Smallville Season 8 Review

It could of very easily sucked... but it didn't...


In A Nutshell:
1 month after the end of season 7, the Fortress has self-destructed, Lex has dropped off the face of the planet, Chloe's being held in a meteor-freak jail, and Clark, stripped of his powers, is stuck in a Russian work camp. Green Arrow and his merry band of badasses are searching the globe for the lot of them, and Tess Mercer has stepped in as Luthorcorp CEO. After the first episode, the season mostly centers around mysteries of the Kryptonian beast Doomsday, who lies dormant with a man named Davis Bloom, Clark's new job at the Daily Planet with Lois (heads will roll), Jimmy and Chloe's impeding marriage, and Tess Mercer's search for the truth about Lex Luthor. Meanwhile, Clark adopts the persona "The Red-Blue Blur" to fight crime.


The Good:
I'll start by saying that two major story arcs for the season involved some major risks; the first risk is the Davis Bloom-Doomsday story. It only works under the assumption that you care about Davis. And you know what, you not only care about him, you feel sorry for him and his Jekyll-Hyde-esque  problem with the beast within him. It makes the story line interesting and just plain good. The other risk was Clark and Lois; if you didn't like seeing them bounce off of each other, which would be weird seeing how they're Clark and Lois, then you'd probably hate most of the season. But, they have great chemistry and they were fun to watch. The first episode of the season was amazing, and you have plenty of other great ones following it, such as "Identity", "Bloodline," "Bride," and "Legion", and you had a good time with most of them. The Blur story line was another part of what I liked about the season, partly because, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense; Clark has to start superhero-ing somewhere, and since he still can't fly, beginning as a secretive blur is logical, and it lends itself to some great action and character development.


The Bad:
Don't get the wrong idea, this was not a perfect season. Part of the problem was the slight decline in episode quality in the later half of the season. Another problem I had was with Tess. Why? Mostly because she's female Lex Luthor. Her motivation is the same, her goals are the same, and most of her lines just sound like they were written for Lex. That in itself isn't a bad thing, just because the show needs that type of character, but it pretty much screams "the writers are being lazy!". And then there's Lana, who comes back for five episodes. I knew that going in, but when I saw the words "Special Guest Star Kristin Kreuk" at the bottom of the screen, I almost screamed "OH COME ON!". Her very presence makes the show bad and Clark whiny. And now for my biggest issue with the season: Clark's final fight with Doomsday. Let me put it this way: when it ended, my reaction was "wait, that's it? That's all they're gonna do? Why... what?!". You get the idea.


Final Rating: 94%