Just watched the premiere, I thought it wasn’t too bad. I always have low expectations for the WB. Note: I am not a Superman purist, so it didn’t bother me at all that they have contemporized the story. Of course it’s the WB so all the main characters are attractive teens or young adults.
So what’s your take?
I was thinking of starting a thread on this.
As far as anachronisms go, I think “canon” is out the window. By having Clark Kent as a teenager in 2001, they’re pretty much declaring that this is a new universe that merely follows the same rules and a similar cast of characters.
I think the show was very entertaining- and I think it has a lot of potential. The characters are interesting- the Luthor as vaguely good/misunderstood guy is a unique choice. I always liked Luthor anyway, so I’m glad he’s not a total prick.
There are a lot of things to explore here- adolescent fantasies and an interesting reexamination of the hero as outcast. I’m presuming that most of his heroic exploits will be anonymous. I’ve often wondered about his life growing up, you get the snippets about moving a tractor off of his dad, and that sort of thing, but to me at this point, the “Superman learns to deal with himself as a somewhat unique adolescent” universe is much, much more interesting than the “Superman saves the world from baddies” universe.
At times, it was cheesy- but not overwhelmingly so. I will probably come back for a second look.
Lana Lang not only isn’t a redhead in this new series, she’s played by a half-Chinese girl.
Hmm. And Dean Cain, who played Clark in Lois and Clark, is a quarter Japanese. I wonder what that’s all about?
It is all a part of a conspiracy to flood the market with high quality, low cost, smaller super men.
Marc
Nah, the relationship’s doomed to fail anyway.
I liked the show for the most part. I don’t like the youth-anization of Ma and Pa Kent, or the conceit that Luthor and Clark would meet each other so soon, but the show was pretty enjoyable.
It could use a liberal dose of subtlety though. The scene with Clark in the graveyard framed by the wings? Terrible.
I’m not making any bets until I see the second episode.
It seems like it will be kind of like that movie Unbreakable. Only good.
Please, somebody spoil the ending for me! I taped it but my tape ran out just as the electric scarecrow showed up at the dance with the big chain.
The show seems to be a blend of pre- and post-crisis continuity. The Kents alive is post, Lex and Clark knowing each other as youths is pre, Clark as semi-milquetoast is pre, gradual development of Clark’s powers is post. I don’t believe for a second that the scarecrow tradition would have survived into the 21st Century. You know by now someone would have sued the school and the parents of every kid involved.
SPOILERS!!!
Scarecrow boy opens up the control panel for the fire sprinklers. His plan, apparently, was to trigger the sprinklers then electrocute everyone (“The sprinklers get them wet, I take care of the rest.”), but Clark interferes, saying things along the lines of “You’re not going to hurt my friends…these people didn’t do anything to you.”
Sparky jump starts a pickup truck and rams Clark. Clark hangs on to the hood, and eventually sparky rams the truck, and Clark, into a wall and a water main. Water floods into the cab, and Sparky sparks up in a very pretty light show, and passes out.
Afterwards, he has amnesia. Which is no surprise, since everybody who knows a superhero’s secret invariably gets amnesia. Or dies.
Clark goes into the gym to see Lana dancing with jock. The two of them are homecoming queen and king, respectively. They share a tender kiss on the middle of the dance floor. Clark, understandably upset (in a somber kind of way), leaves. As he passes the parking lot, he sees three shiny pickups (lot of those in Smallville, apparently), that belong, we understand, to the jocks.
Clark smiles.
<commercial, IIRC>
We see people exiting the gym. They’re pointing in the general direction of the parking lot and laughing. LL and her jock leave. Camera pans over to the three pickups stacked up on each other. Lana looks over towards where Clark exited, though it’s uncertain whether or not she saw him.
Cut to Clark in the loft of the barn, staring at the stars through his telescope. (Aside: Why’s he need a telescope to play peeping tom?) His dad comes up, gives some history of the telescope (“Your grandfather gave that to me when I was your age…”) then leaves.
Clark turns on the radio, typical WB music plays. Lana appears, telling Clark that she didn’t see him at the dance. “What are you doing here,” he asks.
“I saved you that dance,” she says. They dance.
Horns sound outside. Lana disappears, as she was never really there.
Clark looks out the window to see Lana walking into her house. He thanks her for the dance, and she looks around, almost as if she heard him.
The camera pans up to the sky, and we fade to black.
Thanks KKB. “KKB, KKB, KKB eternally!” That’s an Anette O’Toole semi-reference, which I’ll bet a dollar no one else remembers (hint: the real reference is KKG, not KKB).
I don’t mean this in a bad way at all, but I kept thinking,
“Hmmm, teenager with a secret gift trying to cope with the pain of growing up and maturing socially with the amplified pain of having (because of said gift) to be an outsider and not getting to do normal teenage stuff like play football and get drunk, cuz theres all these vampires (oops!!! I mean mutants) running around your picturesque small town that you have to stop, cuz you’re the chosen one.”
It sorta rang a bell, to say the least. But throwing the familiarity of Clark Kent, Lex, and Lana, etc puts an interesting spin on it.
I’ll keep watching, though I have to say, what ever that Bob Marley cum Peter Gabriel piece they kept playing in the previews was much cooler than the generic WB fare that populated the show. What was that track? does anyone know?
Bad Hat
First, a couple of “me toos”
From Mofo Rising
You are so right. I liked the little cape shot early on. I was even able to forgive the “Man or Superman” reference. By the time they got to the cemetery, I was thinking “Enough with the FORESHADOWING already.” And next week Lex tells us that he’s not a “criminal mastermind”.
As for the Buffy paralell that Bad Hat mentioned - yup, it’s there. But for me it’s limited to the junior Scooby gang. These characteres need to be fleshed out more.
On the whole, I liked the show. I think the actor playing Clark and Lex do a great job. I started to believe that Clark, with his model looks, might be having a hard time at school. And Lex is interesting. Leaning towards good, but you can see that seed of evil already. I like Lana too.
My big complaint was the Convenient Amnesia the bad guy gets at the end.
Plus - am I supposed to believe that Clark has never been in his cellar before?
Actually, Otto, the idea of the Kents being alive when Clark is a teenager is both pre- and post-Crisis.
I found a lot that was hard to believe in this show, and I’m not talking about Clark and his powers. I’m talking about things like:
[list=1]
[li]A girl makes a pendant necklace out of the meteor that killed her parents. Yah sure, and I’m sure Jackie Kennedy did the same with the bullet that went through Jack’s head.[/li][li]Given that she made such a necklace, she then gives it to her boyfriend to wear? Did she also give him a matching prom dress and pumps?[/li][li]Given that she gave him this necklace, he puts it around the neck of the boy he’s hazing, essentially throwing it away? Even if the boyfriend’s supposed to be a jerk, he’s not portrayed as stupid enough to do such a thing, which would at the very least poison his relationship with his girlfriend.[/li][/list=1]
That whole chain of improbabilities existed for the sole purpose of getting Clark close to some kryptonite, and it was subtle as a shotgun.
I also agree the annual Smallville ritual of “crucifying the nerd” goes well beyond the bounds of teenage pranks and would not still be practiced in 1989, or even earlier. That’s less DC Comics and more Shirley Jackson.
My stoopid tape ended right after Sparky showed up in the cornfield to razz Clark. How’d Clark get off the cross? Mustered up enough strength? Helped out by a passing Scooby? Plot contrivance?
I love that they have the actress who played Lana in the movie playing his mom. That’s one darned fine-lookin’ woman.
Ooh, I just realized another weird crossover thing. Big, hunky, Iowa boy with mysterious abilities and powers goes around hunting the bad guys and has big problems in his relationship with the girl he loves. “Hey, I’m from Iowa. We drive four hours to get to a high school football game.” I never noticed that before.
Lex came by and gave him a hand…he saw Sparky by the side of the road as he drove by, and pulled over for a flashback to Meteor Day, and then heard Clark moaning.
Gives him an excuse to get his hands on the Kryptonite necklace (pretty sharp eyes to notice it lying on the ground in a cornfield, huh?), even though he doesn’t know what it is yet.
1 Both pre and post Crisis, Kal-El’s arrival is an event noticed only by the Kent’s. It is a secret occurence and a thing of joy. Smallville-Supes lands amid a huge meteor shower that makes the cover of a national magazine and causes horrible tragedy.
2 I agree with Fiver completely on the necklace. Besides the inconsistencies you mention-No one has stolen this thing? Seeing as how it’s a substance unknown on Earth, Kryptonite is worth many times its weight in gold. The government hasn’t seized it? Again, radioactive substance found nowhere on Earth, the government would be within the law to take it as a matter of national security. True, PostCrisis Lex does wear a green K ring, but he’s rich enough to get all the protection he needs-from theives and the government.
3 The speech Pa gives Clark about joining the football team, indicates that Ma an Pa know about Clark’s powers. Why then is Pa surprised when Clark shoves his arm into the wheat thresher(or whatever piece of farm equipment)? The Kents noticed Clark’s increased strength and speed, but somehow missed the invulnerability?
4 The Kent house is supposed to be MILES from the nearest neighbor! The show has Lana living across the street!
5 I hate the whole Lex-in-field-when-ship-crashes.They made Lex bald due to Supe’s crash landing. They associate a traumatic event in Lex’s life with the sight of a man with a big S on his chest. PreCrisis Lex went bald due to a mixture of chemicals Superboy used to extinguish a lab fire. At the time Lex and Supes were friends. In fact, the fire started when Lex was attempting to find a way to eliminate Supes vulnerability to Kryptonite.
6 I can see why they set the show in the present. I still say it was a stupid thing to do. Clark grew up in a time and place of innocence. The atmosphere of Smallville was essential to the shaping of his character. Smallville is a big reason why Superman is a big boy scout in spandex and not a dark vigilante like Batman. To put Smallville in our post-Columbine, world wide web, present is to take away its innocence.
7 Again, Fiver’s right. Why the Great Rao would Clark need a telescope? More importantly, why would someone with Clark’s morals spy on a girl? Even watching her only when she is fully clothed seems to be a violation of the rigid ethics Superman lives by. Remember, in all this time Superman has never used his x-ray vision to see women naked. That is who Superman is. He never goes anywhere near a grey area. He is always unquestionably good, decent, brave, honest, and noble
8 The same applies to stacking the trucks. While Spiderman might use his powers for a petty act of revenge, Superman never would. See above. One of the many great moments of the Superman movie was Clark standing on an empty field, throwing incredible field goals. Even after years of embarrassment and frustration, He knows that he can never reveal his secret or use his powers for personal gain.
9 Lana Lang is a REDHEAD! Her hair is a bright orange a la Carrot Top. One of Smallville’s sponsors is a company selling hair dye! Dye the woman’s hair already!
I must emulate the Comic Book Guy for an moment while I say:
Worst. Episode. Ever.
WB stands for We Blow. Stick to movies, fellas.
Well, I guess I’m somewhere in the middle. First, I’m not a Superman purist with extensive knowledge of the genre, but I know a little bit about it. Second, I didn’t love the show, but I didn’t hate it. My problems with it:
They can go with light Superman (shiny happy Smallville, no one gets hurt, no one dies) or dark Superman (angst and danger and death). But they seem to be trying to go with both. S. came to earth in a big killing meteor shower, so now he blames himself for the death of Lana’s parents? Please. Psycho electric kid cooks the guys who made him the scarecrow and then is cooked himself, but everyone lives? Please. Decide if you’re going to do it dark or do it light.
The kid who plays Clark seems like a fine actor (meaning, he didn’t suck) but he is way too good looking and built to be a nerdy, unpopular high school kid. Even when he was hanging in the field, did you see his arms and abs? That’s not gawky, geeky Clark Kent. And he’s supposed to be a high school freshman? Only if he flunked a grade three or more times.
The whole scarecrow thing seemed to me to be pointless -and, yes, I realize it was the central plot device, but why? So they could hang him up in the field? A little too Christic with the imagery for me. Not to mention that, as has already been said, the school/parents/town would never ever let kids do that to someone – not in 1989 and certainly not today. I didn’t buy it.
Well, I thought it was ok. I like most of the characters in it, but I think the writing needs to be improved. It wasn’t just the lack of subtlety. I mean, that’s mostly the director’s fault anyway. It’s that the characters, at crucial moments, didn’t ring true.
The sitdown with Pa and Superboy, there was no “how long have you known?” on either side.
That whole talking to the parents in the graveyard just made me cringe. Granted, Lana had done it for so long it was almost second nature to her but…if a girl started carrying on a conversation with her dead parents, acting completely natural without a twinge of “this must look so weird to an outsider”…well, it would have me running faster than Superman away from her.
But more character development can come later. Which is what I like about some of the character choices. I have no problem with Lex being good. I have no problem with Clark being evil (well, at least vindictive). Guys, if they started out with good being good and evil being evil there would be NO character development. Clark can learn morals later.
As for continuity, I’ll let it slide. I like it being 2001. Puts a new spin on things. But I must admit, I haven’t followed the comics religiously. OK, well, barely at all. What is Crisis?
From this page:
There is plenty of information on the site that should help you (and others) understand COIE.
As for Smallville, I can sum it up with my first impression. It didn’t suck. I’ll reserve my judgement for a later date after I see a few episodes.
Ok, here’s my take and response to some of the comments here. As background, also not a purist and didn’t know what “crisis” meant before (thanks for the link, robgruver.
The symbolism is heavy handed and the writing is weak. This is also certainly not a surprise in a premiere. That said, IMHO it’s a lot better than some stuff I have had to put up with in the cinemas lately. The special effects were mixed at best. I missed the opening few minutes, which seems to be the story of my life, so I don’t know how they handled that.
Clark is too brawny and good looking for his alleged age, but did a good job of portraying a nice, shy kid, which should be sufficient. This is the WB, and they are undoubtedly trying to pull in a demographic that is likely not represented in this discussion. What remains to be seen is whether they are attempting to reconcile some of the continuity issues which have been discussed, or are simply using the Superman mythos as a jumping off point, with some references but huge creative license. I would be very interested in what their objective and direction is supposed to be. As a clue, here’s the teaser from the WB site:
In addition to hitting their target demographic, choosing this point in the life of Clark Kent, as Enderw24 alreadt pointed out, allows us to see him become a paragon of good. Children have their base value system in place by the time the onset of adolescence, but it is the choices and experiences that make them the adults which they become. I like seeing the good in Lex and the bad in Clark which allows them to develop into complex characters instead of the two dimensional characters I am familiar with from the comics and even the film series. But it will take good writing to show this in a more subtle manner rather than club us over the head with cliches. I believe that how they handle this will determine whether the series is a success with a broad demographic audience.