Smallville: The Complete Second Season

While I very much enjoyed Season One of SMALLVILLE, I felt the show suffered from two major weaknesses: 1) the insufficient focus on the characters and their interaction and 2) the over reliance on the kryptonite-freak-of-the-week plot device. The great news about Season Two is that they deemphasized the freak-of-the-week gimmick, and instead focused on a series of storylines that centered on character development. The result was a vast improvement in the quality of the series. Season One showed that SMALLVILLE had the potential to become a quality series, and Season Two fulfilled that potential.As we see the characters develop during the course of the season, we also see their relationships become more complicated. With Lindsey gone, the seemingly inevitable relationship between Clark and Lana is free to develop. While they do manage something approaching a romance, things are complicated by a number of factors, including the Lana's certainty that Clark is hiding many important things from her. In fact, one of the themes of the entire season is the inability of the main characters to be honest with one another. Clark, Lana, Chloe, Pete, Lex (and Lex's father), and Clark's parents all hide various things from other characters at one point or another. By the end of the season, many of the relationships and friendships have been affected by an inability to be either open or honest.We also see Clark gradually acquire additional powers during the course of the season. In addition to X-ray vision, he develops his heat vision, and we get additional hints that the ability to fly might soon develop. More crucially, Clark discovers caves upon the walls of which are inscribed symbols that look suspiciously like those contained on various parts of his spaceship. Before the season is over, these will aid in his discovery of who he truly is, and will start pointing towards his future development. The other major development in regard to his powers is his revealing to Pete the nature and extent of his secret.One thing that I find both curious and interesting is the opposition that this show provokes on the part of Superman traditionalists, who somehow feel that the show violates the spirit of the original creation. I am mystified by this because Superman has always been prone to revision and reconceptualization. Few serious Superman fans object, for instance, to the exceedingly dark reinventions of Superman and Batman at the hands of such stellar artists/writers as Alan Moore and Frank Miller. The poet Jack Butler wrote a wonderful poem about Superman depicting him as a middle-aged has been, a poem that is praised by its readers. Yet for some reason SMALLVILLE is disapproved by "purists." But even the traditional Superman that we associate with the forties, fifties, and sixties is very different from the original character. For instance, Superman could not originally fly. Was the addition of the ability to fly improper? I personally love to see people exploring variations of the Superman legend, as long as they are respectful or serious, and no one who has actually watched SMALLVILLE could argue that they are not respectful. In fact, the show continually pays homage to entire Superman tradition. For instance, they acknowledge the Christopher Reeves movies both by having Reeves himself appear in two different episodes and by on these occasions working the John Williams's Superman theme into the score. Every episode begins by acknowledging Jerry Siegal and Joe Shuster as the creators of the show, and many episodes contain references of one sort or another to Siegal or Shuster. In other words, the show knows where it comes from, and they are generous in acknowledging that. Besides, if someone dislikes a particular variant, they can skip it. No one is forced to watch SMALLVILLE. I do think that the show is a worthy addition to the Superman saga, and is remarkable for having presented the most interesting and complex depiction of Lex Luthor, converting him from a simple arch villain to a complex, many-sided character possessing great potential for either good or evil.This is one of a series of shows that seems to have profited from the example of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. During the 1990s many series were struggling with the new potential the medium was displaying in the wake of TWIN PEAKS. The first show to really begin exploiting this potential was THE X-FILES (a show that feeds into SMALLVILLE by the presence of a large number of people who either acted or were part of the production staff of both shows), but the lone mistake that that great show made (amid a vast number of marvelous achievements) was to structure the show around the mythology and the events of each week instead of the characters. We all really watched THE X-FILES for Mulder and Scully instead of the weird phenomena, but the show never structurally reflected that. BUFFY was the show that first emphasized characters and their stories over the mysteries. We have since seen a number of shows that have followed in BUFFY's tracks-DEAD LIKE ME, WONDERFALLS, VERONICA MARS, and LOST (the co-creator of the latter acknowledges this explicitly)-and SMALLVILLE is one of these. Despite the tendency of network execs to cancel shows with long story arcs and despite the unwelcome presence of so many reality shows, this truly might be the Golden Age of narrative television.

Season 1 ends on an explosive ending that makes season 2 start off very strong and compellingly. After the conclusion with episode 1, it offers insight on a mystery that lasts throughout season 2 and is solved by a surprise guest star who played the original movie superman! Another great thing to note is the introduction to Clark's new heat vision which goes nicely and plays just as an important role as his x-ray vision. Personally I really enjoyed season 2 much more than season 1 but I did love the fact that a lot of characters and villains make cameos and reappearances throughout the season which slowly starts to take its toll on Clark. Ultimately, he makes a sad and shocking decision by the end of the season as his character grows to be one that most of us can easily relate and feel empathy for. Aside from that, the video presentation does improve with less artifacts as well as the cgi/special effects having more effort put into them. The audio did seem off at times, almost sounding like mono, but its understandable as its a 2.0 stereo track which still sounded more pleasant compared to season 1's audio track. Overall its a very solid season that you should give a chance if you didnt like season 1 and the "freak of the week" episodes.

The legendary adventures of the Teen of Steel continues with "Smallville: The Complete Second Season". In this second season, Clark Kent (Tom Welling) begins to investigate his origins and learns some stunning revelations of his true destiny on Earth. The rivalry between Lex Luther (Michael Rosenbaum) and his devious father Lionel (John Glover) heats up and the new woman in Lex's life (Emmanuelle Vaugier) could be his salvation or tragic fall. The close friendship between Lana Lang (Kristen Kreuk) and Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) creates certain difficulties for Clark. "Smallville" is the popular live-action comic book series that follows the adventures of a young Clark Kent during the years before he becomes Superman. The second season shows some improvements in the series' dramatic content and the relationship between the characters, and also avoids the repetitive "meteor freak of the week" trend. The episodes storylines appear more creative and better structured, and allow the supporting cast to have a stronger effect in the series' outcome. The second season also delivers some thrilling action sequences and great visual effects.The "Second Season" 6-Disc Box Set is a reasonable improvement over the "First Season" Box Set. Like the previous box set, all 23 episodes are presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen format. Its picture quality isn't spectacular but is certainly well-defined. The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is rather pleasant. Some episodes contain deleted scenes and insightful audio commentaries with producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, and cast members Tom Welling, Kristen Kreuk and Michael Rosenbaum. The box set also includes the engaging "The Chloe Chronicles", "Christopher Reeve: Man of Steel" and "Faster than a Speeding Bullet" featurettes, a fun gag reel and some colorful interactive menus. "The Complete Second Season" Box Set will delight fans of the hit WB series and scores a satisfying "B+".

ラナのファンの人にとっては、これはマストバイだと思います。私は、英語だけのセカンドシーズンを６シーズンを買ってから購入しました。ラナが一番輝いて新鮮に魅力的なのは２シーズンです。4シーズンあたりから額にシワが出てきますし、６シーズンではもう飽きてしまって．．．。あまり魅力的には感じないようになってしまいませんか（？）日本語版は、テレビやレンタルでもう既に見ていますので安くて俳優たちの声や魅力がダイレクトに感じるこれを買いました！やっぱり保存版ですね。何度も見たいです。

日本国内（リージョン２)用のＤＶＤプレーヤーで再生できました。英語の字幕が表示できます。マーケットプレイス（新品）が安いですが、こちらはリージョン１の可能性がありそうです。要確認。ちなみにσ(＾＾)は英語は全くわかりません。どうしても、意味を知りたい単語が出てきたときのために電子辞書片手に奮闘しています。それほど面白いです。

ヤングスーパーマン好きの方、またそうでない方、見るべきです！このDVDの心配なところは1.リージョン1だから日本のプレーヤーじゃ見れない... 2.話す言葉が英語だから聞き取れない... 心配無用。実際にはパソコンでもPS2でも普通に見れたし、英語といっても英語字幕がついてるからなんとなく理解は出来ます！クラークとラナの行方を知りたい方は今すぐご購入を...!

SMALLVILLEファンの皆さん、　ご心配なく、日本のＤＶＤプレーヤーでも、パソコンででも視聴できます。　私も実際見るまでは心配でしたが、SEASON1もリージョン１ながら、日本のプレーヤーで見れたと言う事を、どこかのサイトで読み今回注文しました。心配している方は、ドントワリィ。　私は、NHKでSEASON1が放映されていた時から、SMALLVILLEを使って英語の聞き取りの勉強をしていました。今回は、DVDなので分からない時は、英語字幕で確認できます。これは便利ですね。完全な台詞をゲットしたければ、アメリカのサイトで入手可能です。是非、英語学習者のみなさん、SMALLVILLE SEASON2で頑張ってみませんか？　追伸：FEATUREの中のNGシーン最高ですよ。

Season 2 picks up exactly where Season 1 left off and launches into the stratosphere! The storylines are more rounded and polished - Clark's new powers and problems are more spaced-out and explored in more detail unlike in Season 1. Tom Welling grows more adept with every episode - especially the dark drama that comes with Red Kryptonite and the comedy of discovering the trigger for his newly-acquired heat vision. The other actors also advance in leaps and bounds. This year we see Clark's friend Pete become privy to the "secret", the Clark/Lana will-they, won't-they romance is hampered when Chloe adopts her love-rival as a sister - but most important of all Christopher Reeve makes a cameo appearance as the billionaire scientist who reveals Clark's true identity and origin. This DVD set also includes two hilarious commentaries - episodes Red & Rosetta - featuring key cast members and also a blooper reel which contains some truly funny moments (a shame they didn't continue with this on further sets). Favourite episodes: Vortex, Heat, Duplicity, Red, Ryan, Insurgence, Rush & Rosetta.