TheCC Staff
06-23-2008, 02:33 PM
Smallville’s Final Season Is Coming, But With Many Changes
by Alan Noah (http://alannoah.com)
June 23rd, 2008 - With the recent casting news on Smallville's eighth and (presumably) final season, I decided it was high time to revisit my thoughts on what the show will look like next year. (For my first article on the matter, click here.) But before we get to the show’s new additions, let’s review who is confirmed to be leaving Superman’s home town.
First off, it has been confirmed that Michael Rosenbaum will not be returning as a regular cast member in season eight. The official press release stated, and I quote: "While Michael won't be a series regular and we won't have the pleasure of working with him on a weekly basis this fall, we like to think that we haven't seen the last of Lex Luthor." After reading that, I thought, all right, well he basically HAS to come back for at least the season premiere, to explain what happened to him after the Fortress of Solitude collapsed on him. But then I read this interview, where Michael said, and again I quote: "It was a great run, and I'll miss them all, and the producers they always think, 'Well, he'll do a couple' and I go, 'No!' You realize, if I do a couple, it means I shave my head and I won't have hair for three more months, so if I do a couple, I might as well do them all." The interviewer then asks him if he won't do one last final appearance, to which Rosenbaum replies, "Nah, this was it. This was it. It was a good, good ending."
Now, let's get something straight right here: Lex's descent into evil was amazing, but if this is the last we're seeing of Lex, even the cool aspects of the Veritas arc will have been totally undone. Lex was so consumed with discovering the identity of the Traveler that he was willing to murder his own father. He became totally obsessed with the thought of being able to control this visitor from another world. When he finally discovers that the alien in question was Clark Kent and he gets his hands on the device that will make Clark his slave, the Fortress collapses, and Lex is... what? He can't be dead, right? The Smallville continuity is clearly separate from the main Superman DC comics version, but killing off Superman's future adversary now, in such anti-climactic fashion just seems... wrong. Really, really wrong. And so that means that the purpose of the mysterious device was a lie? A hoax? Or was there just a random earthquake in the Arctic at the moment Lex decided to turn on his former friend? I suppose these questions could be answered with some clever writing, but I gotta admit, I'm skeptical.
Click Here To Read The Rest Of The Article (http://thecomiccollective.com/Movies-TV/Columns/2008/Alan_Noah/Smallville_Season_8/)
by Alan Noah (http://alannoah.com)
June 23rd, 2008 - With the recent casting news on Smallville's eighth and (presumably) final season, I decided it was high time to revisit my thoughts on what the show will look like next year. (For my first article on the matter, click here.) But before we get to the show’s new additions, let’s review who is confirmed to be leaving Superman’s home town.
First off, it has been confirmed that Michael Rosenbaum will not be returning as a regular cast member in season eight. The official press release stated, and I quote: "While Michael won't be a series regular and we won't have the pleasure of working with him on a weekly basis this fall, we like to think that we haven't seen the last of Lex Luthor." After reading that, I thought, all right, well he basically HAS to come back for at least the season premiere, to explain what happened to him after the Fortress of Solitude collapsed on him. But then I read this interview, where Michael said, and again I quote: "It was a great run, and I'll miss them all, and the producers they always think, 'Well, he'll do a couple' and I go, 'No!' You realize, if I do a couple, it means I shave my head and I won't have hair for three more months, so if I do a couple, I might as well do them all." The interviewer then asks him if he won't do one last final appearance, to which Rosenbaum replies, "Nah, this was it. This was it. It was a good, good ending."
Now, let's get something straight right here: Lex's descent into evil was amazing, but if this is the last we're seeing of Lex, even the cool aspects of the Veritas arc will have been totally undone. Lex was so consumed with discovering the identity of the Traveler that he was willing to murder his own father. He became totally obsessed with the thought of being able to control this visitor from another world. When he finally discovers that the alien in question was Clark Kent and he gets his hands on the device that will make Clark his slave, the Fortress collapses, and Lex is... what? He can't be dead, right? The Smallville continuity is clearly separate from the main Superman DC comics version, but killing off Superman's future adversary now, in such anti-climactic fashion just seems... wrong. Really, really wrong. And so that means that the purpose of the mysterious device was a lie? A hoax? Or was there just a random earthquake in the Arctic at the moment Lex decided to turn on his former friend? I suppose these questions could be answered with some clever writing, but I gotta admit, I'm skeptical.
Click Here To Read The Rest Of The Article (http://thecomiccollective.com/Movies-TV/Columns/2008/Alan_Noah/Smallville_Season_8/)