Now beginning its fifth season on The WB, this new interpretation of the enduring Superman mythology and its classic characters blends realism and adventure into an exciting action series. This is the season that changes everything. Clark Kent (Tom Welling) finally begins to accept his destiny and takes giants leaps towards becoming the Man of Steel.
Fourteen years ago, a meteor shower burst from the heavens, raining destruction on the unsuspecting citizens of Smallville, Kansas. The intervening years have left the towns inhabitants with scars and secrets. From the ashes of tragedy, Clark Kent has grown into an awkward teen. While adolescence always brings its challenges, Clark's transition from boyhood to manhood has been particularly difficult. He has struggled to come to grips with his emerging superpowers - and the effects of various forms of kryptonite - while battling the strange things that have plagued this idyllic Midwest hamlet since the meteor shower.
In last season's finale, Clark, Lana (Kristin Kreuk) and Chloe (Allison Mack) graduated from high school but the day was less then celebratory after the military called for a forced evacuation of the town due to an impending meteor shower. Searching for answers, Clark once again turned to Jor-El and was told the only way to stop the impending disaster was to unite the three sacred crystals. After stealing the last one from Lex (Michael Rosenbaum), Clark brought all three together in the cave and immediately disappeared into a vortex that brought him to the arctic tundra. As season five begins, Clark unlocks the Fortress of Solitude and is given a new challenge by Jor-El. Desperate to return to Smallville, Clark makes a promise to his biological father that will soon come back to haunt him.
The guardians of Clark's secret identity have always been his adoptive parents, Jonathan (John Schneider, The Dukes of Hazzard) and Martha Kent (Annette O'Toole). However, this year, Clark learns that Chloe also knows his secret. After finding him in the Fortress of Solitude, Chloe admits to knowing about his powers and the two join up to fight injustice. While one part of Clark is thrilled to have someone to talk to about his powers, another remembers what happened with Pete and fears the same fate for Chloe. Meanwhile, Chloe joins the Daily Planet as an intern, which provides her with new resources to help Clark.
With Clark in college now, Jonathan and Martha are able to finally pursue their own lives. While Martha continues to run the Talon, Jonathan gets a visit from an old friend (Tom Wopat, The Dukes of Hazzard) who convinces him to run for mayor against Lex. An enthusiastic Lois Lane (Erica Durance) jumps on the bandwagon and immediately takes over as Jonathan's campaign manager. On board to save his town from the Luthors, Jonathan also knows this sudden spotlight could be dangerous to Clark, as his past will become public record.
Clark and Lana finally surrender to their long unrequited love and consummate their relationship after declaring their love for each other. Happy in love, but feeling the need for something more, Lana begins to explore her options outside of Smallville. Originally intending to skip college for a year, Lana rethinks her decision once she sees Chloe and Clark leave for school. After promising things won't change between them, Lana leaves Clark behind and heads off to live in Metropolis with Chloe, making it a struggle to beat the odds and stay together.
Over the years, Clark has forged a remarkable relationship with Lex Luthor though neither has an inkling of how their destinies will ultimately collide. Lex has constantly fought his destiny and turn to the dark side. This year he loses that battle. The Lex Luthor of comic lore has arrived and this season Clark and Lex become mortal enemies.
The arrival of DC Comic villain Milton Fine, aka Brainiac (James Marsters, Angel), exacerbates the situation between Clark and Lex. Fine recruits Clark to be his research assistant and provides him with top-secret information about Lex's immoral Luthorcorp experiments. His arrival on Earth was no accident. Fine was born out of the spaceship that landed after the meteor shower. Who sent him and why proves to be a life-altering revelation for Clark as he finally learns why he was sent to Earth and what happened to his biological parents and home planet.
Clark comes face to face with another DC Comic hero this season. Aquaman swims into Smallville, and into Lois' heart, after saving her from drowning. After witnessing one of Lex's experiments cause irreparable harm to the marine life, AC, a young man with special powers, uses Lois' military connections to save the ocean and all its inhabitants by destroying Lex's secret underwater lab. Wanting Clark to join him in stopping Luthorcorp, AC shows Clark proof of Lex's wrongdoings, which sends Clark reeling.
Reinterpreting the Superman mythology from its roots, Smallville was developed for television by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar (Shanghai Noon, Spiderman 2), based on the DC Comics characters. Gough and Millar serve as executive producers, along with Greg Beeman, Ken Horton, Mike Tollin, Brian Robbins and Joe Davola. The series is produced by Tollin/Robbins Productions, Millar/Gough Ink and Warner Bros. Television Production Inc. SUPERMAN was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster.
[CREDITS to official WB site
photo: Yahoo!TV]
