(Smallville) Pilot

DVD, Smallville S1 (Pilot)

That brings back memories… I first heard about this series being good from a relative, but to me it sounded like exactly the kind of teen soap drama to steer clear of. It was only when said relative recorded the episodes (on VHS tape!), and sent them to me that I realised how wrong I was. I was ultimately proved right in my preconceptions when Season 3 lost me, and even Season 2 was closer to teen romance than this first season's expert mix of angst and family drama. But Season 1 was so good and such compelling use of well established mythology, that off the back of it (and Season 2, which I also like), I did eventually go through the series on DVD, years after it had first been shown on TV, and over the last ten years watched all of it and provided reviews and ratings for this blog. Except I'd never written down my thoughts on the two best seasons, and since I finished Season 10 (yes, it lasted that long!), I had a hankering to go back and fill in the gaps. It wasn't a hard decision as it's a very nostalgic series, both in terms of the age groups (teens and the middle-aged), it explores and the Superman mythos. It began very restrained in that way, something that seemed to be a commonality between this and 'Enterprise,' the other US series that debuted in 2001 that I had interest in: both would use a contemporary song for their opening sequence, both would use CGI and be action-packed, and both were going back before an established mythology to show how it all began.

When I say restrained, I don't mean in content, 'Smallville' certainly skirted the bounds of what was acceptable on TV in the early noughties, but that was part of what made it exciting: you didn't know what it would do. TV had become widescreen as the norm, and CGI was beginning to become common, but the restraint I talk of is in the Superman details themselves. We didn't immediately get a guy flying around, he wasn't fully formed, another part of the interest. We wanted to see him discover his powers and see how he used them. The core of the series, as shown in this pilot episode was the moral centre, the Kent family unit. Jonathan Kent may seem to be an old-fashioned country Dad, not allowing his son to have fun by joining the (American) Football team, or keep the gift of a brand new truck sent by Lex Luthor for Clark to drive, but he has strong values which his son has learned to adopt. Sure, Clark does have fun by getting a measure of revenge on Whitney and his football pals by stacking their vehicles up on top of each other, but everything about him smacks of decency and goodness, which is exactly what Superman is all about, even if in recent years that image has been tarnished by what the modern audience (or the beliefs of the writers for what a modern audience), wants from the character.

Tom Welling was excellent, providing someone that looks young enough (sort of - I don't think I really understood exactly what age they were supposed to be when I first watched it), and close to Christopher Reeve, who had remained as the benchmark for classic Superman looks. It's funny to think he and the other 'teen' actors were actually in their mid-twenties, but they all sell it. Perhaps Chloe and Pete come off a little out of kilter compared to how they'd be, but that's normal in pilots when actors haven't necessarily worked out all the kinks for how they're going to play their characters. There was nothing to flaw the episode, and the casting all around is terrific: I thought very highly of John Glover from just one guest appearance on my favourite TV series ('DS9'), a one-off role that had long stood out in my mind as that of a top-notch performer. He's good in this episode, but only has a little to do. I believe he was an invented character for the series, not someone taken from the mythology. What can I say about Martha and Jonathan, both played by amazing actors - it was made even harder for them as they had to portray these people twelve years younger when we first see them, before going into the contemporary setting.

That's something else that appealed to me: the series began back in my era, the eighties, and I was still a teenager when the series began in 2001, so Clark wasn't far off my own age! Michael Rosenbaum is another standout feature of the series, and even in this pilot when you're wondering how they're going to do what they seem to be doing, he's both mysterious and frank. He's so full of potential it's just one more thing they got so right with this series. Everyone knows who Lex Luthor is, he's the villain of the piece, but now there's this bond between him and Clark. The episode begins emotively and ends that way, and has plenty of it grabbing your heart throughout. It's impressive how well these people are written as if we've just walked in on friendships and connections that have existed for years. The place itself, Smallville, has a character, it's full of colour and vivacity, yet this only contrasts more strongly with the creepy moments. But there are serious moments, too, such as Clark being told of his extraterrestrial origins, running off to be by himself in the dark woods, and Lana coming across him. Wow, again so well set up with the Kryptonite necklace that pushes Clark away from someone he's so strongly drawn towards, then finding common ground and setting in motion so many things for the season.

If I was a big comic book person, or followed Superman's details carefully, I might be disappointed with the direction they took with the series. At first it does seem to be fairly close to the established facts of Clark's early life, even with such crazy things as Lex wanting to be his mate, even an older brother. But as the series went on it travelled further and further away from something you could believe was 'The Superman Story,' and lost its way a lot. That's because it became much more serialised and felt the need to do specific things that didn't always help the story or character. But I've written extensively about the infuriating circular nature of the character arcs in later seasons. Now I get to bask in the expertly crafted friendships they created here. And it's not just the friends and family that work, it's the whole place, the lovely Kent Farm (I'm sure Mr. Kent wasn't too thrilled with Clark proving a point by breaking his log-crunching machinery by shoving his hand in!), the Luthor Mansion, the school… There's a real sense of place and community that would be lost later on. They even crammed in the action with the meteor strike and the 'villain' Clark has to defeat.

With the strike it was very nice to see because it's such an iconic part of the series, seen in every opening credits sequence (something absent from this episode), and of Clark's psychology, feeling that he's responsible for the problems and deaths it brought on this small community. The obliteration of young Lana's parents right before her eyes is intense, and it is things like this that grip us and pull us in towards characters so strongly: it's really well written in a way that I get the impression TV isn't any more. I don't see much recent TV, but things like 'Star Trek: Discovery' are so poorly conceived and written, characters badly developed, all about the next twist or whatever to get people to come back. It's like TV forgot how to tell a good story and how to bring sympathy to their characters. No such problems with 'Smallville' - it crafts a lovely introduction, which may only have been improved by being longer, such as the traditional hour and a half pilot you expect, and which technically was done by adding the next episode onto it. But this is definitely a self-contained story and they pack a lot in. It almost seems a little rushed to reveal his alien origin to him when so much else is going on. The monster-of-the-week was to be the series' staple to begin with, enabling them to have a specific, episodic story upon which to hang their ongoing arcs, much like 'DS9' did, and it works very well. They could build up this community while providing the kind of threats that could challenge Clark and hone his use of powers.

His first test isn't very memorable and could almost not be there at all except that it sets out the series' stall. It's good that he was able to resist the guy, and this brings the enemy back to himself, rather than having to fight to the death or do anything dangerous that might affect others. It does just enough to demonstrate what Clark's capable of without shoving everything in our face, and in fact there's a good mix of humour at our knowledge of Superman's conventions, and subverting them. But above all, we're quick to sympathise with this Clark - he's gawky, but it's because he's not one of the in-crowd (and specifically due to the necklace). He comes up against a fellow outsider, but won't let him hurt those he wants to, although he understands. He's an outsider himself, but it's because he has to keep his secrets, and so we're instantly with him. And we love his parents for their closeness and honesty, old home attitudes that our world could do with even more now. Perhaps things feel a little unfinished, perhaps the CGI isn't always terrific, but the performances of the actors push through any imperfections. The writers had the rule of 'no flights, no tights,' but they didn't forget to include plenty of heart.

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