Smallville is arguably the most iconic superhero TV series of all time, but which of its seasons hold up the best and which ones don’t?
It’s hard to remember a time when superheroes weren’t tearing up the big and small screens. Thanks to franchises such as The CW’s Arrowverse and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, costumed crimefighters are everywhere on our screens and fans just can’t get enough of them. But it wasn’t always like that.
When Batman was between movie franchises and Superman was also on film hiatus, Smallville was waving the flag for the superhero genre on television. Due to how different it was, it’s easy to forget that, but the teen drama was one of the few comic book projects that found success during this time.
Focusing on a young Clark Kent during his high school years, The WB series provided audiences with nostalgia, heart and love as the young Man of Steel learned about his powers, his home planet, and his destiny as Superman. All while navigating the halls of Smallville High and attempting to be a teenager madly in love with Lana Lang at the same time.
Smallville enjoyed an incredibly successful run, producing 10 seasons between 2001 and 2011, but which of those seasons hold up the best? Let’s find out.
10. Season 7
With Smallville leaving its High School and college days in the past, it allowed the show to tackle more comic book-related storylines. We saw that in season 6 with the formation of the Justice League, and it’s a trend that continued into season 7. This was clear from the offset with the arrivals of Bizarro and Kara Zor-El, a.k.a. Supergirl.
Tom Welling was great in the dual role, and Laura Vandervoort quickly became a welcome addition on the show as the Girl of Steel, but something about season 7 didn’t quite work. It started off very well, adopting a more mature and haunting tone as the characters dealt with the fallout of the season 6 finale but the longer it went on, the messier it got.
Lex’s dark days spiral had outstayed its welcome at this point, so it’s not surprising that this was Michael Rosenbaum’s final season as a regular. He was excellent as always, but the show had taken pre-Superman Lex as far as it could go, so it was time to move on.
Season 7 wasn’t the most offensive season of Smallville, but it’s the hardest one to remember fondly because it’s really quite dull. The show needed a reset and thankfully season 8 was able to do that.
9. Season 6
Now we find ourselves at the season of Smallville that caused outrage among fans. And yeah, having watched the show multiple times I can confirm that season 6 deserves its infamous reputation.
With the show having created so much forced conflict between Clark and Lana, it finally went to the one place it never should have by having her fall in love with Lex, marry him and completely change her personality all over again. The creative team had run out of ideas for Lana and committed an unforgivable sin in the process, souring her once lovable bond with Clark even further.
There are flashes of brilliance in season 6, which is just enough to give it the edge over the admittedly-less infuriating seventh season, such as the fun and campier tone, the introduction of the Green Arrow and the absolutely incredible Justice League team-up episode “Justice”.
Smallville‘s evolution into a more straightforward superhero drama had begun and it almost would have been better if it just went all in on that here, because the love triangle conflict that was carried over from its teen drama days really held season 6 back from achieving the greatness that many of its standalone episodes did.
8. Season 10
Smallville‘s decade of storytelling culminated with its tenth and final. It was a season that would see Clark Kent complete the final chapters in his pre-Superman story, building towards an epic series finale that would see the Man of Steel take flight. But before it got there, we had a nostalgic trip through memories, some returning familiar faces, and a conspiracy involving the infamous DC supervillain Darkseid.
One of the most enjoyable things about season 10 is that Clark and Lois get to be Clark Kent and Lois Lane. There were no longer any secrets between them as they planned their wedding so they got to be the dynamic duo that their comic book counterparts have been for decades. The fact that the show was doing that and still wouldn’t let Clark be Superman was a little frustrating, but it was easier to buy since we knew we were close to the big moment.
The season had its struggles, specifically the fact that it felt like a redo of season 9 but not quite as strong. Furthermore, the fact that we didn’t get to see Darkseid was a little disappointing, but not nearly as disappointing as the fact that we never got to see Tom Welling fully suited up as Superman. If you made the fans wait 10 years, the least you could do is deliver.
All that aside, season 10 is an enjoyable close to the legendary chapter; one full of its own triumphant and emotional moments. And its ending is so goosebump-inducing, so perfect, that it will always bring a smile to your face.
7. Season 3
Almost every drama TV show has the season where they went dark, and for Smallville that is its third. The tone is more serious right from the off, with Clark on his Red Kryptonite rampage as he refused to set out on the path that his father Jor-El wanted for him, and that sets the stage for a more dramatic and less fun season.
It’s not just Clark who went through a lot in this one. The relationship between Lex and his father boils over, which leads to more conflict as the former’s mental health takes a turn for the worst. Lana suffers severe injuries after a near-fatal accident. Pete begins to struggle with the fact that he’s the only one who knows Clark’s secret, which leads him into a very troubling situation. And, tired of being shut out by her friends, Chloe makes a deal with the devil.
As for Clark and Lana, this is the point where it feels like the show begins to run out of ideas for them – and given how great they were in the first two seasons, that’s a shame.
While making things more serious allowed the show to focus on more comic-centric storylines, it lost a bit of its heart in the process. Its more intense stories made way for intriguing character-driven arcs but with everything so dull compared to the first two seasons, it just needed a little more light.
6. Season 9
The ninth season of Smallville definitely felt like it picked up with the same high standard of season 8 (maybe even higher if you take into account that season’s disappointing finale) and it did so by taking the story in some new and unexpected directions.
Clark had decided that the only way he could cope with the loss he suffered would be to rest his life as Clark Kent and go full-time superhero, which meant dropping the colors and becoming The Blur. Meanwhile, a younger version of Zod made his presence felt on the timeline, which played nicely into Clark’s feelings of loss and confusion as the pair found themselves at a crossroads between friends and enemies.
Season 9 was another refreshing step in the superhero direction for Smallville. The only thing that held it back was the fact that it really felt like the show was running out of ways (and reasons) to keep the cape and tights off Clark. Granted, he looked great as The Blur in the long black coat, but between his heroics in Metropolis and Lois’ connection him, it all started to feel very Superman.
That being said, it was awesome to see Tom Welling and Erica Durance get to play more comic-accurate versions of Clark and Lois. And seeing Chloe open the Watchtower imbued it with another welcome sense of heroism.
5. Season 5
Season 5 was a turning point for Smallville because the vast majority of the show’s focus was moved to Metropolis. It made a lot of sense because the characters had all graduated from high school and now was the time to start the next chapter of the story. For some of the characters, that meant college, for others it meant interning at the Daily Planet.
This was when Smallville really started to evolve into a superhero series. Not only did we have many of the aforementioned Superman aspects come into play, we also saw Clark and Chloe begin to work together to fight crime. That was a long time coming, so now that Chloe finally knew Clark’s secret, it breathed new life into the show. The show had finally pulled the band-aid off on that and it benefited it a great deal – something it could have also learned from when it came to Clark and Lana.
There were other standout elements, including the introduction of the Fortress of Solitude and the game-changing 100th episode that still leaves you floored even on a rewatch.
Smallville grew up in season 5 in all the right ways. It certainly missed some of that nostalgia that the earlier seasons were known for, but it successfully evolved into a more streamlined superhero show here. While seasons 6 and 7 would drop that ball, season 5 certainly kicked off the new era on a high.
4. Season 1
I remember watching Smallville‘s first season in awe and enjoyment, excited about everything that was happening and even more so for what was to come. So the fact that it isn’t at the top of this list is just indicator of how it really did reach new highs throughout its incredible run.
The first season was naturally focused on Clark’s awkward teenage years at Smallville High as he struggled with his love for Lana Lang, and began to learn more about where he came from. The teen drama element of the show made for a stark change from anything we were used to seeing in the superhero genre and that’s probably what allowed Smallville to survive an era full of teen dramas.
There’s a beauty and nostalgia about the show that is at its strongest in season 1. Smallville is warm, family-focused and very, very enjoyable. It blended superheroes with many of the TV conventions at the time, making it fit right in during an era of television dominated by high school dramas.
Clark discovered he was from Krypton, he formed an unexpected friendship with Lex Luthor, and just tried to survive High School while keeping Smallville safe from meteor-infected threats. There were maybe a few too many standalone villain-of-the-week episodes in hindsight, but that’s perfectly natural for a show’s debut season.
It was a strong start that showed us the sky was the limit for Smallville, and it really would go up, up, and away from here.
3. Season 4
For its fourth season, Smallville decided to make things a little more light-hearted than before – and after the rather grim third season, that was very much needed. With that, we got a renewed focus on the high school element of the show and the relationships between the teens. This was aided by the fact that Lana’s new boyfriend, Jason Teague (Jensen Ackles), ended up becoming the assistant football coach at Smallville High.
It felt like more of a summer season, with more sunnier and funnier storylines. Not all of them landed, with Lana being possessed by a witch seeming a little too out there (even for Smallville), but they did freshen up the show and make it more enjoyable again. Moreover, its season finale, which sees Smallville subject to another meteor shower, was an explosive way to close out the show’s high school chapter and made season 4 all the more important in hindsight.
Other highlights included the prom episode, the arrival of Impulse, the poignant graduation storylines, and the guest appearance from Margot Kidder. Season 4’s greatest highlight, however, was definitely the introduction of Erica Durance’s Lois Lane, who quickly became a force-to-be-reckoned with (and one of the show’s most enjoyable characters!). An iconic arrival for an iconic character.
2. Season 8
After a few seasons of refusing to fully let go of its teen drama years, Smallville finally graduated to fully-blown superhero show in season 8, and it made for a welcome change. With the dark days of Lex Luthor in the past and Lana Lang no longer a full-time part of the show, the focus was placed primarily on Clark and Lois, their adventures in the Daily Planet, and the birth of Metropolis’ hero, The Red-Blue-Blur.
Chloe continued to put together the show’s Justice League as the Watchtower while planning her wedding to Jimmy, but she also found herself involved in the season’s most compelling storyline. That storyline revolved around ambulance driver Davis Bloom, who unbeknownst to him was actually the vessel for iconic Superman villain Doomsday. And while all of this was going down, she was infected by Brainiac.
Smallville season 8 had a lot to juggle but it handled it all extremely well. From Lana’s emotional goodbye to Chloe’s concerns over her own health, there were a lot of powerful storylines throughout and all of them felt fresh and new. The increased focus on Clark and Lois also ensured the show felt like a Superman series for the first time, and that breathed new life into it.
While its finale ultimately let the season down a little, it doesn’t take away from how much of a renewal this one felt like. So darn good and a welcome return to form for the beloved show.
1. Season 2
A lot of Smallville‘s earlier seasons are of such a high standard that it makes it hard to decide which one stands out among the rest. But looking back on the show’s run, it would definitely be fair to say that it found its footing in season 2 and never wavered from that path throughout all 22 episodes.
While it carried over much of what worked in season 1, the second season was more character-driven, specifically for Clark as he now had to learn more about what his destiny entailed. He also had to figure out if he could really be with Lana, which put a strain on his friendship with Chloe as she was falling in love with him. While all of this was happening, Lex was tempted more by darkness as his father became more of an increased presence in his life.
Smallville season 2 took everything good about the first season and expanded on it, dialling back the villain-of-the-week element and focusing more on the Superman lore. It set the stage for Clark’s lengthy journey to becoming a superhero, but also made plenty of time for the heartfelt family drama that made season 1 so endearing.
It was, without a doubt, the perfect season of Smallville.
What was your favorite season of Smallville? Let us know in the comments below!