Season Five of Smallville, an alternative take on the Superman story that follows the adventures of a young Clark Kent as he moves into maturity, is perhaps my favourite so far of all the seasons. This is the season that really begins setting up the long established chronology of Superman with The Fortress Of Solitude playing an important part, the arrival of other Kryptonians on Earth and the first encounters of characters who will later go on to become Superheroes in their own right! Not wanting to drop any spoilers.....but look out for a certain aquatic hero making his first appearance.

Erica Durance returns as Lois Lane and here begins settling in to what will become a regular role. Though still not entirely convinced by Durance's performance, and not finding her paticulary attractive either, I am nonetheless starting to warm to her though the tensions between her and Clark can be a bit wearing at times.

The main focus this season, of course, is on the after-effects of the second meteor shower which devastated Smallville at the end of the last. More meteor freaks come out of the closet and Lex and Clark's relationship further deterioates, leading us closer to the conflicts that will see them become enemies and adversaries in later life. This is one of Lex's strongest seasons with crucial storylines which show him making lots of hard descisions which will further lead him away from the honourable intentions of Clark. Clark too has his own demons to battle: can he go on living a lie forever or should he just come clean to Lana and take the risk that she will abandon him? One thing is certain, the choices both these characters make will shape their destinys forever!!

I love Smallville now and love all the in-jokes and little asides thrown in for all the true fans (geeks?) who have followed Superman's film, television and comic career for years! For instance, Clark is always dressed in a combination of either red or blue and, in one important episode, one character discusses the possible formation of the Junior Lifeguards Association; a play on the words because the initials spell out J.L.A ~ Justice League of America!

I am so glad by now that I stuck with this as this seems to get better every season. There are still a few duff episodes slinking in (Thirst for example ~ dealing with vampirism in no better way than Dr.Who did last year) but on the whole, this is rapidly becoming highly addictive viewing.

Certainly this is one of the most exciting variations of Superman we have seen in quite a while!!