JLA Week: Smallville: "Justice" (January 18, 2007)

In “Justice,” Clark Kent (Tom Welling) is still busy rounding up Kryptonian criminals who have escaped from the Phantom Zone.  But when his old friend, Bart Allen (Kyle Gallner) -- the fastest man alive -- happens into Kansas, Clark is suspicious that something is up.

He’s right. 

Bart is now working in secret with Oliver Queen/Green Arrow (Justin Hartley), Arthur Curry/Aquaman (Alan Ritchson), and Victor Stone/Cyborg (Lee Thompson Young) to help stop Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), and his secret “33.1” program, which involves the capture and exploitation of those with unusual abilities. His plan seems to to create an army of "super freaks."

On his mission to learn more, Bart walks into a trap at the Luthorcorp Ridge Facility, and Clark attempts to rescue him, unaware that the same facility is refining the meteor rocks that are deadly to him. 

Fortunately, Oliver’s “Justice” league comes to the rescue, and destroys the facility.

This sixth season episode of Smallville (2001 – 2011) written and directed by Steve DeKnight, sets up the Justice League for future appearances on this long-lived superhero series. Indeed, the league would return with new members (like Black Canary) throughout the remainder of the program’s run.

We live now in an age when superheroes on film and TV are not shy at all about appearing on-screen in comic-book uniforms. Smallville emerges from the age immediately preceding that one (post X-Men 2000]) when this was not the case. There was some embarrassment, apparently, on the part of producers about the comic-book costumes. Accordingly, the Justice League featured here is not seen in uniform, but rather in colorful “hoodies” and designer eye wear.  

The Flash -- here called Impulse -- wears a red hoodie, for example. Green Arrow wears a green one.  In a nod to the character’s appearance in The Super Friends, Arthur Curry’s Aquaman in Smallville is seen in an orange shirt.  

It’s not a perfect solution, for certain, and today – post-Avengers [2012], the hoodies seem silly and unnecessary, when we could have seen the characters in their classic uniforms instead.

So how does “Justice” hold up today? 

Well, again, one must consider the historical context. Smallville arose from a TV era that gave us two brilliant genre series: The X-Files (1993-2002), and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 – 2003). In those series, audiences saw monsters-of-the-week, and also a strong post-modern, or “meta” sensibility.  

The same is true for Smallville.  

Especially notable in this episode is the latter quality.  Oliver jokes that he wants to give his league something with the name “Justice” in it. Similarly, Clark notes he boasts some “pretty amazing friends,” which seems like a reference to the Super Friends version of the Justice League.  The whole episode is quippy and tongue-in-cheek, and yet effective dramatically in one very real sense.

What is that sense? 

Well, Smallville ran for a very long time, and had a very “slow burn” approach to its story arcs.  “Justice” is worthwhile because Victor, Arthur, Bart, and Oliver, of course, have all had special episodes devoted to their back-stories and abilities by this point. "Justice" is not their first appearance, but rather their first appearance together. Accordingly, there is a sense of history about each of the league members that we would not have had, if the series had not assiduously devoted time and energy to establishing their characters individually. That history pays off here.

And yes, the episode is a bit cheesy.   

I won’t write, as one character quips, that “disappointment abounds,” but clearly this is the Justice League on a live-action TV budget. The team’s most dramatic moment finds the group -- walking in slow-motion-photography -- in the foreground of a shot, as Lex’s facility explodes in the background.  The effects don’t hold up particularly well today, and the moment doesn’t make  any sense anyway. 

Oliver is still human, rather than meta-human, right? Wouldn’t he want to move quickly away from a fireball?  

Actually, the same thing holds true for Clark, since we know meteor rocks are on the premises, and would make for very dangerous shrapnel in an explosion of the size we witness.  But now, instead, we get a cool-for-cool’s sake moment.

The other disappointment, of course, is that Justice League as featured here lacks two of the most famous and notable members: Batman and Wonder Woman. Come to think of it, this Justice League, at this juncture, is all-male.

Still, I was a big fan of Smallville over the years, in part for the investment that Welling and Rosenbaum clearly put into their starring roles. 

So when “Justice” aired for the first time -- a decade ago -- I was thrilled to see the Justice League come together in live action.

Superman Week: Smallville (2001 - 2011)

Smallville (2001 – 2011) is the longest-running superhero series in television history. 

The fact that this series ran so long also means that, to some extent, Smallville managed to out-live the snarky criticism it faced at the very beginning of its life, which compared the Superman “prequel” to Dawson’s Creek.

I still remember the early days when some geeks termed the program “Dawson’s Cape, or "Kal-El’s Creek.”

In truth, that comparison to another teen-centric WB hit series never exactly fit, and Smallville seemed to re-invent itself every couple of years, anyway. 

Smallville began as a series that was part-Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 – 2003) and part-X-Files (1993 – 2002) it seems to me, since it focused on a team of adolescent “Scoobies" -- Clark Kent (Tom Welling), Lana (Kristin Kreuk), Pete Ross (Sam Jones III) and high-school reporter Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) -- investigating “Freaks of the Week” from Chloe’s “Wall of Weird.”  

In this continuity, Clark arrived on Earth during a violent meteor shower, and Kryptonite -- or “meteor rocks” -- not only affected him, but transformed normal humans (and often high-school teenagers) into monsters with super-powers.  “Metamorphosis’ featured “the Bug Boy” (Chad E. Donella), “Cool” featured a boy Sean Kelvin (Michael Coristine) who could freeze anyone he touched, “Cravings” starred future Man of Steel (2013) Lois Lane, Amy Adams, as a girl with the insatiable desire to eat…everything, and so forth.

By the time of the second season, however, the Freak of the Week paradigm became less repetitive, and the series started to focus on myth-building, on charting Clark’s journey to manhood. Over the years Smallville became more confident of its identity as a more traditional re-assertion of the Superman legend, one featuring a variety of villains and heroes from DC comics, plus serialized story-lines of remarkable complexity and maturity.

One key aspect of the program that elevated it above mere rip-off of Buffy or The X-Files was the  on-going Clark/Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) relationship and dynamic.  In this universe, Clark and Lex become best friends for a time, but friends with opposite -- and opposing -- destinies.  The series often brilliantly played these two men as mirror images in terms of their choices and friendships, and even in terms of their family lives.

And the really great thing about Smallville’s long run is that it allowed a full exploration of Superman’s youth, without racing rapidly through any particular stage or period.  Even the great Superman: The Movie (1978) can't afford to linger, for long, on the Smallville interlude.  

So the first few seasons of Smallville involve Clark’s (Tom Welling) discovery of his extra-terrestrial origin, and the development of such powers as his heat ray (“Heat”) and X-Ray vision (“X-Ray”).

Meanwhile, the third season involves the creation of the Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic.

The fifth season brings about the death of Clark’s adopted father, Jonathan (John Schneider), and season seven introduces Supergirl (Laura Van Voort).

Finally, Seasons 8 through 10 move Clark and Lois (Erica Durance) to Metropolis and to the Daily Planet for the traditional Superman story we have come to expect in all iterations of the mythology. 

Although many times throughout the series, fans complained (loudly) about Clark’s slow progress  from adolescent to superhero, it’s also fair to state that there’s an arc and direction to Smallville, and that by going chapter-by-chapter, stage-by-stage, the series pays off in its high-flying 2011 conclusion (which features an inspiring, emotional reprise of John Williams’ “Superman March.”)

Also, Smallville universally kept things interesting by introducing different villains as yearly “Big Bads,” to co-opt Whedon nomenclature.  Brainiac (James Marsters) menaced Clark throughout Season 5. Doomsday (Sam Witwer) is the villain of Season 8.  Major Zod (Callum Blue) is the nemesis of Season 9, and so on. 

Meanwhile, the final three or four seasons also involve the incipient gathering of the Justice League, with Clark teaming-up often with Aqua Man (Alan Ritchson), The Flash (Kyle Gallner), Martian Manhunter (Phil Morris), Hawkman (Michael Shanks), Cyborg (Lee Thompson Young), and series regular, Green Arrow (Justin Hartley).

Finally, I would be remiss if I failed to note how thoroughly Smallville honors previous Superman productions with meaningful guest roles for previous and beloved performers.  Christopher Reeves has a recurring role early in the series as Dr. Virgil Swann.  Terence Stamp (Superman II's General Zod) provides the voice of Jor-El in The Fortress of Solitude throughout the series.  Also, Dean Cain, Teri Hatcher, Margot Kidder, and even Lynda Carter make crucial appearances throughout the series’ run.

I know it is easy to quibble with details or get frustrated with pacing, but it’s difficult for me to understand how fans could not fall in love this modern Superman series, which demonstrates such tributes to the past, as well as such an infusion of characters from the comic universe.  Also, via the home scenes with Jonathan and Martha (Annette O'Toole) Kent, Smallville demonstrates genuine heart on a regular basis. 

My wife and I binge-watched Smallville two years ago, and it was a great experience.  I can certainly name some stinker episodes (like the vampire entry "Thirst"), but overall it's a grand and unforgettable -- and emotionally resonant -- re-boot of the Superman mythology.

The Longest Running Superhero TV Show in History Is...

...Smallville.

Derided back in 2001 as Kal-El's Creek (or Clark's Creek, or Dawson's Cape), Smallville -- this sturdy re-imagination of the Superboy mythos - has certainly established itself as a real survivor.

After all, Smallville was one of the few network shows to successfully make the jump from the now defunct WB to the CW. It has also survived the competition: a big-budget movie resurrection of its main character in 2006's Superman Returns.

Smallville has even survived -- and flourished -- after the departure of main characters/actors, like Michael Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor and Kristin Kreuk's Lana Lang.

Now renewed for a landmark ninth season, Smallville has lasted an impressive duration, one greater than Batman (1966-1969), Lois and Clark (1992-1996), The Adventures of Superman (1951-1958), or even Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003).

The only bailiwick in which the series hasn't witnessed much good luck is in the creation of a spin-off to replace it. Mercy Reef, the Aquaman re-imagination...sunk without a trace.

In all, this is a surprising turn of events for a superhero TV series that The Washington Post derided as "pandering to the WB''s adolescent audience" and Variety termed "one more semi-soap opera about beautiful teens with self- esteem problems."

And don't forget, the series was even criticized/protested early on for the fact that images in the pilot (of Clark Kent strung up in a Kansas corn field...) reminded some people of the Matt Shepard murder that occurred in October of 1998.

My opinion of Smallville? Well, the ubiquitous Dawson meme simply isn't true...it just happens to be a good (and really easy...) joke. I suspect most of the people who make that particular complaint haven't actually watched the show. At least not lately. Sure, the first season was a weak, "Freak of the Week" circus that seemed more like a (bad) knock-off of The X-Files than Superman.

However, by the third season, the series had established its own identity, and established it well. Which doesn't mean there aren't still some really terrible episodes you have to contend with (particularly one with a vampire sorority, and another with Lana unexpectedly possessed by a 17th century witch...) But these ridiculous moments are often mitigated by great, portentous ones (like the apocalyptic vision of Lex Luthor in the Oval Office, in "Hour Glass.")

It's also difficult to accuse this durable series of disrespecting Superman lore since it has lovingly paid tribute to the actors who made the character and his universe so memorable on film and television (with guest stars including Terence Stamp, Margot Kidder, Dean Cain, the late Christopher Reeve, and Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter).

Smallville also creatively incorporates many aspects of the mythos, from Zod and Jor-El to The Fortress of Solitude, to the Phantom Zone, and the larger DC universe (including Cyborg, The Flash, Green Arrow and Aquaman).

I suppose my bottom line is this: I can (usually...) view Smallville without pain and suffering, which I honestly can't say for any iteration of the popular Stargate SG:1, which I find truly cringe-worthy. I'll take Smallville over Stargate any day. I feel the same way about Smallville over Supernatural. Or Ghost Whisperer.

Although that's like being voted the nicest inmate in prison, as I am wont to say.

Regardless, I believe in giving credit where credit is due, and so without snark, I congratulate Smallville for its great success and longevity on network television.

And I can't help but wonder: does this mean my Smallville action figures are actually worth something?