This isn't Zod's first appearance in Smallville. Several seasons back, his spirit escaped the Phantom Zone and possessed Lex, but that anti-climactic battle was found very wanting. Instead, a younger Zod (now played by Callum Blue, previously on the HBO series Dead Like Me) is resurrected from blood samples taken while his rank was still Major, and he and Jor-El (Terence Stamp, yes, the Zod of the movies) were still friends.
At the end of the previous season, thinking she was protecting the Earth, Tess (Cassidy Freeman), opened a Kryptonian artifact and released many Kryptonian soldiers into the world. It seems that all of these characters were a part of Major Zod's military force, and they are also a part of an experiment in cloning. Now the Kandorians, the group of Kryptonians that were saved, are out of their glowing ball, but for some reason, don't have any of the powers they ought to have under the yellow sun.
Meanwhile, Clark has taken to his superhero training completely and has shed the "Red Blue" aspect off of his Blur alter ego. Now clad in black and sporting a silver shield on his chest, Clark as The Blur sticks to the shadows, but everyone in Metropolis knows he is watching over them. Of course, when Lois (Erica Durance) reappears after her odd disappearance several weeks ago, Clark's desire to hold himself apart from humanity starts to waver. As for Lois, those who followed last season should remember that she grabbed Clark's Legion ring and vanished. As it turns out, she spent some time one year in the future and saw a devastated Earth overrun by super-powered Kryptonians under a red sun. Of course, she doesn't remember this and exactly how everything leads up to this big event is a major focus of the season.
Underlying the Kandorians' return story arc is the growing relationship between Lois and Clark (finally), as well as a new relationship budding between Chloe (Allison Mack) and Oliver/Green Arrow (Justin Hartley), and while these relationships are important overall, they tend to take backstage to the rest of the events going on.
One major event this season is an episode called "Absolute Justice." This awesome two-hour event introduces us to a previous generation of superheroes, The Justice Society of America. This group contains characters like Dr. Fate (Brent Stait) and Hawkman (Stargate SG-1's Michael Shanks). Between this group, and characters like Metallo (Brian Austin Green) and the Wonder Twins (David Gallagher as Zan and Allison Scagliotti as Jayna) making their first appearances, the list of classic DC characters into the series is ever growing... though I don't know that anyone would really say the Wonder Twins are "classic DC characters."
At first glance, it would seem like Smallville: The Complete Ninth Season doesn't offer much in the way of special features. There's commentaries for only two episodes, a slew of deleted scenes and two featurettes. Well, those two featurettes are more than enough to make the purchase necessary as far as specials are concerned.
"Kneel Before Zod!" discusses the creation of the Kryptonian general, to his portrayal in Superman II and how they developed Major Zod for Smallville. There is a whole lot of insider info here that is sure to please Superman fans in general, not just Smallville followers.
The other special feature, "Absolute Justice: From Script to Screen," is a half-hour special covering just about every aspect of the season's centerpiece. Not only does this feature interview the cast portraying the members of The Justice Society of America, but also making of information like Hawkman's wings and the delicate wire-work involved.
Smallville's latest season not only does a lot to bring Clark even closer to his role of Superman, but it does a great job of bringing back a classic Superman villain and makes him into a very deep character, or at least a lot deeper than the pure bad-for-the-sake-of-bad one portrayed in the past. Smallville fans must get this season, and the better quality of the Blu-ray version makes this version mighty enticing over its DVD counterpart.
