Smallville Season 7 Review

Okay, I know it's been awhile since I've done a Smallville season review (I think I reviewed season 2 in April), and I've skipped out on a lot reviews, so, first, here's some quickies for seasons 1-6:

Season 1= mediocre except for three good episodes
Seasons 2-4= genuinely great episodes mixed in with still mediocre ones
Season 5= okay, now we're getting somewhere
Season 6= it was the best of times, it was the worst of times

You get the idea.

In A Nutshell:
So, after the events the season six finale, Clark has to battle Bizarro, his evil clone, Chloe winds up in a bad position after using her super powers for the first time, and none other Super Girl (her actual name is Kara, they only call her Super Girl like once) has been freed from suspended animation. The rest of the season is mainly centered around Clark and Kara dealing with each other, as well as the plans of Braniac (yeah, he's not dead, but you already knew that) and Lex's descent into full on bad guy as he digs into the history of the mysterious group called Veritas (yeah, I'm probably not spelling that right).

The Good:
Let me just take a moment to say that, for the most part, this season was what I wanted see: an incredibly awesome chunk of storytelling.

First, you've got Bizarro and Braniac. They aren't just my favorite Superman villains, they're two of my favorite super villains period. The first episode of the season was Clark and Bizarro battling each other, and it was pretty darn epic. Granted, they disposed of him pretty quickly, but when he was around, it was awesome. Braniac is somehow more awesome this season than in season 5, just because he's more evil, and when he's being evil, you just get this sense that (expletive removed) is going down/hitting the fan.

As far as Kara/Super Girl went, I think they did a really good job with her. It could have easily just been "hey, look at this hot girl" (granted, she is really hot), but they gave her stuff to do, and she did it well. And yes, she did have her share of cool fight scenes and managed not to contradict herself. Something that's just wrong with TV today is how they have female characters who contradict themselves every five minutes (think Lorie in the Walking Dead). Granted, she was not the best characterized character to ever drop by the farm, but I thought she was a good part of the season. And she can fly.

This was also an action-heavy season, and that was absolutely a good thing.

The overall story arc with Lex and Veritas was really interesting. For the most part, it was there to show Lex and his descent into pure evil (they even have an episode called Descent). I thought the Veritas story line was intriguing and it lead to some really cool episodes and great twists. Lex's complete transformation was believable, intense, and honestly kind of epic. And it all lead up to the season's final scene, which was some of the finest minutes of television I've ever seen.

The Bad:
Lana. Season 6 ends with you thinking she's dead, but, guess what, she's not (dammit!). If you didn't wish she would just leave or get killed off or something by season 7, you've got your head on backwards! I started really wishing she'd go away in season five when she turns into an evil witch and starts dating Lex, and that's basically what she was like all of season 6, and then in season 7 she comes back and they all love her for some reason. Her character is so inconsistent and random that it drives me nuts. And she makes the show feel like a soap opera sometimes by just being there! It's absurd. Fortunately, her role in season 7 was a minor one. Lana and the occasional extreme corniness of a couple of episodes were my only problems with the season (well, and how quickly they offed Bizarro).

Final Rating: 92%