Eight seasons is a long run for any show and for Smallville the road hasn’t always been a smooth one. While the series started off strong and managed to keep itself very fresh for its first three or four years on the air, seasons 5,6, and 7 seemed to have the show in a bit of a holding pattern. While Smallville never stopped being entertaining overall, you could feel the growth of the show start to stifle, and the ratio between good and bad episodes started to get a little more frustrating as the seasons progressed.
Things seemed even bleaker this past season. With the departure of series creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar following the program’s seventh year, it was looking as if these early adventures of Superman were coming to a close soon, but surprisingly this series showed it still had some juice in it during its eighth season. While it doesn’t quite stick the landing, and a mid-season slump keeps this year from really taking off overall, Smallville seemed to grow in a new direction for the first time in ages this past year, and showed that it actually had some new tricks up its sleeve for some nice welcome changes.
First and foremost amongst this year’s directional shifts was a deeper emphasis on the relationship between Tom Welling’s Clark Kent and Erica Durance’s spot on portrayal of Lois Lane. With Clark getting a job at the Daily Planet, their bickering and playful banter is a wonderful change-up from the angst filled years of Clark’s puppy-dog eyed longing for Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), an on-again-off-again affair that plagued the last few seasons of this series. Episodes such as “Committed”,”Bride”, and “Stiletto” all show this aspect of the show in full bloom and represent some of the best moments to come from this run. In contrast, the few episodes that saw the return of the Kreuk’s Lana Lang, such as “Power” and “Requiem”, feel lazy and uninspired, especially next to the zip of screen chemistry from Durance and Welling.
Another welcome change this season came in the form of themes that seemed a little more adult this time out. Questions about whether or not a hero should kill to be able to help humanity are raised all throughout the season, and bravely, the answers to this question are never quite black and white. Crossing that line is a giant step, especially when it comes to the Superman mythology, and this season doesn’t always handle the subject deftly, but some of its most powerful moments come from this thematic exploration.
In the middle of all the controversy is Davis Bloom (Sam Witwer), a paramedic who is smitten with Allison Mack’s perennial Clark Kent sidekick Chloe Sullivan, but one with a dark secret that reveals itself further and further as the season goes on. Witwer’s tortured soul is one of the most compelling performances of the season and manages even to carve a little niche into the DC universe that I found to be pretty clever. If not for the thud that ends his storyline this season, I’d say this was one of the smartest additions to Smallville in some time, easily trumping the Bizarro or Supergirl storylines of the previous year.
A little less successful is the addition of Cassidy Freeman as Tess Mercer, the handpicked successor of Lex Luthor, no longer on the show after the departure of Michael Rosenbaum at the end of Season 7. Trying to make this character sympathetic and yet still fill the overarching villain role vacated by Rosenbaum is a balancing act that the show doesn’t quite pull off. There is potential here, and it’s nice that this character just isn’t a standard power hungry maniac, but just when you think the character is really going somewhere, a right turn kind of spoils the good will that’s been built up.
Also not living up to expectations is the change of location from Smallville to Metropolis, even if the idea behind it is a good one. The big problem with this change is that for the first time, especially during many of the show’s urban scenes, it really looked like the series was being shot on an outdoor soundstage. Up to this point, this feeling had been kept to a minimum on the show with most backdrops either filmed in exotic comic book-like stages or on actual locations. The reliance on the Metropolis sets this season, especially the overuse of certain city blocks and the Ace of Clubs nightspot, really took away from the show’s suspension of disbelief, when I don’t think this had really been a factor up to this point.
Still, even with these problems Smallville remains a show with a lot to like. The season opener is a terrific example of how this series can occasionally give you a Superhero Movie-esque experience while not having a Dark Knight budget. We get Smallville‘s version of the Justice League trying to track down Clark, still missing since the events of Season 7’s finale, all while Lois is trying to find the federally imprisoned Chloe. The culmination of the episode, featuring tons of armed guards, a brainwashed Green Arrow (Justin Hartley), and a powerless Clark is a fantastic example of this show running on all cylinders.
As the focus of the show, Tom Welling continues to bring the goods in his portrayal of Clark Kent as well. While he doesn’t have the broadest of acting ranges, the actor acquits himself rather well episode to episode and his presence as the young Man of Steel is still an admirable one. Again, the changes in this season have the show growing in a positive direction, and hopefully that will lead up to Clark Kent’s eventual final transformation into Big Blue. With each passing year, the actor still seems to have the chops to be able to carry that story to its conclusion.
With fun nods to Superman’s mythology and classic characters as well as Welling and Durance giving us one of the best screen examples of Lois and Clark’s blooming relationship, Smallville made improvements and started to grow in a direction that keeps it intriguing, at least for the near future. The big problems with the show have to do with its inconsistency with quality from episode to episode, especially when it comes to falling back on bad habits, as well as having to deal with occasional idea running into budget problems. Still, the detractions don’t condemn this season overall, and Season 8 proved that Smallville continues to have some life in it and will hopefully keep it up in the near future.
For a standard definition DVD set, the A/V package you get here is pretty nice. The transfer has a nice image that is relatively crisp, with the primary colors of the show coming in nicely.
The audio here is also well done. The sound design of the show comes in nice and clear throughout, and soundtrack never overwhelms dialogue.
Commentaries – There’s two episode commentaries on this set, but the one you’re interested in listening to is the one included on the episode “Legion” which features the introduction of DC Comics’ Legion of Superheroes into the Smallville universe. The reason this episode is important is that it’s written by Geoff Johns, perhaps the pre-eminent writer at DC right now. The episode is terrific and so is this commentary track.
In the Director’s Chair: Behind the Lens and Calling the Shots with Allison Mack – Having watched this show since its beginning, it’s really cool to see these actors grow up in these roles and also watch them have a bigger responsibility behind the scenes as well. Case in point is Allison Mack, who directed the episode “Power” this season. This is a pretty neat featurette, detailing how Mack prepared for and then handled the responsibility of directing this episode.
Smallville’s Doomsday: The Making of a Monster – A little more fun to watch and geek out over is this mini-doc about how one of Superman’s most feared villains was brought to the small-screen, and ended up being much more convincing than anyone could have anticipated. Overall, this storyline was really successful and getting to look behind the scenes of it all is really neat.
Deleted Scenes
Trailers
Not sure what to expect, I can firmly say that the eighth season of Smallville was a pleasant surprise. With some terrific DC cameos, a new romantic direction and some nice acting turns, this wasn’t one of the best seasons of the series, but one that was a step above from some of the show’s recent offerings. While there are plenty of mistakes here, there’s still enough to like and recommend, but unfortunately this season is still closer to guilty pleasure than I’d like it to be. Still, the show is fun and this set gives us some nice extras. Not the highest of praise, but a recommendation nonetheless.
Warner Bros. presents Smallville: The Complete Eighth Season. Created by: Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. Starring: Tom Welling, Erica Durance, and Allison Mack. Running time: 1012 minutes. Rating: Not rated. Released on DVD: August 25, 2009. Available at Amazon.com
