Re: Smallville - Season 7 thread
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Originally Posted by Mikah Cerucco
It's strange to me that folks have such a deep expectation for Clark to become Superman when the show clearly tells you what it's about -- his years in Smallville as Clark -- before he becomes Superman.
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I can't speak for anyone else, but I don't think my expectations are too out of line with what the show's producers have been hinting at for years. The early years of Smallville were great because they put us in Clark's shoes -- what would it be like being a teenager and discovering you were different? It was exciting to see how the different pieces of the puzzle came together, but it's starting to feel over the past couple years that there's been less of that. As Clark matures as a person, and as his powers grow and he understands them, his heritage, and his purpose more, he needs to act on that.
What can be a little frustrating sometimes to me is that we'll see what Clark is capable of, and he'll acknowledge his powers, but he's still kicking around Smallville doing nothing, except maybe rescuing his friends repeatedly. Not that that's not entertaining... it's just that the character growth has come to a bit of a halt.
But in some ways I'm sure that's intentional... there was that episode either earlier this season or at some point last season (I don't remember exactly which one offhand) where at the end of it, we see a shot of a red blanket or cape blowing in the wind against the farm's fencing, and we see Clark walking away from it, going back towards the house. If that's not symbolism for Clark ignoring his duties and choosing to try to live a normal life in spite of his gifts and the responsibilities that have been given to him, I don't know what is.
And all of that is well and fine as long as it serves to continue the character development and make a compelling show worth tuning into week to week. But I've said it before, the problem a show like Smallville faces is that they know where they have to end up... but they don't know how long they have to get there. If you're the producer, you don't want to get him set on the final stages of his journey to becoming Superman if you're getting renewed for more seasons. The ending (that Clark becomes Superman, our greatest protector) isn't negotiable, only the journey to get to that point. And it seems like they take detours that sometimes don't contribute to anything but just serve to prolong the life of the show. It doesn't feel like the characters are taking detours in life and finding their way; it feels like the producers are stalling.
I've said it before, I think the best thing for the show is for them to have a set end date. They've been picked up for Season 8; I think it will be a much better season if they go into it with the idea that it's the last one. That allows them to decide before they even begin production on episode 801 what they want the ending to be, and gives them a chance to work backwards to create what could be something great.
Do I expect to see Tom Welling as Superman? No, and that's not really what I'm going for. But the Fortress has been there since the very end of Season 4 I believe, and there's been talk of the training he needs to have, yet it never seems to get there. He avoided his training in Season 5, which led him making some giant mistakes and the Fortress nearly being destroyed. In Season 6, he's given the tools needed to fix the Fortress and he's told that his mission should be to repair it and get his training. He can't do that right away because he needs to use that Kryptonian "S" shield thingy to round up all of the escaped Phantom Zone prisoners, and I fully expected that to be resolved at the end of Season 6 or first episode of Season 7, and then for Clark to finally head up there and begin that training, but that hasn't happened either. It's just time, already... there's not much else left either for him or for us as an audience.
Right now in this show, Clark has two identities. That of Clark Kent, resident of Smallville, all around good guy, with a secret he's afraid to share for fear of people he cares about being put in harm's way, and a desire to protect those he cares most about, and those that he would consider to be innocent and in need of help. Then there's Kal-El, the last son of Krypton, sent to Earth with a mission, a purpose. It's time for him to go to the Fortress and begin his training, and to understand how to combine the most important parts of both of those identities to become Superman.
I agree that the show is called Smallville for a reason, that it's about the years before he becomes Superman, and that it would be unreasonable to expect a dramatic shift from that premise. But Clark doesn't really have a reason to be in Smallville anymore, at least not a good reason that the producers have set up, and when that becomes the case, it's time to move on. At it's heart, the one of the greater themes of Smallville is destiny: it's time for Clark to continue on his journey to becoming the person and hero he was born to be.
) and the other day I watched an ep where Clark tells his mom at the end how he wants to train with Jor-El and fulfill his destiny but must hunt down the phantoms first.
It's about f***ing time is all I gotta say.
