Smallville Season Eight Blu-Ray Review

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First a quick confession: I’m not a regular Smallville viewer. It’s one of those shows where if it happens to be on and I don’t have anything pressing to do, then sure, I’ll give it a watch, but I don’t set my clock by every new episode or put off other social engagements because “It’s Smallville night.” Still, I’ve seen enough of it to be dangerous, or at least conversant, when talking about it, so Smallville fans, take my words within their appropriate context.

Season eight has a lot going against it for longtime viewers. Gone are Kristin Kreuk (for the most part) and Michael Rosenbaum as Lana Lang and Lex Luthor, respectively. Normally, when you lose two of the major players in a series, things take a turn for the worse. Wisely, the creators took this opportunity to focus on getting Clark into the Daily Planet, getting a new nemesis (or two) into the mix, and bring in some of the best of the golden age (as well as some of the more popular 1990’s characters) for cameos. The old comic reader in me loved seeing the Legion of Superheroes and Zatanna show up, while more recent readers will likely enjoy Maxima’s episode. Throughout the season, there’s the hint of another popular villain from the 90’s…begins with a “D”, rhymes with “Gloomsday”. You’ve probably heard of him. If you haven’t…where were you the past few decades?

This particular season, though, gives Chloe (Allison Mack) an opportunity to shine. A lot happens to Chloe in this series…too much to completely give away here. Mack even gets to spend a little time in the director’s chair, directing the episode “Power”, which is recounted in an “In The Director’s Chair” special feature. Famed comic writer Geoff Johns also shows up to pen the aforementioned Legion episode (one of the best from this particular season). Additional features include “Making of a Monster” which talks about the creation of Doomsday for the series, and the usual collection of deleted scenes and commentary for certain episodes. Each disc boasts plenty of extras to keep the Smallville faithful happy, informed and entertained.

Hi-def lovers, great news: This series looks amazing on Blu-Ray. One thing I always did enjoy about Smallville was how bright and colorful they always seemed to make the series, even on my old regular television. Even to a casual viewer like myself, it wasn’t lost on me that Tom (Clark Kent) Welling always wore that red jacket for a reason. Metropolis itself seems to burst out of the screen in higher definition, with every nook and cranny of the city showing up in amazing detail. If anything it’s almost too detailed, but that’s as much part of adjusting to seeing things in hi-def as any creative vision. Prepare to be overwhelmed by color, in other words. The green in Green Arrow’s outfit shows up in amazing detail. The farm in Smallville seems to show every color in the spectrum. This works, though, because Smallville is based on a comic-book character. Intense colors are part and parcel of that medium, so it plays really well here. The only thing missing are the panel borders. If you’re already a Smallville fan, it’d definitely be worth the extra dough to pick up the Blu-Ray version.

Smallville has always seemed to be a show that has survived on the back of its fanbase, a fact it doesn’t seem to forget in the liner notes of the DVD. “It’s 100% because of you, the fans, that we’ll be bringing you a season 9! It’s not the cape and tights, it’s the fans that make the Superman!” writes the creative team in the enclosed booklet. As an admitted comic fanboy, I’ve come up against more than one person ready to dismiss Smallville as “Dawson’s Creek” meets “Superman”, but to be honest, what I’ve seen I’ve enjoyed, and even with the somewhat dramatic changes that happened in season eight, it seems the series still has plenty of story left to tell before Clark figures out that wearing his underwear on the outside of his outfit makes more sense than a red jacket and some jeans.