"Smallville" (2001)TV series 2001-????

When I first heard that the WB was doing a show about Clark Kent in the days before he became Superman, I honestly thought it was going to be an animated series, but when the first episode was first broadcast on October 16, 2001, I was instantly surprised.

The show starts in 1989, where a meteor shower bombards the small Kansas town of Smallville, leaving lots of people with scars and secrets of varying degrees; as such, it has certain emotional impacts on four characters: it leaves young Lex Luthor bald (I would say it traumatized him, but that's more or less mentioned already), it leaves three year-old Lana Lang orphaned, and it brings childless couple Jonathan and Martha Kent (John Schneider and Annette O'Toole) the child they always wanted. Fast-forward 12 years, and Clark Kent (Tom Welling) is just starting to experience the usual troubles of teenage life, something that will be especially difficult since Clark has superhuman strength and abilities that no ordinary teenager could only dream of having. Clark soon learns that he arrived the same time as the destructive meteor shower that besieged Smallville inside a spaceship as a toddler. Now Clark is left with questions about his birth parents and home planet, and manages to start a friendship with Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), who--unknown to Clark--will ultimately become Clark's arch-nemesis.

I can easy say that "Smallville" is an immensely intriguing and highly realistic sci-fi/teen drama. To make things all the more interesting, "Smallville" blends the teen angst-meets-supernatural circumstances theme of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" with the "monster-of-the-week" trend of "The X-Files." Apart from dealing with personal and emotional crises, Clark has to use his powers to battle an endless slew of Kryptonite-mutated villains, much like Buffy and the Scooby Gang battle demons that are sometimes drawn in by the mystical energy radiated by the Hellmouth.

Tom Welling is superb as teenage Clark Kent, both in physical and personality-wise ways. He looks almost like Chris Reeve, so much he could easily be Reeve's son. The rest of the cast is fine: Kristin Kreuk as Clark's love interest Lana Lang, Allison Mack as Clark's Lois Lane-type pal Chloe Sullivan, Sam Jones III as the Xander-like Pete Ross, and John Schneider and Annette O'Toole as Clark's adoptive parents, but it is Michael Rosenbaum and John Glover who steal the show as Lex Luthor and Lex's father, Lionel. You can easily tell just by observing Lex and Lionel's rocky relationship that Lionel is the one who will ultimately make Lex evil.

All of the episodes have their ups and downs, but I like to name two episodes that will keep you glued to the screen: the episode guest-starring the late Christopher Reeve as a scientist who reveals the truth about Clark's home planet, Krypton, and the second season finale where the "spirit" of Clark's Kryptonian father Jor-El urges Clark to get ready to conquer the world, but I don't want to spoil anything, so you'll have to watch the episode to find out what happens next, and why.

In conclusion, I give "Smallville" a 10 out of 10 on a scale of 1-10.