Every superhero has a beginning...
In July, I decided to take on this mountain of a TV show that was Smallville. After eight months of binging it, I finally finished all ten seasons and 217 episodes. It was flawed, but fun to watch Clark Kent's journey to becoming the Man of Steel. The introduction of characters that I knew from the DC comics was really fun, the finales were always great, and the story was iconic. It definitely had the mark of a CW soap opera, but it was a pretty entertaining show. The highs of this show were flying sky high, while the lows were annoying but tolerable. After the series finale, I have determined that I loved this show and recommend it to anyone with a ton of time on their hands. That said, here's my ranking of all ten seasons of Smallville...with mini-reviews.
10. Season 1
Season One was, I'd say, a rough start to the show. If I wasn't so bored in quarantine, I probably would've dropped the show, but it definitely had intrigue with the relationship between Clark and Lex Luthor. The chemistry between Tom Welling (Clark) and Michael Rosenbaum (Lex) was great. It served as a nice introduction to the show, but also faltered from having an episode-by-episode story, not a season long arc. The supporting characters and cast are very divided for me. Some of the characters (mainly the Kents and Luthors) are great, and then some of the other characters (Whitney, Pete) aren't my favorite. It's a pretty mixed bag, with some fun, some cringe, and some cool set up for the future. But it gets a whole lot better after this.
SOUR
Fun Factor: 6.5/10
Quality: 5/10
Tom Welling as Clark Kent/Superman
Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
Eric Johnson as Whitney Fordman
Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
Sam Jones III as Pete Ross
Annette O'Toole as Martha Kent
John Schneider as Jonathan Kent
9. Season 2
Season Two developed the mythology of Superman a whole lot more. We are introduced to new kinds of kryptonite, which is cool. And episode 17, called Rosetta, is my favorite episode of the series. After about 35 episodes, we are finally introduced to Krypton, Jor-El, and Clark's true origins. The last few episodes of the season really pick up and show us the threat that the Luthor family imposes while also delivering some heavy emotions. But the first half of the season is kind of the same as season one, which I wasn't a fan of. Once again, the drama doesn't feel like it fits in with the rest of the show and the freak-of-the-week formula was bad. Most of the episodes are forgettable, but it starts showing us what Smallville will eventually become in the final stretch.
SOUR
Fun Factor: 7/10
Quality: 6/10
Tom Welling as Clark Kent/Superman
Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
Sam Jones III as Pete Ross
John Glover as Lionel Luthor
Annette O'Toole as Martha Kent
John Schneider as Jonathan Kent
8. Season 7
Season Seven was a season that got worse as it went along. There are some really high highs. I liked the introduction of Supergirl, even though her character throughout the rest of the season was iffy. Lex as the villain totally worked and was my favorite part of the season. Episode 16, Descent, was incredible. However, there were some huge plot holes with the Veritas group. That brought it down since it was so prominent. I really dug Season Seven until the tenth episode, which had Bizarro. As soon as the stuff that happened during that episode happened, I realized that Season Seven wasn't as good as I thought it was. I also hated Lana and Clark's relationship throughout. It showed us that they had stretched out the first love for way too long.
SOUR
Fun Factor: 7.5/10
Quality: 6/10
Tom Welling as Clark Kent/Superman
Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
Erica Durance as Lois Lane
John Glover as Lionel Luthor
Aaron Ashmore as Jimmy Olsen
Laura Vandervoort as Kara Zor-El/Supergirl
7. Season 3
Season Three is where the show started to pick up a bit. The mid-season arc with Lex was, as usual, the best part. This season is where I think Lana and Clark's dynamic worked the best. You wanted to see them back together, and that was powerful. The end of Season Two and beginning arc of Season Three set up the rest of the season for success, examining the characters and how they'd react to new events around Smallville. The new villains, such as Morgan Edge, Helen Bryce, and Adam Knight, were good. And that finale, where Lionel Luthor is at his most villainous, is really spectacular. It left a good taste in my mouth, but still suffered from the freak-of-the-week formula and overdramatic sequences.
SAVORY
Fun Factor: 7.5/10
Quality: 7/10
Tom Welling as Clark Kent/Superman
Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
Sam Jones III as Pete Ross
John Glover as Lionel Luthor
Annette O'Toole as Martha Kent
John Schneider as Jonathan Kent
6. Season 8
Season Eight was good for the most part. However, this was easily my least favorite finale. Throughout the season, it was setting up a huge fight with Doomsday, and then we got about three minutes of a super anti-climactic showdown that did not live up to expectations. They were going for this metaphoric ending that did not work at all. Most of you probably haven't watched Smallville, but if you have, you likely know what I'm talking about. However, this season was pretty strong until the finale, so I can't really give it a bad score, even though I definitely didn't love it as much as I expected.
SAVORY
Fun Factor: 7/10
Quality: 7.5/10
Tom Welling as Clark Kent/Superman
Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
Erica Durance as Lois Lane
Aaron Ashmore as Jimmy Olsen
Cassidy Freeman as Tess Mercer
Sam Witwer as Davis Bloome/Doomsday
Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
5. Season 4
Season Four introduced Lois Lane, so that was definitely a high point. There are some episodes that are my favorite of the show, like Onyx, which introduced this evil side of Lex Luthor and gave us the best single performance in the show from Michael Rosenbaum. Transference was the Freaky Friday-esc episode of the series, and that was really cool. This had my second-favorite season finale. However, I don't think that the overarching plot was great. There was a weird thing were Lana would turn into a worse version of Agatha Harkness called Margaret Isabel Thoreaux, and it was super weird. The villains of this season were the weakest of the bunch, and that weighs it down, but Lois and the highs outweigh the lows.
SAVORY
Fun Factor: 8/10
Quality: 7/10
Tom Welling as Clark Kent/Superman
Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
Jensen Ackles as Jason Teague
Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
John Glover as Lionel Luthor
Annette O'Toole as Martha Kent
John Schneider as Jonathan Kent
4. Season 5
Season Five is where things moved from Smallville and freaks of the week to Metropolis and real Superman villains. Brainiac and Zod are both in this season. The Phantom Zone is introduced. The Fortress of Solitude is created. Everything starts moving into the right direction. It was a really strong turning point for the show, and I enjoyed almost all of it. There were a couple of underwhelming and awkward episodes that I wasn't a huge fan of, and I think the finale isn't as good as it could be, but still a great season. The stakes become higher, new DC heroes are introduced, and the emotional dial is turned way up.
SAVORY
Fun Factor: 8/10
Quality: 8/10
Tom Welling as Clark Kent/Superman Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
Erica Durance as Lois Lane
Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
John Glover as Lionel Luthor
Annette O'Toole as Martha Kent
John Schneider as Jonathan Kent
3. Season 6
If Season Five is where Smallville transitioned into more Superman-type things, Season Six is when Smallville expanded into the bigger DC universe. The Justice League is formed. More villains and locations and stuff is introduced. It was a really good season...except the Lana-Lex relationship was god awful. It actually created a nice plot point in the finale, but oh lord, it was horrific. This is where Kristin Kreuk, who plays Lana, was at her lowest point. She was never good, but she was legitimately hard to watch in this season. Everything else was great. When Lex was bad, it was intense. I enjoyed the Phantom Zone stuff. And the finale is stellar. Really, really great transition into the back half of the show.
SAVORY
Fun Factor: 8.5/10
Quality: 6.5/10
Tom Welling as Clark Kent/Superman
Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
Erica Durance as Lois Lane
Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
John Glover as Lionel Luthor
Annette O'Toole as Martha Kent
2. Season 9
Season Nine was where Smallville became great. Besides Callum Blue, the actor who played Zod, everything was fantastic. The storyline was powerful, the action didn't look stupid as hell anymore, and the relationship between Lois and Clark finally picked up. This was really the first step towards Superman, and I loved most every minute of it. There were a couple of episodes that I wasn't the biggest fan of, so it was not my favorite season...but it was my second favorite.
SWEET
Fun Factor: 9/10
Quality: 8/10
Tom Welling as Clark Kent/Superman Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
Erica Durance as Lois Lane
Cassidy Freeman as Tess Mercer
Callum Blue as General Zod
Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
1. Season 10
Ah, Season Ten. Where to begin? This was easily, not even close, my favorite season of the show. It shined the spotlight on everything that was great about Smallville. The finale was almost perfect. It paid everything off in spectacular fashion, while delivering enough actual Superman to be emotionally satisfying. The build-up to the finale is great. I do wish that Darkseid was a little bit better and more prominent, but that is the only flaw of this season. This is where the cast is the best, the action is the best, the story is the best, and the finale is the best. Lois and Clark have officially become one of my favorite couples in pop culture. And I have a newfound liking and respect for Superman. I loved him before, but I'd say he is now tied with Batman for my favorite superhero, finally surpassing Spider-Man. I love this season and think that it ended the show in the best way possible.
SWEET
Fun Factor: 9.5/10
Quality: 8.5/10
Tom Welling as Clark Kent/Superman
Erica Durance as Lois Lane
Cassidy Freeman as Tess Mercer
Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan