Product: Smallville: The Complete Ninth Season (2009)
Rating: 4.0
Season 9 falls short of greatness, but is still a worthy show.
There were things in this season that supremely bugged me. Okay, it's a RE-TELLING, gotcha. That's not license to go crazy. Since when is Metallo a bitch-made punk? And Perry White is Martha Kent's boyfriend?? WTF??Okay... I think that's it for the bad stuff. Really, that's it? I thought I'd have more to complain about, but thinking back... Oh wait, one more thing:Clark needs to fly already. And PLEASE, in season 10 don't make us wait until the final episode for him to fly. Producers, read these reviews. Pay attention. Clark. Airborne. Do it.That's it. Now... Let's continue...Some people are seeing parallels to Batman where there are none, slamming this season with one or two stars when they are imagining things. Go to Google Images. Type in "superman black uniform", look carefully and then STFU. I like the black outfit, and the gothy Superman crest on the black tee. Grow up people, seriously.I have never considered Oliver Queen as a poor-man's Bruce Wayne, there is no comparison except that Green Arrow and Batman have similar alter egos, but completely different attitudes and origins.A big moment in "Smallville", as far as I am concerned, was in season 8 when Oliver asked Chloe her to give up her life as a reporter, and she says yes, takes a headset, all the heroes give their code names and Chloe says "Watchtower is officially online." I jumped up and cheered.My wife looked at me funny, and then I explained to her what Watchtower was and that anything that hints at the JLA makes me happy. And you know what? Chloe DESERVES the honor of being the original Watchtower, at least on "Smallville". She's earned it. So, imagine my disappointment that they never went anywhere with this beyond a couple of times where Chloe meddles in the heroes' lives. She doesn't do much Watchtower-ing in this season though she does contribute. It's not her fault. I fear that Chloe is becoming obsolete. I see them trying to keep her interesting but the Superman story is evolving beyond the old High School buddies and is getting to be to big for her. I don't expect to see much of her in Season 10, which would be too bad.I loved the Wonder Twins, and how they were used in Season 9, also Hawkman, and Dr. Fate from the Golden Age came into it and gave it a real DC feel, and again went some distance to hint at the formation of the JLA, though I realize that it really won't happen until Clark is Superman, and THAT isn't likely to happen until the very end of season 10.Callum Blue was excellent as Zod, and I thought that tricking Lois into believing that he was "The Blur" was particularly cool. The battle with Zod, and the season finale has really whet my appetite for season 10, but overall, you can feel that the series is running out of ideas, winding down.Season 9 was a very good season. Some of it was weaksauce and it could have been better, so I'm giving it four out of five, which may actually be generous. While some of the little elements were very entertaining, the overall plot, the main throughline was not all it could have been. I hope 10 gives us a season, and a series finale that we won't forget. Smallville is a terrific show, let's hope it ends that way.