Smallville was built around a simple premise: a young Clark Kent navigates high school, young love, and keeping his powers secret while forming an unlikely friendship with the ultimate nepo baby, Lex Luthor. Starring Tom Welling as Clark and Michael Rosenbaum as Lex, the series was a massive hit, ultimately running for 10 seasons from 2001 to 2011. A key factor in Smallville’s success was its first leading lady, Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang.
Lana was Clark’s first love, who started off as the out-of-his-league girl next door before transitioning into his on-again, off-again girlfriend. As someone who grew up watching Smallville, I have a complicated relationship with Lana. Kreuk is a talented actress, and she plays the character well, but the writing doesn’t always make Lana easy to root for. She and Clark are often caught between other love interests, and his secret hangs over them like the sword of Damocles for most of their relationship.
Understandably, Lana gets fed up with Clark often. After all, she didn’t know he had a good reason to constantly lie to her. By the time Lana finds out the truth, the series’ second—and arguably better—female lead has already entered the picture: Lois Lane. The first time I watched season 4 of Smallville, I was conflicted about Lois’ arrival. A lifelong Superman fan, I love the plucky Daily Planet journalist, and Erica Durance captured her sassy attitude from the first moment she appeared on Smallville.
However, the series had spent the previous few years getting audiences invested in Clark and Lana. This created an awkward transition over the next couple of seasons as Clark grew up, but his love life didn’t. Smallville took some wild turns to maintain Lana’s relevance even after his destined adult love interest joined the show, including having her married to Lex in season 6. Admittedly, I enjoyed Lex and Lana’s somewhat problematic romance, but then the writers broke the Luthors up, and Lana went back to Clark. Around this time, she finally discovered his powers, but this did little to fix their stale dynamic.
Worse yet, once Lana exited the show starting with its eighth season, Lois and Clark’s romance started blooming. That is, their relationship was heating up until Lana showed back up midway through season 8 with a short arc that I can’t help but feel did more harm than good to her overall story in Smallville.
Smallville’s Divisive Transition From Lana To Lois
Lana Lang And Clark Kent’s Will-They-Won’t-They Put Ross And Rachel To Shame
Despite being over half a decade into the show and three seasons after the cast graduated from high school, Lana and Clark fell into their old toxic patterns when they got back together in season 7. Finding out Clark’s secret did give Lana a more natural way to interact with the season’s over-arching plot, but she remained largely confined to being either Clark’s girlfriend or Lex’s ex. Combining that with a non-consensual encounter with Bizarro and being made catatonic by Brainiac, Lana was put through the wringer. It wasn’t exactly a surprise for the audience when she decided to leave Smallville, and Clark, altogether, even though the young Superman was heartbroken.
I genuinely think Lana had the potential to be an interesting side character if she ever broke out of her girl-next-door mold, but Smallville never let her.
While it would be easy to hate Lana for overstaying her welcome, Smallville did not seem to know what to do with her other than be Clark’s love interest. She had some interesting plots over the years, such as being tied to the Stones of Power in season 4 and enacting revenge on Lionel Luthor in season 7. However, her more interesting developments were often reset, with Clark telling her not to give in to her inner darkness and so on. I genuinely think Lana had the potential to be an interesting side character if she ever broke out of her girl-next-door mold, but Smallville never let her.
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As Clark and Lana’s relationship imploded over several seasons, Lois dated Arthur Curry, Oliver Queen, and a clone of Lex’s dead brother. Her plotlines were continually engaging, as her go-getter nature and interest in journalism thrust her in the center of more stories as the series went on. Additionally, she and Clark had several seasons as friends to develop their bantery relationship. Welling and Durance are electric together, which made fans, myself included, all the more excited for their destined romance.
Lana’s Return In Smallville Season 8 Derails Clark And Lois’ Relationship
Lois Lane Deserved Better
By the time season 8 rolled around, I was thrilled to see the Lois and Clark of the comics take shape. Lois remained a huge focus, with her journalistic exploits even more relevant as Clark also became a reporter at the Daily Planet. Their brewing tension starts to boil over at the wedding of Chloe Sullivan and Jimmy Olsen, and they are close to sharing a kiss when Lana returns.
This is where Smallville lost me a little, both when watching its original run as a child and rewatching it as an adult. Season 8 was a bold new direction for the series. Both Lana and Lex had left, so Smallville reshaped itself into a new identity. No longer a high school sci-fi romance, the series became a fully-fledged superhero show with romance, workplace drama, and sci-fi shenanigans all contributing to the overall tone.
When Lana returned, a lot of those changes went out of the window. Clark dropped Lois almost immediately to run back to his ex. For the next 4 episodes, Lois is conspicuously absent, and Lana is slotted right back into the lead female role. The majority of the arc toys with whether or not Lana and Clark are good for each other, as well as Lex’s plans to build himself a supersuit. In a twist that felt surprising 15 or so years ago, Lana ends up taking Lex’s supersuit, which fuses onto its user. She gains superpowers and is on equal footing with Clark.
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Tragedy strikes when Lex orchestrates a scheme that requires Lana to absorb kryptonite using her supersuit or allow innocent people to die, thus making her physically unable to be around Clark. This resolution to Clark and Lana’s relationship unnecessarily casts a shadow over his romance with Lois by making her effectively his second choice. While having Lana leave Clark abruptly wasn’t the best send-off her character could have had, I found it miles better than Lex forcing them apart.
Instead of Lana and Clark growing or Clark realizing he wants to be with Lois, neither character has agency in their breakup. Again, I could frame this as “Lana ruins Lois and Clark,” but that’s not accurate. Lana Lang also deserved a better ending to her character than having her abusive ex-husband take away her happiness again. Though she returns in the Smallville: Season 11 comic, this is the last most audiences see of Lana, and that’s a shame. Likewise, Clark is painted in a negative light through his treatment of Lois, which sets back his character development.
Bringing Smallville’s Lex Back Without Michael Rosenbaum Was A Mistake
The Michael Rosenbaum Stand-In Didn’t Fool Anyone
Aside from Lana, Clark, and Lois, Lex also suffers from this storyline. Rosenbaum left Smallville at the end of season 7, after a climactic showdown between Superman and his future nemesis at the Fortress of Solitude. Though his villainous presence was a huge part of the show’s appeal, his exit provided the writers an opportunity to explore new antagonists. Season 8 decided to tackle Doomsday, most known for killing Superman in the comics. This new story was in full swing, when suddenly Lana and Lex re-entered the show.
In season 8, Lex is portrayed by Kevin Miller with Matt Adler providing his voice.
However, Smallville made the baffling decision to hide the fact that Rosenbaum hadn’t returned by casting a double, hiding his face, and altering his voice. This leaves Lex as a distant, looming threat, which may have been interesting, were it not for the story framing his motives around Lana and Clark. Lex developing his supersuit is also an intriguing concept that has been used throughout Superman media.
That being said, Smallville’s interpretation of Lex is built upon his relationship with Clark, and Rosenbaum’s chemistry with Welling is a huge factor in making the character compelling. Having a different actor portraying his scenes using a Darth Vader-like voice changer (as Lex is on life support) without interacting with Clark or Lana face-to-face is an insult to the character, made worse by Oliver killing him at the end of the arc, thus causing a rift between Clark and Green Arrow.
Moreover, Smallville had already set up Lex’s successor, Tess Mercer, to play a similar frenemy role in Clark’s story, so she could have taken the reins of being the nefarious head of LuthorCorp. If Rosenbaum wasn’t game to return for season 8, then Lana easily could have returned to the show without Lex.
Smallville Season 8’s Overarching Doomsday Plot Suffers From Lack Of Focus
Lana’s Return Stalled Progress On Season 8’s Main Story After An Intense Cliffhanger
The Doomsday arc on Smallville is already somewhat controversial. Giving Doomsday a human alter ego, Davis Bloome, makes him more similar to the Hulk, which didn’t land well with fans. However, Sam Witwer is an entertaining performer, who I’d argue elevates the material he was given. Being the first season-long villain after series mainstays Lex and Lionel left was already a tall order. His arc was just kicking into high gear, with Doomsday kidnapping Chloe at her wedding, when Lana returned.
While Smallville’s Doomsday is limited by the budget and format that comes with being on television, he provides a different kind of challenge for Clark, as a more physical threat with Kryptonian features.
Though this storyline continues for a portion of Lana’s season 8 arc, it is somewhat backburnered to make room for more Lex, Lana, and Clark drama. Admittedly, I find this fatiguing on a rewatch. While Smallville’s Doomsday is limited by the budget and format that comes with being on television, he provides a different kind of challenge for Clark, as a more physical threat with Kryptonian features. Moreover, Doomsday targeting Chloe as opposed to a love interest like Lana or Lois is a welcome change.
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I understand why some fans don’t resonate with this season. The effects for Doomsday are rough. Jimmy acts out of character when Chloe begins reciprocating Davis’ feelings. The ending is a gut punch. However, there’s a lot to enjoy, from Clark facing Doomsday to Tess taking over LuthorCorp to Oliver joining the main cast to Lois falling for Clark. If Lex and Lana had never returned, season 8 may have had more room to breathe, allowing more screen time for more relevant players like Jimmy, Lois, and possibly the Justice League. Smallville season 8 is not bad, but these creative choices held it back from being truly special.
Smallville is a Superhero television series based on the Superman Comic Book series created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. This television release was developed by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. The premise revolves around a young Clark Kent as he arrives on Earth and attempts to live his life while simultaneously keeping his friends, family, and those around him safe thanks to his superpowers.
- Release Date
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October 16, 2001
- Number of Episodes
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217
- Finale Year
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November 30, 2010
- Seasons
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10