Smallville

Despite my clear predilection for watching sci-fi and superhero-based entertainment, the idea of watching Superman's formative years didn't appeal to me initially. Thus I didn't watch Smallville when it first came on; I didn't watch it at all until last year. For one thing, I was never a big fan of Superman. My problem with Superman, as I've mentioned before, is that he's too powerful. He's got super speed, super strength, super hearing, x-ray vision, heat vision, invulnerability to everything (with one notable exception), and oh yeah, he can fly. The problem for me is making a dramatic conflict. Exactly who is this guy going to struggle to defeat? Villains typically fall into two categories -- brutes and geniuses. And what brute is going to beat Superman? Unless, of course, he has kryptonite. Or, if the villian is also an alien, and thus has powers above and beyond that of Superman. On the other hand, you've got evil geniuses, a la Superman's arch nemesis, Lex Luthor. The evil genius can make an excellent foil, and works as a concept overall, but then you've got to make sure his evil scheme isn't completely retarded (he built a frickin' continent? Sinister alert!!) (Sorry A-Mart, had to go there.) Too often the evil scheme is huge and maniacal and, well, completely illogical. So that can be a problem.

Then there's the backdrop of Smallville itself - - Smallville, Kansas. I don't like farms. I don't like barns. I don't like corn fields. I don't like simple, agrarian values-schlock. At least not for the setting of a movie/television show.

Granted, once I started watching the show, this wasn't a big problem. The focus of the show was naturally on Clark's growing pains, adaptation to super powers, being different and keeping secrets, and becoming a hero, in addition to his relationships to his friends. Basically, this was the Buffy-ized version of Superman. It was even on the same network, the WB. It even had Buffy's "Monster-of-the-Week" style conflict. In Buffy, there was a different demon and/or high school student affected by supernatural phenomena to fight; in Smallville, there was a different being and/or high school student affected by kryptonite to deal with. As with Buffy, Smallville used its kryptonite-laced phenomena as a metaphor to represent problems that actual high school students have to face. And just like Buffy, sometimes this worked well, other times it was just silly, like devolving into a Clark vs. Bugman type conflict. Ack.

But overall, it seems like my type of show, right? Well, yeah. But it really suffers by comparison. For one thing, the writing isn't nearly as good. It had that same type of character and relationship soap drama of Buffy, but it lacked the caustic wit that often permeated the blatantly silly moments of Buffy, showing the writers knew it was silly, the characters knew it was silly, and they were going to have some fun with it. By contrast, Smallville had far too many soap moments where a character approaches Clark with the same-old "I've got a feeling you're hiding something from me" drama. Ooh, is important character number 3 going to discover Clark's secret? No, you dolt. Random expendable character number 8 might, but the importent characters are sadly left in the dark for far too long. Sure, they've each found out several times in various episodes, and each time have been struck with a ridiculously convenient (for the writers, that is) case of amnesia. Gosh, I just learned all of this earth-shattering information about my best friend, but, Oops!! There it goes again. He's just a normal farm boy, who happens to rescue everyone at the last moment, every single time that goes wrong. Huh.

So if I rag on the show so much, why do I watch it, and why do I have the first 5 seasons on DVD? Other than my TV-on-DVD compulsion, it's still a good show. Sure, the writing isn't always (or often) that sharp. Sure the conflicts can be silly. Sure the overall plot unfolds painfully slowly at times. (1/3 of the way through Season 6, and Lana still doesn't know a damn thing. When the hell are they going to pay this moment off? ) Sure, Tom Welling looks like he's getting anally penetrated on that ridiculous WB billboard on Fish Hatchery Road. Still...it's not a bad show.

For starters, it does have that "hero developing his powers and using them for good" element that I always enjoy seeing. Then it has Lex Luthor. Now, those of you who know the Superman story through comics or movies know they battle as adults, and you know that Lex is a Metropolis sophisticate, while Clark came from Hicksville. This show transports Lex into Hicksville, and they first become best friends. Now, that's a hell of a cool twist, I think, mostly because the writers made it relatively plausible. As interesting a character as Clark can be, I think exploring the development of Lex from spoiled rich kid into evil super genius is far more compelling. I love the warped-mentor/rival relationship between Lex and his cruel and brilliant father, Lionel. That's a good story.

The Clark/Lex friendship is also pretty interesting, though it suffers from the same "I know you're hiding something from me" revolving plotline as every other friendship Clark has in this show. Still, watching them go from mutual admiration and fraternity into distrust and hatred has been good television. Particularly because Michael Rosenbaum plays a damn good Lex.

Also, the show has gotten considerably stronger over the years. The addition of Lois has invigorated the show (to an extent, as she's been terribly underused so far), and this will only increase as her role in Clark's life expands. I suppose this show has been necessarily limited by the well-established canon of Superman mythology, so the over-arching plotlines have been constrained to the point of setting up what will happen later. Clark and Lex can't exactly have a fight to the death in this show, because, well, you get the idea.

Over the years, the conflicts have gotten bigger and better. Clark and Lana have fallen out, Clark and Lex are now on the verge of being enemies. Clark and Lois are each becoming involved in the world of journalism. Clark is facing off with alien forces from his father's past. And he's starting to become pulled towards being a hero on the grander scale. The stories no longer involve kryptonite-freaks from high school doing weird shit. The dialogue has gotten noticeably sharper. So....

Overall, it's not perfect. Far, far from it. But it's right up my alley, and has only gotten better over time. Like Clark, you know this show could soar at any moment. If only it could get its fat ass off the ground for good.....

Next in the series: Battlestar Galactica