With the character pulled directly from the comics and with stories centered around his experience of discovering Clark Kent is Superman yet to be told, there seemed to be much left for Pete Ross to do in Smallville.
Unfortunately, changes to the Smallville cast seemed to occur rapidly, and with several notable figures. Laura Vandervoort appeared in only one Smallville season and much of her story did not even have the time to wrap up.
The Smallville showrunners seemed to be constantly adjusting the series, and many new characters were added and quickly removed. Pete Ross was, unfortunately, one of these casting casualties.
Pete Ross Was Written Out After Smallville Season 3 For Story Reasons
With The New Additions Of Lois Lane And Jason Teague, There Was Little Room For Pete
Smallville season 4 made some substantial changes to the show, and it seemed that Pete had to be cut to make room. Within the season, Jensen Ackles was added to the main cast as an antagonist, and Erica Durance debuted for a recurring role in the season as Lois Lane.
With these new cast additions, the series had to make some sacrifices, and it appears there wasn't an essential role for Pete Ross to play in the plans for this chapter of the story. Notably, like Jones, Jensen Ackles also left Smallville quite early.
Based on Jones' comments, the showrunners couldn't figure out what to do with his character amid all the story changes. “They said my character had too much pressure with knowing the secret,” he explained at a Comic-Con Liverpool panel.
It seemed that amid adding new stories to season 4, there were no avenues that the showrunners found would make sense for the Pete Ross character, and writing Pete off also served as a way to avoid the issues with the character's awareness of Superman's secret identity.
How Sam Jones III Found Out He Was Leaving Smallville
The Pete Ross Actor Was Put In A Difficult Place At A Convention Appearance
On Talk Ville, a Smallville recap podcast, Sam Jones III went into his dismissal from the series. The actor explained he was told he would be dismissed from the series only briefly before a convention appearance, and then informed he needed to keep the fact he would not return in season 4 a secret.
Jones states that the producers told him, “if the fans ask you about next season, don’t bring it up because we don’t want them to know,” to which he reluctantly consented.
As an actor early in his career, Jones found this difficult. He claims that he had been told that the show was a family, and that's how he looked at it in his time there, making his sudden dismissal a complicated experience that he described as “really heartbreaking."
Why Pete Ross's Return In Smallville Season 7 Was Such A Disappointment
The "Hero" Episode Felt Like A One-Off
Sam Jones III was able to reappear on Smallville several seasons later. Still, many consider Pete's return in Smallville season 7 to be a disappointment, and even to have ruined the character. Returning to the town of Smallville as a roadie, Pete had gained the ability to elongate his body due to chewing on kryptonite bubble gum.
Wishing to be a hero, Pete goes through a rapid character journey across this single episode that left him right where he started: an ordinary, depowered man still grappling with the implications of Clark's secret.
The Pete who appeared in “Hero” did not feel like the same character from the earlier seasons and was, in some ways, a strange degradation. Bringing Pete back for an appearance made sense; however, that opportunity could have been used to give closure to the character.
Instead, he flared up with jealousy in what felt more like a disposable monster-of-the-week episode. Ultimately, none of “Hero” felt true to Pete Ross' development in the show's first three seasons.
This made it all the more disappointing that Ross' initial story in Smallville ended so early, since it never had the chance to live up to his potential in his eventual return, leaving the show with a lot of what-if questions surrounding the character's overall arc.
What Sam Jones III Has Done Since Smallville
After Smallville season 3, Sam Jones III continued working in several movies and TV shows in diverse roles. He played the recurring role of Charlie "Chaz" Pratt Jr. from seasons 11 to 15 of ER. He was also among the many primary cast members of the Disney sports movie, Glory Road, in 2006.
In the same year, he also appeared in the Iraq War drama, Home of the Brave, alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Jessica Biel.
Some might even remember that years after Smallville, he even played the star running back, Craig Shilo, in both Blue Mountain State and Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland. His acting portfolio also includes a few indie movies, like Of Fortune and Gold and All Light Will End.
Outside of acting, Sam Jones III has pursued music after Smallville and released rap tracks under the name KIIINGSAM.
Release Date
2001 - 2011-00-00
Showrunner
Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Brian Peterson, Kelly Souders, Todd Slavkin, Darren Swimmer
Directors
Mike Rohl, Jeannot Szwarc, Glen Winter, Terrence O'Hara, Whitney Ransick, Mairzee Almas, Paul Shapiro, Rick Rosenthal, David Carson, James L. Conway, Chris Long, Michael Katleman, Morgan Beggs, Allison Mack, David Barrett, Marita Grabiak, Michael W. Watkins, Philip Sgriccia, Rick Wallace, Thomas J. Wright, Todd Slavkin, Brad Turner, Charles Beeson, Craig Zisk
Writers
Steven S. DeKnight, Holly Henderson, Don Whitehead, Caroline Dries, Mark Verheiden, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Philip Levens, Jordan Hawley, Kenneth Biller, Michael Green, Drew Z. Greenberg, Geoff Johns, John Chisholm, Drew Landis, Julia Swift, Doris Egan, Tracy Bellomo, Garrett Lerner, Greg Walker, Russel Friend, Shintaro Shimosawa, Tim Schlattmann, todd helbing
English (US) ·