23 Years Later, I’m Fascinated To Think How Smallville’s Original Season 1 Ending Plans Could Have Changed The Show

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Smallville remains to this day one of the most beloved DC Universe series ever released, but the show was almost very different, with plans for a significant character’s death in the season 1 finale. Some of the most rewatchable Smallville episodes have featured uplifting stories, building toward the hope that Superman would go on to represent. If the original plans for the season 1 finale had been followed, however, I wonder if that same tone would have been possible for the popular series.
Even though the series ended many years ago, there continues to be talk of a Smallville sequel show. With the new DCU set to feature a new live-action Superman casting in James Gunn"s upcoming Superman, and with a thriving animated series in My Adventures With Superman, there may not be room for another Superman iteration at this moment. However, in part arguably due to changes that occurred in the finale of Smallville"s first season, there is still life in the live-action series, and it may be returned to sometime in the future.
Smallville Season 1's Original Finale Was Almost Very Different "Tempest" Nearly Featured A Major DC Character Death Close Almost every Smallville season finale was strong, but "Tempest", which closed out season 1, was one of the best. Featuring conflicts that put many of the most important characters in danger, the episode ended with Lana being sucked into a tornado, and Clark following. This was originally intended to go very differently. Instead, as was revealed by an episode of Talk Ville, Michael Rosenbaum shared some intel he received from co-creator Al Gough that Whitney Fordman, Lana"s boyfriend, was supposed to die in the season finale.
Rosenbaum spoke about this at length, sharing: "I think it was something like Clark could only save Lana or Whitney, and he saved Lana.” By adding this personal conflict and choice into the season 1 finale, the show could have gone down a very different path. Instead, the series decided to confront each of their conflicts head-on, and neither Lana nor Whitney died. This led to an excellent finale, that would see Whitney instead departing for the military, thereby leaving conflicts like this to be approached later on in the series.
Smallville Season 1's Original Ending Could've Set A Very Different Tone For The Show Whitney's Death Could Have Created A Darker Superman Series Close Superman has died many times onscreen, but he has rarely failed to save the people that he loves. While Jonathan Kent"s death is an important story for Clark learning about how there are some things beyond even his abilities, it is rare for Superman to be given an imperative like in the film Sophie"s Choice, where he must choose to save one innocent person or another. Embedding this in the first season finale of Smallville would have created a much darker series, with heavier themes to contend with.
Superman cannot save everyone, and that is an especially difficult theme to confront against the backdrop of the hero coming of age. If Superman failed to save Whitney, I would imagine that this would torment him for many episodes and seasons to come. The loss of any life, directly by his own choice, would weigh heavily on Clark, and perhaps even significantly alter how he looks at his powers. These dark themes could have been effectively confronted so early in Smallville, but would have resulted in a very different show.
Changing Smallville Season 1's Ending Could Have Changed The Rest Of The Superman Series Smallville Would Have Become A Show About Realistic Consequences Close If Whitney died in season 1 due to Clark"s own actions and choices, the show would have become necessarily different. Clark already felt uncomfortable with the weight and responsibility of his powers, and seeing an event like this occur would have pushed him even further away from the people he loved. If Whitney died in season 1, Clark would potentially have even struggled to stay in Smallville itself, either requiring a storyline to directly address this matter, or meaning that later Smallville season storylines of him leaving the town behind would"ve needed to be told sooner.
Smallville is not a light series, and does not shy away from dark themes and ideas, but it is hard to imagine Clark returning to a somewhat normal life in high school after contending with such a significant death. In order for Smallville to continue after this event, Clark"s move to Metropolis would likely have occurred sooner, including the introduction of characters like Lois Lane. This distance would have created a darker and more emotional show, and while I prefer the version we got, I would be curious to see that iteration.

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