Few television series last 10 years – especially on The CW. When Smallville began, nobody would have thought that we’d be seeing Clark Kent actually become Superman. While the series definitely had its up and downs, the fans always stood by it – something that certainly helped the series push through the rough spots and find its way again.
In what has been a good to great tenth season for Smallville, was the final episode everything the fans could have asked for, or were the many years invested in this series a waste?
Let’s talk about that, shall we?
The story of Clark Kent’s destiny to become Superman couldn’t have ended much better. In what felt like a two-hour whirlwind of an episode, the Smallville series finale managed to not only beautifully wrap up a 10-year-long adventure, but to also negate the “no flights; no tights” rule with a set of scenes that transformed the mild-mannered Clark Kent into Superman.
With the series finale deliberately separating the two-hour time block with their own specific theme, each scene – from beginning to end – elegantly blended together, ever building the suspense and tensions until the episode’s final fifteen minutes.
As Lois (Erica Durance) and Clark’s (Tom Welling) wedding quickly revealed itself to be the focus of the finale’s first hour, expectations of seeinge the Man of Steel were subdued. Fortunately, it quickly became apparent that this was not needed, as the entirety of the two-hour Smallville series finale was peppered with perfectly executed actions scenes that served the whet the palate of all those watching.
While many of Smallville’s relationship subplots find themselves playing second fiddle to the better produced action sequences and storylines, the handling of Lois & Clark’s wedding couldn’t have been any better. In scenes that not only touched your heart, but kept you intrigued, this escalating emotional storyline was surprisingly weaved into Oliver’s “Darkseid” – so even if emotions aren’t your thing, you can’t be too disappointed.
Even though I could have done without the Lords of the Rings nod with Oliver (Justin Hartley) taking the place of Gollum, the scene was absolutely acceptable given the surroundings. That being said, in a finale that’s filled up wonderfully crafted scenes, a couple of “acceptable” ones aren’t too bad.
As the Smallville series finale made its turn to the final hour, so did the themes. Gone where color schemes of white. Instead, they were replaced with the ever-glowing color of red. With Lionel Luthor sacrificing himself to save Lex Luthor, the return that Smallville fans have been waiting for arrived. Unfortunately, because the loss of Lionel was needed to bring back Lex, the father and son reunion that fans were waiting for never happened.
Still… Lex Luthor is back – and he’s back in a big, bad way. In a set of scenes eerily similar to M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable, the contract of Superman vs. Lex Luthor was signed. Both echoing warnings from the past, and promises of the future, Michael Rosenbaum delivered what may be one of the best monologues in the entire series – it’s just too bad that it didn’t last.
The reunion of brother and sister – Lex and Tess – served to not only bring together the surviving Luthor family, but to also create the Lex Luthor that comic book fans know. As Lex quickly moved and stabbed Tess, the once-forgotten Luthor sibling gave her brother one final gift. Keeping with the familiar nonsensical naming of “magical” plot progressors, Tess basically made Lex forget everything that has happened to him up until that point.
For a character as beloved as Lex Luthor, it was nice to see that the producers attempted to conclude Lex’s plotline in Smallville by aligning him directly with his comic book counterpart – even if that did require some all-too-familiar “mind-wipe magic.”
With 20 minutes remaining in the finale, Clark began taking his final steps to become Superman. Starting things off with a pretty awesome first ACTUAL flying scene, Smallville provided fans with sigh of relief as Clark’s maiden voyage was executed so perfectly that you forgot all the many hours you invested waiting for this moment.
While Clark’s aerial defeat of Darkseid seemed a bit simple, it provided for some wonderful Superman moments as the series came to a close. The handling of the suit was absolutely perfect (even though frustratingly, a complete reveal of Welling in the suit wasn’t included – damned contractual issues), the amount of screen time that Superman received was well above what I had expected – but most importantly, it provided a wonderful conclusion to a wonderful series.
For 10 years fans have been watching the journey of Clark Kent. While the series had its fair shares of problems, it always found its way back on top. Even though Smallville fans have been demanding for years that Clark Kent fulfill his destiny, this series has made one thing absolutely clear:
It’s not easy to become Superman.
Loading ...Follow me on Twitter @anthonyocasio
‘Game of Thrones’ to End in Season 7? 
‘Prometheus 2′ Casting Rumor – Is the Sequel Moving Forward? 
‘Halo’ Live-Action TV Series From Steven Spielberg Announced 
First Look at ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’ on CW – Will it Be a Hit (Again)? 
SPOILER!!!!! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE SMALLVILLE FINALE!…
Ok now that’s out of the way…
I felt that the finale was bittersweet. Lex Luthor’s return was almost mandatory by fans but should have been an episode or two before the finale. The Connor Kent crap was total filler and NOT NEEDED! It really threw me off because what I thought was going to happen is that the kid would grow into Michael Rosenbaum, marking his return as Lex for the remainder of the season.
What also bothered me was Tess being killed off which looked like nothing more than cheap shock value. Shows over now somebody’s gotta die! That formula is played out and looked somewhat forced just to add some element of extra drama that wasn’t needed in the first place.
When Lex said “I’m doing you a favor so you don’t become like me” it implied that because Tess was his sister that she’s genetically predisposed to turning evil??? COME ON!!!! Her death was totally unnecessary.
As for Clark in the suit…
Is there a reason they NEVER showed a closeup of him while wearing it?????
Screen shots of his face from the neck up does not count seriously wtf was that?? We wait all this time only to see shots of him from a distance next to a plane?
I really want to rant about the Daily Planet “Olsen Twin” scenario, but feel that the dumbass storytelling was obvious to the fans.
It would have been nice to see Lana one last time but I guess after the mess of a story they gave her it was best not to mention her as much.
Even though I had gripes about the finale the show was good for what it was. Without question the best Superman series period despite it’s flaws. Now I wonder if the entire series on DVD coming out this fall will be worth the purchase.
FYI – For those who were asking about Lex wearing the glove. It was a tribute to when he wore a Kryptonite ring in the comics which gave him radiation poisoning that nearly took his hand. He later wore a glove on that hand to hide the scars. They made the story of the glove different for the finale.
Also Sam Jones III, who played Pete Ross, got busted in real life for running a pill mill which is why he didn’t come back. How stupid can one be huh?
Actually Lex, in the comics, did loose his hand too kryptonite poisoning. And had a robotic hand for some time. He later staged his death, and came back has his own son/heir. With red hair, ect. I felt on the two hour series. That the first hour should of ended with Clark donning the suit. and the second half battling Darksied. It needed more action. But with a tv budget, perhaps producers only had so much too work with. lol. I thought it the finale tied up many things, but it needed Clark in the suit longer. The CGI of Superman, far away was bad. And instead of closeups of Clark at the plane window, show him in the suit more. Even if he wasn’t buff enough too wear it, put his head on someone elses body. Its been done before in movies. lol
Tom Welling never wore the whole suit because it did’nt fit him on the bottom half! Warner Brothers would’nt spend the money to make him a uniform period!(The suit was from Superman Returns) The C.W. and Warner should make a spin off with Tom Welling And Michael in it playing a different Superman thing and do it right this time with Lex and Clark! This would last a good six years if they want this to work. Wake up Warner and C.W. and smell the coffee!
The suit was from Superman Returns The C.W. and Warner should make a spin off with Tom Welling And Michael in it playing a different Superman thing and do it right this time with Lex and Clark! This would last a good six years if they want this to work. Wake up Warner and C.W. and smell the coffee!
The suit never fit him from the bottom down. Now what? The suit was from Superman Returns. The C.W. and Warner should make a spin off with Tom Welling And Michael in it playing a different Superman thing and do it right this time with Lex and Clark! This would last a good six years if they want this to work. Wake up Warner and C.W. and smell the coffee!
I have seen some great series finales; MASH, Buffy, Angel, Battlestar Galactica, and 24. Through them all I was left with that, “Why didn’t they do this!?” or “Why did they forget that?!” Well I can say that the Smallville finale was in a word PERFECT!!!! I was on the edge of my seat an anticipating Clark’s transformation to the Man of Steel. What i loved was that everyone that mattered in a finale was back. Johnathan Kent was important to have in the finale and I’m glad they did it right! My thanks to Rossenbaum portraying Lex one last time. It wouldn’t have been as big of an impact if they used another actor or hid his face. Having Green Arrow take out Darkseid’s minons was awesome! Telling Clark that all his adventures were his trials was genius. I loved how Clark looked back on all his trials…and then…finally being handed the suit..and by his father Johnathan. I even loved how Jor-El gave credit to the friends and family of Smallville. They way Clark transformed in the suit was awesome! I know about the legal suit (What a stupid thing) but they did work around it perfect! And I want to save the best for last…Having the Daily Planet with Perry, Lois, and Jimmy was the way the Planet should always be. I was smiling from ear to ear feeling so good they did this finale right…THANK YOU THANK YOU PRODUCERS FOR USING JOHN WILLIAMS UNFORGETTABLE SCORE AT THE END….That was the damn icing on a very sweet cake! I’m sorry to see it end, but I loved to watch it go.
Well said! 100% agree!
I always thought that the Smallville series was a great one. However, I was disappointed with the Finale. There was barely any action. When fighting dark side he was getting beat pretty bad then all of a sudden had this revelation and became superman and knocked him out with one punch. That was not very exciting at all. At the end, he just showed up and pushed away that planet thing like it was nothing. Why not have something in there to fight?? Something?? A struggle maybe?? All it showed was people on the ground in the dark and it suddenly became light. That was disappointing. Also, I seriously hope that this whole thing about the uniform not fitting right and that being why there wasn’t better shots of superman is a joke. If that’s true, I find that absolutely pathetic and embarrassing to the show. I don’t know how that could be possible. I agree with many of you that Smallville is the best superman, but this Finale could have been done so much better.
This was more about advertising and money! If enyone cared at all it was Michael (Lex Luthor) not Tom Welling who did’nt care about the script or The Superman uniform fitting!
I completely agree, totally disappointed in the finale. When the final credits rolled, I sat there in disbelief and all I could think was “Are you kidding me?”. We waited all this time to see how Clark would evolve into Superman and they gave us a quick 15ish minute wrap-up on a ten year journey? One 10 second flying (no, scratch that…) hovering scene in the barn? He flies up to push away the orb and you don’t even see him make contact with it? All the great special effects through the years and that is what they left us with? Very sad.
exactly my thoughts, I invited my friends over to see the Finale, and I apolagized to them for having sat through a disapointing ending.
Ok this one is for response to Nick Rizzo. Thank you for your reply and I agree it should have been a big fight, but let’s not forget there is a legal matter where Tom Welling will never wear the suit. And the producers worked around it beautifully. That would be the main reason why (No close up shots)
After 10 seasons that had some great storylines and some amazing action sequences I was extremely disappointed with the finale. Despite not actually seeing “superman” properly, the action sequences were very dull and it seemed there was very little to satisfy the fans who kept the show on the air. Michael Rosenbaum was the best part of the whole 2 hours
I was a fan of Smallville from Season 1 but the later seasons tasked my allegiance. I guess I just wanted to see it to the end. The finale however left me with pleasant memories and seemed to have covered a whole lot of outstanding issues. Yes, I was happy to see Clark finally take to the skies and do his classic save the plane scenario. I was also glad to see him don the uniform which had sparked so many controversies. Would he be allowed to or won’t he?
But above all this, what made my day…what left me beaming from ear to ear with satisfaction…was hearing John Williams’ classic Superman theme song. First subtly…with a few notes here and there… then the final unapologetic blast at the end. Yes, Tom Welling is no Christopher Reeve but the theme song gave this series the authentic seal of endorsement. And he did a darn good job as Clark.
For that alone, Smallville is forgiven for all the lows. I choose to remember only the highs. It was fun while it lasted. Wow, Chris Reeve would be smiling wherever he is at that ending!
Who agrees with me when i say that notonly was that the worst smallvile episode ever, but the worst finale in human history? (by the way i know for a fact that it was not the suit from superman ruturns because on the cape, it had that little yellow superman logo on the back of it). Any way, back to the review, i still can’t bellive that there was not a proper fight scene between darkseid, and superman, AND that they had an entire episode about Conner Kent, booster gold, and blue beetle, and after that we never heared anything from them again. what i thought was going to happen was that superman, green arrow, and the rest of the super hero cast were going to battle darkseid, with superman as the last man standing. What also annoyed me was that stupid music they used from the superman movies. But the worst thing is that in the end, all he did was push some stupid planet away. That’s it! The sript writters are basicly saying that it took TEN seasons just to put on an ill fitting costume, stand there for 5 minutes wasting our time while he renembers everything that’s ever happened to him, save his wife to be from a plane, and push a planet away. Oh by the way, darkseid can just fly back in like 10 minutes time. Pathetic! It’s too late now smallvile! There’s no chance of a follow up with Lex and superman now! Still what would make an exellent spin off is a green arrow show, plus near the end of the season, i was mainly in it for green arrow, and with the popuality of heros like Batman, this is oviously going to be a succses! Wake up and smell the tea, as we have run out of coffie!
I totaly agree with me!
Actually, it was the suit from Superman Returns with a different cape. Are you a fan of Superman? I only ask because I’ve never come across a fan who was annoyed by the most iconic theme for a superhero. John Williams theme for Superman is probably one of the most popular, and recognizable themes out there for a superhero flick.
Tor78 I was just thinking the same thing
I was suggested this blog by means of my cousin. I am no longer sure whether or not this put up is written through him as nobody else recognize such special about my problem. You are amazing! Thanks!
Not enough flight scenes in the finale and why was he never finally called “Superman” ? There should have been some really obvious reference to that name ,but there never was.
I likens most of the fight scenes except the last two with darksid/Luther n superman just moving the planet away. I do wish they would have told more about arrow n chloe then a two minute end shot n what happen to Lana. Other then that they hit alot of good notes on the final I was trying to figure out the whole how long it actually took for louis n Clark to finally get married time wise.
i felt the finale was great, true the battle between darksied could have been better the lionel possession unnecessary not to mention the voice, but the flash backs of the series in the opening credit great. the flashback of all his trials awesome. lex forgetting his life nice. true Lana would b great to see but all she would do would weaken clark so no need. they could have had the rest of the super-friends show face n help green arrow defeat darkseids minions. Pete having law issues not their fault. the legal issues w the suit not there fault. the thing wit the olsen twin confusing but glad they put him in regardless. tess death not necessary but served its purpose. the return of rosenbaum as lex definitely the best thing plus the soundtrack, over all i give it 4 out of 5 at least.
Extremely disappointed with the finale, the suit being custom made would not have been too expensive, c’mon they could have gotten the licensing figured out after ten years at least for the finale. Clark in the suit all the fans wanted really would have been the great classic superman pose, a little bit more of a struggle with darksiede, and would have made it all worth it. Think about it ten years a decade and this is what they leave people with, sad really, they could have done better say two episodes before the finale could have been more lead ins for his growing story into the man of steel. The wedding stuff was great, lex was great, but the darksiede minions and darksiede were way lame and weak.
Will there be adventures of superman, love to know.
Really love the smallville,
Will there be adventures of superman, love to know.
Really love the smallville,
Will there be adventures of superman.
The wedding scene was one of the best scenes and when his dead biological father said his ready really boosted the episode to the best ending.Thank you Smallville espcially Tom Wellington who portrayed Clark very well.
Clayton, You should look at the cast credits on any one episode of the shows episodes to see what Tom Welling’s name is.
I have to say that im disappointed.first the writers should have made lois change her mind and waste so much time on the wedding.second,we didnt get a decient full framed shot of clark in the super suit.third,the ruined darkseid with a vessel, making him seem weak, and now showing his true form. there should have been a battle between superman and darkseid.fourth,they raped lex of all his memories, making all those year that lead to him being evil and his last scene with clark meaningless.giving lex a weak send off.I dont care if they go backrupt, the fans deserved these things and better. we could gave had a battle and flying.come on man, doomsday was better than the finale.
I have to say that im disappointed.first the writers should have made lois change her mind and waste so much time on the wedding.second,we didnt get a decient full framed shot of clark in the super suit.third,the ruined darkseid with a vessel, making him seem weak, and now showing his true form. there should have been a battle between superman and darkseid.fourth,they ruined lex of all his memories, making all those year that lead to him being evil and his last scene with clark meaningless.giving lex a weak send off.I dont care if they go backrupt, the fans deserved these things and better. we could gave had a battle and flying.come on man, doomsday was better than the finale.
Tom Rusk I totally agree with you.
I was disappointed with the last few seasons. disappointed with the series finale. Wedding scene was okay, but why has it taken Clark and Lois 7 years to get re-engaged? they should’ve signed the marriage license shortly after their already happened marriage ceremony even when the world was coming to an end.
Darkseid’s defeat was too simple. here they talk about how he was the darkest thing and such a dangerous evil but he was gone in a sec after superman took him out in one shot. i thought he was supposed to be more powerful…
Seeing Clark in a full superman suit would’ve been awesome. But the scenes of superman at the end were pretty awesome, i gotta admit. too bad it wasn’t longer.
I was disappointed that Lex and daddy dearest did not get to reunite. I feel messed up for thinking that, but it would’ve been awesome. and speaking of Luthors, I was sad that Tess died but okay with it. SUPER disappointed that Lex did not get more screen time though. I was waiting for the return of Lex Luthor since season 8… Michael Rosenbaum was just TOO GOOD at being Lex Luthor, I was just waiting for that moment that Lex would return.. only to be disappointed that he gets like, 10 mins air time
with all that said, can’t wait for the new Superman movie that’s gonna come out soon
please do better