Death On The 100th Episode Of "Smallville" - Surprising?
The WB has been touting the death of a main character on "Smallville's" big 100th episode for weeks now. Last night, it aired. Wooo whoo! Sound the alarm! Eh. Not really.
Ok. So I used to watch this show all the time. Main reason - Tom Welling. So cute! Michael Rosenbaum too. Then... the show started to feel like it had jumped the shark. Somewhere after Chloe came back from the dead and we found out Lana was a reincarnated witch. Sure, the tatoo was cool, but come on. I started to think I liked the witch better than Lana!
Then, of course, the time slot was effecting my viewing. "Survivor" was the problem. Real people making each other suffer is always a good time. Since there's not a cable compatible dual tuner TiVo yet, I can't watch one show and record another. So, I chose the non-"Smallville" show.
(Warning: Spoiler ahead!)
Since the new season of "Survivor" doesn't start until next week, I watched last night's episode just to see who would die. Admittedly, I don't know lots about the Superman universe. Mostly what I know, I learned from Christopher Reeve. However, the one thing I already knew from this "schooling" is who - among the current cast of characters - doesn't make it to Clark's adulthood. One person has been living on borrowed time since the show began. Yes, that's right. Jonathan Kent. We learned in the very first "Superman" movie - long long ago - that Clark's pop dies of a heart attack while Clark is in high school. Well, I guess Welling's Clark was getting long in the tooth. High school years quickly passing by and all.
The thing is, the buzz surrounding this episode was that it would be someone "surprising" - someone that would break some rules of the Superman world. Err... I don't think so. Even I knew Jonathan would die sooner or later. I was heartily disappointed to see that even after being away from the show for months, I still knew what was going on - not everything, of course, but enough to feel like it was getting too soap opera-ish. (The fortress of solitude looked cool, though). Ah well. Not everything can be "Lost" or "Battlestar Galactica." So with such predictability, why keep watching? Well ... Tom Welling is just getting hotter. That's a good thing.
"Survivor" starts again next week. So much for my renewed interest in "Smallville." Maybe "Smallville's" new parent company should pit former WB stars against former UPN stars in a new CW network battle of the stars on a deserted island with no food, water or cell phones. I'd so watch that! --Shannon Nolley
Has the series been more consistent with the earlier comics or the 1985-86 timeline thus far? Or, prior to Mr. Kent's death were they roughly the same? Like I said, I'm only familiar with the movies (as I suspect the majority of the viewing audience is - then again, they may be young enough that they never saw those at all).
-- Posted by: shannon at January 27, 2006 12:58 PMThere have been more similarities with the comics thus far, mostly with DC universe characters appearing, as well as some super-villians, such as Brainiac (a.k.a. Milton Fine). Personally, I had hoped that the series would go the way of the comics and another character would have bit the proverbial bullet (later Chloe).
-- Posted by: Dennis at January 27, 2006 2:22 PMThey keep tweaking the comic book continuity, though. Recently, it seems they've incorporated some of the mythos invented on the show into the comic books.
Movie and TV versions of Superman have always affected the comics. In 1986, when they rebooted the comic book, they took a lot of inspiration from the movies. Lois and Clark got married in the comic books for the first time in almost 60 years, basically because it was happening on "Lois & Clark"
The fact that they've killed off Jonathan Kent on the show, and that the new Superman movie coming out this summer follows the continuity of the Christopher Reeve movies (meaning Jonathan Kent also passed away when Clark was a teen there) could be enough to sway comic writers to somehow alter it in the comic as well later on.
-- Posted by: Doug at January 27, 2006 7:54 PMTom Welling = yummy! I wish they had chosen him for the movie. I heard he was never an option since it would mean an end to the show... but c'mon... HUGE for the guy's career. Too bad. I think the guy playing Superman in the new movie looks very stiff.
-- Posted by: Rachel at January 28, 2006 8:56 AMJonathan Kent should not have died It was so Freekin GAY!! I hate lnan so i was so happy when she died but once she came back to life i was so upset why couldent Lana Lang die Jonathan was such a better actor than she is actres! I hate what they have done to the show!
OMG that was the most insane episode ever!!!!
there better be more!!! that was so intense i didn't think i was going to make it!!!
seriously if there isn't another episode im sueing!!!.....lol
i agree w/ some of u...yes jonathan did origanally die. it still sux..but yet i like them to stick to the comics as much as possible. another thing is...i really dont like the looks of this new movie(or at least the guy playing superman.) i think tom welling should have done the part,but yet maybe not if the movie sux...lol we'll still have smalville if all else fails. also,i hate all these new directors that make a marvel movie and fuck it up,i like the originals(just made to movies.) neway..thats my 2 cents...peace,and hope to god all the rest of the marvel movies r great!
-- Posted by: geoff at February 8, 2006 1:56 AMI think that this episode was the best yet!! It was so intense and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!!!
-- Posted by: Ben at February 8, 2006 10:15 AMi wish that jonathan didn't die now it was made clark nothin but miserable and i like lana so i was glad she didn't die and i just wish that nobody had died and that clark hadn't given away his powers and then it wouldn't have happened and i am sure clark feels that much guilt also!Hang in there clark!
-- Posted by: Lorena at February 12, 2006 2:12 PMI am glad that Clark told Lana his secret so that they can be together.I think It was cool tha Clark used his heat vision to turn the coal into a diamond right in front of Lana's face and he asked her to marry him and she said yes.I think that Lana Lang and Jonathan Kent both should nothave died in that episode because Clark took Lana to the fortress of Solitude to tell her his secret and to marry her by surprise.I think that Clark should have told Lana his secret wether she died or not cause now Clark and Lana are not talking to each other and Lana still doesn't know about Clark's ability's or that he came from planet Krpton in a spaceship in the first meteor shower.
-- Posted by: Artie at February 25, 2006 12:27 AM
The reason why they said it would break the rules of the Superman Universe is that in the Comics, Jonathan Kent has not died in the current continuity. He did die in an alternate time line released in 1985-1986 Superman the Movie had also taken this approach.
So for some people, it was a surprise.
-- Posted by: Matt at January 27, 2006 12:21 PM