There is only one word to sum up the first three episodes of the Smallville season 8. Ok, maybe there is more than one word to describe the season. Pathetic. Boring. Contrived. Random. Weak. Undeveloped. The list goes on.
Fittingly, Smallville Season 8 episode 3 is entitled “Toxic,” and that’s just what Smallville without Gough, Miller, and the Luthor family has become. The show has been dying a slow and painful death since the start of season 7. Like witnessing someone dying a slow death from cancer, it’s sad to witness this show do the same.
Five seasons of great story arcs (I’m counting seasons 2-6) and then nothing. Yes, we can always blame this on those “good for nothing writers” who went on strike. But, that’s a total falsehood. Season 7 wasn’t all that bad, but there was an absurdly large number of filler episodes between the start of the season and Lionel Luthor’s death - pre and post WGA strike.
It was the beginning of the end. The series might as well have already ended with Lionel’s plunge off the LuthorCorp building. Watching each new episode of the current season only marginalizes the quality of Smallville that used to be there. Most will find themselves second guessing as to whether it was ever good at all. It was. Unfortunately, the nature of the proverbial glory days is that they lie in the past. And, Smallville’s glory days are exactly that - in the past.
To sum up the terrible writing, take this line from “Toxic.” After Oliver survives a near death experience at the hands of an old-friend turned villain, Tess, he confronts Clark about his choices in life.
Oliver tells Clark it’s time to man-up by saying, “I survived for two years on an island by myself. When it wasn’t pouring rain, there was blistering sun. There were mosquitoes that ate me alive… It made me strong.”
“Mosquitoes that ate me alive.” Really? That made you strong? AND RAIN TOO? Whoa. Plus, there’s sun nonstop. I guess there must be little Green Arrows running around in every third-world country. What a way to trivialize Green Arrow.
And then forcing Tess into Green Arrow’s origin? The creative staff over at Smallville is hanging itself. Gough and Miller knew they’d jump ship and they left the staff nothing to work with. At least with Lionel on the scene we’d have something familiar. But, forcing these villains into the story in one-off episodes on serves to leave fans feeling abandoned.
Thursday nights being synonymous with Smallville are no more; it may be time to officially jump ship from The CW over to NBC, where at least you’re promised a good laugh. Yeah, it’s good to laugh sometimes. And, unfortunately, Smallville has become one giant joke.
Anyone who thinks the new direction of the show is anything close to the glory days of Smallville is clearly smoking something strong. To even think that Tess Mercer (and the eventual forced representation of Doomsday) are anything close to what Lionel and Lex were to the show is insulting. Lex and Lionel were just as much Smallville as Clark Kent is. Yin and yang baby. And to think the show started to weaken before they even departed makes this season feel 10 notches below the apex in terms of quality. Of course, I’m going to continue to watch just to see it to completion, but things aren’t looking good based on the last 3 episodes.
Sorry, but I do not agree with your assessment of the show. I’ve watched Smallville from the beginning and I’ve always loved it. Yes they did have some not-so-cool story arcs and sometimes too many filler episodes BUT, to date it is the longest running show on the subject of Superman and a very interesting take on the character. I think this season of Smallville is very different from previous seasons in that it is a lot more grown-up and, of course, some familiar faces are no longer around. Fact is, it needed to change/adapt to the current circumstance and I think they have done an awesome job so far. I certainly don’t think the show is suffering for a lack of Al and Miles. Frankly, I think Al and Miles have been a lot more interested in making money (i.e. movies) than they were in telling a good story and I think last season was proof of that. I think it is good that they left the show to people who are actually able to give it the attention it deserves. Personally, I like the new feel of the show and I think the changes are refreshing and it gives me hope for the future of the show. So, to call the show “Pathetic. Boring. Contrived. Random. Weak. Undeveloped.” for me just equates to somebody who is out of touch with the show and its fanbase.. or maybe liking the sound of their own voice a little too much.
You seem to be very out of touch. The general consensus among fans is that the show has been horrible for a while now, but this season has been better than the last few thus far. Across all the forums that discuss the show there is hope for this season, but fear for the “Humanity of Doomsday” aspect. The Lana story was old and they had played out everything they could do with Lex. The Green Arrow origin you are complaining about is actually something the show hasn’t done much of. It was respecting the source material. With the exception of Tess being added in it started pretty close to his origin in the comics. From someone who thinks that last season was actually good storyarcs, and names the few seasons previous to that as well it doesn’t surprise me that you are out of touch with the actual fan base. The show is like a train wreck with people watching it that can’t really explain why they still do. Talk to some fans and you see that trend come up pretty quickly.
not to mention clark still can’t fly. And why is he at the daily planet with no glasses?