The Best, The Worst of Smallville

[SV Fan]

On the subject of my least favorite 5 episodes

1. Promise - see above

2. Exodus - while Promise is my least favorite if there was one episode that I could argue is worse it's this one. It just seems like the show threw out everything in this episode to try create "drama"(Jor-El being a dick, wedding, Helen is now evil, Chloe is a basket case, Martha's pregnancy). I think the only saving grace over Promise is if I break down the episode minute by minute I probably can find 5-6 minutes worth of stuff I find somewhat entertaining. I know alot of people consider Calling-Exile as some high point of the series, I personally find it the start of bad writing on the show and Exodus is the peak of that bad forced drama.

3. Reckoning - another episode that was just chalk full of bad writing to try create "drama"

4. Traveler - I don't think there is one episode that screams we(ie the producers/writers) can't give 2 craps about Clark Kent any more then this one. If the Clark being stuck in a cage for the bulk of the episode and needing to be saved wasn't bad enough, I was even more pissed that they didn't even allow him to save his cousin and revive her memories(that's something I would think the main hero of the show should do, especially since she is his blood relative). Whenever I watch this episode I just can't ignore how little interest the writers had writing for Clark around this period and it annoys me to no end.

5. Beast - I hated the whole Chloe/Davis crap from Season 8 and this episode was the pinnacle of that storyline. Honestly given how Doomsday ended up it would just have been better if Chloe kept her nose out of Clark's business and Clark shot Davis in the Phantom Zone. Once again another bad case of the writers trying to create bad drama for the sake of having drama

Originally Posted by Lord

Was Requiem that bad?
I never really paid attencion but didn't Lex's death make it a big episode?

I think the whole fake Lex thing came off rather corny.

[tfn]

It was like the doors were still swinging from Rosenbaum's exit and they were already yelling "Get the double!".

[SV Fan]

Originally Posted by tfn

It was like the doors were still swinging from Rosenbaum's exit and they were already yelling "Get the double!".

I personally would have had no issue if they made a Season 8 arc of Tess rescues and saves lex and they nurse him back to health. The only problem with the way the show did it was it just seemed out of the blue that Lex re-appears when Lana shows back and they kill him off.

If I was doing the Lex arc I would have just had a scene every 3-5 episodes of Lex progress and at the end of the season you can reveal the new and improved Lex(with an easy explanation why he looks different) then make that Lex the villain of S9.

[Webhead2006]

Crush is actually one of my season 1 favs yes not a great episode. But its one of those hate but love types of episodes. Along with the season two episode where chloe and pete got infected with that alien parasite.

[SV Fan]

Originally Posted by Webhead2006

Crush is actually one of my season 1 favs yes not a great episode. But its one of those hate but love types of episodes. Along with the season two episode where chloe and pete got infected with that alien parasite.

Crush is probably my least favorite episode of Season 1(Obscura and Shimmer get a couple votes as well). That being said if I had to rate it amongst the entire series it would probably would barely make my worst 40 episodes list. Other then S1, Season 9 is the only other season that I really don't have a highly ranking worst episode(although Pandora, Roulette and Disciple get some worst 40 consideration)

Crush falls in that category of nothing that good but nothing standout terrible either in it(that generally fall in my bottom 30-60 range). In general I usually can forgive boring episodes if it really doesn't add much to the overblown drama on the show. I believe of my worst 20 episodes only 2 aren't tied to bigger storylines(Relic and Ageless fall in that 15-20 range)

[Webhead2006]

Ya I am like that too myself. Most seasons would be only 3 or 4 bad/worst of season. I agree season 9 is pretty much the one season that was nearly perfect from start to finish. But overall that is usually most seasons where for me. A few bad episodes.

[SV Fan]

Originally Posted by Webhead2006

Ya I am like that too myself. Most seasons would be only 3 or 4 bad/worst of season. I agree season 9 is pretty much the one season that was nearly perfect from start to finish. But overall that is usually most seasons where for me. A few bad episodes.

In terms of how I rate episodes

there is about

25 I loved - I will rewatch alot
35 I really liked - I'll rewatch on occasion
60 I liked - for the most part I remember liking these episodes but I don't really rewatch(unless doing a series rewatch)
70 I am neutral about - much like Crush nothing really good or terrible, in general it's passable entertainment if I am doing a rewatch
20 I don't care for - alot of things annoy me in these episodes but nothing standout terrible
10 I hate - I feel like pounding my head against a wall when I do series rewatches

[tfn]

I personally would have had no issue if they made a Season 8 arc of Tess rescues and saves lex and they nurse him back to health. The only problem with the way the show did it was it just seemed out of the blue that Lex re-appears when Lana shows back and they kill him off.

If I was doing the Lex arc I would have just had a scene every 3-5 episodes of Lex progress and at the end of the season you can reveal the new and improved Lex(with an easy explanation why he looks different) then make that Lex the villain of S9.

That actually was a subplot to season two of "Lois & Clark" after Lex jumped to his death in the season one finale.

[Sam Fisher]

Best Season: Season 2
Worst Season: Season 8

Best Episodes:
Pilot
Lineage
Rosetta
Exile/Phoenix
Crusade
Commencement
Reckoning
Lexmas
Absolute Justice
Justice

Worst Episodes:
Thirst
Doomsday
Any episode from the second half of season 8.

[Webhead2006]

That isn't a bad way to break up good to bad episodes. For me I usually can find at. Least one quality in most bad episodes that I still like. But there is a few like power, etc... that where flat out terrible.

[hopefuldreamer]

Originally Posted by SV Fan

2. Exodus - while Promise is my least favorite if there was one episode that I could argue is worse it's this one. It just seems like the show threw out everything in this episode to try create "drama"(Jor-El being a dick, wedding, Helen is now evil, Chloe is a basket case, Martha's pregnancy). I think the only saving grace over Promise is if I break down the episode minute by minute I probably can find 5-6 minutes worth of stuff I find somewhat entertaining. I know alot of people consider Calling-Exile as some high point of the series, I personally find it the start of bad writing on the show and Exodus is the peak of that bad forced drama.

4. Traveler - I don't think there is one episode that screams we(ie the producers/writers) can't give 2 craps about Clark Kent any more then this one. If the Clark being stuck in a cage for the bulk of the episode and needing to be saved wasn't bad enough, I was even more pissed that they didn't even allow him to save his cousin and revive her memories(that's something I would think the main hero of the show should do, especially since she is his blood relative). Whenever I watch this episode I just can't ignore how little interest the writers had writing for Clark around this period and it annoys me to no end.
.

Completely agree with both of those points.

Traveler really bugged me for another reason too.

It just didn't seem like enough of a big deal to me.

Most people at the time thought I was just being a drama queen, but for me it was completely underwhelming.

I mean, this is Clark's absolute nightmare. The things he and his parents have been terrified of since he was a little kid. The thing he's likely had nightmares about his entire life!

I think I was just expecting a bit more intensity and a bit more fallout from it. Not for him to be smiling and making jokes the min Kara is there. Not for him to settle for giving Lionel a 'telling off'.

Originally Posted by SV Fan

Crush is probably my least favorite episode of Season 1(Obscura and Shimmer get a couple votes as well). That being said if I had to rate it amongst the entire series it would probably would barely make my worst 40 episodes list. Other then S1, Season 9 is the only other season that I really don't have a highly ranking worst episode(although Pandora, Roulette and Disciple get some worst 40 consideration)

Crush falls in that category of nothing that good but nothing standout terrible either in it(that generally fall in my bottom 30-60 range). In general I usually can forgive boring episodes if it really doesn't add much to the overblown drama on the show. I believe of my worst 20 episodes only 2 aren't tied to bigger storylines(Relic and Ageless fall in that 15-20 range)

You've inspired me to do a top 40 worst episodes

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

1.Requiem
2.Power
3.Supergirl
4.Ageless
5.Sleeper
6.Doomsday
7.Eternal
8.Veritas
9.Trespass
10.Hero
11.Fierce
12.Precipice
13.Forever
14.Static
15.Lockdown
16.Velocity
17.Bound
18.Subterranean
19.Magnetic
20.Action
21.Blue
22.Lara
23.Kara
24.Fragile
25.Redux
26.Gemini
27.Beast
28.Kandor
29.Drone
30.Hostage
31.Collaterol
32.Exodus
33.Calling
34.Traveler
35.Abyss
36.Persuasion
37.Fortune
38.Charade
39.Arctic
40.Booster

I also wanted to give Abyss a special mention as the episode I have argued the most about.

The 'mind rape' discussion that started on another forum was literally the most intense debate i've ever had in my life

The only reason it's not further down my list is that I really like the episode other than that last idiot Clark moment.

[SV Fan]

Originally Posted by hopefulsuicide

17.Bound

There is a few episodes in your worst of list I like, but to this day I never understand the hate for this one. I guess since I never was totally enamored with Smallville's take of Lex, and episode showing him being a prick doesn't really bother me(although I do see complaints how the psycho female villain was rather misogynist of the producers, which had 0 effect on me). I give it bonus marks because I enjoy episodes where Clark is acting like a hero saving the problems of the day. I won't lie I am a huge Season 4 fan, I believe 19 episodes in S4 make my top 100.

In terms of my worst 40

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

1. Promise
2. Exodus

*gap*

3. Reckoning
4. Traveler
5. Beast

*gap*

6. Requiem
7. Power
8. Trespass
9. Exile

*gap*

10. Eternal
11. Hidden
12. Veritas
13. Calling
14. Quest
15. Doomsday
16. Arrival
17. Relic
18. Solitude
19. Ageless
20. Infamous
21. Legacy
22. Abyss

*gap*

23. Resurrection
24. Hero
25. Magnetic
26. Fever
27. Collateral
28. Prophecy
29. Noir
30. Sleeper
31. Nocturne
32. Oracle
33. Injustice
34. Supergirl

*gap*

35. Velocity
36. Mercy
37. Crisis
38. Sacrifice
39. Pandora
40. Forsaken
41. Crush
42. Shimmer
43. Disciple
44. Roulette
45. Obscura
46. Beacon
47. Tomb
48. Static

Wherever there is a gap, that just means an episode that falls into that grouping could be placed anywhere within that grouping give or take a few episodes. Episode 35(Velocity) is the point that I mentioned above I start becoming neutral to episodes overall as opposed to having negative feelings. I would even say the episodes I have from 23-34 can be watchable despite a lot of flaws, it's 22 and above I take issues with the episode.

I think going by my list, many episodes that revolve around Jor-El(directly or even indirectly) get low marks in my book. Of my worst 22 episodes, 11 of them have some link to Jor-El in them and of those 11, I would say in 7 of them the use of Jor-El was my biggest beef of the episode. I would say the shows use of Jor-El(and the Fortress of Solitude by proxy) probably was one of the weakest points of the series(as I said many times before the producers of the show needed to grab a dictionary and look up the term Solitude for it's meaning)

[Indy1Jones]

It was good in it's own right some good some bad. Overall good.

[Szetsilya]

Best season: 1, 9, 3, 2
Worst season: 10, Doomsday(bad enough for an entire 22 episodes), 6, 7

One thing I absolutely hate about Smallville is the way they handled Lois*Clark. I never truly believed Clark was so enamored or in love with Lois and by S10 I felt the only reason she was there was to be his disciple or cheerleader. This famous 70+ years couple should have been done much better, instead of being an afterthought from Clark*Lana.

[Webhead2006]

I disagree there lois and clark relationship was handled a lot better then the mess lana and clark was.

[Szetsilya]

This thread asked for what i thought was the worst and one of the worst was the handling of LnC's relationship. Well I feel that the writers didn't care as much about Lois and Clark as they did about lana and Clark and that Clark didn't show that he loved Lois as much as he did with Lana. Instead of truly loving her it came off that Clark was just with Lois because she was there, she adored him, and she was easier to be with. Season 10 really made me hate the relationship with the writers check marking their relationship instead of letting it develop naturally. In season 9 I adored them, but after Homecoming the relationship was just too forced. Lois was his disciple more than the love of his life.

[bonoferox]

Originally Posted by Szetsilya

This thread asked for what i thought was the worst and one of the worst was the handling of LnC's relationship. Well I feel that the writers didn't care as much about Lois and Clark as they did about lana and Clark and that Clark didn't show that he loved Lois as much as he did with Lana. Instead of truly loving her it came off that Clark was just with Lois because she was there, she adored him, and she was easier to be with. Season 10 really made me hate the relationship with the writers check marking their relationship instead of letting it develop naturally. In season 9 I adored them, but after Homecoming the relationship was just too forced. Lois was his disciple more than the love of his life.

Totally agreed. The entire Lois and Clark relationship here just felt rushed as a way to appease a CW audience so they would describe it on message boards as "OMG EPIC!!!!!!!".

[Webhead2006]

I still disagree with that. Personally to me I thought they handled lois and clark a lot better after the mess that was lana and clark. They went from enemies, friends, partners, to lovers. Which was handled a lot more belivable and real to me. Then how bad clark relationship was ever with lana.

[SV Fan]

Originally Posted by Szetsilya

This thread asked for what i thought was the worst and one of the worst was the handling of LnC's relationship. Well I feel that the writers didn't care as much about Lois and Clark as they did about lana and Clark and that Clark didn't show that he loved Lois as much as he did with Lana. Instead of truly loving her it came off that Clark was just with Lois because she was there, she adored him, and she was easier to be with. Season 10 really made me hate the relationship with the writers check marking their relationship instead of letting it develop naturally. In season 9 I adored them, but after Homecoming the relationship was just too forced. Lois was his disciple more than the love of his life.

I personally think the show handled most shipper relationships terribly to be honest. Maybe some people see angst filled relationships as true love(ie Clana) but I see it more as a sign of issues on both parties parts. Beyond Clark and Lana, mostly every other relationship was poorly written in some way or another

[hopefuldreamer]

Originally Posted by bonoferox

Totally agreed. The entire Lois and Clark relationship here just felt rushed as a way to appease a CW audience so they would describe it on message boards as "OMG EPIC!!!!!!!".

See, I don't think I would call it rushed.

I mean, Lois was introduced in season 4 while Clana was going on and so they had to take it slow because of that. But even after she left at the end of season 7, all you had was the stirring feelings Lois was getting for Clark (and a little bit of vice versa) until season 9 hit.

It wasn't until that moment at the end of Rabid where Clark took Lana's picture out of his wallet and literally shut the book on her, that I felt their romance started properly.

FYI, I loved loved loved that moment. So simple and obvious, yet so damn effective in saying 'Yes, he's OVER HER now'.

But even then, it took they still had a long way to go before they were in a fully fledged relationship.

[Webhead2006]

Then also we have to remember the producers had legal blocks from lois and clark getting romantic to at least season 8 from dc. Along with all the many other red tape issues the show had when it start to when those red tape issues got dropped.

[bonoferox]

I didn't know they had a legal block... that would make more sense then.

While I hated the Clark and Lana relationship, I felt that TW and KK felt more natural together than TW and ED did as a couple.

[BH/HHH]

My favourite episode ever was Homecoming and there's only one episode that I cant stand and that's Magnetic

[Webhead2006]

Ya it was wildly know the producers over all seasons had blocks on things/characters sv got to use. Like reasons we never got batman/wonder woman, why we didn't get to see the s shield to we did. The use of krypton and other kryptonians besides jorel/lara. And many many more things. Though through the yrs dc did lessen there grip on. Things and the producers where able to do more and use more characters.

[bonoferox]

Yeah the Batman and use of other characters I knew about. Though I'm not sure using GA as a substitute was the best route for a show that often seemed to focus on him than Clark, but I liked what Hartley brought to it.

That being said, I thought John Jones was one of the strongest parts of the series that would have worked really well as a spin-off (just not on the CW).