The Worst Storyline In Smallville Season 4
"Smallville" lasted for 10 seasons, from 2001 to 2011. While it's not as strictly focused on superhero antics as the shows that would follow it, "Smallville" did arguably help pave the way for those shows to eventually exist. Focusing on a young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) and his friends, "Smallville" features Kent's journey from an inexperienced high school student learning to cope with his powers to a grown man ready to take on the mantle of Superman. Of course, the show never really got around to fully showing Clark in the suit, instead choosing to render the outfit in CGI.
Regardless, 10 seasons is a long time for a show to run, and "Smallville" burned through many different storylines on its journey toward that big series finale in Season 10. Not every storyline worked for every fan, but the show remained popular throughout its run. However, one particular storyline in Season 4 of the series proved to be particularly unpopular with the fanbase and critics alike.
Smallville fans hated the witches storyline in Season 4
Over on the r/Smallville subreddit, u/jason_kandel posted about their belief that Jason Teague (Jensen Ackles) was a sympathetic character who was unfairly hated by fans. However, one thing they did note was that the Season 4 witches storyline did not hold up to scrutiny. "That Season 4 witch storyline is the worst story arc of the entire show," they said. "I found it to be really stupid, but Season 4 otherwise is elite."
The storyline in question focuses on Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) being a descendant of Isobel Thoreaux, a witch. One of the main storylines of Season 4 was Clark's quest to find the three Stones of Power, which were Kryptonian crystals that, when combined, would allow Clark to create the Fortress of Solitude. However, Isobel was after the stones herself, and she ended up possessing Lana in Season 4. For a lot of fans, this storyline simply didn't work.
In another post, u/Davecub1979 shared their opinion that the storyline didn't actually amount to much. "It was largely pointless ultimately," they said. "I think the original plan was to lead to more stuff in Season 5 as Jason Teague was supposed to stick around, but Jensen Ackles got the Supernatural gig and an early exit from Smallville." While there's no way to be sure if Ackles would have actually returned, it's clear that a lot of fans don't really hold the witches storyline in high regard.