The Return to the WB/CW Teen-Drama Formula With Some Highlights

DVDs:


	• Smallville - The Complete Seventh Season Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum Warner Home Video, 2008 average customer review:based on 33 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Sean Pasek is spot on, but too high score

Sean is right, too many highly anticipated moments were a let down by poor disjointed writing. I too am a great fan since season 1 and would rate most seasons a 5, unfortunately this season fell short of its usually stellar performances, especially Lana's character. A few great shows saved this from being a 1 or 2.

The Return to the WB/CW Teen-Drama Formula With Some Highlights

After watching the season finale of season 6 with the introduction of Bizarro, I was excited believing the CW writers would step-up and transform Clark Kent from the not-so mild-mannered farm boy (that is more in tune with John Byrne's adaptation that Siegel and Shusters) into the caped Man of Steel that we've all been waiting for. Instead, the writers went on strike. When they came back, they put-together a mis-match bundle of episodes that made myself and other comic fans and scholars cringe.

To myself and others, season six was the pinnacle of the series, especially with the "Justice League" episode where the team walks away from the ruble with serious expressions knowing their work has just begun. THAT was awesome and, to me, it should have been where Clark Kent began to develop into the Man of Steel. Instead, season seven went in complete reverse and brought the franchise back to it's roots; teen drama. Granted that is what the WB (Now CW) is known for but the original four seasons were to show Clark Kent's high school years; when that theme ran it's course the producers decided to explore the early transformation of Clark Kent into the Man of Steel but that theme has gone on and on... and on for about three seasons and now season seven retrogresses back into teen drama once again.

The teen-drama begins with Kara (AKA Supergirl), Clark's cousin from Krypton. Now, Supergirl was introduced in the 1950s to entice younger readers with what historian Bradford Wright calls "silly stories." In this regard, the CW sticks true to the comics as Kara's stories right from the start are exactly that starting with a Miss Smallville beauty contest. The distrust and arguments from Clark to Kara are somewhat true to the comics although their back and forth badgering spanning several episodes got annoying and her character development seemed to be more on her revealing outfits. It's obvious they didn't hire Laura Vandervort (Kara) for her good acting or bright ideas. Then again, with the exception of Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor), the same can be said of the entire cast.

The next element of annoying teen drama was the back-and-forth love story of Clark and Lana Lang. Now, anyone remotely familiar with the Superman mythos knows Superman is destined to be with Lois Lane and Lana was more of a childhood crush to help with the back story rather than be a recurring character. For the sake of the first four Smallville seasons, this meant Lana had to stay and rightfully so. Problem is, even with Clark Kent "maturing" after his graduation from high school, Lana wouldn't leave, the drama intensified, and she actually became a detested character. Lana's constant trust then mistrust of Clark was more akin to a bad soap opera than intriguing drama. Thank GOD she's gone!

On top of that, without Clark Kent even dreaming of becoming the Man of Steel, he has fought several primary villains from the Superman franchise such as General Zod (which was poorly done), Brainiac, and Bizarro. Now I hear Clark Kent, not Superman, will face Doomsday in season 7 the villain that "killed" Superman in 1993.

To compensate for a lack of Superman development, the writers decided to use some creative liberties and introduced a group called "Veritas," a secret society that knows a "secret" on how to control "the traveler" AKA Clark Kent. Now, I loved that they brought Robert Picardo (known as The Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager) as a guest star on an episode or two, but the Veritas conspiracy essentially seemed more of the same trust/mistrust style story that just had a Latin name.

To me, however, the largest complaints of the series is the horrible insertions of commercial advertisements into the show. The episode "Hero" was nothing but a 42-minute long advertisement for Stride Gum under the guise of bringing back the 'beloved' character Pete Ross. Ross even goes as far as to hold up a container of Stride Gum with a smile on his face. Last time I saw something that blatant was a parody of advertising in Wayne's World. The show also inserted numerous Toyota references, especially to the Yaris. Granted in one episode in season six Chloe gives Clark her keys and says, "Take the Yaris," not realizing the head space in one of those cars would not be sufficient to allow actor Thomas Welling (who is easily over six feet tall) to drive comfortably. Believe me, I've sat in one and I'm 6'5.

Now, despite all my criticisms I do have some compliments on season seven and these pluses will push me to purchase the series!

The episode "Apocalypse" where Clark witnesses a world without him, while being an obvious rip-off of It's a Wonderful Life, has an interesting yet subtle message embedded into it. It shows Clark Kent trying to blend in by being bumbly, wearing a traditional dark suit with thick glasses, and showing affection for Lois. To me, this shows what Smallville would look like if they went from what they are to what many critics are demanding they become and I gotta tell ya, aside from the nuclear missiles I liked what I saw. This was Thomas Welling's debut as a director and I thought he did an excellent job portraying himself as what Clark Kent SHOULD be. I think the CW writers should move towards this mindset minus the nuclear Armageddon.

The next episode I really liked was "Action" where an action film purposefully made to look like the Superman franchise is being filmed in Smallville. This episode was made in response to various fans, such as myself, criticizing Lana Lang's character as antiquated and unnecessary demanding that she be booted off the show. While this episode makes a strong reference to the disaster on the set of The Crow, it still takes an almost humorous jab at it's critics, so kudos to the writers for that episode.

After all is said and done, I can barely recommend this season to Smallville fans; it retrogresses back to teen drama and bores the audience with back and forth drama that resembles a cheesy soap opera than a comic-based show. However, it does have some quality points that fairly redeem it in my eyes and I hope the writers, now back from the strike, will shape up or ship out as I will watch season eight with a heightened sense of scrutiny.

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Smalllville is going down ..."""

Clark !!! Where are you ?

My gosh .Clark is gone .There is no clue about where is he ?

I mean .This tv serie is not the same than other seasons .Smallville is going down hardly .One of the biggest complaints in these reviews on Amazon.com is that Smallville never goes anywhere with the storyline and this is true ..Completely true .Its always the same story with the same sky
Four or five episodes can pass with virtually nothing of significance like always and having happened, and then you get an exceptionin which Lex kills his own father Lionel and ( please watch the episode because i cant tell you )

Smallville narratively remains one of the most timid shows on TV, barely moving the overall story along from one season to the next

3 stars for smallville ..Be careful ..is going down ""

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Good season but not better than the earlier seasons.

Smallville: Season Seven is not as bad as the other reviews have said. the 20 episodes of Smallville that were broadcast this year is still good. Tom Weiling as Clark Kent, Kristen Kreuk as Lana Lang and Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor are still part of the show when season 7 was made during the Hollywood Writers Strike. The Smallville stories are good but not as great Smallville season 6. What saves this season is the introduction of Clark Kent's Cousin, Kara Kent. Laura Vandervoort does a great job as Kara Kent aka Supergirl and the episodes that have Helen Slater, original Supergirl from 1984, playing Clarks biologial Mother, Lara are wonderful! The Bad thing about the season is that Laura Vandervoort gets more screen time than Erica Durance as Lois Lane. There were some bad episodes this season but I do not believe some of Amazon.com reviews people have posted. Season 7 of Smallville is not that bad. Smallville season 7 is a good season but NOT up to standard as Smallville seasons 1-6. C+

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