“Smallville” exit nearly super

The tenth and final season of “Smallville” may not live up to the high hopes of its longtime fans, but it should certainly meet their expectations.

Anyone who’s stuck with “Smallville” for this long should know what to expect by this point.

As usual, this season offers an increasingly good performance by Tom Welling as Clark Kent, fun teases at Clark’s destiny as Superman and special effects that work far better than the show’s budget should allow. But it also offers plot holes, fight scenes that last all of 30 seconds and plenty of wheel spinning.

We had to endure seasons of “wondering” if Clark and his first sweetheart, Lana, would end up together (hint: She’s not Lois Lane), and this continues with Clark and Erica Durance’s Lois Lane (hint: She’s Lois Lane). Thankfully, Durance and Welling do have good chemistry, despite the writers’ often awkward handling of Lois’ dialogue.

Fans of the writers’ continued obsession of sacking Durance with unbelievably bad analogies will not be let down (“My head is pounding like a mosh pit, and my mouth tastes like armpit”).

“Smallville: The Complete Tenth Season” has its problems, but if you’ve made it this far, there are enough great character moments, fun cameos from the larger DC Comics universe and the return of a certain bald villain from Clark’s past to make it worth your time.