Season 1 of Smallville features 21 episodes including the pilot.
1) Pilot
Martha Kent wants a child but can’t have one. When a meteor shower devastates Smallville she finds a boy fallen from the sky. Meanwhile little Lana watches her parents be obliterated by a meteorite, and Lionel Luthor finds his son, suddenly bald, in a flattened cornfield. Years later Clark Kent is in high school. He runs into Lex, or vice-versa, actually, and saves his life forging a fast friendship detested by Jonathan Kent. Having discovered Clark’s invulnerability, Jonathan feels it’s time to reveal the whole truth about Clark’s origins, or what they know of his origins, at least. The Smallville jocks have a tradition, every year they take a boy and string him up in a field like a scarecrow. Clark is this year’s patsy. But a scarecrow from the past is back and wanting revenge. The meteors have given him electrical powers, and he will use them to stop the Smallville jocks for good even if it means hurting other people.
-This is a good episode although I thought the end was a little rushed. Another 20 or 30 minutes would have done this episode good.
2) Metamorphosis
Pickup on the same night as the Pilot, Lana is the subject of a bug-loving peeping-tom. This guy gets Spider-Man-like powers thanks to an accident and sets out to remove his competition by taking out Whitney. When Lana finds out what Whitney did to Clark she goes to him putting the fledgling hero in the crosshairs of the bug as new competition.
3) Hothead
The Smallville High football coach is used to winning and people bending over for him because he wins. When he develops the power to generate flames his temper becomes more dangerous. Chloe is getting suspicious of the coach’s mistreatment of the players, and Clark is pulled in the middle.
4) X Ray
Lex is seen robbing a bank, but he has an air-tight alibi. Only Clark’s new X-ray vision abilities can see through the culprit, but this new ability is freaking Clark out. Meanwhile Lex enlists a reporter to unravel the mystery of his crash with Clark.
-Clark’s first super power development plot: watching his struggle with it makes for a great story.
5) Cool
Sean is putting the moves on Chloe and she’s falling for it. Shortly thereafter Sean is trapped in a frozen lake and becomes something like Iceman except that it’s more of an affliction (and this guy is a villain). He remains painfully cold unless he absorbs heat from other things, and human heat lasts the longest. Chloe makes for an easy mark to ease his suffering, but she won’t live through it.
-The effects of heat absorption are inconsistent throughout the episode, and the end is inconclusive.
6) Hourglass
An old man falls into Kryptonite-laden waters and regains his youth. In his younger days he was a psychopath, and he now has the chance to have his revenge on those that sent him to prison. Meanwhile Clark meets a woman that can see the future and gets some disturbing information about the death of a loved one.
-This might be one of the best episodes this season and provides a great glimpse of Clark and Lex’s futures.
7) Craving
Jody is obsessed with losing weight. It pays off impossibly fast as she consumes Kryptonite irradiated veggies. Now she can’t satisfy her hunger and survives by sucking the fat from living beings.
-Amy Adams (who would go on to play Lois Lane in the reboot movies) guest stars.
8) Jitters
Earl gets the shakes real bad, being in his vicinity is like being in an earthquake. He blames a Luthor Corp experiment gone wrong. His only chance for a cure is to find Level 3, but it doesn’t seem to exist. He takes a high school field trip class hostage in an attempt to force Lex to admit a coverup.
-This is one of the best episodes this season thanks in part to Tony Todd’s great performance.
9) Rogue
Clark stops a runaway bus with his shoulder drawing some unwanted curiosity. A shady investigator is wanting to bend Clark to his evil will and frames Jonathan for murder as blackmail.
10) Shimmer
Lex is having trouble with his hired help: Amy has an eye for him and isn’t afraid to show her jealousy. When Lex's live-in girlfriend is attacked by an invisible force, the timing seems suspiciously coincidental, yet the events seem more like the work of a poltergeist than a person.
11) Hug
Something strange is happening in the woods, and people are attributing it to an eccentric recluse, Kyle. When he’s accused of attacking Lana, Clark steps in to investigate. Something is also going on with Bob, a successful but shady tycoon. Everyone seems to do exactly what he wants including Jonathan selling his farm.
12) Leech
During a school field trip a bolt of lightning transfers Clark’s powers to his classmate Eric. Eric wants to be a good guy, but his father keeps pushing him the wrong way. Now powerless Clark must find a way to stop the new super man.
-While not original (at least one other Superman series has done something almost exactly like this only in a different setting) it’s still pretty good. Shawn Ashmore and Kevin McNulty guest star.
13) Kinetic
A group of thieves have the ability to walk through walls. They put Chloe in the hospital and have their sights set on Lex. The Kryptonite that gives them their powers renders Clark helpless in their immediate vicinity making stopping them harder than usual. Lex’s life depends on Clark stopping them, but with Whitney as their new member the stakes are raised.
14) Zero
Years ago Lex was involved in a nasty situation at a night club resulting in a coverup. A man is back from the dead to find answers. Meanwhile Chloe digs into Clark’s adoption.
-This one has a different pace from the others due mostly to jumping around in time. This is another of my favorite episodes this season. Corin Nemec guest stars.
15) Nicodemus
A strange flower is making people behave in irrational ways, then sends them into severe anaphylactic shock. It’s up to Clark and Chloe to unravel the mystery before Jonathan, Lana, and Pete die.
16) Stray
A boy with psychic powers escapes from his criminal parents. He runs into Martha who takes him in. Ryan and Clark really hit it off, but Ryan’s parents will kill to get him back.
-This is one of the more emotionally charged episodes.
17) Reaper
Tyler’s mother wants him to help her die. After a date with death himself Tyler develops the power to turn people instantly to ash. Thinking himself an angel of mercy he sets out to free people from their pain. Even Clark is not immune to his touch.
18) Drone
Pete nominates Clark for class president, but the stakes in this race are much higher than an office; bees are attacking the candidates, and if they can’t get Clark they will go after his family.
19) Crush
An artist with crippled hands finds unusual talents with his mind. He moves in on Chloe, and Clark’s concern looks like unwanted jealousy until people start dying.
20) Obscure
Lana gets caught in an explosion and lands in the hospital. She has a vision of Chloe being abducted and realizes she is seeing through the villain’s eyes. It may be Clark’s only way to find Chloe, but it also puts Lana in the sights of a killer.
21) Tempest
Lionel sets in motion a plant closing that will force Lex to move back to Metropolis. Nixon, the reporter working for Lex, is hot on the trail of Clark’s secret and willing to do anything to get his story. As Lex and Lionel clash and Nixon confronts Jonathan a massive storm front hits the town putting everyone in danger especially Lana who is sucked up into a huge tornado.
-Remy Zero shows up to play a familiar song. I had not planned to get season 2 immediately, but after this episode I couldn’t resist; I went out and got it the next day.