With Superman & Lois' second season growing in popularity, it seemed like a good time to take a retrospective look at Smallville, the first modern superhero series to find long-term success on The CW. DC Comics' 10-season Superman origin story ran from 2001 to 2011, featuring many of the character's main villains as well as iconic DC heroes such as Aquaman, Green Arrow, The Flash and Cyborg.
As with any show, Smallville's ratings fluctuated throughout its run. The show lost viewership over time as Clark transitioned from his small-town, high-school lifestyle to being the Blur and working at the Daily Planet in Metropolis. Here are the seasons, ranked by viewership rating in the millions.
Season 9 (2.38)
Smallville always succeeded in deep diving into the Superman mythos. The show gave fans glimpses of comic storylines that were often too weird or complex for the Superman movies. Smallville Season 9 dipped into Clark's Kryptonian origin with General Zod as the main villain.
The season also featured the multi-episode Justice Society of America special, featuring Hawkman, Stargirl and Dr. Fate in some of the show's most iconic scenes. The season had Clark wearing a dark black suit, to match the tone of the darker story of Zod and the Kryptonians.
Season 10 (2.56)
Smallville had a slight ratings boost in his 10th season, presumably so long term viewers of the show could tune back in to see Clark finally put on the cape and take flight as Superman. Despite being higher than 9, Season 10's numbers came no where close to the averages of the earlier seasons.
It seems as if the show lost some of its charm as the main setting moved from Smallville to Metropolis, and as fans of the early season's high school drama moved on. This point proven by the season's high point being the episode Homecoming which involved a high-school reunion for Clark and Lois, with many callbacks to the earlier seasons, such as returning freak of the week characters.
Season 8 (3.88)
Season 8 was the beginning of the final stretch of the show, following the departing of Michael Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor who wouldn't return until the final episode. Season 8 featured the main villain of Doomsday, played by Sam Witwer, Justin Hartley in the main cast as Green Arrow, and Aaraon Ashmore's stint as Jimmy Olsen.
The season features special team up episodes such as Odyssey, which has a Green Arrow-led Justice League with Aquaman and Black Canary. Also the episode Legion is the first appearance of The Legion of Superheroes. The finale displays an epic battle between Clark and the show's prosthetic Doomsday creation.
Season 7 (3.96)
Season 7 was the first season to dip below the average of 4 million views, despite having some of the show's best moments. The season results in the climax of seven years of build up between Clark and Lex, with the murder of Lionel Luthor and the end of John Glover's tenure on the series, and Lex finally putting the pieces together to realize Clark's powers.
The season also featured Supergirl as a main character, and dipped heavily into the Kryptonian mythology, with Bizarro and Brainiac featured as recurring villains. Perhaps the reason for the dip in ratings was due to the series straying more towards complex comic book concepts and away from the interpersonal connections that made the first few seasons so strong. This season is considered by many fans to be one of the weakest.
Season 6 (4.53)
Season 6 was full of comic book flavor, featuring Clark's first duel with Zod, the first appearance of the Green Arrow, who would become a recurring character throughout the season, as well as the first major superhero team up in Justice, which was this Smallville season's highest ranking episode on IMDB.
This season was the last before the major ratings drop off of the last four. This could be due to the concluding stories of many long term cast members, such as Lana finally realizing Clark's powers, and her relationship to Lex ending. By season 7, many plotlines had moved out of Smallville.
Season 4 (5.02)
The forth season of Smallville was centered around Clark's final year in high school, and experience finally being on the football team. In the Kryptonian plotline, Clark searches for three stones tied to his heritage. This was also the season that introduced Erica Durance as Lois Lane, and featured Jensen Ackles in the main cast, pre-Supernatural.
The dip in ratings between Season 3 and 5 is surprising given the Season 4 is highly regarded as one of the series' best. This was mainly due to the quirky and fun aspects of the season, rather than the overarching plotline.
Season 5 (5.32)
Season 5, featuring Brainiac as a reoccurring villain throughout the season, initially disguised as one of Clark's college professors. This was the first season Clark had access to the Fortress of Solitude and truly began to explore his Kryptonian origins.
Unfortunately for Clark, Season 5 resulted in the heartbreaking loss of Jonathan Kent, in one of the show's saddest episodes. Season 5 is still highly regarded among fans as one of the best of the series, particularly the first half. Jonathan had some of the best quotes on Smallville.
Season 3 (5.44)
Smallville's third season had some of the show's greatest plot twists, and some fun celebrity appearances, including Adrianne Palicki and Ian Somerholder, both early in their careers. The season also bid farewell to Clark's friend, Pete Ross.
The third season's success with ratings was likely due to the strong central narrative. The early "villain of week" criticism was heard, as Season 3 mainly stuck to the central plotline. As always, Rosenbaum's Lex and Glover's Lionel presented a great Luthor family dynamic. Some even think Lex may be the most comic accurate character on Smallville.
Season 1 (6.41)
The beginning of the 10-season run had some cherished moments. The pilot alone perfectly presented the dynamics of the show's characters, between Clark's dorky efforts to flirt with Lana Lang. The episodes in which Clark discovered new powers were always hits, as the showrunners always knew how to have fun with them.
The ratings likely weren't as high as they could have been due to the lack of a central narrative. Each episode had a freak of the week, while the main plotline was the relationships the characters held. Michael Rosenbaum does a great job showing the kind and generous side of Lex Luthor, with only glimpses of the dark relationship with his series regular to be father.
Season 2 (7.78)
It's not surprise that Season 2 is the highest ranked in terms of viewership. The second installment was when the series first began to click, with an overarching storyline as Clark began to discover his Kryptonian origin. The season has some great moments, in particular Clark's journey to New York to meet Professor Virgil Swann, played by the late Christopher Reeve.
Season 2 was the true beginning of the epic journey the show would take until Season 7, with the Lex-and-Lionel plot brewing, Lana and Clark's relationship starting to find new meaning with the absence of her boyfriend, Whitney Fordman.