For Pete's Sake Pete Ross (Sam Jones III), Clark's best friend (and the show's sole African-American main character), never found much to do in season one -- but that'll change. In the comic books, Pete was the one person who discovered Clark's powers, and Gough doesn't rule out a similar development on the show. ''Sam's a really terrific actor, and we want to expand his role,'' he says. Two other relatively underutilized characters -- Clark's adoptive parents (Annette O'Toole and John Schneider) -- will also get more airtime in season 2 (but not too much -- this IS the teen-skewing WB, after all).
About a Boy Character-driven tales will dominate season 2, as the show continues its shift away from its early episodes, which tended to follow a strict pattern that sparked complaints from fans: We'd meet a teen who'd stumble onto some Kryptonite, gain superpowers, and quickly mutate into a villain that Clark would have to fight. ''The first seven episodes, quite frankly, were done by design,'' Gough says. The show's creators wanted to make sure viewers understood the concept before moving on. ''We discovered in the course of the season that the best stuff is the sort of emotional stories -- we'll bring those to the forefront, and keep Kryptonite stories in the background.''
Still, Gough promises that teenage angst will never completely override the core concept of the show: ''It's the trials of Clark Kent, but he is, after all, Superman-to-be, with certain superpowers. We don't want to do 'Krypton Creek.''' Wait -- wasn't that the whole idea?
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