So long, Smallville
19 May
The last episode of Smallville aired last week and the final Television Without Pity recap was just posted yesterday. My friend Tippi Blevins did a fantastic job taking over recapping duties after I left two years ago and she was gracious enough to let me have the last word.
I did watch the finale (OK, I skipped big boring chunks of it, but watched most of the show) and I was still in the process of catching up with about half of this season’s episodes on the DVR. But it was a little bit of a comfort to see that very little had changed in this big, 10-season-long run of cheese.
You can read the full recap here. The part that I contributed to the recap, attempting to sum up 10 years of the show, starts here.
A short excerpt:
If Smallville was, for all of us long-suffering close-watchers, the story of missed opportunities and not-quite-theres, it was also at times a place where expectations were so low that small pleasures (John Glover’s purr; Allison Mack’s sunshine grin, Cassidy Freeman’s class) broke through like rainbows in the proverbial Dio dark.
What I’ll miss most was the heady mix of cheesy earnestness and patent absurdity (and, of course, the Gay that was unintentional until it clearly wasn’t) that made recapping the first few seasons so much fun. The platitudes, the cows, the sweet, coppery-tasting anvils.
Smell ya later, Clark Kent.
Aw Omar, I’m glad you got a chance to have something to say in the finale TWOP of Smallville.
(I haven’t watched it yet, am planning to watch the re-airing tonight, so I haven’t read it, yet, but you forgot the other thing Smallville gave us: Your recaps.
It was a tough go, for a long time before I quit, but your snark and teasing made it all the worth while. Truth be told, I stopped watching Smallville after you stopped recapping it. There was no fun in it anymore.
But more than that, through your recaps I was also introduced to a fellow journalist whom I would never have been made aware of otherwise.
Your writing style — funny, snarky at times and full of personality, helped me to recognize how I could improve my own craft. Your sense of community and technology also inspired me to be a better journalist by being more plugged in with my audience, conversing more and making a name for myself outside of my place of employer’s byline.
So thanks Omar.
Thanks for the laughs, thanks for the memories, but thanks also for helping me be a better writer and a better journalist.
(Also, I cannot believe how big the girls are now! Lily is so adorable!)
Thank you, Sarah — that’s so incredibly nice to hear. It was feedback from readers like you that kept me going through the really, really rough Smallville years. It really was a fun awesome fan community for a while and I really miss it.
Thanks for everything else you said, too. I’m honored.