Smallville Review Blog

Written by Bryan Q. Miller and Anne Cofell Saunders
Directed by Mike Rohl

What in the world happened to this final season of “Smallville”?

Things were rolling right along for quite a while, delving into some of the darkest territory yet. It seemed as though the knowledge of the end of the series had given the writers more license to address the journey of Clark towards his more familiar persona. And up until the late-season hiatus, that’s where they seemed to be heading. So why have the past few episodes felt like a complete waste of time? With so little time remaining for the series, why aren’t they focusing on everything they set up earlier in the season? And why, oh why, are they making this same structural mistake yet again?

Instead of making the ramp-up to the series finale the point of the episode, they relegate some important plot points to the “B” story and focus way too much on a standard “Smallville” trope: giving Lois all of Clark’s abilities while rendering him powerless. It all seems designed to bring Clark to the realization that Jor-El’s little tests and trials are no longer applicable.

But haven’t we already arrived at this point, more or less? Sure, Jor-El locked up the famous suit until he felt Clark was worthy, but the writers have already all but undermined the power of that subtext by disengaging Clark’s personal growth from the struggle with Darkseid. And while Lois’ decision not to marry Clark (yet) may please the continuity hawks in the audience, it doesn’t fit the overall arc for “Smallville”. (Hopefully, this is just a silly twist for this episode, meant to add suspense and drama to the finale.)

Oliver’s story was much stronger: his attempt to overcome the mark of Darkseid and his own darkness within, only to lead the enemy to one of the few weapon capable of presenting challenge. Pairing him with Kara, to illuminate that Oliver is now firmly playing for the other team, despite his protests, worked fine. So why shove her off to deal with Jor-El’s latest schizophrenic decision, and thus leave with the Legion ring? How does this serve as a logical and fitting conclusion to her part on the show?

I’m still trying to figure out why Lois would go along with Toyman’s scheme. Was it introduced to justify her later conclusion that she is Clark’s greatest weakness? How does that remotely fit with all the episodes that previously established her as one of Clark’s greatest strengths? Knowing that the powers will be back in Clark’s hands by the end of the day, why not disable Toyman’s device and then inform Clark of Toyman’s intentions? Or, for that matter, use the abilities that she took to easily enough earlier in the episode to resolve the situation herself? The usual canny and capable Lois Lane doesn’t show the slightest ability to solve this problem, and it’s galling.

It should also be noted that this is the second episode in a row where Clark is essentially powerless for most of the main plot thread, and the third episode in a row where the writers are either tying up old threads that were already tied off just fine and focusing more on development and exploration of supporting characters. Usually, I don’t mind this as much as other members of the audience, but given the impending finale, it just seems like an utter waste.

Apparently this was also another nod to the DC Comics fans, with Toyman assembling the “Legion of Doom”. If so, was this really necessary? Did it really add any value? Wouldn’t this has been better as something more integrated into the Darkseid arc, instead of a seemingly one-off cameo appearance (to the point where the characters had to be filmed indirectly to mask the absence of the necessary actors and actresses)? It just seems like the perfect representation of everything that has been wrong with the final stretch of “Smallville”.

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 1/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 0/4

Final Rating: 4/10