MovieChat Forums > Smallville (2001) Discussion > One of the hardest shows to rewatch

One of the hardest shows to rewatch


I loved this show when it came out, but man...the rewatchability is hard with Smallville. Only a select few episodes per season are ever worth rewatching. Most of the other episodes are filler episodes designed for shipping or padding. I forgot how badly done the romances were done on this show. They did everything they could to milk the drama.

BUT when this show worked, BOY did it work. Just a shame when it didn't work.

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I wouldn't quite call a 10-year run a failure. It took a modern spin on an iconic classic and brought a new following. For the time it aired, I think it was pretty genius. I guess we can agree to disagree.

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I wouldn't call it a "failure" either, but it was definitely a missed opportunity.

Maybe it has to do with simply being on the wrong network at the wrong time. Modern TV shows nowadays have such a variety in how they tell stories that something like Smallville would have been better off being a miniseries and targeted towards an older audience as opposed to teens and focusing less on romantic ships and freaks-of-the-week/DC-guest-of-the-week, and more on the dramatic tension of watching a young Superman struggle and grow to become a hero.

How does it feel to be deconstructed?

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Kinda agree. I rewatched it a few months after the finale, and as I was doing it, I could tell "I'll probably never do this again."

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I rewatch it all the time. I will never understand why haters of anything will go on forums where fans are and spew hate all over it. If its hard to rewatch its not required just STOP and go somewhere else.

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But that's what's great about discussion forums; discussion. And debate. And simply the beauty of having a different opinion.

Nobody wants to be on a forum where it's all just "This is great." "Yeah, I agree." "Me too!" "That goes double for me."

How does it feel to be deconstructed?

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I'm not actually a hater of this show. As I stated before, when this show worked, it worked. There are just aspects of this show that just hurt it's rewatch value, imo. A real hater would claim that nothing worked in this show. I also never called it a failure. It was an interesting show with an interesting idea. I just didn't think it was done in the greatest way.

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I agree. This show has plenty of aspects to appreciate while also containing quite a lot of irritating plot holes, subplots, stupid overdramatic romances, terrible villains, a general lack of respect for DC Comics lore, and a butchering of the character of Clark Kent. I agree that it's definitely not a good show to "rewatch" in chronological order. There are too many irritants that are present and now that one knows where it's all leading to, it becomes tough to tolerate the crappier elements.


How does it feel to be deconstructed?

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But the OP and others here are not haters, they're fans of the show which is why they tried rewatching it.

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I don`t find this show hard to rewatch at all.

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I think it just completely depends on the viewer. For me, the nostalgic element of it makes it super easy to rewatch (at least seasons 1-7). I always enjoy all the freak of the week episodes and considering this show turns 16 this year, most of the visual effects hold up excellently. It was also a show that was filmed beautifully and was always pleasing to the eye.

But I can see how someone watching the show for the first time now can have a problem with it. The "freak of the week" structure of the show was very popular at the time the show started, but has been on a downward spiral in the last 10-5 years with the rise of prestige TV shows.

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Yep even the filler always seem to advance character development. In the long run I still love it all

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The only season I don't care to rewatch is season 1. I always start my rewatches in season 2, which is rare for me to do with shows I rewatch. I've "only" seen season 1 like 3 times (probably more because I've introduced the show to so many people and watch with them a lot of times, lol). It has been a few years since I have done a rewatch, though. Been thinking for a while that it's probably about time.

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Rewatched it for the first time last year and loved it especially the early seasons. I think I enjoyed it more the second time binge watching it.

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I love rewatching this, but I can definitely see that certain parts of it are dated. However, excepting maybe the super girl parts, it still pretty much holds up, even in comparison to today's superhero shows. I feel like the more successful ones are only successful because of how they're taking cues from this old show.

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I'm on my 2nd rewatch now and I haven't had a hard time watching it at all. It comes down to what you're into which romance clearly isn't for you.

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The biggest problem I had with the show was the constant Kryptomonster maguffin that was used during the first several seasons of the show. It got old, ridiculously stupid and repetitive. If it had tapped into the mythos from the get go to drive the story it would be easier to re-watch.

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