Season Four - Better with age?

[vyperman7]

Has anyone else found S4 to be more enjoyable on DVD over when it originally aired on TV? When season four originally aired, I have to say that I found it to be one of the worst seasons. The beginning of the season had some good episodes. But starting with Spell, it went downhill in my opinion and there were only a few good episodes here and there towards the end.

Recently I watched S4 on DVD for the first time since I bought the set years and years ago. It turned out to be much more enjoyable than I remember it being. It almost feels like it has improved with age. For example, now that we have seen some romantic tension between Clark and Lois, it is more fun to look back on S4 and see the start of their relationship. Secondly, I was much more caught up in the Clex relationship this time around. Watching them trying to be friends again, and the underlying tension/deception. Especially in Blank, when Lex takes advantage of Clark's condition. Also, a lot of the episodes that I didn't really care for, or were at best average to me, were much more enjoyable. I have to say that I had a blast the past few days reliving S4 and I never thought I would hear myself say that.

On a final note, S3 still rules all. I watched it before I started S4, and I forgot how good it was. Great continuity and overall arc. Plus, a lot of really great episodes. Truly the best overall season they ever put out.

[Supsfan]

I love Season 4. For the most part we hardly see any of angsty depressed Clark for the entire season(Season 1 + 4 are the only two that can really claim that). The episodes on a whole are more light hearted and fun(which suits my taste what I want out of the show) and Clark for the most part comes off well adjusted(as opposed to whoa is me Clark)

The only 3 negatives about the season are

1. The Stones storyarc could have been way better. If you view the season as Clark sitting on his ass not doing anything about the stones I can see why some people would hate it. I view all the episodes though as 1 shot stories about the life and times of Clark Kent, it's much easier to handle that way.

2. Lana is a witch, hell Lana in general in Season 4 was useless. Thankfully my DVD player has a FF button and it helps in alot of episodes ;). In an ironic twist, I actually didn't mind Spell or Sacred, 2 episodes where Lana is actually a witch, if you forget about the stupid backstory to her being a witch and just assume she gets randomly possessed for 1 episode, it much easier to enjoy.

3. Ageless

[Nerf]

Well, my mom and I are rewatching S1 right now and are really enjoying it, when for quite awhile I remembered it not being that good. So if it can work for S1, why not S4?

For me, the weakness of S4 is how much filler it has. I am actually a fan of the stones/witch arc, which most of the time was relegated to the subplot of episodes. So all the interesting stuff happened in the subplots, while most of the time the rest of the episode was dumb filler. But maybe if I go back again I will enjoy it more.

I have actually been wanting to rewatch S4 recently, but I don't have it on DVD, am too broke to buy it, the library only has up through S3, and I refuse to watch crappy quality versions of the episodes online. Ah well.

[Seeya'round Smallville]

It's still my favorite season and has been for 5 years. Last year had a chance to beat it in my eyes and screwed that up with the second half. I think this year will beat it. But yeah, I adore Season 4.

To me it was the last season that had continuity. By that I mean the last season where regular characters don't disappear constantly for no reason. If they were absent there was a storyline reason for it that actually made sense. This upcoming season is the first time since then that I feel we're going to be getting back to that thanks to finally increasing actor episode counts.

I really don't have any big complaints at all about this season. The introduction of Lois Lane was IMO perfection. I liked the idea of hunting for 3 artifacts. I actually found Isabel way more entertaining than regular Lana. Jason retroactively is much cooler to me because of Jensen's rise to fame as Dean on Supernatural. It felt like a Superman show, a general atmosphere of fun and light and hope. They focused on Clark in his senior year, not on the villain of the year. If anything negative to me it ran out of steam in the two episodes prior to the finale, which is still the best finale this show has ever had (and it's really not even close).

I want this season on Blu-Ray so bad it's not even funny!

[Night_Hawk90]

i despise season 4 one of my least favourite seasons of smallville this essentially the season i noticed the quality start to drop, and the storylines go all over the place. Clark essentially was dumbed down this season, and im one who did not like the introduction of Lois Lane so early in Clark's life. Don't get me wrong there are some gems in this season but the way Clark delayed or didn't take Jor-el's threat seriously of retrieving those stones still upsets me largely.

[KSiteTV]

It gets much better with age, to me. There are several things I downright enjoyed a lot, but look at the record: Crusade started it off; great episode. Then there was Run, one of the show's best. But most importantly - Commencement, which to me is still one of the best if not the best season finale Smallville ever had. A lot of the success of Season 5, I think, is due to how good the season finale before it had been.

[GC18]

Literally just finished watching all of Season 4 again. When I first watched it, I thought it was a great season to begin with but fell apart soon after "Spell" excluding the last two episodes which are brilliant. But, after a second watch, I'd say this is probably one of my favourite seasons, lots of memorable episodes.

[Aficionado]

I love Season 4, it's still one of my favorite seasons and there are some standout episodes which I won't name because you probably all know them. As preposterous as the whole witch/stones angle was, it at least provided a focus and some kind of thread which is why I don't understand why many of the episodes are still labeled fillers.

[KSiteTV]

Oh, and also... although I hated "Spell" when it was first on, after seeing it with commentary on the DVD, it is ALL worth it. So funny.

[BadToad]

Totally gets better with age, though I admit to liking it the first go around. I think one of the reasons its so appealing now is that its the last season of SV that felt sunny and bright and cheery. It was also the last season where we had the Kent family for the whole season. I think there was something about the SV high school years that gave the show more cohesiveness, since most of the younger actors were all in the same setting.

[Supsfan]

Literally just finished watching all of Season 4 again. When I first watched it, I thought it was a great season to begin with but fell apart soon after "Spell" excluding the last two episodes which are brilliant. But, after a second watch, I'd say this is probably one of my favourite seasons, lots of memorable episodes.

Forever, brilliant? I love season 4 but even I wouldn't go that far :P


I think one of the reasons its so appealing now is that its the last season of SV that felt sunny and bright and cheery.

I would actually argue in terms of Clark, it was the most "sunny and bright and cheery" season. I think alot had to do was they completely seperated him from Lana for the most part so we hardly get any Clana drama(which progressively got more angsty as each season went on starting in S2), there was no Jor-El as well to be seen throughout the season which helped.

The only episode from Crusade -> Forever that we really see depressed Clark is Pariah due to Alicia's death, but considering somebody died it fairly easy to overlook that.

[Night_Hawk90]

Forever, brilliant? I love season 4 but even I wouldn't go that far :P



I would actually argue in terms of Clark, it was the most "sunny and bright and cheery" season. I think alot had to do was they completely seperated him from Lana for the most part so we hardly get any Clana drama(which progressively got more angsty as each season went on starting in S2), there was no Jor-El as well to be seen throughout the season which helped.

see i disagree season 1 had the most cheery clark season 4 he was depressed because of Jason it was nauseating too watch sometimes how depressed he could get though s6 takes the cake for most depressing.

[Supsfan]

see i disagree season 1 had the most cheery clark season 4 he was depressed because of Jason it was nauseating too watch sometimes how depressed he could get though s6 takes the cake for most depressing.

For the most part I remember Clark letting Lana have her space with Jason during the Season. I would say we got more angst with Whitney in Season 1 then Jason in Season 4(not that it was terrible in either case). Hell I would say we seen Clark more depressed/worried with Adam Knight in Season 3.

Just doing a quick overview of the storylines for Clark during the season

Clark and Lois looking for Chloe in Gone
Clark wanting to play football and finding all the faults it might have in Facade, Devoted, Jinx and Recruit
Meeting Impulse in Run
Switched bodies with Lionel in Transference
Fighting Witch Lana in Spell
Clark trying to protect Lex in Bound and Onyx
Scare? Clark has meteor infected Dreams that I guess could be considered depressing
Alicia in Unsafe and Pariah(you may point to depressing Clark creeping into these episodes)
Dealing with Lois coming back in Krypto and Lucy(both 100% angst free)
Clark flies to China to help Lana in Sacred? They seem to be on good terms as friends here
Spirit? another episode with no Clana angst when they put together
Blank? Clark loses his memories
Ageless? Well I guess you can argue Clark is depressed because Exploding babies explodes, still in terms of Clana it was the happiest I ever seen them together
Forever? Jason who?

So of the 20 episodes between Crusade and Commencement, I can only find 4 episodes(Scare, Unsafe, Pariah and Ageless) that if I look hard enough I can see small glimpses of a depressed/upset Clark Kent or even worse a Clark Kent who seems to hate his life and feels like it's his fault for everything. I think you could find maybe 4-5 episodes where Jason and Lana was a topic of discussion for Clark and Lana and even that only was about 2 minutes of a 42 minute episode.

Beyond that look at all the episodes that left off on a happy ending for Clark in his last scene:

Crusade, Facade, Devoted, Run, Unsafe, Krypto, Lucy, Spirit, Forever

Note: all these were the last scenes of the episode as well.

Of the other 12(I won't count Commencement since it was a cliffhanger), Most of them were just Clark contimplating his life(Ageless, Recruit(I should put this in the happy ending category because we get 3 Clark scenes were he is happy with his parents, Lois and Chloe right before a 30 second piece of him walking out on a football field looking around)), dealing with his relationship with Chloe(Scare, Blank) or Lex(Bound, Transference and Onyx), setup for future episodes(Sacred). Of the remaining four(Gone, Jinx, Spell and Pariah) you might find slight touches of angst(in the form of secrets and lies) or depression(ironically Lana is in 2 of the 4, Jinx has Lex and Clark talking about spilling the beans on Lana's relationship, Alicia dies in Pariah) but not to the degree of other seasons.

[vyperman7]

One thing I did this time around was check out the commentary tracks. I loved John Glover on the commentary for Transference. It was hilarious hearing him comment on Lionel being an old pervert hitting on every girl in sight.


Oh, and also... although I hated "Spell" when it was first on, after seeing it with commentary on the DVD, it is ALL worth it. So funny.

ITA.. The commentary for Spell was good and puts a whole new light on the episode. Erica was especially funny during it and listening to them all bust up over Tom Welling's dancing was hilarious. Apparently, TW is supposed to be a good dancer in real life, which is what made it that much funnier to the cast members. I still think the episode is silly as all hell. However, it is entertaining especially when you add the commentary into the mix.

Speaking of Forever, I enjoyed it a lot this time around on DVD. I thought the scenes with Lionel/Lex/Genevive/Jason were outstanding and the main storyline with the mannequin FOTW was good as well. It supplied some nice suspense.


i despise season 4 one of my least favourite seasons of smallville this essentially the season i noticed the quality start to drop, and the storylines go all over the place. Clark essentially was dumbed down this season, and im one who did not like the introduction of Lois Lane so early in Clark's life. Don't get me wrong there are some gems in this season but the way Clark delayed or didn't take Jor-el's threat seriously of retrieving those stones still upsets me largely.

You see I used to feel that way. For the longest time, I was one of the biggest "anti-S4" people on the site. However, I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed it now that time has passed. It sounds like you haven't watched the season again lately and that you are still basing your feelings on how you felt back when it aired. That is why I suggest checking out the season now after so many years have passed to see if you feel differently. I almost felt like I was watching a different season this time around,

Does the season still have things that bug me? Yes. However, it was much more enjoyable to me this time around.


I think there was something about the SV high school years that gave the show more cohesiveness, since most of the younger actors were all in the same setting.

I completely agree with this. An added benefit to this was also how much Martha/Johnathan were still involved. One of my favorite aspects of the show was always Clark's relationship with his parents.

[Supsfan]

Speaking of Forever, I enjoyed it a lot this time around on DVD. I thought the scenes with Lionel/Lex/Genevive/Jason were outstanding and the main storyline with the mannequin FOTW was good as well. It supplied some nice suspense.

The guy who played the FOTW was really good acting wise. Not sure it was the world's greatest freak but he was really creepy.


You see I used to feel that way. For the longest time, I was one of the biggest "anti-S4" people on the site. However, I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed it now that time has passed. It sounds like you haven't watched the season again lately and that you are still basing your feelings on how you felt back when it aired. That is why I suggest checking out the season now after so many years have passed to see if you feel differently. I almost felt like I was watching a different season this time around,

Yeah I remember when I watched it first, I thought it couldn't get any stupidier then Lana being a witch and looking for the stones. Boy was I wrong. I know look at Season 4 and the fact Lana was a witch was her main storyarc as a great thing, mainly because it cut out on Clark and Lana time.

[Bre723]

I love season four!
It remains one of my favorites.
So many great things came out of it too, and I watch it the most too.
It has some of the best episodes of the series, Commencement, Onyx, Transference, Blank, etc.

[Lilah]

S4 is one of my favorite seasons to watch on dvd. I just find so much of it so comical. My senior year was NOTHING like that... lol.

[KSiteTV]

I can't believe I missed Transference on my list of highlights! Also one of the series' best episodes, and I still think that was Tom's best. He really knocked it out of the park.

Wasn't Blank in Season 4 too? And Chloe discovering Clark's secret in Pariah... another great scene. Though Clark totally forgetting Alicia after that kind of ruined that for me.

[Odysseus]

It definitely does improve with age. I now view it as a very strong season. Watching it now, I like the tone and the idea of Clark and his friends trying to get through their senior year even as they are tossed into the middle of the struggle for the Stones, and into the crosshairs of Lionel and the Teagues.

Lois Lane's introduction was awesome, and I love the fact that this season added her to the show.

Transference was probably one of the best episodes, in terms of acting at least. TW and JG did an amazing job imitating each others' little mannerisms and voice cadences in order to act as each others' characters. That was brilliant.

I am probably in the minority in this, but I actually always loved Spell and Spirit since the first time they aired. They were both just fun episodes that you could sit back and enjoy the action (and Isobel was definitely more entertaining than Lana). They both had great comedy too. Spirit in particular was hilarious.

The Alicia arc mid-season was fun, and I thought the Alicia story was a very strong and well-written arc.

The football arc was fun too. Seeing Clark first rebel and join the football team....only to gradually realize that Jonathan was right all along about the potential for abusing his powers (using the villain in Recruit to show Clark just how much he could get corrupted) was a good story.

I also enjoyed Facade and Devoted (again, I'm probably in the minority on this :lol: ) because of the interactions we got between the main characters.

Lex starting to let the darkness in him become more dominant was one of the more important arcs of the series that got play in S4. In Blank, when Lex tried to take advantage of Clark's amnesia to trick him into revealing his secret was a strong hint that Lex had gotten to the point where he was willing to do anything to get what he wanted.......which was finally confirmed at the beginning of Season 5 in Mortal, when he sent meteor freaks to hold the Kents and Lana hostage in an attempt to prove Clark had abilities.


And Commencement is hands down one of the best finales. Period.

Overall, this is one of the most underrated seasons, and was definitely strong. It really did have a lot of heart, IMO.

[A Flawed Fashion]

I think it definitely gets better with age. For me at least, it is better because I know more about where the characters will end up and how everything plays out. The first time it aired, I could hardly stand to watch this show, but going back and watching it, it doesn't seem nearly as bad.

I really think that the difference is that now I know what works and what doesn't and everything has pretty much moved on from what happens in that season, so I don't have to wonder about how ideas that seemed terrible at the time will effect Clark actually getting to his Superman destiny. There is no more need to care about the things in that season you didn't like because they are pretty irrelevant and I for one can just enjoy the things I did like.

I'm here and watching the show despite any problems in season 4 (which now seems so long ago). For example, Clana drove me crazy, but now I know that the writers won't force the show to end with it and I'm happy and can finally look at these episodes as Clark's high school life and know where Smallville's version of Clark Kent ends up despite the way he acted in earlier seasons.

Season 4 isn't even the worst of what I didn't like about Smallville, but I didn't know that when it aired. There are even a lot of things about season 4 that I wish were around now like the Kents and things that are fun like seeing young Clark, Chloe, and Lois together. :)

Now, there is season 9 on the horizon which is looking like it will show progress and I can look back at season 4 with the thought that Clark was young and stupid, but he does actually learn to be a hero in the end. I didn't think Smallville would last this long, so I didn't think the show would ever show any evolution in Clark's character. Watching a journey is interesting to me, but watching someone who I know should become a great hero without ever seeing him get to the point is not.

I suppose it is sad to admit that I hated Clana that much from the first commercial I saw for the show and that is the number one reason I didn't really start watching the show until season 8. When I thought this show was all about Clana it seemed wrong. Superman wasn't obsessed with Lana. In my mind when season 4 aired, Smallville could have been all together awesome in every way, but if the Clark/Lana angst was still going on as strong as it always had, there was no way I was going to waste my time on the show.

For me, Smallville seems like a show best watched once its over. I know it isn't over yet, but its nearing the end and I think that watching it from season 1 to season 9,10, or whatever the last season turns out to be would be the best way to watch it. You would get the whole story all at once and not get hung up on the things that make the show seem like it will never get to where it needs to go.

[vyperman7]

I thought the Alicia story was a very strong and well-written arc.

I have to say that I couldn't disagree more. The Alicia arc showcased some of the weakest writing of the series IMO. Clark welcomes Alicia back with open arms and hops into a relationship with her despite the fact that she tried to kill both him and Lana. That is why I always hated the Clark/Alicia relationship. It made absolutely no sense to me at all that Clark would fall in love with a girl who tried to kill him and the girl that he had loved since he was young. Then out of nowhere Alicia just happens to know about Red Kryptonite. When Clark asks her how she knows, her reply is "I know everything about you." Perhaps the worst thing of all, is that Clark goes from being inconsolable at the end of Pariah, to acting like he doesn't have a care in the world in the very next episode "Recruit" as he runs off to Met U to check out the football team. Alicia's name isn't even mentioned. Why go through all the trouble of bringing her back, getting Clark to fall for her, and show all of the emotional fallout/damage from her death, only to act like she never existed one episode later?

Overall, I thought the whole arc was handled quite poorly, and that Alicia should have never come back in the first place. Or if she absolutely had to come back, have it be for one episode with her escaping from Bell Reeve, and trying to gain revenge on Clark for getting her locked up. At least that would have made a lot more sense than Clark falling in love with her.

[skully]

I personally love Season 4 and have said from day 1 that the witches and stones arc got a bad rap.

It's fair to say it is probably one of the most enigmatic seasons, though. It has some truly classic episodes such as Run, Transference, Spell (yeah, really), Onyx, Spirit, Blank and Commencement plus some relative-turkeys (IMHO) such as Devoted, Recruit, Krypto, Lucy, Ageless and Forever.

But most definitely gets better with age. :)

[Lex Dance]

A bit like skully, I've never had a bad word to say about S4 - in fact it wasn't until I joined Kryptonsite at around about mid S5 that I started picking up on the negativity that surrounded it. I have noticed that over the last few years there has been an increase in the number of posters with good things to say about the season. And like vyperman7, I'm about to watch my DVD in the not too distant future, having not seen it in its entirety since it aired. I'm very much looking forward to it! However, despite those stone-cold classics such as Run, Transference, Onyx and Commencement, I think the season will forever suffer from coming straight after S3 (which in my eyes is the greatest season of Smallville). Of course that's a personal opinion, but I also felt that S4 marked the decline and I began to get the feeling that the show couldn't maintain the storylines of seasons 2 and 3. In terms of getting better with age, I'm sure S4 has - I think this has unfortunately been brought about by the marked decline in recent seasons.......a case of "don't know what you've got til it's gone", if you will.

[Lilah]

I liked how Alicia came back... I liked their relationship, it was sweet. Especially when she took the bullet for him. But it was kinda bad how it only took 1 episode to forgive everything she'd done a year prior.

Tranference and Onyx were 2 of the best episodes of the entire series in terms of acting. Transference for Tom and Onyx for Michael. Transference is still my favorite episode of the entire series to this day. I think Tom really hit gold with that one.

[Supsfan]

I liked how Alicia came back... I liked their relationship, it was sweet. Especially when she took the bullet for him. But it was kinda bad how it only took 1 episode to forgive everything she'd done a year prior.

My biggiest beef with the Alicia episodes, is in Unsafe she tells Clark she would always protect his secret(and even took a bullet for him) then the next episode they have her go out and tell Chloe Clark's secret. I understand she is a little on the nutty side but did they have to ruin the 1 endearing quality about her character

[BadToad]

I liked the eps with Alicia personally, but there's no doubt in my mind that it should've been a longer arc, and developed more slowly. Clark did take her back too quick, but thats because they had to rush the whole arc into 2 eps. If they had given her 5-7 eps, we could've seen her convince Clark she was better, win back his trust, find out about the Red K, slowly start to unravel again once she felt she couldn't hang onto Clark.

I'll never understand why a full season love interest was cast specifically for Lana, yet Clark couldn't have a sustained love interest for a few eps unless her name was Lana. :(

But I still enjoy Unsafe a lot, and Pariah a bit less so. Probably because the chemistry between Sarah Carter and Tom Welling is so good it makes an implausible situation a lot easier to accept.

[Jaderoyale]

You know, i actually wrote down my top ten SV episodes the other day and was pretty shocked that 4 of them were from S4. Considering S3 is my favourite season, i was pretty shocked by that.

Like many i'm on the fence with Alicia. I liked the way she was brought back and how she took the bullet for Clark. But like Supsfan, i was annoyed with how the next episode, she told Chloe :\

[Supsfan]

But I still enjoy Unsafe a lot, and Pariah a bit less so. Probably because the chemistry between Sarah Carter and Tom Welling is so good it makes an implausible situation a lot easier to accept.

One of the best scenes in Unsafe was when Clark and Alicia were ice skating. We hardly get any scenes of Clark having fun, doing normal things on the show.

[Supermania]

I've always liked Season Four with it being Lois' debut season and all. And it really seemed to me that Clark was letting Lana have her own space with Jason as Supsfan said. In fact, there were times when Clark seemed to have gotten over her especially in the Alicia episodes. Speaking of Alicia, it was good to see Clark in love with somebody else than Lana for a change! But has it improved with age? Nah, I have the same opinion of Season Four that I had when I first watched it. All good, except the witches and the stones plot.

[Odysseus]

I have to say that I couldn't disagree more. The Alicia arc showcased some of the weakest writing of the series IMO. Clark welcomes Alicia back with open arms and hops into a relationship with her despite the fact that she tried to kill both him and Lana. That is why I always hated the Clark/Alicia relationship. It made absolutely no sense to me at all that Clark would fall in love with a girl who tried to kill him and the girl that he had loved since he was young. Then out of nowhere Alicia just happens to know about Red Kryptonite. When Clark asks her how she knows, her reply is "I know everything about you." Perhaps the worst thing of all, is that Clark goes from being inconsolable at the end of Pariah, to acting like he doesn't have a care in the world in the very next episode "Recruit" as he runs off to Met U to check out the football team. Alicia's name isn't even mentioned. Why go through all the trouble of bringing her back, getting Clark to fall for her, and show all of the emotional fallout/damage from her death, only to act like she never existed one episode later?

Overall, I thought the whole arc was handled quite poorly, and that Alicia should have never come back in the first place. Or if she absolutely had to come back, have it be for one episode with her escaping from Bell Reeve, and trying to gain revenge on Clark for getting her locked up. At least that would have made a lot more sense than Clark falling in love with her.

I disagree. Maybe the arc should have been written across more episodes instead of squeezed into the 2 episodes it was in, but I thought it was definitely well written.

The tragedy of Alicia desperately trying convince everyone, including herself, that she was cured, only to have an apparent relapse back into craziness when she essentially drugged Clark with kryptonite, and then realizing her guilt. And then, the next episode, everyone including Clark came to believe that she was guilty of trying to kill Lana and Jason, leaving Alicia totally isolated....right up to the moment when she is finally murderered by the real culprit, and Clark tragically only discovers the truth when it's already too late.

I thought that was an excellent story. I was just rewatching the whole arc again the other night (including the S3 episode Obsession that started the arc). I have to say I think it WAS good writing. :)

[SandyV]

Season 4 was the first season I saw in real time and in English. It has always been one of my favorite seasons. Like others have mentioned, I like the happieness and lightness that flows through the season.

Right before I moved to France in May of 2001, the teasers for Smallville came to my attention. :\ Amost two years later, M6, a French tv station, started to air SV. My schecule was so crazy I think I saw maybe half of Seasons 1 and 2. I know I missed the Pilot.

When I moved back to California, I moved into a house that had a DVR. I still was working crazy hours, so I began to set up timers. I started taping the new episodes, and ABC Family was showing Seasons 1-3. I remember watching the end of Season 4 as it was aired. I was up to date by Blank at least, one of my top favorite SV episode. :D

[Shadowlord367]

*Runs off to watch season four*

[Señorita Gómez]

I love season 4. That's the season when Lois shows up :)

[vyperman7]

Wow.. I never expected for this thread to get so many responses. It is fun reading people's thoughts on the season and to see how people's opinions have changed over the years in regards to S4.


I disagree. Maybe the arc should have been written across more episodes instead of squeezed into the 2 episodes it was in, but I thought it was definitely well written. I have to say I think it WAS good writing. :)

You can honestly say that this is good writing... :

Clark : "How do you know about Red Kryptonite?"

Alicia : "I just know everything about you Clark."


I liked the eps with Alicia personally, but there's no doubt in my mind that it should've been a longer arc, and developed more slowly. Clark did take her back too quick, but thats because they had to rush the whole arc into 2 eps. If they had given her 5-7 eps, we could've seen her convince Clark she was better, win back his trust, find out about the Red K, slowly start to unravel again once she felt she couldn't hang onto Clark.

If the arc had been more laid out like this, then maybe I could have accepted it more. However, I still say that it makes no sense for Clark to fall in love with the girl that tried to kill him and the love of his life. Personally, I would have much rather seen a one episode arc with Alicia escaping from Bell Reeve and trying to gain revenge on Clark by exposing his secret and hurting the people in his life. That would have made much more sense based on what happened in Obsession.

[rockyshadow]

Alicia's story arc always bugged me. Clark falling for her that way was definitely out of left field to me. The carry over from "Obsession" wasn't what I expected at all.

As a whole I did enjoy season 4 for the lighthearted parts and appreciated that it was as melodramatic as season 3. I liked the way they introduced Lois and Jason's fast descent into insanity didn't bother me. The Isobel part could have been done better, but I usually don't focus on that when I re-watch this season.

[Shadowlord367]

Wow.. I never expected for this thread to get so many responses. It is fun reading people's thoughts on the season and to see how people's opinions have changed over the years in regards to S4.



You can honestly say that this is good writing... :

Clark : "How do you know about Red Kryptonite?"

Alicia : "I just know everything about you Clark."



If the arc had been more laid out like this, then maybe I could have accepted it more. However, I still say that it makes no sense for Clark to fall in love with the girl that tried to kill him and the love of his life. Personally, I would have much rather seen a one episode arc with Alicia escaping from Bell Reeve and trying to gain revenge on Clark by exposing his secret and hurting the people in his life. That would have made much more sense based on what happened in Obsession.

The point of having Alicia back was to have Clark/Alicia parallel Lana/Jason.

[BadToad]

However, I still say that it makes no sense for Clark to fall in love with the girl that tried to kill him and the love of his life.

I think that really depends on how much you felt the chemistry between Clark and Alicia, and how much you bought the depth to which he was drawn to her. Since I totally bought that Clark was drawn to her, even when he probably had his doubts, it actually heightened the storyline for me. Clark and Alicia was wrong, and dysfunctional, but there was something about her that drew Clark in. And I think that made for very compelling television, and I only wish there had been a lot more of it.


The point of having Alicia back was to have Clark/Alicia parallel Lana/Jason.

Maybe, but then it would've been nice for Clark and Alicia to get comparable screentime and episodes. It would seem to me that Clark, as the main character of the show, should have the major relationship development before other characters. Unfortunately, TPTB often considered Clark secondarily, or even less.

[Seeya'round Smallville]

I always thought that the pull behind Clark and Alicia was that he found somebody who was like he was in terms of being different. There weren't any worries for him about being accepted for who he was. In his earlier days he just wanted to be normal, and she made him feel that way. It ultimately didn't work out because Alicia wanted him to let the world know about him since they already knew about her, and she didn't understand why he couldn't do that. Then she overstepped her bounds to force him to reveal himself, and he didn't know what to believe about her because of her past history and being set-up by Sand Guy, and then she tragically died.

I don't love them to pieces but I thought that at the time it was a good relationship exploration for Clark to have something different that had a purpose. He didn't get that much.

[vyperman7]

I think that really depends on how much you felt the chemistry between Clark and Alicia, and how much you bought the depth to which he was drawn to her.

There was chemistry between them. Still though, for Clark to jump into a relationship with the girl that tried to kill him and Lana just seems like too much of a stretch, even with the chemistry they had.

To each their own though..

[bennyjr123]

i always think its funny that people hate the lana witch, stone arc. Maybe its because i started watching smallville when season 4 was airing, but i loved it. i thought it was exciting, and a really clever way of leading the fortress of solitude. I agree that with Smallville, you have to go back and re-watch episodes, because then you kind of say "oh, now i know why they did that. this goes with this and that goes with that." and everything makes more sense. Personally, Season 4 is my favorite season, especially with my favorite episode, commencement.

[Lilah]

My biggiest beef with the Alicia episodes, is in Unsafe she tells Clark she would always protect his secret(and even took a bullet for him) then the next episode they have her go out and tell Chloe Clark's secret. I understand she is a little on the nutty side but did they have to ruin the 1 endearing quality about her character

You know. I totally agree with you. I hated that she told Chloe. I was so annoyed with that. But they needed Clark to have a new bff that knew his secret apparently...

[Supsfan]

i always think its funny that people hate the lana witch, stone arc. Maybe its because i started watching smallville when season 4 was airing, but i loved it. i thought it was exciting, and a really clever way of leading the fortress of solitude. I agree that with Smallville, you have to go back and re-watch episodes, because then you kind of say "oh, now i know why they did that. this goes with this and that goes with that." and everything makes more sense. Personally, Season 4 is my favorite season, especially with my favorite episode, commencement.

I liked Clana Season 1 alot, Season 2 is when "secrets & lies" crept in and it wasn't as entertaining but still enjoyable, by Season 3 it was starting to get really repetitive. By the end of Season 3 I was starting to get slightly tired of Lana on the show but I didn't really dislike her character still at that point. Come Season 4 it just felt like they took her character and put her into a storyline that really didn't need her, because she was Lana and since she was the second person in the credits she needed to do something to do.

It's one of those things that you look back and see it can be much worse what they can do with her character(Lexana comes to mind, or the recent S8 arc) but at that time it was just the thing to put me over the edge to disliking the character because I wanted to watch a Clark Kent show, not the Adventures and Loves of Lana Lang.

[Lilah]

I loved the stones arc. I just hate that they dived into it in the premiere, forgot about it for a vast majority of the season and then had to rush it all at the end...

I think that should have been explored throughout the season and that Clark should have at least attempted to be looking even if he didn't find them until the end....

I didn't like that they weaved Lana into that arc either. Even though I don't hate Spell or Sacred... lol. They're actually two episodes that Kristin acted incredibly in and knocked out of the park... but I wish they wouldn't have made her involvement so important...

She was more concerened with the stones than Clark was even though she didn't have a clue what they meant. lol...

... That was kind of... well... stupid.

[Night_Hawk90]

This is the season i generally regard as the season where smallville jumped the shark. I didn't quite understand the need to switch Jason from a good guy to a bad guy wtf was that? I didn't see why lois had to be introduced so early the only reason i can come up with is they were running out of ideas and thought this might raise the ratings (didn't happen). Than the way they resolved the chloe thing from covenant was a crock totally made no sense imo.

The witch arc was rather putrid too watch, and than the my biggest complain about this season was clark's reluctancy instead of looking for the stones which Jor-el warned him about he sat on his butt, and moaned about lana. As usual they waited until the last episode to show clark doing something only because of his refusal to do anything before hand. This season marked the downturn of smallville as this was Clark truly at his worst.

[Shadowlord367]

I feel as if Jason could have been a two-season arc, had it not been rushed to a conclusion in "Commencement"

[Lilah]

^You mean had Jensen not had the opportunity to go to Supernatural lol...

The only way the Jason arc could have been a 2 season arc would have been to hire another actor...

[Supsfan]

The witch arc was rather putrid too watch, and than the my biggest complain about this season was clark's reluctancy instead of looking for the stones which Jor-el warned him about he sat on his butt, and moaned about lana.

Which episodes do we see Clark moaning about Lana? For the most part it seems like Clark and Lana had seperate stories that hardly intermingled with eachother and a few times we saw them cross paths throughout the season. I would say we got more Clark/Lana angst in the 5 epsiode arc of season 8 then we did all of Season 4 combined.

In terms fo the Clark and Lana relationship, I would say Season 4 was the most angst free season ever of it. In Season 1 we had the Clark-Lana-Whitney stuff, in Season 2 we had secrets and lies, in Season 3 it was secrets and lies part 2, Season 5 she runs to Lex, Season 6 was Lexana, Season 7 was Clark and Lana playing house while she sleeps with Bizzaro, season 8 is they tragically split apart.

As for the stones storyline, while I agree what your saying, I have issues with all season long storyarcs starting in Season 2 making Clark look bad, mopey or full of angst and depression. If you view each episode as a seperate identity(which I find is the easiest way to watch this show) I think Clark comes accross well adjusted in each episode for the most part. They definantly could have done the stones storyarc much better but if I am watching any episode that season just for the episode with no outside circumstances, Clark generally seems more cheery and generally happy with his life in that 1 episode

[Lilah]

Which episodes do we see Clark moaning about Lana? For the most part it seems like Clark and Lana had seperate stories that hardly intermingled with eachother and a few times we saw them cross paths throughout the season. I would say we got more Clark/Lana angst in the 5 epsiode arc of season 8 then we did all of Season 4 combined.

In terms fo the Clark and Lana relationship, I would say Season 4 was the most angst free season ever of it. In Season 1 we had the Clark-Lana-Whitney stuff, in Season 2 we had secrets and lies, in Season 3 it was secrets and lies part 2, Season 5 she runs to Lex, Season 6 was Lexana, Season 7 was Clark and Lana playing house while she sleeps with Bizzaro, season 8 is they tragically split apart.

As for the stones storyline, while I agree what your saying, I have issues with all season long storyarcs starting in Season 2 making Clark look bad, mopey or full of angst and depression. If you view each episode as a seperate identity(which I find is the easiest way to watch this show) I think Clark comes accross well adjusted in each episode for the most part. They definantly could have done the stones storyarc much better but if I am watching any episode that season just for the episode with no outside circumstances, Clark generally seems more cheery and generally happy with his life in that 1 episode

Minus the impending doom at graduation, I think he had a pretty good senior year. I mean there were a few meteor freaks here and there, but nothing he couldn't handle lol...

I call season 4: Clark gets on the happy pill. I love s4. Even the Lana and Jason storyline... except when they made him a villain to obviously get rid of him lol... but hey... we can't have it all..;)

[Night_Hawk90]

Which episodes do we see Clark moaning about Lana? For the most part it seems like Clark and Lana had seperate stories that hardly intermingled with eachother and a few times we saw them cross paths throughout the season. I would say we got more Clark/Lana angst in the 5 epsiode arc of season 8 then we did all of Season 4 combined.

In terms fo the Clark and Lana relationship, I would say Season 4 was the most angst free season ever of it. In Season 1 we had the Clark-Lana-Whitney stuff, in Season 2 we had secrets and lies, in Season 3 it was secrets and lies part 2, Season 5 she runs to Lex, Season 6 was Lexana, Season 7 was Clark and Lana playing house while she sleeps with Bizzaro, season 8 is they tragically split apart.

As for the stones storyline, while I agree what your saying, I have issues with all season long storyarcs starting in Season 2 making Clark look bad, mopey or full of angst and depression. If you view each episode as a seperate identity(which I find is the easiest way to watch this show) I think Clark comes accross well adjusted in each episode for the most part. They definantly could have done the stones storyarc much better but if I am watching any episode that season just for the episode with no outside circumstances, Clark generally seems more cheery and generally happy with his life in that 1 episode

you and i have had this argument before on the clark/lana thing being depressed it's obvious we don't agree that is fine. I dunno maybe i think too much when i watch this show, and all plot holes, and the major suspension of belief just irk me the wrong way. I Just really did not like this season i can only watch 3 or 4 episodes of season 4 that's it, thats how much i hate this season. I really felt this season accomplished nothing in results to clark's development it was the same old routine, maybe im just too harsh i dunno. Plus this season is where the sex stuff became more apparent, and i also hate how they introduced lois she was basically useless in season 4 imo i know many will disagree with that but that's just the way i see it.

[Supsfan]

you and i have had this argument before on the clark/lana thing being depressed it's obvious we don't agree that is fine. I dunno maybe i think too much when i watch this show, and all plot holes, and the major suspension of belief just irk me the wrong way. I Just really did not like this season i can only watch 3 or 4 episodes of season 4 that's it, thats how much i hate this season. I really felt this season accomplished nothing in results to clark's development it was the same old routine, maybe im just too harsh i dunno. Plus this season is where the sex stuff became more apparent, and i also hate how they introduced lois she was basically useless in season 4 imo i know many will disagree with that but that's just the way i see it.

As I stated, when I view this show in general I try view each episode as a seperate identity(even other seasons). So episodes where Clark comes accross generally happy and well adjusted will always get higher marks in my book(even ones people coin as "filler") then episode that are key to storylines that are full of angst and depression(Exile and Promise are 2 that quickly come to mind that I am not high on that are generally loved by the fanbase).

In Terms of Clark and Lana angst in Season 4, from memory

Gone - Clark finds out about Lana dating a guy in paris and sucks over it for a grand total of 2 minutes(it should be noted this scene was written up like comedy which sort of makes the angst hard to take seriously), they have an ending scene that could be considered slightly angsty(and that is stretching it). It's easy to forgive this one because after 3 years of Clark being obsessed with Lana, they do need one transitional episode for him to get back on his feet.

(I believe) Jinx - Clark finds out about Lana and Jason(which makes him slightly moody), Lex tells the school about Jason, Lana blames Clark

Spell - they settle the issue of the previous episode, at the end Lana asks Clark about her tatoo(secrets and lies creeps in)

Scare - Clark in dream state has bad dream of Lana finding out his secret. Considering this episode explored everybody's fears, forgivable.

Pariah - Slight confrintation of Clark and Alicia with Lana getting made he would still date her

Blank - final scene with Clark and Lana, where once again secrets and lies slightly creeps in

[Lilah]

As I stated, when I view this show in general I try view each episode as a seperate identity(even other seasons). So episodes where Clark comes accross generally happy and well adjusted will always get higher marks in my book(even ones people coin as "filler") then episode that are key to storylines that are full of angst and depression(Exile and Promise are 2 that quickly come to mind that I am not high on that are generally loved by the fanbase).

In Terms of Clark and Lana angst in Season 4, from memory

Gone - Clark finds out about Lana dating a guy in paris and sucks over it for a grand total of 2 minutes, they have an ending scene that could be considered slightly angsty(and that is stretching it). It's easy to forgive this one because after 3 years of Clark being obsessed with Lana, they do need one transitional episode for him to get back on his feet.

(I believe) Jinx - Clark finds out about Lana and Jason(which makes him slightly moody), Lex tells the school about Jason, Lana blames Clark

Spell - they settle the issue of the previous episode, at the end Lana asks Clark about her tatoo(secrets and lies creeps in)

Scare - Clark in dream state has bad dream of Lana finding out his secret. Considering this episode explored everybody's fears, forgivable.

Pariah - Slight confrintation of Clark and Alicia with Lana getting made he would still date her

Blank - final scene with Clark and Lana, where once again secrets and lies slightly creeps in

And Commencement... that last Clana scene where she walks away while he looks at her... very angsty...

[Night_Hawk90]

And Commencement... that last Clana scene where she walks away while he looks at her... very angsty...

how is that angsty? he loves her so what if he's looking at her lovingly? this i disagree with.

[Lilah]

how is that angsty? he loves her so what if he's looking at her lovingly? this i disagree with.

Lovingly?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7eU5GsN5Mw

Dude, seriously.... this is pure angst to the max! lol...

[Selina]

Season 4 is one of my favourates. The best? No, that's Season 3 but I do consider it overall a good season.

Granted, it wasn't all great. I disliked the Witch plot and while I enjoyed the stones storyline, I don't think Clark's role was utilized as much as it should have been.

I loved Chloe being in the know about Clark's secret however and Lois Lane's introduction was genius. The banter between herself and Clark was TV Gold.

Speaking of Clark this is one of the few seasons that was angst-free in terms of Clark and Lana. Clark was far more cheerful and happy. He wasn't depressed and he didn't mope, at least not for the most part. Lana did her thing and Clark did his. Watching that season, I really did think it was the turning point for Clana, where they were going thier seperate way but then Al/Miles went straight into the angst in season 5 onwards.

I'll always remember season 4 as the light-hearted season, where it wasn't so dam depressing. Sure it had it's moments. All the seasons do but on the whole, it had a very positive vibe about it and that's what I liked. Clark in particular came of much happier and if you compare his attitude to previous seasons, you can definatly see the difference.

[Jaderoyale]

I feel as if Jason could have been a two-season arc, had it not been rushed to a conclusion in "Commencement"

I think Jason was rushed because Jensen signed onto Supernatural.

[Night_Hawk90]

Lovingly?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7eU5GsN5Mw

Dude, seriously.... this is pure angst to the max! lol...

i actually liked that scene as i didn't mind clana, i don't consider that angsty to the max but w.e. i dont understand how looking at someone when they're leaving is angsty but to each their own i guess.

[Lilah]

i actually liked that scene as i didn't mind clana, i don't consider that angsty to the max but w.e. i dont understand how looking at someone when they're leaving is angsty but to each their own i guess.

Because it was a weird goodbye.... she thought she was going to jail. She told him she loves him. By the way, she hadn't broken up with Jason yet... not officially anyway. It was angsty. Most of Clana was always angsty. It was just a lot of sadness, depression, secrets and lies... even in s7 while they played house it wasn't as happy as it should have been.

I don't know if that was the point... you know to show the dynamics of them being together that they weren't meant to be... I'm only glad I don't have to worry about Clana angst ever again. I just wish Kristin didn't have to leave the show for that to happen. I liked Kristin, even if I didn't like Lana.