Season Reviewed: Smallville Season 2

I've just finished season 2, so it's review time. So, Smallville follows Clark Kent in the years before he became Superman as his powers develope while he grows up in Smallville, Kansas. This is one of those shows that I feel like is an example of either the switch is on or off. It's good or bad. Fortunately, the good moments tend to outway the bad moments.
The show had some casting changes in that John Glover joined the cast a Lex Luther's father Lionel, and Eric Johnson's Whitney Fordman left the show after the season 1 finale. Whitney did return for one episode and was promptly [SPOILERS!] This was definetly a step up over season 1, with the show, for the most part, getting past the kryptonite-induced "Freak of the Week" format. We had a story arc invovling some native american caves that tell the story of a man who fell from the sky durring a meteor shower, is invulnerable, and has super strength and heat vision. Sound familiar. And to top it all off, the writing on the walls is Kryptonian, and there's a space on one of the walls that fits the key to the space ship. Clark, Lex, and Lionel are all very interested by this.

At the same time, we have relationship drama. Now, this in itself isn't a bad thing, but at times it can feel a bit soap opera, though, to be fair, there are sci fi shows that would just be soap operas without whatever their concept is (the Walking Dead, for example.) My biggest beef with the relationship drama is that the thing that creates most of it (Chloe's actions in the premiere), for me, at least, felt contrived.

I liked the overall story going here, and there were a good amount of standalones that I enjoyed, but some of them felt a bit bland. The special effects got amped up and we got a few darn good actions scenes, too. Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk, Michael Rosenbaum, Annete O'Toole, and John Schneider all do phenomal jobs in there respective roles, which had some solid character developement.

Noteworthy Episodes:

Vortex: The season premiere gave us some closure to season 1's cliffhanger, with Smallville recovering from the devastating tornados. This leads to some major character changes, with Clark's secret nearly being exposed, Lionel being blinded, and Lex having a body on his hands.

Heat: Clark's heat vision developes. That's it really. The episode itself was just another freak of the week deal.

Duplicity: In which Pete finds out Clark's secret after finding the spaceship in a cornfield.

Red: Two words: Red Kryptonite. A few more words: Clark finds some, and it turns him into an angsty rebel.

Skinwalker: The cave story arc is introduced.

Rush: Something at the caves is making Pete and Chloe act like adrenaline-crazed nutjobs. And to make matters worse, Clark's on some red kryptonite at the same time.

Rosetta: My favorite episode of season 2. Clark keeps dreaming about the caves, specifically flying there at night and putting the key in it's slot. After the dreams, he wakes up on the side of a road. Clark finally puts the key in, and it basically downloads the Kryptonian language onto his brain. From there, he's contacted by Dr. Virgil Swann (PLAYED BY CHRISTOPHER REEVE OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!) who tells him of Krypton, ie, that it was destroyed, he's parents sent him to earth, and his real name is Kal-El.

Visitor: Another student in Smallville claims to be an alien, and proves it with heat vision and healing powers. Clark thinks that the kid might be a Kryptonian. Very compelling and dramatic.

Calling/ Exodus: The two part season finale, in which Lex gets married (again) Clark has massive fights with both Chloe and a super-powered doctor, and Jor-El's consciousness contacts Clark from the spaceship, telling him he must leave Smallville or everyone he loves will be hurt. Cliffhanger ending again.

So, that's my spiel. Once again, good arc, some bland standalones, step up from season 1. There were some faults, but it was worth it to see the passing of the torch between Christopher Reeve and Tom Welling.

Final Rating: 85%