This show has ended, but that does not erase my love for it.
There were a lot of people who didn't care for
Smallville, I know, because it wasn't canon. It (obviously) made a lot of connections to the traditional comic book characters and events but adapted them to tell the kind of story CW always tells - one fraught with drama and teenage angst. Not that comic books are without drama, and I personally would have enjoyed a more faithful story arc concerning Lana Lang - it took so long for them to get together! - but I digress.
Smallville was one of the first modern forays into the superhero world, first coming on the air in 2001. And it was pretty damn successful, with a 10 season run. It was the first experience for many with comic book characters and stories, and I feel confident in saying that it - at least partially - set the stage for the crazy kind of success current hero franchises are experiencing. It was certainly my first real encounter with superhero stories.
It can't be denied that Smallville owes a large part of it's success to it's chosen central character. Not just any super, but Superman himself, easily the most well recognized hero globally. If you're talking heroes, he's your go-to guy. That was all the hook needed to get many people started with the show. Of course, the comics have already told Clark Kent's origin story many times over, and most people know the basics. But I think there was a pretty widespread intrigue among those of us less familiar with the DC universe (at the time) about Kent's pre-hero days. Sure, he's an alien who crash-landed in Smallville and was adopted by regular people, but what was high school like? Did he date? When did he start to experience his superpowers? Add to that the CW's record of making quality shows with captivating stories and there was a large audience prepared to give it a chance. It also didn't hurt that
Tom Welling, as Clark Kent, cuts a rather dashing figure.
The cast was the final piece of the puzzle for me, and probably many others, that made this show so fascinating and addictive. Of course, they tended to be very typically beautiful, which was fun to watch on its own, but they were also really talented. Tom Welling plays the best bad liar I think I've ever seen, capturing Clark Kent's upright moral character - and therefore difficulty telling lies- perfectly. He was incredibly adaptable in showing the different sides of Superman as well, his struggles with doing the right thing when it would be so easy to go wrong, and the few occasions he did go wrong as they introduced the varieties of Kryptonite.
Michael Rosenbaum as Lex - and Lex and Clark's friend - was both refreshing and ultimately terrifying. My goodness, that man can play a villain. While I have high hopes for
Eisenburg's Luthor in the upcoming
Batman v. Superman film, I was secretly hoping Rosenbaum would reprise his Smallville role.
Smallville was a bit of a breakout role for the very lovely and talented
Kristina Kreuk - I still have no idea how to pronounce her last name - and she was fabulous as Lana Lang, Clark Kent's high school sweetheart. After the show's wrap, she ended up landing another CW role in
Beauty and the Beast. I haven't seen the new show to comment on it's quality, but if the rest of the cast brings it like Kreuk does, I imagine it will be around for a while. I was also excited to discover Kreuk's presence in an adaptation of one of my favorite book series, Earthsea. The TV movie ended up being no good, but that was in spite of her great performance.
John Glover as Lionel Luther was probably the most incredible performance on the show. As with his "son," he was both terrifying and sympathetic, and Glover perfectly executed the complexities of the character. While the character inspired intense dislike - if not outright hatred - over the course of the show, Glover's performance inspired awe.
Finally, my all-time favorite was... can you guess?
That's right! Little baby-faced Ackels had a role - as a
blonde - on Smallville! He played Jason Teague, Lana's high-school-football-coaching boyfriend during season 4. As I've mentioned, I was so immediately enamored with him as an actor that I was distressed by his leaving, and ultimately I followed him to
his new show.
The last paragraph segues nicely into why exactly I love Smallville so much even now. As I've explained above, it was a really, genuinely good show. But in addition to that, it introduced me to so much. It was indirectly responsible for my obsession with Supernatural, and as I said earlier it was my first experience with comic book heroes. What you might not know - but
really should
have picked
up on by now- is that that first experience has inspired a long-term love. I'm obsessed! And I can't get enough. Interestingly, despite my first comic love being a DC character, my current interests tend more toward Marvel. I still owe it all to Superman, though. And of course, Smallville was the first time I saw Jensen, and I've never looked back!
I feel, and certainly hope, that Smallville had a similar effect on many others as well. People who may not have realized they were fans of comic books or superheros before caught on to the fact after they were introduced to that world through this show. And for that, it will always be special to me.
Plus, the love story evolving between Louis and Clark was really beautiful to watch. And that final scene! When Welling finally got to put on the cape, fly up, up, and away, and strike that iconic Superman pose, it was just magnificent.
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