Super problems, and normal heart breaks. SMALLVILLE SEASON SIX.

Smallville Season Six. Created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Seigel. Series by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar.

Smallville is the award winning series chronicling how Clark Kent grew up from being a farm boy with powers to become the Man of Steel. The show is not Superman, the early years, no, it is really about Clark, as a person, and how he was shaped to fulfill his destiny. The show is bright, witty, well written, and as much as is humanly possible with turning a comic book into a series, it stays very grounded and true to life. People have lives, and memories, and what you do has consequences.

The show employs some of the best writers out there, and they consistently turn out quality work. Even the worst episode of Smallville is better than 80% of the best of other shows. It is family friendly, and while not "polyanna" sweet and pure, the message is always grounded in good solid ethics; Truth, Justice, and the American Way.

Warning: This review is not written for people who wait until the series comes out on DVD and contains Major Spoilers. Just scroll to the bottom, rate it Very Helpful, and move on with your life. Thank you.

This season, Clark's focus is on rounding up the threats that escaped from the Phantom Zone, figuring out what Lex is up to the 33.1, and Lana's marriage to Lex. Several new things are introduced this season; Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Jimmy Olsen, and Super Breath. An old relationship is redefined, as Lionel Luthor is chosen to be the herald of Jor-El. The really big news happens at the seasons end, and probably helps explain why Lana and Clark never got married....

The Episodes.
Season 6, Episode 1: Zod
Raya: Zod is a soldier. He will kill you.
Clark Kent: If there is a way for you to save everyone you loved, wouldn't you risk dying?
Raya: You truly are your father's son.

Clark is a prisoner in the Phantom Zone, Metropolis has been hit and there is fire and rioting, Zod is possessing Lex, and Lana and Lionel team up to get him out; even if it kills Lex. (Maybe especially if it kills Lex...)

Season 6, Episode 2: Sneeze
"You just take care of that cold. We've had enough natural disasters around here without having to worry about Hurricane Clark looming off the coast." Chloe Sullivan

Whether due to exhaustion from repairing Metropolis in the wake of Black Thursday, or he picked up a Kryptonian bug while in the Phantom Zone, Clark is coming down with a cold. And with great power comes great problems...like a sneeze that blows the barn door off its hinges! Lana moves into the mansion in one of the worst "Don't go in there" moves ever, but Lex is kidnapped by government agents. Oh, and Lionel goes to have a word with an old schoolmate of Lex's Oliver Queen. He thinks Oliver might have Lex in his sights; and he's right on target!

Season 6, Episode 3: Wither
Clark wasn't the only thing that got out of the Phantom Zone. Chloe and her new main squeeze Jimmy Olsen investigate a body they found in a tree. Clark is surprised to discover he is jealous that Chloe has found someone. This is only exacerbated by the fact that Lex and Lana announce they are an item at a Black Thursday Fund raiser. And Clark is getting no love at all, because Lois is making eyes at Oliver Queen! (Guest villain, Poison Ivy. Oh, come on, you know it is.)

Season 6, Episode 4: Arrow
The Green Arrow: I saved you.
Lois Lane: Yeah. From goons who were trying to find you. They're not the only one with a V for Vendetta on your little leather @$$.
The Green Arrow: Little? I've really been working on the glutes lately, too.
Lois Lane: Did the humor come with the costume?
The Green Arrow: Did the Tomb Raider routine come from wanting daddy's attention?

There is a new Robin Hood in Metropolis, and they call him the Green Arrow! Is he a hero or a villain? He stole a Luthor Diamond necklace from Martha Kent (perhaps not the smartest thing). Meanwhile, Lex is playing Machiavellian mind games to "test" Lana. Ain't love grand?

Season 6, Episode 5: Reunion
Clark Kent: You know, sometimes in order to protect the people we love, we keep secrets.
Lois Lane: That is... totally retarded.

When old classmates of Lex Luthor and Oliver Queen start dropping dead, old wounds have their scabs ripped off. We see why Oliver hates Lex, and why Lex is perfectly justified in hating Oliver. Of course, the answer is not as simple as it seems.

Season 6, Episode 6: Fallout
It wasn't just prisoners who escaped the Phantom Zone; Raya, Jor-El's assistant also made it. She helps Clark make repairs to the Fortress, and proves herself a real friend. However, Baern, an energy vampire also escaped, and it is coming for revenge.

Meanwhile, Lana is investigating some Luthorcorp project called ROCK and Jimmy is investigating Lana, trying to get dirt on Lex to give Chloe, like a bouquet of apology roses.

Season 6, Episode 7: Rage
The Green Arrow is shot by a car jacker! But why isn't Oliver bearing the wounds? And why is he so grouchy? Why is Lex so opposed to Lana working for a halfway house? Could the fact that the Dr. Rebecca Black is involved with both Oliver and the halfway house explain both mysteries? And guess who is coming to (Thanksgiving) dinner?

Season 6, Episode 8: Static"Sometimes, even heroes need to be saved." Chloe Sullivan.

One of the Phantoms has surfaced in Seattle. This one eats marrow. Yerk! And he's about as strong as Clark, and definitely bigger. Meanwhile, Lex gets a little well deserved time on his petard; a meteor freak escapes 33.1 and traps Lex on a different vibrational plain.

Season 6, Episode 9: Subterranean
In a rare and in this case refreshing reversion to the Freak of the Week formula, we deal with the problem of illegal immigration. Chloe and Jimmy are taking a big step, looking for a place in Metropolis, and Lex is taking an even bigger one with Lana.

Season 6, Episode 10: Hydro
"Well, he was holding me in his arms, and - Ollie's a good kisser, don't get me wrong - but that Green Arrow? He could teach Ollie a thing or two." Lois Lane.

How is it that Linda Lake gets all the gossip? And what is she going to do with the info on Lex and Lana's relationship problems? Worse, Lois thinks Oliver might be the Green Arrow! So Clark lends his friend a hand...and dons his first super suit...of course, it is green... This episode is very relationship heavy. And Tom Welling directs!

Season 6, Episode 11: Justice
Victor Stone: Nice, But please, put a shirt on.
Arthur Curry: I swim faster when I'm naked.
Victor Stone: I bet you do.
Arthur Curry: You're lucky I still got my pants on.

In past seasons we have met Arthur Curry, Bart Allen and Victor Stone. Now Oliver Queen is planning on taking down 33.1. When the Flash is captured and tortured for information, Clark rushes in...straight into the green glow of kryptonite. Now it is up to the rest of the League to rescue them both!

Season 6, Episode 12: Labyrinth
Lana Lang: What's that look in your eye?
Clark Kent: Oh, I... I had a dream about you last night.
Lana Lang: Well, I hope that it wasn't a nightmare.
Clark Kent: No. We were 10 years old and I gave you a plastic ring from a gumball machine at Quinn's Market?
Lana Lang: That's sweet. What was the occasion?
Clark Kent: It was an engagement ring.
Lana Lang: What happened next?
Clark Kent: I woke up.

Clark wakes up in an insane asylum. And he has no powers. Now, here is the question? Is something seriously wrong...or is he just getting healthy enough to handle the truth? Martian Manhunter guest stars. (I love this one!)

Season 6, Episode 13: Crimson
Chloe Sullivan: Lois and Clark?
Jimmy Olsen: You got to admit, they got chemistry.
Chloe Sullivan: Yeah, so do nitroglycerin and peroxide, and I don't suggest putting them together.

Red Kryptonite. You got to love it. Especially when it is in a love potion lipstick. Clark tells everyone exactly how he feels; about his Mom and Lionel, and about Lana's pregnancy. And guess who he hooks up with?

Season 6, Episode 14: Trespass
Someone is stalking Lana. A move from the mansion to her old apartment (now Chloe's) doesn't help, so she pulls a radical move, and hides out on the Kent farm. Is she really hiding, or is she snooping? Has her time in the mansion taught her that much about double dealing and layered agendas? Meanwhile, Jimmy dumps Chloe, because she is not over Clark. Is it just another "keeping the secret" casualty, or is Jimmy on to something?

Season 6, Episode 15: Freak (HUGE SPOILER ALERT!)
Tobias Rice has a meteor power. Though blind, he can spot others. And strange things happen to the people he fingers; they are kidnapped, but don't remember it! Clark and Chloe investigate, and discover Tobias is being used by 33.1 and worse, Chloe is meteor infected! Michael Rosenbaum directs.


Season 6, Episode 16: Promise
The Wedding of the Century: Lana Lang and Lex Luthor. But will it happen? Clark confesses his love to Lana. She confesses her fears to Clark. Dr. Langston has some blackmail on Lex, which is about as suicidal a thing as I can think of doing, and Lionel Luthor is busy as a one armed paperhanger making sure everything goes as planned. Hey, wasn't he supposed to be nice now?


Season 6, Episode 17: Combat
Clark Kent: I'm not going to punch you, Lois.
Lois Lane: Fine. Then you take the dive.
(punches Clark in his stomach and almost breaks her hand.)
Lois Lane: That is not just a six-pack under your shirt. That's a steel kegger.

The Fight Club episode. On line super freak fights to the death...what a money maker! Lois investigates. There's a touch of Lesbian flirting, and a Kryptonian fighter! Clark has to shut this down. And just so it doesn't wander too far into happy episodes, he has to kill Lois, and Lana looses the baby.

Season 6, Episode 18: Progeny
We have long known that Chloe is a little worried about mental illness, because her mother is in an institution. Now, Chloe is having episodes of missing time. And her mother is causing them. Moira (played by Linda Carter, the one and only Wonder Woman) has the power to control meteor freaks. And Lex Luthor has found a way to wake her out of her catatonia so that he can use her powers! The only thing is...Lex may have bitten off more than he can chew!

Season 6, Episode 19: Nemesis
Lana Lang: I wonder how Martha Kent would handle hearing that you used her son as a bargaining chip? Tell me what you know.
Lionel Luthor: Well, I see you've embraced wholeheartedly what it means to be a Luthor.

Lex thrives on secret project far from prying eyes. But so does Jodi Keenan. She bombs a Luthorcorp facility, trapping Lex, and prepares to kill him if he does not tell her what he has done with her husband, whom she believes is not dead. Lex is back on his petard, and Clark will NOT just leave him there. Further, Lana is hunting for the truth, and she is using a big bore gun.

Season 6, Episode 20: Noir
Jimmy Olsen is a romantic. He sets up his favorite movie, "The Big Sleep" for Chloe, and they watch it deep in the basement of the Daily Planet. Suddenly, a shot rang out! A woman screams! It's Lana, and the assailant knocks Jimmy out. In his dream, he is in a black and white film noir version of his life, and his investigations in the movies reveal startling parallels in real life. For instance, Clark Kent seems to lead a double life as a mild mannered reported, and a tough hood/G-man. In the dream, the silver cigarette case is a clue, and so it is also in real life. Strange, and a little hockey, I must admit this episode is one of my favorites.

Season 6, Episode 21: Prototype
Clark Kent: We have to talk.
Lionel Luthor: Clark! You should try picking up the phone occasionally, it might be quicker... Or maybe not...
Clark Kent: What do you know about Lana?
Lionel Luthor: Letting go... never was one of your strong point, was it?
Clark Kent: Telling the truth was never one of yours.

Remember Jodi Keenan, who thought Lex had something to do with her husband's death? Well, Wes is now Aries, the weapon program, and loaded with meteor freak powers. And when corrupt Senator Ed Burke tries to put the muscle on Lex, Lex puts the hit on him. But Lois gets in the way. As an upshot of this, Martha Kent, who has been serving in the state senate, fulfilling Jonathan's term, is asked to step up, even though it means leaving Clark, and Smallville behind. And Annette O'toole leaves the show as a regular. She was a great mom. Originally, she played Lana Lang in Superman III opposite Christopher Reeve, one of the many "legacies."

Season 6, Episode 22: Phantom (Major honking spoilers!)
In the cliffhanger of all season cliffhangers we have the following; Martian Manhunter is back to help Clark capture the last Phantom from the Zone, who is possessing a little boy. Lex is after him, wanting to use the alien DNA to power his Aries program of super soldiers. Clark finds out why Lana married Lex; and confronts Lionel about it. Lana announces she is leaving Lex, and dies in a mysterious car bombing! And Lois following the 33.1 clues to the dam is injured, possibly fatally. Chloe finds her, and her meteor freak powers are at last revealed. She heals Lois, but the cost may have killed her! And the last Phantom has a name...Bizarro!

It is amazing how good this show continues to be. Many shows start loosing steam after the fourth or fifth year, but this one is still going strong. While individual episodes may be weaker than others, overall the quality remains high, and the writers manage to keep everything, except the secret, fresh.

A lot of credit goes to the actors. Tom Welling IS Clark Kent. He has grown into the role, and fitted the role to himself in a healthy symbiotic relationship. We see his progression from awkward teenager with more that the usual alienation issues to a confident, self assured young man trying to weigh his desires against his responsibilities. He has learned a lot about what works and what doesn't and he is getting ready to jump from the nest; oddly, he will be the only one of us who flies from it.

Lana Lang does perhaps the greatest character development. She goes from princess to barracuda to dead in 22 episodes. Kristin Kruek is outstanding, as talented as she is beautiful.

And Lois Lane is growing up as well into something past the annoying army brat convinced of her own superiority. Her romance with Oliver does her a lot of good. Erica Durance, who would not have been my first pick for Lois Lane, has surprised me, maturing as an actress and learning how to convey a little subtlety.

Aaron Ashmore, twin brother of Shaun Ashmore of "X-Men" fame is a most excellent Jimmy Olsen. While painfully white and more than a little awkward at times, he is funny, and tenacious, which helps make up for the not so bright part. As Chloe's love interest, he makes Clark, and Chloe, reevaluate their relationship, and Chloe begins to see the destructive power of secrecy upon intimacy. Jimmy makes a great addition to the show.

As does Green Arrow! The obvious schtick would have been to use Bruce Wayne, but the show creators had considered a Gotham about the young Bruce before settling on this, and decided to branch away from canon, and go with another hero who gets by with skill and money. As Oliver Queen, I watched Justin Hartley go from a rocky start in this role, and actually learn to act in the course of the season!
Of course everything else that goes into making a show a show is exemplary, especially considering they are making near movie level productions on a weekly basis. The cinematography is phenomenal, and the costuming; well, some of it. Impulse's gear is lame, but who ever designed Green Arrow deserves an award.

All in all, Smallville continues to enchant when many other shows have turned into frogs.

The Smallville Saga

Smallville: Season One
Smallville: Season Two
Smallville: Season Three
Smallville: Season Four
Smallville: Season Five
Smallville: Season Six
Smallville: Season Seven
Smallville: Season Eight


Animation

Superman: Doomsday

Novels

The Last Days of Krypton