Review: Smallville was a show that was a
big deal back in the day when it first started. There hadn’t really been
anything like it before, and it brought the superhero TV show back to
audiences. As is customary for me, I hadn’t seen the show until recently, which
is 15 years after it premiered. Did the show live up to all the hype?
There’s
no denying that Smallville was a cheesy show, it was basically Dawson’s Creek
mixed with X-Files. Most of the story for this first season was based around
teenage problems and the villains/monsters of the week. They seemed to be more
of a distraction for Clark to deal with, rather than anything else. Many
episodes begin with someone gaining or using their powers to do something bad,
usually brought on by the kryptonite that landed in Smallville with Clark's
arrival. The rest of the episode would be people trying to convince others that
these super powered people really did have these abilities, which was
essentially what almost every X-Files episode was about. The villain would
somehow find out about Clark`s secret (his own abilities, which he learns
throughout the season) and by the end of the episode they would accidentally
get themselves killed, get amnesia or something else to keep the status quo.
Interspersed would
be teen problems of Clark wanting to tell Lana how he feels, or Chloe wanting
to tell Clark how she feels, or the usual teenage dramas. In that respect, I
never understood what Clark saw in Lana, she’s pretty but other than that she
didn’t have much personality or much else to actually offer. She also
constantly questioned Clark and made a big deal about the smallest thing he
would do or not do. Clark should have chosen Chloe; she was better than Lana in
every way described above, they are complete opposites.
Lana is the worst
The
most interesting character of the show by far was Lex Luthor, where you know
that at some point he will turn evil, but at this juncture in the series he is
a good friend of Clark’s. However, you know there is a dark side to him, his
relationship with his father is layered with distrust and deceit but it was
also a challenge for him to rise up and better himself. Some old school
Shakespearean things are absolutely at play with their dynamic as father and
son.
What Lex lacks in hair he makes up in being interesting
Finally,
we have Martha and Jonathan Kent, the adoptive parents to Clark. They were the
definition of the wholesome mid western American family, who prided themselves
on values and hard work. Except that Jonathan would constantly lose his temper
and get mad at people, most of the time it would be at Lex Luthor, for things
he should not have or when people were being nice to him. Martha was the
concerned mother who always worried, but of course by the end of every episode
everything would ultimately turn out fine.
The
show had an innumerable amount of unintentionally hilarious moments, whether or
not these moments were that way when first aired or whether it has just become
that way when viewing it now. However, that was of course part of the fun of
watching it for me. If you don't take it too seriously, it is actually an
enjoyable experience. I’m looking forward to the future adventures in the town
of Smallville and seeing where the show goes with this interpretation of Clark
Kent the man who would become Superman.
Score: 7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment