December 1, 2008
Last week I wrote an article asking whether Smallville has jumped the shark, inspiring plenty of fans to speak their minds about the current season of the series. Most agreed that the show still has plenty of life left in it, with some saying that season 8 has fixed many of the problems of previous years. Gone are the slow pace and the Clark and Lana drama, and instead we have Doomsday, Clark embracing his destiny, and an exciting new flirtation between Lois and the future Man of Steel. Even without Michael Rosenbaum around, this season of Smallville has been stellar.
We recently asked fans to vote for the best and worst episodes of season 8, and the results are somewhat surprising. It turns out that many people require more from Smallville than a shirtless Justin Hartley.
November 28, 2008
As reported previously, Smallville fans can expect a bunch of new super-powered heroes when the action-adventure series returns with fresh episodes in January. The episode aptly called “Legion” will reportedly introduce the Legion of Super-Heroes to the Smallville universe, which you can read more about in this previous article. Most recently, however, scribe Geoff Johns hints that he'll also be brining in a new villain in the form of the Persuader.
“He's one of my favorite Legion villains because he's this futuristic assassin, he's dressed like an executioner, and he has one of the coolest weapons, an axe that could slice an atom in half. He can slice Clark, so he can slice anything,” Johns said.
November 26, 2008
I'm really not a fan of the term "jump the shark," which people like to whip out on the Internet every time a television show has a controversial storyline or less than successful plot twist. In my opinion, it's impossible to know if a show has jumped until it's been terrible for at least a couple of seasons. For example, it's safe to say that Heroes fell to its death sometime during the awful season 1 finale, but it's far too early to declare Grey's Anatomy ruined just because Izzie slept with a ghost last week. The shark is jumped only when a series stumbles mightily and never recaptures its former glory.
The only reason I bring up this completely overused term is because I've seen people complaining that Smallville has jumped the shark in recent seasons. Are these people crazy or do they actually have a point?
November 25, 2008
The first half of Smallville's eighth season has been quite the roller-coaster ride. Lex may be incapacitated and hooked up to a bunch of machines, but Davis Bloome (Sam Witwer) has certainly made for a formidable foe in his absence. The paramedic first appeared rather nice and charming, but finally revealed his true self in last week's episode when he morphed into the deadly Doomsday. Does Clark have what it takes to stop a villain as powerful as General Zod's son?
Now that we're about halfway through season 8 of Smallville, it's a perfect time to look back at the first 10 episodes and vote for the best of the bunch. Is this season up to the quality of previous years, or is it doomed to fall short?
November 24, 2008
Thanks to exciting new characters and plenty of awesome action, season 8 of Smallville has been firing on all cylinders. Last week's installment left viewers hanging after Doomsday crashed Chloe and Jimmy's wedding, kidnapping the bride and taking her on the honeymoon from hell. The series won't be back with fresh episodes until January 15, and when it returns it'll feature some new super-powered heroes. The next installment, which is penned by comic book scribe Geoff Johns, will introduce the Legion of Super-Heroes to the Smallville universe. TV Guide recently announced which actors have been cast as the Legionnaires, and if you watch a lot of Canadian television you just might recognize them.
November 24, 2008
Smallville entered into its eighth season with a few major cast changes and four new showrunners, but that hasn't stopped the series from exploring interesting facets of the Superman mythology. Season 8 has finally set Clark on the road to becoming the Man of Steel, starting with his move to Metropolis and his job at the Daily Planet. With Lex Luthor out of the picture, Clark has found himself facing off with new villains Tess Mercer and Doomsday, who have proven to be interesting in their own right. The series feels reinvented and reinvigorated now that it's moved in a new direction, which may keep it on the air for years to come.
If you missed an episode of Smallville's eighth season or simply want to revisit some of your favorites, check out our episode guide below.
November 21, 2008
What more can you hope for in a mid-season finale than the heart-pounding excitement Smallville provided last night? In an episode filled with stunning returns, shocking revelations, and high voltage action, the only bad thing about it is that the next new episode of Smallville won't air until January 15, 2009.
That's eight excruciatingly long weeks until we find out what Doomsday has in store for his and Chloe's "honeymoon" in the Dark Fortress. Eight long weeks until we find out what else Lana will be up to and eight long weeks until we find out how a barely alive Lex Luthor got his hands on that wedding video.
November 20, 2008
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here on Smallville to witness the union of James Bartholomew Olsen and Chloe Sullivan. If there is anyone here who objects to this marriage, speak now, or forever...HOLY CRAP, there's a giant alien creature destroying the wedding!
That's right, tonight's episode of Smallville brings the wedding of Chloe and Jimmy, the return of Lana Lang, and the arrival of a gigantic alien destroyer called Doomsday. Short of Oliver Queen being the stripper at Chloe's bachelorette party, what more could you want from an episode of Smallville?