Cliffhanger endings can either make you more excited for the next installment or make you wish you not wasted eighteen hours of your life in front of the television. The cliffhanger ending of the first season had Clark leaving Chloe at the spring formal in order to save Lana from a deadly tornado. Thankfully, with the first episode, titled Vortex not only picks up where the previous season leaves off, but sets the second season of Smallville to a more dynamic direction.

Instead of bringing in a “freak-of-the-week” for Clark to battle with, season 2 focuses more on the characters themselves.

Pete Ross, who was originally in the comic series, was almost shoved off to the side during the first season. Sure, creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar had to make room for Chloe’s development. But doing that left Pete pretty much the token black kid with little or no involvement in the plot. Season 2 thankfully addresses that. The first few episodes are dedicated to Pete, giving an opportunity for him to step forward the background.

MINOR SPOILER Through circumstances, Pete learns of his Clark’s powers.

I also felt that this season really found its voice. Sure there are still some X-Files inspired episodes. The episode, Accelerate is perhaps the creepiest and darkest episode, complete with a ghost that is comparable to the one in The Ring movies.

The creators really dug deep and invested in the characters and the mythology of Superman. Comic book fans will be delighted with Christopher Reeves making an appearance in Rosetta while Tarrance Stamp, the man who played General Zod in the Superman films, takes an ironic role by lending his voice as Superman’s father Jor-El in the final episodes. Red Kryptonite—something even the films never touched—becomes an amusing storytelling device that the producers ingeniously exploit.

But of course, a story, whether modern or rooted with history, is incomplete without a romance or two. The love triangle that is Clark, Lana and Chloe is saved until the latter half of the season. And it is both gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. The legion of teenage girls who watch this show exclusively for the melodrama will not be disappointed.

The true charm of Smallville, as I’ve said before, is the treatment of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor. Although Lex is treated as a protagonist, the most interesting parts are when he struggles between the thin line of good and evil. With the advantage of being a television series, the transformation of Lex can be a gradual one. As with Clark/Superman, gone is the cape (although he does often fashion a blue shirt and either a red jacket or a red backpack) and replaced with the trivial difficulties of teenage life, making him more accessible to the audience.

With Norman Rockwell landscapes infused with a radio friendly pop-rock soundtrack, the second season of Smallville does everything that the first season does correctly but also reaches further into the distance and soars.