Continuing my Smallville journey. In the last post I talked about how Season Four was Smallville’s peak. Season Five proves that’s true. It’s not quite as good, largely because it feels like some of the characters lose relevance and zest. But it’s not bad. I think bad is coming later.

1. Dukes of Hazzard Throwback

Smallville does a lot of throwbacks to previous Superman iterations and other TV shows.

This season has, I think, one of the more heart-warming throwbacks to John Schneider’s (Jonathan Kent) TV show, Dukes of Hazzard. Dukes of Hazzard was an action comedy of sorts that ran from 1979 to 1985. It starred Schneider as Bo Duke, a good ole boy from Hazzard county who drove around with his buddy, Luke Duke (Tom Wopat) in an orange 1969 Dodge Charger called the General Lee. There are no shows like this today, so maybe it’s better to show you what it was like:

Imagine starring on a TV show for seven years and reuniting with your friend in an homage to that show twenty years later; jumping in a (blue) Dodge Charger where “one of the doors has been stuck since he bought it” (Bo and Luke could only get in the General Lee through the windows because the doors were welded shut).

It’s all kinda respectful and I love it.

2. The Family Man Episode



There’s an entire episode this season dedicated to a “what if” Lex story. In this episode, Lex is shot and experiences a near-death vision of his life as kinder, gentler, poorer Lex. It’s not unlike the plot of the movie The Family Man where a wealthy, single man gets a glimpse of what it would be like to be married with children in the suburbs. I recommend that movie. It’s much better than this episode.

When I see something like this I wonder, do people actually like Lex? Are we supposed to be torn at this point as to whether or not we think Lex is good or bad? Is this supposed to be the one episode we remember as Lex heads into a relationship with Lana? Is “Lexana” a genuine thing fans enjoyed?

Because he’s not painted as grey as the show thinks, he’s been painted black for a long, long time.

3. Clark Works Well with Children

There’s something about juxtaposing Superman with a child that works well. Particularly children that are vulnerable, or threatened in some way. We so desperately want to see the child be OK that standing next to someone who is bulletproof makes us feel safe.

Perhaps the best example of this is in this season where Clark meets a young girl who has was so traumatized she stopped speaking. She is also extremely anxious and the more anxious she gets, her powers to break glass activate and all the glass in the room starts exploding. It’s an over-the-top version of the formula, but I think the formula is so sound that all you need are a few reliable actors and it will work every time.

4. The Decline of Lana

Clark and Lana get back together (again) this season and I was SO HAPPY … for a couple of episodes. Then Clark starts lying to her again and her interactions with Clark become a merry-go-round. Her character effectively gets reduced to various iterations of, “Clark why are you pulling away from me, why don’t you trust me? Clark, I love you, you can tell me anything.” And then he doesn’t, and then there’s another episode, and another situation that forces the issue, and repeat.

I’m sorry to say it, but this was the season where I started to want Lana to go.

5. The All Powerful Jor-El

When you have an undefined, seemingly all-powerful force on a show, it becomes a cure-all solution for every problem, which ultimately dissolves tension from the show. There are two deaths this season that Jor-El rectifies. TWO. I can appreciate that people don’t stay dead in the comic book world, but when someone dies, or something impossibly bad happens on the show, we don’t worry as audience members — whatever it is, Jor-El’s got this.

6. Exploitation



I’m not proud to admit there’s an, “all right, all right, all right” part of me that appreciates the exploitation of women on Smallville, but this still needs to be said.

There’s an awful lot of parading of women’s … assets on Smallville. Particularly Lois. In this season there’s an Aquaman episode that makes sure Lois has multiple, well-framed shots of her coming out of the water in her bikini. Later, there’s an episode where she helps Chloe investigate a story by posing as a stripper, which, naturally, includes a scene where she does a dance on stage. There’s also the infamous apartment-above-the-Talon shower that every young woman on Smallville uses. Even Chloe finds her way in there this season and she doesn’t even live there.

I’m probably not recalling all the shirtless Clark moments, but I’m fairly certain exploitation is weighted towards the women on the show.

Just imagine how Erica Durance (Lois Lane) must feel when she receives a script that calls for her to be scantily clad for “plot reasons” yet again.

“‘Lois comes out in a bikini.’ Uh huh. This is gonna make Mom proud.”

7. It Still Has Great Moments

There is one bright moment that’s one of my favourite in the series. (Larger-than-normal spoiler alert). After Jonathan’s death, Clark spends an arduous episode tracking down his Father’s stolen watch. At the end of the episode, he gets the watch and returns home to find his Mom watching an old video of Jonathan driving a tractor.

“This young man’s a Man of Steel, look at him!” Jonathan says in the video. “Trying to show our son the back forty. After all, it’s all gonna be his one day, right? Clark, wave bye to Mommy, Son.”

And then he looks into the camera with that charming smiling and says, “bye bye.”

It’s simple and effective. Clark and Martha don’t say anything while watching, their reactions tells us how they feel. It’s how the medium should be used, to let images convey the character’s emotions rather than dialogue. And the scene gets me every time.