It's hard to believe that this show has gone on for 9 years, but the writing and the acting just keep getting better. Just like the last season, Clark Kent is one step closer to his destiny as Superman. The big overarching plot this season was the threat of the Kandorians, led by Major Zod. Smallville fans will recognize the name, if not the rank, of the big bad guy. That's because he's a clone of the evil traitor who tried to overthrow Krypton around the time Kal-El (Clark) was born. So he's going to be the worst villian in Kryptonian history, maybe. It's the reoccuring Smallville theme of destiny and fate. If you are destined to do something, do you do it or make your own destiny? Clark has been told since season 1 that he is destined to be this great hero and champion and symbol of hope. Most of the main plots of every season are about Clark finding out about his destiny and what he does to either embrace it or fight against it. So it is with the bad guys. Lex Luthor is destined to be Superman's arch-enemy. So even though we saw 5-6 seasons of Lex trying to overcome his dark nature and maintain some kind of friendship with Clark, we knew he was eventually going to be bad. Same with Davis Bloome, aka Doomsday. He was trying to fight his nature of being the ultimate destroyer. But ultimately, he, too, had to succomb to his destiny. In this season, it is Zod. This "Major Zod" has not made all the bad choices that "General Zod" did back on Krypton. But we know what he is to become. Will he make the same choices or will he change his fate?

The main highlights for me were the so-called "filler" episodes that focused more on Lois and Clark's budding relationship than on the threat of the Kandorians. What I like about the writing is the continual shout-outs to fans of Superman, comics, and TV/Movies. Like the "Resident Evil" episode (#3 Rabid), the "What a Woman Wants" episode (#4 Echo), "the Game" episode (#5 Roulette), the "He said/She said" episode (#6 Crossfire), and the "Big" episode (#12 Warrior). For comic book fans, they converted an old Hawkeye story for Green Arrow (#10 Disciple) and brought Metallo, Silver Banshee, and the JSA all into the Smallville story.

Something must be said about the black costume. Clark has embraced his heroic destiny by saving people, just not openly. So he is no longer the "Red-Blue Blur", just "the Blur". The Black costume represents his keeping to the shadows. When he finally reveals himself to the world as "Superman", he will likely change his costume into the red, blue, and gold costume we are familiar with. He's close, but not quite there yet.

As with any long running show, there are elements that some people don't like. Some people dislike the unique elements where Smallville differs from regular Superman lore. They want the show to move faster towards the classic tales that we know and love. Others dislike rehashing the old Superman mythos and want Smallville to remain true to the unique stories they created and not cave to pressure to become "the Adventures of Superman" or "Lois and Clark". I think Season 9 balances those two viewpoints well. Fans of the show will enjoy most, if not all of it. And if you haven't watched Smallville before, go back and watch all previous 8 seasons. It is well-worth the investment of time and money.

I am ECSTATIC that Smallville has been renewed for Season 10! Not only is it good entertainment, but it's a refreshing diversion from all the murder/mystery solving cop shows and vampire shows we have been inundated with (excluding The Mentalist) of course. :)

I have all seasons of Smallville on DVD and really enjoy watching it again and again from Episode 1. There's great chemistry between Clark and Lois..Clark gets to let his guard down and be real, and Lois...well, Erica Durance is the PERFECT choice for Lois...she cracks me up! It's just fun watching them together. Chloe and Oliver have great chemistry, as well..I'm liking it. :)

You know, whether or not Clark wears the tights and red cape and flies is really up to the writers, and I have read somewhere that if and when this happens, it will be at the end of Season 10...can't wait!! Tom Welling, is the PERFECT Clark Kent...he's big and strong, and has the perfect looks...actually, he's one of the most beautiful men to ever walk the earth.

I hate that the bashers, with 1 star ratings, have brought Smallville's ratings down....it's an AMAZING show with absolutely AMAZING actors...ZOD, TESS, OLIVER, LEX, LIONEL, MARTHA, JOHN...I could go on and on.

As I said, I can't WAIT for Season 10. A lot of characters will be returning and lot's of good (and bad) things happening...it should be good, fun entertainment, and well deserving of a 5-Star rating!

Season Review:

After quite probably the most disappointing finale of the series ("Doomsday") Fans and especially myself, wondered where the series would go from here. Season 8 showed a lot of quality and promirise, ultimately ending in mediocrity. Thankfully with "Savior", the writers picked up the series after another slump and fans quickly realized we might be in for an awesome season and was it ever. With Season 8 being a light-hearted, hopeful season, Season 9 explored Clark taking a darker turn as Metropolis' protector. Ditching the red and blue and simply be called "The Blur", we saw a more proactive and driven Clark then we've ever seen before. Not to mention, he made himself a costume and while most will agure about it's Matrix/the Punisher knock-off appeal, the fact that Clark was finally wearing the House of El symbol on his chest showed a significant amount of growth and change in the character. Not to mention, it's just epic!

With Lana Lang days officially behind us (thank God!), Clark's relationship with Lois as well as Lois herself were given much more development this season than previous. While we got some great Clois interaction in Season 8, Season 9 finally saw the iconic duo in a relationship and luckily, the witty banter and amazing chemistry between Tom Welling and Erica Durance never waivered nor weakened because of it. If anything, it made their relationship more mature, complex and a lot more interesting than Clark and Lana's tiresome back and forth romance. It was great having Lois officially claiming her spot as Superman's leading lady as well as having her be the center of the story arc for a good portion of the season. During the first half, Lois returns with horrifying visions from being sent to the future and everyone is curious to see just what exactly the future holds, especially a worried Clark who was told by Alia, a kryptonian assassin from the future, that he would destory the world. It's an intriguing and exciting storyline that ultimately ends in the rather average futuristic epic "Pandora". While the visuals are strong, the conclusion of this part of the season's arc was lacking in execution and only added to some irritating plotholes.

The return of Zod, while had most dreading his re-appearence, soon had everyone picked in interest again after Callum Blue's commanding performance as the future villain in the premiere. Callum really brought a lot of passion and presence to the role that hasn't been seen in a villain since the Lex/Lionel days. Watching this Major Zod develop into the villain we knew from Superman II was fun to watch as well as Zod's nemesis interplay with Tess. Cassidy Freedman returns as villainess heiress to the Luthor dynasty and this time her motives are more blurry than before. Tess spends most of the season playing both sides, which was entertaining in some episodes and just plain annoying in others. Nevertheless, the inconsistency of writing for the character was made up by Cassidy's solid performances. Justin Hartley returns as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, this time more emo than last season's first half. While Hartley does well with the material, the first few episodes watching Oliver's depression quickly grow tired and repetitive. The dark oliver arc concludes in the ridiculously concieved "Roulette" yet only to be brought back in yet "been there, done that" episode, "Disciple". Oliver also in the wake of his new awakening takes up in apprentice in Mia Dearden aka Speedy #2. While Mia is a decent enough character, she is ultimately underused and underwritten in the episodes she appears in ("Crossfire" and "Disciple") Other weak links in the season was the cartoony and embarassing episode "Warrior" which puts a Captain Marvel spin on the Warrior Angel comics of the series and tells a laugable tale with Chloe pratically hitting on a 12 year old boy turned cheesy superhero. Speaking of Chloe, she is the weakest aspect of the season in my opnion. Clark and Chloe developed some animosity between them during the season after the events of Season 8's finale, but it only further to make Chloe look bad because of it. Here actions at the end of last season left her with no consequences and it seems she was on a mission to gain a God complex with Watchtower, the new superhero operation developed by Chloe where heroes can call home as well as use it's technology to save the day, but Chloe only uses it for her personal motives to keep a watchful eye on everyone around her and gains a slef-righteous side where she doesn't trust Clark's decisions anymore. It's far cry from the Chloe we knew and loved from Season 5-7 and I couldn't mostly anything she did this season.

But Season 9, despite all that, gave some of the best batch of Smallville episodes, storytelling, guest stars and developments in years. We're given an excellent villain birth in "Metallo", which tells the gruesome story of how John Corben became the kryptonite powered cyborg. Sarah Conner Chronicles/Beverly Hills 90210's Brian Austin Green is fantastic as Corben and is one of the series' most memorable villains. He returns with an even stronger performance in "Upgrade", if only the episode was a worthy sequel. Unlike the Doomsday arc which started off well and ended in contrivance, The Zod/Kandorians arc build at a steady pace, with some new development bringing a new twist to the storyline. Not to mention in the heroic and daring season 9 ender, "Salvation" all the season's arc conclude in a classic Smallville fashion including an iconic flashfoward, tremendous character development, amazing visuals, suspenseful cliffhangers and this time, a truly epic fight between Clark and Zod. Other memorable episodes are the terrific horror romance "Rabid", the Toyman sequel "Echo", the legendary kiss we've been waiting for in the lovely "Crossfire", Julian Sands gives a tour de force performance as Jor-El in the spectacular "Kandor", the Superman inspired "Idol", The stylized, action packed "Checkmate", the heartbreaking Lois and Clark episode "Charade", the suspensful, plot thickening "Sacrifice", Annette O Toole and Michael McKean return as Martha Kent and Perry White in the heartwarming back to basics(ish) episode "Hostage" and I can't forget to mention the 2 part movie event "Absolute Justice", which features the introduction of the Justice Society of America. It's a comic book epic like never before and utilizes the core cast of the series as well as it's guest stars Michael Shanks (Cart Hall/Hawkman), Britt Irvin (Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl) and Brent Strait (Kent Nelson/Dr. Fate) each breathed life into their respected chaarcters. We were also introduced to the villainous organization, Checkmate, lead by Amanda Waller, played by 70s icon Pan Grier. It was an good storyline left open ended toward the end of the season and hopefully we'll see more of Pam's diva(ish) take of the infamous comic book villainess and her governement empire.

Season 9 is, in my opinion, the strongest season since the early years. We got more plot development from Clark, a better version of Zod, much more Superman inspired moments/dialogue and a stunning conclusion that left many fans anticipating the 10th and final season (which has just begun, "Lazarus" was great!)

Rating-8.5/10

Video and Audio:

All 21 Season 9 episodes are presented in HD widescreen and the episodes looked so good, it felt like I was watching new episodes all over again! The audio was also great.

Rating-8.5/10

Extras:

More effort was put into the special featurettes. We have two documentaries on Zod and Absolute Justice. Both were very in-depth, with great info on the characters comic book history and what they mean to the comics and the legend of Superman. Although, the commentaries were average, with Callum Blue giving decent commentary on 'Kandor" and Erica Druance is pretty hilarious during the "Idol" commentary, but I would have loved a commentary on "Hostage" by Anette O Toole and Michael McKean and especially commentary by Greg Beeman and Tom Welling on "Salvation". But I guess not, sigh. Also the deleted scenes are worst then useless. All of them are worthless except for the ones for "Conspiracy".

Rating-7.5/10

Overall Rating: 8/10