In some ways season 3 of Smallville is the strongest one thus far, but I take issue with a few things in it. On the positive side are some really well done story concepts. The insanity of Lex and murder of his grandparents story arc is interesting and tightly written. Perry White makes an appearance. Not only is this a good story, but Michael McKean makes an unusual but believable Perry. Clark develops his super-hearing. New powers are always fun, and as usual there is a trigger that makes for a good story. More of Jor El’s character is revealed though his true motives are still unclear.

On the not particularly weak but not strong front is a deepening of the prophecies tied to the caves. While this makes for some decent episodes, the Kryptonian link to the Native American tribe in ancient times is never explained to my satisfaction. The caves have a purpose, but having them set up so long ago doesn’t mesh with what I remember of Kryptonian history (Kal is sent to Earth because Jor can’t stop the impending explosion of their planet, and nobody believes his theories of the danger). Caves set up for Clark so long before his arrival suggest a foreknowledge that could have been used to save the planet or at least relocate the inhabitants. It’s possible the Kryptonians just wanted a link to Earth and entrusted the specific tribe to care for it, but that doesn’t explain the link to the prophetical foreknowledge.

One of the major weak points is the frequent, wild fluctuation in the relationship of Clark and Lana. He pushes her away and she begins chasing him, at first the reversal of roles is good. Soon, though, they cease speaking, try to make up, he pushes her away, then tries to make up, then she pushes him away, back and forth. Meanwhile they both fall for other people only to return to this roller-coaster relationship. The whole thing gets annoying and their scenes together start losing steam.

Another issue I have is that everybody, and I do mean everybody, that comes into the lives of the regular characters have nefarious secrets. It’s fine to do that some, but after a while it starts becoming predictable and less realistic. I think it would be far more interesting to have some of these people innocently pulled into this strange life and have that interaction affect them rather than them being the ones doing the affecting. Instead the characters do 180s on a dime displaying a history of deception rather than actual character development. I guess it’s the destruction of the misleading character development that I really don’t like, but I won't go into the specifics for the sake of avoiding spoilers.

One last element that bothers me is something best illustrated by the episode “Talisman” but is not limited to that one story. In fact, it bothers me more precisely because it happens far too often. Clark has spent years controlling and honing his powers. It took training to control his super senses and heat vision. With few exceptions over the course of the series everyone that picks up similar powers, such as the villain in this episode, immediately exhibits control that rivals Clark's. Clark has no advantage over them from his years of training. Granted he still always beats them, but it's unreasonable to think that every human that steps into his shoes is immediately going to be a match for him.

The look and production quality of the show are excellent. The graphics are far improved over the first season, and the actors have gotten continuously better. Kristin Kreuk is still the weakest, but she has picked up a little more emotional range and doesn’t laugh with the utterance of every single line. She still laughs too much in her delivery but not so much. I’ve said in the past that Allison Mack and Sam Jones are mostly pretty good but falter at times. No longer, they carry their parts perfectly now. They both have some emotional scenes that they sell like veterans. Tom Welling is solid though Michael Rosenbaum still outshines them all. He goes from the consummate businessman – cold, calculating, and ruthless, to the caring friend, to the emotional basket-case, and he nails everything he does. Terence Stamp (General Zod in the Christopher Reeve movies) is the voice of Jor El. He doesn’t have a whole lot to do, but he brings a strength to the lines.

Essentially if you have liked the seasons up to this point you will surely like this one as well. It's very similar to what we've been seeing but with some improvements in the production quality.