Smallville Bible: Where should the show go from here?

[Stupendous Man]

This is the formula I predict for the show :

1st Season : Clark longs for Lana - Lanas clueless.

2cnd Season : Lana begins to suspect , Clark tries to
hide his abilities from her. Clark tells Chloe.

3rd Season: Clark dates a new girl , giving up on Lana .
Lana realizes she loves Clark but now its too
late .

4th Season: Clark leaves girlfriend for Lana after Lana tells
him how much she loves him . Now Clark must
deal with dating Lana without giving away his
secret.

5th Season: Clark tells Lana about his gifts. Shes so upset hes
been keeping secrets from her, she breaks up
with Clark. Whole fifth season is Clark and Lana
trying to be friends after break up. Lana joins
the scooby club.

Show ends with Clark proclaiming his Love for Lana as he leaves
Smallville for Metropolis.

* * *

Thoughts ?
What should become of this show that could be great ?
What does this show do well ?
What errors does this show need to drop ?

[The Guard]

First...Lana already knows Clark is SPECIAL.

Second...the show needs more Kryptonite-endowed Superbaddies. Lol.

[Calhoun07]

This show does human drama mixed with the superhero element well. That element of is almost has an "Unbreakable" feel to it. These aren't characters who are comic book cut outs, but characters you can buy and believe in.

I think they have also handled the action sequences well.

The errors this show needs to drop is mainly the weekly formula. Veer off a bit! Try something else for a change! Heck, it worked on X Files and Star Trek and other shows, it can work here, too!

As for what should become of this show? I'd like to see more of Clark's Krypton heritage brought into the show. And perhaps we could see Krypton itself, and possibly meet some other survivors, either from the Phantom Zone or other wise? Wasn't there also a sister planet to Krypton that didn't get destroyed? I know it's supposed to be a teen drama and I doubt we would see many space oriented episodes, but a few here and there would certainly shake things up a bit.

[Kal-el]

I feel that this show has dealt with the human drama side of things well. As Cal mentioned, these characters are not comic cutouts. This gives the writers more freedom in developing the characters. It would be interesting to see Clark struggle a bit more with his powers in everyday use, maybe with scenes of him testing his limits to see exactly how far he can take things. Maybe while practicing his x-ray vision his heat vision activates and starts a small fire or him jumping over something and not coming down exactly when/ where he thought he would. I'd also like to see more "real" drama happening at school. Nothing with super-enhanced kryptonite freaks. A fight at school he tries to break up and someone hits him, breaking their hand or someone running into him and hurting their shoulder. This could be done occasionally to add a bit of humor, and because these things happen in everday life (but not with the to-be Superman).
The development of Lex and his curiousity in Clark will also be good to see. That, or a story arc that continues for a number of episodes that has Clark dealing with something that only he can deal with (not the villian of the week).
Even though this is a show about a to be superhero, the human drama should be emphasized. Seeing a commercial saying "On a very special Smallville, Clark Kent finds out he can hear ants coughing"... I've always been interested in how a young Clark deals with everyday problems resulting from his abilities and how he learns to control them.

[DisneyBoy]

As well thought out as your season by season plan for Smallville is, I don't think the writers will wait that long for Clark and Lana to get together, Spirit. I mean even Ross and Rachel on Friends kissed during the first season (I think). Here's what I think could happen:

Season One: Clark gradually discovers all of his powers, hurts a lot of freaky-powered teens, learns of a Kryptonian artifact (from that metal book thingy) that was sent with him and learns about his real family (I don't think the WB will show Krypton or it's people ($$$), but perhaps a voice-over reading of Jor-El's work or journal), Lex's reporter fails to discover the truth about Clark, but instead accidentally believes a reasonable explanation for all the strange occurances, Clark realizes he needs to be more careful about his powers, Lex and Clark have a real friendship and Lana breaks up with Whitney in time for the last episode.

Season Two: Clark struggles with wanting to date Lana because of his powers and seeming inability to stay put in one place (cause people keep needing rescues), a major villain comes into play, not super-powered, but just reoccuring, Lex shows more of his bad side and Clark starts suspecting him of being naughty, Chloe makes a play for Clark before he can ask out Lana (can you say love-triangle?), the people of Smallville's beliefs of having a guardian angel are put to the test when a disaster strikes and Clark and Lana are trapped together in a lead-lined elevator, Whitney goes the villain route, the Kents almost lose the farm to mean old Lionel Luthor, more villains of the week, and finally Clark and Lana become a couple.

If the show lasts much longer than that, and I hope it does, I would expect to see a Clark/Lana break-up (cause she knows he's hiding something but not what) followed by a make-up, a romance between Pete and Chloe (he so likes her!), Lana learning of Clark's powers, Lex killing his Dad, and finally Clark moving to Metropolis. Oh, and a tv-typical Smallville graduation, complete with Lana's valedictorian speech!

Oh, and is it just me, or will Clark's soon-to-be-discovered heat-vision come in handy in next week's episode where people keep freezing in the lake? WB: This is getting PREDICTABLE!

[Calhoun07]

Originally posted by DisneyBoy

Oh, and is it just me, or will Clark's soon-to-be-discovered heat-vision come in handy in next week's episode where people keep freezing in the lake? WB: This is getting PREDICTABLE!

Well, I don't really want to defend the WB writers, but I will once again put on the mask of devil's advocate, and just propose a theory that Clark "discovers" his powers when they are truly needed. He already has them, he just doesn't realize it, but when faced with extreme circumstances, he finds he not only has them but also finds a way to control them. People are often capable of far more than they realize sometimes. If you were placed in an extreme situation, you might suddenly do something to save your life or the lives of others that you had no idea you were capable of. It's not just a convenient plot device in story telling, it's just the way things happen and I think it's a logical way to bring out Clark's new powers.

[Stupendous Man]

I was just reading a post by Cal about Batman Beyond that
reminded me of something.

I loved Batman Beyond , and the writing was almost
impeachable.

Their was one thing though that always irked me ..
All of Batman B's villans came out of Terry's highschool.

I hated that. Especially cause there was no reason
for it ...not even in the writing.
Spellbinder for example .. the psychologist who hyptnotized
people into preforming crimes for him . cool villan ..
a guidance counselor in Terrys high school .

Come On !!
Why trivialize a cool villan like that.
Wouldnt it have been just as easy to make him
a psychiatrist in private practice .

Terry must have gone to the worst high school in the world!

But maybee Smallville High will give it a run for its money.
Smallville seems to be falling in the same trap.

Every villan in Smallville so far has come out of
Clarks High School.

And according to the episode guides this isnt going to change
anytime soon.

Please writers dont get lazy ... I challenge the producers
to give us a villan who isnt in Clarks Homeroom.

[Calhoun07]

Can you imagine if they had done this to Superman in the past? All of Superman's villians came from the Daily Planet? Or if they tried pulling the same thing with other well known superheroes? All of Spider Man's villians come from the Daily Bugle? Or all of Batman's villians came from Wayne Enterprises? It would have gotten old pretty quick, and I doubt those characters' books would have lasted long enough to make them into the iconic characters they are today. Variety is the spice of life, and I guess I don't see why they feel the need to stick with a formula. I've been watching alot of Sopranos lately (rewatched season one, and now I am getting into my season two set) and they didn't really always follow a stringent formula on the show. You can have a style and a feel for each episode that keeps it all together, but change the formula now and then! The best shows don't rely on it.

[Calhoun07]

Originally posted by The Spirit


I loved Batman Beyond , and the writing was almost
impeachable.



Did you mean impeccable? Impeachable and loving the show doesn't seem to fit together. Impeachable isn't a positive thing to say about the writing. In fact, I think it's basically the opposite of impeccable.

[Stupendous Man]

Hey Cal ...give me a break - Im at work and I have to
post these while no ones looking .

Dont have time to spellcheck !

[Kal-el]

Originally posted by calhoun07


Well, I don't really want to defend the WB writers, but I will once again put on the mask of devil's advocate, and just propose a theory that Clark "discovers" his powers when they are truly needed. He already has them, he just doesn't realize it, but when faced with extreme circumstances, he finds he not only has them but also finds a way to control them.

That is a good point Cal.
I also got a good laugh thinking about the same formula applied to the Superman world. The Daily Planet full of potential bad guys...hilarious. Just think, a janitor gaining super strength and creating havoc in the break room or a copy boy drinking coffee tainted with something (let's just say, ah, kryptonite and printing ink) and gaining the power to change the printed words in the paper...hehe. Supes wouldn't have had to go very far, that's for sure.
Maybe having a bad guy from the next town over or from the corner gas station would be a good change. After awhile the high school will be empty and super villians will be emerging from the grade school.
Also, doesn't it seem like Smallville and Metropolis are the only two population centers existing in this universe (geez, they're only seperated by what, a thousand miles or so)? As far as I've heard, they've been the only two mentioned. Is Smallville the only town in Kansas? I guess no one dreams of growing up and moving to Gothom or Central City. Metropolis is obviously the place to be (other than Smallville, apparently).

[Calhoun07]

Originally posted by The Spirit
Hey Cal ...give me a break - Im at work and I have to
post these while no ones looking .

Dont have time to spellcheck !

I honestly wasn't trying to be picky! I just didn't know if it was meant to be a compliment or not!

[Stupendous Man]

I meant the shows writing was pretty tight.
I almost enjoyed BB more than BTAS.