Top 10 Smallville Episodes (so far…)

10. Odyssey (Season Eight, Episode One)
Now, as you can probably tell from this top 10, I am a huge Smallville fan, but when I heard Smallville was returning for an eighth season, I was NOT happy. This premiere changed all that. First of all, I love the way this particular episode was shot. It felt like we weren’t being treated to a 40-minute episode of television, but a Smallville movie. The way everything was lit and how everything was colored felt very cinematic. This made the episode a lot more visually appealing then a normal episode. In the season 7 finale, “Arctic”, there were 3 characters left in limbo: Clark, Lex, and Chloe. In the premiere, you find out what happened to Clark and Chloe but it is very unclear what happened to Lex Luthor. The episode is aptly titled “Odyssey”, because it is about the odyssey our characters go through to get back home after the events of “Arctic.” This episode moved Clark’s character forward so much, it was almost unbelievable. I really liked seeing Clark finally take control of his destiny and get one step closer to the Superman we all know he will one day be. This premiere also succeeded in improving the season seven finale, much like what “Zod” (the season 6 premiere) did for the season 5 finale (”vessel”). The addition of a new character was a mixed bag for me, but Tess wasn’t as bad as she probably could have been. She was able to integrate herself so much into the Smallville universe that it felt right. This was the first episode without Lex and it surprised me how well the series could do without him. This is was especially surprising coming from me, as I’m a huge fan of Smallville’s portrayal of Lex Luthor.

9. Pilot (Season One, Episode One)

No “Best of” Smallville list could be complete without this episode, because this is what started it all. The pilot episode of Smallville has to be one of my all time favorite pilot episodes for any series. It just laid the perfect foundation for a series. I could tell you how, and what the episode is about, but if you haven’t seen the pilot and are reading this article, just go watch it! It really is a stellar series premiere. I think its funny to watch now though, because we have seen the series play out for eight years and things have changed a lot since then. I think everyone delivered phenomenal performances, and you really couldn’t wait to see where this series went from here. That is exactly what a pilot is supposed to do, and it did it perfectly.

8. Rosetta (Season Two, Episode Seventeen)

When I started watching Smallville, this was the episode that I was looking forward to watching the most. It was breathtaking. It wasn’t just the fact that this was Christopher Reeve’s first episode guest starring as the mysterious Virgil Swann, either. Well okay, that might be a big reason, but it’s only one of many. But I don’t want to gloss over the Christopher Reeve appearance, either I thought it was a great cameo. It was very fitting to have Clark learn about Krypton from a “Superman”, and ended up being one of my favorite moments of the entire series. The composer, Mark Snow, did a fantastic job with the score for this particular episode, by taking the Superman movie score and giving it a Smallville twist. When I made this list, I knew this episode would have to be in my top 10, because like I said, it is absolutely breathtaking.

7. Reckoning (Season Five, Episode Twelve)

This episode is a season-high for Smallville’s fifth season. Not only was it what the first half of the season had been building towards, but it’s also a big moment for the series in many respects. Not only because it was the hundredth episode of the show, but for so many other reasons. Clark decides at the beginning of the episode that he wants to finally tell Lana his secret after years of lying to her. What happens in the episode is a direct result of that choice. “Insurgence” changed the series in a big way, both in plot as well as the kind of stories Smallville was capable of telling. This episode proved to be a game-changer when it removed a key character in the show: Clark’s adopted father, Jonathan Kent. I loved John Schneider and was sad to see him go, but he was given a great send off. The episode was paced well with a proper dose of emotion and story beats, easily making it one of Smallville’s highlights.

6. Onyx (Season Four, Episode Seventeen)

I really love this episode, if only for the standout performance that Michael gives throughout it. Lex, through a lab accident, is split into two parts: regular Lex, and full-on evil Lex. I loved seeing “evil Lex” interact with all the other characters, especially Clark. This aspect gave us a view of the darkness that is always at work inside Lex and really showed what Lex would eventually become by series end. “Onyx” showcased just how awesome of an actor Michael Rosenbaum could be. His evil Lex wasn’t just pure evil, he was a combination of laugh-out-loud comedy and bone-chilling drama. Very awesome to watch indeed, and it contains one of my absolute favorite lines of the series: “I am the villain of the story.” Something to look forward to…

5. Lexmas (Season Five, Episode Nine)

This episode could’ve been a lame Smallville Christmas episode, but I think the writer of this episode made something that really defined the character of Lex Luthor. At the beginning of the episode, Lex gets shot and “dies”. His dead mother then appears to show him what his life would be like if he were to give up his money and power for the happy ending he’s always wanted. Of course, we know the road he’ll end up choosing, but it’s still interesting to watch. This is also the first time Lex has genuinely smiled in a long time, a side of the character I think Michael Rosenbaum enjoyed playing, as it’s not one we see often. When Lex eventually choses power over family, you may see it coming, but you can’t help but get chills when it happens. The music throughout the episode is upbeat and Christmas-y, but when Lex chooses darkness, the composer took that same music but made it cold and heartbreaking, making it worthy of note. A standout Lex-centric episode.

4. Insurgence (Season Two, Episode Twelve)

I really think this episode was where the entire series changed. Lionel and Martha are in Luthorcorp when a security team invades it, holding Lionel and Martha hostage. What ensues from this is pure havoc and intense excitement. It really showed us the kinds of storytelling that Smallville could pull off at the top of its game. This episode also marks the first time Clark “leaps tall buildings in a single bound,” in a scene that makes you leap from your chair and cheer. This episode also did a great job of furthering the confrontation between Lionel and Lex. And while every episode is usually a cat and mouse game between Father and Son Luthor, this takes it to a whole other level. It was an intense ride, from start to finish, and I enjoy every minute of it.

3. Zod (Season Six, Episode One)

It has been said by former Executive Producers Al Gough and Miles Millar that “Zod” was one of the most expensive episodes to date, and I can understand why. It was a fantastic premiere that really hit the ground running and never stopped until the end. In the season 5 finale, Krypton’s deadly dictator, General Zod, possesses Lex after escaping from the Phantom Zone, somehow managing to trap Clark in his place. This episode is just trying to deal with all of those degrees of craziness and it is INTENSE! A lot of people didn’t like the season 5 finale “Vessel”, which I can understand. They did take a few liberties as Smallville always does to bring this iconic character from the comics into the show. But this premiere took that somewhat weak finale and turned it into very very strong premiere. Michael Rosenbaum did a fantastic job portraying the ruthless General Zod. It was awesome to see him play a character that was so different from Lex, much more cold and emotionless. This episode also showed us the first Smallville depiction of the Phantom Zone, which I loved because it took things we already knew from previous incarnations of the Zone and made it their own. This was just an awesome episode and really seemed like the beginning of the end for Clark Kent . . .

2. Apocalypse (Season Seven, Episode Eighteen)

This is a standout episode for several reasons: One, it marked another directorial effort by series star Tom Welling. While this was not Welling’s debut behind the camera, I would definitely say that it was his standout directorial effort. Plus, the fact that he was busy behind the camera and was still able to give a stellar performance in front of it (in almost every scene!) was nothing short of amazing. In this episode, Clark feels that he is to blame for all the phantoms, meteor freaks and extraterrestrials that have plagued the world, and decides that his life isn’t worth anything. However, Jor-El, (Clark’s biological father), ala It’s A Wonderful Life shows Clark what life would be like if Clark had never existed, and it proves to be quite the eye-opener four our budding superhero. That alone sounds like the makings for a great episode, but the reason “Apocalypse” ranks so high on my list is the myriad of Superman references sprinkled throughout. You would have to be a die-hard Superman fan, such as myself to catch all of them, but they were mostly fun little things like seeing Jimmy’s POV through his camera (which is an obvious reference to the first Superman movie). On a character level, this episode was good because it finally got Clark to move past his “everything in the world is my fault” thing that has plagued him since the Pilot. It’s still there from time to time, but it isn’t nearly as overpowering as it used to be.

1. Descent (Season Seven, Episode Sixteen)

This episode, for me, was easily the best of the series. Why? Well, this episode where Lex Luthor finally murdered his own father, thus bringing his series-long “descent” into evil to an exhilarating conclusion. It is pretty pivotal episode because not only did Lionel die, but also he died in the very way everyone knew he would: at Lex’s hands. This was a moment we had all been waiting for ever since the Lex and Lionel dynamic was introduced in the pilot. Michael Rosenbaum played Lex Luthor’s final decent into darkness beautifully, as he’d probably been wait for that moment as long as the audience had (if not longer). It also marked the final split between the two characters of Lex and Clark, which was AWESOME to see. “Decent” was just an all-out great episode that was a strong return after the WGA strike. THE standout episode of the series.

TV GeeKritique

Small Screen Geeky Goodness

Greetings, one and all!

My name is Tim Costello (or “SuperTim” as I’m know around here), and I’m very excited to be joining the Geekshow family, as your friendly neighborhood television critic.

Now, I don’t pretend to be affiliated with any hotshot executives or TV big-wigs (but, that wouldn’t be half-bad),  I am just a fan of stellar television, not much unlike most of you reading this. To give you an idea of what you’ll be in for here, let me tell you a little bit about myself:

I am, by nature, a positive guy. In my opinion, there is enough negativity out in the world. When I watch an episode of a TV series or movie, I like to focus on what I liked rather than what I didn’t. But, of course, that doesn’t mean I’m blind to a show’s faults, either. As much as I’m a positive person, I’ll still call it like I see it.  But my goal is to create a positive environment with my reviews and articles. Because, let’s face it, the things we like about our favorite shows must outnumber the bad, or we wouldn’t come back week after week.

My favorite television series are the kinds that are able to give us awesome stories with equally awesome characters intermixed. For example, I think that Lost and Supernatural are two examples of the topnotch writing that can be delivered on a weekly basis, while still contributing to the overall story of the season and even the series. But, obviously this IS Geekshow, so there is a geeky side to the things I watch. My all-time favorite geek-related TV series are Smallville and Star Trek: the Next Generation.That being said, I am a recent convert of the all things Whedon, even though, I KNOW I’m definitely in the minority in thinking that Angel is a vastly superior show to Buffy. But hey, think what you will.

I’m glad to be here amongst some of my favorite fellow geeks. Geekshow has gotten me into several TV series that I am now a big fan of. I gave How I Met Your Mother and the Whedonverse series a go because of the Geekshow podcasts. I even listened to the season 1 episode of the Buffcast before I had ever seen a single episode. I’m looking forward to, hopefully, do the same for some of you.

If you like what you see, check out the other stuff I’ve worked on:

Starkville’s House of El (Smallville Reviews)

http://www.smallvillepodcast.com/category/reviews/page/2/

GeeKritique (now defunct, but once active):

http://www.geekritique.com

The Crossroads (A Supernatural podcast):

http://crossroadscast.tumblr.com