Written by Al Septien, Turi Meyer, Brian Peterson, and Kelly Souders
Directed by Kevin Fair and Greg Beeman
“Smallville” has always struggled to match its potential, especially as it has attempted to transform itself into a more mature show in the later seasons. Part of the problem was its eternally open-ended format. Without an end date in mind, the writers not only had to be flexible, but also felt they could meander from plot point to plot point without much consequence.
This may have worked in earlier seasons, but they knew going in that this was the final chapter. This was all about establishing the “Smallville” version of Clark Kent’s evolution into Superman, and that no other endgame was going to be acceptable. So I’m a bit flummoxed as to why they would punt the ball when it really mattered.
Never mind how badly they botched the run of episodes leading into the finale. That’s been the problem in every season since the start; the writers commit to a storyline for 13 episodes, and then wander aimlessly for the back nine, often making up the finale out of whole cloth. I wouldn’t say that this series finale has the same problem, but it’s pretty close.
As much as Tom Welling, the producers, and the writers all pointed out that this series was about Clark Kent’s evolution, and therefore had to focus on the end of his arc more than the beginning of the Superman story, I think they conveniently dismissed the crucial point: the end of Clark’s arc is entirely the beginning of the Superman story. One cannot be logically separate from the other, especially when the entirety of the foreshadowing for ten seasons has been Clark’s evolution into Superman!
Thus the fatal flaw of the series finale: Clark takes up the mantle of Superman, but we never see him fully in the costume (just some truly terrible CGI shots and extreme Welling close-ups) and he doesn’t even get the name drop. They spent more time giving Lex Luthor a better setup for his future arc as Clark’s nemesis. And that’s despite the epilogue, where it could have been done without hesitation. Unless Tom Welling simply looked horrible in the costume, I can’t fathom why they fumbled this aspect of the ending so badly.
At the same time, this finale fails due to the death by a thousand self-inflicted cuts. It’s not just the culmination of Clark’s journey (much of which directly contradicts elements from earlier in the season/series). It’s the rushed resolution to the big season plot and character threads, because they failed to handle them properly in the several episodes leading into the finale.
What’s sad is that the writers did some great things in this finale. The treatment of Jonathan Kent was brilliant. While it may have seemed odd that both Clark and Martha acted like Jonathan was physically there, I took that as a conceit to communicate that both of them felt his spiritual presence in those moments. It simply felt right, which is perhaps why so many other moments failed to ring true in comparison.
A good chunk of the first half of the finale is devoted to setting up the big battle with Darkseid and resolving the Lois/Clark wedding arc. Considering the threat posed by Apokolips, I thought this took way too much time. I also thought that, just maybe, that little problem would have been a good reason to postpone the wedding. But the writers wanted to have their cake and eat it too, so they got most of a romantic wedding story and also the necessary postponement.
Clark says what most of the audience felt at the end of the previous episode: Lois’ decision to call off the wedding doesn’t make much sense at all, and he’s not having it. But I would argue that the whole issue of selling the farm and Clark’s final moment of self-doubt was equally unnecessary. They covered all of that several times during the season. Sure, it led to some great Clark/Jonathan moments, but was it really something that needed so much time and rehashing devoted to it, when there was a whole planet worth of plot to resolve?
The same inattention to pacing and time management plagues the endless rehashing of the wedding vows. Using them to resolve Clark and Lois’ doubts worked just fine. Re-reading them in their entirely during the wedding wasted an incredible amount of screen time. I was all but looking at my watch and wondering how they were planning to handle the fireworks when so much was being delayed!
Perfect case in point: the resolution of Oliver’s allegiance to Darkseid and the gold kryptonite. I totally bought that Chloe would recognize the kryptonite after all these years, and that Clark would be too distracted to notice. But was it really that easy for Clark to wipe away the taint of the darkness from Oliver? After all that buildup towards something a lot darker, that’s what we get? (Granted, we know Chloe and Oliver live happily ever after, thanks to the prologue, but come on!)
Meanwhile there is a subplot with Tess that serves to explain the return of Lex Luthor. I was more impressed by Tess and her tenacity than the explanation for Lex’s revival. Sure, it ties into the cloning project from the season premiere, but wouldn’t it have made more sense for Darkseid to resurrect him, given the circumstances? Instead, the writers take a more complicated route to the same end, considering that Darkseid uses Lionel’s heart to restore Lex anyway.
The conversation between Lex and Clark was, in many ways, what should have happened back before Lex was shuffled out of the picture at the end of the seventh season. It also reminded me a bit of a certain conversation at the end of the film “Unbreakable”. As good as this moment was, however, it suffered from a lack of proper build-up in the episodes leading into the finale. I was happy to have Lex back for this moment, to tie off that loose end, but it could have been so much more. (Though the Tess/Lex scene did a nice job of resolving one major continuity issue.)
But other resolutions are more egregious. Take Oliver’s remarkably easy dispatch of Darkseid’s minions. That’s all it took? A few arrows to the chest, and it’s all over? I agree that Oliver was probably the right one to take them down, since he was more their victim than Clark at this point, but that was one of the most anticlimactic resolutions to a plot arc I’ve ever seen.
Sadly, it’s not the only one. After building up the fact that countless millions have been tainted with Darkseid’s mark, and with an entire planet of evil coming to destroy Earth (shades of “The Fifth Element”), it was clear that Clark was going to have to do something amazing to save the world. Doing so as Superman would be the ultimate conclusion to Clark’s entire journey.
I knew there was going to be a major problem when I noticed that there was perhaps five minutes left in the episode by the time this moment arrived. Instead of a great Clark vs. Darkseid fight, we get an excruciatingly long recap of big moments from the past ten seasons and a slugfest with Zombie Lionel. All leading up to, as already mentioned, some of the worst CGI I’ve seen on “Smallville”, and that’s saying something.
But here’s the big finish: a completely CGI Superman flies to Apokolips, simply shoves the entire dark planet back out into space. This one act immediately brings hope to the world, and all those tainted millions are instantly cleansed of the mark of Darkseid. End of plot. I don’t know if everyone involved was hoping that the audience would be too giddy over the arrival of Superman (kinda) to notice the massive amount of hand-waving used to “resolve” the season arc, but I wasn’t distracted enough to overlook this serious flaw.
The finale ends with an epilogue seven years later. Chloe is reading a Smallville comic to her son (where such a thing would come from, I don’t know, but there we are), and the writers give us something of a glimpse of the future. Lois and Clark are finally getting back to the altar, Jimmy Olsen is at the Daily Planet, there’s a nice voiceover for Perry White, and perhaps more important to the audience, there’s the familiar John Williams fanfare. It was clearly intended to take the series out on a high note, but all it did was underscore how badly the writers came up short in the end.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4
Final Rating: 6/10
(Season 10 Final Average: 6.7)
(Series Final Average: 6.8)
The Finale works as a stand-alone as I agree that the end of Clark’s journey is Superman’s beginning. If they were trying to separate that, then they have failed. It felt like a Superman Begins movie rather than a Smallville episode.
However, when putting this with the rest of the season and the series, it felt like a lightswitch, especially with Clark finally flying at the final episode. There was no buildup to Clark flying, except for teases and loopholes.
They dragged the Clark/ Lois stuff in the first hour and they didn’t get married thus making the whole season with their relationship and their engagement to be both pointless and a waste.
Even though TW didn’t wear the whole suit, I’d say he wore the top part at best. But I got my Superman fix as he’s in action flying and wearing tights. It was a satisfying end to the show.
I think I’ve read to many reviews of the Finale and have become really confused as to how I feel about it!
In the end, I feel as a SEASON finale it was poor – the build up and significance of Darksied throughout the 10th season was poor and how it ended was too convenient!
One arrow to the heart and the 3 Prophets gone, CK able to fly through zombie Luthor and Darksied destroyed? CK able to fly and “push” Apokolips away? I know he’s strong but THAT strong?
As a SERIES finale it was good, but not without one major let-down: no shot of Welling in the Superman suit.
That’s what we’ve been waiting 10yrs for and they sold us short. Hope we find out why at some stage.
Overall, it left me wanting more, and that’s the least I ask from these shows as they come to an end!!
They seemed to promise we’d see Superman in the costume we’ve been glimpsing all seen season. Then we get a tiny CGI character and, later, Welling wearing what looked like a Superman Tee-shirt — nothing like the glimpsed costume. (He looked more impressive in the jacket he wore as the blur.)
I’ve seen better at SF con masquerades.
-4 for sheer disappointment.
It was the open-ended nature of the series that affected Clark’s less-than-linear journey to becoming the Man of Steel. A little pre-planning might have made his development (over 10 years!) more cohesive.
In the earlier season (pre-Season 3), he had the trials and tribulations of high school, the inevitable love triangle between himself, Chloe and Lana and the beginnings of the mystery surrounding his origins and possible destiny. Guess which part took a back seat?
Destiny.
Clark had more destiny checkpoints Season 3 and beyond, but they were usually halting as Lex began his long-standing rivalry for Lana’s affections. Season 4 marked what I would call the “Jensen Ackles Star-Making Vehicle” season, where Lana and the Teagues had their own show-within-a-show. The introduction of Lois Lane – which should have been huge on its own – took a back seat to the too-long Isobel-stones-Teague story arc. The meteor should have squashed Jason Teague by midseason, IMHO.
Seasons 5-7 seemed to be an attempt to right the ship. Clark had to play catch-up as Lex marched on towards his own destiny as nemesis. I felt that S7 would have been the appropriate point to end the series, if not for the rushed mood (precipitated by Michael Rosenbaum’s departure that season).
Seasons 7-10 seemed to be a whole other series ie Clark beyond Smallville, but not quite Superman. He was “The Blur” this time, facing many of the foes he would later battle as Superman. While many of the episodes were entertaining, I’m not surprised that many viewers would feel short-changed. We wanted Superman already – we got Super Trench Coat Guy.
I didn’t mind that Clark often wavered between choices – as long as we as viewers knew that it would lead to some greater awareness on his part re: destiny, good vs. evil, etc. Sadly, that wasn’t the case and he could be just irritating during the later seasons when he (still) ranted about Jor-El’s interference in his life. It’s not high school any more Clark, could ya give it a rest already?
I’ve long accepted that Smallville as a series should and must end the moment Clark donned the S-shield. “No tights, no flights” was the series’ mantra. By Season 10, they had to ensure all the i’s were dotted and t’s crossed. Nine years of destiny-procrastinating can do that, leaving the viewers feeling rushed again.
The finale ended on as good a note as possible, but after 10 years, many viewers would still wonder if Smallville as a series could have been that much better with more foresight and preparation.
I think you all are terribly over critical. you guys sound like children and thats an understatement. Smallville won many awards and captured many hearts. It gave true destination to what the man of steel means to america. And if you didnt like the finale then im pretty sure you wouldnt be leaving a 14 paragraphed complaint. either that or you have no life. so on that note i just bought the tenth season of smallville and this complaint has put me in the mood. im gonna go watch the finale and eat my sandwich. Later!