Watching the FIRST Middle and LAST episode of SMALLVILLE For The First Time | Analysis & *REACTION*

[@kilian-one-l]

This is without a doubt the best live action iteration of Lex. I also much prefer this version of Olliver Queen over the one from Arrow. This is the show that made me like Superman. Also, like Buffy, this show was used as inspiration for a lot of other shows (all of the Arrowverse shows would not exist without Smallville)

[@Liezshae]

I’m sad you only get to see this Lois at the end because she was my favourite Lois of all time. At the end she’s got low confidence and is worried but usually she’s bursting with confidence and always snarky. She was amazing, the whole cast was

[@michaelcarey8388]

There's actually an episode where Christopher Reeve appears as a scientist who tells Clark about Krypton....Kind of a torch-passing episode.

[@rytterl]

This whole ten season show is Clark learning, becoming his own man, trying and failing a lot, faltering in his choices, and at the end becoming Superman. I fucking love this show. Clark amazing, Lex amazing, Lois amazing, the justice league, though they don't call themselves that.. Amazing. Martha Kent from start to finish, even the time she isn't in the actual show is the heart of this series. She always grounds Clark. He's not a god, he's a dude with a mom who guides him. And Jonathan... Jesus christ. Even just watching these few episodes makes me tear up.

[@GigaWhatt0]

Same. Tom will always be my Superman.

[@ag9953]

What amazes me more is that WB shows look exactly the same, so for 2002 effects this is fine. BTW, this show has what to this day is the best live action version of Lex Luthor ever created, the way they crafted his relationship with Clark to be more than just random arch enemies and actually be friends who slowly drift apart is amazing.

[@T_Cup]

Michael Rosenbaum, who plays Lex, runs a podcast based entirely around watching old episodes of Smallville called Talkville, often featuring Tom Welling (Superman), but also guest actors who were in the series from time to time

[@bad71able]

"often featuring Tom...." Tom's on literally every episode, they created the podcast together, its a shared project between them.

[@T_Cup]

@bad71able I just started watching when I posted this, so I confused Talkville and his other podcast Inside of You - and I'm still not all the way through it, so I assumed some episodes didn't feature Tom, my mistake

[@igpx07]

@@bad71ableexactly lolol

[@namdoolb]

I will say that the takeaway from smallville is that it's a character journey at the core. To be fair, it kinda has to be. No show could sustain itself for 10 years without a great character arc, superman even less so; it's very difficult to lean on the conflict when the protagonist is so powerful. I would put up spoiler warnings for the following, but honestly I think it's a little redundant with a show of this age. It's also been just a few years since I watched it, so accuracy may not be 100% Lex & Clark as friends; that lasted up until about the end of season 6, maybe 7 (iirc). Lex grew steadily more suspicious as the seasons progressed, which culminated in him discovering clerk's identity around this time. He then got written out for a bit, returning around or just before the series finale. Tess Mercer, Lex's (adoptive) sister was introduced as a pseudo replacement at this time. She stuck around until the end, where Lex killed her (as you saw). Lana was the initial love interest for Clark, though as you saw in your season 5 episode, that went awry. Lois was introduced to the show around season 4 & that was a slow burn; her & Clark didn't get together until quite late in the series (I want to say season 8, but I could be wrong). Jonathan kent: it was quite recent to the episode that you watched. The character was killed off in the 100th episode (iirc) which is mid season 5 I think. Other heroes: Yes. In more detail, Batman never appeared, wonder woman never appeared. I know they could never get permission to use batman (they did ask). I don't know why they never used wonder woman (possibly would have detracted from the lois/Clark endgame they were going for). Apart from that, if you can name a dc character in Superman's orbit, they probably got a look in on the show at one point or another (although I am probably now about to get 50 or so replies of "this character wasn't on the show...."). Oliver Queen you saw; he was more or less a series regular through the latter half of the show. they used other main JLA members: flash, cyborg, aquaman They featured the JSA; Hawkman, doctor fate, & others that I don't know so well Martian manhunter was a recurring character Supergirl was a regular cas member for a couple of seasons, & a recurring character after that. I know there's more that they used besides those; but the list is already long enough to give you the gist of it, & my memory is a little fuzzy on the other heroes that they featured.

[@namdoolb]

One thing that I forgot to mention (as it's not hugely relevant to the episodes that you saw): one of the coolest things about (pretty much any superman based live action media) is that it's like a club with a lifetime membership. You play a relatively major role in one of these things, and they will have you back to cameo on pretty much any future project they do.... Cases in point: Martha Kent is the actress who played Lana Lang back in the Christopher reeve superman films Christopher Reeve himself has a recurring role in the early part of the show (they would have used him for longer I think, but he passed). The lady who played Lois in those films also had a few episodes of smallville Dean cain & Teri Hatcher (Lois & Clark from the TV show back in the 90's) Both had an episode each as a villain. Following on after smallville, both Tom Welling & Erica Durance have made guest appearances on the "arrowverse" shows, and so has the lady who played supergirl in smallville (obviously not in any of the episodes you watched). Not really at all relevant to the show, just a cool thing that Superman shows & movies have a habit of doing.

[@bmr209]

I think Lex and Clark were friends up until Lex started dating the the love of Clark's life (up until that point of course) which I think was toward the end of season 5 iirc.

[@Lexie955]

@@bmr209actually I think it was already close to ending at season 3 finale when Clark found the hidden room lex had of him. Everything after was tense conversations and never felt like the best friends they were before that

[@blackkatt777]

You perfectly got the full gist of the show in three episodes. Well done sir...well done.👌🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@karensamuel5616]

I haven't watched these in so long. Watching you enjoy them makes me want to dig out my DVD sets. Thanks!

[@RetroRobotRadio]

James Masters was also a character on the series Andromeda. He played a rich prince named Charlamagne. He was supposed to be reoccurring, but he became a regular on BTVS and didn't have time to keep returning to Andromeda.

[@kindabatooni9314]

Lex is easily the best character of the show and make no mistake, Lex went through tremendous trauma and physical, emotional and mental abuse.

[@SebasTian58323]

Lex Luthor being president is actually a very well done callback to an episode in season one where a woman who was blinded by a meteor impact got the ability to see the future, and she saw lex as the president and destruction and pestilence followed. If you want an excuse to actually watch the show, the actors for Clark and Lex are doing a rewatch podcast for the show and i also believe they're trying to get an animated sequel for the show was well.

[@glennwelsh9784]

It was also a reference to the comics, as Lex does get elected to the presidency, though he eventually gets removed from office after abusing his presidential powers to go after both Superman and Batman.

[@rhiannongreen2642]

@@glennwelsh9784 He was also president in the flash crossover wasn't he? Although in that version Clark has given up his powers

[@christophergroenewald5847]

In this series, the first three years of Clark's superhero career, he wasn't actually Superman. He was a vigilante known only as the Blur. A name he got due to the fact that he moves so fast that few people have ever seen him. Only at the end of year 3 does he step out of the shadows and become Superman. Which I think is really well built-up.

[@Smido83]

Ahhh... the good old days of Smallville! Another classic teen drama that I really loved (like Buffy) Is it a bit silly, sure. Did they stretch the story to long, clearly. But for me still one of the best Superman interpretations ever brought to the screen. I recently rewatched it and I still enjoy it a lot.

[@Smido83]

EDIT: Also by far the best interpretation of the Clark vs Lex relationship ever. Both actors are still really good friends and have a podcast here on youtube discussing every episode of the show, called "Talk Ville Podcast".

[@jacksonlickteig4969]

im 20 and smallville used to be my shitttt. this brought back so many memories

[@kevinmoore8780]

The series is overall very good with some monster-of-the-week episodes but great story arcs and character development. While the show was shot like many TV shows, there were times when the studio and the directors went far beyond what you'd expect them to do. Something as simple as not having Superman appear until the very end. The single best example was the funeral scene for Jonathan Kent. They gave us 5 minutes, often in slow motion, to mourn the passing of a main character. They gave us aesthetic images of the Kent Farm. They showed all the major characters without distracting from the scene. And they showed us how much Clark was lost and isolated without his father.

[@plexx365]

Oh man, you're missing out on a FANTASTIC show!! One of my favorite of all time, I grew up watching it.

[@bmr209]

Enjoyed this reaction. You should consider just watching some of the other highest rated episodes of the series if you don't have time to watch it all the way through. Some of personal favorites are Red (Season 2 Episode 4), Memoria (Season 3 Episode 19), Transference (Season 4 Episode 6), Lexmas (Season 5 Episode 9), Reckoning (Season 5 Episode 12), Justice (Season 6 Episode 11), Legion (Season 8 Episode 11), Absolute Justice (Season 9 Episode 11) and Homecoming (Season 10 Episode 4) and Luthor (Season 10 Episode 10).

[@catherinethurmond4776]

Down the line I'd love see you react to the entire series.

[@RetroRobotRadio]

Yes, the actor who played Jimmy Olsen on the series was Iceman in the X-Men movie. There were actually two Jimmy Olsens on Smallville. The first was a photographer who dated Chloe. He died eventually and it was revealed actually his middle name was Jimmy, but he went by it. The first Jimmy left his camera to to his nephew who was named Jimmy Olsen. The second Jimmy is the one you see.

[@nygamerforlife1991]

That was not Iceman, Iceman was played by his twin brother Shawn Ashmore, Jimmy Olsen was played by Aaron Ashmore

[@handeaykan8419]

That was not Iceman, Iceman was played by his twin brother Shawn Ashmore

[@Swenglish]

"Superman: The Animated Series" is a show worth checking out. First-middle-last, or just watch all of it. "Batman: The Animated Series" might be harder to do first-middle-last with since the episode order is somewhat ambiguous, but it's a brilliant show as well.

[@bumassrob]

This guy seems like someone who would be great to have real life chats with over pints. And then laugh at something stupid. Very socially aware reactor. Loving these

[@Swenglish]

I felt like this show just kept putting more and more carts before the horse. It was originally sold to the audience as Superman's origin story, but then it just kind of became an alternate universe where Superman is an afterthought and all the stuff happens before it.

[@andtheneverythingchangedwh5234]

Wow! What a wonderful analysis! You really got what the show was doing from only 3 eps which was impressive! I'd love to see you react to the entire series, you seem like you'd really enjoy it and frankly we could use more Smallville reactors out there. If not, then thank you for this vid, it made my night.

[@scottwilson3741]

Thank u sir. Doing an entire retrospective of the series would take forever on here, but I highly recommend in ur spare time to just sit down & watch an episode or 3. Also may I suggest another first, middle, last episode could be Supernatural. Although at 15 seasons u might wanna make it a 4 parter

[@retro_vintage]

Tyler, I loved this so much. You're so eloquent and have great, nuanced takeaways. This is the first video of yours I've watched. Obvious request: Please do the rest of Smallville. 🥺

[@ashleyc5790]

I LOVED your take that the show was focused on the grounded and internal conflicts. I think it’s what makes the Superman character so interesting - his character is nearly physically limitless in power, the only conflict worth exploring then is how to wield that power wisely, in a way that inspires and saves rather than oppresses.

[@nomadman5288]

I think if you saw the bigger picture, you'd understand why Lionel is trying to use Tess to save Lex and you'd see it has nothing to do with her gender. This fits the story, which used to be what mattered, unlike today.

[@ShuffleUpandDeal32]

Actually John Schneider directed a number of episodes, as did Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum who played Lex.

[@dfunkt2291]

Somebody save me. 😉

[@Grul7718]

The actor that play Lex, runs a very awesome & successful podcast here on KZbin. He has amazing guests as well. www.youtube.com/@InsideOfYouPodcast

[@michaelkenner3289]

Honestly this is the best way to watch the show. It had great vibes, potential and overall ideas. Episode to episode though it kinda got lost in the weeds.

[@Emburbujada]

Ah, Smallville. I think you just saw all you needed to see XD They had some great finales, but then about 18 episodes that were just fillers, and a lot of soap opera drama with Lana. They could have told this entire story in 4 or 5 seasons, but well, the show was popular so they stretched it as much as they could. Definitely my favourite Lex, though. So layered, and the perfect casting.

[@allenpayne927]

I like this type of reaction. Instead of just first and last you added the middle episode

[@Dam-sv6pq]

Lionel Luthor of the last episode is a bad Lionel from another universe. The true Lionel has redeemed himself before being killed by his own son in S7. That was the point of no return for the relationship between Clark and Lex. So that's why Lionel seems so different: they are two separate characters.

[@mattmccullough1093]

Before smallville ever came on the air. A lot of fans including myself. Already knew that Superman and Lex were once best friends before they became enemies.

[@benediktcz]

i would love to see some other shows done in this format (e.g. Person of Interest, Fringe or Haven)

[@lvrobertus]

Cheers for the ending and you didn't even watch the whole thing, shows how good and classic this show really was.

[@darris5877]

Thats Icemans twin brother Aaron ashmore as jimmy olsen

[@lucas.2.3.9.4]

I always get Aaron and Shawn Ashmore confused with which one was in which shows

[@davemiller5570]

Weirdly, I seem to recall that Shawn was actually in a couple of episodes, too.

[@lucas.2.3.9.4]

@@davemiller5570 yep he was the kid that got Clarks powers after being struck by lightning holding kryptonite

[@beatyz2]

This is very fun to watch. I have mixed feelings about the lifetime of smallville. But I will always think it's very sweet and dear to me.

[@dansiegel333]

A good mix of humorous comments and some really perceptive analysis! If you’re interested, here are a few more particularly good episodes IMHO: “”Obscura” 1x20 One of the best rescue plots. “Heat” 2x2 Clarke develops heat vision, which is framed as a kind of puberty. “Red” 2x 4 Clarke gets exposed to red kryptonite and goes bad. “Transference” 4x7 Clarke and Lex’s father switch bodies. “Pariah “ 4x12 Chloe learns about Clarke’s secret. “Reckoning” 5x12 Lana finds out the truth about Clarke.

[@cathavenlive]

"I guess this video is going to be a bit longer than expected" Exactly what the audience (or at least part of it) expected. As it was, so it shall be ;)

[@vanceamania]

Great video. I'd love to see you do the entire series

[@ZachParks21]

This is a great series(for the first 7-8ish seasons). Should definitely start it.

[@nomadman5288]

They were all solid, but imo 4 & 8 were the lowest quality. The writers just made some very odd choices that didn't pan out. However, season 9 was the most complete as far as story goes. 10 had so many cool episodes to close it out.

[@Mightymick114]

They weren’t allowed to use Batman but they used green arrow instead however there’s still some references to both Wonder Woman and Batman

[@maggiedeel4834]

Thts the thing when this series came out it was the first aside from the movies so technically the shows today came from this not the other way around

[@IntoMyFantasy]

this was such an amazing reaction 😭 please react to the whole series, you would love it!

[@bonibubel]

Wow this is the show of my life! Smallville gave us the best lex and and the lois! And also the best clark kent before superman! Smallville was amazing,. My favorites characters are lois and lex, they were perfect imo, the best encarnation of both, specially lex.

[@ShuffleUpandDeal32]

Chloe is Lois Lane's cousin and fills her role during a lot of the series.

[@HU3NINGS]

Damn... I can't finish the video because I'm on season 8😭😭 I'll be back Aight I'm back lmao

[@mimmo4762]

Smallville is miles away from Buffy if we're talking about overall quality. But like Buffy, it really is a piece of television history and truly influenced the current teen drama formula (I just don't know if it did it in a good way). I'm surprised you've never watched it before. Anyways, best live action Lex Luthor ever. And The most stunning Lana Lang.

[@DerekThomasLirio]

Tyler, of course you understand it. C'mon, Tyler Alexander is eye to eye with extraterrestrial beings.

[@doxyluv2427]

I feel like I’m watching Harry Potter react to Superman 😅

[@chiefofgotham]

I hope you end up watching this series bro🔥 One of my favorites next too Heroes and Breaking Bad

[@XRos28]

"Man of Steel" Superman or "Cavil" as you called him, was indeed out the lore of Superman. Superman was written as a "no conflict at all cost" sort of guy, unless there is absolutely no other way. The "Man of steel" movie (and on...) steer away from that path...

[@kristenballinger500]

You are missing out on so much just watching 3 episodes. Hope you get the chance to watch the whole series!

[@DerekThomasLirio]

I don't identify with the being raised to fit in. I've never had a problem being the weird one or the one who goes outside the norm. I've managed businesses many times and from the start tell everyone that if they disagree with me, I want to know why they disagree and what they'd do. I've always taught people to follow what they believe is right, even if they follow alone.

[@tcshack701]

Recommend you watch the First, Middle, and Last episodes of the TV series Leverage that ran from 2008 to 2012. There are 2 episodes that tie for the Middle episode and I am going to recommend Season 3, episode 6 The Studio Job. I am also going to advise you to steer clear of the sequel series Leverage: Redemption, as it is still in production.

[@Hiro-rx8yb]

34:45 if you watch the show you’ll understand context I don’t wanna spoil if you wanna watch but yeah she’s got a point

[@robertscullin3824]

Should ⌚️ Smallville fantastic series

[@HenryLoenwind]

Smallville, indeed, had very slow character development. About the same per season as a modern 6-episodes-per-season series has per episode. It is a series at the border between old and new TV storytelling---still influenced by the old "everything is reset after each of the 26 episodes" style that allowed viewers to miss as many episodes as they liked and the modern "the whole season is one story in 6 parts" style. They may have taken it a bit too slow, but they had to stretch the season arcs over 22 episodes in a way that viewers could miss most of them and still enjoy the show. This must have made it horribly hard to plan out gradual changes and long-term development. In most seasons, there are only 3 or 4 episodes that actually advance the overarching story...and they are often clumped at the end of a season.

[@millasboo]

Honestly not watching the entire lead up is a big disservice to the quality of the show

[@George-hc1vx]

Fyi milton fine is actually brainiac that’s why he is so hard to kill

[@tracim3080]

I find it funny they try to make super man of God when realistically, he’s an illegal immigrant 😂

[@cyndigirl418]

I hope you ended up watching all seasons of this phenomenal show because if not, you're missing out!

[@angelaroberts3563]

Lionel in the last episode is not the same Lionel you saw in the other 2 episodes. The bad Lionel is a Lionel from an alternate universe. It had nothing to do with gender and everything to do with which child would follow his path. Tess was not a villain like Lex so Lionel had no use for her anymore.

[@fidel2xl]

Man, I tried my best to get through this reaction of yours, but I couldn't get past 6 mins...lol. The constant goofy joke attempts were just annoying. 'A joke here and there is fine....but not every 1.5 seconds. Anyway, took a break, and came back to watch the rest of the reaction. While I understand that you're on;y reacting to 3 episodes (Pilot, episode, Middle-S05 Finale, and Series finale), your comments during your reaction to the Season 5 finale clearly demonstrate the fact that you were lost. Dude, the reason Clark and his 'Scooby Gang' were concerned about Lex gaining Kryptonian powers, was because those powers were given to him by Brainiac (a powerful murderous Kryptonion AI Hell bent on killing off or enslaving human beings, and taking over the Earth). who wanted to then release General Zod from his imprisonment from the Phantom Zpme, and take over Lex's now powerful Kryptonian body. Brainiac didn't 'give' Lex Luthor Kryptonian powers to be a hero. He gave it to him with the intention of putting Zod in Lex's body, and then to go conquer and oppress Earth. THAT'S why Clark and his Scooby Gang were concerned, Also, the comments during your Season 10 series finale reaction suffered due to not understanding the context of the characters actions since you missed previous episodes that would've cleared up any confusion. For instance, you were confused about Lionel Luthor still being alive. Well, that Lionel Luthor in Season 10 was actually a completely different Lionel Luthor from another universe. The original Lionel Luthor was killed off in a previous season. Also, Lex Luthor's sister (Tess Mercer) being bred for 'body parts' wasn't an old-school trope against women. Bro, that scene between Tess Mercer and the alternate Lionel Luthor was meant to demonstrate how evil, heartless, and ruthless that alternate-universe Lionel Luthor was. That was the point of the scene. It wasn't a "women are weaker" scene. It was how much of an evil bastard that Lionel was. Btw, that alternate-universe Lionel treated EVERYONE (male and female) just as cruelly (except for his crush, Martha Kent). Additionally, the women in Smallville were ALL strong characters with good character development, from Martha Kent, Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan, Lois Lane, Kara, and Tess Mercer. These were not constant 'damsels in distress'. You also didn't realize that this Series finale was actually the first time that actor Michael Rosenbaum returned to the show as Lex Luthor in 3 seasons. I'm trying not to give away too many spoilers here. Anyway, Smallville' is one of the greatest TV series ever --- reacting to 3 episodes of a TV show that ran for 10 seasons with about 217 episodes will never give a good feel for the series. Also, to be frank, the vast majority of TV shows today are ultra-lame. There is hardly any character development in shows today...and they are mostly preachy hypocritical pretentious 'woke' nonsense.

[@OregonAnon11512]

Definitely an easy show to make assumptions with only basic social understanding of the tale of Superman. We know how his story started and how it ends....so to speak.

[@theflamerises499]

Is nph your father?

[@NoThankUBeQuiet]

I love smallville. And I HATE superhero content

[@5pmsfanvids]

👏 👍 👍

[@stevesmith1764]

The ending was such a rip off for fans with just cgi and no costume

[@garrytaggart2431]

The reaction would have been better if you did not talk to much, my opinion I understand you needed to do a reaction to only the 1st middle and end but watch listen then comment at the end would have been better.

[@JadeK297]

So ridiculous to only watch a few episodes from an entire series. Why even bother at all. So pointless 🙄

[@erica-cq7ns]

Because it’s fun and makes great content.

[@JulianDobrev912]

Thank you i love it your reaction! Smallville 4 ever❤🤍 Thee best tv show ever 🤍❤