Smallville10x21&22 "Finale" Discuss/Grade

[Broccoli]

startrekwatcher wrote:

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Smallville had a bad habit of abruptly resolving things--case in point Oliver's able to overcome the darkness with some words of encouragement from Clark--lame it reminded me of Sayid and Claire's evil/good make over from LOST.

That's what happens in the comics all the time. Latest example: Action Comics #900.

It deserves it--it is crap. Horrible stale trite writing, some good story ideas poorly executed, aimless storytelling, unsatisfying payoffs.

If the show is crap, then why did you watch?

[DarthPipes]

So seven years into the future, Lois and Clark still haven't married. Which confirms the entire first hour was a waste.

[Electric Coleslaw]

Horrible!
This was a show that was supposed to be about the journey of Clark becoming Superman and all we got to see was the journey of Clark becoming Superman. The lame CGI suit and quickie Darkseid battle? A network like CW with it's vast budget for TV shows should have been able to spend the millions needed for more quality. Lex gets amnesia? Oh please! When has that ever been done in the history of Superman? I swear, it's like this show was based on a comic book or something!

[Samurai8472]

DarthPipes wrote:

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So seven years into the future, Lois and Clark still haven't married. Which confirms the entire first hour was a waste.

Also Lex's mindwipe.

Lex even pushed Clark towards his destiny. He wasn't there to stop it.

It was a good speech.

Retconned by the lame clone memory erase.

So a total waste.

[DarthPipes]

Martha's freakout over the farm...if you didn't want it sold, you shouldn't have given Clark the deed. She's the only senator who never visits her homestate, having been home only twice in four years. Since Clark doesn't make any money out of being Superman, having a farmhouse that he doesn't use makes no financial sense.

SUPERMAN (Excellent)

Even though I had some problems with the "Finale"...mainly with the whole Darkseid story which was dumb for them to attempt anyway after "Failsday"...over all I was pleased. Sad to see Tess die, great seeing Aaron Ashmore as Jimmy...the Lex stuff was good. The first hour was slow but it wasn't too bad...as far as CGI Superman? It was more than I was expecting and feared I didn't have a problem with it. Hearing the Superman theme music was awesome!

By the way..."A network like CW" doesn't have a vast budget.

[startrekwatcher]

Broccoli wrote:

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If the show is crap, then why did you watch?

I watched it in the first two seasons then only periodically would catch an episode here or there. I had stopped watching it but was curious how they would end it.

[Broccoli]

Jetfire wrote:

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SUPERMAN (Excellent)

Even though I had some problems with the "Finale"...mainly with the whole Darkseid story which was dumb for them to attempt anyway after "Failsday"...over all I was pleased. Sad to see Tess die, great seeing Aaron Ashmore as Jimmy...the Lex stuff was good. The first hour was slow but it wasn't too bad...as far as CGI Superman? It was more than I was expecting and feared I didn't have a problem with it. Hearing the Superman theme music was awesome!

By the way..."A network like CW" doesn't have a vast budget.

I am pretty sure Eletric Coleslaw was being ironic.

startrekwatcher wrote:

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I watched it in the first two seasons then only periodically would catch an episode here or there. I had stopped watching it but was curious how they would end it.

So then your complaint that the finale should have been a showdown between Darkseid and Clark had no basis as you hadn't (presumably) seen the episodes that outlined this season's overall arc.

[Electric Coleslaw]

Jetfire wrote:

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SUPERMAN (Excellent)

By the way..."A network like CW" doesn't have a vast budget.

That whooshing sound you hear is the sarcasm of my post whizzing over your head.

[Admiral_Young]

I voted Kal-El. It was pretty much what I expected and those were extremely low expectations. I really don't know what some of you who are bitching about this expected. This is the same old stuff that we've seen since day one. Why would you expect anything else? LOL. Anyways enjoyed seeing Rosey again...and btw Lex didn't "get" amnesia he was given it by Tess as a last means of redemption for her character. Cassidy was a trooper again as always. The shit they put her character through and she still emerges as one of the strongest actors on the show. The CGI Superdouche wasn't too bad...again what were people expecting? It was nice hearing the John Williams music at the end of the episode. Glad I'm done with with this disappointing series.

Electric Coleslaw wrote:

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That whooshing sound you hear is the sarcasm of my post whizzing over your head.

If you say so.

[Gryffindorian]

Watching it now. It's sad to see yet another one of my favorite shows end, though I've only been watching the last few seasons. It all comes down to this. Everything is falling into place. Clark and Lois finally getting married. Oliver ridding himself of the Darkness. The whole Darkness saga leading to the finale. Lex Luthor coming back to life. I guess this is more climactic for me, not having known it was going to end sooner than I expected.

[Frontier]

To be brief, it was the minimum of what was acceptable. It was a good finale, I liked it. But I wanted more suit time. More close-up suit time. A single long draw-up shot of him from boots to hair in the damn suit.

Good finale, very good. But my desire for more suit will always taint it. It just barely skimmed by on the minimum on that front.

[the_wildcard]

Frontier wrote:

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To be brief, it was the minimum of what was acceptable. It was a good finale, I liked it. But I wanted more suit time. More close-up suit time. A single long draw-up shot of him from boots to hair in the damn suit.

Good finale, very good. But my desire for more suit will always taint it. It just barely skimmed by on the minimum on that front.

Agreed. I just finished watching it and overall I thought it was a great finale. It had its ackward points to say the least....but it started out good, held on and ended okay.

More suit time would have been good and I am curious as to why they never showed him in the full suit up close.

[DeafPoet]

Well, I watched the first 3 seasons but then gave up on it. And then I caught one or two episodes per year thereafter. To say I was expecting a shit-show from this finale would be seriously understating the case.

...And I actually really enjoyed it. It wasn't classic TV or anything but not once during the two hours did I feel like I was wasting my time. All the emotional beats (even the stuff in the first hour) landed for me. I was gonna cry foul on the CGI Superman but basically, CGI or not, Supes was on Smallville. And they really earned a lot of good will with that Seven Years Later bit.

From what I've seen of this show, it was often pretty brutal with fleeting glimpses of greatness. Given that, I think they pulled off the best finale they possibly could have. We got the obligatory Superman moments and the rest was devoted to tying up Smallville shit. And that's okay. Like it or not, this show has been doing its own thing for a very long time now and it's not fair to expect it to deny its origins. It can't help but be Smallville-y in its final episode.

It gets an Above Average from me. And that's a real grade. If I were grading on a curve, it'd easily be the best thing Smallville's ever done.