The End of Smallville

Posted on 25th May 11 by Drop-d Collective | 0

And so, Smallville has come to an end. It ran ten years, proving that Superman is still relevant to the general public. Ten years of Clark Kent, but no Superman.

Over the course of Smallville, we’ve had clones, time travel, alternative universes, alien gods, prophecies, a well-written Green Arrow, a crime-fighting Lex Luthor and cross-dressing superheroes. We did not get Superman. Throughout its run, the future was teased at. Visions of Lex Luthor being elected President, a red cape fluttering against a vast expanse of stars, Clark wearing glasses, but never a definitive look at Welling in the suit.

We had a Justice League, two Injustice Leagues, the Legion of Doom, the Justice Society of America, Supergirl and Superboy, the Legion of Super-heroes, and a man with gigantic wings, on fire, grabbing a girl as she plummets to certain death. But Clark Kent in tights? That’s just stupid.

What’s interesting about Smallville is how it changed so massively throughout its run. The early seasons stand in stark contrast with the later seasons. In the first few seasons, the science-fiction elements were toned down in favour of teen drama and simplistic plots, where meteor rocks caused shenanigans, since teen drama with a touch of the supernatural was the flavour of the time. Then, stuff like Battlestar Galactica and the new Star Trek proved that people would follow heavy sci-fi. And so, Smallville went from “Will Lana say yes if I ask her out?” to “My robot dad gave a girl superpowers and is trying to brainwash me to conquer the world and establish a new Kryptonian empire!” And it… worked. Mostly.

The biggest weakness, and the greatest strength, of Smallville was the fact it had a definite end. Clark would put on the cape and fly. The producers said this when they were promoting season one. So, although we know how it ends, it also gives us a certain time limit. The show then ran for a decade, far longer than anyone expected, which is why we learned so much in the first few seasons, and then comparatively little in later seasons about Clark’s future. And, since we have a definite end, we have a definite character arc. Clark goes from shy, nerdy guy to Superman. Which is awkward, since we need conflict and suspense. And so additional heroes were introduced, and since they were, on the whole, lesser known to the general public than Superman, more could be done with them. Seriously, how many people know who Superman is, even if it just a basic knowledge? How many people know who Oliver Queen or Bart Allen are?

Over time, this led to Clark becoming a bit character in his own show, who existed as a plot device. While we were TOLD he was a great fighter, leader, and generally a pretty super man, we never see it. Instead, we see Green Arrow, Lois Lane, and all these other characters do these amazing things, apparently due to his influence, even though we never see him doing anything to really inspire the masses. Given how the finale ends, apparently all Clark needs to do is exist, and occasionally give a motivational speech, to make people better. Which, frankly, is rather stupid. He becomes Superman, let’s see him do something super. Flying? Three different characters in the past season have flown. Saving Lois Lane from certain death? Plenty of other characters do that, as well as him, including Hawkman, who did it while on fire and flying, which is pretty metal. Fighting crime? Once again, while he is certainly not just sitting around doing nothing, there is very little to differentiate him from the other heroes. What makes him different, or better, than the others? Very little, besides being Superman. Particularly given how well Green Arrow was handled.

Smallville worked best when it embraced the goofy, silly side, and ran with it. This is a show that had a group of witches possessing teenage girls and having wacky adventures. But it seems almost ashamed of its roots, refusing to put the heroes in costumes, instead shoving them into long jackets and hoodies. With the exception of Green Arrow, none of the costumes look decent. And then, out of nowhere, you have this.

Oddly, the realistic costumes are almost as ridiculous. The more realistic you try to make a superhero, the more ridiculous they get. While some heroes are better suited to realism (Nolan’s Batfilms are the obvious example), Superman is one of the many that is not particularly realistic. He flies, he shoots lasers from his eyes, his breath is an arctic wind, and he wears his underpants on the outside. This is not a bad thing, as Batman: The Brave and The Bold has proven several times over.

Frank Miller once described what he wanted from a Superman comic: “I don’t want to see the sweat stains on his armpits. I want to see him fly.” Yet here, the heroes are running around in hoodies, which has a certain charm, until you see them beside superheroes who look exactly they do in the comics. There’s no continuity, no connection, between the two styles.

In later seasons, Clark was reduced to a bit character. He simply existed for something to happen to. We were told he was doing heroic things, but rarely saw them. Instead, we had Supergirl flying around saving people in costume. And Green Arrow, easily the best character on the show. Can’t forget him. Nobody in charge could take Clark seriously. While it was understandable in earlier seasons, by the end, it’s just bad writing. He comes up with stupid, stupid plans, and blunders around ineffectively and complains and whines and is completely passive. Every choice he makes is either forced on him by an outside force, or else he makes the wrong choice and it all goes to hell. Because he CANNOT become Superman just yet. And when Lex Luthor, supposedly the bad guy, points out all his flaws, he’s right. In the Finale, he says: “what killed me is that you didn’t even want it. You fought it — you hid from it!” It takes massive threats to spur Clark to action, not simply because it’s the right thing to do. This is understandable in the earlier seasons, as I have said, but after ten years? A plot that forces the main character to not develop does not make for interesting television.

Had it been cancelled, I dunno, with season 7, just to pick any season, and continued with “Metropolis,” featuring a young Superman as opposed to an older Clark Kent, it would have been a lot better. Instead, things happened that we would never see an end to, such as Doomsday. In the comics, his first appearance involved him digging his way out from underground and killing Superman. In Smallville, we see him getting buried. Unfortunately, the viewers who don’t read the comics (which are many, and I’ll have more on that in a second) don’t know what this setting up. The viewers, however, do know something about Superman, no matter how basic their knowledge is, and they want to see him doing something super. They want action and adventure, which is understandable, so the show went through some insane twists and turns trying to give the audience what it wanted without compromising the core of the show, whether they wanted to do that one thing (putting Clark in the suit) or not. It worked in some ways, but in others? Everything has to happen in such a way that it can, conceivably, happen at a later point. Doomsday is buried underground. Lex loses his memories. The League is never outright referred to as the Justice League, just as the League. It’s dishonest, and setting the actual end seven years later just makes it worse. Everything it’s been teasing at has already happened, and we don’t get to see it. This Clark Kent is, by the nature of the story, forced to be passive, allowing things to happen to him, rather than taking them into his own hands.

And the oddest thing is the sheer number of oblique references to comic book mythology. Taking Abslute Justice as our benchmark of nerdy references and compare it to the best selling Superman comic of that year, the comparison is startling. 2.6 and 2.94 million viewers (a season high) watched Ma Hunkel getting arrested and the JSA fighting crime, while 92,000 people bought Blackest Night: Superman. The series finale got approximately three million viewers. The first issue of the last comic event to feature Darkseid, Final Crisis, sold 159,036 copies. And then, in season 10, we have the actual Legion of Doom appearing, then being sent off to bother the heroes in the future, with no context for the casual viewer. They appear, they’re given orders, and then they’re never seen or mentioned again.

Name all seven and win a prize!

Now, with the ending, the internet has erupted with fans angry that we never see Welling in the suit. We see some dodgy cgi of a guy in the distance with the cape and the suit, we hear the music swelling, we see Welling ripping his shirt open to reveal the S, but never a good, clear look at Welling in the suit.

And, oddly, that’s the one thing Smallville got right. It’s not a Superman show, for all it wants to be, and for all it should be (debatably). It’s a Clark Kent show. We don’t need to see him in the suit, because we always knew he would be in the suit. Personally, I thought the ending was perfect.

Ultimately, for all it got right, it got even more wrong. Lex was set up as a sympathetic villain, but he is right in everything he says, forced to be the villain by the plot. Clark is, in turn, forced to ineffectual and pointless by the plot. It couldn’t decide on whether it should appeal to the die-hard fanboys, or the casual viewers. But it was not as bad as it was made out to be. It was heavily flawed, due to its very nature. While we know that the hero will always win and fight another day, this particular story was too well-known, too ingrained in the public mind to really change it. Which is a reflection on the current state of comics. Batman will always be Bruce Wayne, even though Grant Morrison has demonstrated that you can have someone else in the suit for an extended period of time, Spider-Man will always have trouble paying the rent and be a loser, despite JMS developing him into a confident, respected hero. And Superman always fights Lex Luthor, whether they grow up together in the fields of Kansas, or if Kal-El crashes on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain.

Tags: Clark Kent, DC, Smallville, superman, The CW