The Top 25 Smallville Episodes

It took Clark Kent two hundred and seventeen hours (with commercials) to go from awkward teenager to the Man of Steel. That's a whole lot of TV, so if you're looking for the best of the best, check out our list of the Top 25 Smallville Episodes.

Smallville: The Complete Series DVD Review
We originally presented this list right when Smallville wrapped up its run, but with the complete series DVD now in stores, we figured it was a good time to look back at the highlights of the show.


The second meteor shower to hit Smallville brought with it a mysterious ship from Krypton. From it emerges two Disciples of Zod, Mam-Ek and Aethyr. While they search for Kal-El, the citizens of Smallville are still recovering from the destructive force of the shower. Clark however finds himself at the newly constructed Fortress of Solitude which Jor-El informs him is similar to the geography of Krypton, making it suitable for training. Too bad Clark loses his powers after making a rather silly agreement with Jor-El.

The spaceship that the Disciples of Zod arrived on holds another dark secret. From within emerges the Brain InterActive Construct – BRAINIAC!


After seasons of Clark beating around the bush, he finally reveals who and what he is to Lana Lang. Sure, Lana had pretty much pieced everything together by that point but it was important for Clark Kent to man up and tell her everything. If he had done it earlier I'm sure their relationship would have turned out much better.

"Phantom" also featured a great cliffhanger that saw all three of Clark's beauties apparently dying at certain points towards the end of the episode. Talk about suspense. The final moments reveal one of Clark's more fun villains – Bizarro!


Clark Kent buys an expensive class ring that just happens to have a piece of red kryptonite rock at its center. With the red kryptonite unleashing his rebellious side for the first time, Clark starts defying the rules, telling off the principal and dating the hot new girl in school. We've seen Clark be evil so many times over the course of the series but there is something special about the very first "Red" kryptonite episode. Even back in the early part of the series Welling did a great job portraying bad boy Clark.


Clark's relationship with his natural father had been tumultuous to say the least. The voice-in-the-Fortress that had acted as mentor to Clark seemed to torment the young Kryptonian rather than teach him. Often stealing Clark's powers and then lecturing him on not embracing his heritage, Jor-El was more a pain in the butt than a guiding voice. "Kandor" gives Clark an opportunity to meet his father face-to-face. We learn a lot about young Jor-El's relationship with Major Zod and his motives for creating Smallville's version of the Bottled City of Kandor.

The cloned version of Jor-El meets present day Clark briefly, just before passing away. This impacts Clark as he has to suffer the loss of a father once more and it shapes his relationship with Major Zod throughout the rest of the season.


With Lana Lang and Lex Luthor gone from the series, "Odyssey" is the start of a new chapter for Smallville. To usher in this new chapter, Clark gets some help from a few friends. Green Arrow, Aquaman, Black Canary and Martian Manhunter all make appearances in the Season 8 premiere. While, this episode is saddled with having Clark powerless for a portion of the episode, it does highlight the importance of the rest of the future Justice League. The episode concludes with Martian Manhunter flying Clark Kent towards the sun in hopes that the Last Son of Krypton will regain his powers. In the process, Manhunter sacrifices his own abilities. While lacking Lex and Lana, this exciting new chapter in Clark's journey looked to be every bit as exciting.

Clark loses his memory, Green Arrow in full costume and more! Episodes 20-16 on page 2…