Smallville/Pilot

Pilot
Season 1, Episode 1
Airdate	October 16, 2001
Production Number	475165
Written by	Alfred Gough & Miles Millar
Directed by	David Nutter
— N/A	1x02 → Metamorphosis
Smallville — Season One

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Pilot is the first episode of the first season of Smallville.

Starring: Tom Welling (Clark Kent), Kristin Kreuk (Lana Lang), Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor), Eric Johnson (Whitney Fordman), Sam Jones III (Pete Ross), Allison Mack (Chloe Sullivan)

with Annette O'Toole (Martha Kent), John Schneider (Jonathan Kent)

Special Guest Star: John Glover (Lionel Luthor)

Guest Starring (end credits): Sarah Jane Redmond (Nell Potter)

Co-Starring: Adrian McMorran (Jeremy Creek), Jade Unterman (Young Lana), Malkolm Alburquenque (Young Clark), Matthew Munn (Young Lex Luthor), Dee Jay Jackson (Bill Ross), Alvin Sanders (Dale Ross), Steve Bacic (Garage Worker), Justin Chatwin (Teen Jostled by Whitney), Wendy Chmelauskas (Laura Lang), Ben Odberg (Lewis Lang), Jay Kirby (Former Jock #2), Amy Esterle (Heike)

Plot Overview

High-School Freshman Clark Kent is different than the other young men in his small Kansas town. His father won't let him play football. He stumbles at the mere presence of his crush, Lana Lang. He just can't seem to keep the jocks from picking on him.

His parents are about to tell him the truth, however. Clark isn't from Smallville. He isn't even from Earth. When his father shows him the spaceship he arrived in during a meteor shower, he begins to understand, and come to terms with his identity.

As his extraordinary powers begin to emerge, so do the powers of other Smallville natives. Affected by the same meteor shower which brought Clark, a man who has been in a coma for more than a decade awakens and wreaks havoc with electrical powers.

With help from his friends Pete and Chloe, Clark saves Smallville for the for the first, but not the last, time.

Notes

Music

• Lifehouse - Everything
• Bruce Hornsby - The Way It Is
• Eagle-Eye Cherry - Long Way Around
• Stereoblis - Eight Half Letters, Maybe
• The Calling - Unstoppable
• Jude - Everything I Own
• Fear the Clown - Inside the Memories
• Capitol Eye - Let's Go
• Embrace - Wonder

Trivia

The Show

• The name of the Smallville High paper, The Torch, was also the name of the school paper were Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Superman's creators, worked in High School.

Behind the Scenes

• Not every scene with actress Cynthia Ettinger, the original Martha Kent, was reshot. In a scene with Clark and Jonathan in the barn and Martha outside in the background, you can tell that it's not Annette O'Toole.

• Chloe's father, Gabe, was originally in the episode, but the scene was cut. Here he was portrayed by Eric Keenleyside.

• When Jeremy is standing in front of the trophy case, someone can be seen standing behind him, but is not addressed or acknowledged. This is Principle Kwan who was also originally in the episode where he confronts Jeremy who throws him through another glass case.

Allusions and References

• When meeting Lana in the graveyard, Clark stands in front of an angel in such a way that the wings appear to be moving from his shoulders. This can be foreshadowing him being able to fly, or emphasizing his whole Christ-like role as savior later on in his life, or the fact that he is a "heavenly" visitor.

• Lionel can be seen reading a newspaper with a headline referring to "Queen Industries". In the DC comics lore, Queen Industries is (or was) owned by Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow.

• The top book Clark is carrying is on Nietzsche. In his 1883 book Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche wrote about the philosophical concept of the Übermensch, a word which is often translated as "Superman".