Smallville: The Complete Second Season

As I write this review, Warner Brothers is trying to get a brand-new Superman motion picture off the ground, and failing pretty miserably at that. If any of the rumors are true - and they are flying around pretty fast and fierce - the producers have taken some pretty serious liberties with the character and (man, I hate this term when it comes to comic book heroes) mythos. So Krypton never blew up? Lex Luthor is an alien? Superman can only fly when he's wearing the suit? Wow - pretty stupid. That's like making a new Batman movie, only this time, instead of his parents being murdered in a random act of street violence, his mother gets paralyzed from the waist down and his dad becomes Two-Face. Or if Peter Parker got bitten by radioactive llama. Or if Catwoman was a character named Patience Phillips who didn't reside in Gotham City, had no connection to Batman, and fought crime in torn leather and open-toed high-heeled shoes.

So where was I? Superman. Most Internet fanboys (myself included) who have heard about these latest revisions to the Man of Steel are bemoaning this abomination of a script, decrying it as being far, far away from the definitive Superman. To which I say: there has never, ever been a definitive Superman. Ever.

The Superman that graced the pages of Action Comics #1 in June of 1938 was little more than an immigrant wish-fulfillment tale, an outsider from another world who would always be different from the "regular" folks, but with powers and abilities that would allow him to assist those without the power, voice, knowledge, or abilities to help themselves. He was a social crusader who stood up to tyrants, war profiteers, union breakers, and white-collar criminals.

Later on came all of the goodies: the planet Krypton as his place-of-birth, his weakness to Kryptonite, archvilllains Lex Luthor, Brainiac, and Mr. Mxyzptlk, his hometown of Smallville, his early existence as Superboy, the Fortress of Solitude, Supergirl, his membership in the Legion of Super-Heroes, Krypto his dog... and these are only a handful of elements that have been added to the legend over the years.

And that's really what Superman is, isn't it? A legend. A character like Zeus, King Arthur, Robin Hood, or Slim Whitman. There have been hundreds if not thousands of tales about them, yet there are very few (if any) definitive versions. Instead, there have been memorable and identifiable renditions of these characters that lovingly adhere themselves to popular awareness.

In my mind, the closest thing to a "definitive" Superman has to be anything drawn by Curt Swan in the Silver Age, Richard Donner's Superman motion picture (pound for pound, still the best superhero movie ever), and Warner Animation's Superman: The Animated Series. However, the WB's Smallville, a weekly hourlong drama that debuted in the fall of 2001, presents a fresh and compelling look at the legend of Superman by focusing on his exploits as a teenager growing up in small town Kansas. It's not only a contemporary update of the life of young Clark Kent and his gradual transition into the role of Earth's mightiest protector; Smallville is, stripped of its novelty, an extremely entertaining program.

The first season of Smallville got off to a bit of a rocky start, as the program didn't really find its footing until midway through the season. The show suffered from what fans called "Freak of the Week" syndrome, in which a new Kryptonite-mutated supervillain would emerge in every episode with some pretty weak storylines. The "Bug Boy" and "Coach Firestarter" episodes come to mind pretty quickly, and it makes me shudder just thinking about them. However, the show gradually shifted into telling more stories that advanced Clark Kent's overall storyline, with multipart episodes that focused on slowly revealing Clark's origin as Kal-El and his "immigration" to Earth, as well as the ongoing storylines of the supporting cast. Not to say that the show still doesn't have an occasional "Freak of the Week", but when they do they are either (1) fewer in frequency or (2) somehow related to the overall show's story arc.

With that out of the way, let's talk about the cast. Tom Welling is pitch-perfect as the teenage Clark Kent. With his tall stature and ripped physique, he certainly looks the part, but he also captures the insecurity and awkwardness of youth while portraying an inner nobility and morality for which his character will eventually become renown. As Lana Lang, Clark's childhood crush and current on-again, off-again love interest, Kristin Kreuk is about as superhumanly lovely as one could imagine. She's the "girl next door" multiplied by about three million, not only because of her phenomenal physical beauty but also due to her bright-eyed, compassionate, down-to-earth demeanor. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see why Clark loves her, or why it rips him apart when he has to push her away in order to keep his powers a secret and keep her from being harmed (people who tend to learn about Clark's powers generally end up dead or insane.)

Michael Rosenbaum brings young Lex Luthor to life in what has become my favorite character of the show. Making Lex Luthor and Clark Kent childhood friends is a novel (and daring) conceit by the show's creators, and it pays off handsomely. Lex adds a darker, more cynical dynamic to Clark's teenage development that was missing in previous iterations of the character. Rosenbaum, who rather ironically provides the voice for the DC superhero "The Flash" on the Justice League animated series, makes Luthor a dark, sympathetic, and conflicted figure. He's charismatic enough to make one want to like him, Machiavellian enough to make one worry if they can trust him, and - since we know his eventual fate - an overall tragic figure. We know he's going to "go bad"; his slow transition from Clark's trusted friend to worst enemy makes for some truly compelling material.

The cast is rounded out by John Schneider as Jonathan Kent, Academy Award-nominated songwriter Annette O'Toole (and a former Lana Lang herself from Superman III) as Martha Kent, John Glover as Lionel Luthor, Sam Jones III as Clark's childhood friend Pete Ross, and Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan, whose unrequited love for Clark has emerged as a critical subplot in the development of the series. The group makes for an attractive ensemble, and there's not a bad apple in the bunch. My only real complaint about the cast could be the little screen time Pete Ross gets (which gets worse in Season Three). As Clark's best friend since childhood, his relationship with Clark gets laid by the wayside in favor of the Clark/Lex dynamic. Every now and then he turns up to provide some expository dialogue, and while he is featured prominently in a few episodes (especially "Duplicity"), his role in the show has slowly diminished over time.

Smallville: The Complete Second Season picks up from the cliffhanger ending that ended Season One, and slowly grows into a stronger and more self-assured show. Over the course of the season we get introduced to heat vision, red Kryptonite, a trip to Metropolis (with a cameo by The Daily Planet), and, in the episode "Rosetta", an appearance by the former Man of Steel Christopher Reeve which stands out as one of the series' best episodes. When I heard bits of John Williams's amazing film orchestrations woven into the show's score, I had goose bumps everywhere.

While still a little bumpy at times, Smallville's second season is a huge step above the first, and remains one of the most entertaining shows on television.

The following episodes are included in this six-DVD set:

Disc One

1. Vortex
2. Heat
3. Duplicity
4. Red

Disc Two

1. Nocturne
2. Redux
3. Lineage
4. Ryan

Disc Three

1. Dichotic
2. Skinwalker
3. Visage
4. Insurgence

Disc Four

1. Suspect
2. Rush
3. Prodigal
4. Fever

Disc Five

1. Rosetta
2. Visitor
3. Precipice
4. Witness

Disc Six

1. Accelerate
2. Calling
3. Exodus

The DVD

Video:

Smallville: The Complete Second Season is presented in a 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio, and has been anamorphically enhanced for your widescreen-viewing pleasure. The show looks great on DVD. Colors are beautifully rendered, lush and vibrant without bleeding or oversaturation. Fleshtones look extremely warm and natural. Image detail is pleasant although not excessively detailed. There is some minor softness to the picture at times but overall sharpness levels are adequate. Contrasts are spot on, but there is some slight lacking in shadow detail. The transfers are fairly clean, with no noticeable compression noise, debris, or speckling. Overall, a clean, nice-looking picture.

Audio:

The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. I would have loved to hear a raucous, fully immersive DD 5.1 soundtrack, but the 2.0 presentation is pretty impressive in and of itself. There is some strong surround activity, LFE punch, and strong dynamism to the score, although I would have appreciated some discrete imaging and directionality to the soundtrack. Dialog levels are strong and bright without hiss or distortion. This is a solid and generally engaging audio experience.

Extras:

Fans of the show will be excited by the extras on this set. There are a handful of deleted scenes, featuring excised footage from the episodes Heat, Duplicity, Dichotic, Prodigal, Fever, and Exodus. There are also commentary tracks on two episodes: Red and Rosetta. Both episodes contain two commentary tracks: one by series creators Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and writer/consulting Jeph Loeb (who has also done extensive Superman works in comics, including writing Superman and the amazing Superman/Batman book), and another by cast members Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk, Michael Rosenbaum, and producer Greg Beeman. The former group provides more behind-the-scenes material, while the latter provide more screen-specific information. Both tracks are entertaining and informative, and well worth your time.

Disc Six has a gaggle of featurettes for your enjoyment. Christopher Reeve: The Man of Steel runs slightly over ten minutes and is a look at the man who, for many, represents popular culture's most "definitive" Superman. The featurette showcases the show's creators as they discuss how they always wanted to secure Reeve's participation in the show, as well as interview footage of Reeve himself discussing the iconic character of Superman, his meaning to millions of fans for decades, and his feelings about Smallville. Famed comic painter Alex Ross (who painted "Kingdom Come", what some consider to be one of the great Superman stories ever) also adds his thoughts about Reeve's portrayal of the man of steel. Tom Welling is also heavily featured, sharing his feelings about meeting Reeve and comparing Reeve's interpretation of the character to his own.

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet: The Visual FX of Smallville is just that: a look into how the team of visual effects creators develop Smallville's special effects. The 11-minute featurette examines how they create x-ray vision, heat vision, superspeed, and other nifty CGI elements. It's all too easy to take CGI for granted, given how commplace it is in television and movies, but the group here does some pretty nifty work with a very quick turnaround.

The Chloe Chronicles runs about fourteen minute in length. These short features were produced as "webisodes" and delivered as original content for AOL subscribers. They feature the adorable Allison Mack in character as Chloe Sullivan, as she investigates weirdness around Smallville and reports her findings online. These "webisodes" were actually pretty fun. They would almost make me want to think about possibly ever entertaining the notion of getting utterly blotto and pretending that I might even consider making a joke about how I might want to subscribe to AOL. Then I laugh myself silly and longingly stare at Ms. Mack's rather bountiful assets.

Finally, a Gag Reel has six minutes of silly outtakes and screwups that fans of the series will enjoy.

Final Thoughts

Even if I hadn't been a total and unwavering Superman geek since as long as I can remember, it would be very difficult for me to not love Smallville. It features an attractive cast, great writing, intriguing storylines, and quite simply, provides pure fun week after week. Warner's brand new, six DVD set featuring The Complete Second Season is a winner, with a great presentation of the show and a host of extras that will please the discriminating Smallville fan. With a retail price lower than many similarly-styled sets, Smallville: The Complete Second Season comes very highly-recommended indeed. Bring on Season Three ASAP, Warners!