Review: Smallville Series Finale!

Smallville Season 10: Episodes 21/22 "Finale"


To be honest ive always been a big fan of smallville, the simple premise of a young clark kent going from man to superman was amazing, it was an idea that had never been told outside the pages of a comic book.

When this little show started on the WB in the fall of 2001 it gained a reputation as "Dawsons Creek with superpowers" that statement was true, however you can tell that Buffy and Lois and Clark were certainly an influence. But not only would we see the fun of Clark going through "super puberty" we saw the other side of the coin, Lex Luthor. 

We witnessed Lex go from Clarks best friend to his worst enemy, We were introduced to an array of DC heroes and villains, We all got annoyed with the dissapointment the show gave us, We all got sick of Lana, and we got to see the evolution from confused farm boy to man of steal. So here it is my review of the final episode of Smallville,

                                          "and now the series finale of Smallville"
Those were the words Tom Welling (Clark Kent) uttered as the final chapter in Clark's journey is coming to a close.To be honest this was a good finale and satisfying but now lets look and the good the bad and the ugly

The Good!

•  First and foremost the most consistent thing about the finale was the Lois and Clark relationship, it started the episode and finished it, and the scene with the door was pretty heart warming 
• Jonathan's (John Schneider) re-appearance: Ive gotta say seeing Jonathan guiding Clark again but this time for his final trial was magnificent, however it does feel like he could have done this in season 5 
• The scene with Lois (Erica Durence) and Clark with the door was in one word "breathtaking" 
• Apokolips: The shear magnitude of apokolips was amazing, it was refreshing to see Smallville's outer space again, and an even better treat to have it collide with earth.
• Lex: the last time we saw Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) was in the season 8 episode Requiem, and to actually see Michael Rosen baum in the flesh again was amazing and his scene with Clark officially made him the Lex Luthor he was destined to be 
• Flight: During a VERY brief fight with a darkseid possessed zombie Lionel (yeah that's not ridiculous but we will get to that later) Clark had a montage of his life in Smallville and woke mid air floating clark then super punched his way through zombie Lionsied. 
• Tess's redemption: When Tess (Cassidy Freeman) first appeared in Season 8 as an obvious replacement for Lex I always just hated her character, but through the course of season 10 i began to like her more and more and her last scene was certainly her greatest. Not only thwarting Lex Luthors evil plans but saving Clark and possibly the world. 
• Superman's screen time: I was amazed at the amount of time we actually got to see the man of steal (granted not Tom Welling but more on that soon). I was half expecting a 5 second blur then a brief shot of Clark in the suit then boom that was it, but Superman not only saved air-force one but pushed a whole plant away! if that isn't Superman like i don't know what is.
• The pending future: the last scene was perfect, it had everything a bumbling Clark Kent citing "sorry Miss Lane" a new and improved Jimmy Olsen (cameo by Aaron Ashmore), a bossy Lois Lane, a Lex Luthor president, and Superman on the roof of the daily planet ready to save the day! 

The Bad!

• Chloe and the comic book: OK so not only is Chloe reading a story to her son whose father is none other than Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley) (which breaks the mythos of Green Arrow/Black Canary *sigh typical Smallville) she may have revealed to her son Superman's secret identity (its not like he will tell everyone at school) and the comic has the DC comics logo on it, basically breaking the fourth wall
• The Wedding: im sorry but this is ridiculous, the thing that really annoyed me is how they degraded Lois Lanes character by not only showing her having cold feet but also having a Lana type drama. Not to mention the party is ruined by a Gold Kryptonite ring and an evil super powered Oliver. 
• Lionel 2: even Lionel 2 said it himself "im not the Lionel you knew" but for some reason both Tess and Lex not only call Lionel 2 their father but fully except that this is Lionel. They do know this guy is from another reality and is just a guy that looks and sounds the same.
• Frankenstein Lex Luthor: So this was the most confusing part of the finale for me. Did the producers mean that Lex was alive the whole time he just recovered from his wounds via clones, or are they saying this is a completely new Lex who has been brought back through Darkseid. But i guess the couldn't mess his character up even more (foreshadowing)

 The Ugly!!!
                       

•   Oliver taking down the prophets WITH 3 ARROWS!!!:  thats right these guys who have been going round all season showing off there power were defeated by none other then the green arrow(oliver) and how did he do it. 3 plain old arrows. 

•  LEX LUTHOR LOSES ALL HIS MEMORIES!!: After 10 years of watching that amazing change from good to evil, from being clarks friend to foe, from watching his relationship with his abusive father, and from watching him turn into the Lex we all know what happens? HE LOSES ALL OF HIS MEMORIES!!!. Thats right the biggest middle finger to the fans was having to watch as Tess put a chemical on Lexs face and him forgetting everything, yet somehow he is still evil. One thing i can hope is that Lex maybe went back to one of those memory tanks from season 3 and is getting his memories back but we will never know.  

• We only see a cgi Superman: For me this isn't nearly as bad as the last 2 but still how hard would it have been for tom welling to wear the suit for one scene?, he claims its because he doesn't want to be typecast and he is afraid of the superman curse. Are you kidding? you work on a show for 10 years and that's basically your resume, and seriously dude you signed up for a show about Superman and your afraid of the curse. 

Overall, this was an amazing episode even though it did have its flaws like any Smallville episode i though it was an appropriate and satisfying sendoff for a show that told the decade long story about how the man of steel came to be. And it left me in wonder about the future of Clark, I can imagine him meeting the likes of Batman and Wonder Woman, I can imagine Lex releasing Doomsday to fight Superman to the death, I can imagine Darkseid coming back in full form, I can imagine Zod and his minions getting released from the phantom zone and attacking the world just like Superman 2, and I can imagine a middle aged Superman forming The Justice League based on the previous one. This episode made me realize he is no longer the Clark Kent we all used to know, he will now start the second journey in his life, his life of saving the day as.... Superman!


 I give this episode 3 and a half Cgi supermen out of 5

Goodbye Smallville!

So with this review i say goodbye Smallville, you were there with me through my childhood/teenagehood, you helped curb my imagination, you got me into comics, and you really did make me believe that a man could ..ahhh..... Super Jump, and now that im on the verge of becoming a man my self I will always look back and remember the time i spent on you. So Smallville I loved you, I hated you but overall thank you for 10 great years!!!!!