5
(occasional mentions of scripture, spirit possession)
6
(sexuality, violence, gruesome images)
6
(worth seeing more than once)
Warning: I assume you know which characters go with which super-identity since they are all based on long-established comic history. If you don’t know who is who and want the show to reveal it to you, you shouldn’t read this review.
I got the Smallville season 5 TVD set as soon as it was released and watched the whole thing within a week. I was geared up for the season 6 premier which I watched as it was aired. Except for half of one other episode that was all the Smallville I watched until the next TVD release. Was it because the episode was poor? Quite the contrary, I'm just that fed up with TV, but I won't go into all that.
So despite being the Smallville fan that I am I went a year of no new episodes – a year of hearing others' opinions of the season without the benefit of any of my own. Predominately I heard that while it had some good points it was not that great a season. I feel the exact opposite; with a few nitpicks and weak episodes I think it is overall very good.
Off to a good start is the addition of Green Arrow. I am used to the bearded political activist version so it took a while for this one to grow on me, but after seeing him fully in action for a few episodes I knew I would enjoy the portrayal (even if it is still not my favorite). I don't know, maybe "political activist" isn't the best tag for the one I like most. He's just the type of guy that wants to make sure the Justice League doesn't focus so much on the cosmic battles that they forget the little guy. He's a take-it-to-the-streets kind of guy.
Smallville's version has some of that, but this one has a slightly different perspective. He's more of a leader than the group conscience, engaging in guerrilla warfare against the high and mighty criminals - definitely a modern-day Robin Hood. He comments that the ends justify the means which seems contrary to other versions of the character. Then again, I didn’t read a lot of Green Arrow books so I can’t really say which is more faithful to the original.
Another new hero shows up: John Jones (AKA J'onn J'onzz AKA Martian Manhunter). While this is exciting, he doesn't get much screentime or action. I'm not sure his name is even mentioned at any point (I think it is in a deleted scene if I remember right). Still, his presence has my hopes up for the promise of further adventures. He's drastically changed from the comic version. For one thing he's not green. Instead he's black making him look like a normal human (except for the glowing eyes). Green would have been cool, but I can see how that might look too cartoony. His style is considerably different as well favoring more of a cloak-and-dagger black trenchcoat to his colorful criss-cross attire. While it makes him look less distinctive, it does help him move into the real-world appearances the superhero productions like to portray these days.
The heroes we've seen before all return, and this time donning their superhero names: Cyborg and Aquaman. Flash returns as well, but he's called Impulse (technically this was his super name prior to becoming the Flash). Clark is not called Superman yet, and a nod to both of these name changes helps them not be so annoying.
Unfortunately classic villains are fewer. Zod get his moment in the spotlight although it's a vastly different villain from the classic version and in the form of Lex which I think steals a lot of Zod's thunder. Having him embodied in Lex does add a lot of drama since he must die to save the planet. Could you murder a friend if it meant the survival of the entire human race?
One other classic villain makes a very short appearance. The introduction of Bizarro had me more excited than any villain so far. He turns out to be quite different from the classic version, even borderline disappointingly so, but I’m getting ahead of the show. That will come later.
One great big plus for this season is the reinvention of the villain creation process. Up until now the majority of those with super powers have been the result of exposure to Kryptonite. This got old and flimsy. I mean Smallville High has to have had its population cut in half by now between the villains that had to be stopped and their victims. Season 6 brings phantom criminals out of Jor El’s prison dimension and scatters them about the planet. Not only is it a good source of villains for Clark to fight, it provides a hindrance for him as he feels responsible for the phantoms and therefore the damage they cause. As we all know, Clark doesn’t deal with those kinds of emotions very well. He becomes obsessed with stopping them which retards his growth towards Superman and therefore provides a believable device to use in drawing out the series.
Is it just me or do all Smallville dating relationships hinge solely on sex recently? In the last season Lana was all hung up over Clark wanting to keep his pants on. This go around it’s a particular issue with Lois and Ollie. Her life centers around Ollie not doing the undercover monster mash with her, and instead of considering that maybe he has a reason for it (he’s actually running off to go superheroing) she’d rather talk to everybody else about it and is ready to ditch Ollie for keeping his pants on. Maybe it’s just me, but this makes Lois much more shallow than I expected from the show; flawed, yes, shallow, no. It’s a cheap way of creating tension between them. Lex and Lana are also doing the XXX Hokey Pokey but theirs at least leads to some other major plot points that couldn’t come about any other way.
On to other elements. Acting is largely very good. I liked Erica as Lois initially, and I still do usually, but she has more weak moments than the others except maybe Kristen (although she’s better than she used to be). The long-standing cast members have definitely come into their own and have some shining moments. Most of the guests do a fine job. Of those, I particularly like the guy playing Bart.
Special effects are not going to give ILM a run for their money. They sometimes look cartoony. However, for the most part they aren’t bad. The super-power moments tend to be the best with some of the creature graphics not holding up quite so well.
The stories feature a lot of Clark see-sawing between pushing Lana away and pining for her all season as she and Lex plan a wedding. Some of this is to be expected I suppose given the history between them and the seriousness of the coming nuptials, but it gets annoying after a while.
Music is something of a sore spot for me. I love Mark Snow and Louis Febre and think the show would benefit greatly from more reliance on them rather than pop songs. I have a particular distaste for the use of those songs as the beds of the closings of so many episodes. The vocals of the songs and dialogue often clash, and the music steals the thunder of the moments more often than not. Item of note: Mark (or perhaps Louis, I'm not sure exactly) provides a new closing theme making this the third one. It’s good, but I think the second one is my favorite.
Morality
Once again, I'd suggest that we are in the PG13 range with the show. There is a little bit of strong language in many episodes. It tends to be very mild.
There seems to be less in the way risqué shots this year although some do appear, but sexuality abounds. Multiple scenes involving pretty much every couple in the series center on doing the hip hop even if we don't necessarily get as far as seeing clothes coming off as we have in the past. Sexually suggestive scenes between Chloe and Jimmy have been cut but are available in the deleted scenes. Lana has her toga seductively removed after a costume party which is probably the most revealing scene this season.
Violence is variable. The stealing of skeletons is on the disturbing side, and we even get a rather gruesome shot of a guy’s spine being ripped out. “Wither” shows some brutal attacks on people by vegetation. Some of the phantoms look freaky and are far more brutal with their violence than most previous villains. Most of the fighting, though, is pretty much akin to a typical comic book – flashy without being terribly dangerous. Clark shows high regard for life, even those of villains like Lex. In fact, it’s his reluctance to take life that results in all the trouble at the beginning of the season.
Drug addition is a focus of one small story arc. It's not a real drug, but the addiction is treated like one. It has devastating effects on the users.
Spirituality
What I like most about Green Arrow is that he has very much a human side. He struggles with balancing a normal life and real relationships against what he feels is his duty as a hero. He makes bad decisions, partially out of jealousy of Clark's abilities, but with the help of his heroic friends he's strong enough to overcome and get back on track.
That's a great lesson for people. We so often get going on the wrong track, but we're afraid that going back hinders progress. It's hard to realize that the man who backtracks the wrong path to get on the right one is making more progress than the man that keeps going forward on the wrong path. The man on the wrong path may get to the end sooner, but it will be the other man that ends up where he wants to be.
Flashbacks to Ollie's childhood show that he was quite a bully at one time. While this seems to be a typical formula for Smallville (take a known character and make them the polar opposite earlier in their life) I think it's a positive to suggest that bad decisions in the past don't have to define who you become. Look at Paul, he went from being a Christian killer to one of history's foremost evangelists. So Ollie goes from being a jerk needing a boot up his behind to being a hero responsible for helping who knows how many people. It doesn't matter what you've been, you can do good for your neighbor if you're willing to give up your old ways.
Technically the phantoms possess people as we might think of a demon possession. While they are spirit-like, the explanation is one based in Kryptonian technology rather than anything supernatural.
Final Thoughts
There are some surprisingly weak episodes, but the season has some outstanding superhero moments and some more chilling villains than the run-of-the-mill meteor freak. If you have enjoyed the previous seasons chances are you'll like this one.
Buying Guide
In many ways the TVD package for season 6 of "Smallville" follows suit with the previous one, although from this point forward we get improved audio encoding.
Basically you can get season 6 by itself or as part of the series box set.
Check out the season 1 guide for more details about the box set. The pros are some exclusives extras. The cons are poorly designed packaging and the lack of any HD.
Final Recommendation:
Surprisingly there are no commentaries this time. The stacked DVD's bug me, but I wouldn't let it stop me from owning this next season of the series. I'll be avoiding the box set thanks to the many negative comments about it.
Like the ones before it The Complete Sixth Season is a 6 disc TVD set.
Video
1.78 widescreen:
It's a little grainy especially with the out-of-focus backgrounds. Otherwise it looks pretty good.
Audio
5.1 Dolby:
This is the first time we've gotten 5.1. The difference isn't dramatic (mostly because the audio has gradually improved in different ways over the previous seasons), but it is noticable. It's clear and strong with fair surround sound immersion.
Packaging
The case is like the previous one. It's a folder which stacks 2 discs on top of each other. Earlier seasons appear to have been repackaged in plastic cases so it's possible this one has been as well.
I’m glad we get an insert at all. Fewer releases these days include any sort of printed material. However, it is not up to par with the previous Smallville inserts. This cover features a shot of all the main actors, the young ones, at least, but their styles look nothing like the characters. This photo shoot looks like it was done for a different show which just happened to have the same actors as Smallville. The old yearbook-themed inserts were far more interesting.
Enough griping. Here’s what you get in the insert: an introduction to the season, primary cast list and images, and episode information such as chapters, air date, credits, and extras.
The interface is like all the others. It's a slideshow with animation and a loop of the theme song
Extras
Episodes
This season offers 22 episodes. Most are about 42 minutes long although a few are as short as 40 minutes. So the number of episodes is the same as other seasons, but the average runtime is a bit shorter. Maybe that doesn’t seem like a lot, but I remember when TV episodes were running closer to 44 minutes. That’s a lot of opportunity to work on the stories more.
Each episode has a number of chapters including one that divides the opening theme from the following story. Want to skip the opening? One tap of the chapter skip button gets you past it without missing a single image of the actual episode. A play all option minimizes trips to the interface.