Pilot

Season 1, Episode 1, Aired
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Episode Summary

The first episode tells the story of the meteor shower that hit Smallville and changed life in the Kansas town forever. Clark Kent meets Lex Luthor for the first time and encounters the first in a long line of humans mutated by the strange green meteor rocks that accompanied him on his journey to Earth.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (97)

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  • An amazing start.

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By hell693, Oct 03, 2011 Report Abuse
    There are so many things that make this episode amazing but for me the thing that made the episode amazing was the relationship between Clark and Lex and they showed us that best friends can be mortalenemysin the future but i loved the friendship between them and can't wait to see more from this series. The chemistry between the cast is undeniable and i want to see how the relationship between Clark and Lana ends in the series also i want to see if Chloe and Clark will be more than friends or not cuz i have a feeling that they will be great together if they take their relationship to the next level that onlycharacterididn'tlike was Pete i feel that he is not meant for this part. My only regret was that ididn'tbegin watching this series until it ended because if it was still on air it would be great to watch it.moreless

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    2 0

  • A great start!

    8.0
    "Great"
    By foggygirl, Jun 27, 2011 Report Abuse
    Just by chance I got this first season out of my local library a few weeks ago and decided to check it out. The premise of going back to Clark Kent's young adult years in Smallville was an intriguing one and by adding in the whole "meteor freak" elements to the storylines allowed the writers to come up with a new opponent/villan every week. Add the fact that most teenagers can identify with someone who feels like an alien in their school and you have addictive TV. I finished watching the first season within a few days and decided to keep watching the rest of the seasons.moreless

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  • 12 years after a meteor shower hit, Clark Kent, who mysteriously appeared during the shower, saves the life of millionaire's son Lex Luthor. Meanwhile, a youth mutated in the storm is determined to get revenge on those who humiliated him. Decent Pilot...moreless

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By Jay-Spacedust, Feb 06, 2011 Report Abuse
    'Smallville' (billed by Channel 4 as 'Smallville: Superman the Early Years') debuted here in the United Kingdom on New Year's Eve 2001 (in a feature-length version with the second episode, 'Metamorphosis'). I love a wide range of adventure / fantasy TV, and don't mind the 'Superman' movies, but have never really been a comic book fan (as in, I don't really read comic books; I don't mind big and small screen adaptations of them). But that's fine you don't need to be an uber-fan for this show; in fact you don't need to know much about 'Superman' history at all.
    The setting takes some light liberties here and there with the original canon although this naturally irked some uber-fans, personally I don't have a problem with this; I think if they had stuck with previous version(s) word-by-word, it would have severely limited the scope of the series. And either way, it is much better than the horrible 'Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman' of the 1990s!

    I loyally followed 'Smallville' for the first season or so, it being one of the few such shows that thankfully was not snatched by $ky; But from the second season, it started darting around the schedules a bit Channel 4 seeming unsure what to do with it, after it's previous 6pm slot during the week become unavailable due to (dire) teen soap 'Hollyoaks' going five night per week. It started popping up on Freeview channel E4 (which I didn't have back then), later to be repeated on Channel 4, but due to the often changing schedule and various other factors in my life at that time, I kind of lost track of the show. It is only now, in 2011 and with it announced that the show's tenth season will be it's last, that I've decided to watch the series in it's entirety on DVD.

    When it was first shown, in the U.K. at least, there were immediate comparisons with 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'. Yes, there are definite similarities (especially with 'Buffy's earlier episodes, which featured a wider-array of creatures to duel), and 'Buffy's popularity definitely opened the gateway for various other teen-angst-and-monsters shows. But personally, I really like both shows, and don't see why people feel need to continually compare them, insisting one liking on and not the other. They both have their individual merits.

    The cast is generally very good: Tom Welling is likeable as Clark, and Michael Rosenbaum shows potential for a lot of coming storylines over Lex. A mixed ethnicity Lana is an interesting take, but Kristen Kreuk does well enough in the role; though I'm not yet sure about Chloe and Pete I found them hard to warm to, especially Chloe; maybe they'll grow on me. Annette O'Toole has nice a previous tie to the Superman franchise after playing the role of adult Lana in 'Superman III' (1983), but the real pull for me was John "Bo Duke of Hazzard" Schneider. I grew up loving those many classic action-adventure shows of the 1980s, and 'The Dukes of Hazzard' comes close second only to 'The A-Team' as my all-time favourite TV show (hey, I openly admit it!), so if nothing else, I tuned in to this Pilot to see how well he did.

    For the most part, this Pilot sets up the scene very well, putting in place several on-going strands Lex's debt over Clark saving his life, yet his curiosity about the super powers Clark seeming to show in the rescue; Jonathan's distrust and dislike of the Luthors, and Clark's unrequited love for Lana Lang. Oh, and various people who have suffered various mutations as a result of the meteor shower 12 years previously!

    Although probably not a classic of the series, the Pilot contains some nice moments, although also some bad ones too in particular, the cemetery scene, with Clark telling Lana the thoughts of her dead parents, is pretty cringeworthy!! I also found how Clark came to be wearing Lana's Kryptonite necklace to be very forced and over-convenient, and the resolution to the story's "guest mutant character" is resolved too quickly and far too simply. In fact, the "guest mutant" of this story felt in some ways to be tacked on as an afterthought. Another thing I felt, was that I would have liked it to have been made clearer that Clarke is not fully aware of his alien origins until Jonathan tells him at the conclusion of this episode.

    Filming and production is generally good obligatory ballad-indie rock music et al. Also of note are the effects; in general, I'm not much of a CGI fan, preferring "old school" stunt work and effects, but for the likes of this series, I feel the CGI effects work well, and, from what I've seen so far, are only used where deemed appropriate, not in a gratuitously.

    This Pilot looks set for a number of interesting plots to unfold, and I look forward to the following stories. I give this first episode a respectful 9/10.moreless

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  • A lousy Dawson's Creek oriented script of the Superman story.

    7.5
    "Good"
    By faincut, Feb 06, 2011 Report Abuse
    The Pilot to this show is lousy. It messes up the entire story of Superman with DaCreek style of show. Many stupid alterations were made to make the plot logical . Suddenly Lex Luthor lives in Smallville, and Superman arrives as a 3 year old kid, not as a baby. Not only that, but it appears that there was a meteor shower that the whole town experienced, and suprisingly also Luther was there. Lana Lang lives next to Clark with her aunt, in a small town, just like Joey and Dawson. Those alterations are infantile and unoriginal. Superman is a great story that deserves a more sophisticated way story-telling, that will make the show run. After all, the Young Superman adventures can be enjoyable as there are many good options for stories to be made out of the concept.
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  • This is the pilot of Smallville, how Clark came to earth in his spaceship in the midst of a devistating meteor shower.

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By ScottyToledo, Feb 06, 2011 Report Abuse
    You dont need to be a Superman fan to enjoy Smallville, but it does help. This show puts a whole new twist on the Suparman saga.

    The pilot opens in space with mysterious green rocks headed to earth. Namely, a small Kansas town called Smallville. Jonathan and Martha Kent (PLayed by Dukes of Hazard's Jogn Scheneider and Annette O'Toole, who played Lana in the Superman movies)

    The green rocks crash into smallville, devistating the town and killing Several people, including Lana's parents.

    On their way home, The Kents flip their truck when something falls out of the sky and lands on the nearby feild. They investigate and fine a small boy and a small spaceship.

    12 years pass, and the baby has grown up into Clark Kent (Tom Welling). High School student. He doesnt know where he is from, all he knows that he is different than anyone else. He can run faster and he is much stronger than anyone else. Plus he is invulnerable.

    One of the most interesting things in the show, is Clark's friendship with Lex Luthor. In the comicks, Lex and Superman were bitter enimies. It's going to be interesting to see how that relationship progresses later on.

    This is a very good show. I really didnt think I'd like it at first, but it's really grown on me.

    Tom's portrayal of Clark is new and different from any other Clark Kents in the past. He does a great job playing a super powered teen doing good deeds and saving lives. Just watch out for that Kryptonite!moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • When Lex's car is shown falling into the river, there is no damage on the front from hitting Clark or the guard rail. Edit
    • The location of the Torch is different in the pilot from the rest of the whole show. Also the Wall of Weird changes its location from a closet to out in the open. Edit
    • Trivia: The car that Lex drove off the bridge is a Porsche 911 SC. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • Milo Ventimiglia and Jensen Ackles originally auditioned for the role of Clark Kent. Edit
    • In-joke: The school jackets the students are wearing have a Superman style shield logo on them with an "S" in the middle. It is only seen in "Pilot," and in the very next episode the jackets only have an "S" on them with the shield removed. Edit
    • Originally Clark was to have developed his heat vision in a sex ed class (similar to "Heat"). It was dismissed for the time as the creative team thought it was too soon, and wanted to develop better visuals for it. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Jonathan: I know this has gotta be really hard for you. But you gotta just hang in there like we promised. Clark: I'm sick of "hanging in there." All I want to do is go through high school without being a total loser. Edit
    • Pete: Statistical fact: If Clark moved any slower he'd be extinct. Edit
    • Lana: (to Clark) Sometimes I dream I'm at school, waiting for Nell to pick me up. But she doesn't come, so my parents drive up. They're not dead, they're just really late. Then I get in their car and we drive back to my real life in Metropolis. That's usually when I wake up. But for a minute, I'm totally happy, until I realize I'm still alone. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Lana: What are you, man or superman? Apart from a reference to Clark's future, it also refers to "ubermensch," a state depicted as a sign of greatness by Nietzsche. Nietzsche's Superman was someone who could surpass his own nature and decide for himself what was good or bad without being influence by "pity, suffering, tolerance of the weak, the power of the soul over the body, the belief in an afterlife, the corruption of modern values." This is very paradoxical in the context of the show since Superman saves exactly those he should not, in Nietzsche's mind. Edit
    • Pete Ross: We'd love to join you and Scooby in the Mystery Machine for another zany adventure, but we have to turn our permission slips in before homeroom. This is a reference to the 1969 Saturday morning cartoon Scooby Doo, Where Are You? which aired on CBS. The show dealt with a group of four high school students, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and their dog Scooby Doo, a loveable but cowardly Great Dane, who formed Mystery, Inc. The group was interested in the mysterious and supernatural and traveled around the area in a bright green van called the Mystery Machine. Over the decades the cartoon has had additional episodes and even hour long movies produced; finally culminating in the film Scooby Doo (2002) and a sequel Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004) which starred Freddy Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar. Edit

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