“Smallville,” which had a powerful run from 2001-2011, was the retelling of Clark Kent’s (Tom Welling) rural upbringing in Kansas earlier than he turns into the Man of Metal. The present was an unimaginable success on all fronts and remains to be fondly remembered to at the present time (simply try all of the teary-eyed YouTube reactions of when Welling returned for The CW’s “Disaster on Infinite Earths,” if you happen to want some heartfelt proof). Nonetheless, as beloved because the collection stays, that does not imply each one in every of its 217 episodes was a house run. There have been quite a lot of stinkers, with season 6, episode 20, “Noir” being one of the infamous and divisive.
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The episode is a largely black-and-white function that acts as an homage to the noir movies from the Nineteen Forties, with Aaron Ashmore’s Jimmy Olsen dreaming up a noir escapade and serving because the investigative reporter two steps behind a bewildering homicide case. Whereas Ashmore remembers the episode fondly, Welling himself appears to recall issues with a unique lens, particularly relating to the early plans for “Noir.”
Whereas chatting with Ashmore and co-star Michael Rosenbaum throughout an episode on the “Speak Ville” podcast, the Clark Kent actor admitted that he nearly refused to movie the episode due to its preliminary musical nature. Welling mentioned:
“That episode was imagined to be a musical … a musical noir and after they introduced introduced it as much as me I actually was … ‘I cannot present as much as work and do [that]. You possibly can movie it. I am not singing.'”
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“Noir” already stays an oddball filler entry by itself. Had the episode gone into full-blown “Chicago” territory, properly, it appears Welling would have reasonably chewed on some shards of inexperienced kryptonite.
The Smallville fandom appears to be cut up on Noir
Over a decade for the reason that present’s conclusion, “Noir” nonetheless seems to divide the “Smallville” fandom. On Reddit, for years, followers constantly convey up the one-off episode. Many cite it as their least favourite and most skippable, with others defending the classic aesthetic and total hokeyness. “Actually loved it. I like when Smallville did not take itself too critically, with out actively being dangerous. There are critical storylines manner worse than this nice episode,” wrote one fan in a 2024 thread. “I appreciated it. Complete filler. However nonetheless enjoyable to look at,” one other commented in a 2019 publish.
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Nonetheless, for each optimistic recollection, there appears to be one Redditor who nonetheless cringes at “Noir.” “Boring. If you are going to pay tribute to the classics do it proper and this was not it,” consumer Simba122504 wrote. Whereas most viewers agree that the forged appeared unimaginable and the manufacturing actually captured that ’40s noir really feel, many nonetheless could not get previous the filler-y randomness of the episode as an entire. “I could not get into it in any respect,” consumer SillyAdditional bluntly admitted.
“Noir” appears perpetually destined to be one of many present’s most divisive episodes. Nonetheless, even in spite of everything these years, it nonetheless manages to seek out love. In truth, there are some right here at /Movie who suppose “Noir” is likely one of the most underrated “Smallville” episodes and deserves extra appreciation!
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