Anti-Episode Wars—The Worst of All Seasons

[jsm]

Episode 7: Ambush. Like all Season 10 episodes, I've only seen it once, but I still didn't care much for it.
Episode 8: Spell
Episode 9: Subterranean

[rockyshadow]

Episode 7: Magnetic
Episode 8: Static
Episode 9: Abyss

[super_j_man]

Episode 7: Wrath
Episode 8: Static
Episode 9: Subterranean

[LordOnox]

Episode 7: Wrath
Episode 8: Spell
Episode 9: Subterranean

[costas22]

Episode 7: Craving (Ugh)
Episode 8: Static (Not even Batista could save this :p )
Episode 9: Pandora (Didn't like Patriot either, but at least that one wasn't as hyped up as this)

[Pali]

Episode 7: Magnetic
Episode 8: Static
Episode 9: Patriot

[BadToad]

Episode 7 : Magnetic
Episode 8 : Static
Episode 9 : Abyss

[RaniaLovesClois]

Episode 7: Craving
Episode 8: Static
Episode 9: Abyss

[Xanderman]

Magnetic (a "repelling" episode to be sure, followed closely by Wrath)
Blue (a truly "sad" excuse for an episode; Solitude was another clunker)
Subterranean (this needs to be put six feet under. I also disliked Lexmas and Bound)



I don't see anything wrong with adding a little comedy to the episode to lighten things up. As you said Maddie sounded like online bloggers which is what made it funnyI didn't find it funny though, just lame... I rewatched the scene to make sure I wasn't imagining things, but nope. Awful episode (first half anyway). I can't believe Homecoming is so well liked, it had such bad writing, directing, acting, everything. To me anyway. Anyhow, at least we're on the same page about Solitude and Magnetic this round... Looks like we've got more in common than either of us realized...perhaps there's hope for a peace between us yet, friend... :lol: j/k

[Supsfan]

To me anyway. Anyhow, at least we're on the same page about Solitude and Magnetic this round... Looks like we've got more in common than either of us realized...perhaps there's hope for a peace between us yet, friend... :lol: j/k

I thought I was the only person who disliked Solitude(I expect it to receive a few votes on the best of poll). lol

I just found the season 5 storyline of Jonathon dieing dragged down many episodes with it(Arrival-Hidden-Solitude-Reckoning all rank low on my like/dislike list due to them being tied to that storyline). In terms of your other picks we a bit off

1) I actually liked Wrath, I thought it was a good character driven Lana episode(that sadly they completely ignore later on)
2) I am not big fan of Blue or Subterranean but there is way worse the show has done that they don't even hit my worst of radar
3) I am probably one of the few who likes Bound, behind Onyx and Zero it's my favorite Lex-centric episode. To me Bound was the perfect setup for an episode. Lex is somewhat douchey, Clark is proactive and saves the day, limited angst. I found that much better then the overblown drama of an episode say like Shattered
4) I don't mind Lexmas but I find it vastly overrated, it sort of falls into what I said about Pandora, using a alternate timeline is a cheap storytelling method. I also would prefer if the show wanted to do an Christmas episode they make it fun and more light hearted(give it to Smallville to make Xmas depressing)

[jbshmdfb]

Episode 7 : Magnetic
Episode 8 : Blue
Episode 9 : Abyss

[HopeforTomorrow]

Episode 7: This one is tough for me. I'm going to say Kandor, beating out Rage and Wrath by a hair.
Episode 8: Static. Although HM's to Solitude, Blue, Abandoned, and Spell.
Episode 9: Abyss. By just a hair over Patriot. Pandora is right down there too with them though, IMO.

[Supsfan]

Episode 7: This one is tough for me. I'm going to say Kandor, beating out Rage and Wrath by a hair.

Is there going to be any Season 1-3 episodes that feel your Wrath? Magnetic doesn't even get a honorable mention :P

[Xanderman]

I thought I was the only person who disliked SolitudeYou're not alone in your solitude....by which I mean your disdain for the episode called Solitude. I too am filled with a quiet rage about that episode....a quiet lonely rage. lol gets a 4/10 from me.:cool:


I just found the season 5 storyline of Jonathon dieing dragged down many episodes with it(Arrival-Hidden-Solitude-Reckoning all rank low on my like/dislike list due to them being tied to that storyline). And then when he finally did die, we never heard the end of him did we. Photographs, memories, imposters, ghosts, Jonathan never quite learned what dead was supposed to mean. :lol:


4) I don't mind Lexmas but I find it vastly overrated, it sort of falls into what I said about Pandora, using a alternate timeline is a cheap storytelling method. I also would prefer if the show wanted to do an Christmas episode they make it fun and more light hearted(give it to Smallville to make Xmas depressingI hear ya, very overrated. Lexmas was mostly just boring for me. What someone like me needs Supes is drama for the sake of drama, overblown drama, with episodes say like Shattered, or angsty alternate universe/time travel drama, you know, with something like Pandora. lol just kidding.:D But I do personally think Shattered and Pandora are both great episodes...they got my vote in the opposite thread.

[Supsfan]

But I do personally think Shattered and Pandora are both great episodes...they got my vote in the opposite thread.

I didn't like Pandora, more so then Lexmas, it just felt cheap that the show used an alternate timeline to try build the main arc up. In the case of Lexmas they just used it to hint us to Lexana(although I guess one could argue it was part of the reason Lex decided to turn "bad" which was rather cheap). I think that's part of your beef with Homecoming, basically Clark goes into the future to get motivation to become what he is(which I do have a slight problem myself) although I have less problem with Homecoming then Lexmas because at least in Homecoming it was positive motivation rather then negative. In general I much rather character paths take their natural coarse then seeing how thing happen in the future being a deciding force what to do.

In terms of an Alternate Timeline episode that worked I think Apocalypse worked in the sense it showed us a world without Clark(although I hated the abrupt ending to that Alternate Universe, I also disliked the whiny Clark at the beginning). I would have much rather if Clark gotten taken to the AU of Apocalypse that they found a better way to bring him there then he is all whiney in the barn(again), basically if they made the episode more standalone it would have worked much better.

I think the Alternate Universe Luthor/Kent worked well this year because in the end it made little difference to Clark's choices in his life. I do think the show went for overkill with Alternative Timelines/Universes/Time Reversals though in S5+ being key to the storylines, when in all reality they should have been side episodes that have minimal effect on characters choices or season long storyarcs.

As for Shattered, I had a few issues with the episode(I hated the Clana, I never am a fan of Clark being written in no win situations and I never was a big fan of the amnesia storyarc) but overall it was good but I don't share the enthusiasm most do for it. I actually thought the followup Asylum was better

[HopeforTomorrow]

Is there going to be any Season 1-3 episodes that feel your Wrath? Magnetic doesn't even get a honorable mention :P

No Seasons 1-3 episodes make my worst episodes list - surprise, surprise. I will say that Magnetic was perhaps the weakest of the early seasons. I'll also add that I thought that Cool, Crush, Precipice, and Relic weren't great either. I can still watch those episodes without feeling highly annoyed though (some of it is unintentionally funny). Magnetic had a good B-plot (same with Relic), IMO, and the A-plot just came off as unnecessary high school relationship angst. That's not enough for me to put it near the bottom with some of the others. Even though it was one of the lower points as far as Clark goes in the early seasons, I didn't feel that it served to make a total mockery of his character like the last half of the series seemed to do more often than not.

As for Episode 7's, I don't despise any of them. I went with Kandor because it was just more disappointing to me than the rest. Jor-El (just a clone, I know) gets brought in just so that he can get the crap beat out of him for half the episode only for him to get mortally wounded just in time to die a bloody mess in Clark's arms. I also greatly disliked the way that Chloe and Oliver were shoehorned into the episode too. What should've been a big moment for Clark once again gets turned into a story for everyone else - a Seasons 6-10 trademark. Not to mention that I thought the casting for Jor-El was a little comical (even though I thought Julian Sands did alright).

[Supsfan]

I'll also add that I thought that Cool, Crush, Precipice, and Relic weren't great either. I can still watch those episodes without feeling highly annoyed though....

While I can agree with Cool(I actually like this one and probably would say Shimmer might be a better S1 episode to put low on the scale), Crush and Precipice not being highly annoying, Relic was pure and utter crap(and no I don't care if the b-ploteline was passable). I understand wanting a cheap excuse to have Clark and Lana makeout, but i would much preferred they just come up with a red K episode then the idiotic story they created

[HopeforTomorrow]

While I can agree with Cool(I actually like this one and probably would say Shimmer might be a better S1 episode to put low on the scale), Crush and Precipice not being highly annoying, Relic was pure and utter crap(and no I don't care if the b-ploteline was passable). I understand wanting a cheap excuse to have Clark and Lana makeout, but i would much preferred they just come up with a red K episode then the idiotic story they created

The main reason that I have Cool as my least favorite Season 1 episode is because I thought that the FotW got way too much screentime, and wasn't used that well. I liked Shimmer - I thought that it was better than Crush. Actually, maybe Crush is my least favorite for that season - I don't know. I didn't think that Relic was pure crap, but I have my problems with it, such as the ones you've mentioned. It was a cheap way of exploring "Clana" before another wrench got thrown into the relationship, and Jor-El's introduction was done poorly, IMO. There just didn't seem to be a whole lot of thought put into it for it being the 50th episode, but I guess that's Souders/Peterson for you.

[SGuthrie27]

Welcome back, folks, to the fourth round of Anti-Episode Wars: the Worst of All Seasons IV! As I’ve done during the past several rounds, I’ll begin by sharing my picks for the worst episodes of the seventh, eighth, and ninth sets of the seasons.

Episode 7: “Wrath.” It really does bring out all kinds of anger, fury, and loathing in me. I think I went to enough detail in describing my reasons for disliking it the first time through in sharing my mini-synopses of these episodes, so I won’t bother repeating myself, other than to say... “earthquakes.” :rolleyes: “Craving” comes pretty close, but it’s Season 1, so the characterization is so good, and Amy Adams is made of win, even if she is chowing down on roadkill deer. And I will never vote for “Magnetic,” as it features the ambush “candy-striping” Chlark kiss in the Smallville Medical Center file room. :lol:

Episode 8: “Static.” I didn’t have to think bat an eyelash in coming up with this choice. Ripping out people’s spines and chowing down on their bone marrow?! That part alone was enough to make me to want to vacate my dinner, lunch, and any other meals I may have had in my stomach when I first watched this episode. The other plotline was moderately more interesting, but not by much. :p

Episode 9: “Subterranean.” :mad: I’m not mad that I’m voting for “Subterranean.” I’m mad that it didn’t beat out the episode that DID win as the worst in this category this year. I will not get on my Chlarky Soapbox about it, though, ‘cause it wouldn’t be pretty. I’ll just rave about how much I love that episode in the Chlark thread or something. *takes several deep breaths as he tries to figure out how one of the best Chloe-centric episodes of all time was labeled as worse than a human groundhog burying illegal immigrants and Smallville trying to talk politics*

And now, the episodes YOU picked as the worst in each of these categories:
Episode 7: “Magnetic” (handily beat all the rest; has won two other times while “Craving” won once)
Episode 8: “Static” (another four-year winner, trouncing the rest of the competition!)
Episode 9: “Abyss” (achieves an upset victory over three-time winner “Subterranean”) :mad::mad::mad:

Let’s move into the fourth round before I break my promise about ranting about the poor fate of “Abyss.” :lol:

Episode 10:

Shimmer: The Luthor Mansion is haaaaaunteeeeed! Or is it? Nope, it’s just the creepy invisible brother of a creepy girl who stalks Lex in creepy ways and wants his almost equally (but hotter) girlfriend Victoria Hardwick out of there, pronto! In other news, Clark Kent is at the top of Chloe Sullivan’s speed dial. :cool:

Skinwalker: Clark Kent discovers the Kawatche Caves, and falls head over heels in a whirlwind romance with a werewolf girl who honestly may have shown better acting talents as the wolf than as the actual girl. :p Sorry... not a Kyla Willowbrook fan. :p

Whisper: A pair of thieves enters a jewelry store, the younger of the duo using his bouncy-Adam’s-apple screeching noise to shatter glass and drop everyone to their knees -- and cause spontaneous blindness when Clark’s heat vision ricochets off a piece of meteor rock jewelry. Yeah, but whaaaaa??? Oh, and Clark gets super-hearing, if you think that’s important.

Scare: People get scared. A lot. Couldn’t you tell that from the title? Okay, I’ll be more specific. Jason fears that Lana’s going to ditch him for Clark (yeah, it’ll happen). Lana worires that everyone will leave her (most of them do -- well, really, she’s the one who does the majority of the leaving). Chloe’s afraid she’ll become crazy like her mom (doesn’t really happen, but she does end up inheriting her meteor infection!). Lex worries that he’ll cause untold death and destruction and will become President of the United States (were these all prophetic dreams or something?!). Clark foresees another meteor shower and imagines Lana whacking him with a chunk of kryptonite (thank goodness that one didn’t happen!). Then people get un-scared. The end.

Fanatic: A psycho chick working for Students for Lex Luthor shaves her head, has her cronies beat up Jonathan Kent, wears Lex’s name as a necklace, shoots her BFFs, and then tries to force Lois to assassinate Jonathan at his campaign speech. One of the least interesting and rather irritating episodes of Season 5, IMO, and that’s without considering all the awkward Clana stuff.

Hydro: Linda Lake’s got a nose for the news -- and a watery one at that! She uses her ability to transform into water to listen in on all sorts of private conversations, leaking word that Lana’s holding out on accepting Lex’s marriage proposal because she still has feelings for Clark, and almost exposing the truth of Clark’s alien origins to the world! Um... I have nothing bad to say about this episode. Sorry!

Persona: Lana has been sleeping with Bizarro for like a month. Clark arrives in town after being frozen all this time in the Fortress, and major awkwardness ensues. Oh, and Lex gets mad that his cloned little brother wants to spend time with Daddy Lionel instead of Lex himself, so he has him shot a bunch of times. That’s brotherly love right there, folks., :rolleyes:

Bride: Chloe and Jimmy get married! Lois and Clark dance and almost kiss! Lana Lang returns to Smallville! Doomsday crashes the wedding and abducts the bride! This is one of my favorite episodes of all time! Please don’t vote for it! :rotfl:

Disciple: Someone with a penchant for leather, bows, and arrows, has been stalking the women in Oliver Queen’s life... but could it be Oliver himself? Nah. He wouldn’t shoot Lois, menace Chloe, or kidnap his own sidekick, especially thanks to Chloe’s drastic form of intervention with “Roulette.” It doesn’t really make this that much more interesting of an episode, however.

Luthor: Clark gets transported into a parallel universe where he was adopted by Lionel Luthor and raised as his son, growing up to become the deadly, rich, spoiled, and murderous Ultraman, who has been enjoying behind-the-scenes romance with his adoptive sister Tess, killed his brother Lex, and gets griped at by Lois and Oliver a lot. Meanwhile, Clark Luthor is hanging out in our world. Uh-oh!

Episode 11:

Hug: Two guys shake hands with people and make them do whatever they want to. That’s really the basic plot of the episode. Oh, and can someone say “Minty?!” :D

Visage: Whitney Fordman is back in Smallville! Made ya look! It’s really the shape-shifting Tina Greer, who is as psycho as she ever was, and will do anything to enjoy a “happily ever after” with Lana... including killing a Marine sergeant and trying to take Clark’s place! Creeeeeeepy!!!!

Delete: Everyone tries to kill Chloe! Well, I guess Pete doesn’t, but if Molly Griggs had the chance to send her hypnotic subliminal messaging e-mails to him, I’m sure she would have, too. The Chloe vs. Lana cat fight scene was better than the entire so-called “brawl” between Clark and Doomsday in the Season 8 finale. :lol:

Unsafe: Clark’s got a new girlfriend... a girlfriend who wants to redecorate his locker and barn, show up in his bed unannounced, shove her own father down the stairs, landing him in the hospital, trap Clark in a room with kryptonite when he refuses to go along with her craziness, and holds Lana at knifepoint. And did I mention Alicia Baker teleports?

Lockdown: Lex seals himself in his panic room when a couple of sheriff’s deputies arrive, demanding to be taken to the black ship while holding him at gunpoint. When he’s uncooperative, they go after Lana, who was just enjoying some more quality Clana angst taht should’ve been over half a season ago. (Wait, wouldn’t that be when the season started, SGuthrie? Yes, that’s my point.) Lexana hints ensue, Clark saves the day, but Lana doesn’t know it, so Clark mopes around and wonders whether he should finally tell Lana the truth. More on that in the next episode...

Justice: Lex’s 33.1 facilities have been popping up all over the world, experimenting on people with super powers on all seven continents! Well... maybe he doesn’t have a base in Antarctica yet... But someday he probably will! :lol: Who will rise up to stop his evil deeds? Meet the proto-Justice League: Green Arrow! Cyborg! Aquaman! Impulse! Watchtower! And... Boy Scout? Methinks they’ll work on that name a little...

Siren: Black Canary gets duped into thinking that Lex Luthor is one of the good guys when he sells her a sob story about his plants getting vandalized and his private company information being stolen by ruthless thieves, so she goes after Chloe, kidnaps Oliver, knocks out Lois, and then finally gets a stern talking to by Clark (before she screams and makes his ears bleed), and turns on the bald baddie when his true colors are exposed, earning her a place as the “den mother” of Oliver’s merry men.

Legion: With Chloe fully reinfected by Brainiac and preparing to absorb the knowledge of all of humanity, how can Clark hope to combat this powerful enemy, especially when the Kryptonian shield he could have used to extract Brainiac from his host ended up getting destroyed by an axe-wielding terrorist from the 31st Century? Enter the Legion of Super-Heroes, and one of the coolest team-ups in Smallville history. Yet another reason I love Season 8 so much. :D

Society: Who keeps killing off old super-heroes, including Starman, Sandman, and umm... didn’t someone else die? Wow, I think I need to re-watch this episode! Anyway, Clark, Chloe, and Oliver try to crack the case, and end up running into some iconic superheroes of an era long past, including Dr. Fate and Hawkman, along with their new protege, Stargirl! What truths will be revealed about the Justice Society, and can they team up with the modern day heroes to combat the menace of Icicle?

Icarus: Umm... there’s something about Hawkman catching on fire and plummeting to his death, Colonel Slade getting beamed to the Phantom Zone, and I THINK two people get engaged. *shrugs* Some of the details of these Season 10 episodes are kinda hazy. Oh, and did I mention that Chloe appears in an excellent flashback scene in this episode? :lol:

Episode 12:

Leech: A freak accident involving a near-fall-off-a-dam, lightning, and a rock collection ends up transferring Clark’s powers into the nerdy Eric Summers, who goes from geek to “Super-Boy” when he uses his abilities to stop a purse-snatcher from stealing Chloe’s laptop. Unfortunately, with great power comes great responsibility, and since Eric doesn’t have much of that due to his poor upbringing, he starts tossing around cars, hurting people (including the now vulnerable Clark), and causing major property damage. Clark must take on someone who has his powers when he has none! *gulp* Who will triumph?!

Insurgence: A team of agents are bugging Lionel Luthor’s office on Lex’s behest after Lex discovers that Lionel’s been spying on him, but the gig goes wrong when 3/4 of the team goes rogue and holds Lionel and Martha hostage. Breaking into Lionel’s vault, it’s revealed that he was in possession of a file on Clark, loads of kryponite, and... the octagonal disk?! Can Clark bypass the stern police officer Maggie Sawyer, make a stunning super-leap from the roof of the Daily Planet into Luthorcorp Plaza, and save the day? Will I end every summary of the twelfth episodes with question marks? Maybe?

Hereafter: Jordan Cross, formerly home-schooled, begins attending Smallville High, but has a rough start when he starts having physical contact with his classmates. This might not sound like such a big deal, except that the poor dude gets an instant glimpse of the moment of death of everyone he touches... until Clark saves a coach who was trying to commit suicide, thereby changing fate and enabling him to try to take revenge on the people he blames for his daughter’s accidental death -- Lana Lang and her cheerleader friend Megan! Will Clark be able to change destiny a second time? And did Adam Knight really already die?!

Pariah: Clark has decided to give a relationship with a reformed Alicia Baker another shot... right before mysterious crimes start popping up around Smallville behind locked doors. Who was really responsible for attempting to suffocate Lana in the shower and strangle Jason in his car? All signs point to Alicia, especially when she’s caught not wearing her lead bracelet. In her desperation, she encourages Clark to come clean about his own abilities, and then even sets up an occasion for Chloe to see his abilities in action, thus unwittingly turning her into his new secret keeper. Is Alicia really responsible for these crimes, or is someone else to blame? And what will Clark do when he finds out the truth?

Reckoning: Jonathan Kent wins the election! Lex is ticked! Clark pops the question and reveals his powers to Lana! Lana dies! Clark asks Jor-El for a redo and doesn’t tell Lana anything! She says she needs a break! Jonathan Kent STILL wins the election! Lex is STILL ticked! Lana ALMOST dies. And... Jonathan Kent dies instead?! WHAAAAAAT????

Labyrinth: Clark is finishing his chores in the barn when he suddenly finds himself knocked unconscious, and he wakes up inside a mental institution, where he is told by a Dr. Hudson that the last six years have been figments of his imagination, along with his powers and alien origins. He starts to believe this work of fiction to be true, especially after discovering that Martha has married Lionel and is living in the Luthor Mansion, Lana has moved into the farm with Aunt Nell and redecorated the loft while having been in love with Clark since they were kids, and Chloe dies in his arms. Luckily, Martian Manhunter is also lurking in Clark’s cranium, giving him the scoop on how to end this mental nightmare... by killing Dr. Hudson?

Fracture: What do Lex, Lois, and Kara have in common, and why were they all in Michigan? That’s what Clark, Chloe, and Lana are trying to figure out, especially after Lex gets shot, and it appears that Lois and Kara might be in grave danger! They turn to Lionel for assistance, who hooks up Clark to a special machine that will sync his brain with Lex’s, allowing him to traverse his memories to try to figure out what happened to his amnesiac cousin, and Chloe’s cousin who he might actually be starting to tolerate. While he survive the experience when the evil portion of Lex’s subconscious comes out to play, especially after his “guided tour” that still gives me the willies (and makes me want to vomit)? :p

Bulletproof: Clark has to go undercover as a police officer to find out who shot down John Jones, the former Martian Manhunter. He is partnered with Dan Turpin, who he tries to encourage to do the right thing, especially after it’s revealed that a group of his cop buddies have been acting as judge, jury, and executioner for criminals, and were behind the attack on M.M.! Will Clark be able to convince Danny to be a true hero, or will he end up in hot water and sent up the river?

Legends: The shadowy organization known as Checkmate continues to use Suicide Squad member Icicle to attack the Justice Society of America, succeeding in taking out Dr. Fate and stealing his helmet (but not before Martian Manhunter gets his powers back and Dr. Fate drops a lot of hints about the future, including bits and pieces about Clark’s destiny, Lois’s love, and Lex’s fate)! Will the JSA and the future JLA be able to stop their frosty foe in time, or will Checkmate win their opening salvo against the combined heroes?

Collateral: CHLOE SULLIVAN RETURNS TO SMALLVILLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :) :D :) :D :) :D :) :D :) :D :) Chlarkers, Chlolliers, and Chloe fans everywhere rejoice. This does not require a question mark. It does require a lot of exclamation points and happy emoticons from yours truly, however. :rotfl:

There you have it, folks! The fourth round is now open for business! I know that some people may disagree with my decision of breaking the Absolute Justice two-hour episode into its two parts, but if I don’t, it’ll throw the rest of the episodes in Season 9 off, and it’ll be different than how we had things arranged last year, so... deal with it. Please. :cool: :lol:

[jsm]

Episode 10: Bride- for the same reason I'll vote for Promise when we get to Episode 16 and Finale Part 1 when we get to Episode 21. The entire focus is on the wedding and not much else. Also, who would want to get married in a barn? But since Doomsday did attack at the end, it is my favorite of the 3 big wedding episodes (but that's not saying much).


Episode 11: Siren

Episode 12: Bulletproof- Clark goes undercover as a police officer to figure out who shot Martian Manhunter? I've only seen it twice, and I didn't care for it either time. Isn't it illegal to impersonate a police officer?

[skully]

Episode 10 - Disciple - a pointless journey to GreenArrowville

Episode 11 - Visage - the "return of Whitney Fordman" says it all.

Episode 12 - Bulletproof - part 1 of the lamest three episode stretch in Smallville history.

[wellinglover66]

Episode 10: Fanatic
Episode 11: Icarus
Episode 12: Collateral

[Supsfan]

Episode 10 - Disciple

This is sort of a hard pick between Disciple and Shimmer. I don't mind either but both weren't the greatest episode for it's given season. Shimmer was just plan boring with one of the lamer FOTWs, while Disciple had to much Ollie focus. I give Shimmer the edge over Disciple though because of the Victoria Hardwick bathtub scene(so please don't try tell me only later season went for cheap gratuitous sexy scenes). lol

Episode 11 - Icarus

Another fairly strong bunch where I have to pick one episode to lose as opposed to picking an episode I truly dislike. As somebody who liked Season 10, Icarus to me just was a pointless cliffhanger leading to a 3 episode lull in the season. I don't hate it(I would rate it better then the 2 episodes mentioned above) but it was just the worst of the choices given

Episode 12 - Reckoning

Smallville has a bad habit of making "big" episodes the worst of the series and Reckoning is one of the 5 worst episodes ever. I hated the whole S5 storyarc about Jonathon dieing, and this was the "payoff". The storyline basically turned Clark into Mr Depressing for to many episodes so we can get to the point he is at fault for his Dad's death. Honestly couldn't the writers find other ways to create "drama" rather then going for cheap methods to try get the viewer emotionally engaged. Beyond the bad storyline, I think the Time Reversal was cheap as well(I sort of did a rant on AUs/time reversal's last page and this definitely fits that category, basically it was a cheap way to get a nice scene for Youtube only to reverse it 20 minutes so it's like it never happened for storyline purposes)

HM would go to Collateral which to me was the worst episode of Season 10, and if it was in group 10 or 11 it would be my easy pick. That being said the difference between how bad Reckoning was and Collateral is not even close

[jpfort1957]

Episode 10 - Disciple - a pointless journey to GreenArrowville

Episode 11 - Visage - the "return of Whitney Fordman" says it all.

Episode 12 - Bulletproof - part 1 of the lamest three episode stretch in Smallville history.


With thoses explainations...................I belive I'll have to second those 3 epps!!!!!

[Supsfan]

With thoses explainations...................I belive I'll have to second those 3 epps!!!!!

Don't you like my explanation for Reckoning?


I didn't think that Relic was pure crap, but I have my problems with it, such as the ones you've mentioned. It was a cheap way of exploring "Clana" before another wrench got thrown into the relationship, and Jor-El's introduction was done poorly, IMO. There just didn't seem to be a whole lot of thought put into it for it being the 50th episode, but I guess that's Souders/Peterson for you.

I am specifically talking about the A-plotline. What was the point? A storyline glorifying Adultery? Honestly couldn't that stupid doohickey allow Clark to see more interesting things in "Jor-El's" life beyond him making out with Lana's married great aunt. In general when I have my most hated episodes they usually go into 2 different groups, the first being overblown drama that makes Clark look bad and the second is pointless idiotic plot ideas. Relic definitely falls into the second grouping and comparing it to other episodes that would fall into that category(say like Power or Ageless) I would say Relic is probably the most pointless plotline ever because it wasn't even character driven like the other 2 I mentioned(although I still would rate Power worse since it slightly touches on point 1). I am generally more forgiving for pointless plot ideas and many times even enjoy the episode, but Relic to me just crossed that line of what the hell were they thinking and what exactly was the point

As for Souders/Peterson, while they were responsible for writing that soap opera'ish drivel(a trademark of there writing style) I would put more blame on the producers of the show for okaying it in the first place more then anything

[super_j_man]

Episode 10: Fanatic (Disciple was boring but Fanatic was just all out bad)
Episode 11: Siren (not bad but the worst of the bunch)
Episode 12: Bulletproof (didn't hate it but all the rest were great epis in my opinion)

Epis 11 & 12 were the toughest of the bunch to find the worst. Very few bad epis in these groups.

[costas22]

I like how objective Jeff was about a certain 12th episode. :lol:

Episode 10 - Disciple
Episode 11 - Icarus
Episode 12 - Hereafter (By default really. I like all these episodes.)

[Pali]

Episode 10 - Disciple
Episode 11 - Visage
Episode 12 - Hereafter

[RaniaLovesClois]

Episode 10: Luthor
Episode 11: Hug
Episode 12: Fracture

[LordOnox]

Episode 10 - Disciple
Episode 11 - Hug
Episode 12 - Bulletproof

[BadToad]

Episode 10: Disciple
Episode 11: Lockdown
Episode 12: Collateral

[Exedore]

Episode 10: Disciple
Episode 11: Icarus
Episode 12: Reckoning

Collateral would be my second choice for Episode 12.

[jbshmdfb]

Episode 10: Disciple
Episode 11: Hug
Episode 12: Reckoning

[MrsK]

Episode 10: Disciple
Episode 11: Lockdown
Episode 12: Collateral

These were all a pretty good bunch of episodes. None were standouts as particularly bad episodes. Each chosen by default.

[Xanderman]

Fanatic (followed closely by Skinwalker)
Legion (followed even more closely by Delete)
Hereafter (followed closely by Pariah and Collateral)




Episode 10 - Disciple

This is sort of a hard pick between Disciple and Shimmer. I don't mind either but both weren't the greatest episode for it's given season. Shimmer was just plan boring with one of the lamer FOTWs, while Disciple had to much Ollie focus. I give Shimmer the edge over Disciple though because of the Victoria Hardwick bathtub scene(so please don't try tell me only later season went for cheap gratuitous sexy scenes). lol

Episode 11 - Icarus

Another fairly strong bunch where I have to pick one episode to lose as opposed to picking an episode I truly dislike. As somebody who liked Season 10, Icarus to me just was a pointless cliffhanger leading to a 3 episode lull in the season. I don't hate it(I would rate it better then the 2 episodes mentioned above) but it was just the worst of the choices given

Episode 12 - Reckoning

Smallville has a bad habit of making "big" episodes the worst of the series and Reckoning is one of the 5 worst episodes ever. I hated the whole S5 storyarc about Jonathon dieing, and this was the "payoff". The storyline basically turned Clark into Mr Depressing for to many episodes so we can get to the point he is at fault for his Dad's death. Honestly couldn't the writers find other ways to create "drama" rather then going for cheap methods to try get the viewer emotionally engaged. Beyond the bad storyline, I think the Time Reversal was cheap as well(I sort of did a rant on AUs/time reversal's last page and this definitely fits that category, basically it was a cheap way to get a nice scene for Youtube only to reverse it 20 minutes so it's like it never happened for storyline purposes)

HM would go to Collateral which to me was the worst episode of Season 10, and if it was in group 10 or 11 it would be my easy pick. That being said the difference between how bad Reckoning was and Collateral is not even closeLooks like we're back on opposite sides of the line again old friend... Disciple is a 7 (/10) for me, Shimmer an 8.5, Icarus a 9, and Reckoning an 8.5. And Collateral, well, I hate that one too--4.5. Granted, my ratings on all past season episodes are fairly dated. I haven't seen any season 1 to 9 eps in ages. Going by past ratings and memories for those only. Therefore, I can't be trusted...:cool: :lol:



I know that some people may disagree with my decision of breaking the Absolute Justice two-hour episode into its two parts, but if I don’t, it’ll throw the rest of the episodes in Season 9 off, and it’ll be different than how we had things arranged last year, so... deal with it. Please. http://www.ksitetv.com/forums/images/smilies/cool.gif http://www.ksitetv.com/forums/images/smilies/ez-laugh.gif By some people I assume you mean me...:lol: j/k In my opinion it's not so important how they're split up, as long as both games split them up the same, because the games are being run together. Gets confusing otherwise. That's all I'll say on the subject though as I've offered this advice previously... Hopefully Ryan aligns with yours since you posted this round first... Ryan, are you listening....lol.

[rockyshadow]

Episode 10: Disciple
Episode 11: Lockdown
Episode 12: Collateral

[Supsfan]

Looks like we're back on opposite sides of the line again old friend... Disciple is a 7 (/10) for me, Shimmer an 8.5, Icarus a 9, and Reckoning an 8.5. And Collateral, well, I hate that one too--4.5. Granted, my ratings on all past season episodes are fairly dated. I haven't seen any season 1 to 9 eps in ages. Going by past ratings and memories for those only. Therefore, I can't be trusted...:cool: :lol:

Episodes 10 and 11 generally is a good bunch so it more a case picking the one I like least but Reckoning to me is one of those that I truly dislike(as I say it's in my worst 5 episodes of the series list). In general I never liked the overblown drama the show tried to create more often then not and Reckoning falls in that category

In terms how I rate bad episodes they usually fall into 3 categories for me

Overblown drama for the sake of creating drama - Promise, Calling-Exile, Reckoning

Generally these episodes make Clark look bad in one way or another or have him coming off overly depressed/sad/angsty/etc. To often you can link these bad storylines to an appearance of Jor-El.

Bad/Boring episode storyline - Ageless, Relic, Hero

Generally I am somewhat forgiving for corny over the top episodes(say like Thirst) and I am even somewhat forgiving to ones I just don't find that entertaining due to a bland premise(Shimmer would fall into that category although I think Nocturne would probably be the perfect example of bland and boring) but sometimes I find the show just goes to the point of ridiculous to tell a "serious" story that has absolutely nothing to do with Clark being a hero and that's where it loses me(though I am generally forgiving for the ones that have a more comedy edge like Spirit or Fortune that really have nothing to do with Clark being a hero)

Bigger storylines I wish the show didn't do - Power/Requiem, Anything Veritas related, Chloe and Davis stuff

While not terrible for Clark these stories really don't do much to peak my interest and while I can live with it being b and c plotlines, when it becomes the A-plotline of an episode it totally drags down that episode.

[HopeforTomorrow]

Alright! Subterranean didn't win the worst Episode 9. LOL


Episode 10: Disciple (HM's to Hydro and Bride)
Episode 11: Society (HM's to Justice and Icarus)
Episode 12: Collateral (HM's to Legends and Reckoning)



I am specifically talking about the A-plotline. What was the point? A storyline glorifying Adultery? Honestly couldn't that stupid doohickey allow Clark to see more interesting things in "Jor-El's" life beyond him making out with Lana's married great aunt.

I didn't care much about what was done with the A-plot either. Didn't you know how liberal some of those SV residents were back in the late 50's/early 60's? Very trendy. Seriously though, like I mentioned before, I thought that Jor-El's introduction was done poorly and kind of like an afterthought. I thought that they tried to explain away the adultery part of it away as Louise never wanting that life with Dex in the first place, but it was forced upon her. Jor-El going along with it was kind of stupid, going back to the idea that the A-plot was not well thought-out. I liked how there was a glimpse given to SV's past (Lex's grandfather, Billy Tate, the Kents,etc.) and how it was tied into the present storyline. It wasn't all bad, IMO.

[smallvillefreak24]

Episode 10 - Disciple

Episode 11 - Visage

Episode 12 - Bulletproof

[Supsfan]

I liked how there was a glimpse given to SV's past (Lex's grandfather, Billy Tate, the Kents,etc.) and how it was tied into the present storyline. It wasn't all bad, IMO.

Problem is all those things were written as afterthoughts to the main plot of "Jor-El" and "Louise" making out. I would much preferred it they wanted a cheap excuse for TW and KK to make out they just juice Clark on Red-K and mind whammy Lana(although I guess they might have felt that would be red K overkill after Rush). I think the main problem with the A-plotline for me is they tried to pass off Jor-El and Louise as star crossed lovers and be 100% serious about it to the point it was laughable when in reality it was just 2 people who met for like 3 days. Something tells me if this episode was done season 4 or later you would have more disdain for it :P


Didn't you know how liberal some of those SV residents were back in the late 50's/early 60's?

I generally don't notice KK is part asian when watching the show but Relic is one of those episodes that when watching it starts grating at me what are the odds that Lana's Great Aunt would be part Asian as well in 1961 in the middle of Hicksville(if they wanted to make the episode seem more legit they should have hired different actors to play "Jor-El and "Louise" but that never was the point).

[skully]

My only beef with Relic (I quite liked the episode) relates to a continuity problem (a fairly regularly occurrence in SV). TW played the part of young Jor-El, which was fine. I myself resemble my father very closely. Looking at old photos of him is like looking at photos of myself.

Why then in Kandor did they not use TW to play Jor-El (with suitable make up for aging)? I suspect the reason was a problem with Relic. Jor-El's voice was portrayed by Terrence Stamp for the whole series (23 episodes), with his distinctive British accent, first heard in Calling (well before Relic). I believe they should've used a young British actor to play young Jor-El to match the voice (or TW should have used a British accent). But I guess that would've significantly reduced TW's screen time in the episode, or he couldn't do the accent.

I love the show dearly, but continuity problems scored the no. 1 problem position with me. There are too many to list - or maybe I could start a thread. :D

[HopeforTomorrow]

Problem is all those things were written as afterthoughts to the main plot of "Jor-El" and "Louise" making out. I would much preferred it they wanted a cheap excuse for TW and KK to make out they just juice Clark on Red-K and mind whammy Lana(although I guess they might have felt that would be red K overkill after Rush). I think the main problem with the A-plotline for me is they tried to pass off Jor-El and Louise as star crossed lovers and be 100% serious about it to the point it was laughable when in reality it was just 2 people who met for like 3 days. Something tells me if this episode was done season 4 or later you would have more disdain for it :P

There are actually several episodes from Season 4 that I'd take over Relic. Season 4's not my favorite season, but there was some good stuff in there amidst some of the goofiness. I agree with you when it comes to the Jor-El/Louise love story - it was just an excuse to show "Clana" without the "Clana", which is what brings it down some for me. I wasn't invested in either of those characters so it doesn't really bother me a whole lot, I guess. And I think that they (the producers/writers) were on Red K overload already since it had already been used a few times. Souders/Peterson were a definite weak link, IMO, when it came to some of the story ideas of Seasons 2-3. I think that Prodigal and Phoenix turned out to be their best.


I generally don't notice KK is part asian when watching the show but Relic is one of those episodes that when watching it starts grating at me what are the odds that Lana's Great Aunt would be part Asian as well in 1961 in the middle of Hicksville

Louise's mother was the great granddaughter of a Chinese guy that had a hand in building our railroad system back in the Old West, as seen on the hidden extensive Lang Family bonus feature documentary. :p


(if they wanted to make the episode seem more legit they should have hired different actors to play "Jor-El and "Louise" but that never was the point).

I agree, since TW and KK would've had low screentime otherwise - like Skully pointed out.

[Supsfan]

I agree, since TW and KK would've had low screentime otherwise - like Skully pointed out.

I much rather had a scenario Clark gets flashed back to 1961 to meet Jor-El, that way TW could have sceentime. Once again I don't think doing a background on Jor-El was the point of the story


Souders/Peterson were a definite weak link

It amazes me how many bad episodes they did

my top 20 -Gone, Exposed

Like - Skinwalker, Scare, Sacred, Forever, Arrow, Hydro, Crimson, Bizarro, Odyssey, Prey, Savior, Homecoming, Finale Part 2

Indifferent - Prodical, Phoenix, Delete, Blank, Vessel, Wrath, Siren,

Could be Better -Nocturne, Accelerate, Crisis(it should be pointed out as ridiculous as the show has used kryptonite as a plot device, this episode takes the cake in that regard, that being said I just wasn't a fan of Adam Knight and thought this was a stupid conclusion to the character would be my bigger peeve), Forsaken, Noir

bottom 20 - Relic, Hidden, Reckoning, Promise, Veritas, Eternal, Doomsday

The amount they have in my bottom 20(7) is amazing

[SGuthrie27]

What?! Could it actually be time for Round 5 already??? This game has been flying by much faster than I thought it would. I just wish that the votes were coming in just as quickly. :p Okay, so as usual, I have to begin by sharing my own picks for the worst episodes in each of the slots we were going for in Round 4.

Episode 10: “Fanatic.” Ugh. The head-shaving psycho girl was enough to make me dislike this episode, but the large amount of Clana angst didn’t help matters, either. I know I should have been feeling interested in Jonathan Kent’s run for the Senate, but the overall poor quality of this episode brought everything else down for me. There were a few other episodes in this category that weren’t necessarily stellar, but they all at least had some redeeming quality, or weren’t just as plain awful as this episode was.

Episode 11: “Visage.” All I really need to say here is that you should refer to Skully’s reasons for voting for this episode, a.k.a. “DITTO.” Lockdown and Unsafe were both contenders for this category as far as I’m concerned, too.

Episode 12: “Fracture.” It was hard to vote for any episode in this category, really. I love the Eric Summers character in “Leech,” and watching Clark deal with not having any powers for the first time. The intensity of “Insurgence” is always a thrill to watch. “Hereafter” is a sentimental favorite from Season 3 for some reason. I guess I found the Jordan Cross character really likable, and his powers and backstory were interesting. “Pariah” featured Chloe learning Clark’s secret, so I couldn’t go with that. Despite some flak I’ve seen “Reckoning” getting from other participants, I actually like it for the most part, even if it did lead Clark down a very dark and self-deprecating road for a very long time. “Labyrinth” is one of the most stellar episodes in Season 6. I honestly really like Season 8’s “Bulletproof,” and the character of Dan Turpin that was introduced in it (and who, IMO, should have been given a return appearance). “Legends” is totally SUPER. :lol: And of course, you all know how much I love “Collateral” and the return of Chloe Sullivan that was heralded by that episode. That leaves “Fracture” pretty much by default, though the Lexana nastiness that Clark viewed in Lex’s mind gave it a little more of an edge than it had in the first place.

The real winners of this round of the competition, though, were...
Episode 10: “Disciple” (whooped the rest of the competition, including “Fanatic,” which only got four votes -- it had won the last three competitions)
Episode 11: “Visage” (first time it’s won, in an upset victory over triple-winner “Lockdown” as well as “Icarus,” which was only one point behind “Visage”)
Episode 12: “Bulletproof” (beating out "Collateral" by one point and defeating former champs, "Reckoning" and "Fracture!")

Are you READY for the Round Five options? Well, ready or not, here they come! And bear in mind that my synopses may be a bit briefer as I’m trying to cobble them together at 1:29 in the AM and I am TIRED! :p

Episode 13:

Kinetic: Whitney gets bummed that his life’s not going the way he expected it to, so he hangs out with some bank-robbing bums who juice themselves up with kryptonite tattoos that allow them to walk through walls and occasionally lose limbs. Yeah. Smart move, Fordman.

Suspect: Who shot J.R. -- er, Lionel Luthor? There are no shortage of, well, SUSPECTS in this mystery thriller, though Jonathan Kent is believed to be the culprit. Is the true perpetrator Lionel’s own son, Lex, or his sycophantic lackey Dominic Santori? Or could the true attempted murderer be someone none of us expected, and made many people roll their eyes at when their identity was revealed?

Velocity: Pete “The Boss” Ross thinks he’s Speed Racer, and that it’s a good idea to engage in drag racing competitions using engines that are souped up by kryptonite. You do know that stuff is dangerous after two years of knowing Clark’s secret, don’t you, Pete? Just checking...

Recruit: Clark is whisked off to Metropolis University to see the sort of all-star life that could await him if he accepts a full-ride scholarship at that institution -- and ends up trying to help Lois fight her way out of being accused of the death of a guy she nearly drank herself to oblivion with at a party. Could the true guilty party be the Teflon Tailback who was a Smallville High legend and who Clark has always looked up to? Maybe the Pee Peddler could tell him the truth... :p

Vengeance: Clark seeks revenge on some thugs who attacked Martha and stole his father’s watch in this aptly-named episode, and ends up joining forces with (and then getting betrayed) by the Angel of Vengeance herself, Miss America -- er, Andrea Rojas, who is here to remind us that it’s time for “Acuvue to the rescue!” and that killing someone who killed someone close to you doesn’t really make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Crimson: Red kryptonite infused lipstick with a love potion mixed in packs a powerful punch when pasted on the lips of Lois Lane, who locks eyes with Clark as the newest object of her affection. A few liplocks and a White Snake mix CD later, and Lois has brought out the Red K badboy in Clark, who makes out with her a lot, ambushes Lana and Lex’s engagement party to announce that the future Mrs. Luthor is pregnant, kidnaps the bride-to-be, and has to get bailed out by his mom before he can kill Lex, who tried to stab him with a chisel. Can you say “ANGST?!”

Hero: Pete Ross returns, chews Stride Gum that’s glowing green with kryptonite infection, and gains the ability to turn super-stretchy, enabling him to save Kara, who decides that Clana’s Team Secrets and Lies routine makes Lex look like a better landlord, so she moves to the mansion. Meanwhile, Pete goes from would-be hero to scary dude who’s willing to kill Lex and leave Clark squirming on the ground with a hunk of Green K on his chest. Remind me why we missed you these last four years, Pete... :p

Power: Lana Lang does a lot of stupid stuff for a lot of stupid reasons, and then kisses Clark on the Daily Planet roof while wearing a suit that gives her basically all of Clark’s powers that was originally meant for Lex. AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Warrior: Chloe is rescued at a comic book convention by a new masked man in town, who ends up being a bewitched kid that read a cursed comic book. Meanwhile, Zatanna tries to seduce Clark, Lois dresses like Wonder Woman, and Chloe’s would-be-hero turns all devilish and Devilicus-like on her when she tries to take matters into her own hands for the umpteenth time this season, and more chaos results.

Beacon: Clark’s all mopey and sad about the Vigilante Registration Act, and it doesn’t help matters when Mama Kent gets shot at an anti-VRA rally. Luckily, Chloe and Lois team up to cheer up their favorite Blur by putting together a bunch of online videos from his adoring fans. Awwww.... This episode may be a little sappy in places, but it’s also pretty sweet. Oh, and did I mention that Earth 2’s Lionel Luthor is in this episode, too, and that he’s trying to subvert the supposed Lex clone Alexander to use for his own nefarious purposes? *gulp*

Episode 14:

Zero: Was Lex really responsible for the death of his friend Amanda Rothman’s fiancee a few years ago? The world may never know. But flashbacks sure make it look like Amanda did it -- a fact that’s clearly lost on her lunatic brother, who terrorizes and then kidnaps Lex, hanging him up like a punching bag until Clark can rescue him. Meanwhile, severed hands in nicely wrapped packages are not nice “Grand Opening” gifts to send Lana as she preps to get the Talon ready for business.

Rush: Red kryptonite plus alien adrenaline-pumping parasites plus Chlarky make-out sessions equal HOTTTTTTT. Oh, they also equal a tearful Lana and another lame attempt at an apology from Clark, but who cares?

Obsession: Clark’s got a new girlfriend who knows about his powers, and who has special abilities of her own! But Alicia Baker’s a few fries short of a Happy Meal, and thinks it’s okay to redecorate the loft and Clark’s locker without his permission, as well as showing up in his bed in her underwear unannounced, shoving her dad down the stairs when he protests against her misdeeds, and attempting to slice and dice Lana after downing Clark with kryptonite in a lead-lined room. Fatal Attraction, indeed.

Krypto: Dogs with superpowers?! The idea seems as equally cheesy and yet somehow cute as it does in the actual comics, as Clark has to be rescued by a canine after he saves the pooch who ends up being the new family pet. Awwww... Now who says Season 4 only produced angsty, witchy-Lana, and Stones-of-Knowledge-centric episodes? :lol:

Tomb: The power goes out in the Talon, and a lightning strike reanimates the spirit of a dead girl stuck in the bathroom wall, who possesses Chloe, causing her to slit her wrists, which lands her in the psych ward of the hospital. When Clark & Co. learn that there really is a body at the Talon, he’s desperate to find out who was responsible for the girl’s death, as Chloe (and perhaps even Lois) could be the next victim(s). Creeeeeeepy episode!

Trespass: Lana’s being stalked by someone who apparently either loves her and/or wants to kill her. How is this different from half the other episodes in the series?!

Traveler: Clark’s been captured by these dudes with tasers who put him in a kryptonite cage, and it’s up to the leading ladies in his life (sans Lois) to rescue him from his predicament! Chloe and Lana manage to pluck Kara away from Luthor Mansion and bring her to the Fortress, where she’s reimbued with her old powers and memories, enabling her to rescue her cousin, and reveal his true captor -- Lionel Luthor. Meanwhile, the sweet, pretty, intelligent, and way cool character of Patricia Swann is introduced, only to have her gunned down by the episode’s end. Boo.

Requiem: Imagine Power and then multiply it by about a hundred times the amount of facepalms. You’ve pretty much got a clear picture of this episode, which features bed-breaking, Lex getting blown up, the grossest kiss in Smallville history, and lots of Clana drama. Inserting next Season 8 disc now...

Persuasion: A girl in a fairy costume blows her magic dust on Clois, which just happens to be made out of gemstone kryptonite (say what?!). Clark soon finds himself with the ability to persuade people to do anything he wants, which turns Lois into a 50s era housewife wannabe, causes Chloe to be willing to do anything to protect him, transforms Emil into a laid back booze-guzzling slacker, and almost turns Clark himself into Tess’s killer until Chloe and a handy chunk of Green K saves the day.

Masquerade: Clark rescues Chloe, embraces her tightly, and is relieved that she’s already, before confessing that he still has feelings for her, and worries that they’ve missed their chance. They pull in close, as Clark tries to convince her to try one little kiss to test the waters again. Oh, wait, I’m supposed to be summarizing the entire episode, and not just my favorite scene, even if it was a hallucination brought on by the duplicitous Desaad! Whoops! :lol: In all honesty, though, the bulk of the rest of this episode, even with all its Chlollie cuteness, and Desaad’s murderous grossness, is not all that compelling to me, except in the rare Season 10 opportunities I have to stare at my favorite tiny blonde. :D

Episode 15:

Nicodemus: A flower that was believed to be extinct for over a century crops up around Smallville, its pollen infecting Smallville’s citizenry and causing them to act out their most wild and crazy impulses. Jonathan goes from slacker to murderous, Lana pulls a striptease (or at least her body double does) at the school pool, and Pete tries to kill Lex in cold blood, before Dr. Hamilton (the creepy, less cool one) can develop a cure for the problem that he created in the first place.

Prodigal: Lex Luthor’s half-brother he didn’t even know he had until very recently shows up, makes major waves, appears to betray his bro to aid his dad, Lionel, pulls off a double-cross, and then drops off the radar, never to be seen or heard from again. Oh yeah, Lucas Luthor made a real impact on Smallville history. :p

Resurrection: The lamest plot in Season 3 occurs, IMO. The end. Okay, you want more than that? This guy is ticked that his brother, who he already thought was dead, turns up alive, only to die again of the same rare liver disease that already killed him once before, and is willing to steal Jonathan’s liver as he’s undergoing heart surgery to save Vince’s life, and to hold everyone at the hospital hostage with a kryptonite bomb. BORING and LAME!

Sacred: Clark and Lana rush off to China using a treasure map that will hopefully lead them to one of the Stones of Knowledge, and some answers to Lana’s witchy problems of the past few months. Lex and Jason are already there, getting tortured, and when Lana gets caught and interrogated as well, her magical, mystical, and malevolent Isobelle side rears her sinister and slightly sexy head again, and has a brawl with Clark that ends with Jason getting the element -- and giving it to Lana instead of his mom! Aww... That’d be so much sweeter if he didn’t turn completely psycho six episodes later. :rolleyes:

Cyborg: Victor Stone is now more machine than man, thanks to being transformed into a cyborg after a nearly-fatal car accident. When he causes another fender-bender that leaves Lana slightly injured, Clark tries to do what he can to help Victor escape the people running the lab that had been experimenting on him, while Lana plays Cupid and brings back the girl who will only end up breaking Victor’s heart again. Remember what you said back in “Nocturne,” Lana? When you try to help, you really do only make things worse in the end. :lol:

Freak: Meteor-infected people are getting captured and experimented on, then show up the next day with no memory of what happened to them. This has Clark (and Jimmy) concerned, especially when Chloe is their next target. He tracks down Tobias Rice, a blind guy who can ID meteor freaks. When Lana learns of his powers and existence, he worries that he might spill the beans about the secret she’s more certain than ever that Clark’s been keeping from her, so she tries to intervene, and once again... almost makes matters worse! Luckily, Clark’s on hand in this episode to perform quick heat vision surgery, deflect bullets and electric blasts, and serve as Chloe’s one-man “personal bomb squad.”

Veritas: Lex keeps flashing back to his youth, when he first learned about the secret society that his father was a part of -- a society dedicated to finding and protecting a mysterious “Traveler” from another world. Meanwhile, Lionel is desperate to get Clark and those around him to trust him again, but ends up getting treated like the Boy who Cried Wolf, which doesn’t look to lead to all that healthy a future for the poor guy. Meanwhile, Lois and Jimmy investigate Patricia Swann’s fishy death (watery pun unintentional considering the river that almost served as her grave).

Infamous: Linda Lake is back, and she wants to proclaim the Blur’s saves to the world -- and threatens to destroy him if he doesn’t go along with her plan to make them both instantly rich and famous. Instead, he has Lois break the story of his true identity, which ends up backfiring in a big way, when Linda vengefully declares him the beginning of a hostile alien invasion. Meanwhile, Chloe learns Davis’s dark and doom-spelling secret, but by the time Lois tries to tell Clark about it, he’s already slipping on his Legion ring at the worst moment ever, and rebooting everything so he can stop Linda before she can even confront him. Chloe worries that something may have changed the second time around, and ends up secretly proven right when Davis decides to ditch the anti-psychotic pills he’d been popping and suffocates Linda Lake with a pillow. And no one knows his true identity, thanks AGAIN to Clark’s AWFUL timing! :rolleyes:

Conspiracy: A doctor dude who was already dead has been capturing kryptonians and hacksawing them to pieces in his lab in order to expose the “alien threat” they represent to the world. Lois gets sucked into Dr. Chisholm’s little shop of horrors, and when an undercover Zod tries to stop Chisholm and save her, he gets shot. Luckily, Clark’s on hand to save the day and give Zod a blood transfusion... a move that will come back to bite him in the butt sooner rather than later. Thankfully, the villain of the episode conveniently decided to accidentally kill himself by method of the dumbest electrocution ever.

Fortune: Smallville + The Hangover = occasionally funny, often ridiculous, a little obnoxious, and overall, very strange. The one thing this episode’s got going for it, as far as I’m concerned, is the AWESOME Chlark scene in the loft toward the very end, and some of the Scoobying they do in the middle. Everything else... is not my cup of tea. :p

The voting for Round 5 is officially open for business now! Which episodes will you choose this time???? Please get ‘em in by Tuesday, September 6, 2011, at 7:00 PM CST for them to be counted. Thanks!!!

[costas22]

Not that it was a great episode, but I always had a soft spot for Visage because it was the first episode I ever saw. Plus, it's hillarious seeing Tom say "I'm gonna kick your ass Kent" in a girly tone. :lol:

Episode 13 - Hero
Episode 14 - Krypto
Episode 15 - Fortune (They never gave us a blooper reel on DVD after S3, but they wasted an hour of the last season just to show us the "cast having fun" :rolleyes:)

[Supsfan]

I remember back a few episodes on the best of thread I was pointing out how many episodes I love from the grouping 4-6, well 13-15 has to be the Bizzaro bunch of episodes for me so many bad episodes in this bunch it isn't funny. By my count 8 of my worst 25 are in this bunch.

Episode 13 - Power

I honestly don't have any clue who thought it was a great idea to have Lana steal a power suit so she can be a hero on par with Clark who never shows up when the going gets tough would be a good idea. That being said easy pick for worst 13th, much worse then the bad Hero.

Episode 14 - Traveler

This grouping has 3 of my worst 10 episodes so I wish I could vote 3 times. That being said Traveler beats out the almost as bad Requiem and Trespass just because I never seen an episode spit all over Clark as much as this one. Honestly Clark is stuck in a cage for most of the episode while Chloe and Lana save Kara(here is an idea maybe let Clark save her and recover her memories because you know she is his cousin and he should be the hero of the show) is the saddest idea ever for an episode. Clark gets saved(yeah nothing like seeing the hero of the show be made useless and get saved) and does absolutely nothing this episode. Even more of a bonus this episode introduces us to an interesting character only to have her killed by the end of the episode. That's "DRAMA" for you folks. I think my dislike for this episode over something as bad as Requiem stems from the fact you can just tell the writers/producers at this point can care less about Clark(that Kara storyline should have been his and his only). Oh yeah added bonus to what made Traveler bad, that whole Veritas thing which speaking of.....

Episode 15 - Veritas

I really thought Veritas was just a bad storyline plan and simple. This episode was just a recton trainwreck. Also getting honorable mention was Resurrection(honestly couldn't Jonathon just grab a piece of Green K in Exile, I truly hated this storyline in S3(you know it's all my(ie Clark) fault) and this episode was the pinnacle of it, even making the episode worse was the tie in to the Adam Knight fiasco) and Infamous(Time Reversal is just a cheap method of story telling which usually leads to Clark doing something stupid, in this case revealing who he is 2 seconds after Chloe told him what would happen)

[Vergon6]

Episode 13 - Power
What can I say about this episode that I haven't already said in another thread. We see Clark conflicted and acknowledging the dangers and the potential for power corrupting Lana. But then he does a 180 and accepts her as a hero. It details her going to great lengths to take a suit just so Lex can't have it and to try to measure up to Clark in some odd way, when she shouldn't need super powers to be an equal to him or to be a hero in her own right. It seemed like the episode was just sending all the wrong messages, and it felt more like an origin story/pilot episode for a Lana series, than an episode of Smallville.

Kinetic, Velocity, Hero, and somewhat Warrior too, weren't anything to write home about.


Episode 14 - Requiem
While "Tomb" was forgettably bad, I would say that this episode was unforgettably bad. Continuing on from the last couple of episodes, the writers decide to go where Smallville has gone many, many times...Clana relationship angst. Instead of having meaningful and mature closure, they are pulled apart by tragic (what else?) circumstances. While I acknowledge that there is symbolism, and their relationship coming full circle, the move was just WAY too heavy-handed. It seemed also extremely petty for Lex (who they brought back without even being Michael Rosenbaum) to exact his revenge in such a mind boggling way. And oh yeah, Oliver becomes a murderer, and unfortunately the 'fun' doesn't stop there once the episode is over. Clark is literally and metaphorically brought to his knees as he tries to say goodbye to Lana, showing Clark at perhaps his most pathetic. Lana leaves never to be heard from again, despite having super powers and it's pointed out by Chloe in coming episodes that Clark hasn't even mentioned Lana once since she left. Perhaps it's for the best, although surprising given the cirumstances. But then why did we have to endure all of that? Who knows.

Still, one thing this episode does show is Clark making the conscious decision to tell Lana she has to sacrifice herself and their relationship for the greater good. Despite all that was wrong with the episode, I still thought it was a minor step above "Power".


Episode 15 - Fortune
I don't doubt that this episode was a fun ride for the cast and crew. And there were some humorous moments. But overall the episode just seemed like a collosal waste of time for some cheap laughs and an attempt to ride the coattails of the Hangover...in the final season that was lacking more focus on the Darkseid arc as it is. Homages can be nice, but not when it was done so frequently and the lack of subtelty to the take-off of a film was particularly obvious in this one. And oh before I forget, the writers and producers were not shy about shameless shipper-baiting on all sides, as they have done in the past (this time including misleading promotions of the episode). This was originally to be the final episode featuring Allison Mack, and it really wasn't a fitting end to that arc. Her arc was in fact all over the place, lacking focus, when it should have shown more of a progression towards her decision to become a reporter by day, helper of crime fighters by night. Instead they decided to waste most of the episode on over-the-top sillyness. This was actually my least favorite episode of all of Season 10 as well.

[skully]

I'm with V6.

Episode 13 - Power - Part 1 of the SuperLana debacle
Episode 14 - Requiem - Part 2 of the SuperLana debacle
Episode 15 - Fortune - embarrassing, not particularly funny and, like much of the 2nd half of S10, a massive waste of an episode. I was really disappointed how they bored us with a bunch of fillers then rushed the climax to Clark's battle with Darkseid.

[LordOnox]

Episode 13 - Hero
Episode 14 - Requiem
Episode 15 - Resurrection

[RaniaLovesClois]

Episode 13 - Power
Episode 14 - Requiem
Episode 15 - Resurrection

[Supsfan]

Good to see Resurrection get some hate, I really wanted to vote for it but I thought Veritas was slightly worse.

[jsm]

Episode 13: Crimson- It only advanced the relationship storylines and nothing else.
Episode 14: Krypto- Persuasion would be #2
Episode 15: Fortune- What were the writers thinking?!

[wellinglover66]

Episode 13: Power
Episode 14: Tomb (never watched Requiem)
Episode 15: Sacred

[MrsK]

Episode 13 - Power
Episode 14 - Requiem
Episode 15 - Fortune

[jbshmdfb]

Episode 13 - Power
Episode 14 - Requiem
Episode 15 - Fortune

[Xanderman]

Warrior
1/10. By far the worst episode in this group. Lame beyond words and one of SV's all-time lows. Has no competition to speak of.

Krypto
3/10. Lots of weak episodes to choose from here, but Krypto takes home the prize.

Fortune
1/10. Awful in just about every way, a complete fail in an attempt at humor from start to finish. It out-stinks Resurrection.

[rockyshadow]

Episode 13: Power
Episode 14: Requiem
Episode 15: Resurrection

[BadToad]

Episode 13 : Power
Episode 14 : Requiem
Episode 15 : Fortune

[SGuthrie27]

I've been enjoying reading everyone's choices! Looks like there are some runaway favorites for this particular round, and I wasn't the least bit surprised about two of 'em, but it looks like the third might have a new winner over the one that's won in previous years!

BTW, I goofed up in my previous results, and Maria was kind enough to point out to me that "Bulletproof" was chosen as the worst 12th episode, not "Fracture," which actually only received two votes. I must have been looking at the list of last year's winners and gotten mixed up. Thanks again, Maria!!!

[skully]

Heh, nice work Maria. Bulletproof got my vote as the crumbiest no. 12. :D

Which just about guarantees that the Bulletproof-Power-Requiem "triology" is THE WORST THREE EPISODE STRETCH IN SV HISTORY. :)

[Vergon6]

"Bulletproof" was okay. It was much better than the other two in the main stretch of the Lana arc. But despite it's issues, I do think that "Fracture" was a better episode. As a brief aside, I still don't get why the Legion had to shower Lana with so much adulation in "Legion". I think the show sometimes couldn't find a balance, and tried to give one character or another too much credit for Clark's transformation to Superman. But I digress.

I actually liked "Krypto" and "Sacred", oh well haha. To each their own.

[skully]

I thought Fracture was OK, generally bucking the poorness of S7. I really liked Connor Stanhope's performance as young good Lex. :)

[Vergon6]

I thought Fracture was OK, generally bucking the poorness of S7. I really liked Connor Stanhope's performance as young good Lex. :)
I agree, that was the best part. The best moment perhaps was Clark's final words to Alexander to never stop fighting, that he will always be looking out for him (as in seeing if he's in there somewhere, the friend he lost). What's funny is how Alexander was the name of the bad one in "Onyx" but then he was the good one in "Fracture". The worst part was Lex forcing Clark to watch the memory of Lex and Lana having sex...

I thought "Apocalypse" was the best episode of Season 7 but that's a prior discussion.

[skully]

Yeah, Gemini and Apocalypse topped the S7 charts for me.

Hey V6, you are a mod? Can you do me a small favor please and delete a duplicate thread (the Redux/Lineage Rewatch thread without an attached poll and with "Mods - delete" in the edited title) in the Season 2 Episode Discussions forum? I sent a message to Craig but if you are around at the moment. :)

[Exedore]

Episode 13 - Power
Episode 14 - Persuasion (honourable mentions: Requiem and Traveler)
Episode 15 - Veritas (I hated that Veritas arc)

[HopeforTomorrow]

Episode 13: Power (Crimson and Hero were bad too)
Episode 14: Requiem (HM's to Trespass, Traveler, and Persuasion)
Episode 15: Fortune (Infamous and Veritas were bad but nowhere close to how bad Fortune was, IMO)




It amazes me how many bad episodes they did...

Like - Skinwalker

What terrible writer's Souders/Peterson were, IMO. I liked Skinwalker, but the one thing that always bothered me was how Clark and Khyla fell for eachother after they'd known one another for just a few hours/a day. What is it with Souders/Peterson and their obsession with pointless romances and 'ships? Another thing that's confusing about this episode is how the writing credits are given to Souders/Peterson, but in the DVD booklet it's listed as: Story by Mark Warshaw, Teleplay by Souders/Peterson. Wierd.


bottom 20 - Relic, Hidden, Reckoning, Promise, Veritas, Eternal, Doomsday

The amount they have in my bottom 20(7) is amazing

Wow, some of my worst episodes are in that group too. What were Al/Miles thinking handing over the show to them anyway?


"Bulletproof" was chosen as the worst 12th episode

I still can't figure out why Bulletproof is so widely disliked amongst the fans (seriously, worse than Collateral :confused:) although I'm guessing that it has something to do with Lana harmlessly appearing in the episode. I still think that it's one of the better Seasons 8-10 episodes. Oh well.

Edit: Good to see BadToad and Exedore getting in on the (Anti) EW's too. :cool:

[SGuthrie27]

^ HfT, you're not going to find me disagreeing with you when it comes to "Bulletproof." In all honesty, I really like that episode, and thought it was a good one for showing Clark being proactive and being an inspiration to somebody other than a future superhero. I also found the character of Dan Turpin to be highly interesting, and was disappointed that they never brought him back in a later episode. I think one of the reasons that this episode is so critically panned by many viewers is not necessarily Lana's appearance in general, but her kiss with Clark at the end of the episode, which signaled a temporary return to romantic Clana -- something many people had hoped the writers/producers would avoid when bringing her character back for an arc in Season 8. That's just my take on the issue, anyway.

[Supsfan]

While I can understand some not liking Fortune, I personally don't get the "it's filler" argument. If an episode not contributing to the bigger storylines is the main reason for disliking an episode, how many Season 1-4 episodes should be winning these rounds. Given all the shows season long arcs, many times I think an episode straying away from the season long arc is a huge positive.

[hhhandsteph]

What number are we on?

[Supsfan]

What number are we on?

13-15

[Xanderman]

"Bulletproof" was chosen as the worst 12th episode, not "Fracture," which actually only received two votes. I must have been looking at the list of last year's winners and gotten mixed up.Either that or you "accidentally" inserted your own pick...I couldn't help but notice that one of those two votes was your own. lol j/k But either way I disagree with both those choices (Bulletproof and Fracture) personally. Those eps aren't that bad, imo. But I see from your commentary that you didn't dislike them either, you only chose Fracture by default..

Jeff: "Well, Fracture, I guess you're the loser by default."
Homer: "De-fault? Woo hoo! The two sweetest words in the English language."



Which just about guarantees that the Bulletproof-Power-Requiem "triology" is THE WORST THREE EPISODE STRETCH IN SV HISTORY.The worst stretch of episodes to me is Season 7's unprecedented "8-chain o' pain" that was Bizarro-Kara-Fierce-Cure-Action-Lara-Wrath-Blue. I'd say that trumps a trilogy...lol Each of those episodes gets a failing grade from me (ie. under 5/10--well, except for Lara which just passed with 5). Bulletproof, Power and Requiem all actually receive passing grades from me. While I disliked the Lana worship as much as the next man, as evidenced by my drive to create threads like this one:
http://www.ksitetv.com/forums/showthread.php?119515-If-Lana-Lang-got-her-own-movie-it-would-be-called... <--notice the date it was created, Feb 1/09, just after Power aired), after rewatching the episodes, they're not really that bad (imo). The concept/idea behind them is admittedly awful, but after rewatching after them on a later date, the actual episodes themselves are well done (or at least, not boring). I think people's negative reactions to them are mostly centered on the Lana focus (worship) rather than any other aspect of the episode quality. They're still not good episodes to me, but I don't think they're bad either. But the direction they decided to go with Lana, etc, was definitely bad.



"Bulletproof" was okay. It was much better than the other two in the main stretch of the Lana arc. But despite it's issues, I do think that "Fracture" was a better episode. As a brief aside, I still don't get why the Legion had to shower Lana with so much adulation in "Legion". I think the show sometimes couldn't find a balance, and tried to give one character or another too much credit for Clark's transformation to Superman. But I digress.

I actually liked "Krypto" and "Sacred", oh well haha. To each their own.Yes to Bulletproof, Fracture and Sacred for me. No to Legion and Krypto--didn't like the latter two.



While I can understand some not liking Fortune, I personally don't get the "it's filler" argument. If an episode not contributing to the bigger storylines is the main reason for disliking an episode, how many Season 1-4 episodes should be winning these rounds. Given all the shows season long arcs, many times I think an episode straying away from the season long arc is a huge positive.Agreed, there are good fillers and bad fillers. Just because an episode doesn't contribute much to the main story doesn't mean it's automatically bad or a waste of time. I assume when someone mentions Fortune being a filler it's as an additional weakness on top of it being bad on its own merit. As if the show isn't going to advance the main story, the least they can do is make it a good episode in its own right--a bad filler episode is a true waste of time.

[Exedore]

^ HfT, you're not going to find me disagreeing with you when it comes to "Bulletproof." In all honesty, I really like that episode, and thought it was a good one for showing Clark being proactive and being an inspiration to somebody other than a future superhero. I also found the character of Dan Turpin to be highly interesting, and was disappointed that they never brought him back in a later episode. I think one of the reasons that this episode is so critically panned by many viewers is not necessarily Lana's appearance in general, but her kiss with Clark at the end of the episode, which signaled a temporary return to romantic Clana -- something many people had hoped the writers/producers would avoid when bringing her character back for an arc in Season 8. That's just my take on the issue, anyway.

That's like the very end of the episode (2-3 minutes max I believe). It's pretty easy to ignore that and enjoy Clark's story with Turpin.

[BadToad]

I still can't figure out why Bulletproof is so widely disliked amongst the fans (seriously, worse than Collateral )

I'm right there with you. That boggles my mind.

[skully]

The worst stretch of episodes to me is Season 7's unprecedented "8-chain o' pain" that was Bizarro-Kara-Fierce-Cure-Action-Lara-Wrath-Blue. I'd say that trumps a trilogy...lol Each of those episodes gets a failing grade from me (ie. under 5/10--well, except for Lara which just passed with 5).
Yeah, no argument from me on the worst long stretch of eps, X. I liked Bizarro but the following 7 were exceedingly disappointing. It gave S7 a whole air of "the Writer's strike is gonna screw us so let's just pump out whatever we can" about it.

[Supsfan]

The worst stretch of episodes to me is Season 7's unprecedented "8-chain o' pain" that was Bizarro-Kara-Fierce-Cure-Action-Lara-Wrath-Blue.

I actually didn't mind the first 12 episodes of S7, to me the season started to go down right at Hero-Quest(with the exception of Descent and Apocalypse). Grant you I think it's the case in most seasons the second half is generally worse then the first half(I think Season 3 and weirdly Season 6(despite Clexana dragging down alot of episodes a bit, I thought the second half had alot of the better Season 6 episodes despite it rearing it's ugly head in them) are the only 2 seasons where I might rate the second halves better).

In terms of 3 episode stretches Hero-Traveler-Veritas gives Power-Requiem-Infamous a run for it's money. It's a shame I don't mind Freak because Trespass-Freak-Promise has 2 of my worst 6 episodes ever on the show in it and that would be the runaway winner

[Pali]

Episode 13 - Velocity
Episode 14 - Krypto
Episode 15 - Ressurection

To season 7 talk........I liked it, it´s one of my fav seasons :p

[HopeforTomorrow]

^ HfT, you're not going to find me disagreeing with you when it comes to "Bulletproof." In all honesty, I really like that episode, and thought it was a good one for showing Clark being proactive and being an inspiration to somebody other than a future superhero. I also found the character of Dan Turpin to be highly interesting, and was disappointed that they never brought him back in a later episode. I think one of the reasons that this episode is so critically panned by many viewers is not necessarily Lana's appearance in general, but her kiss with Clark at the end of the episode, which signaled a temporary return to romantic Clana -- something many people had hoped the writers/producers would avoid when bringing her character back for an arc in Season 8. That's just my take on the issue, anyway.

I agree, Jeff. Clark and the impact that he had on Turpin, along with his stance when confronted by Oliver was great. Great use of screentime for Clark. Bulletproof, IMO, was the last overall good episode of Season 8 (as a Clark fan). I think that rating a whole episode low because of something that happened in the final 2-3 minutes, or because there was no "Clois", is a little unfair. According to the K-site Loved/Hated it results (done by cma), Bulletproof is in the worst 5 episodes of Seasons 8-10 (down there with Power, Requiem, and Doomsday). That's puzzling to me.

[SGuthrie27]

Are we seriously onto Round 6 now? Good grief... These rounds are almost going by more quickly than I can physically keep up with tracking all the data and coming up with new synopses. Oh, well, I will survive! And no, I did not just burst into song when saying those words. :p First off, here are my choices for Episodes 13-15:

Episode 13: So many fairly lousy episodes, and I can only pick one? *sigh* I guess if I HAVE to choose one... I’m actually going to go against the grain and not vote for “Power.” I know I’ll be in the minority, and yeah, I really don’t care much for the episode, but it is Allison Mack’s directorial debut, and considering what a huge fan I am of her as an actress, my viewpoint is completely colored by that. Therefore, I will go after “Velocity,” which is one of two REALLY bad Pete-centric episodes that fit in this category, and honestly, it doesn’t make Clark look particularly good either.

Episode 14: Eh... and on this one, I’ll have to go with the majority and say “Requiem.” I thought about saying “Tomb,” but after seeing it a couple of times, while being really morbid, it really does feature excellent acting on the part of Allison Mack (sensing a pattern here? :lol:), so I gave it a free pass this time, and chose instead to go for the bed-breaking, kryptonite-kiss-filled, Lex-exploding nastiness that is “Requiem.” Bleh.

Episode 15: “Conspiracy.” I’m the only guy who voted for it, but I don’t care. I hated the idea of that Chisholm dude capturing the Kandorians and carving them into pieces. That just completely grossed and freaked me out. I HATE those kinds of shows and movies, so that pretty much sealed the deal for me. “Resurrection” is also really pretty bad, and “Fortune” has a lot of gag-worthy moments, but the Chlark golden glowing loft scene toward the end of the episode saves it from being at the bottom of the barrel.

The TRUE winners of this round of the competition turned out to be (and are probably little surprise to anyone who voted):
Episode 13: "Power" (3-time winner, handily trouncing everything else it was up against)
Episode 14: "Requiem" (same as above, but Krypto did earn four votes)
Episode 15: "Fortune" (newcomer to the Worst Episode ranks, and beat “Resurrection” by 5 votes)

Ready for the new round? So am I. But since I have limited time on my hands, I decided to write my mini-synopses in the form of haiku poems. So, prepare yourselves for SGuthrie’s first Anti-Episode Wars poetry slam-fest! Bring it!!!

Episode 16:

Stray:
Telepathic kid
Martha hits him with her car
Clark’s like his big bro.

Fever:
Storm cellar secrets
Mama Kent’s sick -- killer mold!
Chloe’s letter rules.

Crisis:
Future phone call shocks --
Adam Knight shoots Lana dead?
Not if Clark stops him!

Lucy:
Grifter sister comes,
With shady loan shark in tow,
To Lois’s chagrin.

Hypnotic:
Simone’s enticing
Clark becomes her new boytoy
Clana, say goodbye!

Promise:
Three points-of-view
On Lexana’s wedding day
There’s a crowded crypt.

Descent:
Like a falling star,
Lionel falls from above.
Lex’s darkness wins.

Turbulence:
Cless plane fight is hot.
Jimmy acts like crazy loon.
Davis is to blame.

Escape:
Clois and Chlollie
Meet at bed and breakfast -- oops!
Awkward factor eight!

Scion:
Superboy arrives?
Conner Kent gets on Red K --
Facepalming ensues.

Episode 17:

Reaper:
Tyler Randall dies,
Then comes back with a death touch.
Ashes to ashes...

Rosetta:
Origins revealed
Virgil Swann might hold the key!
Clark’s forever changed.

Legacy:
Kent farm gets raided.
Lionel has swiped the disk.
He and Pa Kent brawl.

Onyx:
Black K accident
Splits Lex into good and bad.
Which side will win out?

Void:
Lana’s a junkie --
Near death experiences
Almost do her in.

Combat:
Clark is a bit ticked.
Lois in red leather’s hot!
Titan meets his match.

Sleeper:
Jimmy Olsen -- spy?
Chloe -- terrorist disguise?
Ridiculous dance.

Hex:
Chloe’s birthday bash --
Accidental wish comes true!
Zatanna casts spells.

Checkmate:
Waller nabs heroes.
Stop-action effects are COOL!
Chlark save for the win!

Kent:
Return to Earth 2.
Lots of Cless and Jonathan --
Clark Luthor redeemed?

Episode 18:

Drone:
Sasha wants to “bee”
Student body president.
Her swarm packs a sting.

Visitor:
Cyrus: alien?
Or a loopy healing kid?
Catatonic end.

Truth:
Chloe’s sprayed with gas.
Everyone tells her the truth!
Will it cost her life?

Spirit:
Body-swapping ghost
Is the norm at Smallville’s prom!
Chloe becomes queen.

Fragile:
Maddie’s mom is dead.
Broken glass is dangerous!
Clark inspires again.

Progeny:
Chloe’s mom’s alive!
Lex becomes even meaner.
Reunion cut short.

Apocalypse:
Clark’s erased, yet here.
The world’s better due to him!
Saves his younger self.

Eternal:
Continuity
Isn’t this show’s B.F.F.
Davis -- from goo egg?!

Upgrade:
Metallo returns!
Lois tries to save Corben.
Clark -- Red K AGAIN?

Booster:
Clark acts like a nerd.
Super future dude makes waves!
Blue Beetle attacks.

That’s all for now, folks! Go ahead and start voting for which episodes you think are the worst in the 16th, 17th, and 18th slots. You have between now and 7:00 PM CST on Friday, September 9th, 2011 to place your votes. Choose wisely, my friends! There’s only one round to go after this!

[Exedore]

LOL

Friday is Sep 9 btw. :confused:

[SGuthrie27]

LOL

Friday is Sep 9 btw. :confused:

Whoops! Thanks for the correction, Exe -- fixed! :)

[MrsK]

Episode 16: Hypnotic Turbulence was a VERY close second
Episode 17: Sleeper Tough call between Sleeper and Reaper, but 007 Jimmy tipped the scales
Episode 18: Eternal

[wellinglover66]

Episode 16: Escape
Episode 17: Checkmate
Episode 18: Eternal

[Supsfan]

Episode 16 - Promise

I don't think this choice will surprise anybody who knows me. By far the worst piece of rubbish the show has ever produced. I don't care about 3 points of view, good camera work or wonderful acting or any other reason people give to say this episode was ok, simple fact is this episode stood for everything I hate about the show which basically is it's a over glorified soap opera with absolutely no redeeming qualities other then a 15 second Shelby scene. I personally want to watch a show about a hero not some Graduate ripoff full of melodrama and angst. In general I hated the whole Clexana storyline and found it dragged down many episodes in the second half of Season 6, but at least in those cases we only got it in small doses that you could find something of entertainment value in those episodes, this episode was just 42 minutes non stop of something I would expect out of a telenovela(minus the hot latina girls being half naked).

Episode 17 - Legacy

I know most people will probably pick Sleeper here and that episode is neck and neck for worst 17th episode in my books but I give slight edge to Legacy simply because I find it has terrible rewatch value(The A-plot in Sleeper doesn't bother me and if you ignore the 10 terrible minutes Clark is in it I've seen much worse on the show). In general Legacy just felt like pointless drama. I have no clue what was supposed to happen with the Dr Swann plot(is he good? why did he turn into such a prick?). Maybe it was a setup for his storyline in Season 4 and after CR died they had to scrap it but I don't know why the show felt the need to take an interesting character and try to over do the "suspense" and "drama" behind his motivations and actions, it just knocked down the character a notch in my books. Beyond that this episode was the start of the wonderful(and read that sarcastically) Lana wants to go to Paris plotline(great more reason to make Clark's life more miserable and turn up the angst)

Episode 18 - Eternal

Man how Season 8 crashed and burned in the second half(this is one of the 4 episodes that make my worst 10 list from Season 8). This episode just was one terrible retcon about a story I could care less about. When people complain about "fillers" it's episode like Eternal that make me think how bad a story can be when they try concentrate on a bigger storyline.

[LordOnox]

Episode 16: Hypnotic
Episode 17: Sleeper
Episode 18: Eternal

[jbshmdfb]

Episode 16: Hypnotic
Episode 17: Sleeper
Episode 18: Eternal

[Supsfan]

I think at this point it's safe to declare Eternal the worst 18th episode.

[skully]

Episode 16: Lucy - Irritating, criminal, spoilt brat of a little sister ruins Lois and Clark's day. :\

Episode 17: Reaper - Psycho meteor freak turns people to ashes to "help" them. :rolleyes:

Episode 18: Visitor - Despressing and features the most outrageous "ET phone home" equipment ever. :p

[BadToad]

Episode 16 : Escape
Episode 17 : Sleeper
Episode 18 : Eternal

[costas22]

Episode 16 - Hypnotic (on par with Lucy, but at least that one was less damaging)
Episode 17 - Sleeper
Episode 18 - Booster (A good bunch overall, but I enjoyed this the least)

----- Added 3 Minutes later -----



Episode 15: “Conspiracy.” I’m the only guy who voted for it, but I don’t care.

I voted for Conspiracy last year and I would have voted for it again if it wasn't for the "magnificence" of Fortune. :rolleyes:


Turbulence:
Cless plane fight is hot.


:lol: Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Pali]

Episode 16: Hypnotic
Episode 17: Reaper
Episode 18: Visitor

[RaniaLovesClois]

Episode 16: Hypnotic
Episode 17: Sleeper
Episode 18: Eternal

[jsm]

Episode 16: Promise- It's a difficult choice between Promise and Escape, but I chose Promise, because it's my least favorite episode of the series. It seemed like the relationship storylines were more important than the Zoner storyline in season 6, which is why season 6 is my least favorite. This episode is Lex and Lana's wedding. And...................................nothing else. At least Bride showed us that Lex was alive and had Doomsday crash it, and Darkseid crashed the wedding in Finale Part 1. This episode had nothing. The only action scenes were Lex killing Lana's doctor and Clark ripping the cellar door off it's hinges. And on top of that, it's from 3 points of view- so we basically have to watch it 3 times. That was an interesting way of telling the story, and I wish they would have used it again on a better episode. Another problem I have is the inconsistencies from the points of view. For instance, Lana tells Clark she'll meet him at the barn "at 5 o'clock" and the other time she says "at 5." And when Chloe calls Clark for help when she's stuck in the wine cellar, the phone rings 3 times before he answers. From Clark's point of view, it only rings once.

I almost voted for Escape, because that episode was pointless as well. The cliffhanger at the end of the previous episode was, Zod just gained his powers. And now Clark and Lois are going to a bed and breakfast?! Clark didn't know that Zod had his powers yet, but it didn't make sense to have this episode immediately following Conspiracy- it actually didn't make sense to have this episode at all. Here's the opening teaser: Clark and Lois are going to a bed and breakfast, and Chloe and Oliver are going to the same bed and breakfast. At that time, thousands of people change their channels, because that is not going to keep viewers interested during the commercial break. And what does Zod do now that he has powers? He's with Tess in the barn. Couldn't Zod have gone on a rampage in Metropolis since Clark wasn't there to stop him? It seems like during seasons 9 and 10, Dawn Ostroff had the Gossip Girl writers come up with some of the plots. Escape is a pointless episode, but it's still better than Promise.


Episode 17: Hex

Episode 18: Spirit- another pointless episode.

[Supsfan]

And on top of that, it's from 3 points of view- so we basically have to watch it 3 times. That was an interesting way of telling the story, and I wish they would have used it again on a better episode.

I have to agree with that while the 3 points of view was a good idea in theory, you need a good storyline to make it work. To me 3 points of view of Clexana is 3 times the amount of Clexana drama which is not a good thing. I am generally surprised that more people don't hold this episode in low regard like I do. Way I look at this is unless one was a fan of the whole Clexana love triangle this episode was terrible. I personally don't think any character(besides perhaps Lionel and Shelby) came out looking good at the end.


Another problem I have is the inconsistencies from the points of view. For instance, Lana tells Clark she'll meet him at the barn "at 5 o'clock" and the other time she says "at 5." And when Chloe calls Clark for help when she's stuck in the wine cellar, the phone rings 3 times before he answers. From Clark's point of view, it only rings once.

Lol now that is funny. I guess I was just to annoyed to even notice.


Episode 17: Hex

Episode 18: Spirit- another pointless episode

I'll take a guess you won't agree with 2 of my best of picks. :)

[smallvillefreak24]

Episode 16 - Hypnotic

Episode 17 - Sleeper

Episode 18 - Eternal

[rockyshadow]

Episode 16: Hypnotic
Episode 17: Sleeper
Episode 18: Eternal

[Xanderman]

Lucy
3/10. The only fail in this very strong group of episodes.

Void
2/10. Really bad episode. Legacy (4/10) was the only other fail in this group for me.

Booster
3/10. Three-way tie between Booster, Spirit and Visitor for me. I'd rate them all at about a 3. Gave Booster the edge because it brought up the awful Legion stuff. Legion, ugh. Awful, just awful.

* * * * *


But since I have limited time on my hands, I decided to write my mini-synopses in the form of haiku poems.Funny stuff. My favorite is this one:

Eternal:
Continuity
Isn’t this show’s B.F.F.
Davis -- from goo egg?!

I like how continuity happens to be 5 syllables all on its own.

[SGuthrie27]

Lucy
3/10. The only fail in this very strong group of episodes.

Void
2/10. Really bad episode. Legacy (4/10) was the only other fail in this group for me.

Booster
3/10. Three-way tie between Booster, Spirit and Visitor for me. I'd rate them all at about a 3. Gave Booster the edge because it brought up the awful Legion stuff. Legion, ugh. Awful, just awful.

* * * * *

Funny stuff. My favorite is this one:

Eternal:
Continuity
Isn’t this show’s B.F.F.
Davis -- from goo egg?!

I like how continuity happens to be 5 syllables all on its own.

THANKS, Xanderman! :D Yeah, it's quite a mouthful for a single, multisyllable word, isn't it? :lol: Glad you liked the haiku poems!

BTW, AGREED with what you said about "Void" completely. As much as "Sleeper" has its flaws, and consists of waaaaaay too much Chimmy for my liking, I find "Void" to be much, much worse, on so many levels. Ugh. Lana as a junkie who has to have near-death experiences to see her parents and be happy? That was an actual plot?! Rrrrrrright. :p :lol:

[Supsfan]

BTW, AGREED with what you said about "Void" completely. As much as "Sleeper" has its flaws, and consists of waaaaaay too much Chimmy for my liking, I find "Void" to be much, much worse, on so many levels. Ugh. Lana as a junkie who has to have near-death experiences to see her parents and be happy? That was an actual plot?! Rrrrrrright. :p :lol:

I didn't mind Void, much better to see Lana sad, depressed, hating her life and doing something stupid rather then Clark(which sadly in Season 5 seemed to be a main plot point). At least unlike many episodes from S5 onwards Clark was actually being proactive in it.

Void is far from my favorite but the show has done much much worse

[skully]

Agreed Sups. I thought Void was pretty good and an excellent performance by KK.

[Exedore]

Episode 16: Promise (dishonourable mention: Escape)
Episode 17: Sleeper (though Kent's stupid ending made me almost vote for it)
Episode 18: Eternal (awful, just...awful; dear god, I like to pretend this one doesn't even exist)

[Xanderman]

BTW, AGREED with what you said about "Void" completely. As much as "Sleeper" has its flaws, and consists of waaaaaay too much Chimmy for my liking, I find "Void" to be much, much worse, on so many levels. Ugh. Lana as a junkie who has to have near-death experiences to see her parents and be happy? That was an actual plot?! Rrrrrrright. :p :lol:Lol tell me about it. That plot point seemed to come out of left field. If I wanted to see flat-lining, I'd watch Flatliners. If I want to see bad acting and stupid stories apparently I'd watch Smallville. lol And Lex getting injected and having an experience himself was overly familiar; Lex had been shot/knocked out several times that season already and had "experiences", like in Lockdown and Lexmas, or going back a bit further, Scare when he injected himself and had that future experience. Very repetitive. And poor Jonathan, all he ever did was drop endless Superman anvils and spew countless sermons when he was alive, and that's all did when he was dead (in Clark's near-death experience). lol "This is your destiny, son. You are going to touch the lives of so many people. Not just as a man, but as a symbol." As who, Batman? :lol: Seriously, I'm surprised he didn't add:

The Ghost of Jonathan/Christmas Past: As a man you're just flesh and blood, you can be ignored, you can be destroyed. But as a symbol... as a symbol, you can be incorruptible...you can be everlasting...
Clark: You mean like Batman?
The Ghost of Jonathan/Christmas Past: Yes, except completely different.
Clark: Just like Batman.......
The Ghost of Jonathan/Christmas Past: I hate you son.




I thought Void was pretty good and an excellent performance by KK.And for me the time I was most impressed with KK's acting chops was in Fracture, when she managed to say both "mothballed" and "spearheaded" in almost the same sentence with a straight face.:cool: :lol: Honestly, "the entire project was spearheaded by Lionel" and "it was mothballed six months ago", out of the mouth of Lana freakin Lang of all characters....what a world we live in. :lol:

[Supsfan]

That plot point seemed to come out of left field.

It's not like the show has a good history of building up things. I always remember the beginning of Crisis, getting a chuckle how Lana and Pete all of a sudden worked at a Crisis hotline. That just felt like a Saved By the Bell episode where the cast just happened to be at a place and crap happens to serve the plot of that episode(then we never hear about that place again). In the case of Void I think what the producers were going for was Lana was at a low point in her life trying to fill that Void. I do think if they actually had any story telling skills they could have hinted at it for an episode or 2 before hand but that never was Smallville style(many times it seems like to get from point A to Point E, they skip over points B, C and D).


If I want to see bad acting and stupid stories apparently I'd watch Smallville

As I said above I don't think the episode was great, but the show has had many worse premises for a storyline. There wasn't really anything in the episode that was character damaging beyond that episode either so that has to be worth something. Given alot of the stuff that the show tried passing off as "drama" in Season 5(such as Clark screwing up leads to his Dad's Death, Clark whining about what Lana is up to, Clark constantly needing to be saved in the most ridiculous situations, Lionel & Martha, etc) Lana wanting to flatline herself doesn't seem so bad.

[Vergon6]

Episode 16: Turbulence
This one really stands out for me but in a bad way. So basically they have Chloe taser her husband in favor of a guy who might in fact be a mass murderer and they amp unnecessary Chimmy angst leading to Jimmy asking for a divorce in the first episode he is back after getting married to her...okay.. Chloe could have just yelled 'Jimmy, stop!' and she could have at least given her husband the benefit of the doubt or cautiously looked into things, but still believing he was too drugged out. They also have Davis drugging Jimmy without someone seemingly no one notices. They also have Jimmy becoming a drug addict and and quitting the Daily Planet. Really if they wanted more of a storyline for Jimmy outside of Chloe, they could have explored more Jimmy/Lois or Jimmy/Clark reporting/investigating angles. But no, they had to try to make the character so out of it, that they probably thought people wouldn't care that they were about to abruptly retcon Jimmy into 'Henry' in the finale. I always liked Chloe as a character, even if I had issues with her at times (as I have had at other times with characters). But this was the episode when I started to not like her as much. The whole Chloe calms Davis thing was lame and out of left field too. I mean did Doomsday crash their wedding out of jealousy and not because he was programmed by Braniac to retrieve Chloe to be a vessel??

Episode 17: Reaper

Ultimately a forgettable freak of the week episode.


Episode 18: Eternal

Like Ex, I try to forget this episode. I mean Brian and Kelly wrote "Skinwalker" and they were around for "Talisman". But they go ahead at try to at least imply a retcon where Davis is really Sageeth. That makes no sense, because Davis and Clark aren't even really friends. They completely forgot about the starblade that was supposed to point towards the real Sageeth. They also seem to forget that the Mansion was not in Smallville in 1989, etc. etc. Anyways, it was just a horrible mess. It's still mind-boggling that they had Chloe think it was a good idea to lock herself in the basement of the Talon with Davis. He's a mass murderer, Doomsday or no Doomsday, and she had to know that she was like a drug to him, that eventually any effect she had at keeping the beast at bay would be non-existent. It was a continuing of a disgraceful storyline. Personally, I think they should have found another way of keeping Davis seemingly at bay or they could have had "Legion" much later in the season, where Davis would emerge at the end of the season from the chrysallis in the Fortress as Doomsday, no more Davis.

And oh yeah, they turned the field where Clark was found/he found Jonathan and Martha into a mass grave for Davis' victims...how lovely.

[HopeforTomorrow]

... and “Fortune” has a lot of gag-worthy moments, but the Chlark golden glowing loft scene toward the end of the episode saves it from being at the bottom of the barrel.

Thanks for that reminder, Jeff. :rolleyes:

Although I'd add that to the ultimate gag-worthy moments.


Speaking of gag-worthy...


Episode 16: Promise (Well said Supsfan and jsm. No amount of good execution could save this one from being an all-time worst plot concept ever. The icing on that disgusting to watch "Clexana" storyline. If Promise is my #1, I'd say that Escape is #1A as far as that group goes. Hypnotic is bad too, but not on the same level.)

Episode 17: Sleeper (Checkmate is not far behind.)

Episode 18: Eternal (Booster and Progeny are also on my bad list)

[Supsfan]

TNo amount of good execution could save this one from being an all-time worst plot concept ever.

I always wonder if an episode like Ageless had 3 points of view if people would like it better

[dh1031]

*face palm* many apologies to Jeff as he sent me a message about this new round of voting, but RL has continued restrict my "free time" to a minimum. That said, here's my picks for episodes 16, 17, and 18


Episode 16 - Promise - Smallville's version of Ground Hog Day without the humerous conclusion

Episode 17 - Sleeper - Somebody was on a James Bond kick, :lol:

Episode 18 - Booster - Someone call the writers from Happy Days because the show really "jumped the shark" here! :)

[BoyScout-ManOfTomorrow]

Booster, really? To me that's one of the few episodes I care to rewatch from S10.

[HopeforTomorrow]

I always wonder if an episode like Ageless had 3 points of view if people would like it better

Yeah, Ageless may take the cake as far as worst plot concepts on SV go, but at least it was harmless.

Rapidly-aging exploding baby episode from 3 beautifully done POV's.... I haven't thought about that one. o_O

----- Added 11 Minutes later -----

I didn't see all of the standings put together anywhere, so:

Anti-Episode Wars 2011 Standings (so far)

1. Vortex
2. Sneeze
3. Fierce
4. Cure
5. Roulette
6. Redux
7. Magnetic
8. Static
9. Abyss
10. Disciple
11. Visage
12. Bulletproof
13. Power
14. Requiem
15. Fortune

[Supsfan]

Yeah, Ageless may take the cake as far as worst plot concepts on SV go, but at least it was harmless.

Ageless would be #2 on my worst show plot concepts behind Relic. While I fully understand the logic TPTB had making an episode like Relic, I just don't understand why they felt it was necessary. Much like Ageless though I find Relic harmless. I think Noir might also give Ageless a run for it's money for bad plot concepts. Noir to me just felt like an episode where producers got bored and tried to do something different for the sake of being different. The only thing keeping Noir out of myw orst 20 compared to the other 2 is at least the story in Noir was mildly entertaining where as Ageless and Relic was more like what the hell is this crap.

[SGuthrie27]

Kal-El... it is TIME. Time for the final, seventh round of the final Anti-Episode Wars: The Worst of All Seasons, brought to you by Old Spice: Red Zone, Stride Gum, Lemon Pledge, and YEAH -- REMY ZERO!!! But first, here are my selections for the worst episodes in the 16th, 17th, and 18th positions.

Episode 16: “Hypnotic.” As much as I was glad that the Clana romance was FINALLY on the rocks after about 4-5 mini break-ups that occurred earlier in the season, this episode was just so gag-worthy to me. I didn’t care for the character of Simone Charcot at all, I found that she had no chemistry with Clark, and it was just over-the-top soap opera nonsense to me. Bleh. This is far and away worse than any other options in this category, IMO.

Episode 17: “Void.” “Sleeper” is relatively goofy and cheesy, I will definitely admit, but despite its flaws, and the overwhelming amount of Chimmy scenes, I found “Void” to be a much worse episode on so many levels, mainly for how it turned Lana into a depressed, near-death-experience-seeking drug junkie after her break-up with Clark. I did like Clark’s and Lex’s conversations with Jonathan and Lillian respectively, but it’s not enough to keep it off the bottom of the list in this set of choices. “Reaper” isn’t that great either, but the characterization in it, as in most of Season 1, is very good.

Episode 18: “Booster.” It just seemed... I dunno, overly silly to me, and I didn’t find myself connecting very much with either the Blue Beetle or Booster Gold characters. *shrugs* “Eternal” may have been eternally full of plot holes and contrivances, but it kind of holds a special place in my heart since it’s the first episode for which I wrote a full-length review. “Visitor” came close, too, but there are elements of it I still like.

Which episodes really won out? Well, here are the choices that you, the viewers, made:
Episode 16: “Hypnotic” (beating “Promise” by 4 votes and winning for 3 years in a row)
Episode 17: “Sleeper” (handily defeating everything else, and being a four-year champion)
Episode 18: “Eternal” (“Booster” was in second place; this is the third year “Eternal” has won)

Since the haiku poetry went over pretty well during the last set of episodes, and it doesn’t take so much time to write, I think I’ll go that route again in revealing the options for the seventh round of voting. Note that I put all the season finales in the Episode 22 category so they’re up against each other.

Episode 19:

Crush:
Justin -- TK psycho,
Crushes Kwan and likes Chloe,
Then gets crushed by Clark.

Precipice:
Helen’s ex-boyfriend
Is a psycho; Lana learns
Self-defense from Lex

Memoria:
Lex relives his past.
Who caused Julian’s demise?
Lionel dupes Clark.

Blank:
Clark’s mind’s been wiped clean.
Chloe is his tour guide gal.
Summerholt, beware!

Mercy:
In this “Saw” rip-off,
Lionel is tested tons
And learns Clark’s secret.

Nemesis:
Lex and Clark get trapped --
Will their friendship be renewed?
Will they stay at odds?

Quest:
Edward Teague’s alive
And enjoys slicing up chests.
Purple orb gets found!

Stiletto:
Lois dons a mask,
Becomes Intergang’s target,
And gets poor Clark shot.

Charade:
Ray Sachs wants the Blur.
Maxwell Lord probes Lois’s mind.
Does she hold the key?

Dominion:
Clark and Oliver
Fight Zod in the Phantom Zone.
Gladiator, much?

Episode 20:

Obscura:
Chloe gets buried!
Lana sees through psycho’s eyes!
Chlark cuteness ensues.

Witness:
Goodbye, Henry Small.
Clark and Chloe fight a lot.
Don’t inhale Green K.

Talisman:
Could Clark be Naman?
Could the Starblade really prove
Clark’s true enemy?

Ageless:
Exploding baby
Rapidly ages after
Pregnant chick explodes.

Fade:
Lois’ new boyfriend
Is a camouflage hitman!
Unlucky in love...

Noir:
Jimmy has a dream:
Everything’s in black and white!
Who shot Lana Lang?

Beast:
Doomsday’s on the rise.
Chloe leaves with Davis Bloome.
Chlark’s phone call is SWEET!

Sacrifice:
Chloe and Tess -- trapped!
Checkmate’s after them -- oh no!
Watchtower’s gone nuts.

Prophecy:
Lois is imbued
With Clark’s powers as a gift;
Calls the wedding off.

Episode 21:

Accelerate:
Emily Dinsmore:
Lana’s super-fast dead friend
Is really a clone.

Forsaken:
Emily is back,
And traps Lana in a box.
Is this a bad thing?

Forever:
Brendan collects kids
And traps them in fake high school.
Can Clark save them all?

Oracle:
From beyond the grave,
Jonathan asks Clark to kill?!
Whoops, it’s Brainiac!

Prototype:
Lex has a weapon:
Wes Keenan, who Lois liked.
Clark must save her -- fast!

Injustice:
Bette (Plastique) is back.
Her villainous crew gets mad.
Tess Mercer: watch out!

Hostage:
Perry White’s in town.
Mama Kent is the Red Queen!
Where’s the Book of Rao?

Episode 22/Finales:

Tempest:
Twisters really stink,
Ruining Chlark’s dance. Lana:
GET DOWN IN THE DITCH!

Calling/Exodus:
Jor-El speaks to Clark.
He blows up his spaceship -- oops!
Lex goes down in plane.

Covenant:
Who is this Kara?
Lionel gets his revenge.
Clark’s sucked in cave wall.

Commencement:
Stones are united;
Second meteor shower
Rains on Clark’s grad day!

Vessel:
Lex inhabits Zod.
Power outage sweeps the globe.
Chlark kiss for the WIN!

Phantom:
Lex wants the last wraith,
Who is rather bloodthirsty.
Then it copies Clark!

Arctic:
Brainiac -- no more?
Lex and Clark -- in the Fortress,
Which falls on them both!

Doomsday:
Doomsday’s brawl just sucks.
Rest in peace, poor Henry James.
Clark Kent’s dead -- yeah right!

Salvation:
Oliver gets caught!
The Kandorians rise up!
Will Clark stop them all?

Finale:
Clark’s journey ends here.
Darkseid’s Apokolips comes.
Hello, Superman!

And there you have it -- the last round is officially open for business! Please place your votes for this round over the next three days, but make sure they’re in by 7:00 PM CST on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 for them to be added to the tally. I can’t wait to see how these turn out!!!

[wellinglover66]

Episode 19: Stiletto
Episode 20: Prophecy (Beast's a close 2nd)
Episode 21: Prototype
Episode 22: Vessel

[skully]

Episode 19: Precipice - Creepy Paul Hayden and obnoxious Andy Connors - say no more. :p

Episode 20: Ageless - the infamous exploding baby episode, that just shades the horrendous Beast for the crown. :eek:

Episode 21: Forever - wax mannequinizing teen decides turning "The Most Likely To" brigade into his own personal permanent High School. :\

Episode 22/Finale: Doomsday - Er, can you say "Failsday"? Says it all really. What potentially could've been the greatest fight in SV history was a one-sided bash-athon followed by a superleap into a hole. :rolleyes:

[LordOnox]

Episode 19: Stiletto
Episode 20: Prophecy
Episode 21: Accelerate
Episode 22: Doomsday

[Supsfan]

Episode 19 - Quest

I didn't care for the whole Traveler storyline so that is one strike, second strike would be a ridiculous Clark save where Chloe flies to Montreal just in the nick of time to save him.

Episode 20 - Beast

I hated the whole second half storyline of Chloe and Davis and this episode was the pinnacle of it. This episode just felt like typical unneeded drama for the sake of creating it. Upon rewatch I actually rate Beast the worst episode of Season 8. Honorable mention goes to Ageless since it just was a ridiculous premise, but at least unlike Beast it was rather harmless.

Episode 21 -Oracle

Overall a weak bunch but nothing overly terrible. Oracle just beats out Forsaken and Injustice since I didn't care for the Clana angst

Episode 22 - Calling/Exodus

As most know Promise is my worst rated episode ever, but if there ever was one episode that could give it a run for it's money it would be Exodus. I can pinpoint the bad writing and writing styles(ie turning the show into a bad soap opera) on the show directly to this series of episodes(Calling-Exile). For every complaint I hear about stuff in later seasons, I can find something in this group of episodes that is on par with it in terms of bad writing methods. In general Calling by itself might not be bad, but Clark does absolutely nothing of note in terms of being a hero in it and the fact it's the setup for the trainwreck that is Exodus makes it guilty by association. Exodus though is on a completely different beast, it basically was finding the most ridiculous ways to create "drama" and the start of making Clark look like manic depressive who can't do anything right. Jor-El by far was the worst character the show created and this episode(even more then Reckoning) was the lowlight of the plot device the show made him out to be. The show should have built up each season to a positive resolution for Clark in some form but this was the start of Clark screws up in some form leads to the problems of the next season(and I don't think any other season was worse then this one in that regard since absolutely nothing positive came out of this series of episodes in terms of Clark's character, at least in other season you could find some small positive). But hey Clark riding on a motorcycle looked cool.

[jsm]

Will Finale not be split between the two parts?

----- Added 6 Minutes later -----

I don't see how people can say Doomsday was a letdown, and then say Salvation was great- that seems to be what everyone says. At least they both had powers in Doomsday. In Conspiracy, Zod gained powers, so we were all looking foward to a superpowered showdown. And what happened? Blue Kryptonite, no powers and a normal fight.

[Supsfan]

I don't see how people can say Doomsday was a letdown, and then say Salvation was great- that seems to be what everyone says. At least they both had powers in Doomsday. In Conspiracy, Zod gained powers, so we were all looking foward to a superpowered showdown. And what happened? Blue Kryptonite, no powers and a normal fight.

My 2 main beefs with Doomsday were

1) The show had done so much in the second half not to make me care about the fight. The Davis storyline was unneeded drama(see Beast among many other Davis heavy episodes that don't rate that high with me) that really dragged down the show. If the show really wanted to have a Clark/Doomsday Fight, have Doomsday show up in the final 2-3 episodes and let them go at it. I don't need the story behind Doomsday to actually care about the fight, infact I think giving Doomsday an air of mystery would work better.

2) That whole Henry "James" Olsen was one of the most idiotic idea's ever. I get it the show runners can't fit Jimmy Olsen into their soap opera because he doesn't have a pair of boobs to pander off to shippers, but if they wanted to get rid of the character have him leave the show on assignment instead of trying to surprise the viewer with a needless twist.

In general I wasn't expecting a big fight since I know the show is on a budget, but the show would have been better off just not touching Doomsday in the first place.

On the flip side with Salvation while I wasn't the hugest fan of Zod storyline, given the shows history of trying to create "Drama", Zod and the Kandorians was probably one of the better buildups during the history of the show for a season long storyarc and the payoff in Salvation at least had a conclusion that I was happy with.

[rockyshadow]

Episode 19: Quest
Episode 20: Beast
Episode 21: Injustice
Episode 22: Doomsday

[Exedore]

2) That whole Henry "James" Olsen was one of the most idiotic idea's ever. I get it the show runners can't fit Jimmy Olsen into their soap opera because he doesn't have a pair of boobs to pander off to shippers, but if they wanted to get rid of the character have him leave the show on assignment instead of trying to surprise the viewer with a needless twist.

Or they could have played up his attraction towards Kara and used this idea to get rid of him (while dropping hints that some day....the process could be reversed):

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/9089/supergirladv389.png


:D

[Xanderman]

Or they could have played up his attraction towards Kara and used this idea to get rid of him (while dropping hints that some day....the process could be reversed):

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/9089/supergirladv389.png


:D"You can be your own tombstone." lol Forget Jimmy, that's how I'd like to go.... :lol:

Or they could have had Jimmy accidentally stumble upon the FOS, walk in and then "accidentally" get frozen by Jor-El....And then they could do an ongoing joke where nobody even notices he's gone. Also ongoing would be that even though he's frozen in plain sight, Clark/Superman keeps missing him whenever he visits the fortress. Then one day years late he could walk by it and say to himself "Hmmmm, was that statue of Jimmy always there....wait a second....JIMMY!"

(Superman unfreezes Jimmy)
Superman: Good to have you back, but what were you even doing here??
Jimmy: I was looking for the bathroom...

[costas22]

Episode 19 - Stiletto. Just edges out Dominion.
Episode 20 - Prophecy. What a pointless episode one week before the series finale.
Episode 21 - Hostage. Martha/Perry pairing, Martha the Red Queen and using kryptonite on her son? :rolleyes:
Episode 22 - Finale. It comes down to this and Doomsday. And as much as I hated the Henry James Olsen fiasco, imo it doesn't compare to wasting an hour on a wedding that never happened, LionelSeid, wiping out Lex's entire memory (ultimately Henry-ing the Lex we saw in the first 7 seasons) and killing off Tess like they did. :rolleyes:

[Supsfan]

imo it doesn't compare to wasting an hour on a wedding that never happened

Just out of curiosity if pointless weddings aren't your cup of tea where does Exodus rate for you :)

While not a huge factor in my rating for Exodus, I have to say Helen/Lex was a very pointless storyline on the show. They bring on a character for half a season, set her up to marry Lex then the very next episode after they are married we find out in a twist she turns all evol on us, gets killed the following episode and the show acts like she never existed beyond 1 small reference in S10. Lex from the comics is supposed to be some evil genius but on Smallville they turn him into some hapless nincompoop who is completely clueless when it comes to affairs from the heart(which sadly is a recurring storyline(see Promise)). In all reality maybe it's for the best that Lex got his memories erased so he can forget crap like that. lol

I think my biggest beef about the wedding wasn't the actual wedding and how pointless it was to waste an episode on it but to this day I never fully understood how that for 2 seasons Jonathon seemed to have issues with Lex, but the second he gets married Jonathon is giving him his dad's compass and giving Lex a speech like they family.

If I had to compare the 2 weddings I would say that both would have been better off not explored and it's slightly annoying that some big butthole comes and reeks havic for Clark in both cases but at least in the Finale Clark does something about it which is more then I can say about Exodus.

[costas22]

Just out of curiosity if pointless weddings aren't your cup of tea where does Exodus rate for you :)

I didn't mean it like that. A Clois wedding wouldn't have been pointless by any means. Originally I wasn't a fan of seeing the wedding during the season, but since they went through all the trouble of building up towards it (during the season and especially in the 1st hour of Finale), they should have delivered.

As for Exodus, I thought the Lex/Helen wedding was rushed over the season, but at least it was concluded, lol. However, the follow up at the start of S3 was disappointing. Don't know whether there was a problem with getting Vaugier back for more episodes, but if their intention was to turn Helen evil and write her out of the show immediately after the wedding, then we could have done without it.

At the end of the day, I realize that the show wanted to use wedding episodes as a platform for something big to happen. I didn't mind that as long as the rest of the episode was fun. That's why I like Bride for example. Finale's 2nd hour could have made up for the first one even if Clois never said I do. But it didn't. For me anyway.

[Supsfan]

I didn't mean it like that. A Clois wedding wouldn't have been pointless by any means. Originally I wasn't a fan of seeing the wedding during the season, but since they went through all the trouble of building up towards it (during the season and especially in the 1st hour of Finale), they should have delivered.

When I use the word pointless, I basically ment that what exactly was the point of doing this story(with that conclusion) in the first place. I won't lie I didn't care for the first part of the Finale for the reason it just felt like unneeded drama. The wedding wasn't Promise bad but I could have lived without it.


Don't know whether there was a problem with getting Vaugier back for more episodes, but if their intention was to turn Helen evil and write her out of the show immediately after the wedding, then we could have done without it.

I won't lie, I liked the character of Helen and the way she was written off left a real bad taste for me. Sadly this surprise evil "twist" who gets killed was used for a few 1 season characters in later seasons(Adam and Jason being 2 of the worst, while Davis wasn't much of a surprise and they actually built it up, I could have done with his decent to evil in Season 8). I am guessing she basically served her purpose so TPTB just wanted a way to write her off and that's what they came up with.

If I was writing on the show I would just have done Helen leaves Lex because she is sick of all the stuff he is hiding from her(or even Lex dumps Helen because he doesn't like her invading his privacy) and that could be one of many things that sort of lead to Lex feeling more and more like an outcast/alone. That is a much simpler way to do the storyline that still involves "drama" but doesn't overdo that "drama" because you trying to go all out for the we need to force a big moment type "drama".

In general the more I watch the show try force "drama" the more respect I have for an episode like Tempest that was just a nice simple premise for a season closer. I wish the show would have stayed along those lines for season closers in later years(ie problem happens, Clark saves the day, we move on to a new season).

[costas22]

When I use the word pointless, I basically ment that what exactly was the point of doing this story(with that conclusion) in the first place. I won't lie I didn't care for the first part of the Finale for the reason it just felt like unneeded drama. The wedding wasn't Promise bad but I could have lived without it.

It would have been fun if we had a poll for the wedding episodes, lol. As I said, I believe they serve a particular purpose on this show but imo, they are more misses than hits. I don't dislike Promise as much as you, but there's not a lot of positives I can take from it either. The 3 PoVs is one as you know. :lol: And probably Lionel returning to his evil ways, but even that was done at the expense of a Lex who was already married three times by the age of 27... But I am probably more harsh on Finale due to the fact that I was expecting more out of that episode.



If I was writing on the show I would just have done Helen leaves Lex because she is sick of all the stuff he is hiding from her(or even Lex dumps Helen because he doesn't like her invading his privacy) and that could be one of many things that sort of lead to Lex feeling more and more like an outcast/alone. That is a much simpler way to do the storyline that still involves "drama" but doesn't overdo that "drama" because you trying to go all out for the shocking factor.

I also would have prefered a storyline where Lex gradually alienates Helen and she ends up leaving him. Even if that happens after the wedding. But like you said, they went for the easier ooc solution with her. Plus, even though it was just the start of S3, I feel that we had already seen enough of Lex getting victimized by women.

[RaniaLovesClois]

Episode 19: Quest
Episode 20: Beast
Episode 21: Injustice
Episode 22: Doomsday

[BadToad]

Episode 19 : Quest
Episode 20 : Prophecy
Episode 21 : Injustice
Episode 22 : Doomsday

[Pali]

Episode 19: Percipice
Episode 20: Witness
Episode 21: Forsaken
Episode 22: Calling/Exodus

[hhhandsteph]

19~dominion
20~beast
21~injustice
22~finale

[smallvillefreak24]

Episode 19 - Quest
Episode 20 - Fade
Episode 21 - Injustice
Finale - Doomsday

[HopeforTomorrow]

Nice introduction to the final round, Jeff.



Episode 19 - Stiletto. Just edges out Dominion.
Episode 20 - Prophecy. What a pointless episode one week before the series finale.
Episode 21 - Hostage. Martha/Perry pairing, Martha the Red Queen and using kryptonite on her son? :rolleyes:
Episode 22 - Finale. It comes down to this and Doomsday. And as much as I hated the Henry James Olsen fiasco, imo it doesn't compare to wasting an hour on a wedding that never happened, LionelSeid, wiping out Lex's entire memory (ultimately Henry-ing the Lex we saw in the first 7 seasons) and killing off Tess like they did. :rolleyes:

Nice picks, Costas. Same here. :cool:

Episode 19: Stiletto (Quest had crossed my mind since it featured all-knowing-of-ancient-Kryptonian-rituals-guy, and Clark trapped for a good portion of the episode and needing to be saved ridiculously again, but it also had some golden Lex scenes which tipped it in its favor. Dominion was also bad, especially how Lois was used and that final "Clois" scene was so terribly forced.)

Episode 20: Prophecy (dethrones Beast for me)

Episode 21: Hostage (Injustice not far behind)

Episode 22/Finales: Finale (Doomsday would be #2)

[Supsfan]

Quest had crossed my mind since it featured all-knowing-of-ancient-Kryptonian-rituals-guy, and Clark trapped for a good portion of the episode and needing to be saved ridiculously again, but it also had some golden Lex scenes which tipped it in its favor

I thought Quest was bad for Clark, Stiletto was harmless in regards to his character. I guess a couple Lex scenes saving an episode from being your worst rated though explains alot of your choices.

[costas22]

Nice picks, Costas. Same here. :cool:


That's great to hear HfT. I didn't believe I'd find anyone to agree with me 100% in this round. :lol:

[Xanderman]

19. Quest
6/10. OK episode, just the weakest in what I think is a pretty strong group. Toss up between this and Dominion for me, I'd rate them about the same (6).

20. Prophecy
2/10. Now here's an awful episode. But it's got lots of company: Noir, Ageless and Fade are also total fails.

21. Forsaken
2/10. Another bad one that's not alone in the basement, it shares its space with Accelerate, Injustice and Hostage.

22/Finale: Finale
4/10. Lame, lame, lame...lame is the word. Nothing else comes close, all other finales I rate 7 and up.

* * *



Episode 16: “Hypnotic.” As much as I was glad that the Clana romance was FINALLY on the rocks after about 4-5 mini break-ups that occurred earlier in the season, this episode was just so gag-worthy to me. I didn’t care for the character of Simone Charcot at all, I found that she had no chemistry with Clark, and it was just over-the-top soap opera nonsense to me. Bleh. This is far and away worse than any other options in this category, IMO.

Episode 17: “Void.” “Sleeper” is relatively goofy and cheesy, I will definitely admit, but despite its flaws, and the overwhelming amount of Chimmy scenes, I found “Void” to be a much worse episode on so many levels, mainly for how it turned Lana into a depressed, near-death-experience-seeking drug junkie after her break-up with Clark. I did like Clark’s and Lex’s conversations with Jonathan and Lillian respectively, but it’s not enough to keep it off the bottom of the list in this set of choices. “Reaper” isn’t that great either, but the characterization in it, as in most of Season 1, is very good.

Episode 18: “Booster.” It just seemed... I dunno, overly silly to me, and I didn’t find myself connecting very much with either the Blue Beetle or Booster Gold characters. *shrugs* “Eternal” may have been eternally full of plot holes and contrivances, but it kind of holds a special place in my heart since it’s the first episode for which I wrote a full-length review. “Visitor” came close, too, but there are elements of it I still like.
Almost in complete agreement that round eh Jeff. Guess I'm one of few people that actually likes Hypnotic. Anyway, here are my picks for best Haiku descriptions this round (you should force people to vote for these too...as game master it's your right...:lol: j/k):

Ageless:
Exploding baby
Rapidly ages after
Pregnant chick explodes

Forsaken:
Emily is back,
And traps Lana in a box.
Is this a bad thing?

:lol:

[Supsfan]

Guess I'm one of few people that actually likes Hypnotic.

I never get the hate for the episode myself. I don't love it but it's not terrible. It was one of those that the first 30 minutes was entertaining for what it was but I could have lived without the final 10 minutes(ie let the Clana angst kick into overdrive). Cut out the final 10 minutes and give us a happier ending that totally ignores the Clexana stuff I would have 0 issues with it. It's episodes like this that make me wish that the show was more episodic rather then serialized because if the show was more episodic this episode wouldn't have the negative stigma that comes from trying to make things serialized(I think in general you will find the bulk of my favorties are episodic episodes because I don't think the show handles serialized stories well).

I generally get annoyed by Clark needing to be saved in an episode but I actually think Hypnotic is one of the few it works. Clark is Hypnotized and Chloe takes him out of the trance with a piece of Green K. I have 0 problems with that, why the show couldn't limit Clark needs to be saved to times like that is beyond me(instead to often they created this terrible scenarios were Clark looks totally useless, only to build up the other character at his expense)

[HopeforTomorrow]

I thought Quest was bad for Clark, Stiletto was harmless in regards to his character.

I won't disagree there. I thought that one over a bit and concluded that Stiletto had only a couple scenes that I thought were alright ("Clois" at DP and "Clois" phone convo). The idea of the episode in general was terrible, IMO. Stiletto is one of those episodes that reminds me why I dislike the final 3 seasons of the show as much as I do - way over-the-top cheesy and too comic book-y come to mind. Quest may have not been the best episode for Clark, but I still couldn't rate it worse than Stiletto. How an episode reflects on Clark overall is usually my first selling point for how I rate an episode overall, but Stiletto is one of those rare exceptions where a highly ridiculous story trumps and cancels out a good Clark characterization day for me, sadly.


I guess a couple Lex scenes saving an episode from being your worst rated though explains alot of your choices.

Or it could be that most of my worst rated episodes were done in Seasons 8-10.

Here are my picks for episodes in this thread that featured Lex:

Sneeze, Wither, Static, Promise, Sleeper, and Finale. I'm not counting Requiem since I don't even know what that was that got blown up in the truck. In all of these episodes, there were other reasons besides Lex scenes for why I rated them the worst. I think that Quest is the only episode that I took into consideration Lex scenes for why I favored it over another episode.

I don't know why I'm even defending this. :\


As for Hypnotic - my main reason for not liking it that much is because it was terrible writing (as usual) to break-up "Clana" the way that they did. Some parts of the episode were alright though, so I don't think I have it in my black hole of episodes - but it's very close.

[Supsfan]

Or it could be that most of my worst rated episodes were done in Seasons 8-10.

Here are my picks for episodes in this thread that featured Lex:

Sneeze, Wither, Static, Promise, Sleeper, and Finale. I'm not counting Requiem since I don't even know what that was that got blown up in the truck. In all of these episodes, there were other reasons besides Lex scenes for why I rated them the worst. I think that Quest is the only episode that I took into consideration Lex scenes for why I favored it over another episode.

I don't know why I'm even defending this. :\

All I notice is not 1 episode from S1-3 even gets a dishonorable mention in your worst of lists. I understand liking a certain time period better the others but it's not like the early seasons poop didn't stink at times


Noir, Ageless and Fade are also total fails.

Just out of curiosity what's so bad about Fade? In general I think episode 20s aren't the greatest(I don't think one of the bunch would make my top 100 episodes), but Fade to me is the best of the bunch.

Much like Hypnotic I didn't mind the premise of the episode but the last 10 minutes drag down the episode(Clark: wah wah wah, you have to tell me what Lana's doing Chloe)

I am not sure what's worse as a grouping Episode 14s or 20s. On one hand with the 14s I have 3 of my most despised episodes ever(Traveler, Trespass and Requiem) coupled with a couple episodes I was blah about(Tomb and Rush) but I do like a few of the episodes in that grouping. On the Other side Episode 20s was a whole bunch of blah(Ageless(although this borders on terrible), Noir, Obscura, Sacrifice, Prophecy) coupled with another in my worst 10(Beast) with a bunch of very average episodes to fill it out.

Episode 21s are also not the strongest bunch. Other then Prototype and Forever(and Tempest if you count that as episode 21) most those episodes make it to the wrong side of top 100(and that's counting the Finale Part 1) although none are overly terrible.

It's a general trend I find in most seasons that the second half is generally worse then the first half, the only seasons where I think I could make an argument against that is Season 3(it should be pointed out the fact I hate Exile and like Covenant alot factors big into that). It probably helped that Season 3 was one of the few seasons that the Season long plot didn't make me want to bang my head into the wall when it was done(probably because Clark had minimal involvement in it so he couldn't screw up. lol) and generally those season long plots turn into overdrive in the second half.

Season 6 also gets some consideration for a better second half since I do think there were alot of stronger episode premises, but to many of those were dragged down by the whole Clexana drama turning what could have been great episodes into just good ones(Hydro, Crimson, Combat, Nemesis and Phantom all fall in that category) so I probably would give a slight edge to the blander first half(that had a little to much Green Arrow for my liking).

[HopeforTomorrow]

All I notice is not 1 episode from S1-3 even gets a dishonorable mention in your worst of lists. I understand liking a certain time period better the others but it's not like the early seasons poop didn't stink at times

Well, there are 10 episodes to choose from in each group, and I feel that it'd be difficult for me to say that a Season 1-3 episode gets a dishonorable mention when there are, IMO, so many other worse episodes to choose from in the mid-later years. It simply comes down to the other competition that's in the running. I do prefer the time period better in the early seasons. Not every episode was the greatest and I don't think that the show was ever flawless, but I could watch any of those episodes and enjoy something about them for what they were, unlike later on when the show was plagued consistently by bad/terrible writing patterns and characterization, and inexcusable decision-making which was either annoying, infuriating, or disgusting to watch more often than not. The early seasons were much better in every aspect, IMO - the dialogue, characters, progression, interactions, consistency, environments, production, execution, general dynamic,etc,etc. So, rather than pick out an episode like Magnetic or Crush and say that it was a bad episode, I look at the full body of work that was done during that era and see that those episodes just weren't up to the usual standard of that time period, but still come off better to me than what came later on in the grand scheme of things on SV.

Give me Redux - a mostly good episode that just had a badly-thought-out FotW, but that was only the C-plot anyway and didn't take up much time in the episode.

[BoyScout-ManOfTomorrow]

Or they could have played up his attraction towards Kara and used this idea to get rid of him (while dropping hints that some day....the process could be reversed):

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/9089/supergirladv389.png


:D

LoL, this at least would have had continuity. In Season 8 Kara and Jimmy don't meet again and later on she doesn't mention him or wonder where he is. I guess they dealt that as well in offscreen.

[Supsfan]

Above I said I could find some counterpoint to bad writing in the Calling-Exodus-Exile(although for argument sake Exodus was the main one with tons of bad stuff in terms of writing) run that people make about later seasons so for the sake of argument


bad/terrible writing patterns
-Jor-El being used as a cheap plot device to create Drama
-Jonathon seemed out of character in Exodus with the way he delt with Lex(ie having character motivation change to suit the plot)
-Clark can't go 2 seconds being happy before something wrong happens(he is finally happy with Lana then boom)
-in Calling Clark does absolutely nothing of note in terms of heroics(i seen this argument used against later season episodes). Calling-Exodus were defintiely the start of the Soap Opera drama over action period of the show
-Helen turning evil was a what the hell moment(ie the "surprise" twist that seems more for the sake of making a twist for the sake of having a twist then telling a good story)

It's a basic case I found to often the show would go to the cheapest forms to try create "drama" and instead of the drama being something bad happens and Clark has to save the day(see Tempest) Calling-Exile was the start of let's make Clark's life hell and have him do stupid things(heaven forbid he be happy for more then 2 seconds) and have those things cause issues in his life for the rest of the season(I found Season 3 rather a depressing year for Clark, maybe not Season5 levels of depressing but it seemed like for the most part Clark had issues with every character on the show due to the events of Calling-Exile)


characterization
-Clark hates his life and runs away, which never is properly resolved since for a good chunk of Season 3 he seems to have problems with everybody due to his actions. Clark basically should be a hero not some character who is better suited for Dawson's Creek or Twilight who has superpowers
-in Calling when we find out Martha doesn't give Clark birthdays to make Lana look good also rubbed me the wrong way
-as I pointed out above Lex looks like a nincompoop with the way he easily gets tricked when in love
-I can probably add the whole Chloe scene in Calling makes her look bad
-Jor-El was probably the worst character ever on the show and Season 2/3 Jor-El was much worse then he was in later seasons(and I had tons of problems with his character in later seasons)

Basically the only 2 characters who come out virtually unscathed in this run of episodes are Lionel and Lana in terms of bad characterization, even then we get one of those terrible Clana angsty end scenes in Phoenix(the 4th part of this group, although the issues I have with that episode are minor compared to the first 3) and it's like here we go again


inexcusable decision-making which was either annoying, infuriating, or disgusting to watch more often than not
-at the end of Exile what the hell was Jonathon thinking he could have easily just grabbed a piece of Green K and hunted down Clark(but of coarse that wouldn't lead to the "wonderful" heart problems storyline of S3 that Clark can blame himself for over and over).
-I didn't care for the moment in Exile we see Clark take off the ring, become all depressed then put it back on(honestly if you want a powerful scene to end the story have Clark fight with himself to take that Red K ring off be the big moment of the episode, showing that the good in Clark won out)

In general Jor-El coming to reek havoc in Clark's life making him miserable and run away was a plot the show shouldn't have explored. I said many times before take this plotline and plop it in later seasons I think it would get more hate, but since it's in S2/3 it seems to get a free pass


The early seasons were much better in every aspect, IMO - the dialogue, characters, progression, interactions, consistency, environments, production, execution, general dynamic,etc,etc.

Martha's speech with Clark about Birthday's didn't strike me as some wonderful dialogue, same deal with Jonathon's speech with Lex which was way out of character. As for progression, the Calling-Exile run felt like back ward progression and was the start of the overblown drama being a focal point on the show. I think Exodus was the first episode that the characters felt really inconsistent in order to create "drama". In general the only things in the list above I would be hard pressed to find something similar in later seasons would be environment and production(I assume you mean location shooting which was drastically cut starting around S5 and got real bad in Season 8)

[BadToad]

I don't know why I'm even defending this.

You shouldn't have to defend what you like and dislike.

For the record, I completely agree with you. Although there are major stinkers in the early seasons, in general, I think it was a better done show in the earlier seasons. IMO

[jbshmdfb]

Episode 19: Quest
Episode 20: Beast
Episode 21: Injustice
Episode 22: Doomsday

[Xanderman]

You shouldn't have to defend what you like and dislike.Not so fast there BadToad, defending yourself is only half the battle....changing other people's minds, and convincing them they're wrong to see things the way they do, that's the other half.:cool: :lol: This is a war afterall. But it isn't so much a war between episodes as it is between personal opinions and tastes. And winning? That's all that matters. :lol: There are right opinions, you see, and wrong opinions. The challenge of this game, is figuring out which is which. Here's a good example:



Just out of curiosity what's so bad about Fade?

^^ here Supsfan is demonstrating winning. He cleverly challenged me to describe what's so bad about Fade. And the fact of the matter is, I don't even remember the episode.:lol: I'm only going by an old score I arbitrarily threw at the episode years back. In other words, I've lost -- and Supsfan made it happen.:cool: LOL

Completely kidding of course. :lol:






Just out of curiosity what's so bad about Fade?Of the 4 episodes I painted with the same brush there, Fade actually gets the highest score for me...a 4/10. Making it not really a total fail--it almost passed for Christ's sake...:lol: So it was unfair of me to pile it along with the others the way I did....good call, Sups! lol You are right that the episode isn't terrible. I just quickly scanned the ep to refresh my memory, I think the episode's storyline just wasn't that interesting or engaging to me personally for some reason... Not a very memorable episode for me.


In general I think episode 20s aren't the greatest(I don't think one of the bunch would make my top 100 episodes), but Fade to me is the best of the bunch.Agreed about the 20's, the only episodes I'd call good personally from that group are Obscura and Beast. I'm one of few people that likes those episodes I'm sure.


I am not sure what's worse as a grouping Episode 14s or 20sThey're both weak groups overall to be sure. I might give the edge to the 20's as worse though as the 14's have 3 good episodes with me -- Rush, Obsession and Traveler.


Episode 21s are also not the strongest bunch. Other then Prototype and Forever(and Tempest if you count that as episode 21) most those episodes make it to the wrong side of top 100(and that's counting the Finale Part 1) although none are overly terrible.I find only 3 good eps there myself, including two you mentioned--Forever and Prototype. The 3rd for me is Oracle.


It's a general trend I find in most seasons that the second half is generally worse then the first half, the only seasons where I think I could make an argument against that is Season 3(it should be pointed out the fact I hate Exile and like Covenant alot factors big into that). It probably helped that Season 3 was one of the few seasons that the Season long plot didn't make me want to bang my head into the wall when it was done(probably because Clark had minimal involvement in it so he couldn't screw up. lol) and generally those season long plots turn into overdrive in the second half. The first 3 seasons I find to be pretty consistent in quality throughout, no half is particularly different than its counterpart in overall quality. Then things begin to change. I found the second half of S4 much worse than its first. Whereas for each of seasons 5, 6 and 7, the 2nd halves were much better than their respective firsts. Season 8 and 9 represented a return to consistency. And Season 10 was just crap period.:lol: (it was the first, and only, consistently crappy season :cool: ) For me though seriously, S10 was SV's worst.

[Supsfan]

here Supsfan is demonstrating winning. He cleverly challenged me to describe what's so bad about Fade. And the fact of the matter is, I don't even remember the episode.:lol: I'm only going by an old score I arbitrarily threw at the episode years back. In other words, I've lost -- and Supsfan made it happen.:cool: LOL

Completely kidding of course. :lol:

I was just curious what exactly about Fade you didn't like. As I said Fade and Hypnotic to me have the same problems. Both were decent enough episode ideas but I could have lived without the final 10 minutes


The first 3 seasons I find to be pretty consistent in quality throughout, no half is particularly different than its counterpart in overall quality.

While Season 1's second half wasn't terrible in terms of episodes, I don't care for more of them in the second half(basically Reaper, Crush, Obscura vs Shimmer). On the flip side the amount of episodes I liked alot has a higher count in the first half(Pilot, Jitters, Hourglass, Rogue, Hug vs Leech and Tempest). That to me would consist of a drop in episode quality.

In Season 2, my disdain for jackhole Jor-El(see my Exodus rant) would be the reasoning for saying the second half was worse there. Even if I ignore Calling and Exile, I do think episodes on a whole in the first half where slightly better then the second(Fever, Visitor, Precipice and Accelerate weren't particularly the strongest bunch of episodes and on the first half side I wasn't really a fan of Nocturne).

The more I look at it I even take back saying the second half of S3 is better. It basically comes down what is better, one of my favorite episodes ever on the show(Perry which is top 5) or 2 very good episodes(Obsession(borderline top 25) and Covenant(top 40)). As much as I didn't care for some first half episodes(Relic and Exile are bottom 20, Magnetic is bottom 30) the second half had it's share of duds(Resurrection, Legacy and Velocity are all bottom 30 for me, while Crisis wasn't much better).


Then things begin to change. I found the second half of S4 much worse than its first.

The second half of S4 to me was the best second half ever on the show but I generally loved Season 4 as whole(as you can see by my picks in the best of thread where I believe when all is said and done Season 4 will win like 9-10 episodes).


Whereas for each of seasons 5, 6 and 7, the 2nd halves were much better than their respective firsts.

I hated both halves in Season 5, but the first gets a slight edge because Aqua and Exposed are 2 episodes that stand out for me. Take those out though I would say the second half was way better.

Season 6 - this is a tough call because I generally thought the plot ideas were better in the 2nd half but the execution(mainly ties in to Clexana) was poorer.

Season 7 - I hated the whole Veritas storyline so I thought the second half was way worse(Traveler, Veritas and Quest make my worst 20, Hero and Sleeper are bottom 30)

Season 8 - The show nosedived right after Bulletproof save a couple episodes

S9 - I enjoyed the first half more then second but the drop wasn't extreme as 7&8

S10 - I liked the first half alot, and the second half was blah

In general I just find doing season long arcs wasn't the show's strong point. I think the reason for me finding the quality dropping in the second half in general is that is usually when the season long arcs start going into overdrive. It's sort of sad that one of the better season long arcs(season 3) Clark basically was a bit player in.


S10 was SV's worst.

5 & 7 would be my choices. Season 5 was just overly depressing as a whole, while Season 7 had no direction(once again if you take out the 2 episodes I really enjoyed I would rate 5 worse then 7)

Season 3 is another I particularly don't care for, much like Season 5 I just found way to much angst/depressing storylines(ie Clark has issues with everybody was a running issue throughout the season). The fact Clark isn't written like a complete moron though like S5 + 7 makes it somewhat better.


Not a very memorable episode for me.

Not memorable can be a good thing on this show. It's when an episode is remembered for all the wrong reasons that I have problems. lol


Agreed about the 20's, the only episodes I'd call good personally from that group are Obscura and Beast. I'm one of few people that likes those episodes I'm sure.

Beast was to much drama for the sake of creating drama for my tastes. As for Obscura it wasn't terrible but as somebody who generally has no issues with cheesy plotlines, Lana being able to see through the eyes of another guy who just happens to be the bad guy of the episode was stretching things a bit to much(I think that concept could work if it was written for comedy purposes but as a serious episode it just fell flat on it's face).

In terms of bad concepts that shouldn't have been written in a serious manner Obscura falls 4th on my worst list.

1. Crisis - kryptonite, lightening and phone lines somehow mix together to transcend time and space and allow Lana to call back to the future. I am not sure what was more ridiculous though, the explanation for the phone call from the future or the fact we learn for the very first time after 2 1/2 seasons that Lana and Pete work at a Crisis Hotline (and last time for that matter).

2. Ageless - A rapidly aging exploding baby. I don't think I need to explain this.

3. Relic - Clark gets a doohickey that looks like it came out of a gumball machine that allows him to peep in on his dad making out with Lana's great aunt.

4. Obscura - so some gas pipe blows up and Lana can somehow see what the bad guy of the episode sees?

[Vergon6]

Episode 19: Mercy
Episode 20: Beast
Episode 21: Forever
Episode 22: Doomsday

[HopeforTomorrow]

Above I said I could find some counterpoint to bad writing in the Calling-Exodus-Exile(although for argument sake Exodus was the main one with tons of bad stuff in terms of writing) run that people make about later seasons so for the sake of argument...

Well, for every one of your counterpoints, I'm sure that I could easily come up with 5-10 of my own that involved episodes that happened later on in the show - but I just don't care enough or have the motivation to do that. Plus, it all comes down to how one views the show.

I understand that you REALLY despise Calling/Exodus/Exile, but my previous reply wasn't about just 1, 2, or 3 episodes - it was about Seasons 1-3 in general. That means that when I total up the whole body of work after taking into consideration each individual category (and when I say characterization, that means Clark and ALL characters over the course of 66 episodes), it comes out far and away in the lead ahead of the last half of the series. To me, the good far out-weighed the bad. The points that are continually raised about a handful of moments that happened in 2-3 episodes is not ever going to convince me that the show was doomed at that point. Some of the things that keep being brought up is exactly why I don't rate the end of Season 2 as high as many other episodes. It could've been done better, but it's not something that put a big black mark on the show for me. It continued on and I felt that it was still good.

It seems to me that those run of episodes are more criticized just for being the supposed start of terrible writing rather than it being about consistently bad writing on the show. I've said this so many times before, but the important thing to me was that the characters were still intact and the show wasn't in a position where the quality had dropped down so far that it had hit a point of no return. Your beloved Season 4 was still able to happen after all since the characters hadn't been so badly tarnished yet. I'll never understand how a couple moments that may have went wrong in a couple episodes can be compared to the colossal messes that kept happening later on. I just don't get it. Another thing, Season 3 is another big target of criticism for supposedly not featuring Clark enough. A while back, I typed up a list of episodes with facts that revealed that about 3/4's of Season 3 featured Clark being heroic and proactive. But that all gets negated because he wasn't happy and smiling every second of every episode, or because he wasn't tied in more heavily with the Luthor storyline, or because there may have been a 1-2 minute scene with Lana that was a little angsty. Somehow, it's all made to come off like he was a background character, or something. Just because everything wasn't centered totally around him like it was the first 2 seasons doesn't mean he wasn't there at the center doing the same things even while going through many of his own problems (while just a young teenager). Oh well. We're never going to be on the same page about this, just like I'll never understand how Escape and Fortune - of all episodes - gets high praises and 10/10's from you. You like what you like, and I don't care about coming around every few days and typing up an extensive list of all of the problems that I had with those 2 episodes and dozens of other episodes (from the Sex and the City-esque years) in an attempt to convince anyone that they should go into the bad pile. At least we agree on some things though.



You shouldn't have to defend what you like and dislike.

For the record, I completely agree with you. Although there are major stinkers in the early seasons, in general, I think it was a better done show in the earlier seasons. IMO

I know, I know. I should've just made the picks without any additional commentary. When will I ever learn.

Thanks for understanding where I'm coming from.

[Exedore]

Episode 19: Quest (never liked the whole Veritas/Traveler arc - the stupid "Chloe saves Clark" part didn't help either; dishonourable mention: Dominion - I found the gladiator fight in the PZ boring, the Lois/Clark drama pointless, the off-screen union of the Zods disappointing, Zod so easily turned into Smokey's henchman inexplicable and above all I hated that Clark's plan was shown to be wrong/stupid)

Episode 20: Beast (good god, what were TPTB smoking when they came up with the Chloe/Davis/Doomsday garbage?; dishonourable mentions: Ageless and Prophecy - Super Lois + more pointless wedding angst, 'nuff said)

Episode 21: Hostage (Seriously? Martha the "Red Queen"? *facepalm*; dishonourable mention: Injustice)

Episode 22: Doomsday (Duh!)




Forsaken:
Emily is back,
And traps Lana in a box.
Is this a bad thing?

LOL :lol:

[MrsK]

Episode 19: Precipice
Episode 20: Beast
Episode 21: Forever
Episode 22: Doomsday

[Supsfan]

It seems to me that those run of episodes are more criticized just for being the supposed start of terrible writing rather than it being about consistently bad writing on the show.

I just view those 3 as plan bad writing period and rate them accordingly. The fact it was the first signs of bad writing patterns has nothing to with how and where I rate them. I would rate that storyline poorly whether it was done in the 2nd or 8th season. I personally don't think there is any one episode that employed more bad writing patterns then Exodus(and that includes my most hated episode Promise).

One thing I will say though is when people say when did the show change(many times for the worse) I do think Calling-Exile should be seriously considered since you can pinpoint that series of episode to the change in writings style from the first couple seasons to later seasons.


I understand that you REALLY despise Calling/Exodus/Exile, but my previous reply wasn't about just 1, 2, or 3 episodes - it was about Seasons 1-3 in general

My basic point was you can find that bad writing people complain about in later seasons in early season episodes, Exodus was just an easy target since it employed so many of them. I also was making reference to my post where I rated Calling/Exodus the worst 22nd episode, in it I said any complaints I hear about later seasons I can usually find equally as bad things in Calling-Exile that are on par in terms of writing styles so my post wasn't directed as much towards you it was more justa fun game for myself how I can link bad writing styles to Exodus. (It should be noted I totally forgot about the pregnancy storyline in that episode, probably because I wanted to forget it. lol)


You're beloved Season 4 was still able to happen after all since the characters hadn't been so badly tarnished yet. I'll never understand how a couple moments that may have went wrong in a couple episodes can be compared to the colossal messes that kept happening later on. I just don't get it.

I am not a huge fan of Season 3 and a lot of stuff that happened there tarnished the show for me, but it didn't stop me from liking the much more light hearted Season 4. I learned early on just to watch each episode as a standalone episode and try ignore any over reaching storyline, made it much easier watching the show.


Another thing, Season 3 is another big target of criticism for supposedly not featuring Clark enough

He was featured a lot in it, it was more that he was completely ignored out of the main plot. It's not a big point for me since I find the main plots usually drag down the show and ironically the Season 3 plot was probably one of the best ones, but I always get a chuckle when I see complaints how Clark isn't involved enough on the main plot in one breath used as a reason why certain episodes are bad, then in the next we hear how great Season 3 main storyarc was.


Oh well. We're never going to be on the same page about this, just like I'll never understand how Escape and Fortune - of all episodes - gets high praises and 10/10's from you.

I don't think I gave either 10/10 but at the end of 42 minutes for both episodes I was entertained and didn't feel the need to bang my head in the wall. I might have had a couple slight issues with each, but overall all I ask out of the show is to be entertained for 42 minute(or at least 30 minutes of that 42 minute. lol) and both succeeded in that regard. I don't buy this idea that every episode has to be some part of a bigger storyline else it's a fail(the fact the more it stays away from bigger storylines and acts like it's own 42 minute story chances are I will like it better). I think writing an episode with a more comedic tone does give an episode more leeway to be cheesy(see my list above about bad premises that were done seriously and came off bad, i think in the case of Fortune and Escape if they tried to make the episodes serious they would be fail).

[HopeforTomorrow]

My basic point was you can find that bad writing people complain about in later seasons in early season episodes, Exodus was just an easy target since it employed so many of them. I also was making reference to my post where I rated Calling/Exodus the worst 22nd episode, in it I said any complaints I hear about later seasons I can usually find equally as bad things in Calling-Exile that are on par in terms of writing styles...

I get what you're saying here, but the differences to me between the bad writing patterns or flaws of the early seasons and the later seasons is that the early seasons still had the key pieces in place and all of the little intangibles that still made for an overall good show, IMO. It had its mistakes, weird FotW plots, and imperfections, but there was still a good amount of creativity and focus there that made it more forgivable. Later on (most especially S6-10) the show no longer had the glue or cohesion holding it together that it once did, and the bad writing patterns that you point to in Calling--Exile that emerged were much more clearly evident later on since the show abandoned (or greatly reduced and degraded) the components that it originally had that allowed for its foundation to stand solid. It was simply unable to cover up its mess any longer, and it felt that that mess just continued to build more and more until it collapsed under its own weight because the producers (V1.0 and V2.0) neglected to resolve or own up to any terrible or senseless decisions that they made (the Finale was a disaster waiting to happen because of this, IMO). I'd say my favorite part of the show early on was the likability of its characters. That mostly changed for me later on when the characters became, IMO, like routine one-dimensional cardboard cutouts, unlikable, or too unbelievable. Characters that I once liked were changed not-for-the-better, or were replaced by less interesting irrelevant characters (although Tess was a decent addition, IMO).


I am not a huge fan of Season 3 and a lot of stuff that happened there tarnished the show for me, but it didn't stop me from liking the much more light hearted Season 4.

I like more about Season 4 than I dislike. There are some good/very good episodes in there. I just prefer the first 3 seasons more overall.


He was featured a lot in it, it was more that he was completely ignored out of the main plot. It's not a big point for me since I find the main plots usually drag down the show and ironically the Season 3 plot was probably one of the best ones, but I always get a chuckle when I see complaints how Clark isn't involved enough on the main plot in one breath used as a reason why certain episodes are bad, then in the next we hear how great Season 3 main storyarc was.

I'm glad that you cleared this up. I figured having Clark not heavily involved with the Luthor storyline would be a huge plus for you since I noticed that you're not a big fan of SV's season-long plots. About the last part, it's different when a storyline is specifically designed mainly for Clark and he doesn't have as much to do with it as he should than it is when a storyline is designed for another character. I was glad that Lex - who I feel was the #2 character on the show in the bigger picture - got a big storyline after the mini-arcs that he got in the first 2 seasons when the show was rightfully centered almost totally on the Clark end of things.

[Supsfan]

the bad writing patterns that you point to in Calling--Exile that emerged were much more clearly evident later on since the show abandoned (or greatly reduced and degraded) the components that it originally had that allowed for its foundation to stand solid

It still doesn't change the fact that a bad episode with bad writing patterns is a bad episode with bad writing patterns no matter if it's in Season 2 or Season 10. I won't deny later seasons had way more bad episodes filled with bad writing patterns but in the case of Exodus, I have to call a spade a spade and not give it a free pass because well season 2 was generally better written as a whole.

In the same breath I don't get upset with "filler" episodes in later years and feel they are a waste because let's be honest here the bulk of the first 4 seasons was filler going on what people claimed was filler in later seasons.


I just prefer the first 3 seasons more overall

Well my big peeve with Season 3 was the Clark has issues with everybody drama went way overboard, it just dragged it down to much for my tastes. That being said even though 3 is my 3rd worst rated season, it's miles ahead of Season 5(this season took depressing drama that was a minor problem in Season 3 to the point of being ridiculous) and 7. I would also rate it very close to Season 6 overall(as bad as Clexana dragged down the Season, alot of the gimmicky stuffed worked for me).


I'm glad that you cleared this up. I figured having Clark not heavily involved with the Luthor storyline would be a huge plus for you since I noticed that you're not a big fan of SV's season-long plots. About the last part, it's different when a storyline is specifically designed mainly for Clark and he doesn't have as much to do with it as he should than it is when a storyline is designed for another character. I was glad that Lex - who I feel was the #2 character on the show in the bigger picture - got a big storyline after the mini-arcs that he got in the first 2 seasons.

In general The season long arc didn't hurt my opinion of the season but it factors very little where and how I rate it. I think for the sake of comparison the Luthor vs Luthor arc and Stones of Knowledge were somewhat similar. Both basically didn't feature Clark enough(although Clark did have a bigger part in the Stones and conclusion to the stones) but were relegated to the b and c storylines of most episodes. It wouldn't be hard for me to say that the Luthor vs Luthor was much better then the stones but in the big picture I care more about the A-plot of episodes then the B and C plots hence my ratings high for Season 4 episodes, despite not really enjoying the Stones stuff, while in the case of Season 3 episodes I wasn't that into the A-plots but the b and c plots were more watchable(basically I rather watch 20 minutes of something I enjoy, coupled with 20 minutes of Blah over 40 minutes of well it's alright).

In Season 5+ though(and Calling-Exile) the main plot I found dragged down the episodes more often then not when they were heavily featured as the A-plot of that episode(and many times as the B-plot as well).

In the case of Season 3, the main plot wasn't a negative but it wasn't much of a positive in my overall ratings.

[SGuthrie27]

Oops. :p I guess I was supposed to post the results of the last round of the thread yesterday, and I sort of ran out of time... I don't really have the time tonight either, to be honest, but I figure that's okay, right? I mean, the other Episode Wars thread is still in its... fifth or sixth round, so they're catching up with us slowly but surely. I think I'll probably put up the full results, with my own unique brand of Chlark Sidious humor sometime this weekend, if that's cool with everyone else. :cool:

[HopeforTomorrow]

It still doesn't change the fact that a bad episode with bad writing patterns is a bad episode with bad writing patterns no matter if it's in Season 2 or Season 10. I won't deny later seasons had way more bad episodes filled with bad writing patterns but in the case of Exodus, I have to call a spade a spade and not give it a free pass because well season 2 was generally better written as a whole.

That's fine. I don't give Exodus a free pass because it's attached to Season 2. I just don't think that it's a bad episode or among the worst things that the show has ever done. I find the whole Calling--Phoenix run of episodes to be very good. It's OK to disagree about that.


In the same breath I don't get upset with "filler" episodes in later years and feel they are a waste because let's be honest here the bulk of the first 4 seasons was filler going on what people claimed was filler in later seasons.

That's one of the reasons why I liked the first 4 seasons more than what followed. The earlier years of the show were much more character driven than plot driven. What I guess could be labeled by some as "filler" in the early seasons was doing its purpose in advancing the character development, which I liked. In Season 10 for example, the show tried to make a huge deal (a mini-arc) out of Clark putting on a pair of glasses. Not subtly done at that, but I guess that that was what Clark's character development had been reduced to.

BTW: I don't care for "filler" discussion/arguments. I've never once brought that up before as a knock against the show.


I think for the sake of comparison the Luthor vs Luthor arc and Stones of Knowledge were somewhat similar. Both basically didn't feature Clark enough(although Clark did have a bigger part in the Stones and conclusion to the stones)

Well, I hope that he did. The Stones arc was designed for him after all (even though other characters were somehow thrown into it too).


I think I'll probably put up the full results, with my own unique brand of Chlark Sidious humor sometime this weekend, if that's cool with everyone else. :cool:

No! NOOOOOOOO!! Please not that!

j/k



Off topic (but SV related): I caught this commercial a few days ago, and then caught it again earlier. It was bugging me that I recognized that girl/woman from somewhere before, but I couldn't remember from where. Anyway, I think that it's Tamara Feldman (from S2 Skinwalker).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzowzUsq6iY

[Xanderman]

5 & 7 would be my choices. Season 5 was just overly depressing as a whole, while Season 7 had no direction(once again if you take out the 2 episodes I really enjoyed I would rate 5 worse then 7)I agree about 5 & 7. 5/7/10 make up the bottom three for me, with 10 at rock bottom, drowning in its own piss.:cool: heh


I find the whole Calling--Phoenix run of episodes to be very good. Calling/Exodus was Smallville at its best. Loved the ending to S2.


Off topic (but SV related): I caught this commercial a few days ago, and then caught it again earlier. It was bugging me that I recognized that girl/woman from somewhere before, but I couldn't remember from where. Anyway, I think that it's Tamara Feldman (from S2 Skinwalker).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzowzUsq6iYYeah that does seem to be her...looks like she's found other ways to "spice" up her life since Smallville eh... :lol:

[Supsfan]

Calling/Exodus was Smallville at its best. Loved the ending to S2.

If by best you mean best at creating pointless drama for the sake of having drama(which sort of became a trademark of the show in later season but it all started here), I agree. Maybe it's a case that I have comic book goggles on, but the whole Jor-El makes Clark's life miserable is a place the show should never have went. I think another problem beyond that is the show should have built up a season long arc and have a payoff at the end of the season(like it did in Season 1), there was absolutely no payoff to the storyline in Season 2 other then Jor-el makes Clark's life miserable only leads to him being more depressed overall in S3. I recently watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer and while the show had it's faults, I liked the fact that every season had it's own plot and by the end of the season we get a positive conclusion to that storyline then the next season starts fresh. I wish Smallville would have taken that approach(I found Smallville to often concluded storyarcs on a negative note of Clark screwing up in some form leads to the problems of the next season and once again Calling-Exile was the worst in that regard).

I should point out even the Tempest/Vortex(as much as I have no problems with it in general) combo ended off on a bad note(ie the first Lana I need to know your secret moment, which ironically we got a carbon copy I need to know your secret final scene in Phoenix to end off the S2 storyline). If I was writing the show the cliffhanger for Season 2 would have been Clark tells Lana the secret. That should have been a big moment on the show(but Clark telling people the secret(save Pete) is generally treated like an afterthought) and I think that could have given the final alot of "drama" in a positive fashion. It also would have been the logical conclusion to what I thought the show was trying to set up with that last Vortex scene. Once you see how the show played out, it just felt like Clark/Lana was put on stall right about this time(they should have been a couple in S3) because the producers were intent on doing Lex/Lana down the road and the logical Clark/Lana start dating/she knows his secret would have made that storyline harder to write. I do believe a large part of the negativity of the season closer for Calling-Exile was to try come up with some reason to keep Clark/Lana apart till they could get to the producers dream story(Clexana triangle) and it was done with little or no regard to Clark's character. The fact that the show used the exact same angsty scene to conclude two successive seasons just came off rather bush league in terms of writing.

[Xanderman]

If by best you mean best at creating pointless drama for the sake of having drama(which sort of became a trademark of the show in later season but it all started here), I agree.They were just great episodes in their own right, especially Calling, love that episode. I don't blame future show-running failures on episodes like these at all. I enjoyed the drama in these episodes, so they weren't pointless for me. I don't disagree that the directions the show went later on didn't exactly produce the best episodes or seasons. I too wasn't a fan of Lexana. Just part of the ruination of Lana's character. (That and making her Superwoman. Showrunners went absolutely nuts with "girl power" on this series. I don't see why making Chloe a computer super genius wasn't enough, they even had to "super"-fy Lana in every way possible. Hell they even gave Chloe super powers for a time. Just lame.) I would have preferred a series truly focused on Clark/young Superman, making him truly unique and special and the only real hope for the world (like the movies). Instead, the showrunners couldn't help themselves and made SV into a cartoon with super-powered people everywhere. Part of it is probably because they stretched the series out so damn long, so they had to fill the space with something. So they filled it with all their "fanboy" dreams and totally geeked out without restraint. Ugh. If that's what the comic books are like I'm glad I don't read them. I'll take the movie adaptation myself.

[Supsfan]

I don't blame future show-running failures on episodes like these at all.

I blame the problems with Calling-Exile squarely on the problems with those episodes. My point about future failings on the show is that Calling-Exile employed many similar type issues I had with later season episodes(it's the first time the show went all out to create what I refer to as negative drama(basically the problems that happen don't lead to a positive conclusion and generally have the problem of either stalling or regressing Clark's progress)). The show could have became a masterpiece right after Season 3, I still would have had the same issues with those episodes.


Instead, the showrunners couldn't help themselves and made SV into a cartoon with super-powered people everywhere

FOTW? Let's be honest here the show lost any sense of realism the second a jar with insects and a green rock in it busted open and one bug bit a guy and then he wanted to first eat, then moat, then mate. lol

[Xanderman]

I blame the problems with Calling-Exile squarely on the problems with those episodesAgain, I had no problems with the episodes myself. Great episodes.


FOTW?Silly but I was ok with it, because they connected it directly to Clark's arrival and their powers were basically "mutations" as a result of the green stuff, not natural. It still kept the focus on Clark. It made their existence and actions his responsibility, indirectly of course. I didn't like SV crossing over/intermixing with other superheroes and their own origin stories, worldviews and agendas (like Aquaman, etc). It was just cartoony. If it was always a one-off sort of thing, standalone, that would be fine. But they kept bringing them all back, eventually transforming SV into a full-fledged Saturday morning cartoon. Would've preferred a focus on just Clark. I could have done without the justice league, super Chloe, super Lana, etc. Guess that's a personal preference. (But again, the series was stretched out so long they had to fill it with something, so why not geek their hearts out I'm sure they thought.)

[Supsfan]

Would've preferred a focus on just Clark. I could have done without the justice league, super Chloe, super Lana, etc. Guess that's a personal preference.

I wasn't a fan of the things you mention but for me I would have preferred that the show focused on Clark being a hero rather then a depressed character who I would expect more out of Dawson's Creek or some bad Vampire movie who nothing in his life can go right and everything is so angsty, with no proper conclusions given to those issues.

Given the choice of the 2 issues I much rather watch another character come on for a one shot appearance and take a little limelight away from Clark, then watch Clark be a miserable wreck who only causes problems when he screws up.

Using Exodus as an example they could have had Clark stand up to AI Jor-El and come out on top when all was said and done and I would have much happier despite the terrible use of Jor-El, but at least it would have shown Clark do something positive. If the show went that direction, despite my minor gripe about how poorly Jor-El was used or all the other flaws in the episodes I would have given Calling-Exodus-S3 opener high marks and rated it one of the high points of the series, instead the producers decided to turn the story into a melodrama(and a melodrama that had absolutely no direction or resolution).

[Xanderman]

I wasn't a fan of the things you mention but for me I would have preferred that the show focused on Clark being a hero rather then a depressed character who I would expect more out of Dawson's Creek or some bad Vampire movie who nothing in his life can go right and everything is so angsty, with no proper conclusions given to those issues.I guess where we differ is that I don't mind it if Clark is miserable/depressed/angst-ridden etc, as long as I enjoy the surrounding story behind it. I enjoyed the early Clana relationship for example, angst and all, as I liked the character writing and stories that went with it. The first 2 seasons of SV are my personal favorites.




Using Exodus as an example they could have had Clark stand up to AI Jor-El and come out on top when all was said and done and I would have much happier despite the terrible use of Jor-El, but at least it would have shown Clark do something positive. If the show went that direction, despite my minor gripe about how poorly Jor-El was used or all the other flaws in the episodes I would have given Calling-Exodus-S3 opener high marks and rated it one of the high points of the series, instead the producers decided to turn the story into a melodrama(and a melodrama that had absolutely no direction or resolution).My major gripe with Jor-El was particularly in later seasons when all he became was this mindless narrator/explainer of the Superman story. Destiny this, destiny that, shut the hell up already.:lol: Stuff like (can't remember the exact wording but imagine Jor-el's voice as you read this): "Kara, it's not your destiny, it's Clark's. At the end of this trial, Clark will make the right the decision and be the man he needs to be." Blah blah oh shut the hell up Zod from Superman II.:lol: Chloe was written a lot like this too, as were the Kents, and I put the blame squarely on the writers. They constantly had characters explain who Clark/Superman is supposed to be, his future/destiny, etc, instead of letting the viewer come to these conclusions themselves by virtue of what they actually PUT ON SCREEN. Way too much "the future is already written" weighing in the background, way too much of the future acting on the past, the future creating itself. I don't feel like we got the ideal development for Clark's character into Superman, even though our friendly neighborhood on-screen narrators/explainers would have us believe otherwise. lol There was way too much recurring character regression and light-switching in the mix for my liking.

[Supsfan]

I guess where we differ is that I don't mind it if Clark is miserable/depressed/angst-ridden etc, as long as I enjoy the surrounding story behind it.

Problem is here is the surrounding story for the episodes in question

Problem: Clark is finally in a happy place then Jor-El comes to reek havoc in Clark's life.

Now for the resolution we can either

a) have Clark stand up to his AI dad, overcome it and move on to the next adventure in his life

or

b) have:

-Clark grab a red K ring and run away doing absolutely nothing heroic for 3 episodes in a row in what is supposed to be the series "big event" of the season
-Martha lose her baby(what exactly was the point of this storyline other then to make Clark miserable)
-Jonathon end up with Heart problems due to his son's stupidity when Jonathon saved him
-Clark feel bad and isolate himself from his friends(Pete and Chloe) for the bulk of season 3
-have Clark's romance with Lana take 3 steps back and do a complete rehash of the secrets and lies angst from Season 2 but only this time turn it up a notch

Now given those 2 options I much rather watch the show does does plot A, it seems a hell of alot more entertaining and unlike plot B it would give the season's storyline proper resolution. Also I believe Season 2's final was the first time we see Clark do absolutely nothing in terms of being heroic. As bad as some other finals were, at least Clark attempted being heroic in them

I would love somebody try to explain to me how the events that happened in Calling-Phoenix was the resolution to the Season 2 storyarc and what positive outcome did it make for Clark because honestly I missed it.


My major gripe with Jor-El was particularly in later seasons when all he became was this mindless narrator/explainer of the Superman story.

The show would have been way better if Jor-El never appeared on it to be honest, but I think early season Jor-El was worse then later season Jor-el since Jor-El was just used like a cheap excuse to create "Drama" in early seasons. It didn't help that they make younger Jor-El look like a dawg, when he just goes around and tries to get it on with sleazy married women with little or no regard. That being said later season Jor-El wasn't great either. Sadly the best take of Jor-El in Kandor wasn't anything like his AI or younger counterpart so it's hard to take him seriously.

[Xanderman]

Problem is here is the surrounding story for the episodes in question

Problem: Clark is finally in a happy place then Jor-El comes to reek havoc in Clark's life.

Now for the resolution we can either

a) have Clark stand up to his AI dad, overcome it and move on to the next adventure in his life

or I don't blame them for making a major story arc out of Jor-el/CK's origins, or putting a twist on it so as to not be predictable. Just moving on to the next adventure like Jor-el/his origins are no big deal isn't really dramatic. And you can't keep Clark in a happy place for too long, that isn't interesting. It's always more interesting when the hero struggles for happiness/peace in his life and with himself. Like Peter Parker in the Spider-Man movies. That guy could never get a break. And neither can Clark on Smallville apparently. lol But seriously, I'm not saying there weren't other approaches/directions they could have taken there, there always are. I just didn't mind this particular story direction. It never bugged me personally like other elements of the show, particularly later in the series.

[Supsfan]

Just moving on to the next adventure like Jor-el/his origins are no big deal isn't really dramatic. And you can't keep Clark in a happy place for too long, that isn't interesting. It's always more interesting when the hero struggles for happiness/peace in his life and with himself.

As I said above one thing I liked about Buffy was that each season had it's own storyline that was resolved by the end of the season, then the next season they started fresh. You can have your share of misery and depressing stuff over the coarse of a season but by season end each storyline should come to a proper conclusion. Smallville would have been better served to have adopted an approach like that, instead we never got any real conclusions to most storylines during the coarse of 10 years(to often it felt like the problems of one season just lead tot he problems of the next season, I personally believe you do need to resolve one story before you move to the next)

If you notice most my favorite episodes are stand alone and it's the simple reason that in those episodes we have a problem, Clark facing that problem and then problem resolved by the end of the episode. I don't think it's to much to ask for that all storylines whether episodic or serial be treated that way. On the flip side most my worst episodes are episodes tied to a bigger storyline that have a terrible payoff


Like Peter Parker in the Spider-Man movies

Thing is no matter what happens to him during the movie at the end of the movie he ends out on top. The main problem with Calling-Exile is there is no point you can say that the storyline had a proper conclusion they basically made it oh well Clark screwed up and oh well life moves on.

[HopeforTomorrow]

Yeah that does seem to be her...looks like she's found other ways to "spice" up her life since Smallville eh... :lol:

Thanks for replying to this. I wasn't sure if I was seeing things wrong. And :lol:


They were just great episodes in their own right, especially Calling, love that episode. I don't blame future show-running failures on episodes like these at all.

Same here. I admit that the "twists" at the end of Season 2/beginning Season 3 weren't executed 100% perfectly, but it didn't ruin the season or the show for me. I don't think that Gough/Millar were very good showrunners for this kind of show - they were just very fortunate to have a more solid writing staff in the first few seasons to carry things along. The writing staff in the mid years of the show weren't able to bail them out quite as well, to put it mildly. IMO


I enjoyed the early Clana relationship for example, angst and all, as I liked the character writing and stories that went with it. The first 2 seasons of SV are my personal favorites.

I agree with this and many other things that you mentioned, such as the super-EVERYBODY, the constant regression, and the lightswitches. The early years of the show dealt with unbelievable things in a way that could be related to, IMO, but the later years took the unbelievable and WTH too far passed the line without even backing it up with a good supporting story.

[Xanderman]

As I said above one thing I liked about Buffy was that each season had it's own storyline that was resolved by the end of the season, then the next season they started fresh. You can have your share of misery and depressing stuff over the coarse of a season but by season end each storyline should come to a proper conclusion. Smallville would have been better served to have adopted an approach like that, instead we never got any real conclusions to most storylines during the coarse of 10 years(to often it felt like the problems of one season just lead tot he problems of the next season, I personally believe you do need to resolve one story before you move to the next)

If you notice most my favorite episodes are stand alone and it's the simple reason that in those episodes we have a problem, Clark facing that problem and then problem resolved by the end of the episode. I don't think it's to much to ask for that all storylines whether episodic or serial be treated that way. On the flip side most my worst episodes are episodes tied to a bigger storyline that have a terrible payoff

Thing is no matter what happens to him during the movie at the end of the movie he ends out on top. The main problem with Calling-Exile is there is no point you can say that the storyline had a proper conclusion they basically made it oh well Clark screwed up and oh well life moves on.I see, so you need the various storylines to be wrapped up and with a happy ending, etc, to be satisfied, by season's end (or at least, wrapped up eventually). That's fair. You must have really hated LOST then....lol (if you watched that). And this explains why standalones are your preference. Calling/Exodus are definitely not standalones, and they may not meet the guidelines you describe, but I still think they're great episodes. I agree with the criticism about the lack of satisfying payoffs for things they set up in the series. To me many of the best Smallville episodes were the season finale episodes with the cliffhangers they set up in them. However the following season's premieres never really lived up to them. In general I thought SV did a poor job in their premieres in terms of giving us satisfying cliffhanger resolutions. There are very few premieres I would rate as good episodes.



The early years of the show dealt with unbelievable things in a way that could be related to, IMO, but the later years took the unbelievable and WTH too far passed the line without even backing it up with a good supporting story.Exactly, for me the best sci-fi/fantasy is the kind that doesn't go too crazy, that shows restraint. Only go so far as you have to and no further. You can stretch the boundaries of disbelief only so far before you stop caring. Set up rules for the fictional universe and stick by them, and keep everything else as grounded in reality (or to "the relateable") as possible. Smallville's showrunners lost sight of this as they got drunk with power and excess.

[BoyScout-ManOfTomorrow]

So they filled it with all their "fanboy" dreams and totally geeked out without restraint. Ugh. If that's what the comic books are like I'm glad I don't read them. I'll take the movie adaptation myself.

There's pandering in the comics as well but they do provide a lot more substance too. If you were to compare the New Krypton arc from the comics and Smallville they'd be totally different on what they emphasise. Superman lived as a kryptonian military leader for a whole year compared to Clark in Smallville worrying about Lois mostly and letting the kandorians fly loose.

[Supsfan]

I see, so you need the various storylines to be wrapped up and with a happy ending, etc, to be satisfied, by season's end (or at least, wrapped up eventually). That's fair

That would be my biggest peeve about the whole Calling-Exile run. I think Calling and Exile would have been better if there was a conclusion/payoff to the storyline, I also think Exile could have worked as a stand alone episode, but put the episodes together it's just plain bad storytelling. I am surprised that it seems I am one of the few that takes issue with how the show had terrible payoffs to bigger storylines.

Probably one of the positive points of Calling-Exile is that was the point for me I said screw it, I am not going to try get into the "bigger" series long storyline they trying to tell and I will just enjoy each episode for what it is. That definitely made watching stuff from Season 5 onwards much easier to swallow. I also found that besides Season 1 -> Season 2, no seasons really meshed well with the previous season in terms of that bigger series wide storyline.


You must have really hated LOST then....lol (if you watched that)

I didn't mind Lost, at times I found it dragging the storyline to much, but I went full well into each season knowing the payoff wouldn't come to the end. In general I was satisfied with the conclusion to the normal timeline(the flash sideways in the final season though came off rather pointless). I also think Lost beat out Smallville in the sense they didn't go to extreme measures to try force "drama".


To me many of the best Smallville episodes were the season finale episodes with the cliffhangers they set up in them. However the following season's premieres never really lived up to them. In general I thought SV did a poor job in their premieres in terms of giving us satisfying cliffhanger resolutions. There are very few premieres I would rate as good episodes.

I have to agree with this, to often it just felt like the show didn't give proper resolution to a story. I always view Tempest/Vortex as one of the stronger season closer/opener combos because I do think that was one of the rare cases the second episode paid off the first episode properly. Covenant/Crusade worked for me because it felt like 2 very disjointed episode(it also works because by the end of Gone we get "happy" resolutions to all the problems Covenant presented us). On the flip side I thought Commencement was great, but the payoffs in Arrival really dragged down that 2 parter for me. I think Arrival was also the start of the show throwing 101 things at the wall in Season opener/closers which I found to many times dragged down those episodes because you have things that probably deserve their own episode get 2 minutes of screentime directed at it just so the opener/closers can feel "bigger".


Exactly, for me the best sci-fi/fantasy is the kind that doesn't go too crazy, that shows restraint. Only go so far as you have to and no further. You can stretch the boundaries of disbelief only so far before you stop caring. Set up rules for the fictional universe and stick by them, and keep everything else as grounded in reality (or to "the relateable") as possible. Smallville's showrunners lost sight of this as they got drunk with power and excess.

I think the showrunners for all Seasons(besides Season 1) should have followed the KISS(Keep It Simple Stupid) rule. As each season went by it seems like the producers felt the need to create drama for no other sake then to create drama(and they went out of there way to try make the drama bigger and badder each season) and I felt that it feel flat on it's face more often then not

[Supsfan]

Oops. :p I guess I was supposed to post the results of the last round of the thread yesterday, and I sort of ran out of time... I don't really have the time tonight either, to be honest, but I figure that's okay, right? I mean, the other Episode Wars thread is still in its... fifth or sixth round, so they're catching up with us slowly but surely. I think I'll probably put up the full results, with my own unique brand of Chlark Sidious humor sometime this weekend, if that's cool with everyone else. :cool:

Are we ever getting results, I am beginning to think you are waiting for somebody to come give Prophecy an extra vote so you can bring it to a tiebreaker with Beast(currently Beast leads 8-6) :P

[Vergon6]

If there is a tie-breaker, I will always vote for "Beast". After "Infamous", the Davis storyline became annoying to me :p.

[Vergon6]

The Best of thread has completed. Are we moving forward to the next round for this one any time soon?

[Supsfan]

The Best of thread has completed. Are we moving forward to the next round for this one any time soon?

They actually did all episode numbers(well besides 23 for which I pick Exodus) we just waiting a couple weeks now for results. I still stand by my theory of Beast(SGuthrie is waiting for one more vote for Prophecy so it can tie it up with Beast)

[Vergon6]

They actually did all episode numbers(well besides 23 for which I pick Exodus) we just waiting a couple weeks now for results. I still stand by my theory of Beast(SGuthrie is waiting for one more vote for Prophecy so it can tie it up with Beast)
Oh right, that's what I meant. I voted in the final round as well.

[Supsfan]

Oh right, that's what I meant. I voted in the final round as well.

By my count Quest, Beast(7-5 currently over Prophecy), Injustice and Doomsday should "win".

Doesn't look like many people enjoyed the ending of Season 8(Stiletto got a few votes as well although Quest is up 7-4, Injustice and Doomsday though are runaway winners. Eternal also won it's slot). lol

My personal opinion of S8 was I loved the first 12 episodes for the most part but Power-Doomsday was the worst stretch ever on the show. other then Hex or Stiletto there was alot of bad stuff(mainly centered around the whole Chloe/Davis plotline getting top focus in many episodes). In general it felt like the producers had 0 clue who their audience was in the second half.

Power, Requeim, Eternal and Beast all make my worst 10 episodes ever.

Doomsday and Infamous(I generally am not a fan of time reversals, couple that with Chloe/Davis) are bottom 25

While Turbulence(the Clark/Tess stuff can't save the Jimmy/Chloe/Davis stuff) and Injustice are bottom 50

[Vergon6]

Despite the time reversal, I like "Infamous" for the most part. But I get what you are saying, most of the time, time reversal shows seem to be a waste. I think they presented Davis in that scene with Chloe was more like it should have been. That Davis is not some wounded puppy, but he actually realizes and is overwhelmed by his true mission, what was drawing him back to Metropolis, to kill Clark, rather than to be with Chloe.

Yeah in general Season 8 had so much potential, and there was still some good aspects of Season 8 in the later half but on the whole, the first 11 episodes were way better than the last 11. Not to say that "Toxic" was the best episode ever or anything :P.

[Xanderman]

I thought Season 8 was one of SV's best. My pick for top three seasons are 1, 2 and 8. And for bottom three, 5, 7 and 10.

[Supsfan]

I thought Season 8 was one of SV's best.

The first 12 episodes of S8 was one of my favorite stretches of the show ever, the last 10 left alot to be desired.

[Supsfan]

My pick for top three seasons are 1, 2 and 8. And for bottom three, 5, 7 and 10.

Sort of funny how close we are on favorite and worst seasons

Favs - 1, 4 and 8(It gets rated highly because it contains alot of episodes in my top 50, despite how poorly I thought the second half was. All that being said it's much closer to 2,9, 10 then it is to 1 and 4.)

Worst - 5,7(by a landslide) and 3(although this is neck and neck with Season 6)

[Supsfan]

Since there is no official rankings, here is the winners

Episode 1 - Vortex
Episode 2 - Sneeze
Episode 3 - Fierce
Episode 4 - Cure
Episode 5 - Roulette
Episode 6 - Redux
Episode 7 - Magnetic
Episode 8 - Static
Episode 9 - Abyss
Episode 10 - Disciple
Episode 11 - Visage
Episode 12 - Bulletproof
Episode 13 - Power
Episode 14 - Requiem
Episode 15 - Fortune
Episode 16 - Hypnotic
Episode 17 - Sleeper
Episode 18 - Eternal
Episode 19 - Quest
Episode 20 - Beast
Episode 21 - Injustice
Episode 22 - Doomsday

In terms of Episode per Season

S1 - 0
S2 - 3 (Vortex, Redux, Visage)
S3 - 1 (Magnetic)
S4 - 0
S5 - 1 (Hypnotic)
S6 - 2 (Sneeze, Static)
S7 - 4 (Fierce, Cure, Sleeper, Quest)
S8 - 8 (Abyss, Bulletproof, Power, Requiem, Eternal, Beast, Injustice, Doomsday)
S9 - 2 (Roulette, Disciple)
S10 - 1 (Fortune)

----- Added 16 Minutes later -----

By comparison here is my picks by Season

S1 - 0
S2 - 0/2 (Nocturne, Exodus)
S3 - 1/5 (Exile, Phoenix, Relic, Magnetic, Legacy)
S4 - 0
S5 - 0/4(Hidden, Solitude, Reckoning, Oracle)
S6 - 0/1(Promise)
S7 - 2/4(Cure, Traveler, Veritas, Quest)
S8 - 4/4(Abyss, Power, Eternal, Beast)
S9 - 1/1(Disciple)
S10 - 0/1(Icarus)

Overall 8/22