We're halfway through the season. Opinions?

[darkphoenix21]

It's been a roller coaster of decent episodes with mediocre ones. I thought that by this point in the season things would get lighter, not darker. I understand that the story lines require follow through but, this just seems like another stalling tactic on the writers.

This whole business with the VRA, should have been dealt with last season so that this one could wrap things up. I honestly don't know where they're heading with this story arc. It seems like it will require another season just to straighten things out without making it seem rushed.

[jsm]

too much focus on clois. not enough focus on clark becoming superman

I was thinking the same thing.

3 out of the first 8 episodes (Isis, Harvest, Ambush) I didn't really enjoy.
3 out of the first 8 (Shield, Supergirl, Abandoned) were alright.
The other 2 (Lazarus, Homecoming) were good.


But the 3 most recent episodes (Patriot, Luthor and Icarus) I have enjoyed. The focus is now on Clark, and not Clark and Lois. I hope this will continue into the final 11 episodes.

[Tekken Force]

And the stuff like a cat grant who isn't cat grant, etc.

2. that one street in Metropolis is killing me!! please, let's have a scene on a real street!!! and even if we must use a stage, let's use a different one, please. changing up that one store front isn't fooling me into thinking we're at different locations

This has been bugging me too for two seasons. It's terrible and I just can't overlook it.

[Cloisdestined]

I was thinking the same thing.

3 out of the first 8 episodes (Isis, Harvest, Ambush) I didn't really enjoy.
3 out of the first 8 (Shield, Supergirl, Abandoned) were alright.
The other 2 (Lazarus, Homecoming) were good.


But the 3 most recent episodes (Patriot, Luthor and Icarus) I have enjoyed. The focus is now on Clark, and not Clark and Lois. I hope this will continue into the final 11 episodes.

Patriot, Luthor, and Icarus were not all that Clark centric either. Patriot featured Aquaman, Luthor was all about Lionel and Tess and no progression for Clark, Icarus was Hawkman saving the day with Clark sleeping on the floor in the end.

----- Added 1 Minutes later -----

What's left for him to do but fly? He's basically already completed his journey as his support structure and his own personal growth as a hero is fairly well established now. What held him back was his fears and guilt about the past. With the help of Brainiac and future Lois, he's now past that point or Darkseid would have tried to take him over in the two encounters Clark has had with Slade. If Darkseid could have taken him over, he would have. Instead, Slade tries to talk Clark into joining him rather than using force.

The only thing I see left for him to do before he can don the red, blue, and yellow is to fly consistently. Homecoming showed that he could fly, at least when he's been unburdened by his mistakes and fears. Or maybe he just needs to be content and free for him to fly as he seemed his happiest with Lois in his arms.

What? I actually want to see him start and be in the process of establishing a double identity, I want to see him at least attempting and wanting to fly, I want him to go out there and try to get the suit out of the FOS. But of course this being Stallville, we'll probably see all this transpire in the last 20 mins of the last episode.

[Gummybear]

I think the show is just getting better and better(maybe with the exception of last season) with season 10 as the best one by far.
I really like this Darkness/Darkseid villain. It feels like a much more complex and scary threat than anything we have seen before.

The Kandorian arc last season was a bit boring in my opinion. A lot of clones popped up from the orb that came from nowhere and too much time was spend on boring scenes when they were trying to find their place on Earth.
It was like a big relief when they were gone and the show finally could go on...

The epsiodes this season have all been good or great so far. Even the "filler-like" episodes like harvest and isis have been rather ok anyway.
The only epsiode that was a bit dissapointing was Supergirl. This is the final season and then Clark should be the real hero and not getting "beaten" by Kara and trash talked by Jor-El..

[Tekken Force]

Stallville.

[DC Fanboy]

I have a mixed opinion about this season.

Lazarus was a great premiere
Shield and Supergirl overall brought the season down.
Homecoming was good, but overrated
Isis brought the season down again, so did Ambush.
Abandoned was boring. Only good part was the Jor-El and Lara tape.
Patriot was not really memorable.
Luthor and Icarus however seriously slapped this season back on the scoreboard. After seeing the last two episodes, I'm looking forward to the second half.

The plots that got me hooked are VRA/Darkseid, Luthor, and the slow development of Superman. I do not like how they shoved Clois down our throats most of the time, but with the way things are going now, it'll look like they'll tone it down the second half.

[pjack]

They messed up with the Lex business. I feel the season could have been stronger with an absolute focused on DS. Instead, they are waiting to see if MR shows up and are using our last season to set up basically an exit for him and he's just not important enough in my mind to have his character sabotage Clark's last year in his journey to Superman.

Agreed F-Lex and that stupid story line. I'm sick of it and its made to many different story lines going on in SV this season. Nothing seems focused. CK's journey to become Supes just doesn't seem to be advancing at all and just running around as this ridiculous Blur.
I'm still pissed that he can't fly and hasn't bother to try since SuperGirl and that was like one of the first episodes this season.
Once again TPTB really know how to disappoint the fans and FOREVER drag out and stall on a storyline. I love SV but will never watch another show that uses a favorite iconic hero like this again if they put on restrictions at the beginning. NEVER.

[Cloisdestined]

Agreed F-Lex and that stupid story line. I'm sick of it and its made to many different story lines going on in SV this season. Nothing seems focused. CK's journey to become Supes just doesn't seem to be advancing at all and just running around as this ridiculous Blur.
I'm still pissed that he can't fly and hasn't bother to try since SuperGirl and that was like one of the first episodes this season.
Once again TPTB really know how to disappoint the fans and FOREVER drag out and stall on a storyline. I love SV but will never watch another show that uses a favorite iconic hero like this again if they put on restrictions at the beginning. NEVER.

QFT. The whole Luthor plot seems so disjointed. They didn't even make an attempt to tie it in with DS's arc.

[Dyanara]

This is the last season and it is really really bad, I am so hard on this season because it is the last! Plus season 9 was so good and raised the bar and I expected more from the last season. As someone mentioned, there is filler after filler this season. And then the inclusion of 20 villains; the writers can't even do Darkseid right, why the heck would they include additional villains?

[Greenarrowjustice]

somewhere between crap and awesome...actually alternates between crap and awesome...sometimes in the same episode...but cannot compare to the early seasons in terms of acting, FX, and locations IMO

[Anu]

^^ haha. I agree.

[SGuthrie27]

Icarus was the 11th of our 22 episode season. I'm curious to know what everyone's thoughts are on the season so far. Do you like the story arcs? the pace? the relationships? Or what about the episodes themselves? How do you rank them? All in all, are you satisfied with how our final season of Smallville is going? Is this the best one yet?

These are some great questions, Nelle.

I have been surprised that I have enjoyed this season as much as I have thus far. I mean, it has definitely had its share of missteps, and there are a couple of episodes that I didn't care for very much, but there have also been some stand-out moments that show how great this show still is.

I like SOME of the story arcs. I mean, this "Darkness" thing seems to be a bit more drawn out, and not talked about quite as much as maybe it should, and the Superhuman Registration Act is all right... It does put the heroes in interesting predicaments, for sure. The pace has seemed a little too slow in places, and slightly fast in others. I, for one, didn't expect there to be a proposal until the end of the season, and now I'm wondering if they're planning ahead to a Clois wedding at the end of the series...

The relationships... Well, the only one that has been showcased a whole lot is Clois, and there have been some epic, defining Clois scenes that I have to admit that I enjoyed somewhat, specifically the "Homecoming" floating dance, and the moment in "Isis" when Clark revealed his secret to her. Cless has an interesting chemistry, but I see them more developing as friends, without much potential for romance. I still really enjoy their scenes, though. I reeeeally hope they're not bringing back Tollie, because I feel like Chlollie deserves its chance to shine again before the series is over. However, more than anything, I want Chlark to get back on track. I want to see the epic amount of caring, concern, and self-sacrifice that Clark and Chloe have always demonstrated for each other being shown again during Chloe's remaining episodes.

The episodes... I'm not sure if I'm really able to outright RANK them all that well -- some of them get a bit shuffled in my mind when I think about certain elements that I like and dislike... However, I can pretty much put them into four categories:

LOVE 'EM:
Homecoming - so much nostalgia, cool flashbacks and flashforwards, and the iconic moment where Clark is finally fully ready to accept his heroic destiny and look to the future, not with dread and fear, but with hope.
Lazarus - an epic start to what will hopefully be an epic season. There were lots of cool plots that were started out in this episode, especially with the Lex clones and Chloe putting on Dr. Fate's helmet. Tom Welling's performance really shone in this episode.
Luthor - I love alternate universe episodes, and to have one featuring the return of John Glover's masterfully manipulative and malevolent Lionel Luthor? This was a classic Smallville episode that will hopefully set the pace for future greatness.

LIKED 'EM:
Shield - this was a solid episode featuring the first appearance of some important characters, like Cat Grant, who I found to be the perfect blend of annoying, adorable, silly, and genuine. The Suicide Squad also really intrigues me.
Icarus - not bad for a mid-season finale, featuring a host of incredible guest stars; the episode almost seemed overcrowded, however, and parts of it fell slightly flat. Still, I loved seeing Hawkman, Black Canary, Star Girl, Emil, and cameos of the other JLA members. And the Clois proposal was pretty cool -- not their best scene this season, but still all right.
Isis - Yeah, there were a few missteps in this episode, but for the most part, I enjoyed it. Cat's parts were really funny and clever, Oliver had some good scenes, and the closing part where Clark tells Lois his secret was very well done.
Ambush - I chose this one mainly because it ratcheted up the threat level to the heroes with the Superhuman Registration Act taking effect, and Rick Flag becoming even more dangerous. Lucy and General Sam Lane were a real treat to see again, as well.
Abandoned - I like this one mainly because it provides such an interesting backstory for Tess, and Cassidy Freeman just shone so strongly throughout the episode; connecting her to the Luthor family by blood was something that really changed things in a big way for her character, and set the tone for the rest of the season.

OKAY EPISODES:
Patriot - Eh. I'm cool with Aquaman returning, but he was never my favorite JLA guy, and Mera... she was just okay. Slade was a fair villain, who of course is devious and threatening, but there wasn't a whole lot to write home about in this episode.

MEH:
Supergirl - don't get me wrong... I'm glad that Kara got a chance to return, but there was just a lot about this episode that seemed weird, made me a little uncomfortable, and I don't like it that Kara is doing an awful lot of things that Clark should be doing, before he actually has the chance to do them himself.
Harvest - Weeeeeeeeeird episode. 'Nuff said.

So, overall? This is a pretty cool season. I would like it much better if Chloe was in every episode, and I'm sure I WILL enjoy it more once she's back, but yeah, I've been really pleasantly surprised that this season has turned out as good as it has. Now that [SPOILER]Chloe AND Lionel are going to be back in the picture for the foreseeable future[/SPOILER] I think I will really get a kick out of the latter half of this season.

Is it the best season of Smallville EVER? No. I still enjoy Seasons 3 and 8 far more than this one. But this is still a very good season, and I think it will remain in my upper-medium range in terms of ranking with other seasons.

[xrayvision]

So far the episode that really hit it out of the park was Luthor, and even that one could have been made MUCH better by spreading the events over 2 episodes so they could have gone more in depth in each of the 2 episodes & not have to leave so much to Offscreenville. I wanted to see more of Clark Luthor on Earth-1. And had they made it a 2-parter, I'm sure the ending of the first part (Luthor) would have been a much better cliffhanger than the lame one we got at the end of this episode. Or if they took the winter break after Luthor, Lionel's return would have rocked as a cliffhanger.

Other than Luthor, the only episodes I liked for multiple reasons were Homecoming (though I liked Luthor far more) and Lazarus because of Jonathan Kent's appearance, Mackenzie Gray's portrayal of Lex as the older Lex Luthor clone, various things regarding Jor-El's attitude problem (that have gone unresolved so far), and because we finally got to see Cadmus Labs after hearing about it since Shimmer or Hug in season 1. I wasn't too crazy about Shield, though I did like Cat Grant's role in it. I don't remember Supergirl that much, but I thought it was interesting (have to go back & watch it to find out why so many people hate it). Isis & Harvest were totally unnecessary fillers where the secret reveal at the end of Isis could have been tacked on to another meaningful episode. Ambush was really good & gave us the debut of Warp & more of Rick Flagg, both of whom I've been wanting to see more of. Patriot did a pretty damn good job using the other heroes & not making Clark look bad. Abandoned I thought was OK but the episode could have been stripped & had its pieces added on to other episodes to make the developments in that episode more incremental.

What I suggested as a must-have for this season given the appearance of Darkseid & the New Gods that TPTB failed to do was the introduction of Intergang with the return of Morgan Edge, who would be revealed to be alive & take Bruno Mannheim under his wing after busting him out of prison. I've always said that Smallville did the best job on human villains like Lionel (from seasons 2 & 3), Morgan Edge (season 3), Sacks (season 9), and others like them (Rick Flagg, etc). You can throw meta humans like Maxwell Lord too. They suck as far as arcs involving alien beings. The only one they've done right was Brainiac, but they even dropped the ball with him in seasons 5 & 7.

Had they done this in season 10 as the primary arc of the season, they couldn't have gone wrong:

http://www.kryptonsite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6857922&postcount=126

[zodismygod]

Definitely the worst season so far which is a shame considering it has potential to be the best. Oliver queen revealing his identity, cat grant, the vra, the suicide squad, the return of aquaman (worst acting ever..) and Clarks Michael Jackson thriller jacket have brought this season down ALOT. The seasons strengths so far have been lazurus, homecoming and luthor. Otherwise, Too many mediocre episodes so far. Luckily, the return of lex and the emergence of darkseid's true form can save this season.