Smallville

This was the favorite show of my elementary school crush. I was literally jealous of Superman.

I never watched Smallville when it originally aired, so my experience with it has been entirely through streaming. There’s a lot to like here, especially the cast and the way the show slowly builds out its version of the Superman mythology. Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum are particularly good, and when the show focuses on the bigger storylines, it can be genuinely great.

The problem is that watching it now can sometimes be a slog. With more than 20 episodes in most seasons, there is a lot of filler. That probably wasn't as noticeable when episodes were spread out week to week, but when you're streaming several episodes at a time, the repetitive "villain of the week" stories can really slow things down.

Still, the characters kept me invested, and there are enough strong episodes and long-running storylines to make the journey worthwhile. It's definitely a product of its era of television, for better and worse, but overall I've enjoyed finally making my way through it.