Smallville Rant (Part 2)

I can’t be sure that the writers/producers/network lost interest in the character of Clark Kent but it certainly looked like it. It could also be a really clumsy way to stall Clark’s progress (making him look bad in the process) and a lame attempt to get a Green Arrow spin-off.

In fact after “Aqua” did so well in the ratings in S5, the show-runners tried to spin-off an Aquaman show titled Mercy Reef starring Justin Hartley (GA on Smallville). It was not picked up by the network. But since then It seems that Smallville has become a breeding ground for spin-offs. More about that later.

The little time the show did concentrate on Clark was frustrating because the writers dug themselves into a gigantic hole. It seems that they couldn’t figure out a way for Clark to send all the Zoners back to the Phantom Zone. Sure the Kryptonian crystal worked on Kryptonian Zoners like Zod, but (to up the drama for a few seconds) the crystal didn’t work on the Zoners who were from other galaxies. The solution the writers came up with is to have Clark “accidentally” kill them. So Clark killed the Zoners in “Wither” and “Combat” and Martian Manhunter killed the one in “Static”.

Killing goes against everything the Kent’s taught Clark and everything that Clark Kent/Superman stands for. There’s a reason Superman is called Boy Scout – he is moral to a fault. This is not a grey area with him. He does not kill. The writers should have found another way for Clark to deal with the Zoners. I don’t know much about Martian Manhunter but my guess is, as a hero, killing would really be a last resort for him too.

When GA left to “save the world”, my hope was that the story would once again focus on Clark and Lex. That hope was dashed when we got an episode dedicated to Lana and her 23049th stalker. Clark was back on the Clana Wheel Of Angst And Moping and the show (and Clark's morals) went rapidly downhill from there. Gone was Clark's motivation to track the Zoners and expose Level 33.1. Lana Lang was getting married!!!

In a move so disgusting that I couldn’t bring myself to watch the whole episode, Clark Kent went after Lex Luthor’s pregnant fiancée – ready to tell her his secret in the hope that she ditch Lex on their weddng day to marry him instead.

In another episode, after Lex saved Clark's life and to add to the every growing eww factor, when Lana was Mrs. Lex Luthor, Clark still lusted after her and let her paw him in front of Lex! How repulsive and disgusting is that?

And really what is so wonderful about Lana Lang? She is boring and self-absorbed. She is fickle and a two-timer. She is annoying, whiny, and chronically unhappy. She’s more likely to believe the worst of Clark. She is borderline schizoid and she wouldn’t recognize “love” if it bit her in the ass.

The show-runners have even admitted that they’ve run out of ideas for Lana’s character. In S3 the writers had Pete Ross leave at the end of the season because they felt they had come to a dead end with his character. Why the heck not Lana?