"Smallville" Pilot (2001)

Directors:

David Nutter
Michael W. Watkins

Writers:

Joe Shuster (characters) &
Jerry Siegel (characters) ...

TV Series:

"Smallville" (2001)

Original Air Date:

16 May 2001 (Season 1, Episode 1)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Baby Clark (Kal-El) arrives on Earth. Teen Clark starts high school, saves Lex's life after a car accident, and finds out about his past and birth parents.

Plot Keywords:

Bullying | Crucifixion | Reference To Nietzsche | Beautiful Woman | Underwear

Cast

Tom Welling	...	Clark Kent
Kristin Kreuk	...	Lana Lang
Michael Rosenbaum	...	Lex Luthor
Eric Johnson	...	Whitney Fordman
Sam Jones III	...	Pete Ross
Allison Mack	...	Chloe Sullivan
Annette O'Toole	...	Martha Kent
John Schneider	...	Jonathan Kent
John Glover	...	Lionel Luthor
Sarah-Jane Redmond	...	Nell Potter (as Sarah Jane Redmond)
Adrian Mcmorran	...	Jeremy Creek (as Adrian McMorran)
Jade Unterman	...	Young Lana Lang
Malkolm Alburquenque	...	Young Clark Kent
Matthew Munn	...	Young Lex Luthor
Dee Jay Jackson	...	Bill Ross

Runtime:

50 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:M | Mexico:B | USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Smallville Films

Trivia:

Lana picks up a book that Clark has dropped. The book is on philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche developed the concept of the superman.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Clark begins to run down the football pitch, he knocks 4 defensive players out of his way. These are numbers 82, 72, 66 and 55. When he has run many yards, not only does 82 jump and miss him again (from the front) but he jumps over the same 4 players, in the same order they were lined up before, to land in the endzone.

Quotes:

Jeremy Creek: Who are you? Where am I?
Clark Kent: I'm Clark Kent. And you're in Smallville.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Maybe

The beginning of greatness

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This pilot episode opens with the meteor shower and then skips to the present 12 years later: Clark's first year of high school. At this point the socially isolated and uncomfortable teenager has very few abilities and though his parents are aware, he has no idea what he is or that he is from anywhere but earth. After a particularly dreary day he is hanging out on a bridge and gets hit by Lex's car. After which he discovers his origins(and is understandably upset) and has very open conversations with 2 people who will become his closest friends. save the two he has at the time perhaps.

The bad guy is not so great, probably some comic book enemy edited for the show. Other than that I would have to say that most of the characters are quite multi-layered and well acted; in this episode and for a long time to come Character interaction is of premium quality in this episode and continues that way for the next 2 seasons. What happens in the cornfield (present day) is interesting; I will say no more. 4 out of 5 stars.