“Smallville” fourth season release less than super
It seems that among all of the elements highlighted on the back flap of the latest Smallville DVD Box Set (Lois Lane. Football. The prom. Graduation.), the advertisers forgot to mention another important aspect of the WB show’s fourth season: Jumping the Shark.
But how could a show with such a brilliant premise as Superman’s days in high school conceivably jump the shark? Sarcasm aside, the fourth season of ‘Smallville’ offers viewers nothing more than a convoluted mess of plot-holes, inconsistent characterization and mediocre
camp-fests with an occasional gem emerging from the nausea-inducing, teen angst fair.
While episodes like “Crusade,” “Run,” “Transference,” and “Unsafe” exemplify what works for the show (Erica Durance’s exuberant performance as Lois Lane, Clark Kent’s first epitomic flight, and a guest appearance by the Flash among some of them), the remainder of the season exposes viewers to a witch-possessed Lana Lang, Clark Kent fathering an infant with sporadic Kryptonite-induced growth, Kryptonite Gatorade that brainwashes individuals who drink it, and an homage to Krypto the Superdog. Nope, I’m not making any of that up.
While the season began strong with the promise of a recurring arc involving three Kryptonian artifacts and the long-awaited schism between Clark and Lex Luthor, the show degenerated to the same tired ‘Freak of the Week’ formula that made Clark Kent’s freshman year so turbulent.
Additionally, it seems as though executive producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar avoid continuity like its Kryptonite.
Mack Perry is a critic at the Statesman. Comments can be sent to mackperry@cc.usu.edu.