Rating:  -
I initially dismissed "Smallville" because it was airing on the WB, a network known for its propensity for catering to the "teen crowd." I assumed that this take on the Superman character would be geared to that age group and would not be of interest to those of us more "mature" viewers. However, after seeing one episode of the show, I was hooked and have been a staunch supporter of the series for the past six years.
In revisiting the season one episodes, I've discovered how the show has grown and remains one of the best-written, acted, and enjoyable shows on network television. The series, as fans of the show know, deals with the young Clark Kent as he adjusts to his developing superhero powers while he struggles with growing up and finding his destiny as the future "Man of Steel."
Season one is a great start for the show, introducing the viewer to the characters long a part of the superhero mythology: Lex Luthor, Lana Lang, Jonathan and Martha Kent, along with new characters developed for the show (Clark's friends Pete Ross and Chloe Sullivan, along with Lex's father, Lionel). Each character gets a chance to shine in stories where they take center stage or have some necessary interaction with the development of Clark Kent.
The cast is superb with special kudos to John Glover (Lionel), Michael Rosenbaum (Lex), Allison Mack (Chloe), John Schnieder (Jonathan), and Annette O'Toole (Martha). Star Tom Welling is appropriately strong yet vulnerable in his assessment of the young Clark. Kristen Kreuk is devastatingly beautiful and does well in the role of the object of Clark's desire. Sam Jones III does well in an underwritten part as Clark's best bud, Pete. Even the lesser character of Whitney, Lana's boyfriend (Eric Johnson) grows from dumb jock to a sympathetic character that becomes essential to events during the run of the first season.
Also, the show has an impressive line of genre guest stars: Joe Morton ("Terminator: Judgment Day"), Corin Nemic ("Stargate: SG1"), "George Murdock ("God" in "Star Trek: The Final Frontier"), and Shawn Ashmore ("The X-Men" movies).
The writers have been careful to add freshness to the well-known upbringing of Superman in the mythical town of Smallville, Kansas. For much of the first season, the stories dealt with the effects of "meteor rocks (remnants of the exploding planet Kryton) that accompanied Kal-el (Clark's Krytonian birthname) as he descended to his new earthly home. It appears that the small Kansas town became a haven for things weird and unexplainable.
Each single word title is crafted to be both a revelation of the story but also a peek at character insight and development. For example, "Hothead," features Dan Lauria as a fiery and determined-to-win-at-all-costs football coach, infected by the "meteor rocks," that is able to summon up flames with just a single thought. "Reaper" is a macabre offering about a recently deceased young man, brought back from death by the aforementioned "meteor rocks," that is able to "take away the pain" of terminal patients, as a harbinger of death.
Music is an integral part of the show and Mark Snow, formerly chief composer for "The X-Files," does an outstanding job in creating music that is appropriately mysterious, thrilling, and poignant. Also, each installment makes use of musical snippets by contemporary pop/rock artists and the theme by Remy Zero (the group appears in the season finale) fits perfectly for this retelling.
Impressive special effects and eye-popping pyrotechnics abound but never overshadow the story.
Vancouver locations are beautiful, though a bit too picturesque for Kansas. Even The Kent farm has an idyllic quality and is a tad too "upscale" for a family that appears to be always struggling financially. But, those are just two complaints for an overall top-quality production.
It also appears that the meteor rocks must have given everyone a resiliency to withstand severe falls and knocks on the head. From the number of times the Lex, Chloe, Lana, Pete, Whitney, and Jonathan get tossed around on the show, they should have reserved rooms in the Smallville hospital.
And the Kent family truck must be built out of the same material as Clark's spaceship for it takes many a tumble but keeps on ticking...until the last episode of the year.
Rating: -
I love it. I am a die hard superman fan and I have all the seasons now.
Rating: -
I had caught the occasional episode of Smallville on TV, but in no particular order. The premise was immediately obvious -- Clark Kent in his small Kansas hometown, learning to cope with his powers and to function in society. It was clear, even from my few experiences with the show, that there was a story arc, so I picked up Season One. If nothing else, I figured, seeing the pilot episode would help me figure out everyone's background. (Which it did.)
Smallville could have been lame. But it succeeds admirably well because the writers constructed characters who are thoroughly believeable even though they're put in comic-book predicaments. Admittedly, this season does have a propensity towards "monster of the week," but it manages to overcome it, because of very "human" reactions. Clark's parents are frightened about the powers their kid has, and how he can possibly create a normal life ("He woke up _floating?!_ Well, I guess he'll have to get over his fear of heights"); they also get annoyed with Clark for being an ordinary teenager who doesn't do his chores.
And, as one appreciated bit of versimilitude, the Kent Farm really operates like a farm, with daily concerns about keeping the tractor going or putting in fence line. (My husband grew up on a farm, so Kent's ability to knock in fence posts, with the ease you'd insert a bamboo skewer into a melon ball, was extremely funny. And that's just in the background of a scene.)
It's told with a wonderful sense of humor, sometimes very subtle; an irritated female classmate, encountering Clark's cluelessness about what girls want, blurts at him, "Men are from Mars and women are from Venus, Clark, but you're from some planet in a galaxy I haven't even heard of!" Yet the humor doesn't get in the way of the story; we laugh because, in some ways, we know more about Clark Kent than do the Smallville residents.
The key, though, is the inclusion of a young Lex Luthor who is adamently Clark's friend; since we know what happens to Clark in the long run, the compelling mystery is how Lex evolves from the guy with good intentions to Superman's arch-enemy.
Overall, it's a fun series to watch. I'm about to get Season Two -- and I think you'll have the same reaction.
Rating:  -
Never was much for the Superman legacy, but I picked up the first season of this series on DVD and fell in love with the retelling of Superman. Great to see a breath of life in this franchise.
Rating: -
Not having access to a WB affiliate I have had to watch the show after its release on video. This is the best treatment of Clark Kent since Lois and Clark - even better than the comic books I loved as a kid.
Clark's early years as portrayed in the Superboy comics - besides focusing on Superboy and virtually ignoring Clark - treated him as a mature man in a smaller body. The Clark of Smallville has all of the problems of a teenager: periods of doubt, times when he feels defiant toward his parents, teenaged angst, the initial euphoria when he discovers his X-Ray vision. Clark is a real teenager!
The characters are three-dimensional, and the weekly format gives the writers time to let them grow and develop, and for us to have time to get to really know them.
Good job, WB!
|
