Season six is a season of change for Clark. After he escapes the Phantom Zone, Clark is on a mission to track down the Zoners and to eventually stop Lex from building an army of super soldiers. The arrival of Oliver Queen/Green and John Jones/Martian Manhunter also convinces Clark Kent to finally embrace his destiny and become a hero, instead of moping around Smallville and Metropolis. Meanwhile, Clark struggles in his personal life as the love of his life (Lana) marries Lex Luthor.

The success of season six is due to the charismatic Justin Hartley, who plays Oliver Queen/Green Arrow. Hartley brought new life into the show as a smooth businessman by day, full-fledged hero by night. What made his character so refreshing is that he was already a hero who kicks ass and takes names. Clark, meanwhile, is mostly a local hero who is slowly realizing his destiny. It was great not only to see the contrast between the two, but for Clark to become inspired and influenced by Green Arrow's actions. Note to CW: Give the Green Arrow his own show pronto.

The two other new character additions, Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore) and John Jones/Martian Manhunter (Phil Morris) are also well worth mentioning. Olsen proved to be a welcome love interest for Chloe, while the mysterious bounty hunter/protector Martian Manhunter was a special treat for comic fans. I'm hoping Manhunter will have more to do in season seven, as his appearances in this season were very brief.

Much to my surprise, season six even managed to give Lana something to do. I usually could care less about her romance with Clark, but for the first time in the Lexana marriage episode "Promise," I felt for her and Clark. It was heartbreaking to see Lana coaxed into a marriage with Lex, when she truly wanted to be with Clark. Not to give anything away, but Lana also FINALLY discovers a secret that has been a long time coming. I was very relieved to see the secret revealed (you'll know what I mean when you see it).

As for the highlights of the season, my favorite episodes include:

Arrow- In this episode, we get to see the Green Arrow (aka Oliver Queen) in action using a variety of gadgets and weapons. Additionally, the episode boasts engaging drama between Lois and Oliver, and Oliver and Clark.

Combat- Forget the plot, and enjoy the action. Instead of the usual 30 second to 1 minute skirmishes between Clark and his enemies, we FINALLY get to see a down-and-dirty full on battle between he and a Phantom Zoner named Titan (played by WWE wrestler Kane). THIS is the type of epic fight fans have been waiting to see for six seasons.

Zod- Clark explores the Phantom Zone, Zod takes over Lex, the line "Kneel Before Zod" is uttered, what more could you want?

Justice- Aside from a few cheesy hero money-shots, "Justice" is a fun-filled episode that finally sees Clark stepping out of the barn to take action alongside Green Arrow, Aquaman, and Cyborg. I hope we get to see see the team assemble again in season seven.

Labyrinth- A great alternate reality episode with a delusional Clark that also includes a geektastic appearance by Martian Manhunter/John Jones.

As with any season of "Smallville," there is the usual clunky dialogue (see Impulse/Flash's Spanish lines), questionable character arcs (Lionel's confusing good/bad persona) and plot crutches (the never-ending trips to the hospital, Chloe's magical computer hacking skills). The season is also marred by two dreadful episodes ("Subterranean" and "Prototype.") In "Subterranean" Clark helps out an immigrant child because he connects with him on a personal level (they are both illegal aliens). Since when did "Smallville" become an after school special? "Prototype" is as equally bad in that Lois Lane miraculously has a romantic history with one of Lex's super soldiers played by Helo from "Battlestar Galactica" (Tahmoh Penikett). Nothing says desperation liked a forced love interest subplot.

The DVD

Video:
The widescreen picture quality is about the same as the previous five seasons, which is to say not bad. The skin tones, as usual, are often overly bright due to the lighting. Some scenes also contain slight amounts of grain, but it's hardly noticeable. Everything else (locations, f/x) appear clear.

Sound: The Dolby Surround 5.1 audio track is a great one to crank up the speakers with. The music score, dialogue, action sound f/x (such as Impulse/Flash running) all jive well together. None of the audio aspects overpower the other. A perfectly balanced audio track that is easily one of the most impressive sounding television shows on DVD.

Extras: English, French, and Spanish subtitles.

* On Disk 1 there are two fantastic featurettes titled "Smallville: Big Fans" and "Green Arrow: The Legend Of The Emerald Archer." The 30-minute "Big Fans" contains interviews with fans, the creators, and footage from the San Diego Comic Con. The extra mainly focuses on how "Smallville" has such a devoted and charitable fanbase. We get to see some of the "super" fans, such as Josh and Kristen, who have their own Wall of Weird and throw Superman themed parties for episode viewings. The 25-minute "Green Arrow" featurette is a detailed and informative history of the character, which also features interviews with comic writers and artists like Mark Waid, Neal Adams, and Kevin Smith. As an added bonus, Mark Hamill narrates!

* On disk 2, there are 3 bonus features titled "Smallville Legends: The Oliver Queen Chronicles," "The Making Of Smallville Legends: The Oliver Queen Chronicles," and "Smallville Legends: Justice And Doom." The Queen Chronicles is a laughably bad 6-episode animated mini-series (3 ½ minutes each in length) that "chronicles" the life of Oliver Queen from when he was a child to his days as the Emerald Archer. The episodes contain some ridiculously goofy scenes (a monkey assault, fighting a shark, Lil' John esque music) that taint the character's story. The poor "Sims" esque animation doesn't help either. The three part 9-minute "Making Of" revolves around the pre-production, production, and the animation processes. To round out the extras, there is a five part 10-minute 3D motion digital comic book titled "Justice And Doom." The story concerns the Justice League taking down Lex's super soldiers. The story is so-so and is hampered by the fact that you can't manually flip the pages or switch to panels on your own. This is done for you and it's often so fast that you barely have time to read the print.

* A preview for the animated "Superman Doomsday" on disk six.

* Here's a rundown of the deleted scenes on each disk/episode:

Disk 1. "Sneeze"- Lionel thanks Clark for saving Lex and joins Clark and Martha for dinner.

"Wither"- Two scenes: Lana and Clark talk about Lex and Chloe and Clark talk about Zoners at the hospital.

Disk 2: "Arrow"- Chloe and Clark talk about Lois and Lionel.

"Fallout"- A discussion about Raya and the Zoners.

Disk 3: "Hydro"- A cartoony scene involving a bathroom between Chloe, Jimmy, and Lois.

Disk 4: "Labyrinth"- The only deleted scene that caught my eye. John Jones/Martian Manhunter talks to Clark about his history and background. I'm not sure if every disk will have this problem, but this scene stops at the 2:24 mark and skips to the next deleted scene from "Crimson" 20 seconds later. So, 20 seconds of the scene is missing. It figures an error would occur on the best deleted scene.

"Crimson"- Martha, Lex, and Lana discuss the wedding.

Disk 5: "Freak"- Clark + Chloe + Computer.

"Combat"- Clark talks to another fighter about Titan.

"Progency"- Two scenes: Clark thanks Martha for all she has done for him and Lex talks to Lana about losing the baby.

Disk 6: "Nemesis"- Martha visits Lionel in the hospital.

"Phantom"- Lana talks to Lionel and discusses his threat against Clark.

Overall, the extras are near perfect. The only reason I didn't give the extras a 5 star rating is due to the absence of the "Aquaman" pilot. For over a year now, the pilot has been floating around online but has never been shown on television or released on DVD. Warner Brothers, if you are reading this, please release the pilot on DVD or include it on the "Smallville" season seven DVD.

Final Thoughts:
The sixth season of "Smallville" is the best yet. Any fan of the show or Superman in general shouldn't hesitate to pick this set up. Season seven, which has plenty of treats in store (including Supergirl and the return of Green Arrow), can't come fast enough.

Film and television enthusiast Nick Lyons recently had his first book published titled "Attack of the Sci-Fi Trivia." It is available on Amazon.com.