Finale

Epic ending to a fantastic story, I got goosebumps and wet eyes. Thanks for the journey Smallville, Im sad its already ending here, but all good must end some day and better it ends at its peak.

All the actors through the series have done such a great job bringing the story to live, and my favorite is and will be Lois and Clarks relationship in the end, just wow, so natural that it almost feels like its not a movie 😁 Now I will proberly just start watching it all over again 😂😀😁

Thanks forever Smallville! What a epic and nostalgic final after ten seasons!! Incredible!!!

Three months after it was aired in the US, I in France just came at last to see Smallville's finale and... oh my God! I was screaming and laughing and crying in front of my screen: at last I was seeing the true Superman live again! Tom Welling was meant to wear the blue suit and red cape, he was made to be Superman; for the first time since the 1978 movie with regretted Christopher Reeve, I saw this symbol of hope, flying with his red cape in the wind and the mythical music theme of John Williams as a bonus. This final double episode was really satisfying, with beloved guest-stars and many brilliant ideas to link together the series with the universe of the comics. Of course, not everything was perfect, for example Lois and Clark's relationship was not quite as bubbly as usual, but they're cute nevertheless, and I believe that every fan found what they expected. I think we can congratulate Smallville's writers and producers for the coherence and inventiveness of the universe they created and its respect for its model. They took the stand for 10 years and they can be proud of their work.

The preceding (9th) season of Smallville was my least favorite--a 4/10 star stinker. Finally given an endgame to shoot for, the series improves a bit on that performance here--but unfortunately not as much as one might hope. The plotting and character beats still bump up against the same old problems that the series forever harbored.

I'll start with the good: every S10 episode feels like a wrap-up, of sorts, bringing back an old character for a denouement or bidding farewell to a fond location. This is a marked improvement over the parade-rest stalling of S9 which became interminable. A few episodes--such as Homecoming, Beacon, and the two-part Finale--are surprisingly emotionally affecting for such a long-in-the-tooth show.

Alas, the series still gets stuck in the molasses swamp in two key arenas:

First and foremost, it seemingly can't keep an arc in its head for more than a couple episodes at a time. The last time the series attempted a long arc was the decent Doomsday angle back in S8. There are actually some interesting ideas thrown around in this S10, such as...

-The U. S. government's reaction to superheroes.

-The notion that Darkseid preys on the evil within human hearts.

-The "Earth 2" arc, which really teased some interesting character combinations and allowed old friends to return. In all honesty, the entire season could have been built around this and it might have been more successful overall.

-Clark Kent (Tom Welling) coming to terms with the hero he is destined to become, including a relationship with Lois Lane (Erica Durance) that in these later seasons produced some surprising chemistry (considering Lois could have been voted "most annoying character" in her early goings on the show).

Sadly, none of those arcs realize their full potential because the writers seemingly cannot (or will not) commit to any of them. More of a "mix everything in a bowl" approach as opposed to really digging in to the pacing and storytelling.

Character-wise, Smallville's tenth go-around also does the thing it has engaged in since the Pilot...that being allowing plots to dictate character motivations rather than the other way around. Here, the way a character is utilized in any given episode is almost 100% predicated on "what this week needs" rather than any sort of past precedent. This approach renders character consistency moot and undercuts much of the potential emotional fertile ground. It is really tough to truly feel anything towards characters that are pulled hither and yon depending on what the plot calls for this particular 42 minutes.

Overall, I settle on a right-down-the-middle 5/10 ranking for Smallville's curtain call campaign. Does the season deliver a solid finale? Yes. But ultimately the breadth of the campaign bandies about a lot of interesting possibilities without committing to any of them. Pair this with no more than surface-level (if that, at times) character depth and you have a season that feels like a different show every week--and Smallville isn't supposed to be an anthology.

Ten years ago Smallville came to our screens with lofty ambitions. Fans of the Superman mythology were both excited and critical about a show that aimed to document Clark Kent's journey from simple farm boy to one of the most recognised icons of the 20th century.

The pilot episode boasted an impressive budget and scope, dazzling viewers with special effects rarely seen on the small screen. Meanwhile, the believable Tom Welling demonstrated both the physicality and earnest integrity that defines the character of Superman throughout his many and varied incarnations. The stage was set, but these attributes alone did not guarantee a long running and successful television drama.

Fortunately, the supporting cast proved to be everything the longevity of the show required, with talents the likes of Erica Durance, Michael Rosenbaum, Kristin Kreuk, Allison Mack and John Glover selling the show to audiences and keeping them coming back for more. The guidance of Annette O'Toole and John Schneider as the Kent's, Clark's foster parents on earth, provided the show with its heart, and filled the characters with a warmth and amiability that was essential in anchoring the fantastical plots to a relatable morality.

This combined with weekly doses of explosive action, tender romance and larger than life villains ensured the show soared to the top of the ratings, and cameos from the likes of Christopher Reeve and Dean Cain helped shape the series into something of a Superman compendium, encompassing and paying homage to the popular iterations that had come before.

Suffice to say, the Finale pays the vast canon of the Superman universe justice, rounding off key story lines and treating us to the spectacle of Clark embracing his destiny as The Man of Steel in a double episode extravaganza.

Prepare to be blown away by the conclusion to a ten year saga that has won praise and recognition by fans the world over.