I've been a die hard Smallville fan since the very first episode, and season 8 left me extremely disappointed, made worse by the season 8 finale "Doomsday" which despite being heavily criticized, I still find people are too kind to. The season 9 premiere "Savior" was just what the show needed to get back on track. What a huge improvement over the entire second half of season 8. While not a perfect episode, "Savior" was enough to recapture my attention.
The writers and producers did a lot of damage in season 8 by making pretty much every character, with the exception of Lois, unlikeable, and Clark became more unlikeable than anyone. By the end of season 8, Clark was a whiny, depressed, Eeyore like character who was starting to become pathetic by not accepting the responsibility of becoming a hero. With just the opening segment of "Savior" Clark's character has been redeemed. It was so important for Smallville to reintroduce Clark in a way closer to Superman than ever before, although the Matrix style costume looks ridiculous. I'm glad season 10 updated it.
The cast is also free of Davis Bloome now, which is unfortunate only because Sam Witwer was a solid actor. The character was a train wreck however, and with him gone, Chloe can get back to being an ally of the heroes, and not a serial killer sympathizer. To replace him we have Zod, or at least a duplicate of him, in an earlier and younger form from the super villain already featured. While I do think it was a mistake to follow in season 8s footsteps by dedicating an entire season to building only one villain, Zod in this single episode was more entertaining to watch than Davis in the entire season prior.
Season 9 would have ups and downs like most Smallville seasons, and while it's still far from one of my favorites, Savior did everything possible to kick the season off on a high note.
The writers and producers did a lot of damage in season 8 by making pretty much every character, with the exception of Lois, unlikeable, and Clark became more unlikeable than anyone. By the end of season 8, Clark was a whiny, depressed, Eeyore like character who was starting to become pathetic by not accepting the responsibility of becoming a hero. With just the opening segment of "Savior" Clark's character has been redeemed. It was so important for Smallville to reintroduce Clark in a way closer to Superman than ever before, although the Matrix style costume looks ridiculous. I'm glad season 10 updated it.
The cast is also free of Davis Bloome now, which is unfortunate only because Sam Witwer was a solid actor. The character was a train wreck however, and with him gone, Chloe can get back to being an ally of the heroes, and not a serial killer sympathizer. To replace him we have Zod, or at least a duplicate of him, in an earlier and younger form from the super villain already featured. While I do think it was a mistake to follow in season 8s footsteps by dedicating an entire season to building only one villain, Zod in this single episode was more entertaining to watch than Davis in the entire season prior.
Season 9 would have ups and downs like most Smallville seasons, and while it's still far from one of my favorites, Savior did everything possible to kick the season off on a high note.