I am currently watching S2 of Smallville on DVD and by coincidence I was up to "Rosetta"- the first episode with Christopher Reeve.

After watching this episode I truly believe that Smallville ranks up there as some of the best TV ever- right up there with B5, Farscape, etc.

What I find particularly interesting as I watch the show is how much exploration there is on topics such as American Pop-Culture and religion (specifically Christianity). The writers have brilliantly merged many elements of myth and modernity, to make a wildly fun and surreal mix.

I understand the show is up to S4, but I'd appreciate it if we could talk about the show without giving specific elements of the plot away.

Enjoy it while you can, I guess. It's a bumpy downhill plunge from where you are.

If every episode were as consistently well done as Rosetta and Crusade I would perhaps agree with you, but as it stands I would never put Smallville in the same category as B5 (sorry, can't speak to Farscape)

Can't say it's The Best compared to other shows, but Rosetta and Crusade are this show's 1-2 punch so far IMO.

You need to meet the guy that thinks Chloe is the best actress on TV.

I'll admit Rosetta was a very good episode, but I think that's about it for this show. Maybe it had to do with the fact that it had Chris Reeve and the John Williams music, and therefore reminded me of the movie instead of Smallville.

Just wait until you get to Velocity!

There's a whole world of television outside the Sci-Fi genre you know.

So I Love Lucy was shit because Lucy wasn't from Mars--The Redhead Planet.

All in the Family sucked ass because Archie Bunker wasn't named Jabba.

Hill Street Blues needed more X-Wing fighters.


However, since Frasier was Vulcan, i suppose you liked Cheers, right?

I don't agree with the guy, but I don't see why you all are jumping all over him because he doesn't mention anything other than SciFi.

Give the guy a break.

"Rosetta" and one other Smallville episode from Season 2 are still saved on my ReplayTV.

Chew, I have to agree with you. I thought that Season 2 was good, but I quit watching pretty early in Season 3. It just lost my interest and began to feel more like a chore to watch.

It's a shame that for every one episode we get solid plot eliments we have to deal with 10 Freak of the week episodes with no plot movement.

I wouldn't put it on my top ten list. It's good at times and other times it's just there wasting an hour of my time. Now if you cut out all the fat episodes and just left in the lean meaty ones that actually served a purpose. You'll be left with half a season of shows and one that would be on my top ten.

I think your emotions are getting the best of your since christopher Reeve's death.

I only mentioned those shows because I consider them among the top production values/writing, regardless of whether they are SF or not.

I can't remember seeing another show that has moved me in the way this particular episode has- not since I watched Babylon 5.

Rather then slamming my choice in viewing, how about offering me suggestions?

Unlike a show like, say, Xfiles, where the non-mythology episodes were actually good, the filler episodes in Smallville are lackluster at best. There are a few good ones here or there, and they have gotten better at it over time, but the Kryptonite freak-of-the-week format doesn't really do it for me.

Don't get me wrong, I like the show and my inner comic-book geek will keep me supporting stuff like this over, say, Birds of Prey or something of that ilk. And I enjoy the little comic-book in-jokes that they litter in the episodes, the hints of what Clark will someday be, even though it does come across as a bit too much at times. Though if a young Bruce Wayne ever comes by to visit, I think I'll stop watching...

The characters are somewhat lacking. The Luthors, in my opinion, are the best by far... although I've had enough Lionel for a while. Clark is Clark, DC won't really let them do anything crazy with him unless it involves some form of mind control (which they've already used multiple times). Pete is... there to run interference, or cover up for Clark, or show up once an episode or so. There are some episodes that feature him, but they usually bore me to tears. Chloe is... ok, I guess, but is used more as a deus ex machina when they need to dig up info on somebody. Clark barely treats her as a friend. And I can't stand Lana, for whatever reason, which means I have little interest in the main romantic subplot running through this series. They don't even seem to go to school anymore, except when the school acts as a source of the Kryptonite freak-of-the-week.

IMO, the 2 best episodes are the first and last episodes of season 1. They should've stopped there. Those were great bookends for a pretty good first season, but I think the show's been pretty bad ever since. I still watch because there are a few aspects I still like, but it's usually the worst show I watch.

People usually bash the first season talking about all of the FOTW stuff. I hate standalone episodes, but the final 5 minutes of all those first season FOTW episodes were better than just about anything they've done since.

I don't know how involved Tollins/Robbins are involved in their shows, but their 2 most recent shows, The Days and One Tree Hill, are far superior to Smallville. I'd love to see a really well-done superhero show, though. I guess Buffy and Angel are as close as I'll get to that.

Welcome to my dilemma with Yu-Gi-Oh.. Good battle set up.. 5 episodes to resolve.

This is why it should be closer to Dawson's Kryp than what it is now. They haven't understood that FOTW is unneccessary.

I'm trying to think of a mainstream show that's as good as either B5 or Farscape, and all I can come up with is The Black Adder. But they did have a time machine in Back and Forth, so I guess that's scifi too.

For starters ... The Wire, Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, The West Wing (Schlamme/Sorkin years), Hill Street Blues, Homicide, The Shield, St. Elsewhere, plus assorted seasons of Law & Order (and SVU), er, NYPD Blue and on and on ... and that's just mainstream dramas (and only some off the top of my head). Don't get me wrong. I'll defend the greatness of those two shows against anyone, but it's not a wasteland out there either.

das

I've never watched Yugioh, but wouldn't that be the opposite of the fotw problem? The fotw are all meaningless standalone episodes. I think most of us want stories that take 5 episodes to resolve.

As long as the plot has five episodes worth of stuff to resolve. One of my criticisms of some long arcs on television seasons is that there are often times when a three episode arc, for example, takes five episodes to play out, leaving all five episodes a little worse off.

"Black Adder" is a mainstream show?

And that is why I never liked Dragon Ball. To much "Ooooh yeah, well I can power up to THIS LEVEL!!!" and then followed by "HA-HA , Well I didn't tell you but..."

back and forth. Blah.