>>22580
>We get a rain of kryptonite (makes sense, as much of that shit is fucking everywhere in superman comics it was probably a pretty traumatic event)
Usually Kryptonite is way rarer in the comics. It's pretty comical how common it is in this show. But they use it well and make this meteor shower, which doesn't happen in other versions, into a pretty interesting bit of lore that ties into a lot of other cool events, so I'm okay with it.
>Like Lex is bald because of the kryptonite strikes blowing all the hair off his head at 6. Pretty fucking stupid and pointless, but whatever.
Actually this is one of the bits that is semi-accurate to the comics. In old Superboy comics, Lex was bald because Superboy blew out an experiment that went wrong and caught on fire, (Lex was friends with Superboy and trying to find a cure for Kryptonite Poisoning for him) and the fumes or whatever made Lex lose his hair, which is why he hates Superboy/man. The premise here is the same, to give Superboy a sense of guilt for hurting his friend, and establish that he helped to create his own nemesis. It's still a bit silly, and removed from most other versions of the character's origin, but I like that they're keeping this old bit of continuity, even if changed fairly significantly. But it holds the same meaning and, if anything, is less silly. Plus it ties into the wider lore more since the meteor shower is important in a lot of stories in the show, while that experiment that young Lex was doing in the comics is never particularly important again.
>And then a tobey Maguire spidey reference with a missed school bus.
This episode came out almost a year before that movie, though admittedly the movie was supposed to release quite close to it, before 9/11 delayed things (and Spider-Man in particular had to edit significant parts of the movie to cut out the towers). Fun fact, though, the song Hero by Chad Krueger (the Nickelback guy) which is played over Spider-Man's credits, had a Spider-Man themed tie-in music video, and was a big hit in general, was originally supposed to be the theme song for Smallville, hence all the references to flying and other things that don't particularly fit Spider-Man. The Smallville producers rejected it and replaced it with a much worse song, and probably regretted it when the song they rejected became a hit a few months later.
>Thread question: Lana Lang or Lois Lane?
Not to spoil anything, but Lana in this show is an insufferable cunt. Frankly, she isn't even that much better in the comics, except in the comics she is rarely important, and when she is important, she is rarely a very fleshed out character. But when she is, like when she became Superwoman a few years ago, she's a bit of a cunt. Lois Lane is of course also a cunt, but it's on purpose. Being abrasive is an intentional part of her character, rather than the result of bad writing. Lois is supposed to be some female equivalent of a badass with a heart of gold. Lana, especially in Smallville, is just a writers' pet cunt that is somehow incredibly boring and incredibly annoying at the same time.
Watching the commentaries for this show is pretty interesting, because it's clear the showrunners are literally in love with the actress that plays Lana, which then explains why the character gets as much focus as she does. It's fine in the first few seasons, but come Season 4 it gets pretty ridiculous. It does get better eventually, but in the middle seasons there Lana is just unbearable. But then I shouldn't spoil the show for you. Not that these are major spoilers. It's subjective of course, and you can form your own opinion. But I'll tell you right now that I can't fucking stand Lana.
While I'm at it, I'll mention that Chloe isn't much better, and her being an OC doesn't help. But then Lionel Luthor is also an OC and he's the best part of the damn show. But Chloe is also quite useless and annoying, though rarely as bad as Lana. That said, given certain IRL developments, like going to jail for getting busted as the second in command of a sex cult that brands members like cattle (which was apparently her idea), I would definitely adapt her into the comics if I had the chance. I have some good story ideas for her that I won't get into because it would spoil things for you. And yes, Chloe has been in like one single issue of the comics, a Jimmy Olsen special one-shot, if I recall, but that hardly counts. I don't think she even interacted with Superman.
And technically she wasn't even interacting with the same Jimmy that she interacts with in the show, either.
I also heard on Michael Rosenbaum's (Lex Luthor's) podcast that he and Tom Welling (Superman) are trying to do a Smallville animated series, but are only at the pitch stage. Perhaps not likely, and if it did happen it would probably be ruined somehow, but I'd be interested. It would probably ignore the Season 11 comics though, just like that awful Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover did, and I like the Season 11 comics quite a bit. But oh well, I'd watch the series either way. Maybe if Michael Rosenbaum is actually important to it he could get them to fix one of my primary problems with the series finale. I won't say it, but anyone who has watched the show and seen the finale will probably know what I'm talking about, specifically in reference to his character. Overall I like the finale, but that one bit bugs me, and the comics never dealt with it in a way I'd like, even though they got close.