Recently I started rewatching Smallville. I was skeptical about the early seasons, but discovered season one had a rare, naive spirit that was warm and healing.
Season two felt like it was trying to be better than season one and ended up being worse. Many of the problems I mentioned in the first season (formulaic, simplistic villains, single note characters) are ALL addressed this season. You can see them trying to fix those things. But while they make small advances towards being a better show, they fall short of making a season that is as emotionally rewarding as the first.
1. It Still Don’t Make No Sense
In this season they introduce Red Kryptonite, which changes Clark from cautious, polite, selfless hero into boisterous, confident jerk who isn’t afraid of showing everyone what he can do. It’s a complete shift in behaviour. He rides a motorcycle down the school sidewalk and then attacks his Father in the parking lot. Everyone close to him sees him behave differently, but somehow only a single person addresses it at the end of the episode.
That’s irresponsible storytelling.
2. People Are Still Pretty
Like. So pretty. It’s overwhelming.
3. More Father Storylines
I guess they’re trying to make “Fathers” a theme. Lex’s Father, Lionel, is in more episodes this season and he Lex have repeated, megalomaniacal conflicts. The reason why they’re fighting isn’t established in a strong, emotional foundation, so a lot of their fighting always feels like, “here we go again.”
Meanwhile, Lana makes contact with her biological Father and attempts a relationship with him. Then there’s Clark who argues with both his Fathers, as we’re introduced to (the voice of) Jor-El this season. Clark argues with Jonathan about whether or not Lex is a good guy and about what he’s allowed to do. The conflict with Jor-El is kind of similar. Clark wants to be his own man, but he isn’t yet. And see? He’s torn between what Clark Kent’s Father wants for him and what Kal-El’s Father wants for him.
Personally, the “Father Conflict” bell is rung a little too much this season.
4. Christopher Reeve, Man
Christopher Reeve, the Clark Kent/Superman from the 70’s and 80’s movies, has a cameo in Smallville. I never saw the George Reeves portrayal (and you can’t ignore the animated Superman voiced by Tim Daly), but Christopher Reeve’s Superman was the best. Every Superman we’ve looked at since, we compare to him.
If you weren’t aware, Christopher Reeve was involved in a horse riding accident and was paralyzed at 43. He died at age 52. I don’t put much stock in Hollywood deaths, but I did this one. I remember I forced people to gather and commemorate it.
I’d forgotten he was in Smallville. It was good to see him alive again, accompanied by the faint theme from the old Christopher Reeve Superman movies.
5. The Cave, The Cave, The Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaave
In episode ten, Clark discovers this cave with Native American paintings on the wall. We learn that these cave paintings describe a legend that sounds a lot like Clark. They say things like, “a man will fall from the sky” and, “he will have the strength of ten men.”
It’s a different take on the Superman mythology and it’s a little weird. My biggest problem with it, though, is that Clark is constantly going down to these caves. And he keeps bumping into people he knows. “What were you doing down here, Clark?” they ask. What is anyone doing down there? They’re staring at the goddamn walls at symbols they can’t even read. AND EVERYONE KEEPS GOING DOWN THERE.
It’s frustrating.
The unfortunate side effect is that the closer Clark moves to his alien heritage, the further the series moves from the humanity that makes the show so good.
6. Fewer Meteor Rock Freaks
Season two focuses less on meteor rock freaks being created and more on other threats: hostage situations, a youth-sucking woman, and teen hormones.
While there are still a lot of meteor rock related conflicts, whenever meteor rocks are involved it feels more like they happened to be a part of the story, rather than directly instigating the conflict.
7. It’s Trying to Grow Up
In season one, everyone gets saved and you knew everyone was going to be OK. Season two doesn’t want to do that. For example, Clark doesn’t save everyone and has to learn how to accept that. And while this is a necessary story to tell, its execution lacks pathos. In the episode, one of the characters Clark saves is dying and there’s nothing Clark can do about it. In their last moment together, the character tells Clark that he’s going to save a lot of people and that Clark shouldn’t ever give up. There’s no exchange between the characters of what they mean to each other, so there’s no sense of loss.
It kind of encapsulates the problem with Smallville‘s second season. Despite being the series’ second installment, we’re witnessing a show that’s very young. Much like its characters, it’s trying to figure out what it wants to be. It’s trying to be a better TV show and failing. And while it loses some of the purity and warmth of the first season, season two is the awkward teenage years we must all go through before we grow up.