Caffeinated Clint
By Clint Morris
Season Six was quite a goodie wasn’t it? Clark (Tom Welling) was trying to round up all the villains that had escaped from the Phantom Zone, Lana (Kristin Kreuk) was preparing to marry the devious Lex (Michael Rosenbaum), Jimmy (Aaron Ashmore) made his entrance and developed a relationship with fellow Daily Planet reporter Chloe (Allison Mack), and a few familiar faces from the DC Comics world – namely Martian Manhunter (Phil Morris) and The Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) stoped by Metropolis!
Whether it was the soapy-like love triangle (between Clark, Lex and Lana) storylines, the suddenly-becoming-more-frequent superhero cameos (the Justice League appear regularly!), or simply the continuing plight of Clark Kent – inching one step closer to becoming Superman with every episode – it was all in Season 6.
Unfortunately, Season 7 is nowhere near as fun – and if anything, an indication that everyone’s become a little bored with the series not to mention a little unsure where to take it.
Upon discovering that his father (John Glover) ran a secret society sworn to protect his rival Clark Kent (Tom Welling), an enraged Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) is even more determined to find out the truth about his muscly neighbour. It ain’t really that exciting – until the final episode of the series when Lex does piece it together.
Did I mention Supergirl comes to town? Clark now has a sidekick to help stop evil Lex from discovering he’s actually an alien. Kara (Laura Vandervoort), Clark’s cousin from Krypton, has arrived on Earth and with the help of Clark, manages to tap in and control her amazing abilities. She’s sexy as hell… but so exciting and so necessary a character that Kara was written out of the series after only the one season.
As if keeping Lex in line wasn’t enough, Clark and Kara also have to deal with several other villains this season – the shady Grant Gabriel (Michael Cassidy), new editor of The Daily Planet, old foe Brainiac. (James Marsters) who returns for another skirmish with Superboy, and last but not least, Bizzaro – who’s sort of an evil version of Clark. Yeah… whatever…
The guest-stars are probably the best thing about this season : Dean Cain, Superman from TVs ”Lois & Clark” (Cain is bad-to-the-bone, for a change, as Dr. Curtis Knox, a doc who supposedly has a surgical cure for those affected by kryptonite! Needless to say, his procedure does more harm than good), Supergirl herself Helen Slater (who plays Clark’s mother Kara), Marc McClure, Jimmy Olsen from the ”Superman” movies, makes an appearance, as does Sam Jones III, who hasn’t been seen on the shown for a few years, reprising his role as Pete Ross.
The producers are just going to have to break their “no tights, no flying” rule and put Clark in the cape soon – because this series is in need of a real boost.
Extras
Typical of the “Smallville” releases, there’s some great extras – including a featurette on Clark’s Super-Cuz, and a good little featurette on the many actors that have played Jimmy Olsen, featuring Sam Huntington (“Superman Returns”), Marc McClure (“Superman : The Movie”) and Jack Larson (the original “Superman” series).
