Michael Rosenbaum says goodbye to "Smallville" in the season 7 finale: Arctic(2008).
© CW
Mania Grade: C+
Maniac Grade: B
TV Series: Smallville
Episode: Arctic (Season Finale)
Starring: Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Kristen Kreuk, Allison Mack, Erica Durance
Written By: Holly Harold
Directed By: Kenneth Biller
Network: CW
Maniac Grade: B
TV Series: Smallville
Episode: Arctic (Season Finale)
Starring: Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Kristen Kreuk, Allison Mack, Erica Durance
Written By: Holly Harold
Directed By: Kenneth Biller
Network: CW
TV Review of SMALLVILLE: Arctic
By: Stephen LackeyDate: Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Smallville has been a sadly disappointing series for the past couple of years. The rumor for a long time was that this would be the last season, and it should have been – especially since a couple of the primary actors in the ensemble cast are leaving the series. The only hope you can have is that the creators of the show are also leaving, putting the future of the series in different hands. Maybe some fresh blood can reinvigorate the series, maybe.
This season finale is a series of endings, endings basically written to get rid of some characters. Lana is the first to go after she awakens from her comatose state. Her exit from the series is quite surprising in its success. Lana hasn’t been relevant in years and you’d think her exit would be an easy one. What’s written in this episode is actually a little moving – not moving enough to make her character exodus a regret for fans – but moving nonetheless. The other big exit, the well publicized one, is the exit of Michael Rosenbaum’s Lex Luthor. Lex is Clark, or Superman’s most popular nemesis but it doesn’t mean that Clark can’t face other villains. In fact, a new villain might offer a new perspective on the Clark character in the series.
This season, and really this series has been a build up to a final conflict, a final standoff between Clark and Lex. If there’s one thing this series has done well it has created a complex relationship between these two characters. They started as good friends then evolved to enemies but even at their worst they still shared a connection. Some part of Clark still believed in Lex, believed that there was some good in him. So, when the final conflict finally does happen it encompasses the last five minutes of the episode. Five minutes, that’s it. Some of the dialogue between them in those five minutes is good, mostly on Lex’s part. Clark never seems to get real with his feelings even when Lex seems to have no problem. It all felt anticlimactic and rushed.
The big problem with the episode is that two much had to happen in this one episode. Clark had to defeat Brainiac, Lana had to recover and leave, we had to learn Kara’s true fate, Chloe had to get sick, then get better and then get proposed to, and finally Clark had to face off against Lex. Knowing that Kreuk and Rosenbaum are leaving the series as regular cast members, their characters should have been the entire focus of the episode. Lana and Lex should have been given some breathing room to develop a solid ending for them and the standoff between Clark and Lex should have been epic. The relationship Clark has with these two characters is personal and epic at the same time in the overall story arc so the climax of these characters should have been given that respect.
Again the review of this episode – as is common of nearly every review of every episode of this season – is built on complaints. There are a few minor highlights, Lana’s videotape was a bit moving and Lex got a few good lines in the brief climax of the episode. That’s really about it. For next season to be a success, Clark needs to get to work at the Daily Planet and he needs to start being a real super hero rather than just protecting his friends. The seeds for all of this have been planted. Cross your fingers for this fall’s return…
I also don`t think that they needed a huge battle between Lex and Clark, because they already did that when he was Zod. I would have liked some more back and forth dialogue, maybe a fist fight while the Fortress fell on top of them, would have been cool.
The writers do seem to be moving toward Clark working at the Daily Planet. Lois tried to get him a job and I bet we see Perry White next season. Since they are so far removed from the "normal" Superman mythos, they should have Lois and Clark get together now, too. It can't hurt the show.