Smallville - Love it? Hate it?
Some thoughts about why some people hate Smallville, and what should be done about it...
Let me first say that I enjoy Smallville. I will present a few reasons why, later on this article, but I think that there are some very simple reasons. How could The CW make season ten the best ever?
Firstly, there are the die hard critical types. These, you will probably never convert. The best way to get these guys watching the show is by making it so good they'll need to watch it to know what to whinge about. Seasons 8 and 9 have already gone a long way towards this.
Then, there are people who complain about how unlike the comic universe it is. The CW have already appeased some of this group by integrating more of the DC universe into Smallville. However, the damage was already done so that this isn't enough. Here's what really needs to happen, and now it could. Geoff Johns has written two episodes of Smallville already and now he has moved up in DC, all he really needs to do is organise some mention of the Smallville universe being a part of the DC multiverse! You can't complain about it being unfaithful to the mythos of the Superman story if it doesn't claim to be the same story! Then if a writer wants to include Chloe Sullivan more into the DC universe, she could cross over from one of the other universes for a brief story. See where this could go?
This is how I, and I'm sure many others, have seen Smallville. We don't feel the need to whinge and moan about all the inconsistencies with the Comics. This is a visual story set on a different parallel earth. (Where legalities require an absence of Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince) :-p
Then there are the people who dislike the effects. Sure, Doomsday wasn't the best... I don't think it's fair to say he looked like a guy in a rubber suit. Silver Banshee - that might be another matter. I'm skeptical about her, but I didn't mind Gloomsday. What people didn't like was the Doomsday/Clark fight. I think if The CW re-aired this with extra footage of the fight itself, even if they had to reshoot some, it'd be brilliant and would appease many. That's probably not possible. *For those who do have a problem with the Doomsday ending, try to understand that they had to squash a lot into that last episode because they didn't know until quite late that there would be another season!*
Smallville really deserves a bigger budget so it can end well for two reasons.
1. The cast has decreased over the last couple years. that has led to some good character development, but has been at the expense of consistency. For instance, there was that guy who was offered to join Tess's group last season who we never saw again. We haven't resolved the changes to the Legion future from when we last saw Rokk in Doomsday. We haven't seen Perry since season 3. They keep introducing people who deserve continuity, but are almost one-offs and we should be seeing more of the Leaguer's, etc.
2. There is need for more visuals. As I said in my last article, Clark needs to and probably will fly this season. They're going to need to use that a fair bit next year. :-) Darkseid can't be done justice if they don't improve their visuals.
There are also people who are bored with Smallville. While the addition of DC characters will get one of these people to watch the occasional episode like Absolute Justice, many people are tired of waiting for Clark to become Superman. Does the Superman - any Superman - they love need to take this long to come into his own? I love the loyalty that makes the producers stick to the original "vision," but that vision was only supposed to take them as far as graduation. We're not in Kansas anymore! (you know what I mean.)
I can sympathise. Things lagged around season 6... They've brought it back, but if they're waiting until the last episode now for him to become Superman, it's anti-climactic. I know I'll start to be disappointed towards the end of next season. At least give us one TV movie of this particular Superman... Let us know that the last 10 Seasons were worth it. This wouldn't have been necessary if it had ended around season 5. But now we've invested so much, why should we let ourselves be disappointed? There's plenty you can use by now. Lex'll be back, there's the real Zod, you could do Doomsday properly, in line with the "Death of Superman" arc, and what about the next versions of Brainiac? Heaps of options. It doesn't have to conflict with the Superman movie if you officially make it another universe in the multiverse! And Tom Welling - You won't die if you put the suit on!
These are the main basic reasons people love to hate the show. They're simple to state and simple to fix. I just hope someone out there is looking at what people really have to say about the show and take some notes...
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Jester
3/15/2010
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