Review: Smallville: The Complete Third Season
Written by Craig Byrne - KryptonSite webmaster

The third season of Smallville, which originally aired on The WB between October 2003 and May of this year, was released to the DVD format on November 16. All 22 episodes from the show's third year are on the set, plus a whole bunch of extras.

Where should I start with reviewing this 6-disc set? Probably the cover. Again, a very nice design, as it has been the previous two years. This year they added Lana and Lex to the mix with the images, but they're definitely welcome. The design of the box, as well as the booklet inside, matched the show perfectly, just like I commented in reviews of previous seasons. And also, again, the menu design and scenes before we see the main menu are a highlight. Lots of fun to see, and very well designed.

Most of you, if you're visiting a website about Smallville, already know about the third season of the show and which episodes are highlights. Some of these are even better to see on a nice high definition TV. "Exile" makes me wish I had a big screen TV, and I love the fight between Clark and Jonathan in "Phoenix." "Exile" may also be one of Tom Welling's best performances on the show; as "Kal" he really seemed to have a lot of fun, and handled the Clark-centric episode perfectly. Both "Extinction" and "Asylum" feature a pre-Desperate Housewives Jesse Metcalfe (this time wearing pants!) for those of you who like that show. "Slumber" is one of my underrated favorites, featuring the music of R.E.M. and evoking a weirdness last seen in Buffy.

Disc One features commentary for "Exile" by Michael Rosenbaum plus executive producers Al Gough, Miles Millar, Greg Beeman, and Ken Horton. A big crowd, but still fun to hear. There are also deleted scenes for "Exile" and "Slumber."

On Disc Two, "Perry" was a great episode featuring a very important figure in Clark's future. Michael McKean was so good in the role that the fans picked him as the Best Guest Star Who Is Not Christopher Reeve for the 2004 KryptonSite Awards. I didn't think I'd like a Perry as much as I liked Lane Smith on Lois & Clark; while McKean was VERY different, it's the uniqueness that made me like him just as much. "Relic" was loved by many fans, although tying Clark and Lana together somehow through the generations kind of made me sick. Kristin looked great with shorter hair as "Louise," and it was neat to see "Joe" fly, though. "Magnetic" is one I'm going to have to give another look, because I don't think I ever watched it again after the first airing. And then, the last episode on the disc is "Shattered," which is definitely one of the best hours of the third season. Great performances by Michael Rosenbaum and his TV dad, John Glover, really make that one work.

There's also a fun deleted scene from "Shattered," featuring Lionel and Chloe, that you should take the time to check out. That, too, is on Disc Two.

Disc Three picks up where "Shattered" left off with "Asylum," another episode that featured Michael Rosenbaum in a big role. That episode also introduced Ian Somerhalder (Lost) to the mythos as Adam Knight. You might be disappointed, though, that the Adam storyline really didn't seem to gel as well as it should have. Either way, Ian's in six episodes.

Next on that disc is "Whisper." It's got Clark Kent in glasses, how can you go wrong people? We'll forgive them for giving Pete a mom who is only like 30 even though she's given birth to five children. And even though Ken Horton (writer) and Thomas J. Wright (director) did some brilliant work on Millennium, this episode really didn't hit that high standard. But hey. Clark in glasses. A story where Pete actually gets something to do. Can it really be that bad? Fun to re-watch, at least.

"Delete" was an episode that most liked but I didn't really care for. That's another one I've got to give another look. The last episode on Disc Three is "Hereafter." Some neat imagery, including a glimpse of Superman's cape that is not to be missed. "Hereafter" was a very good episode; the only problem with it is some of the themes were done before (and some may argue, better) in "Hourglass" and "Stray."

No deleted scenes on the third disc.

Disc Four starts off with "Velocity." But you'll want to skip through "Pete Meets The Fast And The Furious" and instead start off with "Obsession," which not only is one of the most fun episodes of Season Three, providing a "meteor freak" who was one of the show's best characters, but it's also an episode that will offer some hints about some upcoming Smallville storylines. (Which? Read the spoilers page here at KryptonSite!) The episode after it, "Resurrection," is one that I'm not sure if the WB ever re-aired it, so you might want to give it a look, but that episode's real redeeming quality is that it sets things up for "Crisis" the next week. "Crisis" is the last story on Disc Four, and it reveals the truth about Adam Knight plus has a very nice cliffhanger ending for Lionel. And, "Crisis" also has one of the most rewarding pre-episode teases of all time, and you can pause and replay it all you want if you have the DVD!

There are deleted scenes from all four episodes on Disc Four.

Next up... yup. Disc Five. Only three episodes on this one but a ton of extras. This disc starts off with "Legacy," the final appearance of Christopher Reeve on the series as Dr. Virgil Swann. Most of the episode is set-up, but it makes you feel thankful and glad to see Dr. Swann again. It's a little bittersweet, too, because Reeve appears to be in even better health than when he did "Rosetta" in Season Two. Reeve died in October. The second episode on the disc is Season Three's underrated gem; probably one of the cheapest to produce but by far the most fun, and that's "Truth," where Chloe gets the power to make everyone tell the truth. Lots of fun moments on this episode, and Allison Mack does a great performance as a power-hungry Chloe. Plus, this episode sets up the season finale, as people will soon learn.

"Truth" features commentary by director James Marshall and actors Allison Mack (Chloe) and John Glover (Lionel). The only problem? In the commentary, Allison mentions an alternate take being filmed for the episode's conclusion - so why was it not on the DVD? Very, very disappointing. Same goes for the comment about Tom laughing during the take wen Pete kisses Chloe. Where is that on the gag reel? Highly disappointing to know these things exist but still not to see them. It's kind of like the Buffy commentary for the series pilot, when Joss Whedon mentions the other actress who originally played Willow, yet no such thing is included with the set. Hey, DVD people: Can you guys put them on the Season 4 set or something? Maybe with the "Michael making out with Kelly Brook" stuff from Season 1?

Oh, and by the way, a "way to go" to the DVD people for getting the supporting actors to do commentary. I loved hearing Allison and Mr. Glover. I hope this happens again for season 4. Erica Durance on "Crusade?" John Glover on "Transference?" That kind of stuff would be great. That, or fan commentary. (hint)

After "Truth" comes "Memoria," an episode that many considered to be the best of the season. Important moments in the pasts of Clark and Lex are revealed, and great performances by the Smallville actors and the guests are highlighted. This was show co-creator Miles Millar's directorial debut and he did a fantastic job. He really needs to come back. The best part of "Memoria," however, is seeing how important mothers are to the series. So often on Smallville mothers seem to be dead or killed by their meteor freak kids or something, but in this one, Lillian (Luthor), Lara (of the house of El), and Martha (Kent) all get to play important parts in the lives of their sons. And Mama Kent on the steps having tension with Lionel? Awesome. I hope we see more of that in Season 4. "Memoria" includes commentary by the same folks who did commentary on "Exile." It also features a deleted scene with Tom Welling and Annette O'Toole.

Disc Five also has a documentary "Smallville: The Heroes Behind The Camera" that is by far the best "extra feature" of the set. You get to see and "meet" many of the folks that make the show happen, many of whom are names we just see at the end of every episode. And, it's got Greg Beeman, who we think was a standup comic in another life. Rosenbaum does a good Beeman impression on the feature as well. I hope Season Four has something similar, but spotlighting the folks down here in the L.A. area in the writers' office and such, but scheduling that may be difficult. Still... if you're bummed out by the shortness of the gag reel or wanted more deleted scenes, the documentary will make it up for you.

The last and sixth disc of the set starts off with "Talisman." There's also a deleted scene from that one where everyone has a birthday party for Clark. It's a very good scene; but, it was cut for time and the episode still works without it. It is also nice to see all of the characters together at the party, since we rarely get to see them all interact sometimes. "Forsaken" is next up, also with a deleted scene, but you'll probably leave it wishing that Sam Jones III got more material in his last episode.

"Covenant," the third season finale, is last. The best part of a DVD like this is you can watch that last scene over and over again, and it's still good every time. You might even pause and see if Chloe's body hits the door or not. Great stuff.

And now... let the complaining begin!

Disc Four also features the complete Chloe Chronicles Series 2. They're a series of several originally-shown-online "webisodes" featuring an investigation by Chloe and also featuring Sam Jones III and John Glover as their Smallville characters. I love this. I am a big Chloe fan (to the point people call this site Kloesite), and I think the Chronicles are a great way to feature her character in ways that there are just not time for on the show sometimes. So why am I complaining?

The Chronicles episodes lead into a story originally in the DC Smallville comic book, and instead of being able to just sit there and watch, you have to manually forward through every panel. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, maybe I'm just lazy, but I didn't really like this set-up.... I almost wish it had been animated and moving, or something, like the first few comic panels are that picked up from the cliffhanger. The story is great, just, I don't like making the effort. And compounding that annoyance is that before you get to the next chapter of the Chronicles, there's another unrelated comic book story featuring Lex in the asylum. I think it's great that they included some of the comic on there. But it ruined the flow, and took me out of the story, which is unfortunate. Why couldn't the Lex comic be put on the disc somewhere else? The Chronicles are still worth watching, though.

Finally on Disc Six is a gag reel, which also kind of disappointed because one very major cast member seemed to be absent from the bloopers - Tom Welling! While Michael Rosenbaum farting is always good for a laugh, it was disappointing not to see the show's star in the outtakes - especially since his outtakes were among the funniest in Season Two. Still, some good bloopers did make it in, and it was also nice to see because you can see that some of the cast have great senses of humor. Just like Tom Welling's Gollum voice in the S2 commentary made you think "wow, he's actually funny," so, too, was seeing how funny and cute Kristin Kreuk can be. It's an insight into these people that we as fans just do not get.

Overall, would I recommend this disc? If you're a fan of the show, sure. For a newcomer, I'd probably still recommend they start at the beginning with Season One. I will say though that some things on this disc, such as the missing "Truth" bits and the lack of Welling on the gag reel, did disappoint me a little bit, and I hope that they can clear these things when the time comes for the fourth season on DVD.

My overall grade: B. Some great stuff, such as the "Heroes Behind The Camera" documentary and the commentaries, and obviously some great episodes, but a few disappointments brought this down a little bit.

Note: The views of Craig Byrne don't necessarily represent the thoughts and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite.

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