Smallville season 9

Smallville
Season 9
DVD and Blu-ray cover
Starring
No. of episodes21
Release
Original networkThe CW
Original releaseSeptember 25, 2009 (2009-09-25) –
May 14, 2010 (2010-05-14)
Season chronology
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Season 8
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Season 10
List of episodes

The ninth season of Smallville, an American television series, began airing on September 25, 2009. 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 ninth season comprises 21 episodes and concluded its initial airing on May 14, 2010,[1] marking the fourth season to air on The CW television network. After four seasons broadcasting on Thursday nights at 8:00 pm, Smallville was moved to Friday nights at 8:00 pm for season nine, to make room for The Vampire Diaries.[2][3]

This season Clark takes his superhero persona into obsessive territory when he leaves behind those he cares for so that he can focus solely on Jor-El's training. In order to accomplish this, Clark wears a new costume that sports his family crest on the chest. The theme of the season is about Clark finally embracing his alien heritage, while also being his darkest hour thus far. As a result, Clark's relationships with Chloe and Oliver suffered this season. Season nine also saw the introduction of more DC Comics characters, including multiple episode appearances for the Justice Society of America, as well as villain Metallo, and government agent Amanda Waller and an appearance by the Wonder Twins.

Following the end of season eight, Aaron Ashmore and Sam Witwer departed the series after both their characters were killed off. Regular cast members during season nine include Tom Welling, Allison Mack, Erica Durance, Cassidy Freeman, Justin Hartley, and Callum Blue.[4] With the loss of two series regulars, producers had to look for a new primary villain for season nine. Executive producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson decided to use Zod, a character from the comics and Christopher Reeve Superman films. This version of Zod is younger than previous incarnations, including the short appearance he had on Smallville in season six, and goes by the title of "Major Zod". Original depictions list the character as "General Zod".[5]

The season premiere brought in 2.58 million viewers and outperformed any other show in the Friday 8:00 pm timeslot in over a year.[6] Furthermore, "Absolute Justice", a two-hour episode featuring the Justice Society of America, aired on February 5, 2010.[7] In an effort to clear up confusion, the Smallville writers announced on their Twitter page that they still consider the two-hour episode to be two separately produced episodes, but was aired and packaged on the season nine DVD as a single episode.[8][9] Season nine averaged 2.38 million viewers, ranking #129 out of the 140 broadcast primetime shows.[10]

  1. ^ "Smallville Episodes". TV Guide. Retrieved July 9, 2007.
  2. ^ Ausiello, Michael. "Breaking: CW renews 'Smallville', 'Gossip Girl', 'One Tree Hill', 'Supernatural' and '90210'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 25, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  3. ^ "Fall 2009 schedule". TVbythenumbers. May 21, 2009. Archived from the original on May 23, 2009. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
  4. ^ "Smallville Casting News: Callum Blue Has Zod Complex". TVGuide.com. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
  5. ^ Rich Sands (July 21, 2009). "Smallville's Zod Complex". TV Guide. Archived from the original on July 24, 2009. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
  6. ^ Marc Berman (September 30, 2009). "CBS' Tuesday Juggernaut Continues". MediaWeek.com. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference MikeShanks was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference ninth was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Smallville Writers [@SV_Writers] (February 19, 2010). "Smallville writers respond" (Tweet). Archived from the original on October 10, 2010. Retrieved March 9, 2010 – via Twitter.
  10. ^ "Final 2009–10 Broadcast Primetime Show Average Viewership — TV Ratings, Nielsen Ratings, Television Show Ratings". TVbytheNumbers.com. Archived from the original on June 24, 2010. Retrieved June 16, 2010.