Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Smallville: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Up, up, and away!

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.

Literally and figuratively, Season 2 of Smallville builds on the solid momentum of its first year which was capped off by the dramatic cliffhanger "Tempest". Debuting again to to record-breaking ratings with its opener "Vortex", this season built more action-heavy episodes from a stockpile of story ideas that couldn't be used the first time around. A lot of this action is integrated into a few of Clark's developing and new-found powers, such as his heat vision and the prospect of "leaping tall buildings" (or at least trying to). Big emotional moments are here as well: Clark first sharing his super-secret with close friend Pete Ross (Sam Jones III), the search for his identity, highs and lows with the lovely Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), continued support from his supportive, thoughtful parents Martha and Jonathan (Annette O'Toole and John Schneider), and a developing relationship between Martha and Lionel Luthor (John Glover). These longer arcs give the show a broader serialized scope that, combined with the lighter frequency of "monsters-of-the-week" and other one-shot outings, creates a more engaging cohesiveness than the previous batch of episodes.

Many of your favorite characters return but we also get a few noteworthy debuts, from major influences like Dr. Virgil Swann (Christopher Reeves, in a terrific guest role reprised in Season 3) and Clark's biological father Jor-El (voiced by Terence Stamp) to smaller roles like Desirée Atkins (Krista Allen), who marries Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) but is able to control men with pheromones and takes almost every opportunity to do so. (A new setting is teased here for the first time as well: Metropolis -- and of course, the Daily Planet -- which would become the show's more permanent home in just a few short years.) Performances are great, especially higher up the food chain: the Kent parents remain two of Smallville's strongest emotional anchors, Kristin Kreuk absolutely shines as Lana Lang, and Michael Rosenbaum remains a challenging and sympathetic character played perfectly. But Tom Welling really comes into his own during this season, balancing the insecurity of a troubled teen with the believable strength of a future superhero -- a transition that mirrored the young man's own acting journey, which was extremely limited before his big break here.

This time around, standout episodes include "Heat" (the "hot for teacher" one), "Duplicity" (a great emotional arc that taps into Clark's insecurities as an outsider), "Ryan" (the second of only two appearances of Clark's unofficial "little brother", who teaches him a life-changing lesson about the limitations of superpowers) "Fever" (Martha and Clark fall ill from Kryptonite, still referred to as "meteor rock"), "Rosetta" (all hail Christopher Reeve), and "Exodus" (another absolutely packed season finale). 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

• "Vortex"
• "Heat"
• "Duplicity"
• "Red"
• "Nocturne"
• "Redux"

• Disc Two

• "Lineage"
• "Ryan"
• "Dichotic"
• "Skinwalker"
• "Visage"
• "Insurgence"

• Disc Three

• "Suspect"
• "Rush"
• "Prodigal"
• "Fever"
• "Rosetta"
• "Visitor"

• Disc Four

• "Precipice"
• "Witness"
• "Accelerate"
• "Calling"
• "Exodus"

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

Although shot on 35mm film like Smallville's first year, Season 2 is the first in which the series was finished in HD so naturally a leap in quality can be seen on Warner Bros.' new 1080p transfer. Many of the first season's strengths are still present: warm colors and clean saturation, solid black levels, and well-framed compositions that sit comfortably between the small screen and cinematic ambitions. But it's rendered much more crisply this time around, with greater depth and more pronounced film grain that makes many of its memorable shots stand out nicely. The only challenge that had yet to be overcome was how live-action footage blended with slowly-improving visual effects: the differences can be stark, yet even during its wonkiest moments there's a certain charm here that makes a few stray drawbacks easier to overlook. These episodes get plenty of room to breathe, maintaining a decently high bit rate with no egregious drawbacks aside from source material limitations. As always, the included screenshots offer a more tangible consensus of this set's visual strengths and weaknesses, with the caveat that most everything looks better in motion.

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

Much like the first year, Season 2 enjoys a hefty sonic upgrade over its DVD counterpart by 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 the change: I was impressed with the DVD's 2.0 mix back in the day and this presentation expands upon it in a tasteful but robust manner, 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 sonic boundaries. Much like its visuals, Smallville's audio gets a little more ambitious as the series progresses, so consider this a pretty great follow-up to the first season in all key areas.

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

Smallville: The Complete Second 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 during "Red" (featuring co-creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, along with writer/consulting producer Jeph Loeb) and "Rosetta" (cast members Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk, and Michael Rosenbaum, along with producer Greg Beeman)

• Deleted Scenes for "Heat", "Duplicity", "Dichotic", "Prodigal", "Fever", and "Exodus"

• Faster Than A Speeding Bullet: The Visual FX of Smallville

• Christopher Reeve: The Man of Steel - A short tribute to the iconic Superman.

• The Chloe Chronicles, Volume 1 - Originally made as bonus content for AOL subscribers, if you can believe it.

• Gag Reel

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

Like many of the era's longest-running TV shows, Season 2 was where Smallville first found solid emotional footing, graduating from a reliance on "monster-of-the-week" episodes to more substantial story arcs and mythology, which extends to many of the lead and supporting characters as well. (Somewhat ironic, considering many of its scripts were holdovers from the first season.) Either way, it proved to be a potent formula and fans followed right along, making it easy to see that Smallville would be in it for the long haul... and in some ways, the best was yet to come. Warner Bros.' belated Blu-ray presentation serves up all 23 episodes in style, with a rock-solid A/V presentation and all of the short but sweet DVD-era bonus features just for good measure. Recommended for fans and first-timers alike.