Review: Smallville: The Complete Fourth Season DVD Set
Reviewed by Craig Byrne
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Season Four of Smallville is coming to DVD on September 13, 2005. While I initially started this review with a long, babbling recap of the pros and cons of the season, I decided to go without that and jump right into the topic at hand - the DVD set. Here are my thoughts:

Packaging/Artwork: The cover to this DVD set caused quite a furor online with screams of "But Lois is just a guest star!!" This is true, but one must also remember that the addition of Lois Lane is, like it or not, one of the most saleable parts of the entire season. Maybe a casual buyer who had never seen the show or hasn't watched in a few years would go "Oh! Who's she? I don't remember seeing her on the show before, I should check this out!" Understanding the marketing plan behind this, plus the Lois/Clark dynamic being in the Lois & Clark DVD and the upcoming "Superman Returns" film, it's no surprise that Lois Lane ends up on the front cover with Clark. It may have angered shippers of other sorts, but ultimately, it's a marketing decision and it's not as though everyone could be pleased all of the time. Whether you like Lois or you don't, and whether or not you feel Lois Lane actually belongs in Clark Kent's teenage life, it still made sense, at least to me, to have her on the cover art.

The six individual discs inside feature Clark, Lana, Lex, Chloe, Lionel, and the Kents, respectively. Some of that disc art features images or alternate takes previously unseen in the fandom.

As always, the Warner Home Video folks did a fantastic job with the look of the package, and the look of the menus, etc. The menus, as they are with previous years, in some times look better than the season's opening credits. Picture quality on the DVD is also top-notch.

Commentaries: There are commentaries on three episodes - "Crusade," "Transference," and "Spell." At this point I have only listened to "Crusade" and "Transference," with "Spell" to come later.

For "Crusade," I will have to say on that one that it was especially a treat to listen to Annette O'Toole as one of the folks on the commentary. Now if only we had more Martha in the season! The commentary reveals that a battle between the two Clarks, a la "Superman III," was planned for the episode, but it already had gotten too big. That's unfortunate, because such a scene sounds like it would have been great. "Crusade" already has its own "Superman III" connection as it reunites Annette O'Toole and Margot Kidder, who played Lana and Lois in that movie.

"Transference" features some interesting stories and insights from John Glover about what it was like to play Lionel-as-Clark. We also learn that he feels Lionel not only has the hots for Martha, but for Chloe as well.

I'm looking forward to hearing the "Spell" commentary and what everyone thought of doing that one.

Bonus Featurettes: There are two bonus featurettes on the DVD set. "Inside The Writers' Room" takes you inside the planning zone for a Smallville episode, in this case "Forever." You get to see the Smallville writers in their natural element, and get to learn a bit about how stories are broken as the show gets to its fourth season.

It's unfortunate we couldn't have seen them breaking a better episode than "Forever," but you can't win them all. Most of Smallville's writing staff, as well as some of the actors, are interviewed in this feature.

Also on the disc is a retrospective interviewing various actresses who have played Lois Lane. It's really interesting and well done, but unfortunate that my personal favorite Lois Lane, Teri Hatcher, is not interviewed on the featurette. Some clips of great moments from Teri's Lois are shown, so that at least makes me happy.

Still, both featurettes are very well put together and are a fun watch.

Gag Reel: One bonus feature that's not on the DVD is a gag reel. We're assuming there were rights issues with those, but it's really unfortunate not to get the chance to see some of Season Four's best flubs. Even if it's a few minutes of Michael Rosenbaum passing wind, gag reels are something that are a lot of fun and here's hoping they do it again for Season Five.

Deleted Scenes: As detailed on this page of KryptonSite, there are over a dozen deleted scenes on this disc. Most of these are scenes that don't appear to be cut because they were bad; but instead may have been cut for time. It is unfortunate, because some of the scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor would have made the ultimate episodes better than they turned out being. I especially like a deleted scene from "Gone," as everyone talks to Chloe about where she's been and being happy that she's back. Clark's reaction to being surrounded by three attractive girls is priceless. Cut scenes from "Spell" also give character reactions to that episode's happenings. Finally, as cool as the white suit scary President Lex from Season One was, the cut Lex dream sequence from "Scare" is much better in my opinion than what we saw in the final cut.

Props go out to the people who put out this DVD in finding such good material, though.

The Episodes: The joy of a set like this is, as someone on TWOP once posted, is that if you didn't like the season, being able to pick and choose what you want, or to fast forward through the scenes of characters you may not like... it makes the episodes a whole lot better. During the season you may be partly spoiled or have false hopes, positive or negative, for an episode before you see it, and then you may be disappointed... now that you know what to expect, you can find the inevitable gems that are in every episode.

We have to be honest, that at least in the internet fandom, aside from some gems like "Crusade," "Run," "Transference," "Onyx," and "Commencement," Season Four was disappointing for a lot of people. Gratuitous sex and nudity seemed to be the first priority in the first half of the season, and it seemed like getting the characters naked was almost more important than moving the story along. Season 4 also relied a bit too heavily on "behavior change" episodes, which replaced "freak of the week" as the buzz word of the day. In the end, twelve of the season's 22 episodes involved a behavior change of some way... be it Kryptonite-enhanced, amnesia, or witch possession* . Smallville has interesting characters when they behave normally; why the need to change them all the time? If Lex Luthor is allowed to be good (diamond earring trysts notwithstanding), why can't Clark Kent misbehave a little or why can't Lana be bitchy without the influence of Red K or witch ancestors? Aside from the excellent "Transference," I think I could have done without the behavior changes in general.

We were also told prior to the season that there would be "no Clana," but what we ended up with was disappointing for both those in favor of and against the 'ship.... through behavior changes we got a lot of fakeout Clana, where it appeared something would happen between the two of them but it actually never did, because someone was mind-whammied, and they'd usually forget what happened at the end of the episode. So, those who liked Clana and those who hated it were equally screwed.

Season 4 is also the season that introduced us to Lois Lane (played by Erica Durance) and Jason Teague (Jensen Ackles). While Lois's premiere four-episode arc was wonderful, by season's end you'll wish she'd go home already. The "I hate you" routine stops being cute at a certain point. However, the first two episodes of Season Four especially have Erica Durance's Lois at her best; and from these performances, you can see why she was signed on for more episodes. In fact, I had forgotten how good she was in the early episodes until I re-watched them now... I don't know if the character has just gotten a little overbearing for me or if there was something different in the Lois writing early on, but now, I really wish the show would focus more on the two females who are already on the show - Chloe, and yes, even Lana.

Jensen Ackles as Jason didn't have a good season at all. He started off as what seemed like an everyman character which slowly evolved into the typical Lana-crazy-boyfriend syndrome. (See also: Adam Knight) Jensen gives the performance his all, and in the commentary for "Crusade," he gets props from Annette O'Toole. Best of luck to him in his next project.

Despite the negative points brought up above, Season Four does have some highlights. John Glover and Tom Welling switch places for "Transference," as Clark and Lionel switch bodies, and both give an excellent performance. Future Flash Bart Allen (Kyle Gallner) makes "Run" one of the most fun episodes of the year. There are amazing special effects, like Clark flying in "Crusade" or the new meteor shower in "Commencement," and we even get to see Lex's dark side in "Onyx." The return of Alicia Baker (Sarah Carter) in a mid-season 2-parter was also highly anticipated.

Luckily now, thanks to a DVD, you can see the really good stuff at your fingertips. Lois confronting Lionel in "Crusade." The rescue of Chloe. Clark and Bart racing. Clark and Lionel's switch. Chloe learning the secret of Clark's powers. The new meteor shower. And even better, you can fast foward through the bad stuff. Is Lois starting to get on your nerves? Zap through it. Want Isobel to come back already, because you like Lana a lot better that way? Pop in "Sacred." Is the whole subplot with Dr. Quinn - err, Genevieve Teague boring and confusing to you? Jump to the next scene. Want some good Lex? "Onyx" is what the doctor ordered. And have you been waiting four years for Clark and Lana to just dance already at the Prom? "Spirit" is on Disc 5. Trust me, Season Four is a lot better that way. Even the worst episodes have some gems. Okay, so maybe not "Ageless," but you get the drift.

Complaint: Besides there not being a gag reel, there is one thing that doesn't match the show's original airing. Allison Mack has been restored to the opening credits for the season's first two episodes, "Crusade" and "Gone," even though she wasn't orginally there when these episodes first aired. Maybe this is a contractual obligation to include her there, but I'd have liked to have had the alternate opening credits as a bonus feature or something like that, at least. It was a fun little trick on the show to keep the surprise that Chloe was alive from the non-Internet fans.

The Final Verdict: That complaint aside, I have to say I'm really impressed with this set, and I'm excited to watch more from it. I think the DVD format will give me a chance to appreciate the season more than you may have the first time around. Shippers might not be too fond of it as many favorite ships were kept apart for most of the season, but those of us wanting to revisit moments with our favorite characters will be in for a treat. The deleted scenes and featurettes, like I've said, are amazing, and are worth the cost of the DVD set alone. Getting the 22 episodes is the bonus! I definitely recommend ordering a copy. Who knows? Maybe you'll like it too.

* About those 12 episodes... here's the tally, if you must know.
"Crusade" - Clark thinks he's Kal, flies around and does his thing
"Facade" - Abby uses her powers to make people behave differently.
"Devoted" - Kryptonite Gatorade makes everyone excited.
"Transference" - Clark and Lionel switch bodies. But trust me, it was a GOOD behavior change episode!
"Jinx" - Chloe briefly falls under Mxyzptlk's spell
"Spell" - Lana, Chloe, and Lois think they're witches
"Scare" - Scary things happen in nightmares, where people don't act like their usual selves
"Unsafe" - Alicia slips Clark a Red K roofie, bringing back "Kal"
"Sacred" - Isobel the witch is back
"Onyx" - Lex is split into two - a good Lex and an evil Lex
"Spirit" - Dawn Stiles possesses several characters
"Commencement" - Lana becomes Isobel again and kills Genevieve Teague

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

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