Smallville

[Krutch]

Alright, since works died down, here's my top 5 episodes.

5: 4.22 "Commencement"
At an elongated runtime of 60 minutes and a ticking clock established at the beginning of the episode, I loved the big movie feel this finale had. Season 4 had its ups and downs and getting to this finale is a bit of a chore, but you'll be hard pressed to find a Smallville fan who doesn't find this as one of the seasons stand out episodes. And it ends with a tease of the Fortress of Solitude. How awesome is that?

4: 5.09 "Lexmas"/5.05 "Thirst"
A tie, but they kind of go hand in hand with my affinity for Holiday themed episodes. Season 6 attempted a Thanksgiving episode with "Rage" but like most of season 6 it felt kind of flat. Lexmas and Thirst on the otherhand fully embraced the holiday spirit filling each frame with tinsel and snow or candy and jackolanterns. Rosenbaum's performance pulls us through the cheery wonderland he imagines if he were to give up his power for the sake of a normal life which just serves to make the ending that much more heart breaking when he learns all the wrong lessons from his experience. The Halloween episode on the other hand was a fun monster mash filled with costumes and kryptonite-powered vampire sorority sisters. Plus, it had Kristin Kreuk wearing leather, so... yeah... easy points for that

3: 4.06 "Transference"
The episode that many realized Tom Welling can act charismatically when he needs to. I love body swap episodes and this one didn't disappoint. Lots of little moments like "Clark" seducing Chloe only to break her heart just because he can, quitting the football team, and generally just watching Clark throw his social life down the toilet in the most hilarious and cringe inducing ways possible. I almost died when Lana enters and Clark rolls his eyes and says to himself "Ugh. This one." There was a lot of body-swapping/possessions taking place in Season 4 but this one is easily the best.

2: 1.01 "Pilot"
Not a lot of pilots ever make my top ten lists, let alone the number 2 spot. It usually takes a few episodes for the show to begin to gel with who the characters are and for the actors to get their characters down. But I love the confidence of this pilot. It knew right out the gate what it wanted to be from the actors nailing their characters to establishing the right distictive tone through use of colour and music. This was directed by David Nutter who has a great track record of shooting effective pilots such as Supernatural, Roswell, Arrow, The Flash, and many others.

1: 10.04 "Homecoming"/3.19 "Memoria"
Another tie but I can't choose one over the other. I'm more partial to the early seasons so by the time Homecoming rolled around I was already a bit emotionally checked out. I still loved the show but in a different way; it was a lot less heart-string pulling and more comic-bookiness. Which is great in its own way, but I wasn't prepared for this nostalgic look at everything that's come before it(and what's to come!). At times I still feel like the episode can't help but feel a bit empty without the presence of Chloe, Pete, and Lana at the high school reunion, but then I realize that's the point. So much has changed over the years, and we were to watch it happen with Clark. Memoria, on the other hand, is my vote for the most beautifully shot episode the series has ever produced. On top of the smooth camerawork and cinematography, Lex's tragic backstory is unfolded revealing the truth about his mother and his younger brother Julian. It's sad and touching and changes the landscape of both characters for the remainder of the series. Like a nice bottle of Armagnac, 1963, I don't sample this one too often. But when I do, it hits juuuuust right.