It has been a couple of weeks now since Smallville signed off the air for good. It's taken me longer than I wanted to post my review, but better late than never, right? There was a lot of speculation about what would happen in the finale. Would Lois and Clark get married? How would Lex return? Would Clark finally put on the iconic Superman suit and fly? I honestly didn't see how the show would wrap up all of these storylines in a way that was satisfactory, but I have to hand it to the writers and producers.
Best series finale ever. EVER.
I could easily point out the flaws in this final 2-hour episode, but I won't do that. Yes, yes, I know the special effects were absolutely amateur and sorta embarrassing to watch at times, and a few things happened too fast. But let's put on our Clark glasses and focus on the positives. (SPOILER ALERT if you haven't watched the show yet and plan to - don't read any further!).
The Lois and Clark scenes were absolutely wonderful in the finale. Fanboys everywhere groaned, I'm sure, but us fangirls were crying tears of joy over this ending. This is coming from a gal who became a bonafide Clois shipper thanks to Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher in "Lois and Clark" in the 90s. Sorry, Dean and Teri. My new all-time favorite Clois is Tom Welling and Erica Durance after this episode. Hands down.
My favorite scene, which surprised even me (I was all excited about the suit, y'all), was the door scene. Lois called off the wedding because she didn't want to stand in Clark's way of becoming the Superman we all know and love, then changed her mind after sneaky little Chloe made her read Clark's beautifully-written vows. Clark, meanwhile, had decided Lois was right. He went to tell her goodbye, only to find her in her apartment getting dressed for the wedding. The entire scene saw them divided by a door, discussing why they should or should not be together. It was incredibly well-written. I laughed my head off when Lois slid her vows under the door for Clark to read -- it was only fair after all, since she'd read his -- and it was all marked up with red editing marks. Laughed. My. Head. Off. Her notes were so funny! Then when we heard Clark reading the vows, I swear I teared up. Of course, they headed to the altar.
Now, I'm no fan of weddings, in all honesty, but the show gave us one I didn't mind attending, albeit briefly. I don't think Clois fans have ever had a truly good Clois wedding representation on screen. The two "Lois and Clark" weddings were both kinda flat. "Smallville" gave us one we can forever cherish, even if it ultimately did get squashed by Darkseid, who possessed best man Oliver and had him switch Clark's wedding ring with one made out of gold kryptonite (which fans of the comics will know can strip Clark of his powers forever). Thank God bridesmaid Chloe was there to recognize the ring and karate chop it away before Clark touched it!
But the almost wedding was beautiful. I teared up when Lois - who had told Clark she would walk herself down the aisle in her family's absence - got that sad look on her face when she came through the door and saw that Clark wasn't waiting for her. Of course, Clark slid his hand through hers and walked her down the aisle himself. Loved, loved, loved the song they played then. So fitting and beautiful. And then the exchange of vows was done so well. The editing there was so creative and moving. I encourage you - if you didn't see the episode but consider yourself a romantic - to watch it through the link below.
WATCH IT HERE
The wedding was halted when Oliver went psycho and tried to kill Clark, but Clark's good nature and pep talk was enough to help Oliver banish Darkseid and save their friendship. Unfortunately, Darkseid had set another planet on a collision course with earth, and it looked like an apocalypse was imminent. This episode was so full of religious comparisons, it wasn't funny. It was obvious Clark was filling the role of Jesus, and Darkseid was Satan. When Clark decided to go to his father, Jor-El, for help, he discovered he knew how to fly.
This was my second favorite scene of the episode. When Jor-El revealed to Clark the vision of his trials in Smallville, we were treated to a very creative and well-done series of flashbacks from the entire run of show. And then away Clark went to the Fortress of Solitude, where Jor-El rewarded Clark -- and the millions of fans who had been gasping, wondering, begging for Clark to wear the suit on the finale -- with the iconic Superman suit.
We had all predicted the show would end there, but did it? Oh no. Indeed we were treated to some cheesy CG, but cool imagery of Superman flying around, first saving Lois - who had snuck aboard Air Force One to beg the president not to use nuclear weapons to try and destroy the threat. That scene was obviously a shout-out to Superman Returns. Loved the shot of Lois looking through the airplane window and seeing Superman for the first time. Loved it.
And then, of course, Superman pushed the planet back out of our orbit, as a crowd of hopeless people looked up. Their expressions went from doom to hope and ultimately cheers as the darkness disappeared and they were again covered in sunlight (another reference to Jesus? Hmmm). I loved it when Oliver smiled and said, "Way to go, buddy."
And then, the scene that gave me chills, literally. Tom Welling's Superman morphed into an image of Superman from the comic books as Chloe closed the comic book and told a small, blonde-haired boy, "And that's how the boy from Smallville became Superman." (Squeee!)
Praise Jesus, Chloe didn't die!! Fans have been speculating for years that she would HAVE to die in the finale since she's not part of the overall Superman mythos. Unfortunately Tess DID die, killed by her brother Lex Luthor after she made it clear she was choosing good over evil. In a genius move by the writers, she smeared Lex with a fluid that would erase his memory -- and his knowledge that Clark Kent was Superman -- just before she died. You go, girl!
But wait, it didn't end there. Chloe walked out of the room and called her cousin, and best friend Lois Lane to ask if everything was ready. We saw Lois in the Daily Planet. We saw Perry White's name on the editor's door, and we not only heard his voice talking, we heard him say "Great Caesar's Ghost!" (Squeee!). Then a scene with Lois and Jimmy Olsen. Then a scene of Lex Luther that gave us notification we were seeing events seven years into the future. Then we saw a bumbling Clark Kent run smack dab into Lois. A really cute exchange between them, and THEN, cue the iconic John Williams theme to "Superman: The Movie." As Clark and Lois revealed they were headed to their actual wedding (seven years later?!?), there was an armed robbery.
"Go," Lois told Clark, who headed to the roof as the Superman theme song played, and then, in slow mo, he ripped off his glasses and tore open his shirt to reveal the suit again.
Epic. I had tears. Well done, Smallville execs. Well done!
