10 TV Characters Who Deserved Better

While everyone knows that Clark Kent's primary love interest is Lois Lane, Smallville did things quite differently, as this iteration of the young farm boy spent eight out of the show's ten seasons pining after his childhood sweetheart, Lana Lang.

This wasn't a bad thing, though, as Lana was an incredibly well-written character. Well, at least at first. In the first few seasons, it was easy to see why Clark was so in love with her. The character had struggles of her own, stemming back to her parents' death in the meteor shower that brought Clark to Earth. She was certainly characterised as the girl next door, but, make no mistake, there was a lot of depth in Lana Lang.

That is, until the character started behaving erratically in the later seasons of the show, and made decisions that went against her very nature. Her relationship with Lex, for one, was completely unbelievable, and ultimately didn't work.

The writers managed to salvage some of the original essence of Lana during her brief return in Season 8, and the tragic conclusion of her relationship with Clark was somewhat poetic, but it doesn't change the fact that - had Season 6 and 7 not existed - the character's arc could've been much stronger.