Skinwalkers, during my accelerated catch-up with Smallville (read: downloaded eps) was my shining moment of 'Oh lord, I cannot believe I'm watching a show this cheezy.' For many of the reasons you mention.

I'm not exactly sure why some have termed Whisper as crap, but I'm still too new to the show to have truly discriminating tastes. I'm still in the 'take it as it comes' phase.