing again until the very end. On this fictional graph, I don't believe the later seasons would rival the height of the first couple, but specific episodes would certainly bypass them easily. You see, in the later seasons this show really got into a groove and found its stride: season long story arcs of real substance, with small episodes devoted to completely boring an inane activities. Some of those "standalone" episodes are so terrible they bring the average way down. There are times when the activity on screen is so awkward that I have to get up and start pacing around; I have to submerge myself in the second screen, and I have to take a break from the show. You think there could be so much greatness here, and why there isn't will drive you crazy.

Then you realize that this is the best superhero show that is on television (and perhaps ever has been). If you have the slightest interest in the DC universe you have much to appreciate here. The writers would put a dash of other heroes in for good measure, reaching a crescendo with not one but two Justice League teams and actually displaying their powers (somethings Heroes sorely lacked). They setup and delved into a great deal of mythos here, but I can't speak to its accuracy to the Superman canon. You see, I've never been a big Superman fan. I won't get into the reasons for it, but I think one point everyone can agree on is that the guy is just too powerful and because of that, not interesting. But in Smallville we have a vulnerable and growing Clark Kent. First, dealing with his powers, then struggling with his place in the human world. He has to learn how to apply them as he builds the famous Superman Ethical Code. He's challenged at every turn, and it's quite the journey when you begin analyzing it as a whole.

The series finale aired a few weeks ago, and I just got around to watching it now. I will admit, I got emotional. Ten seasons of this show, twenty two episodes a season and it's all coming to an end. It's always been a good standby: consistent and familiar. Perhaps another reason for emotion is Clark Kent becoming Superman (you know it was going to happen). The suit comes on, he takes flight for the first time (under his own accord), saves the planet and credits roll. It couldn't have ended any better in that regard, but there were a fair bit of useless shenanigans to get there: but that's always been the way, so why would this finale be any different? For once, a show comes full circle in it's ending, of course, it's easy to do in a situation like this. They could have wasted another five seasons doing great things and still got to the same point where they ended.

All good things must come to an end though, and it was time to put the show to rest. It's an impressive run really. But you want more. Clark Kent has graduated from Smallville and is now ready for Metropolis; the perfect title of a new show. But do you really want that? I'm not sure I do. I would prefer to let the memory of Smallville stand as it is; in the future somebody else will do another show with a new cast and a new take on the legend. We'll get Tom Welling guest starring in there occasionally, and I'll watch regardless because the nostalgia will be too strong to resist.