Smallville season 7
The seventh season of Smallville, an American television series developed by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, began airing on September 27, 2007 on The CW. The series recounts the early adventures of Kryptonian Clark Kent as he adjusts to life in the fictional town of Smallville, Kansas, during the years before he becomes Superman. The seventh season comprises 20 episodes and concluded its initial airing on May 15, 2008. Regular cast members during season seven include Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Kristin Kreuk, Allison Mack, Erica Durance, Aaron Ashmore, Laura Vandervoort, and John Glover, with Ashmore promoted after having a recurring role in season six. In addition to bringing in new regular cast members this season, the Smallville team brought in familiar faces from the Superman media history, old villains from the show's past, as well as new DC Comics characters Kara Zor-El and Dinah Lance.
This season focuses on Clark meeting his biological cousin Kara and teaching her how to control her abilities in public; Lana Lang's behavior toward her friends and Lex Luthor after it is discovered that she faked her own death; and Chloe Sullivan coming to terms with her newly discovered kryptonite-induced ability. Towards the end of the season, Clark faces the dual threat from returning villain Brainiac and Lex's discovery of his father Lionel's secret society who possess the means to control Clark. The season culminates with a showdown between Lex and Clark at the Fortress of Solitude, wherein it is brought down, setting the series up for the following season.
Smallvilles season seven, along with many other American television shows, was caught in the middle of a contract dispute between the Writers Guild of America, East, Writers Guild of America, west and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The dispute led to a strike by the writers, which has caused this season to end prematurely with only 20 episodes being produced, instead of the standard 22 episodes. The strike also forced The CW to push back airdates on several episodes, and cost Mack her directorial debut. Smallvilles season seven slipped in the ratings, averaging 3.7 million viewers weekly, and the series ranked as the 175th most-watched television series, out of 220, for the 2007–08 television year.
Episodes
Cast and characters
Main
- Tom Welling as Clark Kent
- * Welling also portrays Bizarro in three episodes
- Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
- Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
- Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
- Erica Durance as Lois Lane
- Aaron Ashmore as Jimmy Olsen
- Laura Vandervoort as Kara Kent
- John Glover as Lionel Luthor
Recurring
- Anna Galvin as Gina
- Terence Stamp as the voice of Jor-El
- Michael Cassidy as Grant Gabriel
- James Marsters as Brainiac / Milton Fine
Production
Writer's strike
On November 5, 2007, a strike began between the Writers Guild of America, East, Writers Guild of America, West and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. A prolonged strike would have forced television shows to end their seasons early, because no scripts could be written until a settlement had been reached. The strike pushed back Smallvilles scheduling, as the episode "Siren", which was originally intended to be aired on January 10, 2008, was moved to a February 7 airdate. According to developers and showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, they were able to complete the scripts for 15 episodes and the studio planned to produce all of them. They also explained that the fifteenth episode would have had a cliffhanger ending. The shortened schedule also meant Allison Mack would not see her directorial debut for the season's 20th episode as was originally planned. On February 12, 2008, after a 48-hour vote by the guild members, the strike came to an end. This allowed the shooting of five new episodes that began airing on April 17. This was in addition to the episodes that had already been filmed, leaving the season total at 20 episodes.Characters
For season seven, the Smallville team would bring in two new regular cast members, Jimmy Olsen, who first appeared as a recurring guest in season six, and Kara, Clark Kent's biological cousin. In July 2007, Canadian actress Laura Vandervoort was cast to portray Kara. According to Gough and Millar, her backstory is that she was sent to look after Kal-El, but was stuck in suspended animation for eighteen years. When the dam broke in the season six finale "Phantom", she was set free. She has all of Clark's abilities, as well as the ability to fly. Gough iterated that Kara will not wear any version of the Supergirl costume. At the same time, Michael Cassidy was cast as the new editor of the Daily Planet, Grant Gabriel. Grang was designed to be Lois Lane' new love interest; he appeared in seven episodes.Smallville also brought in more actors with previous connections to the Superman lore. Helen Slater, who portrayed Supergirl in the 1984 film of the same name, was cast as Lara, Clark's biological mother. She made appearances in episodes six and eight, titled "Lara" and "Blue", respectively. Dean Cain, who played Superman in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, had a guest role as "evil Dr. Curtis Knox" in the fourth episode "Cure". Marc McClure, who portrayed Jimmy Olsen in all of the Superman films as well as in Supergirl, was brought in to play a Kryptonian scientist named Dax-Ur for the episode "Persona". James Marsters was brought back to reprise his role as Milton Fine / Brainiac in a four-episode arc slated for January 2008; Marsters had not appeared on the show since the season five finale "Vessel". Another character from the DC Comics universe arriving on Smallville was the Black Canary. The character was intended to be featured in the January 10, 2008 episode "Siren", but the Writers' Strike pushed scheduling back to February 7. Black Canary was portrayed by Canadian actress Alaina Huffman, and the episode featured the return of Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen / Green Arrow. This season also saw the return of former series regular Sam Jones III as Pete Ross, after a four-year absence.