DVD : Smallville - The Complete Fourth Season

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- My favorite season of the hip WB television show
I came late to the television show "Smallville." I remember coming across the show accidentally during its first season in 2001 and wondering why a young Clark Kent and Lex Luthor were chatting so amicably to each other. I moved on and it would another three years before the quest for television product to feed my newly acquired TiVo would lead me to giving it another chance.
You see I was raised on the Christopher Reeve series of movies. His interpretation was my sole exposure to the character of Superman and "Smallville" seemed to turn that continuity on its head.
It was however fortuitous that I re-entered the "Smallville" world in time to catch its fourth season (I was avidly catching up via reruns on ABC Family in the meantime). I think that by this point in the proceedings the show had settled into a routine and the characters had become well developed and fully realized. The show was also elevated by the presence of Canadian beauty Erica Durance as the fast-talking, feisty Lois Lane who has fast become my favorite character on the show.
The first three seasons of the show dealt with Clark learning about his new powers. It almost became at times like a "power of the week" format. So, by the time the fourth season rolled around there was just that most famous of his powers to try out and indeed Kal-El really does fly at the beginning of the season. It's a monumental moment and indeed when he launches himself into the sky and flies off I finally believed - yes, this is Superman.
Making a welcome return for two episodes is the incredibly beautiful actress Sarah Carter. Reprising her role as the impish, sexy Alicia from season three, the girl who can magically materialize anywhere she wishes, she re-enters Clarks life and becomes, albeit briefly, his girlfriend. It's a fun character and Carter is simply amazing and it's only a shame that she did not become a regular.
The season arc this time around deals with the search for three mystical Kryptonian crystals. Racing against each other to gather the artifacts is not only Lana, Lex and Clark but also the mysterious Genevieve, (played by Jane Seymour) and her son (and Lana's boyfriend) Jason.
It appears that Lana is the descendant of a 16th century French witch who had searched for the crystals in her time and Genevieve plays an descendant of her nemesis.
One of the seasons most fun episodes is "Spell" which sees Lana, Chloe and Lois overtaken by the spirits of three witches and this episode is accompanied by a light, breezy commentary from Kristin Kreuk, Allison Mack, Durance, and director Jeannot Szwarc (who 20 years earlier had directed "Supergirl").
In fact Szwarc is just one of the many nods towards the Salkind-Spengler series as this season also features an appearance by Margot Kidder (who played Lois Lane to Christopher Reeve's 1978 Calrk Kent). In addition to season regulars such as Annette O'Toole (Lana in 1983s "Superman III") and Terence Stamp (Gen. Zod in "Superman The Movie" and "Superman II) this season also features a tribute to the late Reeve in the mention of the passing of Reeve's character Dr. Virgil Swann.
Overall this season remains my favorite of the show.

Rating:

- what's really small?
people who watch smallville are suffering from their own citizenship in a region inhabited by body parts that are so small that when they showed up for a casting call in smallville, the director said "hey, we don't want it that small."

Rating:

- Graduation Day
Hardcore fans of the popular comic book series will have plenty of reasons to get excited with "Smallville: The Complete Fourth Season". In this season, Clark Kent (Tom Welling) is willing to make his senior year in Smallville High School his most memorable yet. He goes out for the football team, deals with a headstrong Lois Lane (Erica Durance) and must search for three mysterious Kryptonian stones before another devastating meteor shower strikes Smallville. Lana Lang (Kristen Kreuk) returns from her summer in Paris with a new boyfriend (Jensen Akles) and learns some startling revelations of her family's past. While his devious father Lionel (John Glover) awaits his trail, Lex Luthor (Michael Rosembaum) reveals more of his dark side and schemes to discover the truth about the three Kryptonian stones. "Smallville" is the successful live-action comic book series that follows the adventures of a young Clark Kent during the years before he becomes Superman. The fourth season features a creative season-long story arc, cool visual effects and plenty of worthwhile amusement. It also incledes such highlight episodes like "Crusade", "Run", "Pariah", "Blank" and "Commencement".

Warner Bros has released another enjoyable and well recommended "Smallville" set for your collection. Like the previous sets, all 22 episodes in this 6-Disc set are presented in a nice 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen format. "Smallville: The Complete Fourth Season" contains a bright and colorful video transfer and a top-notch 2.0 Dolby Digital sound. It also includes "Being Lois Lane" and "Behind Close Door" featurettes, several deleted scenes and informative audio commentaries by the show's cast and creators on three episodes. Overall, "Smallville: The Complete Fourth Season" receives a "B".

Rating:

- Note on Mrs. Teague
For those of you who are too young to remember Jane Seymour in anything other than Doctor Quinn- her turn as Genevieve Teague is very reminiscint of her evil turn as the psycho Kate Trask in the 1980 tv miniseries adaptation of East of Eden. I enjoyed seeing Jane as the nasty mommy dearest! Nice departure.
Overall I loved the season- was nice to have less of the freak of the week themes and we saw lots of character development. Clark coming to grips with his true destiny is what the show is all about. I felt the Lana in the middle of the crusade thing was a bit drawn out but at least she didn't cry in every episode. I am new to the show this season- started tuning in an hour before Supernatural and got hooked! Amazon has seasons 1-3 on sale cheap for x-mas - buy them for a friend and get Smallville some new viewers to keep the show going !

Rating:

- A mixed season, but still one of the most entertaining Shows out there!
Although still fun and entertaining, Season 4 was not the highlight of the series (as even the producers will tell you). The season took risks and went in different directions; some of which paid off and some of which did not.

This was a season of Ying and Yang; Good and Evil and battling both sides. I am not a fan of the supernatural. I tend to be drawn to the science fiction elements of the show. As a result, I did not like the ongoing subplot with witches. Lana came back from Paris, a bit more mature and self righteous but also far less soft than she used to be. Her new romance fizzled pretty quickly and never seemed very well thought out. Also Lionel's battle with his two sides had most fans missing the more devious side.

This season had some highlights though: Lois Lane has been a fun addition to the show even if her integration into it has been a bit rocky. Someone in Clark's life discovers his secret and their bond intensifies. The show, desperate to pull away from the darkness of season 3 (which I personally loved), added some lighter shows in the mix. For me, the more corny, funny episodes were entertaining and cute (including "Devoted" and "Spirit"). The stones plot was sort of a mixed bag, but it cumulated into a very gripping, movie-like finale. While this season had some faults, the writers did take some creative turns and it was still a good season overall.

page 9 of 49