TV Show Info:
Writer: Various
Director: Various
Cast:Annette O’Toole, Kristin Kreuk, Allison Mack, Erica Durance, Laura Vandervoort, Michael Rosenbaum, Tom Welling, John Glover, Aaron Ashmore
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: WB

Release Info:
Original Air Dates: October 16-present
DVD Box Set Release Date: September 9, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $37.99

I like Superman. When I was a kid I had Superman pajamas, underoos, and wanted nothing more than to become a reporter by day and a superhero by night. I wanted to have the hot chick at my side in either form, even if she wasn’t truly smart enough to see that tights don’t make a man unrecognizable. Alas, the superhero life was not in the cards for me.

After reading all the comics that I could get my hands on and watching all of the Superman movies, I’ve learned to be a bit more discriminatory about how this superhero is portrayed. I wasn’t a big fan of Lois and Clark, as popular as it was, and I think that is one of the things that kept me away from Smallville.

The concept, I will admit, is interesting. I like the idea of looking into Superman/Clark Kent’s life when he is a youth. So far, I have found nothing wrong with this concept. However, the whole secret identity feels blown, which wouldn’t work at all. The writing takes a lot of creative allowances and in the end there is no acting good enough to make it feel like the show it should feel like.

In fairness, I should mention that the acting is good and there are some good storylines here. I don’t know what the show has been like in the past, but I’ve always noticed the promos and found them to appear interesting and worth watching. I avoided them for fear that I wouldn’t like the show because of the differences that I would find. I think what it comes down to is that I would love this show if I didn’t know anything about Superman, but since I do I find Smallville interesting and mildly entertaining, but it will never be anything more.

The Smallville: The Complete Seventh Season Plot
It is unfortunate that I have not seen the previous six seasons of Smallville because there is no way for me to determine how the show started and where it went to get to this point. Often, shows will deteriorate after this many seasons, which leads me to wonder what the quality was like on day one. What I do know is that Superman comic purists probably have some degree of difficulty watching this show, myself included.

Taking out the Superman component, which is impossible, makes the show a little more watchable. However, the fact is that this is a show about a superhero known the world over. More importantly, when said hero is written the way that he is here, there are severe issues with the show. Entertaining as it may be, but the structural writing allowances have turned this into a different hero and he’s not always the one that people know and love.

The following episodes were a part of the seventh season.

“Bizarro”: Clark (Tom Welling) has a violent confrontation with Bizarro, the last wraith from the Phantom Zone. This battle brings down the dam, which submerges Lex (Michael Rosenbaum - Justice League) underwater, allowing him to be saved by a mystery woman. Meanwhile, we learn that Chloe (Allison Mack) is not as dead as she was believed to be.

“Kara”: Clark is at a loss for words when he learns that Kara (Laura Vandervoort) has come to protect the baby, Kal-El. Clark determines that without Lana (Kristin Kreuk) he has no reason to stay in Smallville. In other shocking news, Lex learns something about Lana. Lois (Erica Durance) receives her position at the Daily Planet courtesy of Grant Gabriel (Michael Cassidy).

“Fierce”: Clark asks Kara to keep a low profile until she figures out her powers. Lana returns to Smallville. The Miss Sweet Corn pageant is going on and Kara enters. Along for the ride are Carly, Tempest, and Tyler. These three vixens plan to use their special powers to steal a map to the Smallville time capsule.

“Cure”: Chloe makes an appointment to see Dr. Knox. Knox has been “treating” meteor-infected people and removing any powers they might have incurred. What Chloe doesn’t know is that Knox has plans to kill his patients so that he can remove their organs. Lana begins spying on Lex.

“Action”: Smallville is thrilled to be the location for the new comic adaptation of “Warrior Angel.” Lex discovers Lionel in a far away cabin. Clark saves actress Rachel Davenport, prompting a fan to think that Clark is a real life superhero. The fan believes that Lana must be eliminated, so that Clark can do what he needs to do.

“Lara”: Kara is captured by Agent Carter (Kim Coates - Sons of Anarchy) while in DC searching for her crystal. While in custody, she is forced to re-live another trip to Earth via flashbacks thanks to some truth serum that she is given. Meanwhile, as Clark is making his rescue attempt to help Kara, he spots Zor-El (Christopher Heyerdahl) and Lara.

“Wrath”: Lana is able to absorb Clark’s powers in a lightning storm. Realizing her power, she plans to descend on Lex. She picks up some evidence concerning Project Scion in the form of a black liquid that could be some living thing. After handing the information over to Grant and Lois, she demands that they expose Lex publicly. Lois decides to begin dating Grant.

“Blue”: Clark releases Lara from Kara’s crystal despite Jor-El’s (Terence Stamp) warning against it. In return, Lara gives Clark the blue kryptonite ring belonging to Jor-El. The ring strips Clark of his powers. This allows Zor-El to become the head of the Fortress of Solitude. Chloe and Lex both try and detract Lois and Grant from seeing one another.

“Gemini”: The unlikely team of Lana and Clark join forces to stop Lex. Lois has to try her hardest to get Lex to admit the truth concerning Project Gemini. If he doesn’t talk, Chloe may be in deep trouble thanks to the bomb that was planted on her by Adrian Cross. Meanwhile, Clark returns and finds Kara gone. Going against his normal preference, he wants Lana to begin spying on Lex again, so that he can be taken down.

“Persona”: Bizarro takes over Clark’s life while he is frozen in the Fortress. Meanwhile, Lana learns that she very much enjoys the new Clark. Bizarro and Brainiac work together to make sure that the new Clark remains as the only Clark. Grant reveals that he is a clone of Julian and Lex is simply shocked at Lionel’s reaction to the news.

“Siren”: The Black Canary (Alaina Kalanj) attacks Chloe. Appearing as an unknown female, the Black Canary is able to emit a subsonic cry. Later, with the help of Lex, she attacks Clark and the Green Arrow. Meanwhile, Lois learns the secrets of Oliver.

“Fracture”: Lex heads to Detroit and Lois follows him. While there he finds Kara, who has amnesia. Lex gets shot by Finley because he believes that Lex is trying to take Kara from him. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Finley also holds Kara and Lois hostage. As a means to finding Kara, Clark has no choice but to travel into Lex’s mind.

“Hero”: Pete Ross (Sam Jones III) comes back to Smallville. When he chews some gum laced with kryptonite he develops some interesting stretching powers. When Lex learns of the new powers he convinces him to break into Lionel’s (John Glover) safe. Otherwise, he will expose the secrets of Chloe.

“Traveler”: Pierce is hired by Lionel to kidnap Clark and trap him in a cell lined with kryptonite. Patricia Swann gets into a confrontation with Lionel about things from the past. Kara helps rescue Clark with Chloe and Lana.

“Veritas”: Brainiac wants to take Kara away, but when she won’t let him, he takes control of Lana’s body instead. Lionel feels he can no longer trust Chloe and Clark. The death of Patricia Swann is investigated by Jimmy and Lois. Lex begins to remember Veritas.

“Descent”: When the secrets of Veritas are revealed it leads Lex into a situation that puts him against Clark. Clark tries to stop Lex from learning the truth, but the power struggle that ensues is massive and someone ends up dead.

“Sleeper”: Clark needs to take advantage of Lana’s help in order to search for Brainiac. Chloe helps Clark, as well, by tracking major power surges. Meanwhile Jimmy (Aaron Ashmore) gets caught in a spot of trouble involving Lex and the Department of Security.

“Apocalypse”: Clark takes a look into an alternative form of reality where he finds out where everyone would be if he had never arrived on Earth. He learns that if he never came to Earth, Lex would be the president and he’d also be engaged to Chloe. Things get worse when it’s revealed that if Brainiac gets his way that second reality will become real.

“Quest”: A message for Clark is left in an unlikely place when Lex is attacked and the attacker leaves Kryptonian symbols in his chest. When Clark investigates with Chloe to find that a member of the Veritas clan is hiding in a church, still alive. Clark’s survival hangs in the balance as he and Lex rush to find this Veritas member.

“Arctic”: Kara informs Lex that it is his destiny to defeat the stranger. In order to be sure that this happens, she takes him to the Fortress to learn how to do this. Clark cannot understand why Kara would do this, but it turns out that it is Brainiac has taken control of Kara and while she is trapped in the Phantom Zone he is impersonating her. Lana wakes from her coma. Meanwhile, Chloe is arrested. Things come to a head when Lex learns Clark’s secret during a battle.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
Surprisingly, Smallville does not come with a flawless viewing experience. I realize that those flawless experiences are rare, but I expect a newer show to have a high quality viewing experience. Not only that, but you would think that the 1.78:1 aspect ratio and the anamorphic widescreen would lend to a clear picture. In reality you end up with a good color palette and a sharp quality that is littered with more grain than I would have liked to see in a new release.

The audio in this season of Smallville is available in Dolby Digital 5.1. The show offers a good blend of dialogue that is blended with music and sound effects, where necessary. The audio comes through perfectly with no severe sound changes. It’s not quite as dynamic as you would expect for a show like this, but it definitely passes. Audio is also available in Portuguese. Subtitles are available in Chinese, English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, or Thai.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
There are a number of bonuses here, which isn’t surprising considering the popularity of the show. There are two commentaries, unaired/deleted scenes, a minisodes gallery, a digital comic book, and a couple of featurettes. Smallville fans should be pretty happy with the available offerings though there was room here for a higher level of bonuses.

The audio commentary for “Persona” includes John Glover, Todd Slavkin, and Ken Horton. On “Siren” we hear from Alfred Gough, Justine Hartley, Kelly Souders, Miles Millar, and Brian Peterson. Both commentaries offer a good deal of information that is worth checking out. However, the unaired scenes that are shown are more or less a waste of time. There is no question as to why these scenes were deleted. It’s painfully obvious as you watch them.

In “Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Krypton” Supergirl is looked upon and examined. The people involved in writing the character discuss her role in the comics and her arrival in Smallville. If you’re a Supergirl fan you should enjoy this. In “Jimmy on Jimmy” is a roundtable with the actors that have played Jimmy Olsen. Each actor discusses the experience they had in the part, which causes for an interesting feature.

Finally, the last featurette is “Smallville Legends: Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton.” This is nothing more than a cartoon that shows Krypton before Kara arrived on Earth. I didn’t feel that it was interesting enough to watch. It seemed more rushed through and thrown in to add an additional bonus. Overall though the bonus section is solid enough for fans, even if more could have been done.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
I walked into this review as a Superman fan that was entirely new to Smallville in terms of actually watching it. My feelings might be much different watching it from day one, which I highly recommend for new viewers deciding to pick up the show now, but walking in on the seventh season leaves a mixed sense of feelings on my plate. The acting is good, but the writing takes so many liberties I am not sure how comfortable I am with the character of Clark Kent in this context. Fans will want to pick this set up, but everyone else might want to consider renting this first.

Overall Rating:

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