maniacalrage:

Tonight, two days shy of my 30th birthday, the two-hour series finale of Smallville will air. It’s a bittersweet early birthday present. As silly as it sounds, I’m a bit emotionally unprepared to handle the end of this series. Most people who know me know I’m a huge Superman fan, and to have had a television show about Superman to watch every week for the past 10 years has been amazing. Even more amazing is that Smallville started just after my 20th birthday and will run until my 30th, which means I’ve been watching this show throughout my entire 20s.

The series has definitely had its ups and downs. Many people who started watching it gave up after a few seasons because of its teenage angst love stories between Clark Kent and Lana Lang, stories that made for some truly painful and slow episodes. And believe you me, there were times where even I was having a hard time dealing with the ratio of teenage drama to Superman moments. But eventually, and slowly, the show grew up. Clark Kent went from being a confused and lonely teenager to an anxious and lonely adult. The writers introduced other DC superhero characters including the Green Arrow, who ended up being a great series regular. And, most notably, they brought in Lois Lane, a character who eventually brought more gravity and maturity to the storylines.

Smallville has always lived in its own version of the Superman universe. They’ve changed Clark Kent’s path through history and made interesting updates to various aspects of the canon. At its heart, the show was always about Clark Kent becoming Superman, and so we’ve never seen him in a suit or really flying. Of course, for Smallville to be truly successful, I can only imagine the last shot of the show must be that critical moment, when 10 years of development leads to donning the suit and that first takeoff as Superman.

I’m sad to see the show go, but it has provided me with pretty solid entertainment for the past decade. During the run of the show I’ve moved three times (in two different states), held five agency jobs, started two companies, bought 3 cars, traveled to seven countries, posted nearly 5,000 photos to Flickr, lost two grandmothers and a great aunt, made an award-winning short film, got married, and planned a cross-country move to Los Angeles. And that’s not even the half of it. Sure, Smallville isn’t directly responsible for any of those things, but I watched it every week as I grew to become the person I am now and even for all of its goofy, melodramatic scenes of Clark yearning for love, it still means a hell of a lot to me.

My love for Smallville isn’t quite that intense, but it is pretty similar. I’ve been watching since I was 12 (dear lord was that really 10 years ago?!) and my loyalty never swayed. As much as I hate to see the show end, I can’t wait to see how it all comes together. ♥