When it was originally on: 2001-2011

Original network: The WB (and later The CW)

Where you can stream it now: Hulu

Had I seen it before: Nope, never seen a single episode. I also only have the most basic understanding of original Superman lore, thus won’t be judging this on how well it handles comics canon or anything like that.

What IMDb says: A young Clark Kent struggles to find his place in the world as he learns to harness his alien powers for good and deals with the typical troubles of teenage life in Smallville, Kansas.

Why I picked it: Smallville ran for 10 freaking seasons. That’s insane, especially for a show that centers on characters still in high school. More than that it feels like a precursor to many other “IP you know, but with a twist” shows. I’m think of things like Gotham, Riverdale, Elementary, and Wednesday. Before all of them, there was Smallville. But despite its long run and the seeming influence it may have had on other shows later, no one seems to talk about Smallville as some major hit show that deserves to be remembered in 2026. Is that just because we think of the WB as the dumb teen show network? Is Smallville just a product of its time that didn’t age all that well? Maybe watching the pilot will help answer some of those questions.

What I liked: I think the most intriguing character here is Lex Luthor. We know he eventually ends up being an enemy of Superman, so seeing them in high school together and seeing Lex try to be a good person, maybe even a friend to Clark, makes me curious about what will come later in the series. There’s also something interesting about both Lex and Clark having daddy issues, but in totally different ways.

I also enjoyed the scene between Lana and Clark in the graveyard. I was so scared that Lana would just be a pretty girl that Clark looks at, but watching them connect on a human level and learning how their backstories intersect makes me a little more excited to see where the relationship goes. It also makes Clark slightly less creepy since we actually see Lana reciprocating some of those feelings on her end (though I could do without the spying through a telescope bits).

I also like Clark’s two friends, Chloe and Pete, though I wish they had more screen time. Establishing that these two are going to be investigating the strange supernatural effects of the meteor all while Clark has his big meteor-related secret is an interesting tension, and I could see the show getting a lot of mileage out of that.

What I didn’t like: I’m not entirely sure what the Kent family has already agreed to accept at normal and what is still surprising to them. Early on in the episode, Jonathan Kent says that Clark can’t go out for the football team because his powers would be too much of a threat to other players. I took this to mean that at least the immediate family knows that Clark has superpowers and has known for some time. But then Jonathan also freaks out when Clark puts his indestructible super arm in a wood chipper, and risk his own highly destructible normal human arm to get Clark’s out. So… he doesn’t know that the wood chipper wouldn’t hurt Clark? Clark also knows he has all these superpowers, but is utterly shocked to learn he’s from space? And why would the Kents go to such lengths to keep the space part a secret when Clark already has so much evidence that he’s not a regular human? It seems like one of the main selling points of the show is watching Clark discover who he is and embrace his Superman identity, so when the pilot is unclear about where he currently is on that journey, I found that to be a roadblock.

Do I want to watch Ep. 2?: Am I allowed to say maybe? That’s a cop out, isn’t it. As I look at my “what I liked” section, pretty much everything there is a theoretical concept that could be interesting, but nothing in this pilot truly punched me in the gut and made me feel something. But I think I’m just curious enough to give it another episode or two before I’d give up altogether.