Season Analysis

Smallville

Season 9 Analysis

Season Woke Score

out of 10

Season Overview

Last season, the enticing Tess Mercer maneuvered her way through town, discovered Clark's true identity and unleashed a new world of danger. Clark, he also met his greatest match: Doomsday. When Clark wasn't busy battling the beast, he was knee-deep in work at the Daily Planet. As Clark's persona as the cub Planet reporter emerged, so did his feelings for Lois, the fated love of his life. In season nine, Clark Kent has to rise to the occasion as Zod and his followers scheme to take control of planet Earth.

Season Review

Season 9 of "Smallville" is thematically focused on the classic superhero struggle of choosing destiny versus humanity, with an overarching conflict of good versus tyranny. The narrative follows Clark Kent as he embraces a darker, more isolated vigilante persona before ultimately reaffirming the transcendent moral values of his human upbringing. The main antagonists are the Kandorian clones, led by Major Zod, who represent a powerful, supremacist 'alien' culture seeking to conquer Earth. The season introduces a compelling group of legacy heroes, the Justice Society of America (JSA), and centrally develops the fated romance between Clark and Lois Lane. The core dramatic engine relies on character morality, self-sacrifice, and universal principles, keeping it firmly rooted in traditional superhero mythology with little to no observable 'woke mind virus' contamination.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics2/10

The central conflict is a war between two races: Kryptonian aliens (Zod/Kandorians) versus humans (Earth). This alien-versus-human dynamic is fundamentally based on moral merit and universal rights, as Clark's heroic arc is defined by his choice to protect the human race despite being Kryptonian. The narrative does not utilize race or other immutable characteristics among the human characters to create an intersectional power hierarchy or lecture on systemic oppression.

Oikophobia1/10

The season is the direct inverse of civilizational self-hatred. Clark's central struggle involves rejecting the militaristic, supremacist destiny of his alien ancestry (Kryptonian/Kandorian culture) in favor of the moral values instilled by his adopted home (Earth/Kansas). The narrative celebrates and upholds the institutions and moral foundation of human civilization against an external, conquering alien threat. The introduction of the Justice Society of America (JSA) serves to honor a legacy of past heroes and institutions.

Feminism3/10

Female characters like Lois Lane, Chloe Sullivan, and Tess Mercer are highly competent, powerful, and intelligent, operating as top-tier investigative reporters, Justice League strategists, and corporate executives/operatives. This reflects a 'Girl Boss' trope of female competency, but it does not lead to the narrative emasculation of the male characters. Clark's power and heroic journey are the core focus, and the development of the traditional male-female pairing with Lois is the season's primary romantic arc. Masculinity is ultimately framed as a force of protective heroism, even when characters like Oliver Queen go through a temporary downward spiral.

LGBTQ+1/10

The core of the season's romantic and emotional development is centered entirely on the normative structure of the male-female relationship between Clark Kent and Lois Lane. The plot does not feature alternative sexualities as a central theme, nor is there any presence of deconstructing the nuclear family or introducing gender ideology lectures.

Anti-Theism2/10

The conflict between Clark and Zod is a straightforward moral battle between a clear objective good (justice, hope, protection of the weak) and a clear objective evil (tyranny, conquest, totalitarian power). The moral stakes are transcendent, revolving around the inherent value of life and freedom. The narrative supports a belief in higher moral law, with no explicit hostility or demonization directed at traditional religious faith.