Why Smallville Was Really Structured As A Trilogy

Over the course of ten seasons, Smallville depicted Clark Kent’s journey from shy farm boy to Earth’s greatest hero. It is the longest and most complete superhero origin story ever told in live-action. In fact, it is so long that episodes from Season 10 can often feel like they come from a completely different series than those from Season 1, and to a certain extent, they do.

In the sense that the series finale completes the overall narrative that began when Kal-El’s ship landed amid a meteor shower in the pilot — Tom Welling’s Clark becomes Superman — Smallville is a single 10-season series. However, at specific points throughout its run, the show broke its own mold and moved ahead as something different and new. These fundamental shifts effectively divide Smallville into three distinct eras that often feel like different series. In essence, it is a trilogy.

Updated February 2, 2024 by Joshua M. Patton: When Smallville was announced, fans were skeptical. The story of a young Clark Kent, especially with “no flights” and “no tights” didn’t seem like an interesting take on Kal-El. However, the series proved the doubters wrong. Not only is it one of the greatest character studies of the Man of Steel put to film, but it embraced its comic book roots as it went on. This article has been updated to reflect CBR’s current formatting standards.

Seasons 1-3 Make Up Smallville’s Classic First Chapter

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The first, and most iconic, entry in this trilogy unfolded over Smallville‘s first three seasons. This is what many people likely imagine when they think about Smallville. All of the series’ foundational elements start here: Clark’s friendship with Lex Luthor, the Clark-Lana-Chloe love triangle, kryptonite-infected villains, and general teen angst. Seasons 1 through 3 constitute Smallville‘s “Classic Era.”

Like protagonists in many first chapters, the Clark Kent of this era is still finding his feet. He struggles to maintain relationships while concealing his secret. He is only beginning to understand his extraterrestrial origins. Even the enemies he faces seem minor compared to later villains like Brainiac and Darkseid. “Classic” Smallville, as the title would suggest, keeps its universe small. The odd episode heads to Metropolis or discusses Krypton, but most of the stories stick fairly close to home. Tornadoes, personal failures, and alienation — both emotional and literal — are the kinds of threats that cap off each of the first three seasons.

As the series transitions out of its first era, the most obvious indication that something new has begun is the departure of Sam Jones III’s Pete Ross and the arrival of Erica Durance’s Lois Lane. As his oldest friend and only confidante outside the Kent household, Pete Ross represents Clark’s childhood. While Sam Jones III likely left because Smallville’s writers struggled to find enough for his character to do, Pete’s absence serves as a clear indication that Clark is entering a new phase in which he will have to rely on himself more as he faces bigger and stronger threats.

The ‘Smallville Trilogy’ by Season

Seasons 4-7 Are Smallville: The Empire Strikes Back

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Lois Lane represents the other side of this transition. Where Pete is Clark’s past, Lois is his future. She, like Lex Luthor, is a character people associate with grown-up Superman. In the comics, she works with Clark at the Daily Planet, gives him the name Superman, and eventually marries him. By introducing Lois in Season 4, Smallville‘s writers evoke that future and double down on the forward trajectory of both Clark as a character and the series as a whole. This forward trajectory leads into the middle installment of the Smallville trilogy, consisting of Seasons 4 through 7. As with the original Star Wars trilogy, the second act of the story is by far the darkest.

Clark’s once-close friendship with Lex finally shatters, making them the archenemies they were always destined to be. Lana marries Lex, fakes her death, reunites with Clark, and becomes temporarily obsessed with vengeance against her former husband before ultimately leaving. However, the biggest, and perhaps most formative, tragedy in this era is Jonathan Kent’s fatal heart attack in Season 5. The resulting grief fundamentally changes Clark and casts a sense of mourning and loneliness over much of the next two seasons.

However, if the middle chapters of Smallville and The Empire Strikes Back share a greater feeling of darkness, they also share bigger thrills and higher stakes than their predecessors. Seasons 4 through 7 include a second meteor shower, the Fortress of Solitude, a nuclear missile, and the classic Superman villain Brainiac. They also introduce future Justice Leaguers like the Flash, Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Martian Manhunter and end Clark’s status as the last living Kryptonian by bringing in his cousin and future Supergirl Kara Zor-El.

Ultimately, Episode 2 of the Smallville trilogy teaches Clark how to deal with tragedy while keeping hope for the future. Loss defines much of this era, which makes the nature of its ending especially fitting. For Smallville‘s first seven seasons, Lex Luthor and Lana Lang are integral to the series. Their on-screen departures — along with the off-screen departures of series creators Al Gough and Miles Millar — at the end of Season 7 create a true sense of closure. Two characters who helped define Clark’s early life — his former friend and his first love — and four real people who helped define Smallville itself — including actors Michael Rosenbaum and Kristin Kreuk — leave, forcing Clark and the series to find a new way forward.

Seasons 8-10 Finally Take Clark To The Skies

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In Smallville‘s third and final chapter, comprised of Seasons 8 through 10, that way forward is to become a Superman series in all but name. Clark and Lois begin working side by side at the Daily Planet, and save for a brief pause when Lana returns, grow more and more attracted to each other. Clark officially adopts a separate heroic identity, first the Red-Blue Blur and then simply The Blur. He, Chloe, Green Arrow, and their other superhero friends form a team that operates out of a building called Watchtower. The series includes as many trappings of a classic Superman story as possible while technically remaining true to the “No tights, no flights” edict Al Gough and Miles Millar established way back in Season 1.

Still, almost Superman is not Superman. Chapter 3 of the Smallville trilogy is about giving Clark a taste of the life he could have and then throwing up every obstacle imaginable to make sure he is up to the challenge. Gone are the meteor-infected killers and the soapy dynamics of post-marriage Lex and Lana. Instead, Clark faces world-ending threats like Doomsday, General Zod, and the forces of Apokolips and Darkseid himself. These enemies and the dangers they present force him to live up to his immense destiny and become a leader to his friends and colleagues and an inspiration to the entire world.

Each season of Smallville contains unique elements. Big changes can and do happen throughout the series. New characters come and go. Clark gains new abilities and learns more about his past or future. However, taken together, these elements give Smallville an unmistakable three-act structure. In the beginning, Clark faces his first super-powered adversaries, grapples with the truth of his origins, and learns how those origins can complicate relationships of all kinds. Then, as he grows more confident in himself and his abilities, tragic losses combine with new experiences to show him how much farther he needs to go. Finally, after years of hard-won lessons, Clark uses what he has learned to triumph over his greatest threats before stepping out into the sky as Superman. To be sure, the trilogy these three acts comprise makes TheLord of the Rings seem short, but as a superhero origin story, Smallville is still the best around.