All 21 Smallville Season 1 Episodes RANKED!

Smallville is an excellent show, and every season of the show brings something great and new to the table. Each season has a ton of episodes, and with unique stories in every episode, ranking all of them was quite the task. In this article, I, Brighton Nelson of The Reel Ranker, present to you... All 21 Smallville Season 1 Episodes RANKED!

21: Episode 6 - "Hourglass"

While critically regarded as one of the best episodes of Smallville's first season, I simply can't agree. My big problem with this episode is its villain. The villain is an old man in a nursing home who served out a jail sentence for murder but, due to the meteor rocks, regains his youth. The problem here? There's absolutely no threat to Clark, as he's just fighting a normal human with a knife and hardly any wit! While the episode has a well-done, spooky vibe, I just had a hard time enjoying the central conflict. The only real highlight of this episode for me was the old lady who could see the future and died after seeing how grim Lex's was. As much as I'd love to enjoy this episode, I simply didn't. Easily my least favorite episode of the season.

20: Episode 5 - "Cool"

This episode may be completely devoid of intriguing subplots, but from here on out, I love every episode here! This episode is basic but has a captivating villain in the form of Sean Kelvin, a teenager who gains the ability to freeze people to death by sucking all the heat from them. However, this leaves him chronically cold, leading to a haunting episode where you can't help but feel bad for the kid, as he can't live without the heat. This episode has one of my favorite villains of the season, but the execution is unfortunately below average.

19: Episode 17 - "Reaper"

Like "Season 1, Episode 5", I really loved the villain here, but the episode wasn't too impressive. The plotline of Whitney's dying father does elevate it a little bit over that episode, however. The villain here, Tyler Randall, turns everything he touches into ash, and he solely uses his ability on the dying, believing he is easing their suffering. In the end, he realizes the horror of what he's done—he has stolen their last moments from them. This revelation leads to him taking his own life. This is a disheartening episode from beginning to end, and its criminally low placement is a testament to how excellent Smallville is.

18: Episode 2 - "Metamorphosis"

Another great villain, but another slightly subpar episode. This episode sees Clark taking on Greg Arkin, an entomophile who kidnaps Lana to mate with her. This whole episode is as bizarre as blazing sin, but that is part of its charm. However, with a show boasting a plethora of unforgettable episodes, this episode can't quite reach the highs of Smallville's upper echelons.

17: Episode 7 - "Craving"

This is certainly what I would call the "worst" episode of the season, but it is so bad and goofy that I unironically love it. The CGI here has got to be some of the funniest and most awful shiz to watch decades later—it aged so gracefully. When your villain's mouth literally is enlarging beyond belief with special effects every time she finds a new victim, it's hard not to find some level of amusement here. The stakes here are very low, with the villain arguably helping her victims by stealing their fat, making this episode just as inconsequential as it is absurd.

16: Episode 3 - "Hothead"

Focusing on a pyrokinetic football coach attempting to protect his legacy and cover up a cheating scandal, this is an intriguing episode. This episode also sees Clark himself join the football team, Lana quit cheerleading, Lex declining his father's request to fire one-fifth of LutherCorp's workforce, amongst other things. This episode is full of great moments but still hasn't quite hit Smallville's stried of brilliance. This episode also hosts some over-the-top, crossing-the-line moments that are bad, but not so bad they are good, like "Cravings". The moment Principal Kwan gets engulfed in flames and doesn't even attempt to change his fate in the slightest? It's flat-out stupid as heck. However, like the majority of Smallville episodes, the good far outweighs the bad!

15: Episode 10 - "Shimmer"

This episode is about a girl obsessed with Lex but is barely noticed by him. When Victoria becomes his girlfriend, the brother of the starstruck girl tries to ruin Lex's life as much as possible for revenge—and even worse, he's invisible! This is a captivating episode with a decent plot twist, and while it doesn't have any scintillating subplots, it's still a great episode as a whole!

14: Episode 20 - "Obscura"

This episode is very... different. This episode doesn't give the villain an ability but instead gives Lana a temporary ability. Lana gains the ability to see the world through a stranger's eyes through dream spells, and she realizes Chloe was kidnapped by a police assailant looking for an easy promotion. In the meantime, Whitney realizes he wants to do something else with his life, and Lex learns of the spaceship that crashed during the meteor shower. This is one of the more odd episodes of the show, with very little action but great character drama. Ultimately, this is a good episode but not quite an amazing one.

13: Episode 1 - "Pilot"

This is a fantastic introduction to Smallville and an incredible Superman origin story in general. This episode shows Clark being adopted by the Kent family, Clark struggling with his identity, Clark saving Lex Luthor's life, Clark being assaulted by his crush's boyfriend, and beating up an electric villain. As much as I loved the origin story, I prefer the more unpredictable episodes with wacky subplots and great villains. Unfortunately, this episode has the worst villain of the whole season, and it doesn't do much to make it stand out from other Superman-origin stories. A great episode but not an outstanding one.

12: Episode 18 - "Drone"

This episode utilizes the high school setting to its peak possible performance, telling the story of Clark running for class president against three other candidates: the popular drama queen, the unpopular government nerd, and the girl who insists on winning to get into a good college. The college-centered girl happens to have the power to control bees and attempts to use the power to knock the other candidates out of the race. This episode is unbridled, jealous high-school insanity executed perfectly! Yet, somehow, it is still shockingly at the middle of this list.

11: Episode 21 - "Tempest"

This episode isn't the best on a story or conflict level, but it was almost unmatchable in its romantic drama. The love square of Clark, Chloe, Lana, and Whitney was quite intriguing, and the villainous threat had quite a presence. However, many episodes balance the drama, storytelling, and action much better than this episode, in my opinion. And, for that? I can't rightfully rank this episode any higher.

10: Episode 13 - "Kinetic"

After Whitney loses his football scholarship, he's left with an undeterminable future. He ends up hanging out with people "like him", but he is soon entangled in a bank-robbing fiasco that he struggles to break free from. Clark discovers that Whitney has joined the invisible thieves and goes to take him down. This episode is filled to the brim with great action, exhilarating moments, and more, making it a fantastic episode across the board.

9: Episode 19 - "Crush"

This is quite an interesting episode! It focuses on a metahuman who crushes on Chloe, who has the ability to use telekinesis. However, like the majority of Chloe's crushes, everything goes out the window when he uses his power for evil. He kills Principal Kwan, who caused the accident, which led to his hands not working. This episode also leads to some fantastic love triangle drama and more silly Whitney stuff. A great episode all around.

8: Episode 14 - "Zero"

This episode focuses on a shooting that Lex Luthor was allegedly involved in at Club Zero in Metropolis! It also focuses on the subplot of Lana attempting to re-open the Talon and Chloe scoping out Clark's past behind his back. I like the different storytelling angles that the story displays of the same events; it really builds up a lot of impressive tension for an already terrific episode full of hook-line-and-sinker drama.

7: Episode 12 - "Leech"

This episode focuses on a kid who makes a stupid decision in a rainstorm and falls off a bridge. Luckily, Clark is there just in time to save the day, and he catches the kid before he falls. However, lightning strikes them right as this happens, and the electrical current transfers the superpowers of Clark to the kid. Seeing Clark lose his powers is an intriguing character exploration, showing a new side to both him and his family. The power transferral may be a more cliché superhero plotline, but regardless, it was excellently executed! I absolutely adored this episode, and I love every character-centric episode of the show, hence the high-ranking placement on this list.

6: Episode 15 - "Nicodemus"

We've got an episode about evil flowers that make people act all horny. Great. Outside of the sexualized Lana scene, this is quite a great episode. This focuses on an experimental flower laced with meteor-rock pollen from Dr. Hamilton. All the people closest to Clark are eventually infected by the contaminant, which releases the innermost, repressed desires of everyone it affects. Jonathan Kent starts yelling about the Luthors and really shows a primal affection for Martha; Lana expresses her bottled-up feelings for Clark and more! It's an incredibly fun episode that displays a great character study, and I can't stress enough how great this episode is.

5: Episode 9 - "Rogue"

This episode focuses on a corrupt detective, Sam Phelan, who knows all about Clark's abilities and only offers to keep quiet if Clark does his dirty work for him. When Clark refuses Phelan's proposal, Phelan uses his influence to frame Jonathan for murder. I always love episodes where Clark deals with an intellectual villain, as opposed to the typical villains that usually do little harm to him. This is easily one of the show's most intriguing episodes for a variety of reasons, and very few episodes of the show were able to hook me in quite the way this one was able to! Phelan will always stand as one of my favorite Smallville villains of the week due to the intriguing nature of his goals. This is truly Smallville at its finest.

4: Episode 4 - "X-Ray"

Besides gaining the power of X-ray vision rather early in the show in an epic fashion, this episode has quite a lot to offer! The villain here is shapeshifter Tina Greer, who has an undeniable obsession with Lana and the alleged perfect life she has. She comes to the decision that she is going to kill Lana and impersonate her for the rest of her days. With an incredible threat, narrative intrigue, and Clark gaining a new power... what's not to love here?

3: Episode 11 - "Hug"

This is like "Rogue" in the fact that this episode keeps Clark out of physical harm, but it keeps things incredibly interesting since the villain has the ability to successfully broker any deal as long as he shakes the hand of who it is he's striking a deal with. The interesting part is that while the villain uses his ability to harm others, his best friend, who acquired the same ability, hides out as a hermit so nobody can ever be harmed by him again. However, by the end of the episode, this friend uses his ability to do good in the world, making for an interesting moral juxtaposition and foreshadowing of the eventual downfall of Lex and Clark's friendship. What a phenomenally crafted episode this is.

2: Episode 8 - "Jitters"

An old friend of the Kent family, Earl Jenkins, gains an unfortunate ability from the meteor rocks: he violently shakes, and everybody believes he has gone insane. He repeatedly claims that this ailment is caused by illicit operations on an alleged undisclosed area of LutherCorp—the hidden Level 3. This episode has an awesomely tight plot with fun twists and turns that make for an all-time great Smallville episode. Showing the bleak and disheartening side of LutherCorp at its most raw and greedy demonstrates the harsh reality of LutherCorp seasons before it's at its absolute worst. There's only one better episode of the season!

1: Episode 16 - "Ryan"

This is hands-down one of the greatest episodes to grace the show of Smallville! Ryan is one of the show's greatest characters, and his and Clark's brotherly relationship is one of the crowning moments of the series, "Ryan" shows the brilliant emotional storytelling that Smallville is capable of at its earliest, and this episode made me truly fall in love with this show and convinced me to continue watching all of the later seasons! It's phenomenal.

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The Reel Ranker Score:

21: Episode 6
20: Episode 5
19: Episode 17
18: Episode 2
17: Episode 7
16: Episode 3
15: Episode 10
14: Episode 20
13: Episode 1
12: Episode 18
11: Episode 21
10: Episode 13
9: Episode 19
8: Episode 14
7: Episode 12
6: Episode 15
5: Episode 9
4: Episode 4
3: Episode 11
2: Episode 8
1: Episode 16

Common Consensus:

21: Episode 18
20: Episode 17
19: Episode 7
18: Episode 10
17: Episode 5
16: Episode 3
15: Episode 2
14: Episode 13
13: Episode 14
12: Episode 11
11: Episode 8
10: Episode 19
9: Episode 9
8: Episode 4
7: Episode 20
6: Episode 6
5: Episode 15
4: Episode 12
3: Episode 1
2: Episode 16
1: Episode 21