12. Kyle Cushing
Kyle Cushing has so much potential, but it’s only occasionally that it comes out. The ex-husband of Lana Lang and father of Sarah, we first met Kyle when he was still married. Like many of the residents at the time, he was worn down by attempting to keep the struggling community of Smallville together, and he had some demons as a result.
While Kyle definitely took strides to overcome those demons with the help of his family, he wasn’t honest about some of the mistakes he made during that dark period of his life. And when Lana found out about his affair, she decided it was time to end the marriage.
Since then, he has taken major steps to better himself and make amends with his family, getting his own life back together in the process. However, he’s also incredibly stubborn, which means he doesn’t learn from his mistakes and continues to wade into situations without a game plan, assuming the wrong thing and then making things worse.
Kyle is definitely on an upward trajectory but it feels like he has begin regressing in season 3. The way he belittled Jonathan Kent and wanted him to “earn” a shirt that didn’t have somebody else’s name on it was absolutely uncalled for.
He’s getting there, but he has a lot more growing to do.