Smallville - Season 2

The second season of Smallville, an American television series developed by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, began airing on September 24, 2002 on The WB television network. The series recounts the early adventures of Kryptonian Clark Kent as he adjusts to life in the fictional town of Smallville, Kansas, during the years before he becomes Superman. The second season comprises 23 episodes and concluded its initial airing on May 20, 2003.[1] Regular cast members during season two include Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk, Michael Rosenbaum, Sam Jones III, Allison Mack, John Glover, Annette O'Toole and John Schneider. Glover, who was a recurring guest in season one, was promoted to regular for season two. At the end of season one, Eric Johnson, who portrayed Whitney Fordman, had left the series.

Smallville - Season 2

Season two picks up directly where season one ended, with Clark (Welling) dealing with the aftermath of the tornadoes that hit Smallville. This season, Clark finally learns who he is and where he comes from, but must also acknowledge a potential destiny set into motion by his biological father that could change his life and the lives of those around him forever. Clark's relationship with Lana Lang (Kreuk) becomes increasingly closer, straining his friendship with Chloe Sullivan (Mack). Clark's best friend, Pete Ross (Jones III), learns Clark's secret this season.

Before the start of the second season, Gough and Millar established a writing staff to help develop episode stories for the show, which eventually saw the introduction of two characters that would shape Clark's life, Dr. Virgil Swann and Clark's biological father Jor-El. These roles were filled by Christopher Reeve and Terence Stamp, respectively, who were previously known for their respective roles as Superman and his nemesis General Zod in the Superman film series. Special effects company Entity FX became the primary effects unit for the show this season, winning awards for two of the episodes they worked on. Apart from the digital effects team, the series and its actors were nominated for and won various awards as well. Season two performed better than the previous season, averaging 6.3 million viewers a week, and placed #113 in the Nielsen ratings,[2] up from #115 the year before.[3]

At the start of the second season, Al Gough and Miles Millar brought in Ken Biller to run the newly formed writers' room. For the first season, Gough and Millar usually wrote the final draft of every episode because they were still seeking the show's voice. The pair understood that a writing staff would help "expand [the] show". As part of their expanding, they also brought in comic-book writer Jeph Loeb, who spent his first two weeks seeking fresh ideas for new episodes.[13] One of the decisions the new writing team came up with was letting Pete in on Clark's secret. The decision to let Pete learn Clark's secret was a choice made so that the character would have a function on the show, and allow Clark someone who was not one of his parents.[14] It was also a way to examine the "power of friendship and loyalty", and "the price of having to keep a secret".[15]

Apart from the classical Superman mythology, the creative team developed more of the show's take on Superman lore. In this instance, the Smallville team wanted to get rid of Clark's spaceship in the finale, because they felt that the characters would not realistically travel to the storm cellar that often. With the introduction of the Kawatche caves in season two, the creative team had the Kryptonian connection they needed in order to safely rid themselves of the spaceship.[18] "Rush" provided an expansion on the mythology within the show as well, by explaining that Kryptonians had been to Smallville before Clark.[22]

Season two expanded the lives and relationships of the main characters. Gough and Millar used the season opener, "Vortex", to establish multiple dynamics for the seasons, including: "Lana's distrust of Clark; what happened to the spaceship, which [developed into] Clark looking into his origins; Lex protecting Clark and killing the reporter; and the Lex/Lionel dynamic, with Lionel being blind."[23]

According to Gough, they had a specific intention for the ending of the second season: "Season one ended with the height of heroism, with Clark running into a tornado to save Lana. For season two, we wanted to see the nadir of that, which is Clark running away [...] from his problems." Gough likens the finale to the ending of The Empire Strikes Back, in that Clark leaves Smallville and everyone he loves because he is scared. According to Gough, in order to do "the character justice", you have to take his journey through the darkness, with him failing along the way.[18]

The lives of multiple characters changed during season two, including that of Whitney Fordman, who left Smallville in season one. Whitney would return in season two's "Visage", when the creative team decided to combine two of their favorite characters from season one: the series regular Whitney Fordman, and Tina Greer, the shape shifting teenager with a fixation on Lana. The result was Whitney's return from war with amnesia, and subsequent revealing that Whitney died overseas and that Tina Greer has been impersonating him since his "return". The episode also held lesbian undertones between the characters of Tina and Lana, as well as with Tina and Chloe. As Greg Beeman points out, Tina's ultimate goal was to take over Whitney's life and live forever with Lana; the character also "lusted over Chloe" during a portion of the episode.[26]

Whitney was not the only character whose fate was met with demise. "Suspect" became the show's first "cracking the mystery" episode, which revolved with the attempted murder of Lionel Luthor by a mysterious assailant; it was influenced by the Japanese film Rashomon, just like season one's episode "Zero", which is told from different people's perspective of the same event. It was originally decided that Lionel's assistant, Dominic Santori, was going to be the person who attempted to kill Lionel, but ultimately it was decided that Sheriff Ethan would be villain of the episode. Although Jonathan Kent was also a suspect, it was clear to at least Greg Beeman that they could not pin the crime on a series regular, so they decided to try to surprise the audience by making it Ethan. Mitchell Kosterman, who plays Sheriff Ethan, was a little distraught over his character's fate, having grown comfortable with his place on the show. The original ending of the episode featured Ethan taking a nurse hostage, which Kosterman felt was out of character; subsequently, the final version had Ethan giving up the second it is revealed that he was caught. To Kosterman, this ending allows the character to stay sympathetic, by showing that he was "pushed to a bad place", because Kosterman feels, "that whole dynamic of good people being pushed to do the wrong thing by bad people like Lionel Luthor is a pervading theme in the whole show".[27]

The fate of Dr. Helen Bryce, who would marry Lex in the season two finale, was already established by the time the creative team was working on "Precipice", the season's nineteenth episode, though it did change from the writers' original intentions. Initially, the character was to be killed off at the end of the season, on her wedding day, but the quality of Emmanuelle Vaugier's performances and her chemistry with Michael Rosenbaum inspired the creative staff to keep her around until the start of the third season.[28]

The twenty-second episode of the season, "Calling", initially had a different opening sequence involving Clark and Lana. In the original version, Clark and Lana were staying up late to watch a comet through Clark's telescope. Through the dialogue exchange between Clark and Lana, there was supposed to be a correlation between the arrival of the comet and Clark and Lana's relationship status. The comet also signified the arrival of Jor-El, Clark's biological father, and Clark's departure from Smallville. Unfortunately, the effect for the comet was expensive, and if they cut the comet they had to cut the dialogue because it would have made no sense if you could not see the comet. Instead, the scene was rewritten to be about Lana visiting Clark at midnight to celebrate his birthday.[35]

The first episodes filmed for season two was actually the sixth episode aired; "Redux" finished principal photography shortly after filming for "Tempest" ended, which was just before the crew went on their summer break.[13] With "Redux" filming directly after the season one finale, the cast and crew were required to forgo the immediateness of their summer break so they could film; it was not aired in season two until the sixth scheduled airdate because of complications that arose after filming had ended. During the summer hiatus, after director Chris Long finished working on his cut of the film, it was decided the episode needed more visual effects. Since the shots were not originally planned, Entity FX, the show's special effects contractor, had to create completely new shots.

For season two's "Rosetta", the crew was presented with a dilemma that required the help of television producer John Wells, that was the guest starring of Christopher Reeve. Because of the expense of flying Reeve to Vancouver, Greg Beeman and Tom Welling flew to New York City to "bring Smallville to him". This is where Wells lent his hand, as he allowed the Smallville crew to film Reeve's scenes on the set of NBC's Third Watch,[15] similar to how he allowed them to use his West Wing set for season one's "Hourglass".[38] The decision to go to New York was also made because Reeve used a wheelchair and required much assistance when he traveled. Although James Marshall directed the episode, for Reeve's scenes in New York the Smallville crew sent Greg Beeman as a stand-in director. Beeman was accompanied by Al Gough, Tom Welling and Mat Beck.[17]There was initial concern about Reeve's stamina for shooting the scenes, as his particular scene with Welling was six pages long, which translates to approximately twelve hours of work day. Beeman tried to design everything so that it was as simple as possible, but Reeve quickly readjusted the scene. Beeman originally had Welling walk into frame and stand in front of Reeve, and then make a single move behind Reeve. Beeman was told, by Reeve, that the scene needed more dynamic between the characters, and if Welling only made a single move then the dynamic would be lost. According to Reeve, "Tom moving around me will hide the fact that I'm unable to move." Beeman's fear of overstretching Reeve's stamina, because of the added shots to the scene, were put to rest when Reeve himself stated that it did not matter how long it took to finish the scene, as long as it turned out great.[17] Reeve filmed all twelve hours in one stretch, and then went on to hold a press conference, as well as a public service announcement following his scenes.[15] 041b061a72