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Smallville: Season 4 (Repackage)

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Smallville: The Complete Fourth Season (Repackage)

Clark Kent takes on a whole new dimension in this precursor to the Superman legend. You know how the story ends; now watch the journey unfold. The idyllic town of Smallville, Kansas, never seemed the same after the meteor shower that rained down years ago. That was the day Clark Kent arrived on Earth--and the day strange things started happening in Smallville. Now, Clark is a teenager, and his growing pains are amplified by the burden of his emerging superpowers.

]]> The arrival of another gorgeous young woman with the initials of LL further complicates Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) life in the fourth season of Smallville, the WB's hip and sexy reinvention of the Superman legend. In this case, it's Lois Lane (Erica Durance), a would-be college freshman who's come to the Kansas heartland to investigate the disappearance of her cousin, Chloe. What she discovers instead is a naked, amnesiac Clark Kent in a cornfield, and things take off from there. Durance doesn't appear in every episode--she was credited as a "special guest star"--but her tough spirit and crackling wit provide a great, non-romantic foil to Clark.

That's just as well, because there's plenty of romantic triangulation--or worse--going on. Clark's former love interest--and his first LL--Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), has returned from her summer in Paris sporting a new boyfriend, Jason Teague (Jensen Ackles), as well as a mysterious tattoo that seems to have something to do with a set of Kryptonian crystals as well as Jason's sinister mom, Genevieve (Jane Seymour). Keeping his relationship with Lana a secret, Jason has signed on as Smallville High's new assistant football coach. What's surprising is that the team's new quarterback is none other than Clark, who's grown tired of hiding his super-strength, super-speed, and invulnerability and wants to be part of the team. But nothing's easy for Clark, and he goes through the prom, a marriage, and fatherhood, not necessarily in that order, as well as his secret being discovered, unknown to him, by one of his closest friends. (On the plus side, he does uncover a cool new power.)

But the key to the season is the Kryptonian crystals. They further deteriorate the relationship between the incarcerated Lionel Luthor (John Glover), and his son, Lex (Michael Rosenbaum). Lex may be Clark's best friend, but he reveals more of his dark side in a revelation about his sexual escapades and a split-personality (literally) incident. Lana's frightening dreams actually come to life in a silly Charmed-type episode. Then in the explosive season finale, the main characters are scattered and another meteor shower threatens to wipe out the town.

One of the fun things about Smallville is how producers Al Gough and Miles Millar and their team of writers acknowledge their place in a 70-year Superman mythos (even if Clark is never referred to as Superman). His DC Comics origins receive a nod with appearances by the Flash, Krypto the superdog, and the magical Mxyztplk. And the cast includes not only regular Annette O'Toole (Martha Clark), who had played Lana Lang in Superman III, but guest shots by Margot Kidder (Bridgette Porter) and Terence Stamp (the voice of Jor-El), and the late Christopher Reeve gets a brief but touching farewell in an announcement of the passing of his character, Dr. Virgil Swann.

Extras include 15 minutes with the writing team, a spotlight on Kidder, Durance, and others who have played Lois Lane, deleted scenes, and three episodes with commentary from combinations of Gough, Millar, Durance, Kreuk, Glover and others, but not Welling. --David Horiuchi