The television drama Smallville premiered on The WB in October of 2001. This series answers the question: How did Clark Kent become Superman? Like many other shows, Smallville has had great episodes as well as disappointing ones.

Among the Best

I have had many favorite moments, and many favorite episodes, throughout the show's first six seasons. One such moment happened in the season four premiere, "Crusade". In this episode, Clark has been brainwashed by his Kryptonian father, Jor-El. Clark, now calling himself Kal-El, says that it's time to fulfill his destiny and flies off. As someone who would love to be able to fly, I loved this moment. Near the end of the episode, however, Clark says, "Kal-El can fly. Clark Kent is still earthbound." Unfortunately, this line confirmed that the show's "no tights, no flights" rule is still firmly in place.

One of my favorite episodes is the season six story "Justice". In this episode, Clark learns that Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow, has started a Justice League type group. The group's mission is to take down the 33.1 facilities that Lex has been using to experiment on people with superhuman abilities. Bart "Impulse" Allen, Arthur "Aquaman" Curry and Victor "Cyborg" Stone make up the rest of the team. For a reader of comic books and a fan of the Justice League animated series this episode was one of the best so far.

"Nemesis" also had a great story. This season six episode put Clark and Lex in a collapsing tunnel that was full of Kryptonite. Despite the fact that Clark and Lex have become enemies, they had to rely on each other in order to get out of the tunnel before some bombs exploded. This story had some great writing and very convincing acting. I enjoyed the story so much that I watched the episode twice in two days.

Some of the Worst

The season three finale, "Covenant" is the only cliffhanger so far that I did not like. At the end of the episode, I found myself worrying that the show had been ruined rather than getting excited for the next season. Making it look like Lex and Chloe were dead, having Jonathan collapse and showing Lionel in prison getting his head shaved was too much for me. By the end of this episode I was worried that they had killed Lex and that Lionel, who was now going to be bald, was going to be the new Lex, so to speak. This cliffhanger was a total let down. At least they redeemed themselves with the season four premiere, "Crusade".

I was also incredibly disappointed with the fourth season story arc that they gave Lana. What was the point of having her possessed by some medieval witch and having that tattoo on her back? It really felt like they just needed a reason to get her back to Smallville so that she could continue to be a show regular. Honestly, I think the show would have been better if they had just let Lana finish her year in Paris and then brought her back naturally when the study abroad program ended. As for her relationship with Jason, it felt like they just wanted a reason that Clark couldn't be with her. The whole thing just felt forced.

When you add them all up there are definitely more good episodes than bad episodes. The show continues to be one of my favorites and it has been a great addition to the ever-growing legacy of Superman.

Learn more about this author, Veronica Beaudry.
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