Death Comes To SmallvilleS

Alas, poor Smallville supporting character. We knew you well, but that wasn't enough to save you from Doomsday (in a very literal sense). But that's not all that happened in last night's finale. Spoilers!

Last night's ep was one of the worst Smallville finales to date - Normally, their finales are some of the few things they do reliably well - in part because there was too much going on, and almost all of it made very little sense. Magical kryptonite can split Doomsday in two! Jimmy finds out that Clark is "the red and blue blur" (Yes, Clark actually said, "Jimmy, I am the red and blue blur," making you realize just how stupid that term is)! Lois ended up in the 31st Century!

(Also, Oliver Queen is a dick. Seriously, I'm sure that his purpose in this show is to turn up, be a dick, and leave. Shooting Clark with a kryptonite arrow just to make sure that he doesn't get hurt? Really, Oli?)

Death Comes To SmallvilleS

At least JImmy's death seemed important at the time; his being murdered by Davis may have been more for shock value than anything else (Although, is it wrong that I liked that Davis without Doomsday is still a psychopath? I mean, it kind of goes against the whole "I am tortured and trying to rebel against the purpose I was created for" thing, but still; yay for pointless murders), but the cliche of his having just enough life left to save the day and kill Davis made this fanboy just a little bit happier with the whole mess. Of course, Jimmy had to save the day, because this is Smallville, where Clark Kent stands around while other people get things done and then mopes that he can't save the people he loves.

This time, though, Clark doesn't just mope; he decides that, because Davis was human when he killed Jimmy, that human emotions are bad and therefore, he'll embrace his kryptonian side to become a better hero. Which, you know, doesn't make sense, but does make for a season finale cliff-hanger (As did the final scene, where Zod apparently came to Earth in a desperate attempt to make people continue to care about the show). Oh, Jimmy. Is your sacrifice truly in vain? Apparently so; not only does Clark's "Clark Kent is dead" moment completely fail to convince in any way whatsoever - Come on, do you really think that it'll last any longer than the start of next season? - but it seems that there's a baby brother Olsen out there ready to take his place, and this one's the right age to make all that Superman Mythos fans happy.

With eight years under its belt, last night's finale just made the show seem much, much older; everything seemed like it'd been done before, and none of the shocking changes are going to stick. It's a shame; the start of this year felt much fresher than the show had in years, but by the end, everything had become the old, familar melodrama with the future of the world at stake yet again. Here's hoping that next year's the final year we have to go through these particular motions.