I enjoyed it. It took me a second to digest that it was very different from the Superman mythos with which I’m familiar, but I’m over that now. I agree that the show could stand to be more subtle (the wings and the kryptonite necklace were heavy-handed; also I didn’t like that Whitney turned into such a jerk after a promising introductory scene in which he seemed like a nice enough guy). As far as the surprise Mr. Kent exhibited as to Clark’s invulnerability, I thought it was perfectly appropriate. They knew he could run fast, they knew he was strong. The imperviousness they’d never seen before (why would they take the chance to test it?) until Lex’s car failed to kill Clark when it hit him. The telescope is the same deal. Remember, these people – unlike every single one of us, fan or no – have never read a Superman comic book, have never seen the movies. They have no idea what kind of powers Clark will develop. Also, any program which features Kristin Kreuk in a regular role can be forgiven a lot in my book.
Great casting. It ws cool to see Annette O’Toole back in her hometown again. John Schneider has always been one of the best actors in television. And the guy who played Clark buried Dean Cain, this guy seemed like a young Christopher Reeve. Very promising series, especially for the network that brought us so many hours of agony.
I loved it! Sure, it wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever seen, but I thought it was great. I agree that the set-up was a bit clunky, but most first episodes tend to be that way. I don’t know how much creative license they’ve taken, as I am not a big follower of the Superman universe. And, yes, Tom Welling is way too old to be a high school freshman, but I can forgive that (it helps that he’s nice to look at).
Overall, I found it interesting enough that I want to watch again.
Not to get to hypertechnical, but in post-Crisis continuity, Kal-El’s arrival is noticed by the Manhunters, who in an attempt to acquire him as an asset implant every other newborn in Smallville with control devices via the town doctor (a Manhunter). They missed Kal-El because of a snowstorm which isolated him and the Kents through an entire winter.
The meteor shower and attendant devastation will serve as motivation for Clark to become Superman. The deeds he does in service of humanity will be an atonement for the deaths his arrival caused. I see only one problem with this premise. It belongs to Spider-Man!
And I second everyone who says that Clark is too big and beefy for his age, but as long as they make with the shirtless scenes on a regular basis I ain’t complainin’.
I do feel sorry for people who were taping it to watch later. It ran longer than an hour, and there was no prior indication that it would.
Jodi gave a pretty good encapsulation of my feelings: I didn’t love it, and I didn’t hate it. On the plus side, the acting seems okay, it’s pretty well cast, and it’s always nice to see one of them cussed Duke boys getting work. On the other hand, a lot of it was heavy-handed, and it’s a bit too teen-angsty for my taste. But then, I’m not in the target demographic, after all.
To be fair, the Clark’s-a-nerd element of the Superman story has always been all but impossible to translate to film. You’re pretty much stuck. To convincingly play Superman, you’ve got to hire a tall, good looking, athletic actor. In other words, exactly the physical type who would be least believable as an awkward, unpopular social outcast. Christopher Reeve managed it–he made his Clark geeky by means of posture, body language, and vocal inflection. To give this kid credit, he seems to be trying some of the same thing.
I think Cliffy is absolutely right about the invulnerabilty. It’s not the sort of power you’d know about until something happened to demonstrate it. As I understood it, Clark was as surprised as anybody when being hit by Lex’s car didn’t hurt him. I think it was that event which really convinced him of how truly different he was, and thus set off the later argument with Pa where he sticks his hand in the wood chipper.
I also agree with Cliffy about Whitney’s characterization. He fell too quickly into the Evil Bully Jock cliche. This makes the love triangle so by-the-numbers. Will Lana choose the hunky guy who’s really a jerk, or the less hunky guy who’s sweet and kind? Wouldn’t it be more poignant if she had to choose between two guys, both of whom are basically decent fellows?
Y’know, I was thinking about the show today, and though I really enjoyed the premiere for the most part (the heavy-handedness bugged me quite a bit, though the cape thing was cool), but I don’t see this show going anywhere good.
The way I see it, it’s either going to go the Buffy/X-Files road, with a monster of the week (they’ll end up on what’s-her-face’s wall) for Clark to fight, or it’ll be another WB teen soap opera thing.
Otto-I sit corrected. I had completely forgotten about Millenium! Hopefully, I soon will again.
Re-Invulnerability
I’m not suggesting that the Kent’s should have been stabbing Clark with cutlery or setting off dynamite in his pants. But, wouldn’t there be times over the years when Clark is left without even a scratch although any human would be injured? Falling out of tree, the knife slipping while carving, nicking a thumb on a table saw, touching a hot pan etc. There a thousand common childhood and/or household accidents that should have revealed his invulnerability. PreCrisis, Clark was invulnerable as soon as he landed on Earth. PostCrisis, Clark’s invulnerability developed slowly over the years as his body absorbed solar energy. Either way by the time Clark could stop a car with his chest, his parents would have noticed something.
He didn’t stop Lex’s car. It knocked him into the water, remember? “Invulnerable” does not mean “immovable”.
I don’t think Jonathan Kent was surprised that the wood-chipper did not hurt Clark. I think he was dismayed that his son does not want his fabulous powers, that he sees them only as things that will set him apart from humanity rather than gifts to be used to help others.
Another possiblilty is that Jonathan’s parental instincts kicked in when he saw Clark shove his hand into the machine and he unconsciously reacted as though Clark were human.
Gravity, the pilot ran one hour and ten minutes. That’s why your VCR stopped before the show was over. I’m sure that future episodes will be a standard one hour long.
I also thought the symbolism a bit heavy-handed, but the meteor effects were cool. The kids are all too young to have the experience they need to give their characters real depth. The guy playing Lex is an exception, though. He was the most believable. (But the reason he lost his hair is lame; why didn’t it grow back?) I wonder if John Glover will return as Lex’s father?
elfkin477, Kal-El did come to Earth in a tiny spaceship, but accompanied by a meteor shower of Kryptonite.
I really really liked this show! I’m not a Superman purist, but i am a fan, and any Superman show that’s good is fine by me! I liked most of the movies, loved Lois and Clark, and now they have this show. Now if only some producer in Hollywood would get off his or her keester to make the next movie…
And Clark is gradually getting his powers, folks. In the preCrisis comics, Superkid had all his powers when he fell to earth. In post Crisis, he gets his powers slowly, so it’s not a new concept. For instance, Clark can run fast and is strong. But he did not know he was invulnerable to injury until Lex hit him with his car, so it logically follows that his dad didn’t either, hence the horrified surprise when Clark put his hand in the wood chipper! And he can’t even fly yet, but I’m sure that will enter into the plot later.
And the scarecrow thing going beyond normal teenage pranks? Guys, do you even WATCH the news? Kids today can be really twisted and do horrible things to each other. Especially the haves to the have-nots. And don’t even get me started on fraternity hazing…evil evil evil.
And I thought the Kryptonite necklace thing was a hoot. Yeah, a little unrealistic with the whole “it was the meteor that killed my parents” thing. But it gave some comic relief that Clark can’t go near Lana without falling on his face or getting sick. I laughed my butt off when Pete and Chloe started counting, and then Clark tripped.
That’s exactly the point, SuperLorie. Something like the scarecrow thing IS shocking, and WOULD make the news. It would not be a tolerated long-time tradition.
I missed some of the premiere, so someone help me out with this detail about Lana. My impression was that Lana and her parents were just visiting Smallville and Lana’s aunt, and didn’t live there. Then Lana’s aunt was stuck with Lana when her parents were killed.
And this was pretty baldly telegraphed: Lana’s aunt has the hots for Pa Kent, and doesn’t like Ma.
I really liked this show despite the best efforts of the writers to make me feel otherwise.
I liked the Scarecrow thing alot but it seemed to me that it would have made more sense for the rival team/town to kidnap and haze a Smallville High student rather than them do it to one of their own. It don’t make no sense, I sez.
That would make it plausible that it wouldn’t have gotten shut down if the perpetrators were from another town.
I liked all the heavy handed symbollism. The statue wings, the red “s” on his chest, the red cape/blanket,the Smallville crest on the letter man’s jacket being the Superman emblem.
But I think they really blew their wad with what could have been the best plot point of the series. Lana wearing a Kryptonite neckalce. This was great but they abandoned it it too early simply to give it to Lex. I understand it worked to get Supes on the cross but still… aw damn I guess it was okay.
Does anyone else think this was meant to be a two hour premiere and that’s why it seemed so clunky and ran over?
I hope that they are able to mature Clark into the stalwart boy scout that is Superman well and don’t opt to just say this is a “modern take”
Oy vay! If you want something that’s exactly like the comics, go read the books!
A) How many people besides Lana know where it came from? Did she phone the government and say “Hey, I got this rock around my neck?”
B) Does she (or anyone else) suspect that it’s not simply a green crystal from a rock out of the sky?
C) There were plenty of other rocks for the government to get their hands on.
The other points that Fiver brought up are just as arguable.
Well, maybe it’s something like in the comics where his power develop over time and this was the first manifestation of this particular power?
Okay, valid point. Unless he’s using the telescope to look across town. But IIRC, that’s not the case.
Well, first off does Clark even know that he has super-sight? Maybe not yet, eh? Secondly, Clark would spy on a girl because even someone with super-morals is bound to give in to temptation every now and then, especially when you’re a teenager.
Plus, since Superman doesn’t exist yet, there is no “code of ethics” to live by. They have to be developed, just like his powers.
When you start using your superpower, I would suspect you might make a mistake or two at first. It’s actions like this that allow you to develop your code of morals. They just don’t plop down into your head.
Live with it already! If the smallest detail of the show that deviates from the “canon” makes you twitch, why are you watching it?
OTOH, you want to know what I found implausible? That a farm family is making enough money to afford a couple of flat-screen monitors in their house. Kryptonite-radiated corn must be fetching quite a price these days.
Last night, on TV, there was an update: The kids who beat up this poor guy will very likely be expelled. So there is still vicious hazing going on, but the perpetrators are getting punished.
How would I know how cannonical the show was if I didn’t watch at least 1 episode? If I kept watching and criticising, then everyone would be correct in pointing out that I could, and should, just stop watching. I watched one episode, the series premiere.
The meteor shower causing death and destruction is NOT a minor detail. Kal-El is now indirectly responsible for all that tragedy. All those horrible things are a result of him coming to Earth. Giving a character that kind of emotional baggage is a major change. As has been pointed out, Spiderman became a hero after letting a thief escape without even attempting to stop him. The thief later killed Spidey's Uncle Ben.
That's also why I keep mentioning Clark's morals. As a legend and a paragon of virtue even to other heroes, Clark was born with an instinctive sense of right and wrong. He is goodness personified. Having Clark develop to this state as he grows is a MAJOR change in the character. Batman is driven not only by a desire for justice, but a desire for vengeance and a need to rid himself of guilt. Spiderman is a good man, but he's still a man. He tries to be noble, and righteous, but he can be selfish, jealous, angry, and even deceitful. Superman is Galahad-pure of mind, body and spirit-achieving with ease a moral state most people have to struggle constantly just to approach.
Lana has told people that the necklace is from the meteorite. It's likely that at least one follow-up story by Time, or some other mag would turn up this detail. You say government woul have plenty of other samples of the meteorite. Therefore, they would have analysed it and know of its unique properties. They would then take all of it. The government has plenty of plutonium at present. If I found some in my yard, they'd still take it as a matter of national security.
I'm confused here. Lana's hair color is unimportant but the isolation of her house is not? My point on her hair was that it IS a minor detail, but it's easy to fix. Still, they didn't bother to dye her hair.
The show demonstrated Clark having and being aware of-superspeed(the run to school), superhuman strength, and invulnerability (I maintain that he would have known prior to the crash that he was resistant to injury. PreCrisis, he had invulnerable stubble on his chin which no terran razor could shave. PostCrisis, a normal razor could shave his beard, but could never cut his skin. Clark would not, however, know that being hit by a speeding car would only knock him off his feet.), superventriliquism (A PreCrisis power allowing Superman to actually make his voice come from somewhere else. Just before the credits roll, Clark uses it on Lana.). If Clark has all these, his telescopic vision should have kicked in by now. Just as he discover superspeed while trying to run faster, he should have discovered telescopic vision while trying to see a distant object.
It isn't the details that really bother me. It's the deviation from the spirit of Superman. The film with Christopher Reeve was not letter perfect, and correct in every last detail. But it perfectly captured the spirit. The Superboy television series with Gerard Christopher got plenty of details wrong and was often just plain goofy. But it was built around the same spirit. Smallville may have a character named Clark Kent/Kal-El who grows up to be a superhero, but he just isn't Superman.
How could he have stopped those meteors from hitting Smallville? He couldn’t, which means he is not even indirectly responsible. I thought he over-reacted when he realized that he came to Earth with the meteors. (It’s like saying the passengers of the planes that hit the WTC and the Pentagon are indirectly responsible for those attacks. They weren’t.) Even Jor-El is not indirectly responsible. How was he to know that those meteors would accompany his son’s spacecraft? Those meteors were no one’s fault. Maybe in a future episode, we’ll see Clark realize this, realize that he can’t take responsibility for every terrible thing that happens.
On the other hand, a lot of it was heavy-handed, and it’s a bit too teen-angsty for my taste. But then, I’m not in the target demographic, after all.