It took a few minutes to sink in before I realized that it was the last time I would hear the Smallville theme song playing at the beginning of a new episode because tonight it happened: the series finale. I’ve been with the show many years, through the highs and the lows. Of course there were going to be terrible episodes I would despise over the course of the show and certain directions they took continuity that I don’t agree with but Smallville still remains one of my favorite shows of all time after ten seasons.
The episode opens with Chloe telling a child a story and then flashes back seven years earlier with Apokolips inexorably heading towards Earth…then the typical commercial break and theme song opening as I wait in anticipation!
Next we are at the Daily Planet with Clark questioning Lois about if she really is calling off the wedding. Lois did this because she thinks she is just an impediment to his destiny as Superman, but Clark refuses to give in and tells her the only way to go through with canceling the wedding is to leave him standing at the altar. I understand Lois’s reasoning behind the whole thing, but what is a hero without a woman in his life? A gay superhero that’s what! (I’m joking gay community so chill!)
After a mushy scene between Chloe and Oliver, we get to see Tess at the ruins of the Luthor mansion and a confrontation with Granny Goodness. She tells Tess of the coming of Apokolips and leaves her with the eerie knowledge that it is already upon us. I really hate that old broad. (Chill out geriatric community, I’m just joking.)
Things really start to heat up (sorry, I could care less about the wedding) as Tess tries to access Watch Tower’s satellites to view the space surrounding Earth. She finds that the satellites have been shut down and that someone placed overrides on certain parts of the system. After accessing the surveillance footage she finds that it is Oliver who was corrupted by Darkseid episodes ago. Thanks to the space station Martian Manhunter has up and running Tess is able to get a full view of Apokolip’s approach.
Oliver meanwhile is already reporting to the assembled scum bags Granny Goodness, Desaad and Godfrey. Desaad hands Clark’s best man a ring made of gold kryptonite. Dun Dun Duuuun!
Tess is trying to get a hold of anyone but can’t because of atmospheric interference and it’s funny how in the world of cell phones everyone else failed to notice this. Then men in black suits and cars stop Tess and break her window to take her prisoner. All this while the Kent Wedding is a go!
After a beautiful recital of vows, this shit gets real! Chloe notices the gold-krytpo ring before Lois can put it on Clark at which point a brawl takes place between the two, Evil Oliver having some sweet black eyes. In the end Clark talks to the good in Oliver and he rejects the darkness inside of him. It may have been a little cliche but I liked it. Thank god everyone ran out the church before they got down to the nitty gritty and now the world is about to end, because that would have been totally embarrassing for all of your guests to see.
And so begins Part 2.
As is turns out, it was Lionel who snatched Tess off the street. Lionel reveals to Tess that the perfect parts of the many Lex clones were grafted together to make the perfect copy. All that Lex needs is a heart and that is where Tess comes in! As they are about to harvest her heart, Tess manages to escape and bust a cap into Lionel before leaving. As Lionel crawls towards his son, Darkseid appears reiterating his offer to Lionel, but the elder Luthor proclaims he only cares about one person’s life, that life being Lex. In exchange for his soul Darkseid rips out Lionel’s heart to give to Lex.
Then the moment we’ve all been waiting for… Lex Luthor face to face with Clark in the ruins of the Luthor Mansion. This scene was by far my favorite. I really missed Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum in scenes together for the last three seasons. The confrontation in season 7 was good but ultimately lacked any closure. Here we get that closure, with Lex accepting his role as villain and the stage being set for them to be one another’s nemesis in the coming years. Nothing was better than Clark saying – “I’ll always be there to stop you. Always.” Then Lex retorting with “I’m counting on it.” was priceless.
As Clark grabs his fortress crystal at the Kent barn, Darkseid shows up to “annihilate” him in the form of Lionel Luthor with a decidedly creepy voice. As he flies through the air from a punch from Darkseid, Clark sees his most heroic acts in his mind as Jor El tells him that his final trial is upon. In a holy shit moment, Clark stops in mid air. He can now fly! He then flies straight into Darkseid the Superman way, owning him like only a Kryptonian could.
We then get to see Tess confront Lex at the Luthercorp building. I knew when Lex went to hug her something bad was going to happen and it did. In true Lex fashion, he stabs his half sister, rationalizing it by telling her he was saving her from becoming him. But Tess gets the last laugh as she smears his skin with a neuro toxin that he created. The toxin causes his memories to fade from every moment before it was administered. Lex stands at the window, now oblivious that Clark Kent is Superman.
I really had goosbumps when Clark took off from the fortress with cape and tights in hand, and I am now changing that to my favorite scene of the episode! After saving Airforce One, Clark rushes off to push Apokolips away from the Earth as everyone watches on.
The episode comes to a close with Chloe finishing her son’s story and then calling Lois who is at the Daily Planet. You get to see the real Jimmy Olsen as Aaron Ashmore came back for the finale and got to hear Perry White’s voice bitching about something. And oh, by the way… Lex Luthor was just elected President of the United States. It would appear that Clark Kent is his usual bumbling self and that he and Lois are maintaining a relationship in secret. They’re even finally actually getting married! That is until some idiotic newsboy yells about there being a bomb somewhere in Metropolis. The last image we get to see of Smallville is Clark going up to the roof and running in slow motion to reveal his Superman suit beneath his clothes, all the while the Superman theme is playing on. Awesome.
I give this series finale a 4 out of 5 grizzlies. I like how everything was handled, no matter how weak the retcons were because they had to happen. It was good seeing most of the original cast back together one last time, particularly Michael Rosenbaum. The Darkseid fight may have been a little shorter than the Doomsday fight, and that was my only major gripe with the finale: there could have been a little more action over two hours, but it truly was a fitting send off for the show and it’s actors. It’s terrible because you can totally see where they could have another ten seasons of episodes with Clark actually as Superman saving the world. For a TV budget they really worked wonders with their special effects. Unfortunately this looks like the end of the road for Tom Welling as Superman unless he gets cast in the Justice League movie that will supposedly have nothing to do with the current DC hero movies. What do the fans think? A worthy series finale? What was missing, or was it perfect for you? I loved pretty much every moment of it because it was the end, but all good things must end at one point.
Grizzly Bomb 
As a fan of the Superman movies and television shows since I was a kid, there have been a lot of high points and low points in all of the franchises involved, mostly high with some exceptions (Superman 3 and 4, Superboy TV Series, some of the Lois and Clark’s, Superman Returns – a good effort but I didn’t agree with the actor, the suit, some of the story..but totally dug the effects and it homage to Richard Donner’s previous versions)
Regarding Smallville and it’s some how amazing 10 year run, I’d have to say that there were unfortunately more low points than high throughout the series.
It was really good in the beginning, lots of good ideas, good writing, good FX, great characters, but eventually, a few seasons in, the stories got repetitive with the “meteor rock” villains, so they started casting famous guest stars to boost ratings, then eventually original cast members had enough and left, and the way they left was always awkward, especially when a season or 2 later, they came back no matter what had happened to them along the way.
The entire red-blue blur/blur Clark hero idea never worked for me, hell, the whole idea of just “blurring around” was just over-used. The black trench coat and Superman t-shirt costume never worked for me, that ridiculous red leather Superman jacket never worked for me, the Clark and Lois’ “way too early” relationship never worked for me, Kara, dying, coming back, going away, coming back (?), Chloe dying and coming back and then disappearing and coming back, Jimmy Olsen dying, Lex dying and being cloned a few times, the whole Justice League future thing, The Green Arrow somehow becoming a main character and Clark wearing his glasses only in the end also never worked. I mean, pretty much everyone who knew him growing up and at the Daily Planet knows his face without glasses and when they see his photo in the paper as Superman, they will clearly know they are the same guy..I could go on and on but in the past 5 or 6 years (pretty much after Christopher Reeve was a guest star) was a bit insulting and made me feel like the ideas were getting a little campy and confusing and it seemed like in the final season, some of the episodes had some close repeats of things we had already seen (the mirror box..).
It seemed to me as a viewer that in the past few years, some of the regular cast finally had enough and left, it seemed like the writers had no master storyline with an ending to the series and they were just coming up with ideas off the cuff to put something on the air.
The series probably should have wrapped after Season 5 or so..After all those years of “when will he fly” and “when will he wear the tights” could have happened much earlier. I read somewhere that the producers said it was because the storyline was supposed to be about Smallville and not Superman, but the Smallville storyline pretty much ended years ago.
All in all, I think they kept it going using whatever resources were available to them (Tom Welling directing and producing, former cast continuously returning, etc.) and with all of that confusion, I was surprised to see that the series kept getting renewed each year, but there is probably more to that than we will ever know.
As far as the series finale, it was ok, but kind of a let down. I agree the whole wedding was boring and unnecessary. It seemed like they brought back old characters to try and re-create some of the magic that Smallville had in its first few seasons but it didn’t work for me, plus they could have at least brought back Lana and Pete.
Frankly, I am happy that the series is finally over, and although I won’t miss it, I am looking forward to the new film re-boot by Chris Nolan next year, that will be a Superman that will be well written and well executed.
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I agree that early on in the series, the writing was better. The stories did get repetitive and it seems like a sexy character / steamy scenes with Clark were used to rope in interest at times. Overall though, I did like to watch the series over the past 10 years and enjoyed all the additional superheros that were introduced. The series finale was pretty good, I thought. I did not like the same music, some of the same types of scenes, and even similar writing/special effects ( for the credits at the end) used that is just like the Christopher Reeve’s movies. Also the similar airplane scene with Lois Lane reminded me of other Superman movies. I liked how Tess got the last laugh, but then Lex didn’t get to fulfill his future role, which is integral to the storyline.
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I think they did a good job of ending the series, especially the way they handled Lex returning. I’ll have to say that finale was epic, but I’m kind of disappointed that the series came to an end. This show over all did have some touching and defining moments in the development of Superman. The series finale did look awesome in high quality HD from DISH Network. I am a customer and employee of DISH and right now you can get HD free for life with DISH. You can find more info on how to get HD free for life online at DISH Network’s official website.
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lol.. I love the way Bob plugged his dishnet on you blog… hahaha! me, personnally, I am very disappointed that the series came to an end especially that I have only been a fan for a few years. Is it me or do we not see Tom Welling with a close up of him in the “S” suit. The only string that I find that they left dangling was the lois/clark relationship. it should not be… but then again you could see as a prélude to the lois&clark series with terry hatcher. any how, I am really upset that it has ended, but I knew this was comming. Well at least I have it on dvd, so we will start over! hahaha take care!
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After finally having an opportunity to view the season finale,I think the show and the storylines were the best in the first few seasons. The plot was more simplified, and they were more indulged in the main characters. After it is all said and done, the first 3 seasons and the anticipation of the future was the highlight of the series for me. My favorite episode was the pilot and after watching that I really thought the creativity was there to turn this into something great. Overall Clark’s dynamic with Johnathon kent, Lana, Lex, and Lois were great; you definitely felt the highs and lows from their relationships, but like everyone else they took them to places they didnt belong. Yes, the repitive nature of the rise and fall, death and return of some of the characters were annoying, but what annoyed me the most was the absence of action in the fight scenes with the villians, if you could even call them fight scenes.
The show lasted 10 years for the same reason we all kept watching it for 10 years: It was the only Superman game in town. It was the only chance Superman fans had in seeing Clark fullfill his destiny and wear the red cape. I understand budgets, and they clearly grabbed at straws to fullfill seasons. But after 5 seasons of being strung along I guess it was too much to ask to end the series with an engaging fight scene between Superman and General Zod, or Superman flying to debunk a sinsiter plot of Lex Luthor. One of the best special effects scenes of the enire series was the episode where Clark was in a phone booth, he was struck by lightening and the Krypton symbol was mysteriously being burned into his chest. They can pull that off, but they cant pull of showing him in the “S” suit. If anyone of those requests could have been fullfilled it would have made it worth it. Instead it ends with him flying through a mystical demon, and sending a comet or planet back into space. I did like the confrontation between Clark an Lex back at the mansion as a prelude of what is to come..Overall i didnt expect Smallville to fill the void left behind by the 2006 flop, but I feel they set the bar high in the beginning but could have delivered in the end but didnt.
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I think, Lana was missing on the finale series. Well, it is worth it to see Lana back, at least for a few minutes, either she looked up in the sky when clark-with Superman suits saved the air force one or when he pushed Apokolips away from the Earth as everyone watches on. I’m gonna miss Smallville :)
I watched Smallville at high school until now at the ages of 27. I hope there is a reunion episode
See ya Clark :)
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same with u susie. been watching since high school and they call me superman cause i stay with a superman hat whenever i leave the house. Getting series on DVD soon.
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Disapointed with the VERY short flight scenes. They could have done a bit more of that for the fans..it was an anticlimax and badly edited when he finally flew out of the fortress…we see it in close up so don’t even get a fully body shot of this epic moment, and then it cuts to another scene alltogether, very abruptly ! 10 seasons we wait to see hi fly and in the first porper flight scene we get all of a few seconds ??!!! Then when he flies up to get the planet out of the way, they could have shown alot more of him pushing the planet into outer space. Just not enough flight scenes if you ask me, but otherwise a great finale. Fab so see Lex back…I did miss him.
Definately merits one more season though, if only just to see “The Birth of Superman” in his first year of finally having all his powers working. Shame they gave it the chop as it felt like it had more life in it.
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