I have come to the conclusion that watching television is one of the best bonding experiences available. I wasn’t so aware of it in the past, but truthfully a lot of shared experiences in my family involve television shows, from Star Trek: The Next Generation to the current season of American Idol, on which my grandparents are also hooked. From the beginning, there have been complex discussions, startling revelations and inside jokes. Nathan, barely old enough to talk, chattering joyfully about the two Datas in the elevator singing, “You say potato, I say potato…” Me learning the word “magnanimous” and hearing Imagine for the first time on Quantum Leap. Benjamin determinedly learning all the words to the I Dream of Jeannie song created for Nick at Nite. Hundreds of memories stem from such moments, for better or worse. This year has been an extremely busy one, particularly for my brother who is a senior in high school, and one of the few activities we enjoy together on a regular basis is watching television, either during regular programming or on DVD. When Nathan brought the first season of Smallville home nearly three months ago, it was a gift, a commitment to setting aside the seventeen or so hours it took to complete the season so that we could watch it together.

And, thanks to his friends’ Superman obsessions, that was only the beginning. The second season of Smallville is excellent, if perhaps a bit darker than the first. The one-note villains are far fewer, and in their place are more complex plots and episodes that are deeply interconnected. The first episode of the season resolves the cliffhanger of the first season’s finale. After being ditched at the almost-perfect Spring Formal, an offended Chloe (Allison Mack) informs Clark (Tom Welling) that romance is not in the cards for them. Lana (Kristin Kreuk) is grateful to Clark for rescuing her yet again but is puzzled by her “vision” of him floating outside her car as it was swept away by a tornado. This is one of the first hints we have of Clark’s not-yet-developed gift of flight. Meanwhile, Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) is trapped under a house with a reporter determined to expose Clark’s secret, and Martha (Annette O’Toole) keeps her mind off worrying about him by volunteering to help other tornado victims. Another victim is Lionel Luthor (John Glover), whom Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) saves, but only after hesitation. Once in the hospital, Lex authorizes immediate surgery; as a result, Lionel loses his sight. In the midst of all this chaos, the spaceship in the Kents’ storm shelter zooms off, to be found in a later episode by Pete (Sam Jones III), leading to a fundamental change in his relationship with Clark.

The primary cast is pretty much the same, though Whitney (Eric Johnson) is pretty much out of the picture and Lionel is in, to a much greater extent than in the last season. If there is a theme to this season, it’s familial relationships. Certainly that thread ran throughout the first season, but it’s all that much stronger here. Jonathan’s overprotective nature continues to wear on Clark, and we see just how explosive this man can become when he feels his family is threatened. Still deeply suspicious of the Luthors, he is livid when Martha agrees to take a position as Lionel’s personal assistant, particularly when he suspects that Lionel’s feelings for her are more than professional. This thread is interesting, because it’s the first time we see Lionel show any real affection for someone, and it seems Martha is having a positive effect on him. Later in the season, however, we learn that Lionel has become just as interested in Clark as his son, so we are forced to wonder how much of his kindness to Martha was an attempt to get closer to Clark. His relationship with Lex remains rocky, in spite of his living with him in Smallville throughout much of the season.

New relationships also emerge throughout the season. Clark meets his grandfather for the first time and is desperate for a relationship with him despite his dad’s disapproval. Later, a crazed former flame of Lionel Luthor contacts Clark, insisting that he is her son. Clark also reunites with his “little brother” Ryan in one of the season’s most emotional episodes; in another, he finds an eccentric boy at school who may be a fellow extraterrestrial. When he learns that, miraculously, Martha is expecting a baby, he is thrilled. Meanwhile, the crazed woman incident leads Lex to discover that he has a brother, whom he tracks down. Lana makes the startling discovery that the man she called father may not actually have been, and she embarks on a quest to find her potential dad and form a relationship with him. She also becomes Chloe’s “sister” when she moves in with her to avoid joining her aunt Nell, who has moved to Metropolis with her boyfriend, much as Pete becomes “one of the family” when Clark confides in him about his unusual abilities and extraterrestrial origins. The most significant familial relationship that develops here, however, is between Clark and his biological father, Jor-El.

Clark learns quite a lot about himself in this season. Very early on, he discovers that he has the ability to start fires with his eyes. This seems to be a result of raging teenage hormones, but once he learns to focus this power, it comes in very handy. A chance tumble introduces him to Kyla, an enchanting Native American teen who is trying to save her ancestral caves, which feature depictions of a sun god arriving in a rain of fire to save the planet. Beyond his attraction to her, Clark comes to believe that the caves hold the key to his past, and he fights to preserve them, spending as much time studying the paintings as he can. He is not alone, though; Lex hires an expert to check out the caves for himself, and both have their suspicions about the intensity of Clark’s interest. Perhaps the most illuminating of all the episodes is Rosetta, in which the caves begin to spill their secrets to Clark, and at last he gets some concrete answers, partly courtesy of the somewhat Steven Hawking-like Dr. Virgil Swann. It is fitting that such a crucial link to Clark’s past should be provided by a character portrayed by Christopher Reeve. This episode also comes as a relief because it signals the end of the clunky moniker “meteor rocks” when everyone watching knows the stuff is called Kryptonite.

Clark’s love life remains complicated as always, with Lana and Chloe in a constant tug-of-war for his affections. Chloe’s bitterness increases in this season, except on the rare occasions when Clark actually fails to let her down. Lana sends Whitney a “Dear John” letter and tries to get closer to Clark, “who’s never there when you want him but always there when you need him.” Her dynamic with Chloe is interesting because she respects Chloe’s feelings but also resents them. Once again, every time Clark is right on the brink of a perfect moment with one of them (usually Lana), something comes along to ruin it (usually Chloe). It doesn’t help that Clark keeps behaving like a devil-may-care punk, thanks to the influence of red Kryptonite. Mind-alteration came into the first season a bit - most notably with Nicodemus - but it’s much more prominent here, and other victims include Lex, Chloe, Pete and Jonathan. In fact, it seems to happen so much that Lana should simply figure Clark has whatever those other people had and cut him a break. His behavior is so reprehensible that an altered state of mind, however unlikely, seems the most logical solution. I also can’t help but think that if Clark told Pete, maybe he should just fess up to Chloe and Lana too and make his life a lot easier. But ultimately, I suppose it wouldn’t improve the situation. Clark is simply doomed to chronic complications.

The second season of Smallville really gets down to the meat of the story after the first season established the characters and setting. The episodes often end on some degree of a cliffhanger, which makes it ideal for marathons. My brother and I watched six in a row one day. It’s an easy thing to do. The plots are more involved and compelling, and the season once again ends on a cliffhanger, which is twice as devastating as the first season’s. I’m only a few episodes into the third season, but it looks to be much darker, and I’ve heard the fourth and fifth seasons suffer from inexperienced scriptwriters, so this second season may turn out to be my favorite. This is one second helping well worth taking!

Pilot
Season Three
Season Four
Season Five

Poems:
His Friendship
A Luthor is a Lion
A Father's Love
Metamorphosis
Martha
Destiny
Jonathan
This Moment

Parodies:
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Save Me
Harrigan
Rhymes and Reasons
Leaves That Are Green
Kathy's Song
Silver Bells
A Most Peculiar Man

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD