Smallville: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Smallville: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Lighten up with Lois.

NOTE: As of this review, the first five seasons of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar's long-running superhero TV series Smallville, exploring the early adventures of Clark Kent (Tom Welling), are only available on Blu-ray as part of Warner Bros.' 2021 Complete Series boxed set. Originally airing between 2001-2006, these episodes now sport new 1080p transfers and lossless audio, as well as most of the legacy bonus features contained on the original DVD sets.

Every season of Smallville marked something of a turning point. Season 2 graduated from mostly "monster-of-the-week" episodes to a better balance of mythology and stand-alone episodes. Season 3 saw the series take a darker path, beginning with a rebellious outburst by Clark Kent himself and ending with a major turning point for one of the series' only true human antagonists, Lionel Luther (John Glover). Season 4 is just as much a departure as previous years... but it lightens the emotional load a bit with the introduction of Lois Lane (Erica Durance), a future Daily Planet reporter who comes to town searching for answers about the "death" of her cousin Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack), no stranger to near-death experiences. The chemistry between Lois and Clark -- which is as much a testament to the actors that portray them as anything else -- is unsurprisingly a key driving force to Season 4's success. Many fans consider this year in particular to be one of the series' best or, at the very least, the catalyst for its most enjoyable era. Other factors fuel what ends up being a memorable "transition" season; none more so than the last year of high school for Clark and company, which would usher in a total location transplant during the very next season.

For now, Season 4 remains a solidly enjoyable stretch on pure episode strength alone. Sure, this collection's got the occasional clunker: "Spell" is another character "personality detour" episode -- this time with Lana [Kristin Kreuk], Lois, and Chloe playing bad girls -- while "Ageless" and "Façade" often rank pretty high on "worst episode ever" lists. But when you've got more all-time fan favorite episodes than duds (including "Pariah", Mikhail Mxyzptlk's debut in "Jinx", the globally-minded "Sacred", Chloe-centric standout "Blank", the showdown with Flash [Kyle Gallner] in "Run", and several others), it'll take more than a few speed bumps to halt the momentum. Hell, any episode featuring Jensen Ackles as perpetual antagonist Jason Teague might qualify, except for those two clunkers. But yep, Lois' 13-episode stint -- a series of "special guest appearances" that eventually turned into a Gilligan's Island situation -- is what drives the ship for now... but the creative team would hold off on any romance with Clark, as that had to be saved for the still-in-production Superman Returns (which has sadly aged like milk, save for Brandon Routh's performance).

Featuring a broader tone and cinematography to match, Season 4 of Smallville bridges the gap between the early years and remaining seasons, combining effects-heavy outings ("Commencement") with budget-friendly tropes like identity switching ("Transference"), to keep costs low like Costco. (Hey, any season where you get two Lex Luthors for the price of one ("Onyx") is worth the price of admission.) All 23 episodes are again spread across four discs, some of which include deleted scenes and audio commentaries -- see below for a list of those bonus features and more.

Episode List:

• Disc One

• "Crusade"
• "Gone"
• "Façade"
• "Devoted"
• "Run"
• "Transference"

• Disc Two

• "Jinx"
• "Spell"
• "Bound"
• "Scare"
• "Unsafe"
• "Pariah"

• Disc Three

• "Recruit"
• "Krypto"
• "Sacred"
• "Lucy"
• "Onyx"
• "Spirit"

• Disc Four

• "Blank"
• "Ageless"
• "Forever"
• "Commencement"

Smallville: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Season 4 stays the course with another solid 1080p transfer from Warner Bros. and, while the series would undergo something of a visual shift the following year, this is still a technically proficient batch of episodes that starts to better blend its visual effects with live action footage. (Limitations are still there, but this wasn't bad for a modestly-budgeted show from the mid-2000s.) More than ever, it mixes comfortably warm tones with chillier emotional moments, with fine detail and textures coming through clearly in close-ups (above) and wide shots alike. While Smallville could never hope to rival the razor-sharp appearance of a more recent all-digital production, there's something inherently fitting about its filmic roots: they give the show an old-fashioned backbone and work in its favor. Color saturation and shadow details are likewise impressive more often than not, with only the darkest scenes flattening out or succumbing to excess noise. No matter -- Smallville is still a visually appealing show and this Blu-ray set supports it well, affording all 22 episodes plenty of breathing room on four dual-layered discs that run at a reasonably high bit rate. As usual, compression artifacts and related digital issues are kept to a minimum, rounding out the visual presentation nicely.

Smallville: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Season 4 once again enjoys a hefty sonic upgrade over its DVD counterpart, launching from a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 mix to a full DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track. (In typical Warner Bros. fashion, lossless 2.0 is not an option so I've again docked it a half-point.) Either way, I doubt fans will mind: I was impressed with the 2.0 mix back in the day and this presentation expands upon it nicely, offering a few nicely-prioritized discrete effects and channel pans alongside the front-loaded dialogue and era-specific music cuts. Superpowers, special effects, and the like are often more immersive than the real-world material while still blending in nicely within the series' particular boundaries. Although it's still very much true to its small-screen roots, portions of Smallviile flirt with the sonic atmosphere of a feature-film.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during all episodes and applicable bonus features.

Smallville: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This four-disc set is packaged in a hinged keepcase with attractive cover artwork similar to the original DVD release. No booklet is included, although episode names and extras are listed on the collage-heavy inner print. On-disc bonus features mirror those found on the original DVD set.

• Audio Commentaries for "Crusade" (featuring executive producers Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Ken Horton, along with actresses Erica Durance and Annette O'Toole), "Transference" (executive producers Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Ken Horton, along with actor John Glover), and "Spell" (episode director Jeannot Szwarc with actresses Kristin Kreuk, Allison Mack, and Erica Durance)

• Deleted Scenes for "Gone", "Façade", "Devoted", "Jinx", "Spell", "Bound", "Scare", "Pariah", "Krypto", "Sacred", "Onyx", and "Blank"

• Being Lois Lane - A short-form featurette about everyone's favorite reporter.

• Behind Closed Doors - Inside the Writer's Room

Smallville: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A standout effort during what many fans consider to be Smallville's best years (or at least a solid lead-in), Season 4 offers more than just the debut of Lois: it's home to at least a half-dozen episodes that could be counted among the series' very best, as well as the usual solid performances from key and supporting players. It's the balance that really works this time around, though, creating a fittingly proper send-off to Smallville's departure for "the big city" around the corner. Warner Bros.' belated Blu-ray again offers plenty of support, pairing a reliably great A/V presentation and all of the original DVD-era bonus features just for good measure. Recommended to fans and first-timers alike.