I have watched Smallville since its inception on TV, and was immediately drawn to the show simply because of its premise as the origin story of Clark Kent, the boy who grows up to become Superman. It would be the first real take after the horrifying Superboy, and would be set in the modern day - two things I immediately liked. Although I found their depiction of Kansas a little too... well, rosy for reality, the setting was also fantastic (even though it seemed to make Smallville look like the posh center of civilization that it is not). Overall, it started off quite well.
An interesting feature of Smallville is that we don't understand Clark's origin story from the start. We don't know about Krypton, we don't know that his real name is Kal-El, we don't know about his mother, his father, or his alien lineage. All we know is that his parents found him in a cornfield inside of a spaceship and that he began to develop powers from an early age. He grows up on an idyllic farm with a perfect, working class family and attends high school with his close friends.
There's a few interesting twists, of course. He's not the popular kid in class - in fact, he's initially a social outcast, not liked by the jockstraps that roam his school. His traditional comic book love interest, Lana Lang, has a boyfriend and initially won't give him a second glance. His best friends Pete Ross (reimagined as black) and Chloe Sullivan are nerds at best. Perhaps most strikingly, he has a run in with his future archnemesis, Lex Luthor, and ends up saving his life. Lex is about five years older than Clark, but considers him a best friend, and at the start of the series, he starts off as the person whom Clark can trust the most, aside from his parents.
The first two seasons are very formulaic, involving a meteor freak of the week format (meteor freaks being people with powers brought on by kryptonite, the one substance that can weaken Clark), with almost no continuity from episode to episode, and deals with the mundane aspects of Clark's life. However, starting at the end of season 2, the focus shifts to Clark's origins, and we learn that he's Kryptonian and that his destiny was to rule over men.
Initially repulsed by this, Clark delves further into his past and realizes that his father sent him to Earth because his home planet was completely destroyed. Soon, the traditional elements of the Superman mythos are introduced, such as the Justice League, characters such as Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, and famous villains such as Zod, Brainiac, and Bizarro. Most importantly, Lex's traditional role as a villain becomes more apparent as the show progresses, and makes a point to explain that his transformation wasn't a result of birth or destiny, but because of the choices he made.
The show has some extremely weak detractors, unfortunately. Kristin Kreuk, the actress who plays Lana Lang, does not portray acting versatility and her character and relationship with Clark remain fairly unchanged over the series. Ultimately she becomes a recurring fallback plot device that slows down the plot instead of helping it. Some bad casting choices have also impeded it and lately a lack of creative endeavor and interest in the show are causing it to die, but while it was running stron git served a new, fresh interest in Superman, as the modern face of the Superhero's new look, and as the first show to provide a serious face to the franchise after Superman I.
An interesting feature of Smallville is that we don't understand Clark's origin story from the start. We don't know about Krypton, we don't know that his real name is Kal-El, we don't know about his mother, his father, or his alien lineage. All we know is that his parents found him in a cornfield inside of a spaceship and that he began to develop powers from an early age. He grows up on an idyllic farm with a perfect, working class family and attends high school with his close friends.
There's a few interesting twists, of course. He's not the popular kid in class - in fact, he's initially a social outcast, not liked by the jockstraps that roam his school. His traditional comic book love interest, Lana Lang, has a boyfriend and initially won't give him a second glance. His best friends Pete Ross (reimagined as black) and Chloe Sullivan are nerds at best. Perhaps most strikingly, he has a run in with his future archnemesis, Lex Luthor, and ends up saving his life. Lex is about five years older than Clark, but considers him a best friend, and at the start of the series, he starts off as the person whom Clark can trust the most, aside from his parents.
The first two seasons are very formulaic, involving a meteor freak of the week format (meteor freaks being people with powers brought on by kryptonite, the one substance that can weaken Clark), with almost no continuity from episode to episode, and deals with the mundane aspects of Clark's life. However, starting at the end of season 2, the focus shifts to Clark's origins, and we learn that he's Kryptonian and that his destiny was to rule over men.
Initially repulsed by this, Clark delves further into his past and realizes that his father sent him to Earth because his home planet was completely destroyed. Soon, the traditional elements of the Superman mythos are introduced, such as the Justice League, characters such as Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, and famous villains such as Zod, Brainiac, and Bizarro. Most importantly, Lex's traditional role as a villain becomes more apparent as the show progresses, and makes a point to explain that his transformation wasn't a result of birth or destiny, but because of the choices he made.
The show has some extremely weak detractors, unfortunately. Kristin Kreuk, the actress who plays Lana Lang, does not portray acting versatility and her character and relationship with Clark remain fairly unchanged over the series. Ultimately she becomes a recurring fallback plot device that slows down the plot instead of helping it. Some bad casting choices have also impeded it and lately a lack of creative endeavor and interest in the show are causing it to die, but while it was running stron git served a new, fresh interest in Superman, as the modern face of the Superhero's new look, and as the first show to provide a serious face to the franchise after Superman I.