A Smallville Fan Speaks Out

[WorkShed]

The following is an open letter to the creators and writers of the TV show "Smallville"


What happened?

When the first season of the show began, there were so many attributes to the casting and the storytelling. Each episode would have a part to play in the continuing mythos of Smallville and Clark's metamorphosis into Superman. It was unpredictable and interesting when Clark gained new powers and would reveal his secret to his friends, like Pete who became sorely underused for the rest of his time on the show. Even Lex saw the truth about Clark, but lost his memory due to a horrific procedure performed by his own father. This was great storytelling.

This was all before Season Four...

The current season has meandered its way blindly through bloated subplots (including a witch possession on Lana Lang and mystical Kryptonian rocks that have never been presented before now). Even major series threads from previous seasons like Jor-El's intentions for Clark immediately disappeared following the tremendous season premiere.

I had hopes for the show picking up again after Clark's friend, Chloe, witnessed the truth about Clark. However, this subplot has quickly tired and spread over multiple episodes where Chloe hints at her knowledge yet Clark is uncharacteristically slow to understand her not-so-subtle clues. At least her memory hasn't been wiped away (yet).

The show tried to pick up by introducing the future Mrs. Kent, Lois Lane. However, this character is boring and was introduced way too haphazardly to generate a worthy characterization. She has no chemistry with Clark in any form and often slows entire episodes down, creating bloated story arcs in which Lois is used as scenery.

All of these subplots need to be completed by the season's end. Smallville needs to move forward. Fans have waited almost five years for Clark Kent to become Superman, and it is time.

Hell, even the writers are forced to keep relationships in limbo. Clark and Lana's relationship in Season Four mirrors Season One's exactly. Clark and Lex are friends or opponents, dictated by the episode, and mirrors their relationship in the previous season but without any growth. Clark's parents have no place in the mythos anymore. Chloe is the only character with any growth, but the story moves so slow that it is losing its interest.

What the creators of Smallville need to do is to pick up Marvel Comic's Ultimate Spider-Man series of comic books. The work that has been done to re-imagine the mythology of the superhero is fantastic and fresh, while still paying homage to the original but keeping it interesting and new. This is exactly the focus that Smallville needs to take.

Do something interesting!

If I were a writer on the show, I would make drastic changes to the characters. The character of Lois Lane is nothing like what the character should be. She isn't even a reporter. However, her cousin Chloe is a reporter and makes a perfect foil for the future Superman. She is already Lois Lane. There was an episode in the third season where Chloe wrote an expose for The Daily Planet under her cousin's name of Lois Lane. Chloe should continue that trend and become Lois Lane. It's different enough (and the chemistry between Chloe and Clark has kept the show running for years) that it could work in the show's favor.

Take risks, Smallville.



Sincerely,

A Fan

[Matt]

Haven't been catching much Smallville here, as they are butchered for afternoons. Last I saw it, Lex was in a mental hospital. I do think they are pushing this a little too far. There's only so many "Superman before he's Superman" stories you can have. I'd suggest wrapping up the lose ends and finishing, with perhaps something to do with Superman Begins.

[goodasgold]

As a Smallville fan I agree 100% with that letter. They totally lost it this year. I'm amazed at how different this season is in quality compared to the previous seasons. Is Gough and Millar even part of Smallville anymore? They had the magic touch and now it's like there is someone else who has the reigns.

[trailergod]

they should cancel this crap show............ it's so ... chessy Britney Spears vs Christina Aguilera show...

[htitos]

The show started fine until they used too much meteor rocks effects on people. They twisted a little bit in the middle, but the last season lost the entire point. Besides, I have nothing against romance but for a Superman character is time to place it as a second priority on his life. This show needs a major change before ratings begins to drop or this might be the end of Smallville.

[aS!Dz]

i couldnt agree wid u ne less workshed, season 1 and 2 were my absolute favourites.. whereas i found season 3 to be a bit of a dip.. i didnt quite mind... i was still intrigued into wanting to know what happens next.. whereas the continous amount of self contained narratives in season 4 are really getting to me.. as it seems to leave nothing for u to want to watch da next episode eagerly...

i still remember watching in excitement the first season finale where the luthor mansion was being destroyed by the hurricane and lex was standing over his weak father wid da most evil look on his face... this truely showed lex's inner dark side! Season 2 was even better den i expected it to be.. keeping in my mind that my expectations were already very high!

they seemed to have got sumwhere in that episode where they went to japan.. but for it own weakness, they added the whole witch thing into it.. and everyone totaly seemed to have forgotten about that day! that episode could have been alot more!!

one of the main things that smallville writers dont seem to recognise is that...becuz they aint actually making a superman tv series.. they could give clark some extra superhuman powers that he doesnt get to keep all his life....

Another thing ive noticed is that they tend to keep Lex in his own story lines...this in my eyes is a really really bad move.. i prefered it alot more when lex played integral parts of the story line where he wud try and be by clarkes side to try n resolve things.. either by helping out by money.. or summat as lame as lending his porsche to clarke (lolz)

ive heard rumours that they plan to finish smallville on season 5.. and they possibily might start a new tv series called 'Metropolis'... il b honest.. im only watching smallville season 4 because im a die hard fan of the previous seasons! as for the only hope im holding on to at the moment.. is the fact that the season finale is meant to be about 1 hour & 30 minutes long! i really do hope they do summat good with this time they have!

[WorkShed]

Well, since Smallville came out of its break in the winter, ratings have been very low. Hell, even Stacked and America's Next Top Model on UPN have beaten it. I think that Gough and Miller will get the point and move their story along.

Back when Season One was on air, I thought that it would be great for the last episode of Season Five to be feature-length (two hours) without any "to be continued..." placing the episodes over two weeks. Then having the show be titled Metropolis, like was stated aS!Dz. I know that Season Five looks like it will take place in college, but I really want it to branch out more than four years of college.

Personally, I think it would be great if Clark was put into that time portal (like in Superman: The Movie), where he comes out years ahead to become Superman. Then we could see that Lex is suddenly in power without Clark's influences and hinderances on Lex, Chloe/Lois is writing for the Daily Planet, and Lana is married.

I know that this kind of the angle that Superman Returns is going on, and I think that it would work in Smallville's favor. The last episode of Smallville should have Clark realizing his true destiny and the first episode of Metropolis should have Clark returning to Earth years later to meet his parents again. There is chances for some great dramatic returns here! Think about how shocked Martha and Jonathan would be to see their son years later after losing him, then to be told that Clark will reveal his secret to the world, while still holding onto a shaky alter-ego of the mild-mannered Clark Kent. Hell, Perry White could be in on the whole damn thing. He saw what Clark could do early in Season Four (although they worked to make it all seem like a hallucination to Perry). Think about Chloe/Lois seeing Superman for the first time. Chloe knows what Clark can do (if she still has her memory, damn writers), but she hasn't seen him in a long time. Maybe she has confusion in the beginning about what is going on or an overwhelming pride in Clark maturing as the hero he is. Also, Gough and Miller shouldn't be afriad to bring in more DC characters. "Run" was the best episode aired so far of Season Four because we see the beginnings of The Flash and the seeds for the Justice League.

What made Smallville so interesting was that it balanced the real and the fantastic. However, adding powers to the "real" characters (which began in Season Three with Super-Jonathan Kent) like Lana's witch possession subplot blurs that line. Gough and Miller need to take the break from the end of the fourth season to do a complete overhaul on what the show is and what it will be.

They need to do their research.

They need to watch character dramas like "The Shield" to watch fast-moving episodic television where the subplots drive the main story quickly. What is great about that show is that characters are always evolving. Even the main character, Vic Mackey, began as a crooked cop and now he is fighting to become clean again. His best friend, Shane, has under the table deals with drug dealers who want Vic dead. Shane could potentially be framed for the murder of a young girl if he doesn't do what the dealers want. All of this has occured within the first six episodes of the fourth season. The Shield can do it, but Smallville is failing. Gough and Miller need to revisit the art of the storytelling and keep true to that. It's hard for episodic television but necessary to keep it going. It's not about money, it's about the story. That's the way it was, and that's the way it should stay.

[aS!Dz]

just posting this for the sake of sum statistics:

Timeslot Rank Show Network Overnight Rating (Last week's ranking in parentheses)
#1 Lost Recap Special ABC 9.6/15 (7.2/12 (R))
#2 60 Minutes CBS 6.4/10 (6.1/10)
#3 Dateline NBC NBC 5.5/8 (6.2/10)
#4 That 70's Show (8-8:30) FOX 5.2/9 (N/A)
#5 Life On A Stick (8:30-9) FOX 4.5/7 (N/A)
#6 America's Next Top Model UPN 4.3/7 (4.2/7)
#7 Smallville WB 3.7/6 (3.8/6)


Guess who came last agen this really is getting worse and worse for smallville.. they been beaten by ANTM for the past few episodes now.. i mean c;mon.. sort it out!

[WorkShed]

Hopefully the WB will bring in a better marketing campaign for the finale! 8 minutes of Batman Begins should sell itself!

[goodasgold]

I remember when they were battling for fourth spot in the ratings for there time slot. 7th is sad.

[Stormwalker]

poor smallville...

[WorkShed]

Spoilers Ahead...


Did anyone see tonight's episode?!

There were some wild inconsistencies in the writing. Even without mentioning the confusing plot between the Teagues (why did they leave Lana alone in the first place? Why would Jason show Lana the stone to begin with? As a test of her trust?), there were some poor places within the episode.

Here, you have a girl who is decapitated and her waxed brains are splattered all over the floor. Hell, even the villain's head gets smashed on another floor. Two dead.

Then, when all is right in Smallville (for that week), they never mention the fact that either person died. Now, I understand they wouldn't mention the villain (take that back, Chloe did), but why wouldn't they mention the fact that the girl's head was ripped off her body and then thrown at them to shatter on the stairs.

I would need counseling for that kind of ****.

Come on! They shouldn't have even had that girl be killed. Not only did it remove some of the shock of the villain's demise (writer's meeting: Uhhhh, let's just do the same thing we did ten minutes ago. I'm going to lunch.), but the loss of innocent life seems to not matter to characters who are too self-absorbed. Some great characters still live in this show, yet they are being thrown around in such a random order that I pity the actors who have to try and make sense of it all.

Please, WB! Hire me. I'm willing. I'll send you my spec script! I want to fix this!

[aS!Dz]

i dont kno about that last debate there workshed.. i felt that the innocent body count kind of proved how much of a psycho the villian really was and that he had no mercy. As for the characters not mentioning the death.. u gota remember it is smallville, they are sort of desensitized to seeing innocent people die, specially seeing as they wernt that close to them, also the factor that we only see a part of their life. they could get away wid saying that these conversations are left, due to the fact that it doesnt keep the story going yet hold it back.

It sounds like you didnt like this weeks episode that much, but i for one enjoyed it just for the fact that they had a good blend of father and son moments in this episode and it kind of tried to dwelve abit more on the superman legacy. i wouldnt go as far to say that this episode met the high calibre of season 1 and 2... but heck for season 4 standards it was pretty good.

[WorkShed]

Oh, I absolutely agree with the C storyline of Clark and his parents. I absolutely loved all the moments. Martha's delivery when she was telling Jonathan that Clark doesn't want to return for a funeral was heartbreaking. I've never had a problem with any scene involving the Kents. They are what keep the show truly going for me.

Also understand: I am a major fan of the show. I'll defend it to the bitter end. I'm just attacking the storytelling structure.

I just find it weird that NO ONE talked about the kidnapping and the brutal deaths. Also, I would have preferred Clark get kidnapped (but I guess it would go against the ending, which I found fairly weak). It would have been great to see Clark try to stop the villain without being touched. It was too easy for there to be a reaction to Clark just because he's from Krypton. It happens way too much on the show and is just an easy way out. Not to say it wasn't visually interesting, it was just too easy from a writing standpoint.

I just can't shake the feeling that no one talked about the girl getting her head ripped off. It was such a shocking moment that I can't believe the writers didn't bring it back. It was also weird for Chloe to state that one of her greatest fears is to get stuck in the past. How about getting your head ripped off by a psycho?! That would frighten me!

Also, when are we gonna see Mxy again? He's been in the Luthor tower for far too long.

Did anyone else think during the Clark/Kents scenes that it wouldn't make a big deal for Clark to move away, even to Florida, because he can run so fast. If Bart and Clark can make a dash to Florida without there being a problem, why can't Clark come home to do chores and have dinner? There were some touching scenes, but ultimately I didn't buy it because this episode inconsistency (which clashes against an episode from the same season, no less) was always in the way.

Get better writers, WB.

[aS!Dz]

It would have been great to see Clark try to stop the villain without being touched. It was too easy for there to be a reaction to Clark just because he's from Krypton .

this time round it felt like there was a longer pause and emphasis on clark getting touched by him, i must admit i wouldnt be too suprised if clark started to get his ice breathe powers, possibly due to another reason.. but they myt try and give the idea that all these lil things helped him reach that power. THATS just a possibility tho!

Did anyone else think during the Clark/Kents scenes that it wouldn't make a big deal for Clark to move away, even to Florida, because he can run so fast. If Bart and Clark can make a dash to Florida without there being a problem, why can't Clark come home to do chores and have dinner? There were some touching scenes, but ultimately I didn't buy it because this episode inconsistency.

u gota remember tho that clark would have to stay in the area of where he is living due to the fact that he would ultimately get involved with the freaks within the area. Plus people would sooner or later catch on if they found out he was coming home everyday.

but hey... if this program was doing really really well i wouldnt be here tryna make all these justifications... so in that sense i do really really agree wid da fact that they need to change writers!! Next weeks season finale is probably going to make or break my hope! i can only wish that it will reprise my hope for this show