Reviewed by Stuart O’Connor
Stars Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk, Michael Rosenbaum, Erica Durance, Allison Mack, John Glover, Anette O'Toole, Aaron Ashmore,
Leonard Roberts, Justin Hartley, Terence Stamp
Created by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £49.99
DVD Region 2 | Runtime 878 minutes
Directed by James Marshall & others
"Somebody saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave meeeeeee," screams out the opening song for this often fun series that reimagines the story of one of popular culture's greatest icons (and for those not paying attention, I'm talking about Superman). The first couple of years were simply "monster of the week" stuff, but now well into its stride, the show has grown and changed, often taking on a bit of a soapy feel. Which would make it one of this century's first TV Super-soaps (cue massive groans).
Creators Gough and Millar have certainly had some fun messing with the mythology over the years. Gone is the Superboy of the comics — this Clark Kent can't even fly. In fact, he's spent much of the show's first five years learning to use his powers, and coming to terms with being an alien. The creators have even brought Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane into the show, at least a decade before our hero traditionally meets them. Of course, with the hotter-than-hot Durance (yes, even hotter than Hatcher) playing Lois, there are no complaints from this viewer. But the biggest change they made was having young Clark befriend Lex Luthor. Season 6 kicks off with with Lex possessed by General Zod (you know, the guy who likes people kneeling before him in the Superman 2 flick from the 80s) while Clark is stuck in the Phantom Zone. Of course, Clark escapes (releasing some evil Kryptonians in the process), defeats Zod and everything goes back to normal. Well, as normal as things get around Smallville. So there we have the main plotline set up for the season — Clark chasing down the Phantom Zone escapees, while a couple of secondary storylines revolves around the Green Arrow (aka Oliver Queen) and the nascent Justice League, and Lex and Lana get together and ... well, to say any more would spoil it.
I came to Smallville via DVD box sets rather than broadcast TV. I watched an episode here and there during the first season when it aired, and found the "freak of the week" stuff a little repetitive and boring. But after season 3, a friend convinced me to go back and give it anbother try. So I rented seasons 2 and 3 on DVD, and from there I was hooked. Yes, I know the acting can be a little wooden at times — hello Tom and Kristin. But the Glovers, Macks and Rosenbaums make up for that. The storylines are fun, the special effects terrific and even if Metropolis does occasionally look like Vancouver, it's still one of the most watchable TV shows around. Superman has rarely been far from our screens sice his birth back in the 1930s, and with shows like Smallville carrying the torch, he'll never stray far from them.
EXTRAS **** The first port of call has to be the half-hour documentary called Smalleville: Big Fans. Talk about freaks! Scary, scary people. There's a couple of featurettes about the Green Arrow, some animated bookends to a couple of episodes, deleted scenes and a making-of. All that's missing are episode commentaries from the makers, which would have been nice.
PS: Did I mention that I think Erica Durance is hot?