Smallville – Clark learns Tess’ secret

Oh Smallville. How you love to toy with my affections this season. One week we get a standout episode like “Abandoned,” then we get the worst episode of the season with “Patriot” and now we get another pretty awesome episode this week!

I know I’ve said this before, but with a very limited number of episodes until the grand finale, I wish they’d spend more time developing the mythology that will bring us to the climax we’ve all been waiting for instead of biding time with filler episodes that really don’t add anything to the story. This week’s episode was definitely filler, but it was some pretty killer filler that included the very (very!) welcome return of Lionel Luthor and a great twist ending.

The story this week was almost a variation of the season’s fourth episode, “Homecoming,” but instead of Clark getting a glimpse of his future, this time he swaps places, with the help of a Kryptonian mirror box, with an alt-universe Clark who was raised by Lionel Luthor instead of the Kents (have the Smallville writers been watching Fringe?). It was so great seeing John Glover again, and it just reminds us all of how greatly he’s been missed. Besides Lionel’s pure evil — he allowed Clark to kill Lex in the alt-universe — we also learn that alt-Tess and alt-Clark are having quite the fling while Lois and Oliver are engaged, and pretty much everyone fears for their lives if UltraMan, Clark Luthor’s alter ego, shows up. My only question is, when Clark returned from over there to find his friends aiming kryptonite-laced arrows at him, it would have seemed just as easy to look at his arm for the scar as it was for Lois to take a chance and get close enough to look into his eyes. Same with the alt-universe characters … or does know one know he has that Luthor crest branded into his arm besides Tess?

The only real purpose served this week was that the trip to the other side allowed Clark to learn Tess’ big secret, or secrets as it were. He now knows she is a Luthor (and I loved the look on Tess’ face when alt-Clark called her sis) and he knows she was keeping one of the Lex clones safe because she felt like he was the closest thing she had to family. Of course, she’s regretting that decision now. And that ending was just awesome! Was it Lionel from the other side, or was it the Lex clone? I’m going with clone simply from the clue left in the book at the beginning. But you could just make out Lionel running towards Clark has he activated the mirror box so perhaps he got drawn over to this side as well. Either way, I’m really excited to have John Glover back for a couple of episodes. Kudos to director Kelly Souders for making the alt-universe look so distinctive with the monochrome colors and frantic, hand-held camera work, as well as the cast (especially Tom Welling) for giving some great, alternative interpretations to their established characters. Now, please don’t screw up all of this goodwill with another crappy episode next week!

“Luthor blood is Luthor blood. It’s poison.” – Clark to Tess, not knowing she’s a Luthor

“I sometimes shudder to think what would have happened to my blue traveler if he had been discovered in that cornfield by the first ignorant farmer that came along.” – Lionel

“Okay, I’m not really sure what you’re doing, but I’m perfectly willing to run around and frown at technology if it’ll lend a hand.” – Lois to Tess at Watchtower

“Look, you misspell words, simple words, at an alarmingly frequent basis.” – Clark trying to convince alt-Lois he’s not alt-Clark

“Nothing says ‘sorry my doppelganger from a parallel earth tried to kill you’ like flowers.” – Clark to Lois

“But I guess I’m back in the nick of time. Wouldn’t want to miss how it all turns out.” – Lionel … Lex … ?

Clacked by Chuck Duncan
on Dec 04, 2010 @ 09:09 EST5EDT