Season 1, Episode 1: Pilot

"Pilot"
Episode 1
Air Date: October 16, 2001

Ohhh, Smallville.....can't believe it's been almost 17 years since this show premiered!!! O_O Since it's debut back in the fall of '01, Smallville is pretty much the pioneer of the modern day CW superhero series. Yes, because of the show's immense success, we went on to get the DCTV series "Arrow", "The Flash", "Supergirl" and finally "DC's Legends of Tomorrow". No matter what can be said about the quality throughout the show's 10 year run, "Smallville", for its time, was a refreshing 21st Century reinvention of the Superman mythology as for the first time we were getting an extensive look on life before Superman existed, when Clark Kent was just a high school student struggling to find his place in the world and having to balance extraordinary, otherworldly powers at the same time. It was a cool concept, made even better with that wonderful opening where Smallville is hit by a disastrous meteor shower thanks to Krypton's destruction. I have to say the special effects really hold up as the sequence of the town getting obliterated by the meteor shower is just devastating!!! Although, a part of me can't help but seriously groan at 3 year old Lana's parents just looking up and just standing there as a meteor heads for them and kills them! So...they aren't gonna run!!!? O_o Anyway, I just love seeing the set up for the series, not just from the iconic moment the Kents discover little Clark and his spaceship but seeing a 9 year old Lex and his father Lionel Luthor also being affected by the meteor shower in some form. The sight of poor Lex losing his hair and clearly being traumatized by what just happened is still a moving sight. Hell, the whole episode is directed superbly by David Nutter who really gives Smallville, the town itself, not just the people, right by using beautifully colorful shots of the streets, buildings, etc.

We fast forward 12 years later to the present where Clark is now a 14 year old high school freshman eager to play football but his father Jonathan is against it. Clark, not wanting to be a total loser through high school, heads out to catch the school bus but misses it. We are briefly introduced to Pete Ross, his best friend and Chloe Sullivan, his other friend who secretly pins for him as Pete teases her when they're at school. I love seeing Clark super speeding to school through the cornfield, it's still such a nice visual! At school, we are introduced to more supporting characters like Lana Lang, Clark's school boy crush, who wears a kryptonite necklace and her boyfriend, Whitney Fordman, a football jock senior. Clark of course can't get close to Lana because of the necklace and I like the metaphor for the situation as well since he can't get close to her intimately cause of Whitney too. Next we are introduced to a character entering Luthorcorp...who happens to be Lex Luthor! Good old Michael Rosenbaum! :) I really like the sequence of Lex and Clark meeting for the first time as Lex literally runs into Clark as they fall into a river. We get our first realization that Clark doesn't know the extent of his abilities as he calls them. But I like following that scene, we get the inclination that Jonathan doesn't like the Luthors (for good reason!) as he tells Lex to drive slower.

During all of this, our main plot is being set up with a former Smallville High freshman, who we saw during the meteor shower out to get revenge for being mounted as a Scarecrow in the cornfield during the meteor shower. Jeremy, who has the power to shoot electricity out of him (not in that way sickos!) begins attacking the former students who did that to him 12 year ago. But honestly, the heart of the episode are the scenes with the Kents, in particularly Clark and Jonathan as Jonathan finally reveals how Clark came into their possession. While Tom Welling isn't that great in these early scenes, it's really heartbreaking to seeing a young pre-Superman dealing with knowing he's an alien and the direction once again is spot on in these scenes, capturing the beauty of the Kent Farm as well as Clark's feeling of isolation. Speaking of isolation, we also see Clark's isolation from Lana as he spies on her from his telescope. I like that visual as well as what boy wouldn't secretly check out the girl next door of his dreams??? But it's cute seeing that relationship blossom so early in the show before it would become an irritating annoying, dragged out plot point for several seasons too long! -_-  Anyway, a great introduction to the show's own mythology separate from the comics is Chloe's Wall of Weird as when her, Clark and Pete are investigating the recent former jocks getting attacked, she reveals it to Clark. Of course, this starts Clark on his own personal guilt trip of feeling he's responsible for the meteor shower and the death/destruction it caused....ummm....no Clark, it's not!!! -_-

After Whitney catches Clark outside, he makes him the new Scarecrow after thinking Clark and Lana were being more than just friends. Gotta love that visual of Clark as the Scarecrow, probably the most iconic image of the show itself.  After Le spots Jeremy and finds Clark, he frees him and discovers Lana's necklace. The fight between Clark and Jeremy at the school is pretty lame, effects and all but I do like seeing these early scenes of Clark being heroic. He just naturally wants to protect people no matter what and that's good to see when you're writing for the greatest superhero in all of comics. The episode features a lot of nice small scenes between characters like Clark and Lana at the graveyard as well as Clark and Lex at the Luthor Mansion. The small references to the Superman mythology are nice without feeling forced into the dialogue and the whole cast, except maybe Tom, all fit their roles nicely. As the first episode of a long running series, this was an excellent beginning! The idea of the meteor shower along with Clark's arrival was just so inventive for it's time and STILL holds up. The show sets up some of it's own mythology well and it's just cool seeing a young Superman in action. Now was this groundbreaking television, nope, it was more than a superb start. :)

Final Score: A+