Asteroid-Man's Formula to a Good (If not, PERFECT) Smallville Season

[Asteroid-Man]

We've had lot's of fantastic potential for great seasons only for them to be screwed up by other points in the season. I've come up with a formula to what I think would be a good (if not, perfect) Smallville.

It must contain:

• No repeating Stories or Time-Travel crap
• At least one new character should be introduced and they should develop throughout the whole season like Davis, Witney and Oliver (unlike Jason who went completely out of character in the last three episodes of Season Four)
• One main story arc spanning across the entire season and that is not static
• Love Arcs can be included but should not necessarily be used as main points.
• No stupid filler episodes! By this I mean no episodes that have no effect on the rest of the season. This was done most recently in Stilleto. The only useful part of that episode to the rest of the season was the ending.
• If a filler episode IS required, this is a time to either work on the love arcs WITH the main story-arc of the season involved to some degree or introduce a smaller sub-plot exclusive to the season
• The sub-plot should be a plot that is only explored in a few episodes of that season but which will tie into the main story-arc in the last (AT LEAST) two episodes (bridging two arcs in one episodes gets rushed)
• The Main Story Arc should go into the first one-three episodes of the next season but should not be forgotten in the rest of the season. The results of this should either lead to another Main Story Arc or into a smaller sub-plot that will occur half-way through the season
• If this is the last season, the story arc should finish in a 3-part back to back leaving the last episode with twenty minutes to thirty minutes of wrapping up and reflection on the series so that when the last shot is of Clark flying to the camera with the Suit on, we don't go "damn, that was rushed."
• A good season will make references to earlier points in the series and characters that have left the show.
• In regards to mini-plots DO NOT bring in a sub-plot that will have zero relevance on the main story arc (like the Lana-Supersuit arc Vs Doomsday/RBB arc in Season 8)
• Don't bring back characters that have had a good ending (Lana) and don't keep milking creativity dry out of characters we are sick of seeing (Lana and Chloe) and make decisions based on the advancement of the show (I always imagine Clark having to fly to try and save Chloe but because he hesitated or something she dies.)
• Have at least ONE moment of flight in a season. (Season One he is over his bed, Season Two he flies to Lana's car, Season Three when he jumps off the Daily Planet, he starts falling and then blasts into the LuthorCorp building, Season Four he ACTUALLY flies, Season Five's premiere when Clark is being sucked into the Phantom Zone he blasts forward and throws Zod's disciples into the Zone) Easter eggs like this are key
• Have some sort of breakthrough into becoming Superman (Season One and Two feature his powers mostly, Season Two-Three are about his origins, Season Four-Six he becomes more powerful and begins taking responsibility for his actions, Season Seven he comes out and tries to save the World, Season 8 he gets a job at the Daily Planet, he and Lois are practically in Love and the whole identity of the Red-Blue Blur is present.) The next thing to do would be to either give him the name Super-Boy, or give him flight mid-way through the Season and at the end give him the name Superman

 

[Webhead2006]

Those are some very good points. I do hope if season 9 is going to be the end. they have it set right off the bat so they can set the story arcs of the season to play through the season and have a good closure on the show.

 

[Syncos]

Have at least ONE moment of flight in a season. (Season One he is over his bed, Season Two he flies to Lana's car, Season Three when he jumps off the Daily Planet, he starts falling and then blasts into the LuthorCorp building, Season Four he ACTUALLY flies, Season Five's premiere when Clark is being sucked into the Phantom Zone he blasts forward and throws Zod's disciples into the Zone) Easter eggs like this are key

That's actually The finale of season 1. The Tornado.

I think something that would be decent is to get another Red Kryptonite episode, and have Clark fly then, if not forever. After all, if he's apprehensive to fly for whatever reason, the Red K would get rid of that.

Though I think just allowing him to fly and limiting the screen time is a better idea. Lets face it, even at this point more often than not we just see him speed into an area or out of one.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

No it's not season one, it's the Season Two premiere. Season One ends with Clark super-speeding into the tornado. I don't wanna see Red K brought back. It's been overused.

 

[Syncos]

No it's not season one, it's the Season Two premiere. Season One ends with Clark super-speeding into the tornado. I don't wanna see Red K brought back. It's been overused.

Alright, fine, You can have that. It IS season 2.

I disagree about Red Kryptonite being overused. I hardly think 6 occurrences in 174 episodes over 8 seasons can count as being over used. That doesn't even equal out to once per season. And 3 of those 6 episodes are all the same continued story.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

Once or twice is fine but it becomes repetitive. Clark does stuff we kind of want him to do, then he goes out of hand and he forgets what happened and everything goes back to normal.

 

[barnface]

Personally, I think it would be pretty cool to see red K make a return. Was the last time it was used in Season 6's "Crimson"?

 

[Prison Mike]

I always wanted to see Kara on Red K...

 

[Brainiac 8]

Some good thoughts and points, but the one point I don't is the continuous arc idea. I prefer episodic television, and can't watch shows like Lost or 24 where it's required to watch the previous episodes to understand the current one.

I like having each episode mostly be self contained with some continuous storylines going through them, but you can still watch one without much confusion. Plus I like the oddball "filler" episode, as those are sometimes the more entertaining episodes.

 

[rowan sjet]

I always wanted to see Kara on Red K...

Oh, now that would have been cool. Might have even got me interested in her character.

 

[Sawyer]

I do wish the creators actually had a road map of where they were planning to go from the very first season on. As opposed to the "hey, we got picked up for another season! COOL!" approach they seem to have taken.

Also, since the writers apparently cant write an entire season of episodes in succession without doing a few God-awful (and useless) filler episodes, maybe bump the episode count per season down to like 15-16 episodes.

 

[Crook]

Some good thoughts and points, but the one point I don't is the continuous arc idea. I prefer episodic television, and can't watch shows like Lost or 24 where it's required to watch the previous episodes to understand the current one.

I like having each episode mostly be self contained with some continuous storylines going through them, but you can still watch one without much confusion. Plus I like the oddball "filler" episode, as those are sometimes the more entertaining episodes.

What, 40 minutes per week is suddenly a big hurdle for a fan to handle? Barring a few notable exceptions, episodic television always leads to formulaic storytelling. That is something that needs to be abolished, because there's just no excuse for delaying the focal issues of the season.

It's no surprise the reason why last season's first half was so damn good, was because they knew exactly where they were going. They had a story in mind, and they told it through consecutive weeks. Filler episodes just get in the way and put a hold to the nitty gritties.

 

[SV Fan]

Personally here is my suggestions

1. Make the show more positive(ie less storylines that make Clark depressed) and less dark

2. More 1 shot villians, in order for Clark to come off good you need to have him up against somebody/something who is bad. Making the bad guy a person who is "tragically" evil or some tweener between good and bad doesn't contrast well for Clark. These are simple plots to write and have Clark come off looking good

3. Clark is a journalist, spend a few episodes actually showing it. Once again a very easy plot to write. Clark investigates a crime, and saves the day(many times can be combined with #2)

4. Lighten up on the relationship drama. Nobody cares who Tess or Ollie or Chloe is dating, relegate that kind of stuff to the C-plot

 

[Brainiac 8]

What, 40 minutes per week is suddenly a big hurdle for a fan to handle? Barring a few notable exceptions, episodic television always leads to formulaic storytelling. That is something that needs to be abolished, because there's just no excuse for delaying the focal issues of the season.

It's no surprise the reason why last season's first half was so damn good, was because they knew exactly where they were going. They had a story in mind, and they told it through consecutive weeks. Filler episodes just get in the way and put a hold to the nitty gritties.

Call me old fashioned but I very much prefer episodic television. I just prefer it, and can't stand shows like Lost, 24, or Heroes. I even tried to watch Heroes, and it just bored me. Lost did the same thing.

Go figure.

 

[Webhead2006]

I like both they each have their good points and their bad points. Its all about the format of the show.

 

[Syncos]

Call me old fashioned but I very much prefer episodic television. I just prefer it, and can't stand shows like Lost, 24, or Heroes. I even tried to watch Heroes, and it just bored me. Lost did the same thing.

Go figure.

You're old fashioned!



I prefer continuous story. but I have no problem with a series that has overlying arcs while the episodes specifically can stand on their own.
I like the Smallville formula in this sense. I just think they need to try harder to consistently write the overlying arcs.

 

[Webhead2006]

YEa i agree that is an area they can work on.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

So far it looks like it's fitting into this formula. Clark even refused to turn back time because he has FINALLY learned the consequences of it.