Ten reasons why Oliver Queen is a more interesting character than Clark Kent

Sure, the name of the show is Smallville, and we didn’t even meet the Green Arrow until the sixth season of the show, but at this point, I think he’s the star of the show. I’ve said before that I have, in past seasons, had trouble following this show during the season, and I think I’ve finally admitted to myself the reason why. Clark Kent, as a separate character from Superman (or in this case, the Red-Blue Blur) is supposed to be plain, understated, mild-mannered even, but unfortunately, both of his personas on this show are just kind of boring.
Oliver Queen, on the other hand, doesn’t have that problem. He’s a much more compelling leading man than Clark, and these are the reasons why:
Smallville – Metropolis: 28 Days Later
In an obvious nod to 28 Days Later, the episode even opened with Clark in a hospital. Yes, I know it wasn’t really a hospital, but Clark was laid out on a table with medical equipment nearby, so close enough. The filming was reminiscent of the recent cult classic as well, and in a good way.
As a mostly stand-alone episode, “Rabid” was extremely well put together. I thought opening the episode with Clark finding Lois in the throes of the infection was incredibly effective. I know it’s a common enough storytelling device in television, but it was still put to good use here. Read the rest of this entry »
Why can’t Smallville keep me interested for a full season?

I want to like Smallville more than I do. I’m not the biggest comic book geek in the world, but I can hold my own. I tried the show when it first came out, but it didn’t catch my interest. A couple of years I blew through five or so seasons of DVDs one lazy summer. These days, I try to watch, but Smallville has got to be one of the most inconsistent shows on television today.
Every summer, there’s enough buzz to get me interested again. Then, sometime around the fifth or sixth episode, I’m gone. Then, as the end of the season draws close, I’m somehow brought back in. Its been that way for a while now, but I don’t get it. Why do I fall into the same trap every year? Looking at the trailer for the upcoming ninth season (courtesy of Mike Ausiello over at EW), I’ll be giving Smallville another shot come fall.
Smallville – Lana becomes a superhero!?!
(Season 8, Episode 13, “Power”)
Last week, I pondered what was Lana’s endgame. One of my theories was that she wanted to destroy Lex and his empire from within, and that she may be working with Oliver. Some of you left comments saying that maybe she was working with Martha Kent or even Lionel Luthor, or that Lana was pregnant and fled to hid her pregnancy and deliver the baby, while others wondered what Imra/Saturn Girl meant when she said that in the future Lana would be well-known.
Well this week’s installment of Smallville gave us a lot of answers and left us with a Lana 3.0 who deems herself to now be Clark’s equal! Why is it that everytime Lana is concerned, the show jumps a shark? Read the rest of this entry »
Smallville – What is Lana’s end game?
(Season 8, Episode 12, “Bulletproof”)
It’s no secret — I hate Lana Lang. Well, to be more precise, I hate the Smallville version of Lana Lang and have since the first episode ever of the series. Over the years, I’ve learned to tolerate the character. Imagine my joy when it was confirmed last year that Kristin Kreuk wasn’t returning to the series! Sadly, my “Lana Lang is gone” party was cut short when the network announced the actress would appear in a few episodes of season eight.
Since her reappearance in episode 8.10, we haven’t learned much about what Lana has been up to between the season seven finale and episode “Bride.” However, this week’s “Bulletproof” started to pave the way for some revelations set to unfold in next week’s episode. Until then, let’s compile what we learned about Lana 2.0 and make a few predictions, shall we? Read the rest of this entry »
And yet another Smallville spinoff idea
Yeah, yeah, I know, there have been countless articles and posts about potential Smallville spinoffs over the years. There were talks of spinoffs for Supergirl, Green Arrow, Aquaman, and the Flash. The CW series also had the TV powers that be even ponder shows about a young Dick Grayson and other comic superheroes due to Smallville’s success.
Rumors of Smallville spinoffs have died down lately, but in the light of last week’s episode, “Legion,” maybe it’s time to revive them a bit, shall we? Read the rest of this entry »
Smallville – The Legion of Superheroes teams up with CK to save the world!
(Season 8, Episode 11, “Legion”)
My favorite Smallville episodes are those filled with Superman mythology. So it’s without surprise that I enjoyed “Legion” even if my least favorite character — Lana — was a major part of the episode.
Thanks to Legion of Superheroes members Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy, we were given a glimpse as to what Clark Kent’s future will entail. Yeah, yeah, I know, we already know about it thanks to the comics, the movies, the animated series and the other TV series. But let’s face it, Smallville already messed up a lot of Superman’s mythology, so why not decide to have him end up with Lana instead of Lois while we are at it?

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