Smallville fans who have been waiting for Clark Kent to finally take flight will have to wait a little longer, as executive producer Al Gough said the show will be sticking to its “No Tights, No Flights” policy this season, despite the arrival of Clark's gravity-fighting biological cousin, Kara.

“We are sticking with that policy as far as Clark [Tom Welling] is concerned,” Gough responded to a fan query via TV Guide, before providing a ray hope by claiming “Kara will be giving [Clark] ‘flying lessons' later in the season.  Although with Clark, they end up being more like ‘falling lessons.'”

Moreover, Kara becomes Clark's primary source of information with regards to his origins.

“Kara will give him an insight into his family [which is seriously screwed up] and his birth planet [which went boom, so there was something seriously screwed up there as well],” Gough said.

This season's Smallville will thus focus on the budding superhero's “struggle between his Kryptonian heritage and his earthly upbringing,” as well as dealing with Kara, a task that has not proven easy.  Clark's relationship with Lana (Kristin Kreuk) will also continue to take center stage, despite the widely-known fact that the couple's romance has no future.

“The fact is, Clark loves Lana, and that is one of the central relationships of the show,” Gough explained.  “She is that crucial first relationship that helps define him and his future relationships with women.  The fact that he screws it up so badly, no matter how hard he tries, is one of the reasons he ends up with Lois [Erica Durance].  Remember… our story is the journey, not the conclusion.”

Fans of Smallville's other central characters need not fret, as the show also has great plans for the likes of Clark's best friend, Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack), and archrival, Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum).  According to Gough, viewers will see Chloe in “quasi-Watchtower mode around episode 11,” and discover that “she is still doing odd jobs for Oliver and the gang on the side.”  Meanwhile, Lex will have more allies this season.

“There may also be someone on the show who is currently on Lex's side and we don't know it yet,” Gough added cryptically.

Catch Smallville every Thursday night at 8/7c on The CW.


-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: TV Guide
(Image Courtesy of The CW)