Yeah...............................Lois waiting for several hours to put two and two together and discover that pulling out the big glowing knife in Clark might be helpful, lest being out in the middle of the street of a supposedly bustling city and not a sould made the lowest utterance or help. (shakes head in utter shamefull disgust)

Clarks "near death experience" by which all scientific accounts is the same as sleeping, was very predictable except for the fact that Jor-El denounced Clark for doing what exactly? Can a residual spirit lodged in an alien ice-diamond cave have a b#tchy day? Oh and are they really thinking that the Fortress Of Solitude would just come with it's own clothing mannequin?

The best parts of this episode which were very few, were Oliver's interogation by a really pissed off guy in an odd yellow motorcycle jacket (made me think of Dead Rising 2). If this guy is really Desaad shouldn't he be skinny, pale, hooded and wrists deep in Oliver's molars as he's strapped to a table.  The other big surprise was Darkseid's appearance as atop a gargoyle. Here I thought that coming out of the mist would be some bald douchebag with a black trenchcoat on that we were supposed to think was Darkseid. Thankfully we got a CGI rendering of a Darkseid that's a near carbon copy of his comic book appearance. I guess the fact that DC's new animated Superman/Batman: Apocalypse DVD is coming out very soon wasn't entirely absent from marketing either.

Thank Zod that next week's episode is teased to be Deadshot's first live action appearance. Let's hope the writer and director's talent is as sharp as Deadshot's aim.

All valid points Joe, can't and won't argue any. Especially the Chloe stuff, I've hated her since the very beginning. Having said that I must say that I actually enjoyed the episode despite its many shortcomings. Hey, what can I say, maybe it's just the excitement of knowing it's the last season and perhaps the fact that I stopped looking for any particular smart or truly surprising reveals. I guess you can say that the episode met my expectations

But do we really know how much time lapsed when Lois found Clark. Maybe it was 5a.m. just before the sun came up.

I did hate the "death sequence" stuff though.

Are Darkseid's henchmen, if that's who that was,  using boom tubes? I hope we get a glimpse of Apokolips and New Genesis along with appearances from some of the New Gods.

Jor El is a dick! Go into the light already...

the little boy saying he was lex gave me chills.....brrrrrrr jonathan kent with clark made me cry this episode had it all.....& we got to see a little of the suite too....yep....

Grettings Joe!

Back in the saddle with the Smallville reviews. Agree with your review, but I'd probably given it a B personally. What I did like, was the comments made to Jor-El about having a darker side and it tied in pretty nicely I thought with some stuff we discussed last season. Like Clark blowing up buildings and basically making decisions with no regard to the consequences behind them. The thing that sucks about it was basically we are teased yet again with regard to the costume thing. The bastards even teased us with the flying issue.

One thing that confused me though, and maybe you guys can help me. I've only seen the episode once and plan to watch it again, but when Tess woke up at Cadmus Labs, and her face was healed, Alexander made a comment that Lex had he and the other clones made in order to heal himself, and then made a comment in which he said "That's how we were able to heal you". Then, when she released the "Bad Lex", he made a comment to her in which he said "There can only be one Lex Luther". Are they trying to tell us that Tess may be a clone of Lex Luther?? I mean, she does have red hair and all, but am I grasping at straws here and did anyone else catch that? Curious about everyone's comments about that.

And Chloe....man, I like Allison Mack but damn her characters need to go already. The only positive note is that she will be gone for a while. They really need to kill off her character though. From what I've read though, the producers seem intent on giving her a "proper sendoff", whatever the hell that means. Chole as the new Dr. Fate just isn't sitting well with me so hopefully that doesn't happen.

I think it was a pretty good start to this final season, so we'll how the rest of the story pans out.

What a way to "F" the premiere of the last season. I liked some of it, but not enough to say it was a good episode. The Lex clone was pretty vicious though; it's a shame he croaked. I hope the rest o the season is better than this.

 Treat your viewers like they've got a brain? Joe, you're not writing about Lost anymore. This is Smallville, these viewers have all checked their brains at the door. 

Yeah, you'd think a guy bleeding to death in the rain with his girlfriend crying over him for a long period of time would draw some attention.  It must be one of those Metropolis "back alleys" that look EXACTLY like main streets...:)

I'm hoping Chloe doesn't become Fate.  That feels like a cheap way out just because they can't think of anything else to do with her.

Jor-El being on the rag bothered me (along with locking up the costume; kinda like telling Clark he can't play his X-Box until he does all his chores the RIGHT way).  Clark has come close to killing in the past and Jor-El never said boo.  In fact, wasn't it Jor-El a few seasons ago who said Clark would have to kill Lex in order to keep Zod's spirit from possessing him?  You could argue that he doesn't want him to kill out of anger, but the fact is that he DIDN'T.  Clark realized what he was doing and stopped himself.  That's something Superman deals with to this day.  He gets pissed and almost chokes the life out of Lex all the time, but never does because he knows there is no coming back from that.  It just seemed like an easy way for the producers to prolong "suiting up" by saying that Clark now has to earn both the costume and Jor-El's trust back, even though that was really not an issue to begin with.  Arrgh.  

Other than the street scene and Jor-El's condescending nature, there was a lot I liked about the episode.  Good to see Pa Kent back.  Clark really hasn't had much in terms of emotional support for a while.  Most of his drama surrounds whatever woman he's involved with at the time (Lois/Lana) so he never talks to them, he could never talk honestly to Lex even when the guy was alive and his friend, he and Oliver do more arguing/debating, Chloe has demonstrated enormous gaps in trust and is almost always hypocritical and Ma Kent has moved away.  I think it worked well to bring back Pa's spirit to give him a little support/reassurance.  With loved ones moving away (Lois) and turning their backs on him (Jor-El), it was a nice reminder that, even in death, his true father is still in his corner rooting for him. 

I also liked the Lex clone.  I could believe that he was an older version of Michael Rosenbaum.  Shame he died, it would have been cool to have him around for a few more episodes.  Joe, I think you're right about "Lil' Lex" growing into Lex-2.  The older clone said that he had all of the original's emotions and memories, he just aged faster.  If that's the case, then wouldn't this kid have all that, too?  Wouldn't he essentially be Lex's mind trapped in a kid's body (until he figures out a way to age himself, of course)?  I know they did something similar in the comics (around the time of "Death of Superman"), so it wouldn't be too out there.  I thought the toy knight burning in the fireplace was foreshadowing there is something evil behind that kid's eyes.  I hope so, anyways.  Otherwise, it's some pretty pointless symbolism...

DARKSEID!

PAGE, I just read your "Tess is a Lex clone" theory.  You may be onto something, but that would basically mean that both Oliver and Zod got it on with Lex, so to speak....AAAAGGGGGH!!!  MIND...UNCLEAN!!!

Hey all, I'm exhausted, long weekend. Can't respond individually, but it would seem as if we have another flawed season on our hands. No real surprise, but still much annoyance.

I hope there is more good and less bad than last season. I think that's the most wwe can expect from this show. I am alwways rooting for Smallville to wow me, and it rarely does. Part of that problem is they try to juggle too many one dimensional characters. Focus on or or twwo at a time, and allow them to develop.

I know, I know.... too little too late. Sorry, I just want better for this character.