Smallville Better or Worse?

[Cartoonist]

I agree with most of Christopher's post but I've got to ask, where is the character richness and depth with Major Zod? I know the episode with Jor-El revealed a bit of his past regarding his son, and I could see how that added to the Jor-El/Zod dynamic, but I don't see elsewhere where the character has been developed all that much.

Or rather to be honest, I'm not too pleased in the directions the writers have taken him in. I don't necessarily see that as development. The awkward flirtations with Tess and then making him a generic corporate type villain, that doesn't work for me. It seems beneath Zod, well Terrence Stamp's Zod from Superman 2.

Davis was a complex and interesting dark character, but Zod seems like a one-note stock villian.

I think his complexity is more potential than actual at the moment. They've foreshadowed that the way to defeat him is to save him from himself, meaning there's something more than this vengeful, power-hungry persona we're seeing.

And to me, this character as written and acted is a lot LESS one-note than Terrence Stamp's Zod. Stamp's Zod was a megolomaniac. Nothing more, nothing less. And they never even bothered to give him a motive.

I've enjoyed Smallville a lot more since the new showrunners took over. I agree with those who think "Red-Blue Blur" is ridiculous, though.

 

[Christopher]

^You're right about Zod, and it's as much a matter of the difference between movies and series TV as anything else. A villain in a 2-hour flick can be pretty simplistic, but if you have him for a whole season, you need enough complexity to get a couple of dozen stories out of.

And mercifully the "Red-Blue" part was dropped at the start of the season, which the switch to the black outfit. He's just "The Blur" now -- which isn't really that bad a superhero name. I mean, it's no worse than "The Flash."

 

[StarshipDefiant]

This show has some decent moments, I think the core problem is the original show runners had stupid 'rules'. I can get not wanting him to fly right away, and him not having the costume, but then he shouldn't have been on the path to flight in the first two seasons like he was (in my opinion anway). It probably would have served if the show did not last as long as it has, because considering everything he can do, and has done the fact he cannot fly (this is from the last I know, I've not watched it consistently for the last few years) just seems stupid (unless some reason was given?) to me.

A lot of the freak of the week stuff probably also diluted things some, he should have faced some real challenges that would have set him towards becoming the man he's supposed to be early on.

It's hard for me to really explain what I mean, I guess...there's just something...odd.

 

[Christopher]

This show has some decent moments, I think the core problem is the original show runners had stupid 'rules'. I can get not wanting him to fly right away, and him not having the costume, but then he shouldn't have been on the path to flight in the first two seasons like he was (in my opinion anway).

Yeah. What's really silly is that he was shown levitating in his sleep in the first or second episode, and then that was never revisited.

It probably would have served if the show did not last as long as it has, because considering everything he can do, and has done the fact he cannot fly (this is from the last I know, I've not watched it consistently for the last few years) just seems stupid (unless some reason was given?) to me.

He still can't fly, but he can leap tall buildings in a single bound. So as far as locomotion goes, he's pretty much where the comic-book Superman was in 1938.

They've touched on his inability to fly, but haven't offered any clear explanation for it. Personally, I think it's an aftereffect of growing up in an environment that's absolutely littered with kryptonite. I mean, that's the equivalent of a human growing up on top of a plutonium deposit. In addition to his near-weekly exposure to kryptonite as seen on the show, he must be constantly ingesting, imbibing, and inhaling trace amounts of the stuff as long as he lives in Smallville. I'm expecting the poor guy to come down with super-leukemia eventually.

 

[drychlick]

i think it better but this year should be his last time to become superman

 

[StarshipDefiant]

This show has some decent moments, I think the core problem is the original show runners had stupid 'rules'. I can get not wanting him to fly right away, and him not having the costume, but then he shouldn't have been on the path to flight in the first two seasons like he was (in my opinion anway).

Yeah. What's really silly is that he was shown levitating in his sleep in the first or second episode, and then that was never revisited.

It probably would have served if the show did not last as long as it has, because considering everything he can do, and has done the fact he cannot fly (this is from the last I know, I've not watched it consistently for the last few years) just seems stupid (unless some reason was given?) to me.

He still can't fly, but he can leap tall buildings in a single bound. So as far as locomotion goes, he's pretty much where the comic-book Superman was in 1938.

They've touched on his inability to fly, but haven't offered any clear explanation for it. Personally, I think it's an aftereffect of growing up in an environment that's absolutely littered with kryptonite. I mean, that's the equivalent of a human growing up on top of a plutonium deposit. In addition to his near-weekly exposure to kryptonite as seen on the show, he must be constantly ingesting, imbibing, and inhaling trace amounts of the stuff as long as he lives in Smallville. I'm expecting the poor guy to come down with super-leukemia eventually.

You actually make an excellent point there (that might sound more harsh then I mean), he is exposed to it quite often. Perhaps that could be used to explain why he cannot fly, and to an extent why it'd take a rather large source of it at once to 'expose' him to Kryptonite, when I've seen other versions be brought down by like, a sliver of it.

It still doesn't change the fact that throughout season one (such as the sleep levitation you mentioned) and season two (most notably, his description of being inside the twister) he was hinted to be on a path to flight. It'd be easier to swallow if he hadn't had all of his other powers by... what was it, season three? If that late?

 

[Cartoonist]

This show has some decent moments, I think the core problem is the original show runners had stupid 'rules'. I can get not wanting him to fly right away, and him not having the costume, but then he shouldn't have been on the path to flight in the first two seasons like he was (in my opinion anway).

Yeah. What's really silly is that he was shown levitating in his sleep in the first or second episode, and then that was never revisited.

It probably would have served if the show did not last as long as it has, because considering everything he can do, and has done the fact he cannot fly (this is from the last I know, I've not watched it consistently for the last few years) just seems stupid (unless some reason was given?) to me.

He still can't fly, but he can leap tall buildings in a single bound. So as far as locomotion goes, he's pretty much where the comic-book Superman was in 1938.

They've touched on his inability to fly, but haven't offered any clear explanation for it. Personally, I think it's an aftereffect of growing up in an environment that's absolutely littered with kryptonite. I mean, that's the equivalent of a human growing up on top of a plutonium deposit. In addition to his near-weekly exposure to kryptonite as seen on the show, he must be constantly ingesting, imbibing, and inhaling trace amounts of the stuff as long as he lives in Smallville. I'm expecting the poor guy to come down with super-leukemia eventually.

I think they've tried to make it clear it's all in his mind. Kara pretty much told him the only reason he can't fly is that he thinks he can't fly. Wasn't there an episode where Zod or Brainiac or someone took over Clark's body and was able to fly in it?

 

[Rowan Sjet]

No episodes like that, but there was a Phantom that basically cloned his body and became Smallville's version of Bizzaro. That one could fly. And there's the episode where Jor-El reprograms Clark to be Kal-El, and he can fly then.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Jor-El reprogrammed Clark into Kal-El and he flew at the beginning of season three I believe. The other episode in season seven where Kara tries to teach Clark to fly, she also mentions something I think about his emotional state. It might've been a reference to Peter Pan about thinking happy thoughts!

Christopher's suggestion about the over expsoure to Kryptonite would make for a pretty interesting explaination in show why he can't fly. I read an interiew with one of the proudcuers earlier this season where Jor-El was going to address that, I think it was supposed to be brought up in this season's premire but I can't remember if it was or not. Jor-El just went on on about severing his ties with Lois.

 

[DarKush]

Cartoonist,

I agree that Major Zod's potential hasn't been actualized. But I think Stamp's Zod had a pretty clear movitation. He wanted to rule Krypton. When he was thwarted by that, and sent to the Phantom Zone, with Jor-El casting the deciding vote, he wanted revenge. He wanted power and revenge. His motivation was pretty simple and direct. And I think Stamp played him perfectly, cold, imperious, a tactician, but at the same time his anger and need for revenge, his arrogance got the best of him. Stamp exuded menace and power. I could buy him leading an army, and damn sure, leading a military coup. With Major Zod, there are threads-with the lost son-that could lead to something interesting, and take Zod in different directions. But for the most part, Callum Blue has played Zod pretty one-note as well. But without the commanding presence of Stamp.

 

[Christopher]

^But that's not much of a motivation. Why did he want to rule Krypton? What was there about his psychology, his history, that made him crave political power over other life goals, and made him so ruthless, amoral, and sadistic in pursuit of that goal? That's what motivation means.

Smallville's Zod is clearly an ambitious, charismatic man, a natural leader, but that alone doesn't make a tyrant, and we saw that he was originally a more noble figure, the kind of leader one could admire, a man concerned with the well-being of those he was responsible for, a man who had friends and loved his family. We've seen how he was changed by the death of his son and by Jor-El's refusal to take an action that could have (in Zod's mind) saved his son's life. That turned him bitter and angry, allowed the darker side of his nature to come out and begin overwhelming his better angels. Deprived of love, deprived of family, all he has left is the will to power, and the desire to punish the society whose laws condemned his son. That's a motivation.

 

[DarKush]

Christopher,

You are right that they didn't explore General Zod's backstory in the films. All we get his that he wanted to establish a new order. But his desire for revenge after his imprisonment is a very clear and strong motivation, first to finally conquer a planet and second to make the son of Jor-El pay. And I think Stamp did a better job of making Zod a credible threat with far less time than Callum Blue has been given with the job and the admittedly better developed backstory.

 

[Christopher]

Really, it's apples and oranges. The Reeve movies were products of a time when superhero stories in cinema (and still to some extent in comics) were a lot more simplistic and juvenile. Those movies' Zod didn't have to be anything more than a straightforward moustache-twirling baddie. Smallville is a modern serialized drama, a product of a time when fiction in general, including superhero fiction, is expected to have deeper storylines and characterizations. So while there's definitely an element of homage to the movies' Zod (Callum Blue is doing a strikingly good Terence Stamp impression as Major Zod, and of course Stamp himself is the voice of the Jor-El program in the Fortress of Solitude), they're different characters in different realities. So the comparison seems somewhat misguided to me. It's like treating Kevin Conroy's Batman and Adam West's Batman as the same character.

 

[Admiral_Young]

The question about Zod in Smallville is interesting. Have you guys seen the animated shorts "The Kara Chronicles" that were included in the season seven DVD? They give some insight into the war on Krypton and Zor-El's involvement in it and his relationship with then General Zod.

The thing about this clone Major Zod is that he ISN'T General Zod yet...he's not the man who will betray the High Council and start whatever revolution he starts in the future. This is the trouble that I have with him being a villian, he's not a villain yet. He has characteristics that will make him into the man we all know and love...but hasn't gone through those events yet. Smallville used General Zod already, he's imprisioned in the Phantom Zone, I dunno I'm having trouble explaining my thoughts on this subject but so far I've been disappointed in how they've handled this Zod. Also why did they have to make him friends with Jor-El? In the comics Non was Jor-El's mentor (Geoff Johns retconned this) and when he was lobomized by the Council that is when Zod decided to resign and go against the Council. He even attempted to recruit Jor-El.

 

[Jetfire]

The problem the show has now is focus. What story are they trying to tell? Clark/The Blur/Kal El handling Zod & The Kandorians or Clark becoming a costumed Superhero. I think the show in the past was clear and focused with fillers of course...it seem going into 2 different directions this season and in the last one also.

 

[Christopher]

This is the trouble that I have with him being a villian, he's not a villain yet. He has characteristics that will make him into the man we all know and love...but hasn't gone through those events yet. Smallville used General Zod already, he's imprisioned in the Phantom Zone, I dunno I'm having trouble explaining my thoughts on this subject but so far I've been disappointed in how they've handled this Zod. Also why did they have to make him friends with Jor-El? In the comics Non was Jor-El's mentor (Geoff Johns retconned this) and when he was lobomized by the Council that is when Zod decided to resign and go against the Council. He even attempted to recruit Jor-El.

Let's see... a morally ambiguous character, likeable but flawed, destined to become a great villain but not a villain yet, and he makes friends with a member of the House of El who's destined to become his archenemy... sound like anyone we know? It worked before, why not now?

 

[Jetfire]

^
Based on that are we gonna see 5 more seasons of Smallville???

It to 5 from the time Clark met Lex to become his enemy.

 

[Christopher]

I think that's taking the analogy way too literally.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I'm not saying that the formula can't work...just saying why they should repeat it at all? Major Zod is indeed essentially Lex Luthor's replacement if that is what you were trying to imply Christopher, he's inhabited Luthor mansion, taken on Tess...I guess I'm ultimately saying I wish he was used differently. I don't have any suggestion on how, just that he was.

 

[DarKush]

Christopher,

Perhaps as a matter of personal taste, I don't think Blue is doing a good impression of Terrence Stamp's Zod. And the homages invite comparisons, far more than say Michael Rosenbaum and Gene Hackman. They pretty much started with a full do-over for Lex, bringing him more in line with the modern take on the character. However, with Zod, I don't think they've cut from so fresh a cloth. Perhaps due to the lack of development Zod has received over the years in the comics. The shadow of Stamp's performance lingers over Blue's Zod. Stamp's likeness has been used twice on the show previously to represent General Zod and we know that Major Zod is supposed to somewhere down the line become this man. So, I don't think its a misguided comparison at all. The realities are different, but not as dissimilar as Conroy and West's Batworlds.