Every Season of Smallville Ranked From Worst to Best

Smallville is the longest-running live-action superhero series, providing a decade of interesting takes on the Superman mythos. The show stars Tom Welling as Clark Kent and Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor. It primarily serves as a Superman origin story, but it also gives his nemesis a pretty emotional origin. Their dynamic fueled the earlier episodes, before later seasons faced other threats within the DC universe. A big draw Smallville It's a stellar cast, which also included Annette O'Toole, John Schneider, John Glover, Kristen Kreuk, Erica Durance and more.

Despite going through so many changes, there really isn't a single season of Smallville that's bad. There are definitely bad episodes, but each season has redeeming qualities, whether they're strong performances or standout storylines. As such, a low rating does not mean the season is of low quality. After all, when a show lasts as long as Smallvilleit has to evolve, and these evolutions will have different repercussions on different audiences. Here are all 10 seasons of Smallville, classified:

10

Season 5 has some of Smallville's best and some of its worst

Starts off strong but climaxes too early in episode 12

Smallville Season 5 had its work cut out for it. All four previous seasons were set while Clark, Lana Lang and Chloe Sullivan were still in high school. Even when the stories were different, they all had this basic structure to fall back on. Season 5 was tasked with getting the younger cast members off to college while tying their stories together. As a result, he fumbles a bit. Naturally, this is the time when real-life friendships and romances start to fail, but Smallville keeps them intact.

Season 5's saving graces are the introduction of Brainiac and the eventual exit of Jonathan Kent. Brainiac is a force to be reckoned with and is like a cockroach that Clark can't squish. Alternatively, Jonathan Kent is a positive force for both Clark and the audience. Losing him takes them both into adulthood, without their “father” to guide them. It's a severe inevitability, as Jonathan typically dies early in Clark's life in other Superman media, but Smallville makes this moment especially impactful.

Unfortunately, this season is weakened by the last stretch of episodes. Jonathan's death was so well done that nothing later would be comparable. Additionally, the appearances of Aquaman/Arthur Curry and Cyborg/Victor Stone are more than welcome. The series adequately fills the gap, but it doesn't have the same something special that came before and after.

9

Season 4 ends Smallville's high school years with a bang

Lois arrives in Smallville

Like Season 5, Smallville's season four has some growing pains. However, it holds up better to them because it can rely on the structure of high school and because it introduces some new characters. The most important character debuting this season is Lois Lane. Unfortunately, she doesn't appear in many episodes, but her bold personality is established from her first appearance as a great foil to Clark. The other new additions are Jason and Genieve Teague, a formidable mother and son duo. Both are played by immensely talented actors, Jensen Ackles and Jane Seymour.

However, his main function is to serve as Lex and Clark's common enemy. This season sees the former friends falling apart, and without the Teagues, our protagonists would have no common ground. General, the season does what came before justice and ends Smallville's years of high school well.

8

Season 6 expands the world of Smallville

Oliver Queen changes Smallville forever

Smallville's season six is ​​a step in the right direction. It makes big moves like introducing Jimmy Olsen, kicking off Lionel Luthor's redemption arc, and bringing Oliver Queen/Green Arrow into a live-action production for the first time. The opening episode sets the tone, with General Zod possessing Lex and foreshadowing his descent. Season 6 also saw Lex and Clark decidedly at oddslargely due to the former's marriage to Lana. Speaking of which, Lex and Lana's relationship becomes a difficult watch that demonstrates how far someone who has been denied love will go to keep it.

The most redeeming aspect of the season is easily the introduction of Oliver and the lead-up to the future Justice League. Post-Arrowverse, seeing Green Arrow in live action doesn't seem special, but it was novel at the time. Oliver is a really fun addition to the series, and his inclusion has aged well given the character's future popularity.

7

Season 7 chronicles Lex's descent

Lex reaches the point of no return

Smallville season 7 fills a unique niche. It's more adult than what came before, largely due to the inclusion of more Superman-centric characters. The season features Supergirl/Kara Kent as a series regular, along with cameos from Lara, Clark's biological mother, and Zor-El, Clark's uncle and Kara's father. Another central element is Lex's final evolution into a villain, yielding some of Rosenbaum's best performances in the series. Season 7 has some really great moments, but it suffers for a number of reasons.

Firstly, Clark and Lana's reunion feels like a regression because they both grew up during their time apart when she was with Lex. Secondly, there are several short arcs throughout the continuous wireless season. Zor-El wanting to conquer Earth, Brainiac returning and Lex going into killer mode are interesting storiesbut they don't have much room to breathe. Still, the season has one of the series' best endings, with Lex and Clark's climactic confrontation in the Fortress of Solitude.

6

Season 8 charts a bold new course, for better or worse

Misfortune Comes to Clark Kent

Smallville's season eight had its work cut out for it. Lex and Lana, two mainstays of the series, had left the series, and Clark was moving away from his farm boy roots. Lex is replaced by a successor named Tess Mercer, named after Eve Tessmacher and Mercy Graves. Oliver joins the main cast lineup, providing variety in the types of stories the show can tell and more action. Additionally, Lois transitions into a role more similar to her comic character as the resident hard-hitting journalist, giving Chloe the chance to become the guy in Oliver's chair.

The most controversial aspect of the season is the inclusion of Doomsday. Not only does Superman's killer appear at the very beginning of his timeline, but he is also given a human alter ego, Davis Bloome. Despite the obvious continuity issues this presents, the plot is entertaining in a vacuum, largely due to Sam Witwer's performance. Overall, Season 8 is a solid step in the right direction.

5

Season 1 builds an excellent foundation

Clark and Lex form a legendary bond

Ranking Season 1 so low on the list is almost sacrilege, but that's not because its freshman outing is bad. On the contrary, Smallville's the first season is extraordinarily well done. However, the show's premiere is low risk. Most of its episodes follow the freak-of-the-week formulawhich works because it allows the audience to get to know the characters and how they think. He does an excellent job of defining the characters' relationships, the world of Smallvilleand the risks of Clark and Lex's respective conflicts.

The season's arc is simple, as Lex and Clark become friends after the latter saves the former. Lex then becomes curious about Clark's seemingly superhuman abilities and begins to investigate him. Most of the arcs concern teenage crushes and family drama, which, again, is perfect for establishing Smallville's great players.

4

Season 9 Let Smallville Grow

Clark faces his Kryptonian legacy

Season 9 allows Smallville it hit its stride without dwelling on the show's past identity. It finally gets rid of the high school baggage of Clark and Lana's relationship and allows an antagonist other than Lex to carry the entire season. Major Zod, a younger clone of General Zod, is a menacing presence throughout and has some genuinely disturbing moments. Plus, Lois and Clark's relationship finally takes off. The show mimics the old-school love triangle of Superman, Lois, and Clark by having Lois and The Blur interact regularly.

The broader DC mythos also gets more love in Season 9. It features important characters like Amanda Waller, in an underrated performance by Pam Grier, as well as the Dark Archer, Speedy and the Justice Society. Additionally, elements like making Dr. Emil Hamilton a recurring character make the series feel more quintessentially Superman.

3

The second season started to give us answers

Clark learns his tragic history

Like the first season, the second season of Smallville follows a mostly episodic formula based on meteor-infected individuals. However, it is superior in two main aspects. Number one, Lionel Luthor is promoted to the main cast, which constitutes a unifying enemy for the protagonists. Number two, Clark finally starts to get answers about his story. With a wonderful appearance by Christopher Reeve, Clark discovers not only that he is from the planet Krypton, but also that his home world is gone. It's equally satisfying because he gets the answers he craved, but it's sad because he discovers what he lost.

In addition to the biggest revelations of the season, Smallville also makes another good, comic-accurate choice: telling Pete Ross Clark's secret. Giving Clark another character who knows the truth minimizes the frustration of him constantly hiding who he is. Overall, Season 2 of Smallville is a solid follow-up to Season 1 that introduces more Superman lore into the mix.

2

Season 10 delivers on the promise of the series

Clark becomes the hero he is destined to be

Many long-running series miss the mark, but Smallville avoided this curse by ending on time. Its final season focuses on making Clark become Superman, which is very satisfying after 9 years of build-up. Clark begins to build his mild-mannered reporter persona. Lois finally discovers her secret. Oliver goes public as Green Arrow. Lionel and Lex return as villains. There's an episode where Booster Gold and Blue Beetle appear, and it works. One scene even shows Clark changing in a phone booth. The series fully accepts that it is a superhero show.

Smallville Season 10 has its flaws, but the genuine sense of fun it builds overrides most of its problems. For example, Smallville's Darkseid's version isn't exactly the most imposing, largely due to the lack of convincing effects. Still, the series does what it can with the character and draws a good conclusion anyway.

1

Season 3 is the best of both worlds

Lionel is a villain of Shakespearean proportions

Because the stations Smallville They have different tones, the best one has to be the one that best balances them. The third season fits very much into the mold of the high school years, but takes a much darker turn in the way it approaches Lex's story. Throughout the first half of the season, Lex uncovers a conspiracy between Lionel and crime lord Morgan Edge. Lionel then attacks his own son, leading to a tragic series of events that set Lex on a darker path and strain his friendship with Clark.

In addition to Lex's story, this is also the season that introduced Jor-El and the concept that Kryptonians have visited Smallville before. It also takes another essential step towards Clark becoming Superman by introducing Perry White. The reason why the third season Smallville works so well is that it combines what has come before with new and exciting story reveals, proving that the series can be more than just a weird teen show of the week.

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