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The End of Smallville, Ten Years Later

KryptonSite’s Craig Byrne reminisces on the 10-year anniversary of the Smallville finale.

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May 13, 2011 – the final episode of Smalvlille aired on The CW. After 218 episodes of Tom Welling as a young Clark Kent, he finally took flight toward his destiny.

Anyone who knows me personally (and perhaps, many who don’t) know what an important role Smallville the series played in my life. I might not be writing about TV today if not for Smallville. The CW might not have its many superhero-based shows without Smallville coming in first to pave the way. Coming to an end was a personal experience as well as a professional one. We all knew the end would come someday, and perhaps the notion that the show even got 10 years might be a surprise if we were to tell our younger selves about it.

Setting the record straight, I was definitely not a “shipper.” I rooted for Clark to end up with his cape, and I sort of got what I wanted. Which isn’t to say that the final minutes of the finale – complete with adaptations of John Williams’ iconic scores – didn’t make me smile with glee. I was also very excited to see Michael Rosenbaum back as Lex Luthor – it’s hard to believe there was a time that I thought that maybe “Arctic” was the last we’d ever see of him. Honestly, I still don’t like the notion that Lex’s memories were mostly wiped – but it is what it is. It’s just like how I was so excited that Aaron Ashmore’s appearance was kept a surprise… until his name appeared in the credits. Oops. Wish they had saved that one for later. I still don’t understand how and why Superman’s “inspiration” stopped Darkseid so easily, when it seemed like such a difficult task only a few episodes earlier, but oh well.

I am grateful for all Smallville gave me, but I was excited to see what would happen next in life. Yes, it’s a crime Smallville was so successful for the network and the studio yet they never had a spinoff. What’s that all about? Still, I felt almost like Clark when all was said and done… I was free… I could fly. No more shipper wars and fans fighting, I thought. I wasn’t aware of the Olicity around the corner…. it gets worse.

With all that said…

I feel Smallville hasn’t always gotten its due for the impact it had on television. At ten seasons, it is one of the most successful series in the history of Warner Bros. Television. Alfred Gough and Miles Millar created a concept that could endure for a decade, with talented people shepherding the series along with them. To a generation, Tom Welling was their Superman Clark Kent. If you look around the Internet, there’s plenty of evidence of this: When a website posts something about Smallville, it drives traffic. Whenever Michael Rosenbaum has a Smallville guest on “Inside of You,” the numbers surely go up. Podcasts talking about the series thrive, when I can remember a time when all we had was the excellent SHoE. Convention appearances, real and virtual, are now a thing, now even attended by Tom Welling himself – who would’ve expected that? The cast of Smallville gets to see the fan love… though, if it were up to me, I’d want to see a 20th anniversary panel at Comic-Con (or a virtual one) with creators Gough and Millar present. And invite Annette O’Toole already — I haven’t seen her at any events – perhaps she’s too busy or uninterested – but she was by far one of my favorite Smallville people to interact with.

I’m okay with no continuation of Smallville beyond the Season 11 comics and the appearances of Tom Welling and Erica Durance in Crisis on Infinite Earths which was truly one of my favorite things, seeing them talk and banter like it’s 2010 all over again. Sometimes it’s better for “what happens next” to happen only in our imaginations, where surely Clark, Lois, Oliver, Chloe, Lex, Lana, and everyone else continued to have adventures. With that said, I wouldn’t be disappointed if I saw the characters again someplace, but it’s not a requirement…. more like it would be a very pleasant surprise. After all, I thought the final moments of “Finale” were the end for these characters, as they usually had been with the Superman franchise… little did I know that door would someday open and the possibilities would be there.

When Smallville began, the “Freak of the Week” concept was a very clever way to build that world: Kryptonite, or “meteor rocks” as we called them then, exaggerated impulses. The show continued to explore DC Comics mythology over the years, with Impulse, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Lois Lane and more introduced over time. The series introduced us to fantastic original characters like Lionel Luthor, Tess Mercer, and Chloe Sullivan, and employed so many fantastic actors that I would feel like I’d miss out on someone if I were to specifically call them out… though I will say Michael Rosenbaum is the best Lex Luthor ever, with Jon Cryer a close second place.

Smallville gave us such epic moments. The tornado. Leaping a tall building in a single bound. Christopher Reeve. “Shattered.” Lonely Lex in “Memoria.” “Kal” taking flight. The introduction of Lois. Clark and Bart racing. Meteor showers. “Reckoning.” The exploding baby. The Justice League. Supergirl. Clark vs. Zod. The helicopter rescue in “Homecoming.” The phone booth transformation in “Booster.” And that’s barely scratching the surface. Yes, there were the “shipper wars” at times which could be frustrating, but one thing the series did, especially in its earlier years, was it made an effort to give every character agency and importance. Even if, say, Clark was dating Lana at the time, Chloe was his best confidante. And hey, if people cared so much to back certain pairings, then obviously these characters were so well loved that we’d be rooting for them. This would only truly be bad if the audience became apathetic, and Smallville never let its viewers get to that point, even with over 200 episodes.

It’s interesting to think that even in 2011, social media and the Internet weren’t what they are today. While Twitter and Facebook did exist, a lot of the Smallville discussion still happened on the KryptonSite Forums (they still exist!) In fact, I invite everyone to check in and share their memories on this ten-year anniversary of the final episode.

So, again, thank you to everyone who has visited KryptonSite over the years, who bought the companion guides, who posted on the forums…. thank you to the great friends that I’ve made along the way, as a result of this show… and most especially, thank you to everyone involved with Smallville. It was a great 10-year ride and I can’t believe it’s been a decade since then. Always holding on…

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1 Comment

  1. BkWurm1

    May 13, 2021 at 1:19 pm

    Fun to take a walk down memory lane. I had a deeply love/hate relationship with Smallville. When it was great, it was epic and when it was bad, it was painful in a way I don’t think any show every will be again for me. And what you kindly characterized as giving all characters a chance to shine, I called playing mind games with the audience, lol. I freely claimed PTSD (Post Traumatic Smallville Disorder) for years after in the way it broke my ability to trust the story seeming to be told actually was being told and not something I was mistakenly inferring. (I’m convinced now I wasn’t mistaken just that they were keeping all options open Haha) ***But Smallville also created some of the most memorable moments in my viewing experience despite ensuing misdirection and backpedaling. They in particular excelled at music montages over the years. Like the soring aria sung while Lionel had his glorious mane shaved in prison even as he remotely arranged to seemingly decimate his enemies (Boom goes Chloe’s safehouse!) or the heartrending version of Time After Time by Eva Cassidy played as snow gently fell over Johnathan Kent’s fresh grave as Clark mourns or the opener of season 7 where a power ballad matched the strength and uncertainty all the characters faced after life changing events (Lex is in jail, Chloe burns her death certificate, Kara begins her search for Baby Kal-El, and Gasp! Lana faked her death lol).
    The highs were high and the lows (Clark using his heat vision to bring down two skyscrapers way to reminiscent of 911) very low, but I’ll never forget the ride and the many friendships made along the way. ***One nitpick, as divided as Olicity vs Lolliver may have been in the Arrow fandom, I’d say nothing touches the three pronged shipping war that was Clana, Chlark and Clois!

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Opinion

Superman & Lois in 2024: 10 Hopes for the Final Season

KryptonSite offers ten hopes for Superman & Lois Season 4 in 2024.

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2024 is almost here, and at some point in the new year we will be getting the fourth and final season of the Superman & Lois TV series. The CW has not yet announced a premiere date, but especially considering the new season hasn’t started filming yet, it may be late Spring or Summer before we see our favorite characters again for one last 10-episode run.

To celebrate the new year, though, we’re listing our Top Ten Hopes for the final season of the series…. things we’d like to see or not see in 2024. Here goes!

#1. Superman Lives… though I’d also accept a “Reign.” Sure, the Season 3 finale didn’t look too encouraging there, but it’s not like The CW’s new budget would be so cheap that they’d get rid of Superman. The show is called Superman & Lois, after all! We better see Tyler Hoechlin and that “S” again pretty swiftly… though if they want to do a “Reign of the Supermen” with Tyler playing an Eradicator and a Cyborg version of Superman, I might allow it. We’ve already got John Henry Irons/Steel and surely The CW casting folks could find a fun Superboy. This story has never been fully adapted in live action and it’s a key part of my Superman comics reading experience. (If you’ve never read “Triangle Era” Superman comics, you are missing the best of Superman’s 85-year run!)

#2. No more Superman vs. Superman. Now, obviously if they did “Reign of the Supermen” I’d take this wish away, but in three seasons + Crisis and Elseworlds crossover appearances, Superman & Lois has managed to have Tyler Hoechlin fighting another Tyler Hoechlin Superman like 8 different ways, or playing different “evil” versions of Superman. Enough with that already! It’s the same trap The Flash would run into with different speedster villains every season. Variety can be good, and while part of me would love to see other Superman actors from across the multiverse show up, such as Brandon Routh or Tom Welling, I’m honestly pretty Multiverse-d out at the moment.

#3. Other Kryptonite. Blue, red, rainbow… we haven’t seen too many variations of these on Superman & Lois, and it might be cool, and so specially Superman.

#4. Continued presence for some no-longer series regulars. Like many, I’m bothered by the demotions of several actors who were series regulars on the series, now being guest stars. With a few exceptions, we don’t know how much they will show up again… but it would be a real shame to not have John Henry and Nat around, and while I am 100% against more Jordan and Sarah angst, I really want Sarah to stick around. They’re a part of the tapestry that makes the show good, just like the Kents are.

#5. A better costume for Jordan. He looks like a huge dork with those goggles… sorry, Alex. Give him something cool!

#6. Let the family be happy! Sometimes I feel like Lois and Clark hate their children, with the amount of times they yell at them every episode. After how emotionally taxing Season 3 was especially, I hope the Kents get to have fun sometimes. Remember the time they were painting the house together and Superman had to go do a save with paint all over his hand? That was charming and cute. More please.

#7. Metropolis and the Daily Planet. The Daily Planet is as important to the mythos as Lois, Clark, Perry, and Jimmy are. A return to the great metropolitan newspaper would put Lois back at the top of her game, especially now that the paper isn’t owned by a bad guy anymore (that we know of… I mean, Lex Luthor might try something). If the Planet isn’t available, WGBS will do! And hey… maybe if Jordan is following his father’s side of things, Jonathan could take an interest in journalism and start working with his mom?

Beyond that, it appears the Kent Farm house is taken down. It could just be relocated, or they might just use stock footage from here on out, but if it’s gone, it might be worthwhile to go to a new setting for Season 4… returning the Kents to Metropolis. Also – let’s see the show’s version of Jimmy Olsen, now that we know the show isn’t on Earth-Prime.

#8. An actual conclusion. We know Season 4 is the last; the show isn’t moving anywhere else, and The CW isn’t renewing it after the ten episodes of Season 4. For those of us who have stuck with the show for all four years and 50+ episodes, I want a satisfying ending. Don’t leave us on a cliffhanger. Imagine if the 2023 strikes made the studio and network decide “we’re not doing Season 4 after all.” That would have sucked.

#9. A set visit for KryptonSite. Set visits seem to have fallen by the wayside, but it would be so cool to visit and interview the cast as we go into Season 4. Apparently there was a trip considered prior to Season 3, but we weren’t included on that list.

#10. A flash forward. As DC welcomes David Corenswet as their new Superman, combining with my own personal hopes for a happy ending, I’d love to get a glimpse into the future to see Clark and Lois happy decades from now, their children continuing their legacy. The Superman and Lois of Earth-WhateverThisIs deserve it.

There are surely other things that could have made this list — “Uncle Tal,” a Jordan Elsass cameo, and Supergirl being high on the list — but I’m sticking to ten with this one. What do you think? Leave your wishes for the final season on the KryptonSite Forums – registration is easy and free!

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My Adventures With Superman

Review: My Adventures with Superman (Adult Swim)

KryptonSite reviews the opening episodes of the upcoming Adult Swim series My Adventures with Superman.

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As a pop culture institution for 85 years, there have been a number of animated Superman projects. This week gives us the start of another one: The long-awaited My Adventures with Superman which drops at midnight Thursday, July 6 on Adult Swim. If you don’t have Adult Swim, it’ll be on the Max streaming service the next day.

Featuring The Boys’ Jack Quaid as Clark Kent aka Superman, Alice Lee (Heathers: The Musical) as Lois Lane, and Ishmel Shahid (Jury Duty) as Jimmy Olsen, this project gives us slightly younger versions of the iconic trio than we are used to seeing at the Daily Planet. Clark and Jimmy are best friends, Lois is not yet taken seriously as a journalist, and all three are presented as contemporaries on the ground floor of the Daily Planet. If I were to compare their interaction to any previous Superman project, I’d compare them to Clark, Chloe, and Pete in the early seasons of Smallville… except in this case, Clark is actually into Lois, where he wasn’t into Chloe in that way. They even have a Wall of Weird… err, “murder board” in their little hideaway at the Daily Planet.

Without getting into spoilers, I do have a few things that I’d like to point out in my review.

It’s fun: That’s probably my biggest takeaway. My favorite aspects of Superman & Lois, for example, are the flashbacks, where Clark and Lois are new and excited and happy and not getting irritated by their kids. The interplay here is similar, except that it’s often very fun. Sure, there’s occasional drama – when isn’t there? – but in this show, you have three lead characters who seem to genuinely enjoy being around each other.

The chemistry: Between the animation and the voice acting, you can tell that, like every other version of this story, this Clark and this Lois are very into each other. Their friendship with Jimmy and their interactions with Perry White are similar. As such, when there are complications in their relationships, the characters are visibly affected.

Characters: One thing I really like about this series is that Lois, Clark, and Jimmy are all their own complete characters. They have hobbies and interests. They don’t all fit into a box. It’s also interesting to see, say, a more sensitive side to go-getter Lois, or to notice that the way Jack Quaid voices Clark and even the way Clark moves is different from the animation and voice of Superman. That is cool. The Neckbeard Brigade might make a complaint about the characters not all being white, but this series feels like it’s going from a stance of “what if these characters were created in 2023?” Why would they have to be white? Frankly, what matters most to me is that the characters act like they do in the comics and media I’ve loved for so long; that they respect the core of what makes them what they are. Lois, a steadfast, determined journalist? Check. Clark, an awkward farmboy who wants to help people in his alter ego? Check. Jimmy, dork with a camera? Check, again. So, I’m quite good here. (Side note: Ishmel Shahid’s Jimmy might be the most involved Jimmy Olsen to the story since Michael Landes in the early episodes of Lois & Clark… possibly the most involved since Jack Larson. He’s really, really good). And hey… the show is called “My Adventures with Superman” which says to me that it’s not necessarily Clark at the center, but that Lois or even Jimmy may be the “My” here, in a “The King and I” sort of way.

The villains: One thing that I found particularly interesting here is that the villains aren’t immediately identified, leaving it to the viewer to guess who they are. As such, the new, young audience might be introduced to these characters at the same time a longtime fan is! I was a little bit disappointed, though, that one of my hunches was proven correct by the closing credits, especially since 7 episodes in, I don’t think they’ve said that particular character’s name out loud even by that point. It’s not a spoiler to say some notable DC characters and villains do show up, though.

The animation: The animation almost gives me a circa-2000 anime feel which is actually a big compliment coming from me. All of the characters are very cute, but at the same time, the movement and designs are all seamless. I love how Superman flies, for example. I’m glad it’s not, say, evoking and copying Superman: The Animated Series just like I’m glad it’s not a huge departure like The Batman (which I did like, don’t get me wrong). The opening and closing titles are also A+… stay tuned at the end of every episode for a photo that would represent something lingering from what you just watched.

Fun for all ages: I’m old enough that I was already almost finished being a teenager when the 1996 Superman animated series came out. Yet, I thoroughly enjoyed the show as much as a young person would now. My Adventures with Superman makes Superman fun for a new generation without needing to know a million things before going in.

What’s the Catch? I’ve been really glowing here. So… what don’t I like? Honestly, just one thing: I worry that with all of the recent changes to the industry, from Warner Bros. Discovery and HBO — err “Max” to budget cuts everywhere — that the lifespan of My Adventures with Superman won’t be as long as I’d like for it to be. Which would be a real shame, because this show is a winner and everyone involved did a phenomenal job.

Krypton Rating: I don’t think it would be fair to nick it because of the possibility of not going on for too long, so I’m going to give this a 10/10. Highest possible recommendation. Whether you’re 9 or 90, you’ll find this fun.

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Opinion

Review: Superman & Lois Begins A Bold New Direction For DC TV

KryptonSite’s Craig Byrne reviews the pilot episode of The CW’s new Superman & Lois TV show.

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A new series starring Tyler Hoechlin as the Man of Steel and Elizabeth Tulloch as Lois Lane, Superman & Lois premieres Tuesday, February 23 on The CW with a two-hour event. The CW made the pilot episode available for press review and the embargo lifts on the day this is posted. While caution is made to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible, some elements of the TV series premiere are being discussed within.

This is certainly not my first Superman TV series to be writing about. My personal TV internet fandom began back in 1994, when I first dialed in on Prodigy, the night of the Season 2 premiere of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, seeing posts noting the sudden recasting of Jimmy Olsen and lamenting the loss of key characters from Season 1. The Lois & Clark pilot starring Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain is still one of my favorite TV series introductions, and Teri still ranks as one of my favorite Lois Lanes. It was my love of that show that had me starting a “Krypton Club Newsletter” on AOL with a friend when I was still in high school; ultimately, some fellow fans and I wrote an “Unaired Fifth Season” of fanfiction to send out on Sundays the Fall after ABC canceled the show.

Then came Smallville. One brilliant thing that creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar never quite got enough credit for is that they managed to create a situation for Superman in a TV show that could go on for a full decade. No comic book show had ever done that, and none has done it since. Smallville was also transformative for me — I was able to write the official companion guides for the series, and for that show I created KryptonSite — a website you surely have heard of, if you happen to be reading this.

When Tyler Hoechlin first showed up on Supergirl as Superman, he was a breath of fresh air. He was respectful and kind, yet still felt commanding. He seemed determined to do the right thing, and cared about others above all. While some movies that had come out in recent years gave us a darker Superman I couldn’t quite identify with myself (despite great casting in Henry Cavill), Hoechlin’s Superman felt like he was written for me to enjoy. That’s okay; we can enjoy what we want, and part of the joy of being a Superman fan is that if you’re not a fan of the current incarnation, another is surely around the corner. But I digress… I liked Tyler a lot. I didn’t feel as connected in some of the later crossovers, but that was more of a matter of not getting to spend a lot of time with him. The same went for Elizabeth Tulloch’s Lois Lane. She seemed great, but hadn’t had a whole lot to do… yet.

The first thing I can say about the Superman & Lois is that the new series fixes that, and the rapport and chemistry between the two actors is so strong.

I spent the opening minutes of the show with a big grin much like the one I had watching “The Adventures of Supergirl” episode where Tyler’s Superman was introduced. There was more than one time when I squealed at my TV at what I had seen. This is a full-on Superman TV show, with movie-quality visual effects. Smallville gave us a Superman who wasn’t Superman yet, so flights were few and far between and tights were even rarer, but here, we have Tyler Hoechlin flying around and doing things in ways the Lois & Clark technology and budget could have only dreamed of. And, yes, he looks much better in the new costume.

The show feels and looks different from anything we’ve seen before in the Arrowverse. (Yes, I still refuse to call it anything else.) The way it is shot, the way in which it is written… I almost wish it took place in its own little world, even though Crisis had recently smooshed so many worlds together. Superman & Lois is not burdened by the requirement of watching 25+ seasons of past Arrowverse shows to follow it; someone can come in from Day 1 and they will completely get the story. Moreover, I feel this is the start of a new direction, as other shows get older and switch out and new properties come in to The CW lineup in particular, whereas there’s a distinct effort to be unique vs. creating more of what’s just comfortable. As far as I can tell, there are no references to any other series in the pilot, at least, and I kind of like it that way as it keeps things grounded. And as much as I love some of the other shows, I feel like if Superman & Lois was the only DC Comics show on television at this time, it would surely get more attention than it may end up with. It could still do very well, but if it was the only… I can only imagine.

Adding to the uniqueness of this show is that I don’t see it falling into some of the traps of other Arrowverse series. I don’t think this show will end up having a “Team Flash” or “DEO” to back up our heroes. Even if the Super-kids (more on them in a second) have powers, I don’t see them suiting up the way the daughters of Black Lightning have, although I love that that is also a series about a Super-family. This is a family drama first and a superhero show second — or at least that’s the impression I get from the first episode.

Tyler and Elizabeth shine as Clark and Lois. I don’t know if it is a result of the pandemic and the actors all having to stay in the same bubble, but especially the four actors that make up the Kent family have already developed a realistic and natural chemistry. But about the parents – I feel like that there is a mutual respect between them. Even when it is not said out loud, the body chemistry, and the way they look at one another… these are two people who care about each other very much, and this certainly serves as an argument against the trope from some comic book fans and creators that “married Superman and Lois is boring.” The pilot shows the first time they meet and it is adorable, and it is great to see that many years later they are going strong. Yes, they disagree on some things, like whether or not to tell their sons Jordan and Jonathan the truth about their father. That is still natural for a relationship. As I mentioned, Tyler seems to embody everything I want from a Superman, and Elizabeth has that drive, the thirst for truth, and the love for printed journalism and helping people through the press that only the world’s greatest reporter could accomplish. Tyler gets Clark as much as Elizabeth truly gets Lois.

While I’m not sure anyone would say they look like twins, Jordan Elsass and Alex Garfin already also have a fantastic rapport as brothers Jonathan and Jordan. (I’m still unsure why, after they did the casting, they didn’t just flip their character names so Jordan could be Jordan, to prevent confusion.) Jonathan is the golden boy of the family, having girlfriends and already on his school’s Varsity football team as a freshman. Jordan is more introverted, playing video games, listening to loud music, with some personal conflicts within. Although the two of them are very different, you can tell that they look out for one another, which will come in handy as the family finds themselves back in Smallville. It will be very interesting to see where the show goes with these two; while the show is called “Superman & Lois” it is also very much about their kids, as well.

In Smallville, we will see Martha (why did I say that name?) Kent, and also Clark’s old friend/girlfriend Lana Lang, now married to fire chief Kyle Cushing and played by Emmanuelle Chriqui. I do find Lana annoying, but I think that’s intentional; I am intrigued by where her character might go in the series and if it will involve any interactions with the Morgan Edge story, especially as he’s been behind some shady deals in Smallville involving her bank. After all, an actress of Chriqui’s stature has got to be doing more than explaining reverse mortgages, I hope?! Erik Valdez plays Kyle Cushing, and they have two daughters. Kyle is deeply proud of Smallville but politically is surely as different from Lois Lane as one could possibly be, which might bring some tension; however, with that said, Valdez gives a very realistic performance as someone you’d expect to see in a small town.

Inde Navarrette plays the Cushings’ oldest daughter Sarah and she has a complicated “Emily van Camp in Everwood” vibe, but is just as immediately likable. Like the others, she has a lot of chemistry with the entire cast and fun and surprising interactions with them. <sarcasm> I just can’t wait for the Jorah vs. Jonah shipper wars. </sarcasm>

Dylan Walsh takes over as Glenn Morshwer who played General Sam Lane in Supergirl, and while I was afraid he’d be too young, he fits into the tapestry well. I do wonder what a General has to do with the overarching plot, but I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more to it than we know. He also knows Clark is Superman (revealed in the trailers so I’m not ruining anything), so I’m very curious how that would go. If anything, he also offers a different adult opinion, and we all have family who falls into that category from time to time. I do wonder if we’ll ever see Lois’ sister Lucy Lane again and if it will be as big of a recast; if Jenna Dewan isn’t available to reprise her Supergirl role, I hope someone has Jessica Lowndes’ number because that’s who I’d have in mind.

Finally, there’s “The Stranger” who will be played by Wole Parks. This guy’s a wild card. He’s the only super-villain, really, that Superman faces in this first episode, and for only a small percentage of the story. I’d say he probably has the same percentage of story as Jeremy Creek in the Smallville pilot, so I know this is a usual pilot thing. Because of this lack of time I’m not sure I can really form an opinion, but I’m sure he will keep Superman busy doing Super things while Lois investigates Morgan Edge, whose presence is felt in the pilot even if he isn’t seen any more than possibly a photo.

If I have anything I didn’t like about the pilot and my impression of the series so far, it would be that the middle parts of the pilot weren’t as exciting as where things started and where they stopped, but then again, all of those scenes were necessary for the narrative, and as I mentioned, the end was very rewarding. I was left with a strong sense of wanting more, though at the same time, I felt the show was paced so an episode was a very complete, rewarding experience. This was probably one of the more story-filled TV episodes that I’ve seen in recent history, and I do appreciate that. The other thing isn’t a complaint so much as a hope. I know many have pushed for more diversity in the show, and I do hope there are some major characters of color coming to the series. Perhaps someone like John Henry Irons/Steel, who as far as I know has not appeared in live action since the Shaq movie?

Surprisingly, I wasn’t disappointed that the new “Kent Farm” was not the one from Smallville as many of us originally hoped. After all, Martha Kent did live there in “Elseworlds.” But, I do think with this show’s aesthetic – where it’s shot, having two kids, and the need for a lot of open land, it seems – new choices were actually worth it. Like I said, this looks different than any other CW superhero show, and a different house may represent part of that. Otherwise, we’d just be thinking of those previous projects all the time. It’s not to say I want the past ignored forever — but to start, it might be best to go completely new. With that said, I’d love for Jonathan and Jordan to meet their second cousin Kara someday… though perhaps crossovers would be best seen on the other shows, so as to not interrupt the grounded nature of Superman & Lois.

Showrunner Todd Helbing wrote the pilot script based on a story credited to him with Greg Berlanti, and with everyone involved, it became a mix of things that would make for a very good introductory story. I left desperate for Episode 2, and I’m glad that at least when this airs, we’ll surely be getting an Episode 2 or “This Season On…” trailer to get hints of what’s next. I also have to give credit to Lee Toland Krieger and the cinematographers involved with this show — they developed a look that was even unique from previous projects, and I say that as someone who has loved the aesthetic of Krieger’s previous work. And the casting… again, this mix of actors really seemed made for each other.

I mentioned two other successful past Superman projects at the start of this review, and a big reason for that is that I feel that like those two shows, Superman & Lois finds something relatable to make it last and endure. Lois & Clark paired Superman with the then-popular sexual tension of a series like Moonlighting. Smallville began as Superman by way of Dawson’s Creek. And now we have  this — Superman via Friday Night Lights or Everwood? I find this is a formula that can appeal to fans of the comics as well as others who may not have this history. On a letter grade scale, this one gets an A. Tune in on February 23. It’s not going to take away or ruin anything you loved in the past, but it might make you love Superman and Lois Lane even more.

Read more about Superman & Lois here at KryptonSite.

SUPERMAN & LOIS

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Superman & Lois -- "Pilot" -- Image Number: SML101a_0393r2.jpg -- Pictured: Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent -- Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW -- © 2021 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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