Oh, and by the by, I also review The Walking Dead and holy effin day-am, that pilot was crazy amazing.

I mention it in my review, but I'll state again, because it deserves repeating. I have seen a good number of zombie movies, some I hated, some I loved. I have however never ever cried during a zombie movie. This show did that to me. It's moving, it's tense, it's horrifying, and above all else, it's believable. I know it sounds risiculous, and I've never really thought an honest to goodness zombie invasion was possible - and while I'll still hold to that firm belief, if one ever did come down the pike, I get the feeling that this new AMC show got the mood dead right.

I disagree with your grade Joe.

I would have given this episode a D-, however I think the Lil Lex storyline saved this episode. I don't, but this episode kind of took me back to, season 4. Like Joe said, this episode started off with promise, then like we all agree on, logically nothing made sense.

As far as the idea of Tess being a clone, I brought that up after watching Lazarus because "Alexander" told her "That's how they were able to fix her" when he was talking about the clones. I don't think she's a clone of Lex's mom, but as I've stated before, a clone of the Tess that died in last season's finale with some of Lex's DNA mixed in. Now as Redhairspointed out, that wouldn't really make sense because she's more advanced than the Lex clones but Granny Goodness could have something to do with that. We still don't know how she even ended up at Cadmus. They've been hinting at the fact that she's something other than "herself" so it will be interesting to see what they pull off.

This season started off great, but these last 2 weeks have been absolutely horrible. This is the final season for crying out loud! Why the hell are we getting S1 thru S4, type episodes??Are these really the best ideas for stories that could come up with to drag out this last season? They need to get back on track ASAP!!

Page, after watching Clark Kent shoot a man from behind and in cold blood my honest grade for this week is an F. Does anyone on this show know anything about the character of Kal El?

Let's assume for the sake of interest, that this Kal El is different from the comic book version. He is after all certainly noy comic book cannon - and let's assume this Kal El has darkness in his heart as implied. Why would the writers waste a monumental event like their goody-two-shoes savior of the world killing a mere mortal when if he was going to kill anyone it should be saved up for the ultimate (and likely ultimately disappointing) series finale against either Darkseid or Lex.

Joe if this turned out to be an Elseworlds story I'd probably be pissed off. Then again, it would be an excellent twist. But like you said, and I have to rewatch the episode to be sure, but if Clark shot that man in the back it was defintely a waste. We know we're not dealing with "Lost" calibur writers here but damn, how could this get aired?? This means that the Directors miss this crap too! When shooting the episode, don't they get that it doesn't make sense? Seems like they are all like fuck it, let's just get it done so we can get the hell out of here type attitude. I love this show to death but but just can't understand why after 10 seasons, we still get episodes like this one. It should have, and could have been a great one. If only the writers knew what the hell they were doing. And the director and everyone else involved for that matter.

Yeah...this whole episode felt like one big missed opportunity.  Aside from the Lois & Clark banter in the opening and lil' Lex with Tess, I really had issues with this week's installment.  Again, like last week, there were big things happening but the producers/writers decided to match them up with a lackluster plot.  I felt that while the Lex plot was definitely the highlight, it felt rushed as a need to force Rosenbaum into an ultimatum regarding his return to the show.  The clone is advancing so fast to the point that he'll be the age he was in the series in a few weeks.  Feels like they're strong-arming Michael into a decision which sucks because if he decides not to return, I fear he may lose a lot of his fan base (not me, though.  Best voice for the Flash ever!).

My main issue was that it was a missed opportunity for Darkseid to really show his nastiness.  Think about it: that village's whole existence was centered around devout faith, something Darkseid could easily manipulate in his favor if people were starting to doubt it.  It would have been kind of cool to have him possess a whole town (kind of like when he unleashed the Anti-Life Equation on earth during "Final Crisis") and have them sacrificing people in the weeks since he was defeated by Kara.  That would have made him a more credible threat than say, the S & M-obsessed spirit alien who is easily repelled by freakin' SUPERGIRL in the third episode!  But no, instead we get your run-of-the-mill kooks in the hills a la "Wicker Man" as someone mentioned earlier.  LAZY PLOT...

Oh, and yeah I watched that scene again.  Nevermind how a de-powered Clark can outrun cascading blue fire and how he can still be freakin' standing doing his macho pose after having said fire DUMPED ON HIS BACK or even that lame-ass speech by Lois with the eye-rolling "Pulp Fiction" reference.  That scene with the shotgun didn't look right at all.  The hopeful in me is holding onto the theory that Clark fired in the air and that guy is like one of those goats that get paralyzed and collapse when they hear a loud noise or are easily startled.

Without a doubt, the "Walking Dead" premiere whipped "Smallville"'s ass this week!  Man, that was an awesome premiere!  Joe, I'm heading over to your review right now.  Looking forward to it! 

This was not only a filler episode but a deliberate "Halloween' episode. Witness Lois' wise-crack about 'The Children of the Corn'. Granted not very well written, but I like the change in the Tess and Alexander relationship. B.T.W. I have reveiewed all the season 8 episodes and at no time does Tess say she actually 'slept' with Lex. She literally appears from no-where. We will see in near future episodes that Lionel was the one that started the cloning experiments before Lex took up the cause.  This point is actually brought up to Tess by her assistant when she finds the 'antidote' in some old files Lionel or Lex could have created Tess to replace Lionel's wife who you will remember committed suicide. Now to answer the obvious question, why would the Tess clone not have the same rapid aging issues of Alexander. She was raised as a child by Luthor (or perhaps...wait for it), she was raised by Granny Goodness in the orphanage and was 'sponsored' by Lionel. This would certainly explain her background and the fact that she could eventually meet Oliver and eventually Lex. (A music box found in the Luthor mansion in next weeks episode points to memories Tess has of her past).  Lex has been exposed on many occasions in previous seasons to drugs and radiation (witness his losing his hair as a child due to the kryptonite meteorite). This may explain the rapid aging, and the difficulty in controlling the cloning process. Lex has survived death many times and in a small way he too is a meteor freak.

Lionel will return in the episode 'Luthor' either as a clone of himself or a ghost.

Kudos to Cassidy Freeman for the tortured look on her face when she realizes she would have to destroy the person she loves for the future safety of the world and the man who would become Superman.

When I read the official description for this episode and I saw that Clark was losing his powers I was just like, damn again! He's lost his powers at least once per season either by Jor-El, power transfer, magic, or kryptonite. How many F***ing times will they use this tired plot device!!?? The only time it worked really well was in the awesome episode "Transference" from Season 4. All the other times he's lost his powers, lame.

And tiberiuscan, I believe you are spot on about Tess. We'll see what happens soon!

I agree with you Page about the losing powers angle getting old. But I think that is the only way the writers can write stories. If he didn’t lose his powers then this episode would have taken a good 5 mins, the way the story line was written.

This is why Lex is my all-time favorite villain. He doesnt have super powers, he is just smart as hell and goes toe to toe with Superman. Writing a story that allows Clark full use of his powers, and not having to fight or deal with super villains is something these amateur writers cannot do.
 

I like everyone else had major issues with this last episode, but I ve watched it twice and Kal DID NOT shoot the guy in the back , he does club him with the but of the gun. That aside , the whole blue K thing is very confusing and was not worked through IMO. However that being what it is I think the true story of the episode is nt  about Lois And Clark, which might have been the reason for the shallow story for them, I think the main plot was the Lex / Tess thread, Let me just say this Rosenbaum was The Best Lex Luthor ever portrayed in Live Action,  That  said the Kid Playing Lex Is AMAZING, as Lex. As far as Tess being a clone, im not so sure that it was Lionel or Lex that cloned her, I think it was Cadamus, and Amanda Waller. Look at what we know of Tess, she, Lex and Oliver all go back to childhood friends and than lovers.  they dont state that Tess ever slept wit Lex , But she does admit that she has loved him, motherly love might be confused  with lovers love, but Freud can handle that.  Tess was looking for Lex , she was also working with Checkmate and Waller, who also runs the Suicide Squad. So I have to disagree with whom ever said she is being controlled by Granny Goodness and Darkseid. She cant be everbodies tool that is just stupid.

This thing is eating my posts.

Yeah, Clark shot a guy in the back.  WTF?!

I shouldn't be surprised that Smallville re-hashed an already overdone story.  We've seen it before in The Wicker Man.  The X-Files did their own version, and there was the short filme, The Lottery.  To a lesser extent, movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre had more or less the whole town in on murder, as did an episode of Torchwood.  

This episode almost totally sucked ass.  We didn't even get any good durance cleavage.  It's only saving grace was psycho kid Lex.  He.Is.Awesome.