At the same time that the CW made its smartest move for the fall 2008 season’s show roster, it also made its dumbest. While the CW greenlit the fourth season of “Supernatural,” a series that has been gathering more and more fans and attention as more people realize that the show has been solid and stellar from the pilot episode straight through to the most recent, the CW also gave “Smallville” a completely unnecessary stay of execution, pulling it from a reserved spot on the chopping block, much to the dismay of viewers and, from all indications, the cast.
Word has consistently been that stars Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor) and Kristin Kreuk (Lana Lang) have been ready to leave the show for at least two seasons now, and Tom Welling (Clark Kent) was reluctant from the beginning, though his stalled segue to the big screen may be part of his career concessions to playing the formerly young Superman, who has long since passed the mark where the character should have evolved into world’s greatest superhero.
But super is not a word anyone has used in connection with the series in quite some time. The last great episode to win any acclaim was “Justice,” an episode featuring Justin Hartley (Oliver Queen/Green Arrow) leading three other Justice League characters into the early and unofficial start of the JLA. Fans have become disillusioned and disinterested with the show tripping over its age and penchant for redundancy. Too many secrets were hidden for far too long, and though most are out in the open now, it’s too little too late. And the convoluted storylines have caught the characters in a web of inextricably complicated plots that remove Clark Kent from the teen/sci-fi/comic glory that was “Smallville” and drop him squarely in the campy, absurd realm of “Lois & Clark” at its worst when it turned to ideas like a lizard-eating Lois clone marrying Clark for stories and plot points.
Can we not travel this road again with “Smallville”? Is it possible that we can put this show, which is already dragging its weight well past the point of being entertaining on even a camp level, out of its misery? The original plan Miles Millar and Al Gough had pointed to a five-year plan, and here we are in year seven with yet another season tacked on to a cumbersome, laboring monster of a series. This show has become so full of Kryptonite-fueled chaos that it is now its own meteor freak. It has the power to boggle the mind to a nice, numb comatose state with the simple repetition of whammies like they worked on Lex, where he spent several seasons as the greatest Lex Luthor ever portrayed on screen, big or small, only to become a cliche villain transformed by a hackneyed plot device spun around him stealing Lana from Clark.
The addition of Supergirl and the recent return of Pete Ross’ character have managed to detract even more than they should have added – that is, if anyone was paying more mind to the depth and meaning of episodes instead of soap opera-style drama built around bad sci-fi movies of the week. The show used to be so much more than this, with a real intensity and drama that was infused by the characters and their plights that had real super-powered punch and have now become punchlines. Storylines involving Jensen Ackles (who played Jason Teague in Season Four, but left the show to star on “Supernatural”) and honoring the late Christopher Reeve (the original movie Superman who played Virgil Swann on “Smallville”) were wiped from the slate like meaningless clutter only to be resurrected in a recent episode with the sudden appearance of his character’s daughter (Patricia Swann), and then once again wiped from the slate with her assassination an estimated 30-something minutes after he r introduction. Whether the writers have grown lazy or genuinely think this qualifies as watchable television is a mystery, but it’s perfectly clear that the show has not only lost its edge – it has lost its way.
“Smallville” doesn’t have a leg or crutch to stand on, and yet it is being wheeled into an eighth season on life support. Come on, CW, pull this plug. “Smallville” has become such an embarrassment to fans who barely recognize it anymore. Keeping “Smallville” alive isn’t doing anyone any favors. Invest time and care into gems like “Supernatural,” and put a nice big send-off effort into letting Clark Kent fly off to become Superman with some dignity.
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