When Smallville Lost its Mind 

Uh... I have several questions. EDIT: Welp.

@@acrsclspdrcls1365 don't ask.

ikr? also i heard long time ago that Pete's actor also got involved in some criminal shit, like drug dealing or smth. It's really crazy to think of Chloe rn knowing that instead of promising acting career Allison Mack chose to fuck up her life by joining sex cult and got sent to jail on human trafficing charges. It may sound really petty, but as someone who has been in Smallville fandome since 2005 I'd really like to see the reaction of people who were her hardcore fans back in those days. Cos I remember them being really fucking mean on forums towards anyone who dared to say they didn't like Chloe or liked her less than Lana :)

@@acrsclspdrcls1365 You really don’t want to know my guy.

Alison Mack, and she's already been released after 2 years in jail.

And Clark is the MAIN culprit of that!!!! Super hypocrite gaslighter!!!!

“I was just trying to protect you!”

The double shot one will actually destroy your liver inside of a week 😭😭😭

Take a shot everytime that someone leaves a room and dont explains why

Take a shot every time Clark either gets possessed by red Kryptonite or loses his powers

I was in the fandom back then and almost everybody hated her from day one...

@@vashsunglasses damn they did 😂

@@trehubb6144 Quality writing? Lmao. She goes from serving coffees at the Talon to threatening a doctor to becoming a Pseudo superhero. Lana was the worst written character on the show by far.

@@JudeMarchisio not talking in that aspect but through the eyes of a lovesick teenager who grows older and sees how a person changed

I never hated Lana. Never understood why people did. People say she's selfish and I'm struggling to see that. She's a girl who got so disillusioned with the fact that the love of her life does not trust her, gaslights her and lies to her all the time that she started dating Lex who put up the facade of honesty and openness that she always wanted. And then when she found out he also betrayed her trust by lying and taking away her agency, she snapped. Rightfully so. She started indulging herself in her revenge fantasies which brought the worst in her then she became good by helping others. And I honestly love her arc and empathize with her.

It really puts it into perspective when you put it that way lol. I like some of the modern superhero shows/series, but if I hear another “run Barry, run!” one more time, I think I’ll lose my mind lol

@@anne-tione4286 I know lol clatk never needed a pep talk to stop the bad guy; he just did it, even if it wasn't always easy. There are too many formulaic things in modern superhero TV, Smallville was different. Even the freak of the week episodes felt different and realistic despite all the fictional stuff.

@@joshz2491 I totally agree. Smallville set the stage for these modern superhero shows, and without its success, I doubt a lot of these shows would have ever existed. And you’re right, I love the fact that Clark was able to problem solve and fight villains on his own. Even when he was just starting out, he didn’t need someone spelling out the basic for him, and he definitely didn’t need it when he was a veteran in the game. He had help along the way, but he was still the main star of the entire operation. I also think the fact that Clark got all of his powers gradually, helped keep the problem solving fresh and interesting, instead of stale and repetitive.

@@anne-tione4286 I feel that's a Forrest Gump reference.

There is know worst smallville

Did it though? I can't say her life didn't change, but not entirely - she stayed in the same town, lived there her whole teen life, went to school there, got married there, etc.

I mean, Johnny Rico exists

the kid who thought he was an alien

The thought of losing people to meteors crosses my mind from time to time. I don't know why nobody uses them.

@@melissaclark1051 cyrus krupp. I thought he was pretty interesting, playing with the idea of having another kryptonian only to reveal its just a meteor freak, but giving him healing abilities was weird. If they gave him at least one actual kryptonian ability like heat vision, then maybe he would've come off as more convincing, albeit still quite obviously not an actual kryptonian.

Dang lolll I’m rewatching it right now and can’t imagine rewatching twice a year. Im on season 5 and so tired of the back and forth with Clana, though I love those two actors together on screen (they’re so beautiful 🥰), and enjoy Lois’ humor.

Same, though not quite twice a year. And now I'm watching Michael and Tom do commentary on every episode and Oh, it's so good.

All 10 seasons?!?!

@@TheRealGoldenDuckling yess

​@@reizak8966where??

Should check out Talkville. Where Tom and Michael go over each episode

@@Blackcat0721 I have been watching their podcast and it's great. It also sounds like they are in works in possibly making a animated reunion movie too.

understatement

"If nothing else, I can at least learn the Flash's secret identity. ... I have no idea who this is..."

@@akhannar9368 That episode is easily one of the best examples of the "mind swap" idea I've seen executed. Rosenbaum obviously slipped right into Lex Luthor without any issue at all, but Clancy Brown also managed to nail JL Flash's mannerisms. Just such an incredibly fun episode, that still manages to have remarkably mature moments. Particularly the stuff with Tala. The way she seemed to have genuine feelings for Luthor, and how happy she was that he seemed to finally be reciprocating them only for her hopes to be dashed when Lex returns to being himself.

@@RaptorJesus I especially loved how they made the actors swap roles, instead of having the characters swap voices. Also, I'm pretty sure there was an implication of Tala and Flash in Lex's body having sex...

@@akhannar9368 what are you guys talking bout?

@@atreyu8465 talking about an episode of Justice League the animated series where there was an episode where The Flash and Lex Luthor swap minds due to a telepathic accident. The Flash being voiced by Micheal Rosenbaum aka Smallvilles Lex Luthor.

Same. I felt that way about Smallville, Prison Break, Supernatural & One Piece

Get through the first season, and if you enjoy the good episodes and moments from that first season, you can fast forward through the cheese, and have a good time. There is pre-Metropolis, and after Metropolis, which are very different. The actress who plays Lois comes along before that, and gives the show a boost, and Clark and Lois’s will they, won’t they, isn’t as melodramatic. Just watch them with the podcast, Talkville, Rosenbaum(Lex) and Welling(Clark) do. They’re just getting close to the end of s1.

I did it in a few months. PS: I have imesurable amounts of free time

Do it! It’s totally worth it. I watched the series for the first time when I was in high school, and it’s become my favorite show since. Finished it in probably 6 months. I get 10 seasons can be daunting, but once you start you won’t want to stop

@@CorbCorbin Ye I also suggest watching the podcast they have its really good and you only need to watch one episode per week to keep up with it.

Bro, Lex were 20 yrs old in season 1, Lana and Clark were 14-15 yrs old

@@calebejosesousarocha2921 nah I was listening to the podcast that Michael Rosenbaum was doing he said lex was probably about 23- 24 years old. And the actor himself was around 30 at the time and Lana's actor was actually just 18.

@@badman3000 Lex were 9 in 89, Lana were 3 in 89. It's show canon, no actor statement

@@calebejosesousarocha2921 there's also that episode where he's in the nightclub and gets into trouble 5 years before he came to Smallville. I could believe him being underage like 19 or 20 in the nightclub but him being in a nightclub at 15 years old doesn't make much sense.

The dude was Lex Luthor, son of Lionel Luthor aka Founder and CEO of LuthorCorp

But it was built up to be this way

@@truereligionfiend738 It wasn't though. Just because the audience knows they'll end up enemies someday, in the actual series, they were best friends one day and enemies the next - that's what was shown. The catalyst for them no longer being friends didn't work

@@T_Cup the catalyst was literally clark lying to lex for years making him believe he was crazy when he thought they were brothers there was literally an episode where lex pleaded with clark to tell him he’s not crazy and clark lies again which just starts the downfall of the friendship also there Dads played a role in that happening

@@truereligionfiend738 They both had secrets from each other throughout the series and Lex lied to everyone, including Lana. That wasn't the catalyst. It was Lex suddenly forgoing his friendship with Clark because he simply had to have Lana over anything else due to some random hallucination. He literally hired a hypnotist to break Clana up, all while telling Clark not to give up on their friendship. But once he and Lana were married, he banned Clark from the mansion, signalling the end of their friendship for good. Lex choosing Lana and creating some made up rivalry in his mind between him and someone he was trying to win back up until the marriage went through - it never made sense, still doesn't

@@T_Cup wdym “suddenly” clark saved lex life in that crash which madr them become friends not Lana

I liked Chloe early on because she was written as a flawed character with limitations and issues she was working on. Once she knew Clark had powers in season 4 she started getting extremely annoying and started completely breaking the boundaries of what her character was intended to be. I especially hated how in Blank she was more like Clark's mother than his friend and he already had a mother and didn't need another. Then once she found out he was an alien in season 5, they turned her into a Mary Sue and her character became trash from then on. She was no longer strictly a reporter but suddenly she got hacking abilities out of nowhere whereas in previous seasons she needed help and assistance from contacts she had to hack into things or help her gain access. Suddenly there was nothing she couldn't do and it was stupid and fake just like any other Mary Sue character. I wish they killed her off at the end of season 3 or sometime in season 4 before they ruined and destroyed their once best young female character. What she did in season 8 was beyond disgusting and it was a disgrace how Jimmy had to die for her sins and how she did not pay the price herself for doing all those things with Davis behind Jimmy's back.

what about blackmailing and threatening lana into marrying lex. he did that after that soul switch

@@alexanderzack3720yeah Lionel improved but he didn’t become a saint by any means lmao.

smallville interestingly enough aired right when buffy moved from the wb to upn. buffy had gone very dark by then, but i wonder if the network used smallville to keep that same teen audience in.

It was very Buffy “monster of the week”

@@screamingwhales4031 Pretty much every drama the WB did after 1997 was partially influenced by Buffy. If not the teen angst, then the cinematography. Networks do that. They have a hit and make their other shows similar to it. NBC had a bunch of Friends clones.

@@screamingwhales4031 DAWN killed Buffy. I liked Trachtenberg, but you can't add a little sister to an only child character and then it be the same show. Buffy became a bitchy older sis. The writers were all about it being "responsibility/Buffy grows up" but at the expense of 4 seasons of in-show reality and Buffy's character.

I couldn’t disagree with you more. One of the best things about Smallville for me was how they gave Lana Lang a Batman like Origin Story by having her parents unfortunately deleted because of the meteor shower that brought Kal-El to Earth. Lana Lang could have been the protagonist of this story or a POV character at the very least but instead they made her life revolve around lame ass Clark Kent. Dean Cain is still the GOAT where it comes to portaging Clark Kent. Watch Lois & Clark The New Adventures of Superman and prove me wrong. You won’t…

@@endershepard7117 Man, what the hell show were you watching? Lana Lang is the worst character in the Superman mythology. She's useless. lol Dean Cain was okay, but his show was very early-90s.

You would have him romantically involved with Chloe from season 5 a and with Lois from season 8. Well the problem with that is he hasnt had any romantic chemistry with neither of them. His somewhat romantic triangle at the end of season 1 felt forced, because there was just nothing romantic there with him and Chloe, they were only good as friends. And similar thing happened with Lois, she basically ended up with Clark only because the Superman canon dictates it, not because there would be some real romantic chemistry between them. In talkville show they had a good point about Clark and Lana having something beyond words. And its funny how everyone pulling the cheerleader argument, I mean she was a cheerleader literally just for one freakin' pilot episode, then quit that forever and her character in Smallville couldnt be more different from that "cheerleader prototype" anyway.

@@Ryan_Wayne If you think that Clark had no romantic chemistry with either Chloe or Lois then I can only assume that you didn't watch the show. Either that, or you have some kind of bias towards Kristen Kreuk that has nothing whatsoever to do with the character of Lana Lang, since she was the most boring and uninteresting character on the show, and simply had no relevance or purpose in Clark's storyline other than to be "the girlfriend" role. The only thing that Clark and Lana had that was "beyond words" was a maddeningly toxic relationship that went from a sweet high school romance to a self-destructive, obsessive compulsive addiction for Clark, which is very un-Superman-like. Saying that Clark only ended up with Lois because he couldn't be with Lana is ignoring the fact that Lois was never as damaging to Clark as Lana was, and it was clear that Clark was attracted to Lois from the moment she walked in on him in the shower in season 4. As for Clark and Chloe being "just friends," Clark himself told Chloe that they were more than friends, which was evident after their season 5 kiss, and during season 6 when Chloe was with Jimmy, Clark confessed that he wanted to date her, and Chloe later confessed her love for Clark to Jor El at the Fortress of Solitude. The "just friends" argument was always a lame argument on the part of the Lana fans. The fact is that Lana Lang ruined Smallville. The height of Smallville's ratings were season 5, which focused mostly on Clark's storylines with Chloe and Lois, and Clark finally ended things with Lana. Audiences appreciated having new storylines to move Clark's story forward, as the Clark/Lana storyline had gone on for 100 episodes and fans had grown tired of it. But ratings began to slip in seasons 6 and 7 because the writers chose to go back to the Clark/Lana thing, which audiences were bored and fatigued by rather than move Clark's story forward with Chloe and Lois, which would've maintained the show's popularity with fans eager to see the story move forward rather than backwards. Face facts: there's a reason why Lana is the most hated character in Smallville. She ruined the show, period.

@@44excalibur Audiences were bored from Clark and Lana, yet the least watched seasons were the last three ones where there was no Lana. I'm sorry, but based on your writing, I also have to assume that you didn't watch the show, or not very thoroughly at least. I could allow argument that Kristin Kreuk and her "powers" are big part of why I was rooting for Lana and I'm not ashamed of that. She is clearly very beatiful woman, but also great and much underated actress (which is not taking anything from Erica Durance, who is also great imho). However I'm rewatching Smallville with my GF, we are on season 7 right now, and while she has obviously no thing for Kristin, Lana or Clana for that matter, she is also like if she wouldn't know Lois Lane from Superman canon, she would never guessed Lois and Clark should end up together in Smallville, because the chemistry or any kind of romantic attraction is just not there between them. So it's not just me, there is also many people online who see it the same way. And I know many people also hated Lana, believe me, I remember those times it was on and I was arguing against majority even then. But you know, there is also many people in this world who are shallow or just stupid, so I'm not really bothered by the majority. I can change opinions if I find I'm wrong, but my opinion on this haven't really changed with age or with many people trying to convince me otherwise. And yes, Clark and Lana relationship was toxic for big part of the show, but there was always a reason for that which was bigger than them (Clark's secret, Lana's mental issues after being hurt by Lex etc.). The important part is they got through all that angst and drama in the end and were still very much in love. And then they made her walking cryptonite. Right after Clark literally forgot about Lois in second when Lana showed up in his barn at that Chloe wedding. All that being said, Lois was clearly his second choice. Btw I like Lois's character in Smallville, I'm not one of those people who love Lana/Lois and hate the other. I just think Lois was better as Clark's friend/buddy here. Their chemistry was more similar to siblings heating each other up more than a couple in love. And I saw that 15 years ago as a teenager, just as I see it the same way rewatching it now after more than 10 years.

Same here

It’s still such a shame that the writers had no idea what to do with Lana after S3

@@creativeguy1martinez693 no it's the other way around it was about Lois, she was confined in secondary role with secondary guys for 4 years. they didn’t what to do with Lois because Lana was the unique legitimate in that prequel. Smallville always was an alternate universe.

the most toxic and extremely sentimental. She is always unhappy with something and these constant emotional swings with Clark. It's good that she hasn't been seen since season 7

Did you see Edgemont? I'm not Canadian, but it was on Encore.

@@iloveu172 , it was an alternate universe. That’s why Louis never should have been used. There certainly was no need to have her used so early. It’s about Smallville, not Metropolis. Lana was a great character. At worst, they should have killed Lana and gave it a bit of time before introducing Louis.

For real, for real 😂🤣

Damn aren't Tom and Michael 2 of the coolest people on the planet. I have only watched about half of the Talkville episodes I will absolutely watch the rest. God I'm a Smallville fanatic and it's mostly d to Tom and Michael, and for good or bad Allison, who of course I wish never experienced what she did and did what she did.

Sometimes i feel like Michael is bored reviewing every other episode in talkville, while Tom is way more enthusiastic. They for sure will review season 3 cause Michael always talks abiut the asylum episodes, but I dont know if we ll go past that season. Hope im wrong though :)

6 and 7 are worth watching as a rewatch, they're important episodes in those bunch for character development

why, season 7 was one of the best seasons

@@ninjanibba4259 there's important episodes but season seven especially is so crappy that it's a slog to sit through, I'm rewatching now and on season five and I'm dreading gettting there

@@mikemorro140 it's really not that bad

@@mikemorro140 it’s not that bad. people over exaggerating about how particular smallville seasons are just “sO bAd” is as old as the show at this point lmfao. there are the people who hate S1 for its cheesiness, there are the people who hate S4, then the people who hate S6 & S7, and then there are the people who hate S8 & S9. everyone has a season or two they like the least, but it’s extremely divided between fans about what seasons those are. there’s no smallville season that is objectively bad. it’s all just about people opinions; and just like every other show, people’s opinions differ widely on that. all i know though, is that smallville is a great show and even the people who claim to despise nearly half of it always come back to watch it again, which speaks for itself.

What?? 8/9/10 was really hard to watch without lex lana martha and lionel.

@@xXLegacy maybe without Martha, maybe even without Lex, but I think Lionel and Lana had been wrung of any more worth they could provide by 8-10.

@@tidela4714 it was the first 7 seasons that made Smallville a success. it is indisputable. When Lana & Lex left, 3/4 of the viewers left after that confirms the opposite, we went from a jewel to a dumpster that were the last 3. You’re wrong, There was so much materials & stories to tell with Lana superwoman & Clark . Smallville always an alternate universe. Kristin left not because of Lois but Because of death threats. A spin off has been planned with Olivier & Lois to metropolis in S8.

​@@iloveu172 As someone who binge watched the show instead of watching as it aired. Fuck season 6. My viewing experience improved with the last three seasons.

@@xXLegacy I remember 8 and 9 being terrible while 10 was good. Seasons 2-5 are imo very good, and seasons 1, 6 and 7 are decent.

Cancelled so early? It had 10 seasons to iron it all out. I always felt like after highschool ended they just didn't know what to do and threw darts at a board with post-its ideas scattererd about.

@@centralscrutinizer6108 I was actually referring to a different show, Not Smallville. Plus 10 years seemed like a good enough run for Smallville anyway. I was referring to a different show that got cancelled in 2022 on the CW.

You mean surpassed it.

Sounds like a good video series

@@aachaboki9568 Well thank you! More like just a few videos. 🥲

Lana didn't screw up, you didn't get the story. she is the only one to have the most important intrigues with the 2 main protagonists. it is normal that she was exposed so much and with so many risks. while Lois was filing her nails for 4 years, totally uninteresting and we wonder what she's doing there, it's not Superman & Lois!

@@iloveu172 Hahaha I very much got the story. It's kind of fun to find new things in a series you thoroughly enjoy so much you need to watch it every other year.

@@MisfortunateJustice it’s time to count all the Lois’ shit and there are a lot !

"Davis Bloome", jesus, even by comic book standards that's lame

I tried watching it but Lois's weird pointy face bothers me

​@@radhiadeedou8286thats kinda fucked

Smallville didn't decline. It was steady to maybe even improved. Later seasons were still better than the first two at least.

The amount of times Clark accuses Lex with no evidence and half the time wrongly would turn anyone evil.

@@spaceidiot200 I mean to be fair the other half of the time he is right and there is evidence pointing to Lex it's just it turns out to be someone working for him

Somebody had to say it lol. Clark just wants everybody to ignore him acting strange,not being reliable and trust he has good reasons. But he gets to spy on Lana and everyone else as he sees fit lol

@@gamblertoguru382 to be fair half the time Clark is reliable as he's saving them constantly it's just because they're friends they expect him to share his secret. While I do think Clark becomes a bit hypocritical when he's upset about secrets it's because the secrets the others are keeping from him are usually things that can be dangerous if he doesn't get involved in it

I feel like after having clark graduate in season 4 they should've focused in on him going to a smallville college and used it as a way to introduce new cast members and phantom zone threats, with 4 seasons focusing on each of clark's college years. Then in season 9-10 have him move to metropolis, completely discarding lana and chloe and making lex far more of the smart, big business man he's destined to become while clark slowly starts to develop his superman identity, no black trenchcoat tho, ending with a final episode of clark performing heroic acts in the classic suit.