How Smallville Made Clark & Lana's Divisive Ending Actually Necessary

[Ursinho]

Smallville’s story made Lana Lang’s controversial ending a necessary move for the show. While writing off Lana enabled Clark to get his comic book romance with Lois, how it was handled was met with a great deal of criticism. The decision to force Clark and Lana apart with Kryptonite was considered by many to be the wrong way of closing the door on this chapter in Superman’s life.

After several years of being Clark’s main love interest, Smallville finally brought Lana’s story to an end in the season 8 episode, “Requiem”. Having discovered a way to acquire permanent powers, Lana thought she could finally live happily with Clark as a superhero duo, but it was not to be. A complex plot by Lex Luthor resulted in Lana’s skin being infused with Kryptonite, thus making it impossible for Clark and Lana to remain together. Thanks to Lex’s scheming, Lana left Smallville for good and never returned to the show.

Based on the understanding that the romantic pairing of Clark and Lois was always Smallville’s endgame, it was assumed from the beginning that Kristen Kreuk's Lana Lang would have to leave at some point, but there was also this expectation that it would happen organically. In most Superman stories, Clark simply leaves Smallville and gradually gets over Lana. While this might sound better than Smallville literally forcing them to break it off, the show’s approach to their romance across seven seasons made an ordinary breakup feel like a disservice to the characters. It worked for other Superman stories, but not Smallville. After all, Clark and Lana’s relationship had evolved into an epic love story. It wouldn’t be fair to either character to treat it like a typical, failed teenage romance.

 

Theoretically, Smallville could have dealt with the Lana problem by killing her off, but that wouldn’t have worked either. Lana’s death would have deepened the tragic element of their romance while also making it increasingly difficult for Clark to move on. After Lana’s departure, Smallville didn’t wait long before advancing Clark’s relationship with Lois, but it’s hard to imagine that story proceeding to the next stage so soon (or at all) if Lana had died. There was already a feeling from the show’s depiction of the Clark-Lana romance that she was the true love of his life, so killing her off would have only strengthened that notion. Clark most likely would have mourned Lana for years.

Had Smallville not revived the romance at the end of season 4, it’s possible that the show could have found a less complicated way of concluding her arc, but that just wasn’t the case. Looking at the great, personal sacrifices that Lana made to protect Clark in Smallville season 6, the repercussions of Clark undoing her death in season 5, and other developments, the two had overcome a few too many obstacles for their relationship to end easily. Since killing Lana and a natural breakup both would have been bad ideas for her inevitable Smallville ending, “Requiem” truly was the best option of the three – regardless of the controversy that came with it.

[Silent Watcher]

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