Smallville's Executive Producer Kelly Souders Talks About The Final Episodes!

Interview by Craig Byrne

Last week, Krypton Site spoke with Smallville's Executive Producer Kelly Souders about the final installments of the series.

The last run of episodes starts April 15 with an episode titled "Kent." From there on out, we will have new episodes through May 13 when the show's 10-year journey comes to an end.

We posted some hints about the finale from Ms. Souders on in a brief interview we put up last week; now, check out what else she had to say about the rest of the series, from this Friday's "Kent" all the way to the end of the show.

Questions are posted in bold; answers are not. Beware of spoilers!

This week's episode sees the return of John Schneider's Jonathan Kent, and several episodes this season have featured John Glover as Lionel. What has it been like to write for those characters again?

It's been so much fun. It's absolutely how we wanted to be spending our final season.

How is this Jonathan Kent different than the one we've seen on the show before?

He's had a rather rough life, and it shows.

What is different about his interaction with Clark this time around?

They interact in a way that we've definitely never seen Clark Kent and Jonathan Kent interact before.

Is it true that the whole bumbling-with-glasses secret identity thing will be expanded upon more in Geoff Johns' episode, "Booster?"

Yes, it will. What's fun about is that we don't only see the surface part of the character - the glasses, the uncertainty of himself, and showing that sort of dorkier side; we get to kind of understand the psychological reasons why he is pushed that way, and we also get to see Lois's hand in helping him create that character.

We've heard a lot about Clark's interaction with Booster Gold, but we've heard very little about what we'll see between him and the Blue Beetle. How will those two characters interact?

On two levels. You'll see the exterior of the character, the superpowered side of him, but Clark will also have a very long-lasting connection with the human element of Blue Beetle.

Which version of Zod is it that we'll see in "Dominion?"

I will just say we're going to see several versions of him.

That's also the episode that will address what happened with Oliver and the darkness, is that correct?

It won't address it completely, but it will be another big notch in that bedpost, shall we say. That Darkseid bedpost!

Recent articles have said that "Prophecy" will have Lois in Clark's shoes a bit and maybe vice versa. Can you talk about that at all?

I think that it's really an episode where you take both characters and their roles and you flip them, and they really understand. In particular, Lois [learns about] who she's about to marry, and being in someone else's shoes is the only way to really understand that person completely. It definitely changes her perception.

What brings Kara back into the story (in "Prophecy")?

I will just say we meet her in a very unexpected place, in a very unexpected way.

Are we going to see any more Justice Leaguers before the series' end?

We will be seeing the introduction of Booster Gold (in "Booster"). We had hoped to bring back more of the JLA in the finale, but had so many people to service. We wanted to be able to bring back Martha and Jonathan. Having Chloe back in the show, and Lionel, and Lex... we really were trying to give time, on screen, to the characters people have loved for an entire decade, and so it got a bit crowded.

What is Tess up to in the final episodes?

Tess's real struggle toward the end of the season is whether or not she's going to lean toward the darker side that she was born out of, or lean toward the good side that she has come to know. That really comes to a head in "Kent" as well; that's sort of the kick off for the issues that she's going to be grappling with up until the final moments.

Is the Granny Goodness angle going to be covered again before the end of the series?

Yes. You'll see Granny again.

What is the feeling that all of you are getting now as you cut together the final episodes of the show?

It's weird. It's very weird. It's like having your daily routine for ten years, and then it just sort of gets yanked away. It's very bittersweet.

Is there any story or character that you wish you had been able to do on the series but couldn't because of outside restrictions from DC or Warner Brothers?

There are so many different properties, and everybody has to keep their avenue their own avenue, and not have cars jumping between the two worlds. Obviously, we love Batman. We love the characters from that world. We love Wonder Woman and the characters from that world. But as we all know, they have their own stories.

Are we going to see Conner Kent again before everything is done?

We will have an update on him, but as we were wrapping storylines up toward the end, we really wanted to focus on the characters that had been a long-time part of the show.

We all know that Al & Miles had a plan for the finale, but at what point did you and Brian decide on what you ultimately ended up with for the final scenes of Smallville?

The scenes that Al & Miles had imagined are real wish fulfillments for fans, so there was no question that those were always going to be part of the finale. As far as everything else, you go along and there are moments that we fell in love with, and the writers and cast fell in love with, so the finale is definitely a smorgasboard of what everybody wanted.

What will you miss the most, yourself, about Smallville?

The people.

What would you have to say to the show's long-time fans about these final episodes?

I hope they enjoy them as much as we've enjoyed bringing them to life.

Are there other hints you can reveal to us about the series finale?

The Luthor family comes to a head.

Did you shoot any alternate endings or anything like that, to throw off potential spoilers?

No. [laughs] We probably should have, but no.

Smallville's 10-year journey comes to an end May 13 on The CW. Don't miss it! Please do not repost this interview on other websites; instead just link directly to it. Thanks!

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Take a look at images from the April 22 episode of Smallville - guest starring Booster Gold!