Pilot

The beginnings of Superman! As soon as "saaaaaaavvvvvveeee meeeeeee" was bellowed during the opening credits as the theme song, I was instantly hooked. For a show that came out in 2001 with lots of fanfare, I was very impressed with how well the first season held up. It has been known the series would often go over budget, but we are telling the story of future Superman after all. The visual effects are top-notch and the meteor shower where young Kal-El comes to Earth seemed very real. Instead of being a serious superhero drama, the show is about teenage angst and small-town drama. It is like a coming-of-age film/series but with more special effects and a superhero background. At least for the first season, the show will combine these elements along with a villain-of-the week story. Just bring me everything you got, Smallville!

In this pilot episode, we learn the origins of Clark Kent aka Kal-El. It is 1989, and Smallville has been bombarded with meteors. Martha (Annette O'Toole) and Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) crashed their car into a cornfield during the storm and are founded by young Clark. They find his spacecraft and adopt him. We flash forward to more than a decade later when Clark (Tom Welling) is in high school. He has a crush on the cute Lana Lang (Kristen Kreuk) who is the cheerleader girlfriend of popular jock Whitney Fordman (Eric Johnson). He has two very good friends; the young journalist with her Wall-of-Weird Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) and his good buddy Pete Ross (Sam Jones III). He later meets the future villain, Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) when Clark saves him from a car accident, and they become fast friends. Lex resides in Smallville where he runs a fertilizer company but is overseen by his billionaire father, Lionel (John Glover) who lives in nearby Metropolis. As the story advances, Jonathan tells Clark about his origins and discovers that he is "allergic" to a green rock called Kryptonite, the same green rock that Lana wears around her neck in remembrance of her parents whom died during the meteor shower. When Clark becomes weakened by the kryptonite, the jealous Whitney beats him up. This all leads to a confrontation with an electric man who received his powers from the rock.

The performances are all fantastic. I loved the family dynamics between Clark, Jonathan, and Martha. Same with Clark and his friends. With Chloe the journalistic snoop she is, I am not convinced Clark will keep his secret from her. Also, we get to see Lex before he turns villainous. It is a good idea to have Clark and Lex as good friends before they become the bitter enemies that we all know and love. Michael Rosenbaum is a great Lex Luthor and I love John Glover's turn as Lex's megalomaniac father even more.

Overall, I became hooked with Smallville right away. It is a straightforward pilot episode with great performances, a captivating story, and visual effects that seem realistic (great for a 2001 television show). It is not just a superhero story, but a series that tackle issues any teenager could relate to. I am very interested to join Clark on his adventures as he becomes the world's greatest superhero in the future.

My Grade: A.

Do you recall the joke about the two guys being chased by a bear, and as they run, one guy says to the other, I don't think you're fast enough to outrun the bear. To which the other fellow answers, I don't have to, I just have to outrun YOU.

We already know from Hollywood history that Miller and Gough cut their teeth on this series, became film legends, ran it for 10 years (wow!) and went on to do other work.

But what often gets overlooked is that, when this aired, no one asked what the true "competition" to this pilot was or would be? I suggest to you, as reviewer who has watched all things "Superman" from the 1950s to the present, that this pilot was directly or indirectly competing with all the Superman TV shows and movies already done -- or even to be done in the future.

And beat them all.

Meaning that, as a proper viewer, when you watch this, you are comparing it to everything from the 1950s kids TV show, to the Chris Reeves movies, to the more recent (and often very strange) re-imaginings of the DC library (including among others, Superman Returns, and Superman Vs Batman.) And in my view, this is the best of the bunch!

In beautiful color we get to see Superman arrive, start his crush on Lana, began a dysfunctional relationship with Lex, and generally have a super time ... it does not get any better than this!

Now, it may be that I have some issues with the direction the show took toward the end of its run. (Notice how bright and sunny Smallville is in this pilot? By Season 5 or so, it looks like the sun has completely disappeared from Kansas which, I suspect, is more a reflection of the very dark turn the story arcs took than a simple meteorological issue.)

But let's not get ahead of our ourselves. As a possible candidate for the best Superman "origin" story ever done, I suggest this is a masterpiece. One that will stand the test of time.

I really enjoyed the pilot of Smallville. I think that more TV studios should do more origin stories of superheroes. Smallville was on for 10 years so obviously origin stories do b=very well. Tom Welling was a very good choice to play Clark Kent/Superman. I also read that Jensen Ackles was the runner up to play Superman if Tom Welling had turned it down. Now both are excellent actors so I wouldn't favor one over the other.

The entire pilot in my opinion was perfect. What a great introduction with the meteor shower and giving the viewers a glimpse into the majority of the characters. Even within the first few minutes, Lionel Luthor is evil and cunning. He is definitely going to change Lex Luthor into the arch nemesis we all know.

The meteor shower were very good special effects for 2001. Smallville will never be the same after that event. When the meteor shower is all done with many losses, we get introduced to the man of the show. Clark Kent.

12 years later, Clark is now in high school and trying to be "normal" among his friends and high school in general. I also loved how the writers put the first encounter between Lex and Clark in the pilot. I won't say anything about the encounter but here on out, there'll only be more downs in their relationship than ups.

I like the high school crush on Lana Lang side storyline. She's apparently the hottest girl in school but I do agree with a lot of people that Chloe is better looking than Lana. Chloe also has a crush on Clark only known to Pete who is also Clark's friend. We all know from the comics, Clark ends up with Lois Lane but in the meantime he's gotta work on other girls right?

We also get introduced to the whole MOTW (Monster of the Week) type episodes as Clark faces off against a guy who is infused with electricity and gets revenge against the football team members back before the meteor shower who strung him up in the cornfield as a scarecrow. He got his powers from the material inside the meteors. Chloe also introduces the Wall of Weird which will be a major thing throughout their high school years.

There is an amazing amount of chemistry between all the actors and actresses on Smallville. It feels like they all want to be on this show. This is why Smallville lasted 10 years.

I will be reviewing the second episode once I finish it. Thank you everyone involved with Smallville for making this show and making it last this long.

Smallville rules!

Episodes of TV have to solidify itself into brilliance, the start has to have great character depth and growth, but also keep the audience attention span, SmallVille delivers that in great succession.

The character (Kal-El) shows him at the very Beggining, I found that so interesting and created the perfect perspective, his life is evolving and about to change in humanity. And the story of him forming was creative, because it showed his strength and how he could be elsewhere. That question was great as it showed promise, it showed it could scare but show the imagery.

The set-up of Lex Luthor, a billionaire, a fancy Car, and political views, are pushed aside to show a willingness to stop his fathers wrong doings, but to also show care and also questions Clark Kents abilities. This is just in the first episode alone, and it's great to the rift here. His story was also amazing as it showed his crash, showing he also had belief and never gave up, and searched for his father, and in Hospital showed his desperate measures.

The supporting cast isn't so bad, they either hang-out, play sports and show interest in journalism. It's fun, and Clark's Crush on Lana seems realistic as it pushes his normality, his morals aren't completely alien, and I enjoy the trope.

However, Lana has a partner. And her mottos in life is to do right, and she's had a past with her family members dying. It's a great story about never giving up and always fighting. The 3rd act is rushed in this respect, and the action feels slightly forced at times to give it stakes.

But more focus on the story would've been better as I enjoyed it, and the 3rd act could've added that little bit more depth. Regardless this is a pretty fun episode and a really good adventure that set the tone for what was to come. Still an amazing first outing though. And Lex in Superman (2025) is also well played and acted.

I'd rate this an 8 Out of 10, Awesome Visuals, great characters with great emotional depth, and the story flows nicely to introduce some top tier camera work, but where lacks in places with a rush 3rd act, more then makes up with it with some perfect charisma, music and character progression.

This episode aired in 2001 and boy does it show. Bad cgi and that Mark Snow score makes it feel like I'm watching an episode of the X-Files and not in a good way.

I didn't watch this show when it aired mostly because I assumed it was just "what if Superman were in High School and he's got girl problems but also there's a truck that's on fire?" And it pretty much is just that, along with a bunch of other CW drama tropes.

Here's the thing about Superman's time in Smallville and most of his past: it's just not that interesting. Unless it's an Elseworlds, we already know this part of the story. What else is there to tell? Do we really need to know if Clark Kent passes his Math test? I've heard mostly good things about Smallville, so I'll at least try to push through the first season, but I remain sceptic.