MAIN CAST
Tom Welling (The Fog)
Kristin Kreuk (Beauty and The Beast)
Michael Rosenbaum (Cursed)
Erica Durance (The Butterfly Effect 2)
Allison Mack (Riese)
John Glover (Batman & Robin)
Annette O’Toole (IT)
John Schneider (The Dukes of Hazzard)
Aaron Ashmore (The Skulls 2)
Kristin Kreuk (Beauty and The Beast)
Michael Rosenbaum (Cursed)
Erica Durance (The Butterfly Effect 2)
Allison Mack (Riese)
John Glover (Batman & Robin)
Annette O’Toole (IT)
John Schneider (The Dukes of Hazzard)
Aaron Ashmore (The Skulls 2)
LEXMAS
GUEST CAST
Kenneth Welsh (The Day After Tomorrow)
Alisen Down (Stargate Universe)
Adrian Holmes (Cabin In The Woods)
Jerry Wasserman (Watchmen)
Alisen Down (Stargate Universe)
Adrian Holmes (Cabin In The Woods)
Jerry Wasserman (Watchmen)
Lex drives into a dark alley to meet Griff, who is being paid to do whatever Lex wants to destroy Jonathan in the race for State Senator. Lex hesitates and says that he wants 24 hours to decide if he wants to go down that path. As he heads for his car, he is mugged and shot, and left for dead in the street.
Lex’s Dream: It is Christmas Eve. Lex wakes up, shocked to see a very pregnant Lana in bed next to him. He also has a young son, Alexander. Lex lifts up his shirt and sees the scar on his side from the gun shot. His dead mother, Lillian, appears to Lex and says that it is not a dream and this can be his life if he makes the right choices. Lex is then seen to be lying unconscious in an alley.
Reality: At the farm, the Kents are getting ready for Christmas, and Clark has invited Lana to spend it with them. Clark gets an urgent call from Chloe, who is still at the Planet . The scene shifts to Lex being transported to the hospital as the doctors try to save his life. He slips back into his dream.
Lana says that it has been seven years since Lionel cut Lex out of the family fortune. He takes his son to go buy a Christmas tree. At the tree farm, Lex sees Clark and Chloe. Clark is now a full-fledged reporter at the Daily Planet and Chloe is publishing a book next month exposing LuthorCorp with Lex’s help.
In reality, Lionel is speaking with the doctors at the Hospital and demands to speak to the doctor in charge in order to push a risky surgery. In Metropolis, Clark meets Chloe at the Planet, and she explains that her Teamsters went on strike, and the thousands of presents they collected for Toys for Tots will be undelivered unless he helps her out. Clark agrees to help her distribute the toys. While zipping through the city, he sees a man dressed in a Santa Claus costume about to jump off a building with a liquor bottle in his hand. He says he was going to jump because the Christmas spirit is dead. Clark objects and tells him about how he gave up his first Christmas with Lana to help Chloe deliver toys. When Santa falls off, Clark saves him and sends him on his way. Dr. Scanlan explains to Lionel that Lex will most likely be paralyzed from the chest down because he is too unstable for surgery or transfer. Despite this, Lionel transfers Lex to the Davis Clinic in Metropolis for immediate but extremely risky surgery.
In the alternate reality, Lex and Lana Luthor go to the party at the Kents’ house. Jonathan Kent is now the current State Senator. He says that Lex is the best man he knows and announces that Lex will receive the Kansas Humanitarian Award. Lex steps outside where his mother’s spirit is. He marvels that he’s never been happier and she tells him that he could have this happiness in reality if he makes the right choice. He doesn’t understand but when he asks for more information, she disappears. Clark approaches and muses that he and Lana didn’t work out because Lex became a man she could love. However, they are still on good terms. Their conversation is interrupted by Martha, who reports that Lana has gone into labor. Lana delivers a baby girl on Christmas Eve. However, she starts to rapidly lose blood. Lex goes to Lionel in the Luthor Mansion to beg for resources to save his wife, but Lionel refuses to help them because Lex betrayed him seven years ago by dropping out of the Senate race. He tells him that he has no son. Lana dies and Lillian appears again. Lex tells her that he doesn’t want this alternate reality because everyone he’s ever loved has died. Reality: The man dressed as Santa Claus appears at the Daily Planet and offers to help Chloe with the gifts because Clark was willing to give up his Christmas with Lana. After Chloe reluctantly accepts Santa’s help, he and all the presents disappear. Back at the Kents’ party, Chloe tells Clark about the presents disappearing and says she thinks that he may have possibly been Santa Claus. Clark and Lana spend their first Christmas together as it snows. Lex wakes up with Lionel at his bedside. He is upset with Lionel for ordering surgery with very low odds of survival, asking him, “How dare you play God with my life?” When Griff asks Lex what his choice was, Lex decides that he will do anything it takes to win the Senate race. Lex says his only wish is to live happily ever after and the key to that is money and power because “once you have those two things, you can secure everything else.” In her reflection in the window, Lillian cries over the choice Lex just made and then disappears.
An amazing episode, its basically a dark version of It’s A Wonderful life showing what could of happened if Lex had taken different choices, but as he awakes he’s learnt to take what he wants. The Santa story was fun Chloe left wondering if it really was Santa.
GEMINI
GUEST CAST
Michael Cassidy (Argo)
Tim Guinee (Iron Man)
Tim Guinee (Iron Man)
Lois Lane and Grant Gabriel are kissing in a storage closet in the Daily Planet. She tells him that she doesn’t want to write the Lex Luthor exposé since it might raise eyebrows about her relationship with Grant. However, Grant says that Lex requested her. Meanwhile, Chloe Sullivan is trying to call Clark Kent, who has been missing for two weeks. Chloe has been covering for him in his absence, explaining that he is in Minnesota, but she is starting to get worried. Lois catches up with Chloe, who gives her all her research on LuthorCorp. While looking through the papers, Lois hears a phone ringing. Despite the fact that it doesn’t belong to her, she answers it and hears a mysterious caller tell her that Chloe has a bomb on her. If she doesn’t stop ignoring him, Chloe will die.
At the Luthor Mansion, Lex is fencing with Grant. Grant asks Lex to request that someone else besides Lois write the article since Lois has a way of uncovering significant facts, but Lex denies having anything to hide. Even though Grant seems to be concerned, Lex affirms that he always wins. The caller, whose name is Adrian Cross, is talking to Lois, telling her that he is an escaped clone from LuthorCorp. His body is aging at a rapid rate and he expects to die very soon. While she is talking to him, Lois attempts to send Chloe an e-mail to warn her, but her internet line is cut. Adrian calls her again and warns her not to disobey him. Frightened, Lois looks around the basement of the Daily Planet for men on phones. She spots a suspicious-looking delivery man and follows him into a secluded room, then attacks him. However, the man is innocent and he begins to walk away. He falls back toward Lois, dead from being stabbed with a pair of scissors. Lois’ cell phone rings and Adrian warns her to keep her mouth shut. Clark suddenly reappears on the Kent Farm to find Lana in the barn. He reveals that he was unable to find Kara. Lana tells him she has decided to stop obsessing over Lex, but Clark says he wants to see what she’s uncovered. She takes Clark to her secret room in the Isis Foundation, now filled with non-functioning surveillance equipment. Clark finds a folder on Project Scion and Lana shows him the vial filled with black liquid that she thought she destroyed when she wrecked his lab. Clark tells her that she couldn’t have destroyed alien technology, so she decides to show him more. Lois is still attempting to warn Chloe about the bomb. This time, she tries to get a woman to deliver a manila envelope to Chloe which has the warning written on the back. The woman hands the letter to Chloe, who tells Lois that Clark is back and she is leaving to go visit him. At this time, Lois receives a text message from Adrian, warning Lois not to tell Chloe anything. Chloe suspects that something is bothering Lois, but Lois doesn’t say anything.
Lana takes Clark to a LuthorCorp lab where Project Scion was tested and shows him Casey Brock, a woman who was found suffering from toxic levels of metal poisoning. Overnight, the amount of metal in her bloodstream dropped dramatically, meaning that whatever was in her bloodstream had left. Clark states that her incoherent speech patterns are actually Kryptonian and writes down what she is murmuring. Jimmy and Chloe both get into an elevator and share an awkward moment. They recall a Christmas party last year, when Chloe was still dating Jimmy. Chloe turns the envelope over and reads Lois’ warning message about the bomb. At this moment, the elevator suddenly brakes, trapping Chloe and Jimmy with the bomb.
Meanwhile, Lois notices an “out of service” sign on the elevator. She begins to walk toward it, but is stopped by Adrian, who is holding the detonator in his hand and demanding his story. In the elevator, Chloe empties her pocketbook to search for the bomb. She finds It, disguised as Chloe’s Secret Santa gift. Back in a Daily Planet office, Lois is showing Adrian her article about LuthorCorp’s first clone. Adrian tells her about his family and his Christmas memories, then reveals that they were all fictitious memories downloaded into his brain. Lois promises to publish the story if Adrian will let Chloe go, but Adrian has another mission for Lois. She must force Lex to confess what he’s done. Chloe is trying to call Clark in the elevator, but Jimmy is annoyed that Chloe would call Clark before she would call 911. The cell phone breaks when Chloe accidentally drops it.
Lois goes to her interview with Lex wearing a hidden camera and a device in her ear which allows Adrian to talk to her. If she can’t get a confession from Lex, Adrian will kill Chloe. At the same time, Clark and Lana go to the Daily Planet to see if Chloe can translate the code that Casey Brock was mumbling, but they can’t find her. Grant and Lex are both waiting for Lois, but they are surprised with her first question, a demand to know about Project Gemini. Adrian is still communicating with her through her earpiece, telling her exactly what to do. Lex claims he doesn’t have anything to do with cloning and he denies knowing a man named Adrian. Adrian orders Lois to aim a gun at Grant to get Lex to confess. Lois begins ranting about Adrian’s life story. Lex knocks her out and finds the hidden camera she was wearing. Shortly after, Adrian enters and tells Lex and Grant about more of his memories. Grant soon realizes that they have the exact same memories, even talking about their past experiences simultaneously. Adrian also says that they have the same DNA and history, only Adrian was a failed experiment and Grant was a successful one. In an outburst of anger, Lex shoots and kills Adrian, saying he was just a mistake. In his last seconds of life, Adrian presses the button on the bomb’s detonator. In a state of panic, Chloe and Jimmy bang on the elevator door, but no one can hear them. Thinking she is about to die, she confesses to Jimmy that she is a meteor freak. They share one last kiss as the detonater ticks down to the final seconds. In the basement of the Daily Planet, Lana turns on Lois’ computer screen and sees the email that Lois attempted to send Chloe, warning her about the bomb. Clark uses his super-hearing to locate the sound of the bomb, then he runs to the staircase, soars to an upper floor and superspeeds to the rescue. He opens the elevator door and finds Chloe and Jimmy kissing before he throws the bomb off the building roof, where it explodes harmlessly. Chloe and Jimmy are stunned to find that they are unharmed with the elevator doors open and many people staring at them.After Lois wakes up, Lex tells her that Chloe is fine, but Lois says she will expose his project to the world. Lex retorts by telling Lois that she has no evidence, and he recently bought the Daily Planet. Since he is now Lois’ boss, there is no way she can write the article.
Jimmy catches up with Chloe and they talk about what happened. He wishes Chloe trusted him more to tell him about her meteor infection, but Chloe just says she had trouble accepting herself. Chloe demonstrates her powers for him by healing a cut on his finger. Even though this was not a major injury, Chloe still feels some slight internal pain from using her healing powers. Jimmy promises to keep Chloe’s powers a secret. While Lex is receiving the acquisition papers for the Daily Planet, Grant enters his office, sarcastically congratulating him for purchasing the Daily Planet. He is sick of always being under Lex’s control and is outraged for being nothing more than an experiment. Lex declares that all he wanted was a family, but Grant is anxious to break free from his control. Later, Grant visits Lois at the Talon apartment. Contrary to her first impression, she is not fired, in fact, Lex requested that she stay. Grant then breaks up with Lois, since he thinks their relationship is too complicated, especially after what happened today.Back at the Kent Farm, Chloe and Clark discuss the possibility of the Brain InterActive Construct’s return. The Kryptonian code Clark wrote down was an error message that a system encounters when it can’t boot up. Each time the code repeats, it learns from its mistakes and is getting closer to actually loading. Clark warns Chloe that the black fluid has evolved into technology willing to kill. Once Chloe leaves and Lana returns home, Clark and Lana share a warm moment. As they embrace, Clark’s face flashes white and his skin distorts, revealing that “Clark” has actually been Bizarro the entire time. Meanwhile, the real Clark is frozen in the Fortress of Solitude.
A great Christmas episode especially for Chloe and Jimmy, and that shocker ending when you find out Lana has been talking to Bizarro all the time and not Clark is just amazing.
.Chloe’s investigation continues and she reports that Lana and her new friends have fun throwing each other off the house’s balcony and getting drunk. Clark is worried about Lana’s strange behavior and Chloe tells him that she’s been investigating the sorority and has uncovered some strange details. None of the sisters ever leave the sorority, and it is the most exclusive one on campus. She makes a plan to infiltrate their Halloween party and brings Clark along. They split up to locate Lana. Clark ducks into a bedroom where Buffy catches him rummaging. She orders him to leave, but she is distracted by someone at her door. When she turns back to Clark, he is gone. Chloe finds Lana dancing and making out with other boys and pulls her to the side. She asks her about how she’s been acting and Lana bites her. Chloe calls Clark for help and he uses his super-hearing to find her. He arrives to catch Chloe just as she passes out, astonished to see Lana standing over her with a mouth full of bloody, pointed teeth. Clark takes Chloe to the hospital where the doctor reports that she has a rare strain of the rabies virus which is preventing her red blood cells from regenerating. They can treat her but they don’t know the cure. Professor Fine arrives at the hospital, claiming to be visiting a sick colleague. He asks about Chloe’s condition and Clark admits that he thinks she was attacked by a vampire. Fine looks at Chloe’s chart and tells him to ask Lex about Project 1138.
In France in 1604, three women, Countess Margaret Isobel Thoreaux, Madelyn Hibbins, and Brianna Withridge, are about to be burned at the stake, after having been convicted of practicing witchcraft. The leader, Isobel, is approached by Magistrate Wilkins, and she asks him if he has come to enjoy his handiwork. He then strikes her across the face and tells her she may yet escape the pyre’s flames if she tells him of the three stones of power. When she asks for her spellbook, she spits blood onto the marked page, directly onto an illustration that is identical to the tattoo on Lana Lang’s back. She casts a Latin spell and a tattoo identical to Lana’s appears on her back. As the three witches are burned, Isobel curses the crowd and vows to rise again, stating that the stones and vengeance will be hers.
Lois and Chloe show up at Lana’s apartment, where they find her doing a strange chemistry experiment, making some sort of potion. Lois notices Lana’s behavior and reminds her that it’s her job to keep Chloe busy until the party. Lana/Isobel, preoccupied with her ingredient list, waves Lois off. The next ingredient on the list is “hair of two virgins.” She takes a hair out of her own head, then one from Lois. Lois’ turns out to be unacceptable, so when they leave, Lana heads out to find another virginal hair. She walks into the Kent home to find Clark wrapping a large present. She offers to help him with it, then proceeds to try and kiss Clark. Confused, he backs away. Lana sidles up to him and, using the gift-wrapping shears, tries to cut a lock of his hair off. The scissors break and Clark asks what she’s doing. She sputters that she needs a lock of his hair for a scrapbook she’s making. Annoyed, Clark gives her some of his hair and she promptly leaves to get the next ingredient on her list.
At the Luthor mansion, Lana/Isobel observes Lex practicing his piano-playing. She asks Lex if he has any vintage wine, “for the party”. Lex produces a bottle, but then Isobel notices the manuscript displayed in Lex’s study. Angry, she casts a spell that makes it disappear, then freezes Lex in place. Explaining that the map wasn’t meant for Lex, she releases him and casts a spell, bewitching Lex to play the piano forever. Chloe and Lois find Lana/Isobel in the woods assembling her potion. Isobel convinces them to drink a toast. When they do, they are possessed by Isobel’s fellow witches, Madelyn (Chloe) and Brianna (Lois). She explains that they will continue their quest to find the Stones of Power, but Madelyn and Brianna point out that this is the quest that got them killed in the first place. They convince Isobel to let them attend Chloe’s party first. At the Kent barn, a worried Clark tries to keep the wild party under control. When the three witches show up, they decide to liven up the party. They cast a spell and all the party goers, including Clark, are suddenly dancing in various states of undress. As scheduled, the Princeton representative comes to interview Clark and Clark makes a “great” first impression. The day after, Clark awakens in the barn to the aftermath of the wild party. He realizes he blew his interview and goes to talk to Lex for help. He finds Lex, his fingers bloody, still playing the piano.
The three chain Clark to a post in the barn and try to pry more information of the stones out of him after realizing that he is connected to them and knows where one is hidden. After magically seducing the answer out of him, Isobel and her cohorts leave Clark chained up and depart for the Kawatche Caves. Jason finds and helps Clark escape and he goes after them. In the caves, Isobel tries to obtain the relic, but it glows and burns her hand. Clark shows up and catches the relic before it hits the ground, restoring his powers. Before the witches can take his powers away once again, Clark burns the spellbook with his heat vision and all four teens are knocked unconscious from the explosion. Upon waking, everybody has been restored to normal. Lana, Chloe, and Lois are confused, but alright. Clark has to explain the raucous barn party to his parents. He also remarks that magic is real and can truly hurt him. Lex goes to see Lana at her apartment at the Talon and explains to Lana that he was the one to get Jason fired, not Clark, saying he had only her best interest in mind. Lana comes to apologize to Clark as he is cleaning up the barn. She tells him the whole story of the Countess and shows him the tattoo. She asks Clark what it means and he lies that he doesn’t know. In the caves, Lex studies the cave drawing identical to Lana’s tattoo.
An intresting episode of Smallville showing the ladies of Smallville in different light, the episode is an important one as it shows that magic can harm the future man of steel.
Smallville Season 10 is the culmination of a 10 year journey which set out to follow the life of a young Clark Kent as he accepts his destiny and becomes Superman. So did Smallville go out with a bang or a whimper?
I for one love the final season of Smallville….whenever you are trying to finish off a story it can be difficult especially with a character as iconic as Superman and with the weight of 10 years of expectation but amazingly it manages to produce an end that is befitting of a superman. This season really is all about how Clark Kent finally becomes Superman and almost every episodes deals with this acceptance of destiny. The season kicks of where season 9 ended with Clark Kent falling to his apparent death….this episode kicks off the season on the right note, with nods to the past seasons as well as hints for what the future holds. This season has so many memobrable episodes such as Homecoming, the 200th episode that is one of the best episodes have ever produced, other highlights include: Supergirl, Harvest, Abandoned, Luther, Icarus, Fortune (one of the funniset Smallville episodes ever!), Kent and Booster. You can see just by the number of episodes listed just how good the final season was.
However, what could make of break this season was the two part Finale in which we fianlly see Clark Kent embrace his destiny. I believe that this episode is one of the best finales ever produced, it is important to remember that Smallville is more about Clark Kent then Superman and as such this character takes the focus for the majority of the episode and it benifits for it. These episodes also include the return of Lex Luthor and I think that the scenes between him and Clark are perfect. Also, when Clark finally puts on the suit we get to see more Superman action then I’m sure anyone was expected. And the final scene is a perfect way to finish the story.
Tom Welling has played Clark Kent for 10 years and every season we have seen him grow as and actor and a director and I think that he has managed to bring new life into this character and took him in a truely unique direction. Although, this show wouldn’t be what it is/was if it wasn’t for the rest of the supporting cast especially Erica Durance who in my mind is the best Lois Lane that the screen has seen and thanks to her acting she has become just as much of the Smallville story as Clark Kent himself.Thank you Smallville for 10 great years and for breathing new life into a an inconic character…you will be missed!
Season nine is the single greatest season Smallville has ever produced. The show has fully reached its potential and has created a tense, exciting, beautifully shot, clever and romantic season. One with interesting villains; conflicting needs; searching for the right questions; searching for the truth; love and hate and the fine line between it all; finding yourself and finding others. All with the strong undercurrent of destiny. There are around two ‘not so well executed’ episodes that fall short of their goals, but even those are not awful. The four or so main arcs of the season are: the return of a weirdly attractive and charismatic Zod, the blossoming relationship between Lois and Clark, the development of the Blur and the Justice Society.
This is a season of triangles. Many carefully subtle and symbolic in nature: triangles between friends, triangles between enemies, the triangle for two. There was a distinct sense of care to this season, unlike the others — it actually felt as if the writers paid close attention to the small things which made the writing feel more cohesive. It’s certainly the case, because something as small as a hand gesture in one episode became a very significant thing later on.
The season opens with ‘Saviour’, as Lois miraculously returns without memory of where she’s been. The only thing hinting at a darker side to this is random flashes and visions, confusing memories. Are they dreams? Visions of a not-so-distant future? This is one of the mysteries of the first half of the season. I love this show but they I’ve never been so engaged as I have when Lois had those first flashes. It was well done and it was gratifying to see Smallville put together a coherent story arc which flowed into other arcs as the previous ones drew to a close. First time ever that I’d been excited to see where the mainplot went!
Tom Welling is now an executive producer so having more creative control over his character is obvious this season — it has a very positive impact on Clark. Clark finds himself being tested. Learning to cope with juggling an overly-inquisitive Lois, an alter-ego as the Blur whilst swiftly returning to his desk at the bullpen. But ultimately, a key theme of this season is his struggle to maintain a balance between who he is and what he could become. This season firmly asks: who will he become? There was some fantastic development for Clark as a character and his relationship with Lois Lane is centre stage the entire time. The writing for them is careful, precise, intimate and is wonderfully nuanced thanks to the actors. It was well established last season that Lois is in love with Clark, and Clark spends this season rightly demonstrating that he loves her back. The Lois and Clark relationship is one of my favourite arcs in season nine. It was so satisfying to see their romantic relationship moved forward without a painfully slow draw-out. There’s a lot of beautiful scenes shared between them and the writers do a brilliant job of showing (yes ‘showing’, not telling) exactly why Lois is the one for Clark.
Zod (Callum Blue) is a fantastic and compelling villain. His dalliances with Tess Mercer are mesmerising to watch. Oliver Queen returns, having hit rock bottom and kept going since the previous finale. There’s a triangle early in the season between Clark, Lois and Oliver. It’s very subtle and one can only be picked up on in a few frames a lot of the time — not something I’ve come to expect from Smallville, whose usual idea of ‘subtle’ is huge honking anvils landing on you when trying to convey something. It peeters away as Oliver grows and changes out of this darker period in his life. Lois develops as a reporter and finds a purpose in life she didn’t dream of before; her character arc was excellent and benefitted from Erica Durance appearing in 18 episodes instead of the usual 13 (yay!). We see the return of many superheroes as well as meet some new ones. I loved this as it’s one of my favourite parts of the series. I liked seeing Bart and Black Canary back in particular.
Star Girl was awesome! The superhero epic Absolute Justice (two episodes smooshed together as one) was a highlight of the season and will surely make comic book fans happy. The finale, ‘Salvation’ was a fast paced good quality closing chapter. It set up the next season and moved the story forward at the same time as closing it. The finale fight scene also did not disappoint! For once! Salvation was very much a juggernaught of emotion which wasn’t cheap and empty like Doomsday, but had the weight of a great season of storytelling behind it. It really made all the difference.
This season is well structured with a fascinating story arc which sees time travel as a central concept. In many ways this plotline held far more tension and anticipation than the whole of the Doomsday arc did. I enjoyed feeling fascinated by Zod, insanely wanting answers as to what had happened to Lois when she disappeared, and could barely contain myself when all was revealed in the episode ‘Pandora’. Truly one of the best episodes of the series.
Technically this season shouldn’t have worked; the show’s main villain and arguably most popular character, Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) has now departed; secondly they were introducing a villain which was virtually impossible to bring to the big screen never mind a television series in Doomsday. However whilst a massive void had been created by Rosenbaum’s departure, it was filled suprisingly very well by the main cast of heroes who finally come into their own this season with performances and stories which intelligently test those who have big destinies to embrace in the Superman era to come. Tom Welling finally begins to take his final steps to becoming Superman and is starting to demonstrate how capapble as lead he is while bringing a new found presence to Clark Kent. There is also an increased number of on-screen scenes between Welling and Erica Durance’s Lois Lane and the result is a relationship which is as funny as it is touching and believable.
Likewise other support characters like Chloe and Jimmy are tested by the new villain in town, Sam Witwer’s Davis Bloome who is a great unique character to the series who undergoes a menacing and horrific transformation as the season unfolds. There is also a welcome return from Justin Hartley’s Oliver Queen who now becomes a series regular after a successful stint in the sixth season and a brief cameo in the seventh. Queen’s character is also successful to the season’s story as his questionable methods bring him into conflict with Clark who is now trying to figure out what sort of hero he wants to become. The Doomsday story is a well written one in itself and Doomsday is interpreted in a way which is both unique in style yet never undermines the characters standing in the mythology. Sam Witwer is more than capable playing the villain, he lacks perhaps the charisma and flair of Rosenbaum, but the horror given off by his transformations is more than projected out of the screen. The same cannot be said for Cassidy Freeman whose Tess Mercer is terribly aimless and lacking in focus, in terms of a series villain, Rosenbaums absence is felt though not quite fatal.
The season is very well executed in tone, humour and story. There are many episodes which take the series much further and there are some more characters from the D.C Universe in episodes such as ‘Instinct’, ‘Legion’ and ‘Hex’. ‘Bride’, ‘Eternal’ and ‘Beast’ are also exceptional drama episodes featuring Doomsday which keeps building up the season to a final climatic battle.
It is unfortunate therefore that what prevents the season from achieving pure greatness is a series of misjudged stories which threaten to undermine every bit of progress Smallville made this season. The brief reintroduction of an old character in ‘Power’ and ‘Requiem’ was a terrible mistake and unpopular with viewers, as was the apparent demise of another important character. Also while the season does a sensational job in building up the tension towards the final episode, the final episode of the season itself is very weak and sadly anti-climactic. This is a shame since many may feel cheated by a poor resolution but on the plus side, the drama remains top notch throughout and the themes explored this season are never forgotten and never betrayed, even in the finale. Smallville has enjoyed a fantastic return to form overall this season and many fans will be left feeling hopefull of the action and drama to come in the ninth season. Well worth buying though this eighth season.
Season 7 demonstrates a real maturity in terms of the characters and the wider Smallville universe. For the characters themselves we obviously have to start with Clark and Lex.
What I love about this series is that you don’t notice subtle changes that are going – its only when there is a sudden abrupt change that you realise that it had been going on for ages and you find yourself saying “Ah!”. Clark in this season is gradually waking up to the fact that his old life is practically gone – most friends and family have moved on. This really hits home with an episode that sees the (thankfully brief) return of Pete. This was a subtle episode that demonstrated that Pete and Clark are very different now – they are friends but have both moved on. Clark towards his greater destiny – Pete to his, well, lesser destiny. But the real tear jerker that forces Clark to face the changes is the video left by Lana in the series finale. Understated and brief – its all the more powerful. Lana functioned as a sort of bubble for Clark – a link back to his carefree past – her leaving all but cuts this.
For Lex – wow. Smallville always managed to avoid having him as a cartoon baddie. What really took off on this season was Lex rushing towards his destiny as the powerful enemy of the “Traveller”. We get to see the childhood of Lex and his inner struggles. The moment that he and Lionel have their final encounter – powerful stuff. But what really hits viewers is Lex’s view of what his destiny was. The link he has with the Traveller, the impact that has had on his life and how it will ultimately play out – this was biblical stuff.
For the overarching storylines of the series. Well a special mention goes to the Veritas saga. Debate rages on message boards across the land about whether or not writers had planned this from the start of the series. Regardless if they did – the Veritas storyline weaves together almost 7 years of storylines. Smallville has always managed to pull of the secret legends stories, particularly in Season 4 and 7. But there is a real epic storylines going in season 7. Other storylines worthy mention: the return of Brainiac – always a joy. Bizzaro is also great fun. Tom welling clearly enjoys playing a baddy instead of straight-laced Clark. That and he gets to wear a blue jacket and red tshirt, instead of vice versa. And Lionel finally meets his maker.