Which Characters Did "Smallville" Nail Perfectly?

[WarriorDreamer]

There is so much they got right. Lois Lane was a perfectly nailed part. Along with Lex and of course the Kents.

I think Tom brilliantly played the 'young Clark Kent' still struggling with powers. But it's a shame we never got to see much of 'Classic Clark Kent' and of course Superman.

 

[NotFadeAway]

Lex and the Kents.

This is the definitive Lex Luthor. And quite honestly, Lex losing his memory almost ruined the finale for me because this is something I've been afraid of since the 3rd season.

But, then I thought about it. Somerhalt showed us memories can be frecovered, and Lex's memory is only paralyzed. That means the meories are still with him. Someone as smart and powerful as lex would stop at nothing to get his memories back. Somehow, I feel like this will be the plot of a post-smallville comic or novel.

 

[Webhead2006]

Ya michael was such a great lex.

 

[Indy Flash]

Michael as Lex

Pa Kent.

 

[The Caped Knight]

I love Superman Homepage's Douglas Trumble opinion about this topic.

Smallville's biggest success: Casting and Characterizations.

The main cast was spot on in every respect. Tom Welling carried the show in front of and behind the camera without a doubt, but personally I think the biggest success they had in casting was in the supporting roles. Erica Durance's Lois could very well be the best live-action version of Lois Lane ever put to film and it is going to be very difficult to top John Schneider's Jonathan Kent in my mind. I'll even admit that I was skeptical of Michael Rosenbaum as Lex initially but boy did he prove me dead wrong in a hurry.

Lois wasn't there from the beginning but made a big splash when she finally arrived. The chemistry between Erica Durance and Tom Welling was fantastic from the start. Erica from the get go embodied the character to perfection. Just the right amount of stubbornness, snark, and sass mixed with compassion and just a touch of emotional vulnerability. Perhaps the only knock on the character Lois Lane on this show was she had to play second fiddle to Lana for a few years before really shinning. The fact they were willing to bring her into the story at a different place in this version of Clark's journey, and were willing to mess around with the mythos a bit, was perhaps the thing I enjoyed the most. I love how they had her be there with Clark helping him develop his Superman persona. Whoever had that idea and gave it a green light should be given a prize.

No knocking Annette O'Toole, who I love, but John Schneider's Pa Kent was the highlight out of Clark's adoptive parents. This really shined in the end (years after he was dead even) but even early on you could see that right mixture of honesty, worldly wisdom, and even stubbornness that really should be a staple of Superman's personality. Maratha gave him his heart and compassion but Jonathan is the source of Clark's will of steel, and I think Smallville did a fantastic job showing this.

Lex Luthor: I don't want to call the casting of Michael Rosenbaum a risk but other than a shaved head there was nothing about his physical stature or presence that screamed Lex Luthor to me when I first started following the show. I quickly learned the error of my view on that.

Clark might have had some Superman qualities to start but Lex's journey was a longer one. He is by far the one character that grew/changed the most during the run of the series in such a powerful almost heartbreaking way. In fact had it been a new story with characters we didn't know I think a lot of people might have been crushed this nice guy/friend of Clarks' turned into such an evil S-O-B. In some ways we were shielded from the heartbreak by the fact as Superman fans we knew from the start where Lex was going. Whether it was evil Lex, friendly Lex, or just sneaky Lex, Mr. Rosenbaum played it to perfection.

I am not selling Tom Welling short by any means. He literally carried this show on his shoulders at times and I think we can safely say it would not have lasted anywhere near as long as it did without him in the top spot. His Clark was purposely up and down, and while as fans of Superman that can rub us the wrong way at times, you could never once say Mr. Welling wasn't giving it 100%.

Other characters the show introduced were fantastically cast and played. John Glover's Lionel Luthor is someone I would love to see incorporated further in the DCU and Allison Mack took on a difficult roll of bringing alive a character no Superman fan knew and solidly added her to Clark Kent's life.

It would probably take too long to list all the DCU characters brought to life on this show if even just briefly. Almost all of them were played by actors that really fit the part and the only real missteps I can think of throughout the 10 years were Maxima and Mxyzptlk and those were due to characterization and not necessarily any issues with the actors. Justin Hartley as Green Arrow, Philip Morris as Martian Manhunter, James Marsters as Brain-I.A.C, Laura Vandervoort as Kara Zor-El, and Michael McKean as Parry White were perhaps the highlight of the DCU characters brought to life on Smallville. Still even smaller lesser DCU characters were knocked out of the park. Other highlights to me were Lucas Gabriel as Connor Kent, Michael Shanks as Hawkman, Brian Austin Green as Metallo, Pam Grier as Amanda Waller, and Alaina Huffman as Black Canary but there were so many more characters I really enjoyed seeing brought to life, if even just briefly.

http://supermanhomepage.com/tv/tv.php?topic=reviews/smallville-finale2

 

[Webhead2006]

For once someone saying nice things over there. Usually the show and actors where bashed endlessly.

 

[avidreader]

I'll always love Smallville for giving me a Clark Kent that I can actually relate to and get to know better ... so as much as I loved being a wide eyed teenager sitting in the cinema watching Christopher Reeve fly across the big screen, Tom Welling's portrayal of the character was perfection for me.