LOIS AND CLARK SEASON 3 DVD TALK REVIEW

The Show:

With all of the excitement surrounding Superman these days it's definitely worth it for fans to take a gander at prior takes on the character. From Reeve's riveting performances in the films to the animated series there is something a little different about each incarnation. Lois & Clark: The Adventures of Superman is a prime example.

During the 90s this superhero soap-opera was one of the hottest tickets on TV. It single handedly put Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain on the map and brought Superman's character to a new generation. The series caught on like wildfire and amassed an incredibly diverse fan base that extended beyond those who loved the comic books. Purists of the printed form may have scoffed about this that or the next thing, but when you got right down to it you couldn't argue that Lois & Clark was entertaining.

Throughout the first two seasons of the show the writers played often less-than-subtle inferences into the love triangle between Lois, Clark, and Superman. I suppose you could argue that it was a quadrangle with Lex Luthor tossed into the mix, but that's a conversation for another day. Cain and Hatcher had near perfect chemistry and they played off of each other very well. The cutesy relationship type banter was great for a while but towards the end of the second season and beginning of the third it appeared as if the writers had run out of ideas so they took it to the next step.

I don't believe I have ever watched a show that propelled its characters (after just two seasons) into a serious commitment like marriage. A significant change like this is usually a bullet to the dynamic of the show and eliminates a good portion of viewers. It should be no surprise then that after watching the third season its plain as the "S" on Superman's chest that even he couldn't dodge this bullet. This season was probably the kryptonite that brought the series to its knees.

Now don't get me wrong. There are quite a few episodes here that are highly entertaining and several guest stars make note-worthy appearances. It's just that with a looming wedding, pre-marital stress, and a villain of the week popping up every now and then it gets old fast. As a viewer I was left with the impression that the writers hit a block and found themselves disconnected from reality. Several episodes in this season left me scratching my head and wondering how many shots of tequila were involved in their creation. Other ones left me in stitches and relatively entertained. It's a rollercoaster ride, with so many ups and downs, that you never know what you're going to be subjected to next.

I'm not going to beat around the bush; there are some absolutely terrible plotlines to be found in this season. The "Super Mann" episode comes to mind when thinking of some low points. In that particular story Nazi's from World War II are revived in an attempt to take over the world. Whoopee! Another golden moment from this season ("Ordinary People") includes a pissy guy in a box who is obsessed with installing his head on Superman's body. From there things get even goofier when Lex Luthor's bastard child traps Lois and Clark in a virtual reality Metropolis in the episode "Virtually Destroyed."

Then to top it all of Lois' ex-boyfriend comes to town in "When Irish Eyes are Killing." The episode isn't worth mentioning because of the plot involving a druid and some human sacrifice. I found it to be better served as a metaphor for the season. In one particular scene Jimmy asks Lois to spot him a $20 but when she hands him the bill a quick pause of the DVD reveals that the currency is indeed a one dollar bill. That's the best way to describe this show. You come hoping for, and expecting, a Jackson but the rug is pulled out from beneath and all you are left with is a Washington.

If you're still checking out episodes after being subjected to the lowest of the low, there are a few gems hidden among the roughage. In the last season the characters of Tempus and H. G. Wells were introduced with an impressive amount of flare. Both characters return with more time traveling goodness in "Tempus Anyone?" that sees Lois taken to an alternate universe where there is no Superman and Tempus is trying to take over the world.

Other episodes like "Ultra Woman" and "Chip off the old Clark" were also very entertaining. In the former Lois finds herself equipped with Superman's powers after getting shot by a blast of red kryptonite. Hilarity ensues as she herself dons spandex and begins fighting crime. Along the same lines, "Chip off the old Clark" involves a plot that brings Superman's alleged "love child" into the picture. Things are not exactly as they seem but the kid can fly, lift sofas, and punch through walls so naturally Clark has some explaining to do to Lois.

The season ender was another interesting storyline that featured more Kryptonians and a plot to bring Clark to New Krypton as one of their rulers. The noble blood that runs through his veins gets him in trouble when he finds out that he was betrothed at birth to another of his kind. Naturally this causes some friction between him and Lois. In the end Clark is forced to decide between helping his own race and remaining on Earth.

Between the good and the bad episodes found in this season there are several that are just kind of there. Most are villain of the week stints but there is a lengthy arc involving the wedding of Lois and Clark. Let's just say that the plot involves Lex Luthor, human clones made from frogs, a bout of amnesia, and more exposure to Clark's bitchy future in-laws. Is this an important part of the overall story for this season? Yes, yes it is. But did it have to be so asinine?

Let's get one thing straight; I used to LOVE Lois & Clark. When the show aired I tuned in every week to see what was going on. Though, I do have to admit that I drifted away from the series around the end of the second season. I caught a couple of episodes from the third season every now and then, but the writing (and acting) fell to such a degree that the show couldn't be taken seriously anymore. What was once an insightful and entertaining look at the world of Superman turned into an immature soap opera that never went anywhere. Diehard fans of the series will get the most out of the episodes in this season but even then you will still be taking the good with the bad.

The DVD:

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Video:

Originally airing in the 1995 to 1996 season, the third time around for Lois & Clark holds up pretty well on DVD. Compared to prior seasons and other TV shows from the time period the 1.33:1 full frame image is looking good. The video has been cleaned up with sharper detail and less compression, though a few of the minor bumps in the road still remain. Darker spots show off grain and several scenes are softer than others.

Audio:

Just as you'd expect the audio presentation for Lois & Clark comes in the form of Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. For what it is the quality is decent though you obviously can't expect too much from the soundstage in terms of technical brilliance. Dialogue and music tend to drown together at times and voices offer very limited directionality between the two channels. French and Spanish subtitles are the only ones available here, so if you were looking for English you're just out of luck.

Extras:

A few bonus features make their way onto the boxed set though none of them are really that spectacular. In "Lois and Clark a History of Romance" various people involved in Superman projects (including an oddly blonde Dean Cain) take a look at the relationship of the two characters from comic books to the big screen. It's not that long of a feature and it's not the most in depth but Superman aficionados will get some satisfaction out of it.

A laughably simplistic Superman trivia game is included with several plugs for "the upcoming film, Superman Returns." And what's your reward for sitting through the trivia? A lame smattering of video compiled from the events of this season. Apart from some trailers and an excerpt from Look, Up in the Sky - The Amazing Story of Superman there is nothing else to entice fans to explore the DVDs.

Final Thoughts: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman was a show that had a lot going for it. An attractive cast with good chemistry and decent stories kept things rolling for a while, but the third season is where we see the train wreck begin to happen. The writing went downhill in a big way and good ideas were poorly executed. There are a few diamonds in the rough to be found in this season but as a whole much of what's here exemplifies the immaturity that seeped into the show by this point. Diehard fans will get the most out of the set whereas casual viewers and the uninitiated could easily get by with a rental.

LOIS AND CLARK SEASON 2 DVD TALK REVIEW

The Show:

Over the years there have been several actors to don the red cape of Superman. The character has seen something of a James Bond-like representation where every few years somebody different gets a turn. From Christopher Reeve to the newest Kent, Brandon Routh, each actor has brought something different to the table. During the 90s it was relative newcomer Dean Cain's turn to slip into the tights.

I always enjoyed Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. The first couple of seasons were a very enjoyable modern spin on a classic story. Dean was not the best Superman for my money and watching the man try to act was downright painful at times, but you do have to admit that he looked the part in just about every regard. One thing that really saved the show from his limited theatrics was the cast that surrounded him. Lois Lane's shoes were expertly filled by Teri Hatcher, Jonathan and Martha Kent were played by the loveable Eddie Jones and K Callan, and the late Lane Smith portrayed the best Perry White ever caught on film.

In regards to the casting chair there were a few changes afoot this year. Michael Landes role as Jimmy Olsen was replaced by the much superior Justin Whalin, who seemed to be much better suited for the role. "Cat" was also axed from the script so in this second season don't expect to be seeing Tracy Scoggins slinking around. Also, if you watched the first season then you know that at the cliffhanger ending Lex Luthor wound up as a sidewalk pancake. However, don't be surprised if you see his character pop up again sometime this season. True evil never dies I suppose.

Aside from Lex Luthor taking a nosedive from a skyscraper, what else happened last season that you may need a recap on? Well, basically not a lot. The first season of Lois & Clark was really all about character and relationship development. There weren't a lot of plots in those episodes that really affect stuff this time around, but it sets up more of an appreciation for the content here. The biggest thing that carries over for much of this season is the lack of the Luthor character. Every hero needs a nemesis so without Lex wheeling and dealing the show had a gap that found itself filled by random villains; the biggest of which was a crime syndicate known as Intergang.

Intergang was lead by a gentleman named Bill Church (Peter Boyle) who first appeared in the episode "Church of Metropolis". His son was portrayed by cult favorite Bruce Campbell, who really added a lot of personality to the organization. Some other minor villains that pop up this season are the Prankster (Bronson Pinchot), Metallo (Scott Valentine), and even the ex Mrs. Luthor. While all these characters do make for some good television the "challenges" that are faced this season are more romantic in nature as Lois and Clark's relationship gets more serious. Of course there are still plenty of good stand alone episodes as well.

"Tempus Fugitive" was an episode that I would definitely categorize under the word "interesting". While playing with his time machine H.G. Wells managed to get himself in a bit of a bind with a guy named Tempus. It seems that he landed in the future where Lois and Clark crafted a world where there was no crime or violence. In other words it was a pretty boring place and nothing good was ever on TV. This drove Tempus to the point where he wanted to kill Superman and prevent the timeline from ever happening. Wells travels back to current time in order to warn Lois and Clark about the imminent threat. This episode was about as campy as it can get, but you have to take everything into consideration here. I mean this is a superhero show, so there's going to be a lot of goofy stuff.

In another suspension of disbelief episode, "The Phoenix" brings Lex Luthor back from the dead. After the jump that he had he really should have looked like a bowl of Wendy's chili, but super Dr. Gretchen Kelly (Denise Crosby � yes� Tasha Yar from Star Trek) puts Humpty Dumpty back together again. It's never really explained how, but I guess that's probably a good thing. Going through Luthor's resurrection was something that the show needed at this point, since you can't really have Superman without the Lex. That's kind of like Batman without the Joker; it's just not meant to be.

Another notable episode from this season is "Individual Responsibility" which features a lackadaisical Clark after he was exposed to red kryptonite. "Whine, Whine, Whine" was an interesting one as well and focused on Superman being sued after saving a person's life for breaking their wrist in the process. For the most part the rest of the season does feature some very worthwhile episodes, but it certainly has its fair share of stinkers too. I suppose you could say that about any show, though having your executive producers change between seasons is a sign of trouble.

If you remember the show, you probably recall it as a superhero laden soap opera. For the most part that's an accurate assessment, especially for the second season. Throughout the twenty two episodes here we see Lois and Clark stare and fawn over each other. Some of the stuff is handled delicately while other bits are far too sappy for their own good. My biggest complaint revolving around the two of them came at the end of the season. I'm not going to get into the nitty gritty details, but let's just say that things moved too quickly for their own good and from that point on it pretty much put a bullet in the show.

Just like the first season, the second one offers a lot to love. The humor is sometimes subtle, sometimes forced, but the show will keep you laughing more often than not. The whole love angle gets old after a little while, but as the show progressed I found myself rooting for them to get together and Clark to tell Lois his true identity. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman is an example of a show from the 90s that had a great concept and did a lot of stuff right, but eventually got too corny for its own good. This season is about as good as the first, but most anything after this is borderline embarrassing.

The DVD:

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Presentation:

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman is presented with the original 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio that it was broadcast with back in 1994. In the first season the biggest quality offenders were a load of grain and some soft images and for the most part those problems have diminished slightly for the second season. Don't get me wrong, the show doesn't look "great", it just looks better. Sure it still has all of the complaints we had about the first set, but the later production date has seemed to help the quality of this release.

Audio:

English is the only spoken language that is selectable for the show, though there are subtitles for English, French and Spanish as well. The presentation comes across in the form of Dolby Digital 2.0 so you should pretty much know what to expect from the stereo track. There's a certain lack of directionality and impact, but for what it is the show sounds decent enough. I didn't encounter any technical issues during my viewing so things in that sense seem to be smooth sailing.

Extras:

The DVDs are presented in exactly the same fashion as the first season box set. The six discs overlap each other in the case and episode information is printed on the sleeves. Most all of the bonus material has been placed on the sixth disc in the set though a random commentary does appear for the episode "Season's Greedings". That particular episode was written by Dean Cain so it seems only fitting that he talk about it. The only problem is that he basically just narrates certain points of the episode and it really boils down to "that was really fun" and "oh yeah, that's Dick Van Patten". Needless to say as far as commentaries go, this one is really boring and rather pointless.

On the sixth disc there are two features. "Lois & Clark: Secrets of Season 2" clocks in at just over ten minutes and is full of some Cain, Whalin, and some producers talking about the show and the changes in this season. There's nothing groundbreaking about the feature and it's nothing that you won't learn from watching the episodes here anyway. Don't expect to see Teri Hatcher though; she apparently was too busy with Desperate Housewives stuff to pop in for this special feature. At eight and a half minutes "Marveling Metropolis: The Fans of Lois & Clark" is a cute little extra that pays homage to fans of the show. There's a little Q&A video between the fans, the producers and Cain, but it appears that they never got to meet each other for it.

Final Thoughts: Sure Smallville may be what's hot on TV right now and there's a new Superman movie on the horizon, but back in the 90s this show was about as good as it got. It may not have been exactly the type of material that comic book fans wanted, but it certainly had its appeal, especially to those rooting for the romance. The second season offers a bunch of good episodes with only a few not so good ones and is a must have if you liked the first season. Just keep in mind for the future that seasons three and four were nowhere near as good as one and two. Recommended

LOIS AND CLARK SEASON 1 DVD TALK REVIEW

The Show
The creators of "Smallville" hit upon an excellent formula by taking a superhero and making a teen drama out of him. Of course, like just about anything good, the concept is not that new. 12 years ago, Superman became almost a supporting character in "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," as reporters Lois Lane and Clark Kent took the spotlight. And with a pair of good-looking and talented leads in Teri Hatcher ("Desperate Housewives") and Dean Cain ("Ripley's Believe It or Not"), there were plenty of reasons to watch them work out their relationship against the backdrop of Metropolis.

The series had something of a "Moonlighting" vibe thanks to the adversarial/romantic thing going on between Lois and Clark, but didn't rely on sexual tension to carry the series. Instead, the true competition and friendship between them made for fun adventures, tinged with the excitement of a two-person love triangle, with Clark desiring Lois and Lois desiring Superman.

Of course, there's a fourth member of the triangle, and that's Supes' archnemesis, Lex Luthor (John Shea, the poor man's Warren Beatty). Wanting Lois and hating Superman, Luthor is the polar opposite of Batman, a man without powers, who has built himself into a being with a one-track mind, who is capable of overwhelming evil. This season sees the Luthor story travel what seems like an entire story arc, to a somewhat silly and unpredictable end.

Though the series is definitely focused on the everyday lives of the two reporters, there's no lack of action. But despite Supes' presence, only a few "supervillains" actually make appearances, and none are of them are of the tight-wearing type. Most are either criminal masterminds, cronies of Luther or plotters who are in over their heads. Unless some kryptonite is in the mix, Superman doesn't have much competition, allowing his adventures to remain mostly rescues, and not overwhelm the Lois/Clark storylines.

Cain was quite a find to don Big Blue' suit, as he was able to strike a balance between movie-star good looks and good-guy personality, so as to appeal to men and woman. Those are just the kind of traits that Superman needs to work as a character. He's got to be big and strong to be a believable Superman, and down-to-earth enough to fool people as Clark Kent (even if he shouldn't be able to do it with a pair of glasses.) Cain fits the bill and he had good chemistry with Hatcher.

Though she had a pretty good career up this point, on TV and in films, Hatcher also broke out in this show. Portraying Lois allowed her to show a full range of acting ability; playing her as sexy, smart, tough and sweet. The actress playing this role was always going to be the center of the show, and a lot would ride on her ability to play a strong-willed woman without tipping over the edge into "bitch" territory, and losing half the audience. Hatcher, thanks to a natural sense of humor, does this quite well.

Accompanying the two leads was a fine supporting cast, including the best Perry White for my money, Lane Smith. A father figure and a dominant personality, Smith's Perry was exactly the kind of editor I would want to work for at a newspaper. Meanwhile, Tracy Scoggins filled the sexpot role to a pair of T's as gossip columnist Cat Grant, giving the show the jiggle-factor that would keep the guys hanging on between battles. The only member of the planet's staff that didn't work was a big one, and that was Michael Landes as Jimmy Olsen. Landes was a bit too cool for Clark's sidekick, and the decision to replace him with Justin Whalin in the second season was a smart one.

With the big city ably stocked, Clark's hometown retreat of Smallville would need a Ma and Pa Kent, and the casting director found a pair of gems in Eddie Jones and K Callan. I can't even think of Superman's adoptive parents without seeing these two. It probably has a lot to do with how the series kept them tied in with their son throughout the series, starting with their involvement in the pilot. Making him so connected to his home grounded Superman and made his "aw shucks" persona much more believable.

Shot on location and on film, the show has a great visual style, with colorful, almost comic-book inspired sets, especially at The Daily Planet. There's no one style you could use to describe this show, as the mix of writing styles affects the way the stories are told, and the series can go from sitcom comedy to workplace drama to superhero action before landing on romance. It could have ended up as a hodgepodge failure that tried to be everything to everyone, but instead became a nice, entertaining blend of genres.

Of the first season episodes, there are several highlights, mostly episodes that cover major developments in Supes' life. "Neverending Battle" is a big costume episode, as Luther puts his foe through his paces to determine his weaknesses, while Clark learns more about himself through a globe in his ship, in "Foundling," which introduces the Kryptonian's father Jor-El to the show. "The Man of Steel Bars" represents Superman as a public enemy, as he is blamed for a winter heat wave. And the best of the bunch is probably the two-part season finale, which packs a ton into the storyline, setting up changes for the second season.

The DVDs
The 21 first-season episodes are spread across six DVDs, with two on the first platter (including the 90-minute pilot (two hours with commercials)), four on discs two through five and three on the final disc. The DVDs are packaged in a five-panel digipack, inside a holofoil-cover slipcase. The discs are packaged two per panel, one partially overlaying the other, though not touching. The packaging includes episode listings, including the writer, director and airdate and a summary.

The discs feature animated anamorphic widescreen menus, with footage from the show. Choices include a play-all option, episode selections, special features and language set-up. Oddly, four of the DVDs have no bonus materials, but still have the option, which leads to a blank menu. The episode selection menu has titles for each episode, while language options are limited to one English track and subtitles in English, Spanish and French. The episodes also have closed captioning.

The Quality
At first, the video didn't impress as hoped, as the full-frame image often features dull color and excessive grain. It also suffers from softness that reduces the level of fine detail in the transfer and some pixilation can be seen as well, with the special effects shots being the worst offenders. But, in its favor, the transfers are pretty consistent, and the problems mentioned above aren't always present. A remastered set of transfers would have been a nice touch, though the episodes in the second half of the season look much better than the first half.

The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and comes across crystal clear. Dialogue and musical soundtracks are delivered distinctively, and sound effects are nice and loud when needed. The speakers don't see much in the way of stereo separation, but the sound has a nice power to it.

The Extras
The first disc has a nearly 20-minute presentation reel that series creator Deborah Joy LeVine first unveiled at the San Diego Comic Con. The reel begins with a video introduction by LeVine, in which she explains the pressure she felt, and proceeds to illustrate the main concepts of the pilot episode through short snippets of the show. It's the same footage seen in the pilot on this disc, but it's an interesting piece of history and a chance to see a work in progress (hint: look for the wires.)

The disc also includes a commentary track on the pilot episode with Cain, LeVine, and director Robert Butler. As it's the only commentary provided, it's a combination of a screen-specific commentary and a season overview, providing plenty of behind-the-scenes info and stories from the production. Anyone who's a fan of the series should find this very friendly chat an entertaining listen.

The next four discs are barren in terms of bonuses, but the sixth disc picks up some of the slack with a pair of featurettes. "From Rivals to Romance: The Making of 'Lois & Clark'" covers the creation of the series in some depth, featuring interviews with several cast members, including Cain and Hatcher, some of the crew, and even Superman comic editor Mike Carlin. In combination with the pilot commentary, this 25-minute featurette should leave few questions unanswered.

Clocking in at under seven minutes is "Taking Flight: The Visual Effects of 'Lois & Clark,'" a look at how the series' many special effects were created. New interviews with the cast and crew are mixed with before-and-after footage to show how shots were achieved. There's nothing all that high-tech, but nonetheless it's fun, and the cast and crew seem to enjoy talking about it.

As a nice bonus bonus, the 7th volume of Warner Brother's 50-Years celebration DVDs is included in the package, and this time the inclusion makes sense, as it's the fourth-season premiere of "Smallville," the episode entitled "Crusade." Thankfully, despite the disc being marked "Standard," it's actually presented in anamorphic widescreen. The fourth season isn't released on DVD until September, so it's a chance to get a quality widescreen copy of this episode early.

The Bottom Line "Lois & Clark" represented one of the first post-modern takes on popular superheroes, a comic-book show that didn't rely on the tights to entertain. By focusing on the man behind the Man of Steel, the series could tell stories that previous versions of the character couldn't touch, while still incorporating enough action to keep the comic-book geeks interested. The DVD collection is a bit wanting in terms of extras, considering the amount of discs, and the picture quality seems rather blah for most of the season, but the series still holds up more than 10 years later, and the extras, what there are of them, are pretty good. This set is recommended for anyone who enjoyed it when it was originally on the air.

SUPERBOY SEASON 1 DVD TALK REVIEW

I knew a couple of people who enjoyed the Superboy TV show (later re-named the Adventures of Superboy) when it was airing in the late 80's and early 90's.� Running for four seasons in syndication, the program had a fair following though I never had the chance to catch it, either being in grad school or starting my first job, both of which took up most of my time.� Being a comic geek from way back, I was excited when I discovered that this series was coming to DVD.� It was produced by Iyla & Alexander Salkind who were behind the 80's Superman films, and it lasted a while, so it probably wasn't all bad.� Unfortunately this first season isn't very good either.� It starts off slow and only raises to the level of mediocre on a few episodes, and those are pretty rare.
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Clark (Superboy) Kent (played by John Haymes Newton in this first season) is attending Shuster University along with his pal T. J. White (son of Daily Planet editor Perry White played by James Calvert) and love interest Lana Lang (Stacy Haiduk).� He's a reporter for the school newspaper, but whenever a crooked business magnate or mob boss comes to town, the young strapping lad strips off his street clothes and removes his glasses to reveal the late-teen of steel:� Superboy!�
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Though the show has a lot of promise, and it does get better as it goes on, there's a lot wrong with this series.� It was a mistake to move this to a college setting, having him go to high school and living at home would have given the creators the opportunity to mine some of the continuity from the comics, but that's not the reason the show fails.� It the horrible plots, terrible acting, weak effects, and inane dialog that make this set so weak.
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Being a show aimed at younger audiences the episodes are fairly formulaic.� The only problem is that the formula doesn't leave a lot of room for Superboy.� He appears in costume twice an episode, and those appearances are brief.� Hey, we want to see the superhero, not his alterego being meek and mild.�
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A majority of the villains are your run-of-the-mill crooks too.� Though there are some aliens who cause some trouble, but the majority of the foes are just ordinary people, and that doesn't make for an exciting program.
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A typical episode from this first season is Troubled Waters.� In this epic, a slimy businessman is trying to buy up all of the farmland in Smallville.� Pa Kent (Stuart Whitman) thinks that something's up and convinces his neighbors not to sell until he can go to the state capital and talk with the geologists there to see if there are valuable resources under their land.�� Pre-dating The Straight Story by over a decade, bright and early the next day Pa jumps on his tractor to drive to the capital.� Unfortunately, the tractor has been tampered with, something goes wrong and Pa drives into a ditch where he falls onto some grass and sod and ends up in the hospital.
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Hearing that his father is hurt, Clark rushes back to his home town.� He catches a plane, then takes a bus and finally ends up home.� Apparently the show's budget wouldn't allow him to fly back home, and that would have also added some excitement to the show, and we wouldn't want that.
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Nearly half way through the program, Clark finally changes to Superboy and flies over the farmland looking for large mineral deposits.� The only thing he finds is an exceedingly rare "underground river."� (Water doesn't travel underground in rivers, but no one ever told the writer that.)� It turns out that the business man wants to buy up all the land so he can sell the water to a nearby town.� Why he doesn't just buy one farm and drill a well is never explained.
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After his idiotic henchmen make another attempt on Pa Kent's life, Mr. Kent convinces the kindly banker to give everyone an extension on their loans until they can sell the grain in a grain elevator outside of town.� (Why not just sell the water that's so valuable someone's willing to kill for it?)� Seeing one last chance, the slimy businessman fills the silo with hydrogen gas, a large tank of which is conveniently located right next to the storage unit.� Superboy destroys the detonator with his heat vision before the grain can be blown up which causes the villain's car to spin out of control (???).� Landing on the trunk of the convertible, Superboy announces that the crook "can get all of the water [he] wants for free�.in jail!"
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The acting is really bad too.� I mean cringe worthy.� Though all of the main actors went on to bigger and better things, this show gives a new meaning to the term wooden.� It is comical how poorly some of the lines are delivered and how ludicrous the gestures are.� In one episode Superboy flies off from his parent's house and his mother raises her fist in the air which not only makes no sense, but looks incredibly stupid.
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The worst acting job award goes to Michael J. Pollard who played the 5^th dimensional magical imp Mr. Mxyzptlk.� This nemesis, taken straight from the comics and appearing in an episode written by comic legend Denny O'Neil would have been a lot better if Pollard had ever read one of the comics or even had a basic understanding of the character.� He plays the mischievous menace without any of the humor or light-heartedness that makes his comic appearances so memorable.� All of the imp's lines are delivered in a flat monotone and the actor never gets in the spirit of the character.
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You have to give the cast some leeway though, they didn't have a lot to work with.� The scripts are generally poor and some of the dialog is laughable.� The fact that they were able to deliver some of these lines without laughing is very admirable.� Saying something like "Pain never hurt anyone" is hard enough, but it actually gets worse than that.� At one point Superboy is flying a hood to the local marina.� They fly over a large bay with many docks that have boats tied to them.� "Is that the marina?" asks Superboy.� What else could it be???
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Technically the show was pretty poor also.� Some outside scenes are too bright, and others are too dark.� At one point Clark and Lana walk under an overhang and into a shadow where they stand and talk.� Their features are totally obscured and only two dark outlines appear on the screen.� That would have been a great candidate for reshooting.
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The show does improve over the course of the season, and a couple were fun to watch.� The Beast and Beauty where a someone dresses up as Superboy and robs stores was good, and the final episode in the season, Luthor Unleashed, was arguably the best.� In this show a young Luthor steals a secret weapon and agrees to sell it to the person who can kill Superboy.� They also adapt Luthor's origin from the comics which worked very well.� If the whole series was as good as this episode it would have been very enjoyable.

The DVD:

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Audio:
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The stereo soundtrack was about average.� There was a bit of light distortion in a couple of areas, and the levels are low overall, but there weren't any major problems.� The dialog was distinct and the music, though not very dynamic, was sounded adequate.
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Video:�
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The full frame color video was less than average for a show this old.� I was pretty disappointed in the way it looked.� There was a good amount of aliasing in the background, color bleed was prevalent, and the image was very soft.� While it was still watchable, viewers won't be overly pleased.
Extras: This set includes two commentaries, to the episodes Revenge of the Alien Part 2 and Meet Mr. Mxyzptlk, with star John Haymes Newton and producer Ilya Salkind.� Ilya was the more serious of the two, but I enjoyed Newton's comments more.� He pointed out continuity gaffs and flaws and generally didn't take the show too seriously.
�
John Haymes Newton's screen test is also included, as well as a making-of featurette Superboy:� Getting Off the Ground.� Finally there is an except from Look, Up in the Sky!� The Amazing Story of Superman which is basically a commercial for the new Bryan Singer Superman film.
���
Final Thoughts:
�
This wasn't the best series every.� I understand that it gets better after this season, and I'm sure that's true.� The show does improve as it goes along, but there are too many stupid plots and too much inane dialog to recommend this set.� If you're a fan of the comic character, this is worth a rental, but only if you are curious.

SMALLVILLE SEASON 5 DVD TALK REVIEW

Background: If there is anyone alive that is unaware of the Superman mythos, be it from comic books, the movies, various television shows over the years, videogames, radio shows, or just about every other pop culture medium, I'd be surprised since the story (in one form or another) has been translated into just about every language, dialect, and even with Braille from what I understand. The character of Superman began on the pages of Action Comics #1 way back in 1938 as created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster. As the years passed, the story evolved and became more complex but the basics always stayed the same; a baby sent from a technologically advanced race in another galaxy lands in a farm via spaceship; the last of his kind. As the years progress, his adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, raise him with the kind of good old fashion values we here much about and they discover that he possesses abilities far beyond those of mortal man. By the 1960's, Superman had been so elevated by DC Comics in terms of abilities that he could fly faster than the speed of light, travel in time, move planets, and was immune to all but two things; magic and kryptonite, a mineral that followed the spaceship from his home planet. Several attempts to downsize his abilities later, television created the latest version of the so-called Man of Steel with Smallville; a show that largely returned to the roots of the character with Tom Welling playing Clark Kent, a young man discovering his growing powers in his hometown as he faces a series of increasingly serious threats to him, his family, his friends, and ultimately the human race. Today's review of Smallville: The Complete Fifth Season marks the character's push towards manhood that will undoubtedly continue with next week's debut of the sixth season but advanced the show more than a little bit.

The Series: Okay, I'm one of the biggest fans of TV on DVD as a means of reviving an older show or providing a commercial free means of seeing a series without the edits of syndication (a prime example of both being La Femme Nikita). Many shows from decades ago are being released these days but the latest trend is seeing shows that just finished a season come out on DVD, in time for fans to catch up for the following season. Smallville had built a large fan base by using the teen soap opera formula that touched on the supernatural like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, and Angel to name a few, yet keeping all the romantic drama to allow the teenage female demographic their fantasy heart throb man; a sensitive and powerful man that looks like a runway model. Building on what went before in the series, Smallville: The Complete Fifth Season was thematically limited only by the repetitive use of the formulaic approach most TV is forced into; setting up a situation that must be solved within the allotted 42 minutes (the fact that most of the cast is far older than their characters are is a standard problem that might never be solved given the way casting is handled).

Smallville: The Complete Fifth Season picked up where the fourth left off; Smallville has been struck yet again by a meteor shower, wrecking havoc but also bringing another spaceship along with it. The ship contains some fellow Kryptonians and Clark's Fortress of Solitude play into the ultimate resolution, with Clark sacrificing his abilities in order to save Chloe (Allison Mack). This leads, of course, into the youth actually needing the powers he has come to view as a curse keeping him from his love, Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), but the series repeated use of moral choices furthering the angst felt by the cast had long been established. I found the fourth season something of a chore to watch so I only watched about half the episodes of season five, my first exposure to the complete season watching these over the weekend. While the geek of the week aspect seemed to taper off in the third season (to an extent), this season seemed to embrace the idea of the potential spinoff; from the Auqaman character in Aqua, the Elektra-esque character of Vengeance, the lead of Cyborg (a popular comic book character), to the young telekinetic gal in Fragile. Each of them seemed to cater to a specific demographic (female, Latino, Black, kid, or surfer dude) much like the scattering of similar characters in previous seasons but they were really pushed this time.

The main arc that carried through the season was the Milton Fine/Brainiac thread where a seemingly innocuous college professor evolves over the season to become the biggest danger of the human race, and a mere precursor to the upcoming General Zod arc. If you saw the cliffhanger season finale, you'll understand how the dangers of Lex merge with the Kryptonian terrorist leader but the old adage that you can judge the hero by the quality of the enemies he has held truer than most would understand. Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) continued to propel the story forward more than all the romance or flavor of the week villain types that were brought up. In the earlier seasons, Lex was portrayed as a misunderstood buddy of Clark's (like the original Superboy stories) who, under the thumb of an oppressive and manipulative father (Lionel Luthor, played excellently by John Glover), becomes as treacherous and dangerous as any alien foe presented.

The foes and friends were well played but the season, while substantially better than the cheesy fourth season, had a couple of episodes that were major low points of the storyline. The worst of these was the Halloween ordered Thirst; where even the suits on the commentary track admitted it was horribly lame and the result of the network wanting a holiday episode. The vampire story took the weakest elements of the Buffy series and magnified them a lot; though the half dressed coeds and hot tub scene did at least make for nice eye candy. Lexmas a Christmas tale in the vein of It's A Wonderful Life with Lex given the choice between a mundane life as a well respected man in the community or the destined powerhouse villain. It was nearly as throw away in nature and side stepped too much of the background to really connect. The other episodes that didn't work as well almost all had some redeeming qualities even if a major part (like the silver kryptonite in Splinter) could've been better worked out.

The death in Reckoning added some spice and some of the episodes that used the least amount of effects were actually the best in terms of the drama but again, the ensemble nature of the secondary characters kept the show from getting stale. There were some notable guest appearances too, the best being Carrie Fisher and Tom Wompat, but the emergence of Lois Lane (hotty Erica Durance; best seen in Exposed and Aqua) as a more important player was a great idea by the writers too. The episodes in order and by date for the season were as follows:

1) Arrival (9/29/2005)
2) Mortal (10/6/2005)
3) Hidden (10/13/2005)
4) Aqua (10/20/2005)
5) Thirst (10/27/2005)
6) Exposed (11/3/2005)
7) Splinter (11/10/2005)
8) Solitude (11/17/2005)
9) Lexmas (12/8/2005)
10) Fanatic (1/12/2006)
11) Lockdown (1/19/2006)
12) Reckoning (1/26/2006)
13) Vengeance (2/2/2006)
14) Tomb (2/9/2006)
15) Cyborg (2/16/2006)
16) Hypnotic (3/30/2006)
17) Void (4/6/2006)
18) Fragile (4/13/2006)
19) Mercy (4/20/2006)
20) Fade (4/27/2006)
21) Oracle (5/4/2006)
22) Vessel (5/11/2006)

Smallville: The Complete Fifth Season worked best when it catered to the strengths of the series and it did this better than at any time since the second season. Some of the creative staff obviously cared enough to revamp the show as it was getting stale and some new blood helped them elevate the dynamic of the show. It would be really easy (far too easy in fact) for the show to focus on Clark's powers saving the day at every turn or making the right decision all the time. Rosenbaum and Glover were as great as ever but the true saving grace of the season for me was the addition of James Marsters as Milton Fine in the preparation of Zod arc. I admit that the political race thread showed some potential and even provided some decent material but the season was good because of the multitude of decent episodes, not the limited times the show jumped the shark. I thought that the quality of the technical matters, the extras, and the content of the 22 episodes was enough to rate the DVD set as Highly Recommended.

Picture: Smallville: The Complete Fifth Season was presented in anamorphic widescreen color with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 as aired on the Warner Brothers network. The fleshtones were accurate, the picture crisp and clear, and the DVD set was befitting of a top of the line, recently aired season from a major network. The overall picture quality was top notch this time and I can't say that I've seen a better looking TV on DVD show.

Sound: The audio was presented in 2.0 Dolby Digital English as it aired on network TV earlier this year with optional subtitles in French and Spanish (not to mention CC for the hearing impaired). The separation between the tracks was very distinctive, particularly during the special effects and the music, with a good amount of direction and head space. From the shows I caught as it aired, none of the songs appear to have been altered as in other television shows released on DVD have been.

Extras: I liked the extras presented on the DVD more than a little bit with the ~20 minute Vengeance Chronicles fleshing out some more details from Vengeance (the possible spin-off) in a related "sort of" episode that was shown on the internet when the episode first aired back in February. There was a related Easter Egg to this section that fans will enjoy too, unlocking some neat features of it's own. There were also audio commentaries on Thirst and Splinter as discussed above with the creative types expounding on some of the interesting aspects of the episodes as well as the season, actor James Marsters joining in on the second one. Fans will also enjoy the lengthy Making of a Milestone featurette where the 100th episode (Reckoning) was given it's own Behind the Scenes look, a short couple of features checking out the Superman legend via Bryan Singer's new movie (Superman Returns) and a teaser for a documentary called Look, Up In The Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman too. Of importance to fans will also be the numerous deleted scenes from episodes; Hidden, Aqua, Thirst, Fanatic, Reckoning, Tomb, Cyborg, Hypnotic, Fragile, Mercy, Fade, and Vessel. The 6 disc set also included the folding book format with the excellent booklet describing lots of episode details as in previous seasons.

Final Thoughts: Smallville: The Complete Fifth Season was the best season of the show in a couple of years and better in some ways since it didn't rely on the freak of the week premise the first two seasons seemed to shove down our collective throats. The series had been in a slump due to some bad decisions on where to take the characters in the previous two seasons and the return of a longer thread involving Zod proved to be just what the doctor ordered to change the course of the show in favor of the fans. The upcoming season may waste the opportunity or make for an even better show but that'll depend on where the creative staff decide to take it but as far as I'm concerned, the Fifth season had some of the best writing, acting, and tension of the award winning series. I know the switch to the HD versions is coming and the show might look even better in the future but the reason so many of us stopped tuning in previously was addressed and I hope this trend continues as Clark Kent learns how to become the Man of Steel.

SMALLVILLE SEASON 4 DVD TALK REVIEW

The Season

All my dreams are on the ground
Crawling' round and round and round
Somebody saaaaaaaaaave me
Let your waters break right through
Somebody saaaaaaaaaave me
I don't care how you do it
Just saaaave me, saaaave me
I've made this whole world shine for you
Just save, save
Come on, I'm still waiting for you

Anyone with even a passing affection for WB's Smallville knows that song inside and out, upside and down ... and they probably hear it while they're trying to fall asleep, too.

When I hear that tune (recorded by Remy Zero, btw) I know I'm in for some good, goofy, Superman-sized fun. Yes, TV geeks, it's true: The cold-hearted and perpetually cynical Scott Weinberg harbors a deep and devoted affection for the goofball X-Files / comic book amalgam known as Smallville. For all its pedantic plot twists, overbaked dialogue, and "aw-shucks" corn-pone-osity -- I'm actually a big fan of the show. To me, Smallville is like a big bowl of Cool Whip; you'll eat it because it's really tasty, even though you should probably be spending your time on something a little more substantial or nutritious.

But hey, I'm a sucker for the Superman mythology, plus there's something quaintly endearing about the young Supes stories and the way they've been wedged into a fairly convention teen-centric soap-opera story. Plus, Smallville is one of those "comfort" shows, the kind in which you always know that things will turn out OK and that the few dangling character threads will always be tabled for another day.

The story's simplicity itself: Teenager Clark Kent is forever trying to juggle "normal" adolescence while discovering his own amazing powers. Needless to say, our hero must deal with snooping pals, protective parents, and a whole host of dangerous doings in one of TVdom's most villain-producing burgs. (Second only to Buffy's hometown, of course.) It's all very broad and corny and cartoony ... and all of it works exceedingly well in the context of "Superman." Whenever the show gets too outlandish or sappy or (yes, even) silly, the Superfans can always sit back and think "Yeah, it's cheesy, but it'd still fit well within the pages of a comic book."

Clark's gang consists of the lovely Lana Lang, the ever-inquisitive Chloe Sullivan, Chloe's sassy cousin Lois (yes, Lois Lane!), and the devilishly duplicitous Lex Luthor. Toss in a few doting parents, Lex's perpetually scheming papa, Lana's bland ol' boyfriend, a few recurring characters, and an ever-fresh supply of colorful villains ... and there's your cast of players.

Forced to watch the first two seasons by a good friend who begged me to "stick with it" through the rough spots, I quickly became a true-blue Smallville fan ... even if I did consider my time spent with Clark Kent & Company as somewhat of a guilty pleasure. But I'm still a big enough fan to remember ol' Pete from Season 1 and also recognize the few recurring characters who pop up from time to time. I've watched the series in chronological order from beginning to end ... and that's how I've noticed that the show's starting to slip just a bit.

Don't get me wrong, Smallvillians, there's still plenty of good ol' goshdarnit fun to be found here, but Season 4 seemed to suffer from simple monotonitis; seemingly every episode deals with the standard Smallville material: possessions, amnesia, body-swapping, and the reliable old "freaks of the week." Good mindless fun with generous doses of super-heroism and aw-shucks sweetness -- but the season seemed to tread over the same territory time and time again. Not aggressively bad enough to qualify for "jump the shark" status, but watching Season 4 again, I get the impression that series creators Alfred Gough & Miles Millar are spinning their wheels just a bit. The same sense of sincerity and warmth is there from previous seasons, but there's simply too little in the surprise department.

Hardcore fans will find plenty to enjoy in Smallville's fourth season, but I say there was way too much time devoted to Lana's boring boyfriend, Jason, a lumbering subplot involving witchcraft got way too much screen time, and that the already well-established crush-triangles between Clark, Lana, and Chloe have, by now, been run effectively into the ground. But while I'd absolutely contend that Smallville's fourth season is its "weakest" one yet, it's still just comfy enough to keep the fans satisfied. (If fans consider S1 & S2 as "grade - A Smallville," then S3 is "B+" and S4 is "B-" -- although one small stretch of mid-season episodes manage to dip down into "C+" territory.) And if you're just jumping into the Smallville pond now, you should obviously start at the first episode. By the time you dig into this particular season, you'll love the show enough to be a little generous.

And hey, Season 5 is just around the corner; and with each new season comes a fresh chance of improvement.

Disc inventories follow, with episode synopses taken directly from the fan-friendly booklet that's packaged with the platters.

Disc 1

Crusade -- He's ready to seize his fierce destiny. Clark returns to Smallville as his alter ego, Kal-El ... but Martha may have a way to restore him to his former self. Lois Lane comes to investigate Chloe's presumed death. (Original airdate: 9/22/05)

Gone -- As Clark and Lois hunt for Chloe, Lionel sends a metal-morphing assassin to find and silence her. That may not be the only arrow in the magnate's quiver: Lois's father Gen. Sam Lane may be on Luthor's side. (9/29/04)

(Includes episode commentary with executive producers Alfred Gough, Miles Millar & Ken Horton and actresses Erica Durance & Annette O'Toole.)

Facade -- Beauty has a price. A radical Kryptonite treatment turns a Plain Jane into a hottie, but makes her kiss harmful. Clark wants to play football. And the Lana-Jason romance stays hidden. (10/06/04)

Devoted -- Don't drink the green stuff! Cheerleaders turn the football squad's electrolyte drink into a love potion so that the team (and new QB Clark) will be ideal boyfriends. Look out, Clark: Chloe mistakenly took a sip! (10/13/04)

Disc 2

Run -- Think no one is faster than Clark? That's what Clark thinks, too ... until he meets a clever, mysteriously empowered thief whose name is Bart, aka The Flash. Lana reveals the origin of her tattoo to Jason. (10/20/04)

Transference -- Clark isn't himself these days - he's Lionel. Simultaneous contact with a Kryptonian crystal causes Clark and Lionel to switch bodies, sending Lionel (as Clark) on a quest to exploit and enjoy his new powers. (10/27/04)

(Includes episode commentary with executive producers Alfred Gough, Miles Millar & Ken Horton and actor John "Lionel Luthor" Glover.)

Jinx -- A bookie who influences people's actions through his mysterious power of suggestion aims to control Clark during the championship game. Lex exerts his own clout over the Jason-Lana romance.

Spell -- Burned at the stake in 1604 for witchcraft, three women come back to life using Lana, Chloe and Lois as hosts for their spirits. Their intent: Find the Kryptonian power stones (but first they'll party a little!). (11/10/04)

(Includes episode commentary with director Jeannot Szwarc and actresses Kristin "Lana" Kreuk, Allison "Chloe" Mack, and Erica "Lois" Durance.)

Disc 3

Bound -- Clark's distrust of Lex grows as he helps his presumed friend confront a murder rap. When Jason's mother arrives in Smallville, Lana realizes the woman was in her dream of witches burned at the stake. (11/17/04)

Scare -- A living nightmare! A toxin accidentally released by LuthorCorp causes Smallville residents - including Clark and his friends - to think his or her worst fear is coming true. Jason breaks up with Lana. (12/1/04)

Unsafe -- Alicia, whose obsession for Clark is matched only by her superpower talent, returns and uses Red Kryptonite to make him say "I do" at a Las Vegas chapel. Lana decides a sexual relationship will win back Jason. (1/26/05)

Pariah -- Would life be better for Alicia and Clark if people knew she and he both had superpowers? She creates a false emergency aimed at revealing his secret to the person best able to tell the world: journalist Chloe. (2/2/05)

Disc 4

Recruit -- Metropolis U's big-time football program wants you, Clark! But Clark comes to a personal crossroads when he discovers the dilemma of Geoff, the superstar Met U. player who secretly has superhuman powers. (2/9/05)

Krypto -- Sit. Stay. Rescue! A dog Lois brings to the Kent farm has supercanine powers. The dog's strength is the result of secret LutherCorp experiments - strength that proves useful when Clark is overcome by Kryptonite. (2/16/05)

Sacred -- Trouble travels in twos. Jason and Lex are in China seeking a hidden Krypton power stone. Lana and Clark soon follow. But there's an eerie wild deuce in the whole quest: the Gertrude-Isobel connection / curse. (2/23/05)

Lucy -- Lois's sister Lucy Lane comes to town. For a vacation, she says. But can anyone believe what she says? It appears a loan shark is on her trail. Or is that what she wants people to think? (3/2/05)

Disc 5

Onyx -- Lex vs. Lex! A lab explosion separates Lex into his normal and evil personages. Evil Lex imprisons his normal self, discovers Clark's secret and invites him to rule the world with him ... or else! (4/13/05)

Spirit -- It's her big night! A car accident in a ravine filled with Kryptonite gives a wannabe prom queen's spirit the power to take over the bodies of others - including elected queen Chloe! (4/20/05)

Blank -- Is Clark's secret life like an open book? Zapped by a memory purge, he's prey to anyone (Lex!) who may try to pry information from him and dependent on a savvy friend (Chloe!) to keep him from revealing his powers. (4/27/05)

Disc 6

Ageless -- The Kents take in an infant found in a field ... and soon face a big problem: The child grows at an exponential rate, and his next surge of energy/growth could destroy the town. Lionel vies for one of the Kryptonian elements. (5/4/05)

Forever -- Last day of school! But you won't find Chloe. A student who wants high school to last forever holds Chloe, Lana and more in a secret, replicated school environment. The Luthor-Genevieve showdown escalates. (5/11/05)

Commencement -- It's pomp and circumstance time, with emphasis on the circumstance: Graduation is interrupted by an order to evacuate. Meteors are again headed for Smallville - and that's just one of the surprises in an awesome season finale. (5/18/05)

The DVD

Video: The episodes are presented in a fairly impressive Widescreen Anamorphic aspect ratio. Picture quality is above-average for a TV series, but there's some sketchy grain evident in even the brightest of scenes. You'll notice in most in the skin tones, but it's nothing fuzzy enough to mar your enjoyment of the episodes.

Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo all the way. Aural presentation's nothing to dazzling but the volume levels are consistent and the frequent pop tunes come through in fine form. Optional subtitles are available in English, Spanish, and French.

Extras

In addition to the trio of commentaries mentioned above, you'll also find a featurette on disc 5 and another on disc 6. The first is a 10-minute piece entitled Being Lois Lane, which features a brief history of Superman's main squeeze. Cinematic Lanes Noel Neill, Margot Kidder, Dana Delany, and Erica Durance share their thoughts on the character as well. The second featurette, Behind Closed Doors - Inside the Writer's Room, runs 15 minutes and gives us precisely what it promises: a peek at the creation process.

Scattered amidst all six discs are a healthy handful of deleted scenes, too.

The commentaries are informed and amusing, the pair of featurettes are skimpy-yet-enjoyable, and the deleted scenes are there for the hardcore Smallville lunatics. Not an overwhelming array of extras, but not too shabby either.

Final Thoughts

The relatively weakest and somewhat repetitive fourth season of a series that I consider a goofily enjoyable good time, this collection exists mainly for those who already own Seasons 1, 2, and 3. There's four or five episodes here that have real revisit value; the rest are perfectly watchable, but nothing more than that.

SMALLVILLE SEASON 3 DVD TALK REVIEW

THE EPISODES

Young Clark Kent begins to learn more about his destiny in Season Three of Smallville, perhaps the best show on television (at least when The Sopranos and 24 are on hiatus) that nobody's watching. While many fans consider Season Three the weakest of the bunch, I found that the shows flow nicely together in a back-to-back context � as opposed to watching them on a weekly basis. There's a nice arc in play here, and I enjoyed watching Season Three of Smallville on DVD a lot more than my memories of watching it on television in the 2003-2004 TV season.

Season Three begins three months after the cliffhanger that ended Season Two � with Clark under the influence of Red Kryptonite, which doesn't hurt him � but does bring out his darker side. Clark has left Smallville because he feels responsible for his mother's miscarriage at the end of Season Two, and the first two episodes - Exile and Phoenix - deal with Clark's coming to terms with what he has done and where he belongs.

Much like The X-Files and other sucessful science-fiction programs, Smallville has both "mythology" episodes and "stand-alone" shows, with the former moving along the overall story, and the latter tending to be more "fun" � generally focusing on someone in town who has a special ability or power that Clark has to deal with.

Season Three is also peppered with some great guest-starring roles for notable actors, including Rutger Hauer playing criminal mastermind Morgan Edge; Michael McKean (who happens to be the real-life husband of Smallville star Annette O'Toole) guest-starring as Perry White; and the return of Christopher Reeve as Dr. Swann in Legacy in what would sadly be Reeve's final appearance on the show.

Perhaps more than any previous season, there's a lot of context to the ongoing storyline in this third season, which may be why many fans (including some right here at DVD Talk) got so frustrated with some of the episodes. Because of the ongoing storyline involving Clark's biological father, Jor-El (voiced by Terrance Stamp) and his connection to some mysterious caves in Smallville, the chant of "Another Cave Show" and "No More Caves!" became a frequent one on forums here and elsewhere on the Net.

But all in all, this is a quite satisfying season of one of the more underrated (and under appreciated) series on TV. Smallville is easily the best incarnation of the Superman legend since Christopher Reeve's theatrical films, and any fan of The Man of Tomorrow will want to add this boxed set to their collection � assuming you've seen the first two seasons first, of course!

THE DVD

Video:
Each episode is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, and the quality looks great. Colors are just slightly over-saturated, but this is intentional and the way the show has always looked on TV � a way to give a more "comic book" feel to the program. Unlike the Season One DVD, where I saw a few pixelation and compression problems in the print, no such defects exist here, and fans should be quite happy with what they see.

Audio:
Each episode is presented in 2.0 Dolby sound, which is not only adequate, but sounds quite good. The audio is quite active and aggressive and this proves to be one of the better sounding 2.0 tracks I have heard for a television program.

Extras:
Included on the DVD are three Episode Commentaries for the shows Exile, Truth and Memoria. Sadly, star Tom Welling � who was part of two commentaries on the Season Two boxed set � does not appear on any of the commentaries this time around. The good news is that two stars that were absent last time out � Allison Mack (Chloe Sullivan) and John Glover (Lionel Luthor) � join director James Marshall for the Truth track. Star Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor), who was the best part of Season Two's commentary tracks, joins Executive Producers Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Greg Beeman and Ken Horton for the tracks for both Exile and Memoria.

Also spread across the DVDs are various Deleted Scenes for the episodes Exile, Slumber, Shattered, Velocity, Obsession, Resurrection, Crisis, Memoria, Talisman, and Forsaken. The makers of this set have wisely kept the deleted scenes on the disc with their respective episodes, rather than lump them all together on the final disc (a mistake I've seen more than a few TV show DVD releases do).

On Disc 5, viewers can check out Producing Smallville: The Heroes Behind The Camera, a 22-minute full-frame featurette that includes interview segments with both the cast and crew of Smallville.

Disc 6 includes the second volume (Vol. 1 is included on the Season Two boxed set) of The Chloe Chronicles, seven short segments that were created for the Smallville website and that star Allison Mack. It's in this section that you'll also get a look at the Interactive Comic Book that is advertised on the back box cover for this set � although it's only "interactive" in the sense that you can page through it using your remote, much in the same way you would view a photo gallery.

Finally, Disc 6 also contains a 4 � minute Gag Reel, which I'm happy to report is presented in anamorphic widescreen. Although it's the shortest bonus feature on this DVD, it's also the most fun � and fans will want to make sure to check it out.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Entertaining, well-written, well-acted and featuring some impressive special effects, television programs don't get much better than Smallville. While this may be the weakest season of the first three, it's still better than most seasons of any hour drama that is currently on the air. This one's an easy call: fly (don't walk!) to your local store or online retailer and pick a copy up.

SMALLVILLE SEASON 2 DVD TALK REVIEW

The Program

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!