As most will know by now Smallville follows Clark Kent, played admirably by Tom Welling, during his teenage years as he starts his evolution into Superman. Throughout this first season we follow Clark as he gradually begins to discover the true extent of his powers whilst struggling to come to terms with the reasons behind them. In a clever twist on the mythology Superman's future nemesis, Lex Luthor, is also to be found living in Smallville and the show is certainly at its strongest when focusing on these two men and their struggles to avoid having their futures written for them.
A huge problem with this opening season however is the over reliance on the 'Monster of the Week' scenarios. Far too many of the episodes followed a similar pattern in which an (un)fortunate teen was affected by the Kryptonite meteorites endowing them with special powers and invariable one or more of Clark's friends and family would find themselves in trouble. These characters are introduced solely for the purposes of just one episode giving a perfect example of lazy writing. The script also lacks energy and humour when compared to shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural with far too much emphasis placed on the types of dull teen angst storylines seen on TV countless times before.
Despite all these faults there often were glimpses that the show could become something better and I will certainly give the show another chance in what is rumoured to be an improved season two.