Smallville season 10

Episodes

Cast and characters

Main article: List of Smallville characters

Main

• Tom Welling as Clark Kent / The Blur / Superman
  • Welling also portrays Clark Luthor / Ultraman in two episodes
• Erica Durance as Lois Lane
  • Durance also portrays Earth-2 Lois in two episodes
• Cassidy Freeman as Tess Mercer
  • Freeman also portrays Earth-2 Tess in "Luthor"
• Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen / Green Arrow
  • Hartley also portrays Earth-2 Oliver in "Luthor"
• Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan

Recurring

• Terence Stamp as the voice of Jor-El
• John Schneider as Jonathan Kent
• Ted Whittall as Rick Flag
• Alessandro Juliani as Dr. Emil Hamilton
• Keri Lynn Pratt as Cat Grant
• Michael Daingerfield as Gordon Godfrey
• Christine Willes as Granny Goodness
• Steve Byers as Desaad
• John Glover as Lionel Luthor (Earth-2)

Production

Development

In March 2010, The CW renewed Smallville for its tenth and final season, which consists of 22 episodes. Tom Welling, Erica Durance, Cassidy Freeman, Callum Blue, and Justin Hartley were the only regular cast members from the previous season who were contracted for the tenth season, although Blue was not picked up for the second year of his deal. As Allison Mack's contract was reportedly not renewed before the end of season nine, her status was in question, although executive producer Brian Peterson was "very optimistic" that Mack would return.

The studio's official press release was presented two months later and confirmed that Smallville would be remaining at its Friday, 8 p.m. time slot. It also revealed that Smallville would be reteaming with Supernatural, a series that was originally slotted just behind Smallville on Thursday nights for four seasons. The press release did not list Mack in the list of stars. Mack released a statement that month that she would not return as a series regular, but would return for multiple episodes to wind up her storyline, while Peterson stated that, despite her long absence and limited episode count, Mack would remain a series regular. Welling, who served as a part-time producer for season nine, was promoted as a full executive producer for season ten.

Story

Peterson and executive producer Kelly Souders revealed that the theme for season ten is "facing the ghosts of your past and how [the effect of seeing the past] helps you move on in the future"; as such, the return of previous cast members played into this. Souders and Peterson also chose not to erase Lois Lane's memory of Clark Kent's secret, something she discovered in the season nine finale. Instead, Lois helped Clark do what he needs to do to get away and fulfill his destiny without telling him that she knows. The producers explained that there were "some twists and turns" before Lois tells Clark that she knows. Initially helping Clark and Oliver Queen at Watchtower, Tess Mercer discovers a secret from her past, and the season explores whether she ends on the side of good or bad. Chloe's ending was also told in a way that was fitting for the character. She "sacrifices" herself for Oliver, who has been informed that she was killed. As a result, Oliver spends much of the season looking for Chloe, trying to find who is behind her murder. In addition, Oliver is "literally and figuratively stripped down to his bare essence" early on this season.

Similar to season eight and nine, the tenth season introduced a new main villain, Darkseid, but producers said that it is a different incarnation than his DC Comics counterpart. The plan was for Darkseid's presence to be established as he takes over the bodies of various characters. The executive producers also wanted to take a look at the history of Smallvilles Clark in the 200th episode of the series, "Homecoming". According to Peterson, the episode explores the past, the present and the future.

When discussing how the series would end, Peterson stated that the creative team had multiple visions of the series finale since the show began. According to Peterson, there was the vision that series creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar developed and shared with the team over the years. Then there was the vision that Peterson and the current set of executive producers had. The producer said that ultimately, the finale is a combination of all their visions that he believed would not disappoint anyone. In addition, the producers stated that they did not want to hold anything back for this season, and they gave the fans what they wanted to see.

Characters

With the season being the series' last, plans began to bring back previous cast members for at least one appearance. Welling expressed his interest in having Annette O'Toole (Martha Kent), John Schneider (Jonathan Kent), Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor), Kristin Kreuk (Lana Lang), and Michael McKean (Perry White) return. Welling even stated that he was doing everything to get Rosenbaum back. For Welling, Rosenbaum was the only person he could have seen portraying Lex on the series. He said that the thing that he sees inspiring Clark to become Superman would be the return of Lex and the interaction between the two characters; he explained that there is no Superman without Lex. At the 2010 Comic-Con, Welling said that Rosenbaum acknowledged the importance of Lex in the series and wanted to return in some degree for the final season, but that he needed to iron the details out. Welling said the season teased Lex's return with the introduction of bodies that Lex could tap into and heal himself later in life. Welling also stated that Lana could possibly have closure by season's end.

Schneider returned for the season premiere, and filmed three total episodes for his return to the series. The actor would make his third guest appearance in the series finale, along with O'Toole and John Glover (Lionel Luthor); Glover appeared for two episodes in late November 2010. Laura Vandervoort, who portrayed Clark's Kryptonian cousin Kara in season seven returned for the season's third episode, "Supergirl". According to Souders, Kara returns to Earth more as Supergirl and less as Kara. Souders emphasized that because Kara's return is in a heroic capacity, also revealing her ability to fly to the world, Kara works on developing an alter-ego through the use of eyeglasses and a wig. In addition, Kara provides her own input into Clark's development of his Superman persona. Vandervoort appeared in the season's 20th episode, titled "Prophecy".

James Marsters also returned for the series' 200th episode "Homecoming". Marsters first appeared as Brainiac / Milton Fine in season five and again in season seven. This time, Marsters portrayed Brainiac 5, the version of Brainiac from the future that the Legion of Super-Heroes created after removing the original version of Brainiac from Chloe's body in the season eight episode "Legion". The return of Carter meant a deeper look into who that character was, while seeing a "more human side" to him than previously seen. Michael Ironside and Peyton List returned for a mid-October episode as Lois' father General Sam Lane and Lois' sister Lucy, respectively. Both characters were last seen in separate season four episodes. Alan Ritchson reprised his role as Arthur Curry / Aquaman in a November episode. Ritchson described his character's return as "darker" and less "bubble-gummy" than previously seen on the series.

Cat Grant, a gossip columnist for the Daily Planet in the comic books, appeared as Clark's new partner during season ten, acting more as a "comedic foil" for Clark, and was not intended to interrupt the relationship he has with Lois. Instead, Cat acts as Lois's professional rival, and is considered by the producers to be her opposite.

This season made the introductions of villains Granny Goodness, Desaad, and Glorious Godfrey. Hartley explained the traditional claws her character wears are powered by kryptonite, which give her an advantage over Clark. She also said that Harriet is the leader of Granny Goodness' Female Furies.

In addition, Geoff Johns, who previously wrote the introductions for the Legion of Super-Heroes and the Justice Society of America, wrote the episode "Booster" that introduced superheroes Booster Gold and Blue Beetle. The second Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, was also introduced in that episode. Eric Martsolf was cast as Booster, Sebastian Spence was cast as Kord, and Jaren Brandt Bartlett portrayed Jaime.

In addition to the return of Lois's father and sister, Teri Hatcher was cast as Lois's mother. Hatcher, who starred as Lois in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993–1997), appeared in lost video footage that Lois discovers. Blue returned as Zod for the episode "Dominion". Rosenbaum returned to the series after he finally agreed to appear in the series finale and expressed that his return was for the fans. Chris Gauthier reprised his role as Toyman.

Superman mythology

With a glimpse of the iconic Superman costume in the season nine finale, Peterson confirmed at the time that the costume would return and play a more prominent role in the final season, even going as far as to hint that the last scene of Smallville would see Clark wearing it. Souders said that in order for Clark to do this, Clark had to "wrestle" with the internal things that were preventing him from being an "inspirational hope". Though Clark is still in his "dark hour", he becomes Superman by the end of the season.

Broadcast and reception

The season ten premiere brought in 2.98 million viewers, the highest viewing figures The CW had had in the Friday 8–9 pm timeslot in over two years. The series finale brought in 3.02 million viewers. By the end of its tenth season, Smallville became the longest running science fiction television show in the United States; it broke the Guinness World Record held by Stargate SG-1. TV Guide ranked the series finale 5th in its review of the Top TV Episodes of 2011.

Home media release

The complete tenth season of Smallville was released on November 29, 2011, in North America in both DVD and Blu-ray format. The DVD and Blu-ray box set were also released in Region 2 and 4 on October 17, 2011, and April 4, 2012, respectively. The box set included various special features, including episode commentary, a documentary on the 200th episode called "Smallville: Coming Home", a featurette on Clark's father/son relationships over the course of ten seasons titled "My Father, My Son", and the music video "How Do We Do".

Notes

References

References

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