Brian Peterson, executive producer of The CW's Smallville, told SCI FI Wire that the writers already are gearing up for the show's upcoming eighth season, thanks to an early pickup announcement.
"We're always hopeful, and we always plan every year for a season finale, but it's really great when we get to tell one more year of Clark's story," Peterson said in an interview.
"It's very early, and we really have to work in partnership with the studio, because right now we haven't presented anything to them," Peterson added with a laugh.
As for the current season, five new episodes will begin airing, starting on April 17, with the focus clearly on Lex's fall to the dark side, starting in the episode "Descent."
"The rest of this season is, for the most part, about Lex finding what he's always been looking for," Peterson said. "'Veritas' [the last original episode to air] launched the next five episodes, which are all about Lex finding what he's been searching for."
Smallville's season was interrupted by the recently settled writers' strike. "Veritas" was originally designed as an extended season finale. But it aired as an hourlong episode, with several scenes unfinished. Those scenes will now form the basis of the season's final episodes, Peterson said. "I think it's going to be nice to actually see each piece of that story, rather than have it all hit in one episode," he said.
The finale will also set up the new season. "There's so much still to play," Peterson said. "People keep asking us all the time, 'When are you bringing in this character?' 'When are you doing this?' 'When are you doing that?' And we're like, 'We'll get there.' There're a lot of characters to service. So next year we have some real fun and clear ideas about what we're doing." Smallville airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
