This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
Until this point in the "Superboy" canon of seasons, the quality had varied considerably from season to season. Season One was wooden and with almost a completely different cast. Season Two got the casting right, but the tone was still so goofy. Season Three finally put everything together and ran off probably the best string of episodes (including the "portal" series) in the show's history. Luckily, though, Season Four does not include such a sea change and instead just continues to produce quality "Superboy" television.
Perhaps the biggest change for this final season is that many more two-part stories are used. It seems as if (for better or worse) every third episode or so ends with "to be continued".
Some highlights of this season include...
-The building romance between Superboy/Clark (Gerard Christopher) and Lana (Stacy Haiduk). It's all very kid-friendly per the show's nature, of course, but there is definitely a progression as the season goes on.
-A good number of episodes featuring Lex Luthor (played by the always-entertaining Sherman Howard), including one that even focuses on his past and what made him become the monster he is today. One episode even gives his "main squeeze" Darla (Tracy Roberts) a fair shake.
-Other familiar faces such as Metallo (Michael Callan), Bizarro (Barry Meyers), and Ma & Pa Kent (Stuart Whitman & Salome Jens).
The hallmark of this season, however, is the fact that very few episodes are "stinkers". The teaming up of Luthor/Metallo, the humanization of Bizarro, Lana's quest to determine Superboy's true identity, the great "finale" two-parter, and the chilling "Obituary for a Superhero" (which was going to be the show's finale once that received word of a renewal that was shot down by the upcoming legal wrangling) all provide great story and character development. Though this show was still watched by many more children than adults in its day, the fleshed-out characters and sometimes mentally challenging plots were unique to what could have been only a light-hearted endeavor.
Overall, then, this Fourth Season of "Superboy" is a very strong slate of episodes for the show. Fans of the Christopher Reeve Superman mold will enjoy the characterizations immensely, while for others it will be a powerful dose of childhood nostalgia. There are many episodes in this season that I never remember seeing as a child (the rabbit ears on top of my home probably weren't able to pull them in that morning!), so it is a joy to now say I have seen every episode of "Superboy"!
Fans of this show have been waiting a very long, long time for the full slate of "Superboy" episodes to be released. After the years of ridiculous court battles keeping the show off the airwaves, it is almost overwhelming (a few years ago, I quite literally thought I would never see the day) to have them now all available.… Expand
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