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The Best Episodes of Smallville Season 1

Every episode of Smallville Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Smallville Season 1!

Binge this in 15h 10m•Peaking at 8.9/10

The origins of the world’s greatest hero–from Krypton refugee Kal-el’s arrival on Earth through his tumultuous teen years to Clark Kent’s final steps toward embracing his destiny as the Man of Steel.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Smallville Season 1 Episode 21 - Tempest
    8.9/10(2648 votes)

    S1:E21

    Lex is hit with a surprise by his father. Clark prepares for his date with Chloe, but Mother Nature has other plans.

    Director:Greg Beeman
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Smallville Season 1 Episode 16 - Stray
    8.6/10(2669 votes)

    S1:E16

    A young runaway, Ryan, has the power to read minds and flees his abusive stepparents. The Kents take him in and Clark soon discovers the boy's powers and that he's immune to them. But Ryan's stepparents have plans to use the boy's powers for financial gain against...Lex.

    Director:Paul Shapiro
    Writer:Philip Levens

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  3. Smallville Season 1 Episode 1 - Pilot
    8.3/10(4115 votes)

    S1:E1

    The first episode tells the story of the meteor shower that hit Smallville and changed life in the Kansas town forever. Clark Kent meets Lex Luthor for the first time and encounters the first in a long line of humans mutated by the strange green meteor rocks that accompanied him on his journey to Earth.

    Director:David Nutter
    Writers:Miles Millar, Alfred Gough

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  4. Smallville Season 1 Episode 12 - Leech
    8.1/10(2517 votes)

    S1:E12

    Clark's powers are transferred into a classmate during a freak juxtaposition of meteor and storm. Clark must deal with being normal for the first time, and his classmate Eric is unable to cope with the new powers. Can Clark stop Eric's rampage without his abilities?

    Director:Greg Beeman
    Writer:Tim Schlattmann

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  5. Smallville Season 1 Episode 15 - Nicodemus
    8.1/10(2451 votes)

    S1:E15

    A flower that comes from a reopened "Level Three" of the fertilizer plant brings strange reactions from several people, including Jonathan, Lana, and Pete.

    Director:James Marshall
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Smallville Season 1 Episode 6 - Hourglass
    8.0/10(2785 votes)

    S1:E6

    An old man uses green meteor rock to reverse the aging process, then gain vengeance on the children of the jury that put him away decades earlier. Meanwhile, another woman at the same old folks' home has prophetic abilities and she sees the futures of both Clark and Lex.

    Director:Chris Long
    Writer:Doris Egan

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  7. Smallville Season 1 Episode 4 - X-Ray
    7.8/10(2906 votes)

    S1:E4

    Clark begins experiencing "vision problems" as his x-ray vision begins manifesting. Meanwhile a mysterious shapeshifter is going about town using his or her abilities to steal and get others in trouble.

    Director:James Frawley
    Writer:Mark Verheiden

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  8. Smallville Season 1 Episode 9 - Rogue
    7.8/10(2509 votes)

    S1:E9

    Clark visits Metropolis, and does a secret good deed - a police detective witnesses this and decides to look into it.

    Director:David Carson
    Writer:Mark Verheiden

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  9. Smallville Season 1 Episode 19 - Crush
    7.8/10(2269 votes)

    S1:E19

    Former Smallville High cartoonist Justin returns to Smallville after he loses the use of his hands in a hit and run accident. Meanwhile, Lex's former nanny, Pamela, comes back to see how he's doing and to apologize for leaving him after his mother's death, bringing up some old issues for Lex.

    Director:James Marshall
    Writers:Philip Levens, Miles Millar, Alfred Gough

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  10. Smallville Season 1 Episode 20 - Obscura
    7.8/10(2201 votes)

    S1:E20

    After an explosion Lana finds herself getting visions of a serial killer...and his next target is Chloe. Meanwhile Lex and Roger look further into the meteor shower and determine that something besides meteors hit Smallville that day.

    Director:Terrence O'Hara
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Smallville Season 1 Episode 8 - Jitters
    7.7/10(2587 votes)

    S1:E8

    An experiment at the Luthor fertilizer plant makes an old friend of the Kents literally shake and jitter, and he seeks vengeance against the Luthors, who hide the secret of his transformation behind "Level Three" at the local plant.

    Director:Michael W. Watkins
    Writers:Cherie Bennett, Jeff Gottesfeld

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  12. Smallville Season 1 Episode 11 - Hug
    7.7/10(2414 votes)

    S1:E11

    A guy in charge of a rival fertilizer firm to LuthorCorp's arrives in Metropolis. He is intent on buying up the Kent farm and using the land to build a rival company to Lex's. Clark befriends a local recluse with secrets of his own.

    Director:Chris Long
    Writer:Doris Egan

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  13. Smallville Season 1 Episode 14 - Zero
    7.6/10(2336 votes)

    S1:E14

    A man from Lex's past stalks him in conjunction with a mysterious death at Club Zero that Lex may have been responsible for. Meanwhile Chloe looks into Clark's past as an adopted child.

    Director:Michael Katleman
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Smallville Season 1 Episode 2 - Metamorphosis
    7.3/10(3132 votes)

    S1:E2

    Clark must deal with Greg, a nerdish bug collector with a crush on Lana who gains the ability of various insects and uses them to lash out at anyone who opposes him.

    Directors:Philip Sgriccia, Michael W. Watkins
    Writers:Miles Millar, Alfred Gough

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  15. Smallville Season 1 Episode 3 - Hothead
    7.3/10(2937 votes)

    S1:E3

    An abusive and hot-tempered football coach gains the ability to control and project fire.

    Director:Greg Beeman
    Writer:Greg Walker

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  16. Smallville Season 1 Episode 5 - Cool
    7.3/10(2720 votes)

    S1:E5

    A jock named Sean gains the ability to absorb heat from everything and everyone around him, and begins preying on people to gain the heat he needs to survive.

    Director:James A. Contner
    Writer:Michael Green

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  17. Smallville Season 1 Episode 10 - Shimmer
    7.3/10(2437 votes)

    S1:E10

    Lex and Victoria are victims of a suspected household poltergeist. As the disturbances become more violent, suspicion lands on Amy, the daughter of a house servant who is obsessed with Lex. Not is all as it seems...

    Director:D.J. Caruso
    Writers:Mark Verheiden, Michael Green

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  18. Smallville Season 1 Episode 13 - Kinetic
    7.3/10(2321 votes)

    S1:E13

    Whitney falls in with some former jocks who have kryptonite tattoos that give them the power to walk through walls. Meanwhile, Chloe is seriously injured and Lex has his own plans.

    Director:Robert Singer
    Writer:Philip Levens

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  19. Smallville Season 1 Episode 7 - Craving
    7.2/10(2705 votes)

    S1:E7

    A weight-obsessed teen dieting on kryptonite-infected vegetables gains her fondest dream...but must feed on the fat of others to maintain her enhanced appearance.

    Director:Philip Sgriccia
    Writer:Michael Green

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  20. Smallville Season 1 Episode 17 - Reaper
    7.2/10(2230 votes)

    S1:E17

    Tyler gains the power to destroy organic matter with a touch, and resolves to put the dying out of their misery...and Whitney's father is his next target. Meanwhile Lionel and Lex spar over Lionel's rising success in Smallville.

    Director:Terrence O'Hara
    Writer:Cameron Litvack

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  21. Smallville Season 1 Episode 18 - Drone
    7.1/10(2227 votes)

    S1:E18

    Clark gets into a class election and one of his opponents is a krypto-mutant who can control bees. Meanwhile a reporter from Metropolis visits to do a story on Lex.

    Director:Michael Katleman
    Writers:Philip Levens, Michael Green

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Season 1 Ratings Summary

"Tempest" is the best rated episode of "Smallville" season 1. It scored 8.9/10 based on 2648 votes. Directed by Greg Beeman and written by Unknown, it aired on 5/21/2002. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "Stray".