Up Up and Go Away!?

(Spoilers ahead for previous and upcoming Smallville episodes)

On Thursday, September 18, Smallville returns for its eighth season. Let that sink in for a second. A show about the teenage Superman is starting its eighth year. And he’s still not Superman. And I thought I was a procrastinator.

When we last left Clark at the end of the seventh season, he had defeated Brainiac (for now), who still had cousin Kara (aka Supergirl) trapped in the past on Krypton, and was at the Arctic fortress, where Lex finally discovered what he had apparently been too blind to see all along – Clark was a strange visitor from another planet with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Then the fortress collapsed on them. End of season. And with a cliffhanger like that, it certainly couldn’t be the end of the show. But it was an ending. For some.

When the show returns this Thursday, Lex (Michael Rosenbaum), the show’s best character and central antagonist, will be gone, or "missing" as the show explains. Clark is missing too, but we know he’ll be back, thanks to the efforts of the proto-Justice League – Green Arrow (now a regular), Black Canary (in her second appearance) and Aquaman (in his 3rd or 4th, I lost track). At this point, previous team members Flash/Impulse and Cyborg, are nowhere to be found, their absence perhaps to be explained in the opener. Lana is also gone, having explained to Clark at the end of last season she had to move on so he could embrace his destiny (whatever, I’m just glad she’s gone). Kara is still on Krypton and won’t be back as a regular, though she will be back for at least one episode to wrap up her storyline. Lana, too will be back for a few episodes around mid-season.

This season will find Clark working at the Daily Planet with his
partner/competitor Lois Lane and cub reporter/photographer Jimmy Olsen. That’s right, it’s Lois and Clark, 2.0.

So, that leaves us with Lois, Jimmy and Chloe (Allison Mack), the only main character who does not have a comic book counterpart. As such, she’s good to have around because you’re never sure what’s going to happen to her. Everyone knows that ultimately, Lois, Jimmy, Lana and Lex are safe because they have comic book-established adult lives to still get to. So far the show has lost Pete Ross, who left Smallville (and briefly returned in last season’s worst episode), Jonathan Kent (who died, as he has in several—though not all – versions of the character), Martha Kent (who as a Senator, has left for Washington, D.C. in a complete departure for the character), and Lionel Luthor, Lex’s father, another character created just for the show, who gave viewers a glimpse of what a fully mature Lex Luthor would become, who was killed by Lex, expressly for that purpose – so he could replace him.

So what’s coming up this season, eight years after Clark has first learned that he’s an alien with super powers? Well, still not Superman, though he’s getting much closer (one would hope, wouldn’t one?) This season will find Clark working at the Daily Planet with his partner/competitor Lois Lane (Erica Durance) and cub reporter/photographer Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore). That’s right, it’s Lois and Clark, 2.0.

But, obviously, it’s not exactly the same as the 1993-97 series. First, he’s STILL not Superman. Plus, Chloe’s still around, though his parents are not. Also, a few new regulars debut. As mentioned, Oliver Queen/Green Arrow (Justin Hartley), who appeared only once last season, is now a regular. And there are two new characters to replace Michael Rosenbaum’s Lex – Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman), Lex’s replacement as the head of his company, and Davis Bloome (Sam Witwer), a paramedic who catches Chloe’s eye and is destined to become Doomsday, he character who killed Superman in he comics. How exactly that happens is anybody’s guess, as this is a complete departure from anything that’s come before in the comics.

Chloe, who was arrested by the FBI at the end of last season, just as Jimmy proposed to her, will no longer be at the Daily Planet, instead, picking up where Lana left off, running the Isis foundation, dedicated to helping so-called "meteor freaks," even as she learns to embrace her own inner freak. She will distance herself from Clark, realizing she has been too much of an enabler, hoping that leaving him to his own devices will help him embrace his destiny (there’s that phrase again, get used to it this season). One of the first she will encounter is Plastique, a character from the comics (a Firestorm villain, of all things) who can explode.

This season is the first without original executive producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who instituted the "no flights, no tights" rule of the show, meaning we would never see Clark fly or put on the famous red and blue costume. According to the new showrunners, “The only thing that we are saying is that we can absolutely confirm that there is no tights, so that's pretty much all we can say on that.”

He will also learn the value of a dual identity as he begins to separate "Clark Kent" from the super-powered savior he is beginning to accept that he is. In the past Green Arrow was telling him to use his gifts to make a difference. This season, the roles are reversed, as Clark recognized what he needs to do, just as Green Arrow is having his doubts.

Helping Clark along in his journey is an appearance by comic super-team, the Legion of Superheroes, a team of young heroes from the 31st century who banded together to emulate their past hero, Superman. This episode is written by comics writer Geoff Johns, who has done a LOT of work with the Legion recently, most notably in the current "Legion of Three Worlds," which I wrote about recently. The Martian Manhunter and Brainiac are also expected to make return appearances this season.

I just read that they have a clip show scheduled (now THAT’s a bad sign) and a production break when the network will decide whether or not to bring the show back for another season, so that if this is indeed the last season, they can close it out appropriately. I really do hope that it is, because there has never been a TV series where I more looked forward to the final episode. While all descriptions and interviews suggest that Clark’s indecision will end this season, he’s at least two seasons too late. I want this show to close strong and look forward to the final iconic shot of him in costume, revealing it as he tears away is Clark Kent clothes and taking off to save the day.

There has never been a TV series where I more looked forward to the final episode.

While I will likely continue to watch this show for as long as it; on, I really hope that this is the final season. Lex was the best character on the show, and without him and without Clark actually becoming Superman, the show seems to have little reason to exist. He has been in this limbo state for far too long at his point that it’s even hard to recognize him as a hero. That he’s met almost all of his JLA teammates and faced off against his major enemies – Luthor, Brainiac, Doomsday – and still has not dedicated his life to "Truth, Justice and the American Way" is increasingly frustrating. Meeting the Legion HAS to be the final kick in the ass that he needs.

At least one more appearance by Lex and some way of somehow making everybody forget that Superman looks just like Clark can make this season and series go out on a high note. Short of introducing Batman or Darkseid, I really can’t think of what's left. Bring back Mom Kent for an episode to kick him in the butt, kill off Chloe as the last straw and put him in the costume. If it does continue, get rid of everybody except Lois, Clark and Jimmy, bring back Lex and rename the show Superman. Then go nuts with comic book stuff.