Why Smallville will always be my own personal kryptonite

10 Jun

If you’ve been paying attention you know that we love our superheroes here at NerdLush HQ. And Superman is one of our favorites (though we have equal love, apparently, for all DC and Marvel characters). We could (and probably should) sit around as a group and debate the merits of each Superman and it would likely be quite the entertaining roundtable. But since the crew is scattered, it isn’t likely to happen anytime soon.

None of that is why I am here today… I want to talk about why Smallville will always hold a special place in my heart.

Regular readers here know that our Stewart has been recapping the entire series for the last year or so. Quite the endeavor since the series ran for ten seasons and he’s doing it in the DVD blocks. When he started the project, I was watching with him- but my patience is thin and I watched ahead. Mind you, I started watching the series the night it premiered back in 2001. So it’s not like I haven’t seen it before. But I marathoned my way through the entire show (again) and then was sad because I was going to have to wait to read his snarktastic recaps.

But that’s something that I love about Smallville. You can watch it over and over again, and it’s still fun and entertaining.

In preparing to move NerdLush HQ in a few weeks, the series has been running in the background as I’ve been packing. Course, I started with season 8 as I had just read the recap for the end of season 7, so obviously I was in the mood for a lot less Lana bullcrap. And more movement towards being the hero he was meant to be. Even if, for a superhero, he moved slower than molasses.

Anyways… let me go back a bit- like I said, I started watching this one the night it premiered back in 2001. Smallville was the show we got together as a family to watch. Even when I lived in a different city/state- we still talked after every episode. There’s a family love for the mythos… the Christopher Reeve movies are some of my earliest nerd memories (of note, Reeve will always be my Superman- though Smallville‘s Tom Welling is my Clark Kent).

Here’s a few key points of my viewing of the series (I will leave out anything spoilery as the recaps are still going… and who knows, perhaps some people still haven’t seen the whole series yet).

After the end of the first season, every episode that has Lana in it causes me yell out, “why are you still alive???”
I saw a meme once that commented on the fact that series was basically ten years of waiting for a guy to change clothes…
Martha and Jonathan Kent are basically the best TV parents ever. They actually demonstrate real emotions and parental actions while raising Clark. They protect him but allow him to make mistakes… and they continue to support him even when he screws up.
So many feels happen throughout the series… especially if you watch the show marathon style.
OK… all the Luthor drama gets kinda crazy
And there are a few seasons of insanity… be glad you can watch the series without having to wait a week for the next episode- that made it hard to deal with some of the… storylines/arcs.
Seriously, does Callum Blue have something in his mouth when he talks?
Stephen Amell and Arrow may be my DC love, but Justin Hartley’s Oliver Queen was fun. Mind- Smallville was aimed more at the family then Arrow and thus the character is lighter, but it’s also based on a slightly different origin story- the newer series coming on the heels of a much darker book.
It’s fun to see the progression of Tom Welling as a director.
The family drama/emotional scenes are some really amazing TV.
Seriously… the Luthor drama… its never ending!
There’s an overarching message that there’s always another way besides killing someone. (This has always been a message I took away from Superman… maybe someone should remind Zack Snyder of this…)
Chloe rules.
Love the use of previous Superman cast members
Michael Ironside is beautifully cast. Though I would’ve enjoyed more of him since he is faboo!
God bless the costumer who picked Clark’s slacks, and whoever decided he needed to grow up and get a real job at the Daily Planet… those suit pants are so much better than his loose jeans… and that was my very sexist comment of the night. But dayum!

Just a short list of some of my favorite things… I forgot to add the John Schneider gives great hugs and smells delicious, but that’s another story. This story is about how good Smallville is that even now, years after it ended (and having watched it all as it aired) it is still one of the shows that I can watch in its entirety at least once a year, throw on while working on something and watch my favorite episodes, or share with a friend… To me- that’s the mark of something special.