This season of Smallville was better than the last few – and yet the last few episodes were starting to force me to extend my patience bubble farther out than normal. Stilletto? It felt like it was trying to fall apart for me to some degree, yet I suppose what can you expect from a fantasy show that has inexplicable superpowered aliens?
This reflection on the Smallville season finale will have spoilers…
The Smallville season finale brought closure to some story lines, had some oddball hanging logic at spots, fulfilled some past tidbits on who was going to die and set us up for the next season.
Though I’m not sure what they intend to do with next season or if after this episode, they’ll have viewers coming back. I’ve already seen some comments about this finale and they haven’t been pretty.
Clark, You Are Going To Die
The episode starts out with Clark learning from Cosmic Boy that he’s going to die tomorrow. Cosmis Boy also gives Clark another time travel ring, asking Clark that he send Doomsday to their time where they are prepared to deal with him.
Meanwhile, back at the super large mansion, Tess Mercer loses her Kandor Orb. Here’s the issue with the Orb… if Doomsday dies, something worse is released from the Orb.
Clark’s big plan is to bury Doomsday but the Justice League double crosses Clark and dupes him into a trap where Green Arrow plugs Clark with a green arrow… really… a kyrptonite laced arrow. It really was green.
The Justice League Thinks They Can Take Doomsday
Then the Justice League of mortals (Note the fragility of that word?) goes off to do kill the invincible Doomsday. They walk away leaving Clark to lie in the street, subdued. Nice, real nice, and real odd.
The Justice League actually captures Davis but as they prepare to off him, Chloe gets in the way AGAIN and thrusts the black kryptonite at Davis, splitting him and Doomsday apart. It’s amazing how stupid this girl acts, and I mean it with the best intentions.
At one point Lois is snooping around Mercer’s mansion. How the hell do people keep getting in this place? Later on Mercer confronts Lois at the Daily Planet and accuses Lois of stealing her Orb.
They get into a cat fight. (This was probably the best part of the episode folks.) Finally Lois clocks Tess out cold. As this scuffle comes to an end, Clark’s time travel ring that he left on his desk, falls off his desk and as Lois picks it up, she vanishes in a flash. Obviously to the future.
The near iconic character of Jimmie Olsen finds Clark and pulls the arrow from his back. Suddenly it all begins to make sense as he pulls the arrow out of his back and watches Clark heal. Jimmie is cool with Clark’s secret.
Clark locates the Justice League battered and bruised by what was Doomsday, which really, they seemed less worse for wear considering they just went up against an unbridled, pissed off Kryptonian killing machine that had no human control.
It’s back to the original plan and Clark engages Doomsday.
As they come together, Doomsday clocks Clark, sending him flying through several buildings. As Doomsday comes after him, Clark does a leaping tackle where they land at the refinery where Clark had left the Justice League. As they land there, it would seem that Clark packed Doomsday in one of the tunnels that he had first planned to put him in, where then Black Canary would set off this multitude of explosions to bury Doomsday. There are big explosions but in no way were we shown that they were set off by Canary.
The next morning, Jimmy and Chloe have taken the humanity known as Davis to this loft Jimmy bought as a wedding present way back when. As Jimmy and Chloe start to make amends, the jealous Davis stabs Jimmy with a pipe. As Davis goes after Chloe in a jealous angry rage, Jimmy uses his last bit of energy to shove Davis into more pipes, killing him. Jimmy dies. JIMMY OLSEN DIES (what?). So the monster was Davis. Great.
After the funeral Clark and Chloe talk. Clark doesn’t know how he survived the explosion or seemingly what happened to Doomsday. Clark is mad at himself for not seeing that Oliver was right about killing Doomsday.
Clark said he tries to forget he’s an alien and yet, it’s his human side that makes poor decisions based on emotion. He decides that he is no longer going to be Clark Kent and declares that Clark Kent is dead and walks away.
Meanwhile, back at the mansion the Kandor Orb shows up and hatches a man on the front lawn, carving out a big Z in the grass. Zod, has returned.
Where Do I Begin?
This episode had so many oddball illogical scenes that happenstance seemed more like logic than the situations that took place here.
Leaving a time travel ring on your desk at work. Fine. Clark has a lot on his mind.
A batch of humans with some powers, looking to take on Doomsday. Fine. They have to. Right?
The fight between Clark and Doomsday was incredibly short and lame. Two hits. Three at the most? This should have been the payoff for this whole season of waiting. And it was two hits. Gimme a break folks.
At Jimmy’s funeral, we find out that his middle name is Jimmy. Jimmy is not his real name. Chloe gives “Jimmies” camera to his younger brother. Head slap. So Jimmy Olsen did not die. Just a guy whose middle name was Jimmy.
Clark saying that Clark Kent is dead – Is this what the showrunners meant when they tried to tease the viewers into any sort of anticipation about character deaths and the season finale? You’ve lost your credibility with this critic because that was a hollow lie. On both counts. If it’s not really Jimmy, then you’ve lied to us all along. Clark “dies” by a decision. I’m so over this it’s not even funny.
Zod is back. Cool. Sure. Why not bring Darkseid in the action as some sort of midget horticulturist while you’re at it.
Did I forget something? I’m sure I did. Are you as agitated as I am? As a show goes and if you’ve put on a thick skin of anti-logic, the episode was fine but the convenient scenarios and situations that led to some of the story closures felt contrived. Did someone quit and you had to get a fill-in writer?
I liked the premise that Jimmy found out Clark’s secret. Learning that information made a lot of things make sense to Jimmy and why he could start to forgive Chloe. In fact, the forgiving had started and bam! OK, you had me there. Watching someone in a passionate make up kiss and hearing the shthunk sound of pipe going through their torso sucked.
Smallville Season 9 Spoilers
Erica Durance will be back for Season 9. Sam Witwer may be continuing with the show as he might be playing Zod. It’s noted that Faora did say that Davis Bloome resembled his father.
Your Turn
Ok folks. It’s your turn. You can either back me up and show me more moments of “huh?” or tell me why you thought this was OK in your book. I’m totally open to any thoughts.
Now gang, I’ve asked for opinions on both sides, so this is my fault if you see things you don’t like. Don’t take it out on each other. This is a safe place to express your thoughts.
Images and Season 9 Info Source: Krypton Site
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Right, wasnt jimmy a drug addict 1 or 2 episodes ago, iv never been an addict but im sure you dont just stop. That was a bleak ending to season eight the fighting was the height of stupid and everything seemed forced. im a big fan and will continue to be but im very let down. When does he learn to fly? is there going to be a suit? is jimmy actually dead? wheres his mother? is lex dead? will stelletto be back? will we see johnathan kent? ahhhhhh wrake my head. They should do a ‘metropolis;The superman years’
what? jimmy jimmy had just started doing drugs and oliver helped him get over that. yes jimmy’s dead. his mother- probably also dead. lex is supposed to be dead. stiletto was a one time thing. johnathan kent has been dead for 4 seasons now. and why do metropolis? i mean i know why but why can’t they just keep this show going?
wow, i’m beatin’ my head off the wall for not catching this sooner. when Rokk tells clark that he needs to change the past, he means the present. Rokk lives in the year 3009, his past is clark’s present. he didn’t mean clark had to go back in time. clark had warning and he’s alive
@Rory
Right, wasnt jimmy a drug addict 1 or 2 episodes ago, iv never been an addict but im sure you dont just stop
Yes, he did get addicted to drugs but was helped by Oliver, I think. An addict wouldn’t get over an addiction that soon but this is TV.
When does he learn to fly?
If this current Clark is the Eradictor, we will probably see him fly in season 9. We probably won’t see the real Clark fly until the series finale.
is there going to be a suit?
Maybe for the finale. This is Smallville, not Superman.
is jimmy actually dead?
The Jimmy Olson we knew from the last 2 seasons is dead, but he wasn’t the Jimmy we know from the comics. His camera was given to his younger brother whose first name is Jimmy; the Jimmy we knew was not Jimmy, that was his middle name.
wheres his mother?
Dead.
is lex dead?
No. Michael Rosenbaum will be back for a couple of episodes.
will stelletto be back?
Probably not.
will we see johnathan kent?
Wow, you haven’t been watching for a while. Jonathan Kent died of a heart attacked a couple of seasons ago. He died of a heart attack in the movie also. In the comic “Death of Superman”, he died and helped Clark realize that he wasn’t suppose to be in the afterlife.
how did he miss the death of johnathan kent? you’d have to not watch.. ever. they’ve talked about his death countless times
but with the death of “Henry” (jimmy) and his younger brother being the right jimmy, what does that mean for the character? are they just going to not have jimmy olsen in season 9? because if they don’t that’ll be a little indicator that there will be a season 10. they still have to set up the whole superman thing (ya know with perry white in charge of the daily planet and all that other stuff).
Unless, (i was thinking about this) season 9 takes place years after season 8. we tune in to see the (apparent) Eradicator beating on crime and zod doing something evil, while chloe is lost in the world (most likely romancing with the new villian, The Planeteer) and clark somehow coming back trying to fix things.
then again, maybe not. just thinking of things to think about.
in which case jimmy would be played by an older guy
Foopher and John, did I miss something or his Clark’s mom still alive? I mean, last I knew she was still away in Washington fulfilling her duties as a Senator. I don’t believe she ever died.
Also, do we have any kind of official confirmation that Rosenbaum’s going to be back? I’ve heard a few people mention it on here, but I checked Kryptonsite and they don’t appear to have anything on it, and usually they’re right on top of any news or even plausible rumors.
@Luke
The mother that was talked about was Olsen’s mom; Clark’s mom is in DC as Senator Kent.
I think it has been said that Rosenbaum will come back for a couple of episodes but he will wear the skullcap, and not get his head shaved.
Be careful not to reiterate what fans or websites say they “want,” versus, what really is.
I’m just sayin’.
Exactly, I know everybody would like to see Rosenbaum back for at least a few episodes, but I haven’t seen anything solid to back it up. Unfortunately, I think it still might just be wishful thinking for now.
And thanks for clearing up about Jimmy/Clark’s mom.
Personally I think it’s just easier to watch the show and understand it at the time rather than constantly point out flaws in the program.
I hope the Rosenbaum comes back to, thought he was a great actor for Lex.
I thought Lois had gone back in time and at the end she would put everything back to normal…obviously not…and I didn’t actually realise about the whole Jimmy not being Jimmy storyline
well i seen johnathan kent killed but seen him make a few appearances after and if johnathan(who lived in the new adventures of lois and clarke) can make appearances then so can martha can, she was in i think original superman 3. and if any1 seen superboy that used to be on sky1 years ago, writing the suit in to smallville wont be that weird. Flying? serious every one apart from bloom could fly, kara was roughly clarks age could she fly? and the future krew can fly. old lex was great i want more of him. Kill jimmy? serious his wee bro, that personally was bad writing. or lois goes to the future hears about jimmy and does stuff? and stelletto is lois so as long as shes in it the character has potential………
Lex might be back for the final episodes, but nothing is for sure there. If you ask me, when he does come back, they should let him have hair and say it’s a wig (ya know to show that he’s in to that sort of thing now much like he is in the movies) Yes, it was mama olsen i was talking about.
the jimmy situation is a result of aaron ashmore leaving the show. it could’ve been much worse. i wish they would bring martha back even though the actress left. no offense annette but what are you doing that you can’t come back for a few episodes? lol after all you do make clark the suit (at least you did in the comics)
i hope they also continue having guest stars from other superman stuff on the show. (we’ve had chris reeve, margot kidder, that guy who played jimmy in those movies, dean cane) also bring back some people from past episodes (some of the original meteor freaks, like bee girl in season 7) i was like hey i remember her.
Foopher says:
June 9, 2009 at 8:15 pm
the jimmy situation is a result of aaron ashmore leaving the show. it could’ve been much worse. i wish they would bring martha back even though the actress left. no offense annette but what are you doing that you can’t come back for a few episodes? lol after all you do make clark the suit (at least you did in the comics)
i hope they also continue having guest stars from other superman stuff on the show. (we’ve had chris reeve, margot kidder, that guy who played jimmy in those movies, dean cane) also bring back some people from past episodes (some of the original meteor freaks, like bee girl in season 7) i was like hey i remember her.
And the original supergirl as kal ell’s mum! dont forget….
For my money, I’m pretty sure that “Mason” is some reincarnated version of Lex. If you read the information about him on Kryptonsite (which includes an actual scene they’re using for auditions) I think it’s pretty obvious. Of course this’ll provide a convenient (if contrived) way for them to bring back Lex while explaining why he looks completely different than he used to.
Seriously, when this ends up being one of the big reveals of Season 9 remember that you heard it here first.
@ luke
actually i think mason maybe rex mason also known as metamorpho. he is a solider for hire and turns into metamorpho after one of his jobs. (is hit by a meteor) he then seek help from the justice league for a cure.
I think this might be the guy before his transformation. you can check out more here:
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Rex_Mason_(New_Earth) (this is the comic book version, the cartoon version is a little different)
Rory B, holy crap that’s right i forgot her, oops lol
does anybody know about the bad guy from the comics “Alexander the great”? he seems like the more likely candidate for that mason guy to me (from the info i’ve seen). although this show is kinda big on the whole reincarnation deal, i don’t think it’s lex. Lex is alive hidding somewhere. He just pulled a Lana (season 6 finale). He’ll pop up in the final episodes and everyone will be all “whoa! there he is”. He’ll probably find Tess at the mansion first, but she won’t recognize him at first because of his “wig”. Then she’ll figure it out, get all mad, go after him, and he’ll kill her… then again maybe not. It’s really not up to me. lol
Duh, i also forgot about Terence Stamp voicing Jor-El. silly me
Didn’t Bee Girl die in season 7? It was the episode with Dean Caine if my memory serves.
yeah. i was using that episode as an example
Oh crikey. Where now for the series. Its time to move away from the mushy tweenie image a la dawson creek, and move on to a new level. Christ, what age is clark now?
Im glad Clark and Lois are finally moving closer together cos the ridiculous flirting with no end product was becoming quite stomach churning.
Lana and Clark almost made me vomit it was so sweet and mushy, plus she looked about 13yrs old and was highly sexualised. Yuk (Katie Holmes in Dawson creek was very “barely legal” looking too)
Get some red kryptonite or something clark. You aint bad enough. C’mon.
Smallville has ran its course but i think the franchise can continue onwards and upwards with “metropolis”. Concerning the next 3 yrs or so before the full emergence of supe
Comic book dogma has been clunked into the whole smalleville saga but the tv and movie franchises are a million miles away in reality.
Comics have their loyal fans who arent pleased with the slushy teen drama unfolding in their hero’s tales. Yes, nobody likes that im sure(except the slushy tweenies who watch it) but the audience has changed vastly from the comic fans. We have to put up with the sugar coated emotional scenes but even a cynic like me watched as much as i possibly could and im in my late 30′s.
This cast can carry on for 2-3 more seasons if they keep the main characters but lex must be there or forget it. Without rosenbaum would be just as bad if not worse than if welling left.
Jimmy Olsen died! Shock horror, but he and chloe did make me chuck from time to time. Whats with the eyes darting from left to righ when they are having an emotional conversation? They do it, and of course , Lan was the daddy of eye wobbling! No harking back to Katie Holmes please in the creek!
Lois is at least definately a sexy WOMAN, yes a woman, not a girl who is meant to be 20 somethin but really looks 13/14 like Lana did for many seasons. It disgust me the over sexualisation of underage charcters or underage looking characters. Chloe looked very young and innocent in the early seasons too but they still played up all this sexual tension between her and clark.
Lex and clark had sparks fly too from time to time. But at last, he seems to be closing in on his destiny by flirting ridiculously with lois and its comin. We all know that
But if “Metropolis” did get off the ground, less slush and more action please. Darken the franchise please. You guys musta made plenty of money by now. Make it more dangerous and gritty. At least get as grity as batman got in his latest movies. Milk the series up until he dons the suit. Is the suit even going to be relevant today? C’mon- red speedos are so last decade
btw, i realised that season 8 was on uk tv and i had been watching season 7 for a while on the same channel but a different day! Gutted. And i didnt even need cable. It was all on freeview so i neednt have missed any
you said it needed to be dark and gritty. season 8 has been the most gritty one yet.
You are right about the show being more Clark’s Creek than Smallville with Lana, though. i do believe they’re starting to get past that.
Also lana’s gone so you won’t have to put up with her “barely legal” self. also i don’t think anyone thought she looked 13. there’s an episode of season one where she gets sprayed by some flower and takes clark to the school pool and strips down (she looked quite mature).
I am sorry but i thought this was a great episode and i wish people would quit trashing it. I do think Smallville should have gone out of the ordinary and made the finale 1 hour and 30 minutes because it felt rushed. But this was my only complaint.
I thought this episode was great because it answered all the questions that popped up over the past couple of seasons. But to understand what i am saying you must know superman mythology. I liked that Jimmy was not the same Olsen that worked with Superman. He was suppose to be a young upcoming photographer not there and established as one. He was supposed to be much younger than Clark and Lois. Perry White is suppose to hire Clark Kent at the Daily Planet. The things they did set them up to bring in the mythology we all know and love perfectly. And know one has noticed that clark flies at the end of the episode. I guess im the only person with Tivo that could back the show up and look again. That was well beyond a super jump to get Doomsday to the tunnel. My first reason for saying that is he does not jump straight up , but he takes off up and out. the next reason is he is said to be able to “leap tall buildings in a single bound”, not the earth. The skyline of Metropolis is gone he is so high in the air. And no matter where clark found Doomsday in the city, he took him from that point all the way down the tunnel and got back out before he was caught in the explosion. If anyone cared to notice this is where they find doomsday in the superman mythology and he could not change between human and Doomsday. Not to mention clark defeats him the same way as he will as Superman in the future. I think the plot was perfect as usual.
Please respond to this no matter if you agree or not… i love feedback
I am sorry but i thought this was a great episode and i wish people would quit trashing it. I do think Smallville should have gone out of the ordinary and made the finale 1 hour and 30 minutes because it felt rushed. But this was my only complaint.
I thought this episode was great because it answered all the questions that popped up over the past couple of seasons. But to understand what i am saying you must know superman mythology. I liked that Jimmy was not the same Olsen that worked with Superman. He was suppose to be a young upcoming photographer not there and established as one. He was supposed to be much younger than Clark and Lois. Perry White is suppose to hire Clark Kent at the Daily Planet. The things they did set them up to bring in the mythology we all know and love perfectly. And know one has noticed that clark flies at the end of the episode. I guess im the only person with Tivo that could back the show up and look again. That was well beyond a super jump to get Doomsday to the tunnel. My first reason for saying that is he does not jump straight up , but he takes off up and out. the next reason is he is said to be able to “leap tall buildings in a single bound”, not the earth. The skyline of Metropolis is gone he is so high in the air. And no matter where clark found Doomsday in the city, he took him from that point all the way down the tunnel and got back out before he was caught in the explosion. If anyone cared to notice this is where they find doomsday in the superman mythology and he could not change between human and Doomsday. Not to mention clark defeats him the same way as he will as Superman in the future. I think the plot was perfect as usual.
Please respond to this no matter if you agree or not… i love feedback
@TruSupermanFan-Kal
I guess you missed my post where I specifically stated it looked like he flew to me. But that was many posts ago so I can see why you didn’t read it. You have the right to your opinion but mine is that the episode was far from perfect, but still entertaining. The questions I have brought up in earlier posts hopefully will be answered in season 9.
also they have like pages now so you only see the most recent ones. i agree, i liked the episode too. it did seem rushed but that was fine with me. people are responding to it like it was the last episode ever. we’ve still got at least one more to go.