Season Three of Chuck Brings Angst and Catharsis

There’s a certain melancholy attached to starting a really good series on DVD. You start off hoping to get sucked in but knowing that when the multiple marathons have brought you to the end of what’s available on DVD, malaise will set in. My family finished watching season three of Chuck a couple weeks ago, and I couldn’t quite bring myself to rush out and write the review right away. It felt too final. Of course, there is a season four, but I hate to plunge into it “live” having missed the first half of the season, so I have a feeling it will have to wait. I’m sure it will be worth it; the first three seasons certainly were.

Season three of the action-comedy-romance created by Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz has a slightly different tone to it than the first two seasons. While there are still laugh-aloud moments in every episode, I’m not sure I would classify it as primarily comical. Each of the characters faces major challenges in this season, and at times their obstacles feel downright oppressive. In fact, there were several episodes that left me feeling depressed, though the season ends on a mostly uplifting note.

The biggest reason for the change is that Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi), the unassuming computer technician who unwittingly filled his head with government secrets in the first episode, has experienced a shift in his life plan. After spending two seasons largely focused on ridding himself of that unwanted knowledge, he had a brief taste of freedom before downloading the new Intersect, this time intentionally, in a moment of crisis. With this new version, he not only is able to identify baddies instantaneously, he has the chance to immediately learn how to accomplish complex tasks such as doing kung fu or performing surgery. These abilities come only intermittently.  He has to concentrate harder than usual to call them forth, and he doesn't always have control over them once he gets them, but just knowing that they’re lying dormant in his system is enough to change Chuck’s attitude toward espionage. He is no longer a reluctant spy simply waiting to go back to his old life. Instead, like Clark Kent, he feels a duty to use his newfound powers for good.

Because of these abilities, season three is the most action-packed yet, though I sometimes missed his more unconventional means of getting out of scrapes. That’s not to say that he never escapes his enemies primarily through his quick wits or that his two handlers, tough, pretty Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) and steely, deadly John Casey (Adam Baldwin), don’t ever have to come to his rescue. But we do get several fight scenes with him that are pretty much straightforward action. As he gets closer to becoming an actual, official spy, it becomes harder and harder for him to avoid making morally reprehensible decisions, and I worried along with Sarah that the season might strip him of many of the qualities that make him so lovable in the first place.

Of the main trio, Sarah has always been the straight man of sorts. She’s sweet and incredibly capable, but she doesn’t usually make me laugh as Chuck and Casey do. In season three, she’s not just rather serious, she’s angsty. This season begins several months after the season two finale, and we learn that Chuck declined an opportunity to run away with her, opting instead for the life of a spy. It’s a rather perplexing decision, considering how desperately he loves Sarah. On the other hand, it would have meant abandoning his beloved sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and giving up the chance to help a lot of people, so his decision is at least somewhat understandable. But throughout most of the season, Sarah remains bitter over this incident, and her relationship with Chuck suffers. For at least half the season, it seems that there is a dark cloud hanging over Sarah’s head, and it’s draining to watch, though there’s a definite sense of exultation when she finally begins to come out of her funk.

Deadpan Casey has subtly, gradually softened up since the beginning of the series, and at this point, while he still looks like he could rip your head off – and would if he had the right motivation – he is as sympathetic as he is intimidating. Casey must deal with several significant changes this season, and we come to see just how important Chuck and Sarah have become to him. More surprisingly, he has several opportunities to bond with Chuck’s best friend Morgan Grimes (Joshua Gomez), and despite his initial irritation with Morgan, the two turn out to make a pretty effective team. Meanwhile, a secret long buried in Casey’s past comes to light and reveals a truly tender side of his personality.

Chuck’s beefed up spy duties threaten to drive a wedge between him and Morgan as his behavior becomes ever more erratic, but the strength of this lifelong friendship proves capable of withstanding seemingly insurmountable obstacles. After two seasons of frequently coming across like a doofus and a nuisance, Morgan really begins to grow up in this season. At the urging of paternal boss Big Mike (Mark Christopher Lawrence), he takes on new duties at the Buy More that demonstrate an unforeseen knack for leadership, and he shows both cleverness and bravery when he finds himself in the position of needing to come to Chuck’s rescue. By contrast, Chuck’s brother-in-law Devon (Ryan McPartlin), a buff, easy-going doctor who rarely seems rattled in the first two seasons, gets a taste of Chuck’s lifestyle that leaves him truly shaken, and he spends much of the season looking haggard and haunted. This leads to some funny moments, in particular a hilarious confrontation with Morgan as he tries to convince Ellie that they should leave Burbank to participate in Doctors Without Borders in Africa, but it’s rather unsettling to see the man Chuck refers to as Captain Awesome so utterly stressed out.

With the arrival of Chuck’s new “superpowers,” it’s not much surprise that Superman references would fill the season. This is most noticeable in two of the season’s casting decisions. Kristin Kreuk, known for playing Clark’s longtime crush and on-again, off-again girlfriend Lana Lang on Smallville, surfaces as a potential love interest for Chuck who, after meeting him on a mission, moves to Burbank to work in his Buy More. Generally, I found her character here more likable than Lana, who was sweet enough in Smallville’s first season but soon began to exhibit obnoxious and shifty traits. More significant to the arc of the season is Shaw, a highly accomplished agent who becomes Chuck’s boss. Played by Brandon Routh, who donned Superman’s red and blue suit in Superman Returns, Shaw has an impeccable record, not to mention killer abs, and Chuck’s not so crazy about the way he’s disrupting the cozy little trio he’s become so accustomed to, especially since he seems to have his sights set on Sarah.

Along with all the Superman stuff, the season remains steeped in pop culture references that sometimes seem to come out of nowhere. Chuck’s unpredictable kung fu chops lead to an episode-long subplot about a Fight Club in the Buy More, one of the more disruptive ideas cooked up by Lester Patel (Vic Sahay) and Jeff Barnes (Scott Krinsky), Chuck’s most aggravating co-workers. I must admit, though, that they got a big smile out of this folkie with a performance of a John Denver song while garbed like Simon and Garfunkel in what’s probably my favorite episode of the season. And really, they didn’t sound half-bad. Battlestar Galactica gets a prominent shout-out in one of the season’s most dispiriting episodes, and Subway, the corporate sponsor partly responsible for keeping Chuck on the air, is integrated in a number of amusing ways. While many pop culture moments throughout the season made me smile, my hands-down favorite has to be the out-of-the-blue nod to one of Sesame Street’s most popular segments.

Taken as a whole, I love the third season of Chuck as much as the first two, but this is definitely a darker season. Several likable characters get burned, some of them fatally, and the main trio face some deeply troubling crises that threaten their sense of self-worth and psychological well-being. However, when good things happen this season, they feel all the more cathartic, so the dark moments are worth enduring, especially since there is joy and humor to be found in even the direst episode. I’m so glad that Chuck got a third season, and I’m sure that the fourth will be just as engrossing.

My Top Ten Movies of the Early '80s ('80-'84)

I like to poke fun at the music of the '80s, but movies are an entirely different matter.  I was a little too young to enjoy these movies when they first came out, but in the decade or so that followed, they became firm favorites that have lasted to this day.

The Empire Strikes Back (1980) / Return of the Jedi (1983) - What would an '80s list be without Star Wars? The second installment traumatized me, but it also introduced Yoda, who I adore and includes the delightful insult, "You stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder!" Most fans seem to list it as their favorite of the series, and it was even referenced in a recent episode of LOST. My favorite, though, is the concluding chapter of the trilogy, with its powerful themes of family and redemption. And what can I say... I'm a fan of the Ewoks!

The Blues Brothers (1980) - Saturday Night Live can be pretty stupid, but this movie based on characters from the long-running sketch show is one of my favorite comedies. Yes, a lot of cars wind up totaled, but there's also a slew of cameos from the likes of Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin and some terrific performances, my favorite of which is the impromptu rendition of the Rawhide theme song. And the madcap adventure has a worthy purpose, as Jake and Elwood are "on a mission from God" to raise money to save the orphanage where they grew up.

Airplane! (1980) - More one-liners and bad puns than you can shake a stick at, and the visual gags are just as rampant. This is one of the silliest movies I have ever seen, but I love it. Some of the jokes are a little off-color, but most of it is just plain goofy, and no matter how repetitive it gets, I laugh every time. Leslie Nielsen and Peter Graves are particularly funny.

The Great Muppet Caper (1981) / The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) - Both of these original Muppet movies are lots of fun. I'm especially partial to the first, which features a jewel heist and some very funny performances from Charles Grodin and John Cleese, but the second is terrific as well and is more in keeping with the established Muppet personalities, since Kermit and the gang are performers rather than reporters. There's also that fun sequence imagining the Muppets as babies, a precursor to the popular cartoon.

Superman II (1981) - I love Superman, and I'm particularly a fan of this movie, in which the world is threatened by the sinister Zod, who has arrived with two cronies ready to do some serious damage. Christopher Reeve is terrific as both bumbling Clark and impenetrable Superman, and his rescue of a child who takes a tumble at Niagara Falls is one of my all-time favorite superhero moments.

Annie (1982) - Don'tcha just love tomorrow? This optimistic musical is fun and cheerful, with the title character's spirit uplifting just about everyone she touches, all the way up to the President of the United States. A great rags-to-riches story with terrific songs and the hilarious performance by Carol Burnett as the tipsy, diabolical Miss Hannigan.

The Dark Crystal (1982) - One of Jim Henson's darkest projects, this film depicts a beautifully imagined world ruled by opposing entities. It's a haunting fable all about sacrifice and balance, with gorgeous creatures and landscapes and occasional touches of humor, most courtesy of the gruff Aughra and the Ewok-like pod people.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) - This pensive film is basically tied with the fourth as my favorite Trek movie. It finds Kirk contemplating middle age while confronting two people he thought were out of his life forever and adjusting to his unexpected role of father. Ricardo Mantalban is deliciously over-the-top as the vengeful Khan, Scotty shows his emotional side after his beloved nephew joins the crew and Spock and Kirk share the most powerful moment in the entire series.

A Christmas Story (1983) / Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) / A Christmas Carol (1984) - It was a great couple of years for Christmas movies. The first is the funniest, a cult classic that is nostalgic but snarky and is my brother's all-time-favorite Christmas flick. The second is the most kid-friendly, an adaptation of Dickens' classic tale that clocks in at under 30 minutes, casting Mickey as hard-working Bob, Donald as exuberant Fred and, naturally, Scottish miser Scrooge McDuck as old Ebenezer. The third, starring George C. Scott, is my favorite straightforward adaptation of the story. It's much more detailed than the Disney version or even the Muppet version, which is my all-time favorite. Scott is magnificent as Scrooge, and David Warner is truly moving as the best Bob Cratchit I've ever seen.

The Karate Kid (1984) - While the second installment in the trilogy is my favorite, I love the first movie too, and it includes most of the truly classic Karate Kid moments, from "Wax on, wax off" to catching the fly with the chopsticks. While it's exciting to see Daniel transform from a hot-headed fish out of water into a karate champion, it's his relationship with the wise Mr. Miyagi that really makes the movie so much fun to watch. 

2006 Delivers a Solid Pack of Movies With No Clear Stand-Out

The year 2006 was a busy one for my family, with one brother graduating from college, another from high school, an international guest staying for the summer and a cousin getting married. In the midst of all the activity, we got around to watching a few movies - though the majority of 2006 movies I’ve seen were watched later, thanks to Netflix. I don’t know that I can identify a clear favorite among the films, but there were several I enjoyed very much.  These were my ten favorites.

Akeelah and the Bee - An uplifting movie about a young girl overcoming obstacles to compete in a national spelling bee. Keke Palmer is terrific as the young spelling whiz, while Laurence Fishburne shines as her determined mentor.

Cars - It’s hard to go wrong with Pixar, and Cars is one of my favorite of their films, particularly once we leave the frantic energy of the race track for the drowsy comfort of Radiator Springs, where dwell a colorful collection of automobiles, most of them weathered and rustic, none more so than Mater, a rickety, dim-witted, open-hearted tow truck voiced by Larry the Cable Guy. The characters are lovable, the animation glorious, the vision of a world populated exclusively with vehicles clever. Plus, it has Our Town, an original song by James Taylor, one of my favorite tunes to grace a Disney film in quite some time.

Charlotte's Web - The E. B. White classic was one of the first chapter books I ever read. I’d seen the cartoon many times but was excited for a live action version, and I was quite satisfied with the results. Dakota Fanning is wonderful as always, and the movie has a quiet charm to it most of the time that definitely does justice to the novel. Beautiful cinematography and a lovely theme song by Sarah McLaughlin help make this an exquisite movie.

The Holiday - I didn’t catch this one in the theater, but renting it made for a perfect cozy evening at home. I love the idea of switching houses for a few days or weeks; sounds like a grand way to take an exotic vacation. Here, it’s a workaholic American and a disgruntled Brit who exchange homes and lifestyles, leading each of them to romance and revelation. All four leads are likable, but Eli Wallach steals the show as an elderly screenwriting legend who bonds with Kate Winslet’s character.

Miss Potter - I tend not to be a big fan of Renee Zellweger, but I love her in this gentle biopic about feisty turn-of-the-century author Beatrix Potter. This movie focuses primarily on her beginnings in the writing business, when an enthusiastic young publisher played by an utterly endearing Ewan McGregor sees promise in the project his brothers saw as silly. Their business relationship blossoms into one of the sweetest love stories I’ve seen captured on film.

Nanny McPhee - Emma Thompson stars in this Mary Poppins-like tale of a nanny who tames a bunch of unruly children. She arrives, snaggle-toothed and intimidating, to help the harried single father played by Colin Firth; as her unusual disciplinary methods begin to have an effect, her appearance gradually changes for the better. A funny and tender fantasy.

Pan's Labyrinth - This dark but moving Spanish film written and directed by Guillermo del Toro delves into magical realism as it explores the story of a girl named Ofelia who seeks a fantastical inheritance while the world around her crumbles. Sergi Lopez is a horrific villain, but del Toro’s magnificent vision of Ofelia’s submerged kingdom and Ivana Baguero’s spirited performance as the young heroine, as well as Alex Angulo’s turn as a compassionate doctor, keep the film from getting bogged down in despair. This was the film I’d most hoped to see before the Oscars. I didn’t quite manage it, but when I did rent it I was able to get first-hand confirmation of what all those little gold statues had assured.

The Queen - It was a good year for biopics, and while Forrest Whitaker deserves equal recognition for his towering performance as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, the horrors of that movie are such that I don’t think I could stomach another viewing. However, I’d be glad to return to Helen Mirren’s excellent performance as the restrained Queen Elizabeth II trying to wrap her head around the international outpouring of grief for Princess Diana. That incident made a big impression upon me, and it was fascinating to see it portrayed on film from the perspective of the Royal Family.

Superman Returns - I’ve always been a Superman fan, but my fondness for Clark Kent was dramatically refreshed when my brother got me hooked on Smallville in early 2006. Over the course of his last term of high school, we breezed through three seasons of the show, so when the new Superman movie hit theaters that summer, I was especially pumped. So we went to Tinseltown and bought tickets for opening night, and I went in my glow-in-the-dark Superman shirt and cheered as Superman saved the day yet again in a funny, touching, action-packed update.

We Are Marshall - I caught this one in the dollar theater, one of many films whose main draw was a LOST connection. In this case, it was Matthew Fox, who portrays one of the few surviving members of a college football team devastated by a plane crash. Fox is the brooding assistant coach, while Matthew McConaughey plays the enthusiastic newbie determined to rebuild the team practically from scratch. Meanwhile, as Marshall University’s president, David Strathairn fills a small role with great significance. This true tale of resilience in the face of tragedy is one of the best inspirational sports movies I’ve seen.

Well, there you have it. Of course, there are still a lot of major movies from 2006 that I haven’t seen, but what I saw was pretty impressive.

Smallville's Shortened Seventh Season Piles on the Fun With Kryptonian Kara

Back in 2006, my brother Nathan, then a senior in high school, got me hooked on Smallville on DVD. In the months leading up to his departure for college, we watched the first three seasons. Over the course of his freshman year we watched two more. But since then it's been slow going in getting caught up, so that we only just now finished season seven and are faced with the fact that we're probably never going to actually catch up with this show, since if past seasons are any indication, season eight will hit DVD about a week before season nine premieres. Well, maybe we'll try to cram it all into one week. Or maybe we'll just resign ourselves to watching Smallville exclusively on DVD. Frankly, I'm pretty surprised at the show's longevity, simply because it's a prequel, and Clark's seemed on the verge of donning those tights for about three seasons now. But I'm not complaining, and if I still have Smallville to look forward to after LOST concludes, so much the better.

Season seven of Smallville is, in some ways, lighter than the sixth, in which Clark must deal with the aftermath of a staggering personal loss and the impending nuptials of the girl of his dreams to his best-friend-turned-arch-nemesis, all while trying to round up a series of bloodthirsty intergalactic convicts who make the meteor freaks look like minor irritations. It isn't that the stakes aren't high in the seventh season, but the sense of peril is less pervasive, and there's even a fair amount of domestic tranquility for Clark, who really seems like an adult for the first time (though Tom Welling looks exactly the same as he did when Clark was supposed to be a freshman in high school). Though he's still a farm boy, he's now running the place, with his mom Martha (Annette O'Toole) out of the picture in Washington, D.C. Moreover, he's spending more and more time in Metropolis, where intrepid reporter Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) and dorky heart-of-gold photographer Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore) work for The Daily Planet, soon to be joined by budding journalist Lois Lane (Erica Durance). Can it be long before Clark joins their ranks? For the second season in a row, an alternate reality sequence has him donning the iconic thick-framed glasses and suit. Now if only phone booths weren't so hard to come by nowadays...

Though political advancement removes Martha from the equation, Lex's (Michael Rosenbaum) father Lionel (John Glover) still has a significant role to play in Clark's life. It's curious to see him playing the protective, paternal role, especially since Martha is no longer there to act as a link between these two powerful men. While Lionel often acts in ways that seem suspect, he claims to be on Clark's side, and despite years of experience with Lionel's villainy, Clark generally seems to believe that this tycoon has turned over a new leaf. Lionel has been one of the show's most compelling characters for me, in large part because of Glover's brilliant performance; his theatrical background and his masterful way of masking his character's motivations remind me very much of LOST's Michael Emerson. And like Ben, the bug-eyed baddie Emerson portrays, Lionel is a character I've been longing to see redeemed in the end. Since I don't see how that can happen with Lex, I've transferred my hopes onto Lionel. It takes a while for him to become a part of the season, but once he does, his participation is crucial.

We've also got Lana (Kristin Kreuk), who just won't go away no matter how many times it seems like she may be off the show for good. Since I never hopped aboard the Clark and Lana ship, and since I know he's going to end up with Lois anyway, I'm not sure I appreciated Clark and Lana's cohabitation in this season as much as I could have. I mean, poor Clark has wanted this for years, and now he finally has a shot at domestic bliss with his one true love, a woman who now knows most of his deep dark secrets. But her tenure as a Luthor girl did nothing to improve the toxic aspects of her personality; despite the sweet exterior, some of her actions this season are downright diabolical, and it isn't long before distrust and deceit starts to settle in at the Kent Farm.

Though he stoops to some very dark deeds this season, at times, Lex still manages to come across as a decent human being, particularly in his associations with the newest member of the principal cast, a blonde beauty named Kara (Laura Vandervoort) who happens to be Clark's biological cousin. Yes, it just so happens that Kal-El was not the only Kryptonian to escape to Earth, but Kara was stuck in suspended animation for a couple decades longer. Her first act upon awakening in this strange new world involves rescuing Lex from a watery death in a precise parallel of what Clark did in the show's very first episode. Lex sees her first as an angel of mercy, later as the key to solving the mystery that has plagued him for so many years. Kara carries herself with an air of innocence and youthful rebellion. Though she remembers the infant Kal-El, Clark is now older than her, and since she's on his home turf, he has to show her the ropes. Unlike Clark, she doesn't feel the desire to keep her powers secret; convincing her to lay low is one of his most trying tasks throughout the season. Meanwhile, he struggles with revelations about an old family feud that cast Kara in a questionable light and suffers the indignity of knowing this newcomer might be a novice in the ways of Earth but is fully equipped to take to the skies. On the whole, I found Kara a refreshing addition, injecting an extra dose of youthful fun into the season and allowing Clark a different sort of significant relationship in his life while opening a window to a deeper understanding of his biological mother.

Because I've always loved Jimmy Olsen and because Ashmore captures the character's sweetness and goofiness perfectly, Smallville has finally sold me on a Chloe romantic relationship with someone other than Clark that I can root for, particularly since Chloe's status as Clark's most cherished and indispensable friend is assured at this point. Chloe and Jimmy share some of the most tender moments of the season, as well as some of the funniest. Granted, their courtship has its ups and downs, particularly since Chloe is afraid to reveal to him that she has been endowed with a miraculous gift with potentially fatal side effects, and Kara's immediate (and rather inexplicable) infatuation with him complicates matters somewhat. But I'd much rather watch these two characters I genuinely love and can sympathize with equally work together through the trials that come their way than cringe over the twisted couplings that surround them. I'm starting to think theirs may turn out to be Smallville's grandest love story. It's fun to throw Lois into the mix too, especially when she and Jimmy end up working together, since their personalities contrast so magnificently. While romantic sparks never fly between them, it's sweet to watch them develop a deeper sense of respect and affection for one another. Meanwhile, Lois's luck in love seems to change this season when the hunky new boss Grant Gabriel (Michael Cassidy) takes a liking to her.

Some old faces resurface this season, including the silky artificial intelligence known as Milton Fine (James Marsters); filthy rich, gadget-heavy vigilante Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley), who secures a surprising assistant in his quest to rid the world of injustice; and, much to my excitement, the long-neglected Pete Ross (Sam Jones III), who vanished without a trace back in the third season. Don't get too excited; he's not in it for the long haul. But just getting a brief visit with this terrific character, the Ron Weasley of Smallville, is a true gift to long-time fans of the series. Other significant characters, such as Jonathan Kent and Dr. Virgil Swann, are referenced but not seen, while one sinister character maddeningly assumes Clark's identity, which naturally leads to complications, mostly with his relationship to Lana. Of course, every season includes at least one instance of Clark being "not himself," either because he's under the influence of some nefarious substance or because someone else has assumed his form, but this is one of the more effective uses of that device. On a related note, two otherwise ordinary people in Clark's life suddenly develop unusual abilities, which leads to comical situations but ultimately causes insecurity all around.

Most of the season's best episodes shine a light on past events. Lara and Blue both help Kal-El's mother to emerge from the shadows of memory as a vibrant, loving woman, while Fracture offers a fascinating peek into Lex's labyrinthian mind, giving us a compelling reason to consider him redeemable despite all evidence to the contrary. This little-seen side of Lex emerges again in the chilling Descent. I also enjoyed the It's a Wonderful Life-like Apocalypse, in which Clark has a chance to see what the world would be like if he'd never made it to Earth. Throughout the season, surprising connections among characters come to light, and the trustworthiness of various characters remains unclear. It's a season that keeps us guessing, and having a whole lot of fun along the way. It's a shame that, due to the writers' strike, there are fewer episodes than usual, but even so, season seven is top-notch.

A More Adult Clark Makes New Friends and Enemies in Smallville's Sixth Season

Three years ago, my brother Nathan got me hooked on Smallville, the CW show that re-imagines the adolescence and young adulthood of all-American superhero Clark Kent. Within one year, we'd watched the first five seasons, but we only just finished season six now, which leaves us two seasons behind and despairing of ever catching up before the series concludes. Whether or not we manage it, we'll certainly be sticking it out to the end on DVD.

Every season of Smallville finds Clark and company with different preoccupations. This time around, Clark (Tom Welling) has a doozy of a problem on his hands when he accidentally releases several of the most heinous criminals in the universe from the Phantom Zone where he was trapped by Zod, the evil entity whose possession of Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) set up the season five cliff-hanger. Rounding up the rogue Zoners becomes his top priority, though he also has his eye on Lex, who is secretly experimenting on meteor freaks while getting uncomfortably cozy with Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), who, much as he hates to admit it, is still the girl of Clark's dreams.

For the most part, Lex's devotion to Lana seems to be the only thing keeping him from fully succumbing to his devilish destiny, though there are still flickers of decency that come across elsewhere, particularly in a powerful late-season moment with Clark. Their interaction is limited, however, and generally bristling with animosity. It's clear that Lex hasn't far to go to become Clark's nemesis, just one indication that the series must be nearing its end. I get the sense that if Lana had embraced Lex's advances a season or two earlier, it might have been enough to curtail his villainy; by this point, he's just in too deep.

Another indication that the series is moving into its endgame is the relocation of much of the action to Metropolis and the addition of both the Justice League and bumbling photographer Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore). As a long-time fan of Jimmy, I was tickled to see him join the cast of characters, though I had mixed feelings about the manner in which he was introduced as an old flame of Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack), since he turned up just when it was beginning to look like Clark might actually return Chloe's long-unrequited affections. Since we know that Clark has to end up with Lois Lane (Erica Durance), though, I guess there's not much point in throwing him and Chloe together now and risking the strength of their friendship. In that light, adorable Jimmy is most welcome as a sincere suitor and a consistent source of comic relief.

The season drops occasional hints at the future Lois and Clark romance, especially in Crimson, the Valentine's Day episode in which Lois applies some aphrodisiac lipstick with disastrous (but largely hilarious) results. But Clark is still mooning over Lana throughout the season, while Lois spends half the season getting acquainted with charming billionaire Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley), a prep school rival of Lex who turns out to have as many secrets up his sleeves as Clark does. Their sassy repartee reveals a couple well suited to each other, but like most of the romances on this show, their blossoming love is threatened by the things they conceal from each other.

Even Martha Kent (Annette O'Toole) has a romantic prospect on the horizon, though in this first full season since the death of the Kent patriarch, her grief is too fresh for her to consider anything beyond friendship with the ever-enigmatic Lionel Luthor (John Glover). He is a powerful ally for her as she strives to serve honorably in the senatorial seat Jonathan won at such high personal cost. At this stage of the game, Lionel may be the most fascinating character for me simply because he's such a wild card. Chloe is the only other major player without an established destiny in Superman mythology, but it's a pretty safe bet that Clark's best friend isn't suddenly going to turn evil. Lionel, on the other hand, started out pretty rotten, and some of his actions in this season still seem reprehensible. But he also appears to be fighting for the side of good at times, and if nothing else, his affection for Martha is genuine. While his redemption would be ironic in the face of Lex's ultimate villainy, it would lessen the sting of that terrible transformation. Like Michael Emerson, who portrays the inscrutable Ben Linus on LOST, Glover constantly keeps us guessing with his complex performance.

In some ways, this is a very dark season. Lex's plans grow more and more grandiose and grotesque, and we learn in a flashback of a disturbing chapter in his youth. The Zoners wreak major havoc on some unsuspecting humans - not to mention the fact that there are still troublesome meteor freaks to contend with. The hustle and bustle of urban Metropolis can't match the comfort of bucolic Smallville, and an intrusive, oppressive score often ensures a skin-crawling sensation, especially in any scene involving Lex. On the other hand, new situations and characters inject freshness into the series. Many of the scenes with Lois and Oliver and Jimmy and Chloe are just plain fun, and it's a kick to see how the writers find ways of paying homage to these characters' forebears. Noir, an episode late in the season in which Jimmy dreams his way into a film noir version of his life, plays like a love letter to The Adventures of Superman. Clark has his own alternate experience with reality in Labyrinth, a much less aesthetically pleasing episode that finds him cooped up in a mental institution; reminiscent of LOST's Dave, in which an old friend of Hurley's turns up to inform him that the Island is all in his head, it allows us to see these familiar characters from an unusual perspective.

While I started getting tired of Lana's drama queen ways back in season two and always faulted Clark just a bit for overlooking the intrepid Chloe in favor of whispery, whiny Lana, giving her such intimate access to Lex puts her in an interesting position this year. Though she shows an alarming capacity for duplicity and vice, she also reveals the depth of her feelings for Clark, taking the character in refreshingly tender directions as she comes closer to figuring out just what he's been hiding all these years. Having Lois follow in Chloe's footsteps by writing for a tabloid is a fun way of bringing her closer to her journalistic future, and Chloe's bond with Clark is as solid as it's ever been, with one late-season development giving her role as his most reliable wingman even more creative possibilities.

Smallville grows more complex every season, sacrificing some of the innocence of previous seasons but creating a more intriguing web of plots and characters so that each episode is an important piece of the puzzle rather than being just a showcase for the meteor freak of the week. Will Clark ever don the famous suit and take to the skies? I can't wait to find out!

Smallville Thrives in Season Five

My brother just went back to college tonight. But before he left, we managed to spend quite a lot of time together - much of it parked on the couch in front of the television. In fact, in his last week home, Nathan, my parents and I blazed through the entire fifth season of Smallville, bringing us only half a season away from actually being caught up. It could possibly happen before the sixth season is over...

Season five is an important one. Interestingly, while the cataclysmic pilot episode aired a month or so after 9-11, this season's opener, which shows the immediate aftermath of yet another colossal meteor shower, aired about a month after Hurricane Katrina. The second-episode scenes of a community barn raising take on added meaning in that context, demonstrating the resilience of ordinary citizens under trying circumstances. If Smallville can be rebuilt - twice - maybe New Orleans can too.

In one respect, season five opens on a happier note than most; Clark's (Tom Welling) Superman training continues in the glorious Fortress of Solitude (though you'd think Jor-El (Terence Stamp) would've told him everything he needed to know when he abducted him for three months the year before), while Chloe (Allison Mack) is the awestruck bystander in the story of a lifetime. Only it's one she refuses to tell. And oh yeah, it's darn cold for a Kansas gal in a winter wonderland with no coat. So that beautiful scene is shattered when Clark insists on cutting his training short to get Chloe someplace where she won't die of hypothermia, to which Jor-El reluctantly agrees... conditioned upon Clark's return before sunset to continue his lessons. As soon as the words escape his lips, we know Clark will break his promise, whether out of forgetfulness, preoccupation or outright defiance. But his actions have grave repercussions, as he will come to realize as the season wears on...

Most inconveniently, this meteor shower brought another spaceship, a black, ominous-looking thing containing the Disciples of Zod. Lana (Kristen Kreuk) sees it land and is sufficiently traumatized; Lex (Michael Rosenbaum), who's on just about everybody's bad side at the moment, claims not to believe her, while swooping down with all his resources to take the ship for himself. But there still are those pesky disciples to deal with, and they cause as much trouble as possible, casually shooting fire out of their eyes at whoever happens by while searching for Clark. Who they find, or who finds them, and saves the day, with time to spare... and sticks around to see Lana regain consciousness rather than high-tail it back to his big bad dad, who made himself pretty clear, if you ask me. Of all the choices Clark made in the season, this very early one probably maddened me the most because it should have been a no-brainer. Lana's out of danger; he needs to go finish his eddication, dagnabbit!

Smallville is a mess, but it cleans up nicely, and Jonathan (John Schneider) and Martha (Annette O'Toole) once again manage to claw their way out of the surrounding rubble, though what ever happened to Jason Teague (Jensen Ackles) nobody seems to know or care. Even Lana doesn't raise any questions; maybe she's so unsettled by certain end-of-the-season revelations and events that she doesn't particularly relish another meeting with Jason. Nonetheless, it seems there should be some reference to finding his body under a once-hardy Kent table... or not finding it, leaving the possibility for his re-emergence at a later date. I'm guessing they just wanted to close the book on that whole season-four storyline, though, and I guess I can understand that. And they slip a reference to Pete (Sam Jones III) in the second episode, so maybe there's always a chance of a throwaway explanation of just what happened to Jason in, say, season seven, when everyone's forgotten him entirely...

Because who needs Jason when Lana and Clark can finally be together? The whole end-of-the-world thing has thrown things into perspective, and Lana realizes Clark is her true love, and since he rather conveniently (so he thinks) loses his powers after failing to return to his Fortress in the allotted time, he doesn't have to worry about hiding things from her anymore. Well, as long as she doesn't ask what he's been up to for the past 18 years... Chloe, meanwhile, finally knows just about everything about Clark that there is to know, and Clark knows she knows, so it cements their friendship even as she wistfully witnesses the renewal of his romance with Lana. And then Clark gets his powers back, as we knew he had to, though the circumstances are most unfortunate and don't bode so well for his and Lana's relationship. Chloe sure comes in handy as his wingman, though...

I continue to love Chloe in this season. She's pretty much done pursuing Clark, but she relishes her exalted place in his life, one of only four people who knows his secret - and one of them is quite out of the picture. There's a calmness and maturity to her here that comes out physically in her cessation of changing her hairstyle every episode. Maybe that has something to do with her not trying to get Clark's attention anymore; she really doesn't need to since he turns to her for help more often than ever, though when it comes to matters of the heart, one might suspect she'd rather not be the one to dole out advice.

Lana isn't so bad the first half of the season, though once her relationship with Clark turns physical - can we say ick? - she's suddenly all hormonally charged and coming on to Clark in practically every scene they share. Which is a problem for Clark since his abilities return soon thereafter, and he doesn't want to accidentally hurt Lana in the heat of the moment. And it's a problem for me, too, because... well... call me a prude, but ick once again. Plus, I'm still a hopeless Chloe and Clark shipper. The real problem with Lana here, though, is that Lex and Clark both get a glimpse of their respective perfect futures with her. And then things go horribly awry, leading both Lex and Clark to make tragic choices. Because in their blind adoration, it turns out they're both willing to give up anything and anyone for Lana's sake. Silly boys...

The Lex and Lana pairing grows increasingly plausible after she gets over her fury with Lex over his psychotic end-of-the-season antics and his subsequent implication that Lana's apparent spotting of the spaceship was all in her head, a result of post-traumatic shock. Because Lex decides to tell her the truth. Actually, ironically, as deceitful as he is, he's always been more forthcoming than Clark, and the fact that he is willing to share so freely with Lana here makes her question why she would want to stay with someone who's constantly lying to her. The thing of it is, I really want Lex and Lana to end up together. Because I really want Lex to be happy... and good, which I think he would be if he ended up with Lana, at least under a certain set of circumstances. And Lana would do all right, I think; he's obsessed with her and has endless resources with which to pamper her, so it's a needy girlfriend's dream. And, just as important, Clark could finally realize how perfect Chloe is for him... But none of those things can happen, and it's times like these when I hate the fact that the destinies of most of these characters are set. And then I'm grateful that at least nobody - perhaps, ominously, even the writers - knows where LOST is going...

But romances weren't my foremost concerns going into this season. Rather, there's the matter that certain characters seem unlikely to survive the series. Could this be the year one of them goes? Lionel (John Glover) starts off the season in an uber-creepy trance, sketching and etching Kryptonian symbols on any available surface. When he comes to, though - his lustrous hair nearly back to its full former glory - his first appearance is downright congenial. Soon, he still seems to be cooking up a few secrets in the shadows, but to what end? And when he offers to fund Jonathan's campaign for senator - against Lex, and behind Jonathan's back - can we really believe that it's not so he can strong-arm Jonathan if he gets into office, forcing him to make any number of decisions compromising his integrity? I cautiously believe in Lionel, knowing his manipulative skills are strong. I'm never sure just what he's up to, but the one constant, I think, is his deep, sincere regard for Martha, leading to some of the most moving scenes in the season, and as long as she is in his life his redemption seems to be within much easier grasp.

But Jonathan's opinion of Lionel certainly hasn't changed. In fact, his deep-seated prejudices against the Luthors frustrate me to no end, just like Samwise's refusal to embrace the glimmer of good in Smeagol, though in both cases there are very practical and compelling reasons for them to feel and act the way they do, far beyond sheer jealousy. Jonathan enters the senatorial race largely to keep Lex from getting the position, because a Luthor with all that power can't possibly be a good thing for all the hard-working middle class folks. What's more, he has a chance to crawl out from his son's shadow, to do something significant quite apart from Clark, and his pride embraces that possibility. But is it really a good idea to enter what's sure to be an ugly race with an enormous secret to keep quiet, not to mention a weakened physical condition? And what will happen if he learns where all that campaign money really came from? Jonathan is a hard-headed soul, and his attitudes poisoned Clark's relationship with Lex from the beginning, but he really is a man worth admiring, a role model absolutely instrumental to Clark's development. Hard-working, fiercely dedicated to his family and his values, he may just walk away with my vote for favorite character of the season.

Lex is on pretty shaky moral ground, but he hasn't turned into his father yet. He still resists the dark side, though his relationship with Clark is on the rocks, much to Lex's consternation. Clark's righteous indignation is a bit much to take, and the desperate attempts at reconciliation eventually give way to more and more bitterness. Of course, Lex is hiding a lot, as evidenced by the fact that he's always on his laptop, and he quickly closes it whenever someone walks in the room. But that doesn't mean he's past the point of no return, and this season affords him a couple of very heavy-handed opportunities to see the error of his ways and do something drastic to halt his gradual but relentless march toward super-villainy.

Lois (Erica Durance) continues to inject some much-needed humor into the proceedings, and the hints of romance between her and Clark are practically nonexistent here, aside from his general over-protectiveness whenever a potential love interest for her pops up. She, meanwhile, acts as a rather abrasive older sister, giving him a hard time whenever possible but also admitting her regard for him on certain occasions. More important at this point, she's utterly devoted to Jonathan and Martha, and she throws herself into supporting Jonathan's campaign with such fervor that he makes her campaign manager. Cool points to her for that. I'm actually really starting to like her...

A few new-but-familiar characters pop up this season, my favorite of which is Arthur Curry (Alan Ritchson), environmental vigilante extraordinaire who sweeps Lois off her feet, though Clark is right to suspect there's something "fishy" about him. Most significantly, though, we meet a gentleman named Milton Fine (James Marsters), though we know from the get-go what Clark doesn't: he's not really a history professor. He's a Kryptonian artificial intelligence, and he's bad news. But it looks like he's going to be around for a while...

Season five is pivotal: no more high school, no more Torch (though the Daily Planet keeps Chloe pretty busy), precious little camaraderie between Lex and Clark. Luthors and Kents both are caught up in the dangerous, exhilarating politics game, while a dark Kryptonian force looms as a threat bigger than even Clark can imagine. The hundredth episode rolls around; in honor of the occasion we get one of the most thrilling, devastating, emotionally charged episodes in the whole series. Major changes are about to occur, and many of them aren't particularly encouraging. It's nice to see Smallville cave at last and give us a warm and fuzzy Kent family Christmas before their down-home farm existence is thrown into a tizzy.

Most of the hints of Clark's grand destiny are rather grim, but there are also warm and wonderful moments of affirmation from both fathers and interaction with youngsters, for which Clark continues to demonstrate a remarkable aptitude. This is a season to tug at the heartstrings as events set into motion with decisions made long ago finally come to fruition and the days of dawning the fabled tights draw ever nearer. Though how Clark is going to explain the glasses to Lois, and more importantly, how she's going to fail to recognize him as Superman, I have no idea... I don't want the show to end. But I suspect the halfway point has passed; the epic scope of the season five finale will be hard to top, and how much longer can we keep Lex in check? I'm not sure. I am sure that it was a serendipitous day when Nathan toted home the first season eleven months ago, and I'm seeing this thing through to the end, marveling every step of the way.