Declaring you're both a fan of Superman comics and like Smallville is equivalent to admitting that you're a Star Wars fan and you kind of like The Phantom Menace. It's just not done. The difference is that while The Phantom Menace is consistently mediocre, Smallville just gets a really bad press. It's terrible sometimes, sure, but just as often, it's pretty great. It ended over two years ago now, so here's a quick recap for those of you who never watched the show or have decided to pretend it didn't exist. Smallville (2001-2011) ran for 218 episodes and was about Clark Kent's journey to become Superman. Its unpopularity stems from its stubborn adherence to the 'no flights, no tights' rule, which most memorably led to Clark taking the name of The Red-Blue Blur so the series could save the birth of Superman for the final episode. Smallville is silly, soapy, full of angst, and unintentionally hilarious, and that is why, on occasion, it works. It's not consistent, and it's not the same Superman fans were seeing in comics at that time, nor is it the grittier interpretation of Man of Steel; Smallville does what it says on the tin, which is explore a juvenile Superman's efforts to become a hero, with Silver Age body-swapping, melodrama and morals thrown in. The show proves that there's more than one way to get Superman right, and here are ten episodes in which Smallville does just that.
