I thought, to complete the collection, I'd make an episode thread for the pilot. Uh...please discuss!

P.S.

Don't hurt me for making this, forum mod gods *hides*

I just pulled out my DVDs and rewatched the pilot, too, for the CoreFourRewatch and I forgot about Clark's skateboard. OMGosh! He was so adorkable. And I loved that he was researching people with amazing powers on the internet. And Clark could speed read. And he read Nietzsche. Clark was so smart!

Whitney was so handsome. I hadn't paid attention, but he was so good looking.

I really liked Lana. She was sweet and very girl next doorish.

I LOVED LOVED LOVED Chloe. That part broke my heart. I miss her so much.

And Michael Rosenbaum was sooo young. It was stunning to see how young they all looked, but he and Tom Welling I thought changed the most.

I had forgotten about the red towel around Lex's neck after Clark cpr'd him. hee!

The show used music so well.

I had even forgotten what Jeremy Creek looked like. The first and original FOTW.

Alien Jesus Clark on the Cross. Not laying it thick at all. /sarcasm.

The Kents, Lionel, the FX! My gosh, it was like they didn't have a budget for this.

And the colors. I had forgotten how BRIGHT the show was. The colors were so rich and vibrant. Everyone was gorgeous.

Does it cost more to have bright colors? Why'd they lose that?

I know, right. It wasn't just the cast that was gorgeous. The sets, the music, the lighting, it was all beautiful.

I loved the way Clark and Lex are both introduced, with Clark at his computer researching other people with extraordinary powers and finding a place to fit in. And Lex getting out of his car at the Luthorcorp plant and simply saying, "Thanks Dad." Awesome.

I have to agree that the lightening and color tones for this show has changed and gone darker and grayer over time. Also, remember when there was decent music? So many small details lost over time.

I had totally forgotten this was MR's first line. It was perfect for his character. Okay, seriously, I have to give Almiles credit. The pilot was nicely set up. They did a good job there.

Agreed on how bright the show used to be. I know the material gets darker, but sometimes in the later seasons you can't even see anything.

The Old School Clex rewatch started a few weeks ago, and what I noted there was how they've paralleled Clark and Lex, making this story about the two of them. In the first scenes we have Clark in his space ship and Lex in the helicopter. Both of them are flying, and probably not enjoying it that much considering how traumatized Clark is by the idea of flying later on.

Then we have the saving of Lex by Clark, and right away the saving of Clark by Lex, binding them to each other immediately. In the commentary, AlMiles say first, "We love the idea of them kissing" at the riverbank scene, and then comment on liking the idea of Lex getting the chance to save Clark as well. (Even if Lex doesn't have reason at the moment to realize that he just saved Clark's life from Kryptonite exposure.)

"We have a future, Clark. And I don't want anything to get in the way of our friendship." ~ Lex

Really, that line is gay enough for Queer as Folk. Lex looks so freshly vulnerable in the scene in his office, which is an odd contrast to the previous setting where he gets so angry because he loses at fencing that he flings his foil against the wall and almost hits Clark. flinging swords. I think Clark brings out the vulnerability in him. To counter Lex's passion, Clark has his smart ass mouth, and talks back to his parents when he thinks they're being unreasonable. Nice pair of 'brats' we have here. So cute. I especially enjoyed Clark stacking the jocks' trucks in the end.

We get Lana (joy) of the graveyard. She who is all alone, despite her doting aunt, boyfriend, and tons of friends and stalkers alike. Lana says her father has a "twisted sense of humor" in reference to her joking that Clark might be upset about a guy. Being gay isn't a joke or twisted, Lana.

She's really not that bad in most of this episode, but the graveyard scene is not one that I liked.

Chloe is ten tons of adorkable in this episode. Her funky clothes, and the "leafy little hamlet" speech and a lot of fun.

Even the Kents are pretty awesome, and the look on Martha's face as Clark is reading Lex's card is priceless.

I totally loved to watch the Pilot again... this was so amazing, to see this characters that I truly loved and that I miss... 'cause some of them changed so much or just vanished into the mist...

As you have said, the colors, the music!! The amazingly logical and well constructed storylines!! I so missed that.. no lightswitches, nothing... just solid writing that made this series one of my most loved ones... I guess that's why it hurts so much to watch now...

Anyway, Tom Welling and Michael Rosembaum look so different, you just want to hug them here.. later.. not just hugging ;) Allison Mack has changed a lot as well and she has gotten even prettier, but I do love her hair here!!

To see Pete, Martha, Jonathan, Lionel, Whitney.. oh my, even Lana before she turned into such an awful character, is such a joy!! I miss the Kents!!!!!!!!!!!

Tons of thanks for the CoreFourRewatch idea!!!!!! Be well :) hugs!!!!!!!!

Hence why I call this cornfed Smallville. It was healthy-looking back then. Indeed, I intend to make cornfred ingrained into the lexicon as old-school Smallville, which would be the first three seasons.

cornfed Smallville - the best description of it.

I love the Pilot. I still find the opening scenes, where the meteor rocks hit, to be extremely gripping. The scene where Clark gets knocked off the bridge is great too.

One of my favorite things about the early shows is the music. When we meet Lex in his Porsche, there's a Calling song ("Unstoppable") playing, with this line: "And if you get inside my head, then you'd understand/Then you'd understand me." I felt like at this point, the producers really intended to show us how and why Lex became Clark's archenemy. Too bad they cut corners later and just lightswitched Lex into being Evol.

I love early Clark, too. The speed reading is cool (of COURSE he should be able to speed read, he has superspeed!). A few episodes later he shows he can do big math problems in his head, too. I'm really sorry they dropped that aspect of Clark. I liked smart!Clark a lot better. Of course, it helps that he was more heroic and more concerned about his friends, too. Season one Clark is strangely far more believable as Superman than the later angsty whiny Clark is.



Season one Chloe was awesome, and a reporter to her core, no matter what the current producers want us to think. I love the way she'd already figured out that something strange was going on in Smallville, even though she'd only been there for a short time.

I watched the pilot and I could not help to call bullshit at the ORGANIC writing it had back in the days of the frog.

Now I might be alone on this but when the writers hinted that the finale is setting up the counter parts in season 9, no way in hell was Chloe intended as a Watchtower type character. She was the reporter of the show who had a backbone and did anything to find out the truth.

Watching the pilot last night for CoreFourRewatch reminded me of why I fell in love with this show in the first place. All of the characters were so *appealing* back then, even Lana. Not only that, but from the way they were introduced, it was clear from the very first minute who they were supposed to be (at least, to me). Clark the milk-guzzling farmboy with a HUGE secret, Lex the overly-curious billionaire-in-training, Lana the town sweetheart, and Chloe, the "intrepid reporter" of Smallville. Back then, I really looked forward to seeing them all grow up. I wanted to see Clex become friends and then tragically part ways, see Clark gradually grow out of his Lana obsession, and see Chloe achieve her dream of working under the DP's "Tiffany lamps."

*Sighs* Where did those people go?

What really impressed me, on rewatch, was seeing the neat parallels TPTB set up with the core four characters. Clark and Lex save each other's lives, and in the CPR scene, TPTB even show each of them wearing a red "cape" (which I'd totally missed before!). Chloe and Lana each share aspects of ILL (while Clark pursues Lana, it's Chloe who has the reporter role). Not only that, but Chloe (as we later learn) lost her mother as a result of the meteor attack, just as Lana lost her parents. I LOVED knowing that all four of these characters were connected b/c they'd all been present at Clark's arrival.

It struck me as a carefully thought-out, and well-executed, setup. And as late as Season 6 ("Progeny"), TPTB were still going out of their way to show us these parallels. I'll never understand why they decided to trash their wonderful creation with lightswitch after lightswitch. (*Snap* Lex is EVOL! *Snap* Clark's a DP reporter! *Snap* Lana's a Superhero! *Snap* Chloe's WT!)



ITA, Elly. Those are the characters that made me want to watch SV in the first place (along with Lex). And if it hadn't been for TPTB's hatchet job on those characters, I'd still be watching. :(

I remember back, I want to say in s2 or s3, reading an interview that Almiles gave about the show and how it was unique in it's look. How they wanted it to be something people turned on television and knew it was Smallville. They loved the supersaturation of color like a comic would be, and wanted each episode to feel cinematic.

Rewatching the Pilot (directed by David Nutter) really enforced that, and really highlighted how well the Frog treated them. It was clear on all levels they wanted this show to be different and special - the lighting was beautiful, the colors were amazing, the music (both background and licensed) worked well in the scenes and set the tone. The actors were really good at giving thumbnail sketches of their characters, and while I know people give Tom Welling a lot of flack I think the awkwardness reads very well into Clark Kent; it's one of the few things that I think they shouldn't have dropped with him so quickly.

A few things stood out as the milestones of where the characters were going/where it was supposed to end up. Clark suggests to his father that he will tell him if he's okay with all of this in 5 years (heralding the end of the series); Lex's "thanks Dad" for sending him to SV is downright chilling. Chloe's reporter skills determined to expose the meteor shower as "when it all began." Clark was already reading/researching on his own - making future reporting way easier to buy into. Lana was likable, but even here her desire for a bigger and better life was established.

I actually loved that the Luthor Manor hadn't been used, ever, and was shipped over sometime when Clark was a kid. I hated that retcon in Onys and Fracture and Beast. It says a lot about Lionel Luthor that he'd buy a manor just because he could, and then call it his 'ancestral home.' Especially when we know why he would buy it now.

What I really loved about the Pilot - and this lasted through all the HS years - was SV did in fact feel like one of those almost claustraphobic small towns. It was in a bubble. The town had character, add to by Chloe's Wall of Weird ferreting. Jonathan talked about people in town. Jeremy Creek was all about how it was a little town that didn't change. It added a sense of realism which balanced out the supernatural.

And characterwise not only did we have good characters, but they laughed. They understood each other. There was friendships and relationships. And they were natural; we could see easily why Chloe and Pete were his close friends (not that it didn't come without snarking). Clark had an unobtainable crush. Lex's fascination with Clark was easy to dig into. Heck Clark even made a joke at his father's expense. Even Lana had a sense of humor, to a degree.

But by far Clark answering Jeremy Creek's retort that he also had "a gift, and a purpose, and a destiny" was actually moving, and felt earned as well as earnest. Clark actually cared about the kids in the gym, not just cause saving them was the right thing to do but because he actually regarded them as friends. Clark was empathetic to Jeremy's plight. Clark cared about people. Someone called him the 'unsung hero' - it made him likable, sympathetic, and someone if I was in trouble that I would actually want to come save me. Clark was endearing, dorky but good.

This is who Clark Kent should be - there are the obvious precursors to Reporter!Dork!Clark and Superman in PilotClark. Lex already had issues with rules and people being more powerful than him. Lana was already tied to the meteors and wishing for a better life. And yes, Chloe was already tied to reporting and being Clark's bff. That was iconic; it was moving and engrossing. Rewatching the pilot really re-opened my eyes that the characters had started as bases of whom they were growing up to be, and it makes me sad that these four might not get their big, epic iconic ending.

I think TW was charming in the first season as Clark. Certainly he was a bit wooden occasionally, but I love how much emotion he was allowed to put into the character. The brilliant, beaming smiles were delightful, and his apparent willingness to accept his destiny, even if it was scary and new to him at that point, was endearing. Clark was much more open and transparent then. They let us have a much better idea what he was thinking and feeling, and as a result it was so much easier to relate to the show.

It could have something to do with cheap sets that look like shit.

I'm kind of depressed after the rewatch. IMO they end up trashing everything that made the show enjoyable. Chloe is a reporter you dumbass PTB. Clark was smart! Lex was awesome and you ruined his character.

But hey, I like free range/grazing beef! I'd say the old school SV may have been fed corn for health but present SV is antibiotic and GM/steroid pumped to become unnatural for generic common consumption.

The keythingsabout the WB-SV is MORE money for music/LIVE sets and scenery/better guest appearances/better writers

I liked Metropolis better when they used Vancouver doubling rather than the one street set. But that gripe is for another episode I'm sure.

Cornfed Clark was perhaps a bit too awesome. It makes me wonder how they intended to make his character grow when he was so superman already? I'd rather they started him a few rungs below and let him be how he is in the pilot rather than DEVOLVE him.

Cornfed Lana makes it obvious now that she was only meant for the Cornfed days of Smallville. Season 3 was her perfect exit. Hell, they could have developed something between her and Pete and have them leave together.

Cornfed Chloe. Ahhhh, cherubic one. She managed to evolve out of the early days into the epic days, but then was tossed aside for fauxness.

Cornfed Lex. Loved Rosenbaum's performance. Looks wise, he looked the part better only later on, but character wise he nailed it.

Cornfed Kents. I miss them.

I agree what is missing is that sense of hope mixed with foreboding. I mean the pilot lays out some heavy conflicts, but everything is paired with people who mostly convay some sense of optimism. I too miss the colors and the complexity. You could see them laying out a bunch of conflicts and characters (not including Chloe as super-hacker so much as reporter) and they actually delivered on that set up for a while. I'm looking forward to the future episodes of the rewatch for that reason.

One thing I've noticed is that Tom Welling is certainly very fit in the pilot, but not as buff as I remember.

I think my memory was corrupted by the photoshopped 'strung up in the cornfield' posters and DVD cover.

I was thinking today how much better it could have been had they had a romance--a romance, not necessarily sex, because she wasn't "legal" yet--Begone, ghost of Al Gough!-- develop organically between Lana and Lex while she was in Paris--they set it up in "Covenant". They could have dispensed with Jason and Isabel/Mulana altogether, had a nice little envious triangle between the Lexana in S4, never had the Clana get back together (no Clana sex, and no eyeball bleach) and then had Clark gradually draw away from Lana in S5, realizing that she wasn't the girl for him. And it would have stuck! They could have spent the back half of season 5 having him gradually embrace his destiny and voila! end of series!


And, yeah, why did they never do Lana/Pete? The two of them had natural chemistry. They had almost no scenes together, but in those few seconds they spend on screen together in "Hero," she just glows!

SV was never what you'd call a GREAT show, but the Pilot was a damned fine ep, for all the reasons given upthread, and then some.

I think there were the occasional episodes when SV was damn near close to GREAT and it always had that potential. For a long time it was teetering on the edge of GREAT.

I've seen better pilots (Lost and Twin Peaks come to mind right away), but what Smallville had working for it was the magic of the Superman legend reinterpreted. There was anticipation as well as mystery. It was exploration of Clark and Lex's characters that made it so fascinating and the Pilot set it all up. Being a hero is more than just superpowers. No one is born evil. If you don't make the journey then you won't arrive at your destination.

Slowly, over the seasons, Smallville has given up on the journey and finally cut it out completely in Season 8. Now it's all about the destination, but by cutting out the journey they've made the destination less important. The anticipation (for me at least) is gone. But the Pilot, with its promise of a before untold journey, had me hooked. I really had planned to travel with Clark and Lex until the end.

This is why I watched Smallville, it was new, different, innovative - not some retread of the same old tired Superman story.

It was Rosetta that hooked me, not the pilot. But it's the same idea. In Rosetta one is wondering what they've done to Jor El, why the story is so different. I think the pilot has elements of that, and does set up a lot of seeds of the variations, but not quite so blatantly as it gets by Rosetta.

I missed out on the rewatch, but I'd very recently watched it with my boy BF. He was very into it, actually, but I can't get him to watch any others.

One thing that struck me is how innocent and sweet it seemed. Even Clana was sort of sweet and I was rooting for them. Chloe was kind of... confusing for me back then. I saw her almost like a roadblock for Clark. She seemed too curious and too intent on figuring him out. I was leery of her. It actually took a while for me to warm up to her.

God, I miss that girl.

Lex is so baby-faced in the pilot. Everyone is.

They really dropped the ball on Nell, though. They went to the trouble of introducing her in the pilot, set her up as the anti-Martha and as someone in cahoots with Luthors, then just dropped the poor lady. It was a sign of poor planning yet to come.

It's true. And they act with a lot of energy and optimism. So one can buy it's a prequel to Superman.

I loved the scarecrow tradition I wish we would had see more of it, also I though Whitney was going to be the bad guy that Lana fell for without knowing and at that age I would had forgive her for that but it turned out a decent guy like they did a brain transplant from the pilot till the end.


Oh and Clark made a prank and smiled! I loved how happy young!Clark was and he even allowed himself to make a prank with his powers...Good times long gone! :(.


And I miss the Kents they were a nice couple looking back now and Clark needs a grown up desperately....Martha comeback!!