Historically, Smallville has struggled to put three really good episodes together back-to-back.  Arguably the best was the grouping of Arrival-Mortal-Hidden at the beginning of Season 5.  Can “Fierce” kick the filler episode habit, after the excellent start to Season 7 that “Bizarro” and “Kara” have given us?

The teaser opens with Clark and Kara at the Smallville Harvest Festival.  Kara is singularly unimpressed and is impatient to commence her search for the missing crystal by flying off to look for it.  Some elder cousin wisdom from Clark makes it clear to blondie that using her abilities will expose her to the people who are surely looking for her.  LV’s disappointed look is dispelled when she locks in on Jimmy, who’s covering the Festival for the Planet.  Umm, no offence Jimmy (or Chloe) but why would a babe like Kara fall for the nerdy James Olsen??  She’s apparently so infatuated that her heat vision almost kicks in before a “hey, cool down” from Clark extinguishes the potential premature combustion.  Clark uncomfortably reassures her that “it’s okay, it used to happen to me all the time”.  Hehehe. Cute.  We are then introduced to the rather lame plot device of a time capsule that allegedly holds the treasure map to a pile of gold supposedly hidden somewhere in Smallville.  One assumes the time capsule must’ve been locked in a bank vault if some criminal hasn’t cracked it open by now, and yet it gets left out in the open throughout the Festival.  After a quick x-ray of the capsule by Kara, some rock music ushers in 3 attractive lasses in a red convertible.  They strut in and barge through the crowd to sign up for the Miss Sweet Corn pageant, and with a sexy pout from Kara and a frown from Clark it’s obvious that Supergirl wants the tiara.  Cue the opening credits.  I already have a “this is gonna be a fluffy filler” feeling in my gut.

Down on the Kent Farm we see good old Shelby (where do you disappear to?) keeping Clark company as he tinkers with the most-worked-on tractor in history.  Clark assumes some barks from our favorite pooch means Kara is in the building and asks for a screwdriver.  But hooray, it’s Lana.  A touch on the shoulder, Clark spins around and after a look of disbelief and confusion, an affectionate hand on his cheek elicits a hug, a smile and a trademark smelling of Lana’s hair by the big guy.  I’m sure many fans would’ve expected an immediate lip-lock but I thought the scene was appropriate.  He thought she was dead so her sudden reappearance must have his emotions reeling.  Clark is going to take this slowly to adjust his bearings and not be too presumptuous about where their relationship may go (after all she did marry his enemy).

Back in Smallville, the blonde of the 3 models is hatching a plot of some sort on her cell phone before she gets frozen in the flower shop window by blast of cold air.  Do I hear “meteor freak”?

In the Kent Living Room, Clark and Lana discuss why she didn’t tell Clark what was happening (when she was plotting her escape from Lex).  Clark appreciates the fact that she was protecting him.  He has his boyish enthusiasm to break the news of Lana’s return to Chloe snuffed out, with Lana telling him that Chloe can’t know until she clears her name of a serious crime and sorts out the marriage mess, so she can resume life as Lana Lang of Smallville.  Clark understands and says she can stay with him for safety but warns his life has become a little more complicated.  Cue a bikini-clad Kara (hubba hubba) with a book on her head!!!  A quick introduction (“Lana, this is my cousin Kara”) before a polite lecture from Clark about how prancing around half-naked is not “blending in”.  The pouting Krypto-cousin then super-speeds off and reappears fully-clothed in the blink of Lana’s stunning big dark eyes.  An appropriate and understanding “I guess I don’t have to ask which side of the family you come from” from Lana confirms that Clark is not lying about Kara being his cousin and that Lana is not shocked at the super-power display.  This creates great potential for some Clark to Lana explanations of past deeds, although Clark may be reluctant given the biggest secret of all – that she died (in Reckoning) and Clark exchanged his adopted father’s life for hers.  It’ll be interesting to see if AlMiles go anywhere with the “past secrets” angle between Clark and Lana.

At the Farmhouse, Clark tries to warn Kara off the Miss Sweet Corn pageant because she’ll stand out but she retorts by reminding him that he was captain of the football team.  Clark relents but says she must learn to control her abilities, so he takes her out to the barn for some heat vision training.  Kara’s explosive attempt to match Clark’s lasered smiley face on a watermelon results in Clark being covered in melon seeds and juice!!!  Some Smallville levity never goes astray.  Clark’s tries to ground his cousin but she just storms off, vowing to fit in “her way”. 

Downtown, Kara is at a make-up session for the pageant, and she overhears the two remaining red-convertible chicks talking about taking care of a problem with Carly (apparently she’s the frozen blonde).  After determining that she’s pretty hopeless at the lipstick caper, Kara uses the opportunity to ask for a little make-up help from Carly’s “pals” (perhaps to make friends and find out what they are up to).  They bitchily blow her off with a “why don’t you go and grow some corn or something”.  A frustrated Kara strides off and finds herself in front of the frozen flower shop window.  An inquisitive wiping away of frost on a pane reveals Carly the Popsicle and a shocked expression from Kara.

At LuthorCorp Plaza we learn that the Department of Domestic Security dude is Agent Carter, who has rocked up to chat with Lex.  Lex knows DDS have (well, at least had) Kara’s ship and Carter is interested in the sketch of angel (Kara) because, well, Lex is.  Hmm, seems another Luthor + Government partnership to investigate a Kent may be emerging.  There’s hope for you yet Lex!!

Over at the DP, Chloe and Jimmy get reacquainted before Jimmy offers her a juicy meteor freak story with a picture of the frozen Carly.  Chloe is reluctant but Jimmy insists that it’s just what the new Editor is looking for.  Cue Grant Gabriel entering talking loudly to Lois (or “L”) on his cell phone about the merits of the story she is currently chasing.  GG cements his arrogant image when he sees the “frozen beauty queen” picture and give Chloe a “I knew if I lit a fire under you” line before blowing off Jimmy with a “panda boy” remark (in reference to his Polar Bear story).  A rather amusing “Chloe-ster, hustle down to Smallville, take panda boy with you, and get the scoop” spiel from GG means Chloe has no choice but to follow through on Jimmy’s suggestion.  Chloe reacts to his “you might just get to follow in your cousin’s footsteps” with an urge to belt him with a stapler.  Michael Cassidy is having some fun with the role.

A sweet scene in the Kent Kitchen between Lana and Clark where she urges him to give Kara some space to learn for herself, to which Clark counters that his cousin has no idea of the consequences of people witnessing her abilities.  Lana realizes how hard it has been for Clark on the same journey, spending his whole life hiding (“no, adjusting” says Clark).  Clark then recognizes that he has sold Lana short all these years in assuming she wouldn’t understand if he came clean to her about his super powers.  A nicely played scene that shows that the TW/KK charisma is still strong.

At a pageant practice session Jimmy is snapping away at the contestants before he and Kara lock gazes (ending with a geeky wave from Jimmy).  A sheriff enters and asks the pageant choreographer if she knows anything about Carly, and Jimmy snaps the other two girls looking on, a little worried.  A back-stage exchange reveals that the African-American lass with the Lana-esque eyes is an ice queen meteor freak, who deep-froze Carly, and that the three came to Smallville to get the contents of the time capsule, using the pageant as cover.  Jimmy gets another couple of shots of them.  No prizes for guessing that his instincts are going to land him in trouble.

After a quick message to Chloe about a major lead on the ice queen, Jimmy jumps in his car, which immediately begins to turn into an icebox.  Jimmy turns blue in some rather neat “icing up” special effects as he sees ice queen in the rear vision mirror.  Just as he’s about to take his last breath, Kara comes to the rescue by ripping off the car door to save our intrepid Planet photographer.  Ice queen looks on in wide-eyed amazement just around the corner.  Very careless Ms Kent.  What will Clark say?

Back at the Kent Farm, Lex has arrived, responding to a message from Lana.  An understandably cold and business-like Lana demands to know if Lex has kept his promise to clear the way for her return to Smallville.  Lex has convinced the DA to drop any charges against her, all evidence has been destroyed and the patsy for Lana’s “murder” has died in prison.  Another pathetic “every horrible thing I did was because I truly do love you” from Lex is coldly brushed off by Lana.  After she says she doesn’t want his money (the lawyers are drawing up the settlement agreement) he then compounds his sookiness by praising her “siphoning” of the $10 million from him that she needed to escape (hmm, she was Mrs Luthor, can’t she argue that she had legal access to the money?).  Damn Lex, drink a glass of cement and harden up!!  The real Lex Luthor would grab her by the throat!!  Then finally, we see a glimpse of our super-villain, when he wonders aloud what Clark would think of her “coup” and then asks about his cousin with a slightly sinister expression.  I hope Lana tells Clark that Kara is now officially from Minnesota!!  The cold-hearted and wounded bitch facade was neatly played by KK but please, please TPTB, let MR show us his evil, spitting best in future episodes.

The obligatory scene at Smallville Medical Center sees an ice-burned Jimmy in recovery with Kara looking on.  Kara storms off with a “I thought you’d be proud of me” after Clark demands that she ensured that no one saw her can-opening Jimmy’s car, with Chloe backing up Supergirl.  Clark changes the subject with some small talk about Jimmy’s health, before Chloe fills Clark in on some digging that she has been doing on the “weather girls”.  She confirms that they are meteor freaks and super-thieves, with a major heist going down in every town they’ve showed up in as “vapid eye-candy”.  And, der, they are after the map to lead them to the gold.  Wouldn’t it be a surer thing just to ice the vault in the Smallville Savings and Loan?

Our two surviving weather girls sidle up to Kara in the pageant make-up room and reveal they know she is “special” and they want her to join them in their “treasure hunt” (presumably they need her strength to break open the time capsule).  They show her a picture of the alleged stash of gold bars and Kara notices a Kryptonian medallion in the shot.  That’s enough for Kara to say, “count me in”.  So, it seems that there may have been a Relic-style earlier visit to Earth by a Krypton native.  I wonder who that could turn out to be?  Maybe the House of El has historically used Earth as a vacation spot over the years!!

Downtown, we see that the time capsule has been smashed open (what, no thugs in Smallville have tried to drag it away with a truck before this, like they do with ATM machines?) and the weather girls realise they have been double-crossed by Kara, who we gather now has the map.  Clearly our meteor-infected lovelies are more brawn than brains, because they just didn’t think that out too well, did they??

The pageant is winding up with the bikini-clad strutting session being watched over by Clark.  We learn that the girls have names after all, with Tyler (ice queen) and Tempest (I’m guessing she can whip up a mean little tornado) being the last two contestants to sway their hips across the stage.

Lex and Agent Carter are having a “deep and meaningful” back at the mansion, with Lex waxing lyrical about how the blonde angel “saved him from drowning in the evil of his ways”.  Ugh, if the SV writers are going to have Lex going crazy, at least let him do it in some entertaining psychotic and dastardly manner, not in this sappy born-again good guy persona.  Agent Carter gives him a suitably cynical look (if Carter knew Lex better he’d surely bitch-slap some sense into him!!).  Lex reasons that no mortal pulled him out of the river so she mustn’t exist, thus Carter can stop looking for her (well, at least it seems Lex may be attempting to throw Carter off Kara’s trail, perhaps so he can start another obsession).  Lex hands over all his research to Carter supposedly to elicit the Government’s help to prevent what Lex thinks is inevitably coming (silly boy, Krypton is gone so there can’t be too many more K-folk left to invade Earth, but Lex doesn’t know that).  Another meandering scene that leaves us unsure of what is really going on in Lex’s head, and prevents MR from stretching his great acting skills.

Back at the pageant the cheesy-smiling MC very unsurprisingly announces Kara as Miss Sweet Corn to a “damn, this is no way for Kara to fit in” look from Clark in the back.  Kara’s girly joy at winning is quickly cut short when the sheriff bowls in and arrests her (based on a tip-off from Tyler and Tempest) for breaking into the time capsule.  A reasonably convincing “help me Clark” face ensues from the pageant winner.

Down at the town lock-up Kara reveals that she stole the map because it leads to Kryptonian treasure, and she’s just about had enough of Clark’s lack of faith in her.  Chloe steps in to calm a frustrated Clark after Kara says that the map blew away.  Chloe suspects Tyler and Tempest are involved in the map’s disappearance and asks Kara to describe the map.  A fair scene spoiled a little by adjoining shots showing the jail cell bars bent and then straight and then bent again.  Damn that silly-putty, it just doesn’t stand up to multiple takes under studio lights!!

On to the X-marks-the spot location in Smallville, where Tempest and Tyler find that all that’s in the treasure chest is a weird medallion.  Clark zips in and advises the ladies that their disappointing find does not belong to them.  Tempest whips up a nasty little dust-devil that, sigh, inevitably stirs up some green-K that renders our main man helpless.  Kara rocks up to save her cousin (accompanied by some super-hero music), swats Tempest into some trash cans and flip-kicks Tyler, before Clark warns his cuz away from the green fragments.  She thinks on her feet and heat beams the main rock that’s paralyzing Clark.  I guess one could wonder why Clark has never used this technique.  I suppose it’s because he’s usually already been affected by the time he realizes there are meteor rocks about and his powers are too diminished.  Anyway, Clark acknowledges that Kara saved him and that he understands that she has the right to figure out how to use her abilities in her own way.  Some “aw shucks” smiles are exchanged.  Umm, assuming Tyler and Tempest are only unconscious, can we add them to the burgeoning list of people that are aware of Clark and now Kara’s powers?

Back in the loft Clark and Kara discuss the medallion.  Kara reckons it’s an SOS from a Kryptonian who is probably still on Earth.  Kara reveals that she is now a Talon “coffee-jockey” in an effort to satisfy her cousin’s “please fit in” pleas.  This prompts a “you’re one of us now” from Clark, which is politely blown off with a “you’re not human” and “they’ll all be gone in 50 years” wake-up call from Kara.  TW gives us a half pensive, half concerned look.

At the LuthorCorp office, Lex’s investigator confirms that they have “found her (Kara), just where you said she’d be”.  A devious little smirk from Lex suggests some resident evil is lurking.  Hooray!!

Over at the Talon Jimmy tells Chloe that she was right all along about meteor freaks – sooner or later they all snap, which makes Chloe’s emotions swirl.  Kara walks in and Chloe catches Jimmy ogling Supergirl.  Her frown is greeted by a lick of the lips from Jimmy before he ushers her upstairs.  What the hell?  Knee him in the groin Chloe!!!

Clark and Lana are wandering through the Harvest Festival Fair and Lana confesses that she was worried that Clark wouldn’t forgive her for marrying Lex or for leaving.  Lana replies to Clark’s “nothing could change the way I feel about you” with a “this is our chance to start over”.  Lana wants to grow old together with Clark.  Perhaps we are in for some more grown-up Clana this season.

Lex confronts Kara in the Talon alley, where she denies saving Lex.  Kara brushes off Lex’s “I just need you to be honest with me” after he throws in some obvious references to Clark’s hiding of secrets from him over the years.  The scene closes with an ominous “are you a savior or a warning” from Lex after he assures Kara that he will find the truth.  Some promising menace from Luthor Jr.  May it continue to fester!!

While the episode didn’t realize my fears (based on the teaser) of being a total dud, it wasn’t a great installment.  I felt the pace was rather slow, there were some pretty lame plot devices, some poor shot-to-shot continuity, the editing was a little clunky and choppy, the acting was solid but not outstanding and there were one or two loose ends (do we assume the weather girls end up in Belle Reve?).  I was OK with the softly-softly Clana, which signifies a more mature approach to their relationship.  And the potentially stranded Kryptonian and his/her treasure has promise.  The jury is out on Lex (although some nastiness was creeping to the surface towards the end of the show) and there were no super hero moments from Clark (a smiley face on a watermelon hardly counts), as he continues to be portrayed as a rather whiney elder cousin who is being overshadowed by Kara.  Please AlMiles, don’t rebadge this show “Supergirl”.

I gave “Fierce” a fillerish 6.5 out of 10.

So can the much-hyped full unveiling of Supergirl live up to expectations and enhance episode 2 of Season 7?  I have to admit, I am happy for mythos characters to be added but I just want to make sure our main guy remains in center stage as the lead hero.

We open with our happy protagonists Clark and Lois wandering through the recently flooded woods with Lois snooping for clues as to what Lex was up to at the Dam and Clark tagging along for her protection.  After she assures him his guardianship is not required, Clark says it’s a good opportunity to say goodbye.  Hooray, he’s off to do his training (“up north”).  Some well played glimpses of “what, you can’t leave me, you are my future boyfriend” in ED’s eyes after a deflecting “who am I gonna pick on?” line from Lois.  Our intrepid duo then stumble upon what is clearly a Kryptonian spaceship, with the inevitable sprinkling of meteor rocks nearby to keep Clark from getting too close.  A reluctant Clark explains it away as “probably some experimental airplane” (which is way more plausible than his later “styrofoam prop for a school play” in Chloe’s apartment!!).  Lois gets a happy snap of the “real live spaceship” on her cell phone before a blue blur knocks her out, revealing a rather angry looking but very attractive blonde lass who promptly crunches Lois phone.  A cute teenagey “that’s what happens when you touch my stuff” to Clark from the new girl before they charge at each other.  The resulting collision sees Clark coming off second-best as his high-speed backwards journey wipes out yet more Canadian red cedar and Douglas fir trees.  He is then warned off by our floating newbie before she flies off into the upper atmosphere, where she hovers with a half pensive, half determined look as she gazes down on a House of El crystal with a hologram type image of baby Kal-El on it.  Any Superman fan worth his/her salt knows this must be his cousin Kara (and the episode title certainly helps!!!).

Post-credits we find Chloe in her Talon apartment looking at dossiers of meteor freaks, clearly concerned about her own uncertain super-powered future.  Lois and Clark burst in haggling over Clark’s concern for her well-being, before Clark and Chloe try to convince Lois she slipped over and bumped her head and was imagining the whole “we saw a spaceship” thing.  An undeterred Lois storms off to get to work on her story for The Inquisitor as Clark, in whispered tones, explains to Chloe that there was a ship and that Lois didn’t see the super-speeding Kryptonian girl “with a bad attitude” who attacked her and who’s as strong as he is and can fly.  The now signature Chloe-names-the-mythos-character moment follows, “whoa, sounds like we’ve got ourselves a true blue Supergirl” before Chloe convinces Lois to go to the hospital to get a checkup.  The excellent and now well-proven TW/AM chemistry works well in the scene.

Off to Kansas State Penitentiary where a pacing Lex is greeted by his smiling attorney, who informs our bald villain that he is cleared of all charges after a disgruntled ex-employee confessed to Lana’s murder (that’ll teach you for giving me cancer).  Lex gives a “what the…” look and then says he doesn’t believe it because he’s not sure Lana is dead.  Have his cronies found her already??  Damn it, I knew that blonde wig would give her away!!!

Clark zips back to the woods to check out the spaceship but it’s gone, and whoever took it snuffed out a few park rangers as well.  A patented thoughtful-cum-worried look from TW tells us that Clark thinks it’s the grumpy Krypto-girl that has taken the ship and killed off a few pesky earthlings for good measure.

Chloe (wearing a rather hideous green Mayan/Inca-looking necklace) is confronted by the now free Lex in the DP dispatch docks.  Some nice angsty stuff from AM as Chloe expresses no surprise at yet another Luthor snake slithering away from justice.  Lex probes Chloe for anything she knows about Lana, assuming that she’s in on the fact that Lana stole highly classified research from Lex before she “died”.  Chloe counters with the fact that Lana’s remains have been positively IDed, “down to every last strand of DNA”.  Lex wants to know more but Chloe gives him a “get bent and get a shrink” send-off.  Hmm, Clona seems a foregone conclusion now.  Which is the real Lana – the blondie in China or the corpse??  Come on, we all know AlMiles loves Lana, surely they wouldn’t kill her off and have a carbon copy of her wandering around for the rest of the series.  But I guess we shall have to wait and see.

In the DP basement, after Clark tells of his suspicions that Supergirl is a cold-blooded killer (poor rangers), Chloe and Clark discuss 911 reports of our pretty alien popping up at pre-schools all over Lowell County.  Cut to our frowning super-blonde picking up some suitably scared-looking kiddies by the scruff of the neck and demanding their names, before Clark super-speeds her away to have a good chat with her.  She twigs that he can’t be human and rebuts Clark’s accusations that she is killing people (but he is starting to tempt her!!) before she attempts to fly off.  Clark grabs her legs and back-slams her – take that, you brat!!  He notices the House of El symbol on her bracelet and wants to know what she is doing on Earth.  Her response that she’s looking for a small boy named Kal-El is greeted with the well practiced “serious but surprised” TW expression.

Onto a real “ouch, poor Chloe” scene in the DP basement as Lois and Chloe meet the new DP Editor, Grant Gabriel.  Chloe advises Lois that a spaceship story is not going to launch her journalism career but is promptly shot down by a patronizing GG who arrogantly recounts Chloe’s CV including studying at Met –U by night while doing filler stories for the Planet by day.  AM gives an excellent “crest-fallen but I’m gonna suck it up” expression followed by one of incredulity after GG says Lois can have a job if she can deliver a killer spaceship article that will sell papers.  So much for all the journalism hard yards Chloe has put in since Pilot!!!

Down on the Kent Farm, Kara gets an explanation of why Kal-El is not “the sweet chubby baby who laughed when you tickled his feet”.  Apparently if your ship is submerged in water, you go into suspended animation.  Hmm, just a tad lame but I guess it was more convenient than having Kara frozen in a glacier in the Arctic.  The Dam burst freed her and here she is 18 years later, now the younger cousin of Kal-El.  Upon questioning by Clark we get a part-explanation of why she was sent (by her father Zor-El to find Kal-El but we are not told exactly why) and that the reason Jor-El never mentioned his brother Zor-El to Clark is that the House of El is dysfunctional (hehehe)!!  Clark sort of staggers when he realises that he and Kara are cousins.  Was his stumble because he had the momentary hots for Kara and suddenly realised that any chance of a relationship had just been snuffed out??  A Krypton history lesson ensues, with Clark explaining that the green rocks are bad for her, being radio-active remnants of the planet and all.  Cue lots of sad and confused looks as Kara finds that her home planet is toast, and there’s some nice continuity with discussion about General Zod’s evilness leading to the destruction of the planet and the power of the yellow sun.  Some elder cousin comforting from Clark before they get onto the matter at hand, where the hell is the ship?  Kara elicits a suitable wide-eyed “holy crap” look from Clark when she explains that if anyone but her attempts to open the ship, the self-destruct sequence will generate a Hiroshima-type blast.  This was a rather neat “cousins getting to know each other” scene with some typical TW “I’m now the man of the house” maturity on display and some creditable “what, my home can’t be gone” concern from LV.

Over to some warehouse where we see Kara’s eerily red-lit ship being watched over by a bunch of agent/scientist type people.  The head dude gives the command to open it.  What the…??  Lex had the best scientific minds in the world using every technology known to man trying to open Aethyr and Nam-Ek’s ship in Season 5, all to no avail.  How can these people possibly know how to open it?  Does this have the hand of the rumored-to-be-returning Brainiac upon it?  Is he back and has he been working with this group on the quiet to help them understand Kryptonian ships?  Stay tuned.

Anyway, after a pretty purple laser show and some glowing Kryptonian symbols, the ship’s “open-up or blow-up” sequence is apparently activated, followed by a concerned head dude giving an evacuation order.  How the hell does he know it’s going to blow?  Maybe Brainiac told him so.

Back at the Planet, Lois confronts GG and pumps up Chloe’s tyres but the new Editor is having none of it, preferring to believe that Chloe has “lost her mojo”.  After he tells her how great he is at breaking stories and selling papers, Lois attempts to blow him off but then impresses him with satellite images of heavy vehicle movements from the Dam to Smallville.  Cue GG’s “fork in the road” speech.  He gives her the choice of being “Lois Lane – star reporter” or Lois “fill in the blank” married to an insurance adjuster in the sticks.  He walks away leaving Lois with a glint of ambition in her eyes.  Nicely played by ED.  And clearly GG is a character we are going to love to hate (especially if he is going to continue to bully our Chloe)!!

Lex’s investigators have apparently been successful in tracking down Lana using voice-recognition software so Lex tells them to fire up the jet.  He’s off to confront her.  This should give us some answers.  But what the hell is he going to do to her?  She won’t come back to him and he’s already dodged one Lana Luthor murder charge.  Come on Lex. You’re not thinking with your big brain, man.

Over at the DP we see Kara impatiently ripping open the lift doors (“ancient technology”) and then gives Clark a back-hander about not being able to fly (which would save them time in their search for her ship).  A slightly embarrassed Clark can’t respond but Kara provides a “girls mature faster than boys” answer to her own question.  Some awkward moments ensue between Clark, Kara and Chloe before the latter says she has no leads on the ship.  Kara throws a “she’s just a human” barb but the big guy springs to his best pal’s defence before Chloe apologises and said all she could come up with was a sudden loss of AM/FM radio around Smallville.  Clark twigs to the fact that Kara’s ship may be emitting a frequency that is disrupting the radio, to which Kara responds that if the ship’s alarm has been triggered, she is the only one that can disarm it.  There’s lots of worried looks all round.  A slightly clunky scene but a useful segway to the super-cousins tracking down the ship.

A rather cool “I may not be able to fly but I can teach you some other abilities” scene atop a building in Metropolis.  Clark teaches Kara to use her super-hearing and she hones in on the ship’s alarm beacon.  She’s a faster learner.  How are TPTB going to avoid Kara teaching Clark to fly in a return favor?  Surely they won’t make him out to be a big clod who just can’t get the hang of this anti-gravity caper?

We now find Lois commentating to a video camera as she shoots a story in the warehouse/silo where the ship apparently is.  I assume the car alarm going off in the background is the evacuation alarm for the building and not the ship’s beacon (because that would be so lame).  Through a conveniently unlocked roller door and Lois has found the “Holy Grail” and got it on tape!!  Or has she?  She touches the glowing symbols on the ship and is blown across the room (presumably destroying her camera as well!!).  The Kryptonian cousins blur in, and Clark is concerned for Lois but Kara’s “uh-oh” tells us the ship’s about to blow.  She throws herself onto the ship just as a brilliant beam of light shoots vertically from the vessel.  Somehow she absorbs the nuclear blast and Smallville is saved.  Maybe a Kryptonian version of “should I cut the red wire or the blue wire” may have been a more dramatic way to disarm the detonation but it was OK, if a little unexplained, as evidenced by Kara not knowing why her ship disappeared.  And just where has it gone?

Aboard the LuthorCorp jet, Lex is torturing himself by replaying the “what are you gonna do Lex, kill me?” recording of his exchange with Lana.  Next thing he is walking into a Shanghai apartment to see Lana sitting at a mirror brushing those fabulous long black locks.  It appears Lana has deliberately lured Lex into her lair as she pulls a gun on him and asks how he was intending to get revenge.  A pathetic apparently-remorseful Lex says that he wants to beg for her forgiveness for the terrible things that her did to her.  Barf!!!!  Lex, Lex, Lex, what are you doing??  He then praises her for her elegant and brilliant plan to use his own science against him to escape.  This ain’t the Lex Luthor I know and love – he’s got to be up to something.  Through a series of flashbacks we see that Model 503 was a clone of Lana, which the soon-to-be-former Mrs Luthor used as a decoy in her car (to ensure DNA evidence of her could be IDed), before Lana escaped (as we all expected) in the passing van, prior to the blast.  Model 503 was never alive so Lana didn’t murder it.  Quite a neat and tidy explanation to the main S6 Finale cliffhanger from AlMiles.  Hopefully we find out exactly why Lex cloned his dearly beloved in episodes to come.  Anyway, as an officially dead woman, Lana cannot be convicted of murder so she is going to put a bullet in Lex’s black heart, which Lex blandly invites by stepping right up to the barrel.  Despite Lex’s “do it, the world will be a better place” (fan shakes head) we see that Lana is inherently good and pure and cannot pull the trigger.  Lex then promises that he will take care of everything and she can safely return to Smallville.  Some well-played emotion via those gorgeous big eyes and quivering lip from KK.  But argghhhh, what the hell are they doing to our evil super-genius??  He’s got to be planning something to allow himself to look this wimpy.  “I would never, ever hurt you again.  I’m sorry, Lana.”  Puh-lease!!!

Back at the Planet, GG gets Lois’s hopes up with a glowing appraisal of her spaceship article before shooting her down for lack of photographic evidence.  Chloe leaps to cuz’s defence only to have the Editor give Lois a job and a desk right beside her with a “if you’re lucky Sullivan, maybe some of her passion will rub off on you”.  Cop that Chloe.  AM looks suitable gutted and confused.

A quaint cousin-bonding scene in the Loft at sunset sees Clark asking Kara about his family.  Kara recounts that she used to slip away from Kandor (nice touch for mythos fans) to visit Lara, and that Kal-El was her miracle baby, before a little bit of “I’ve lost everyone” grief from her.  Clark reassures her that he is family and that she can stay with him.  Welcome aboard Kara Kent.  We then find out that a very important crystal (with directives and powers for Kara) was aboard the ship and would not have been destroyed even if the ship was.  Kara says it cannot fall into the wrong hands.  A fairly well-played scene with some now characteristic warmth and maturity from TW and a cute mixture of smiles and frowns from LV.

Back in Metropolis we find the head dude from the warehouse confirming that the ship was eviscerated but Kara’s blue crystal survived (who was he talking to on his cell phone?).  We find that head dude is from the Department of Domestic Security.  Damn, the Government knows about Kryptonian spaceships and has the crystal.

Clark is at a revived Fortress of Solitude where he is speaking with Jor-El.  Clark demands to know why Zor-El hasn’t been mentioned before.  Jor-El warns that Zor-El did not have the good of Krypton at heart and that he had nothing to do with Kara’s appearance and that she cannot be trusted.  He advises that Clark’s training starts with a watching assignment on Kara.  Clark is still pretty angsty towards his old man.  You’d think he would have learned by now that Jor-El was/is a legend and should be politely respected and listened to rather than barked at.

The closing scene has Lex asking his investigators to track down Kara by any means based on a Medusa-like sketch he has done of her.  I know you can shoot pool Lex, but I never knew you could draw so well!!

I found this episode a worthy follow up to an excellent season opener.  We met Kara/Supergirl and she didn’t disappoint (although LV was just a little wooden in her acting in places but I’m sure she’ll grow into the role), there was some good cousin chemistry forming between Clark and Kara, we got some degree of closure on the “is Lana still alive?” conundrum (and thankfully for us Lana fans, she appears to be), we have finally got Lois in as an employee of the Daily Planet (although sweet Chloe had her pride bruised along the way by the pompous Grant Gabriel), and it seems that the Government knows about Kryptonian spaceships (is Brainiac involved?) plus they have Kara’s crystal (what will they do with it?). Plenty of solid acting and trademark expressions throughout.

The only negatives were the continuation of wimpy Lex from the Premiere (surely he must be up to something), a lack of Clark super-heroics (please don’t let Kara overshadow him), and the ongoing “why can’t Clark fly” frustration, made worse by Kara’s taunts (one wonders how TPTB will explain this in the end).

Season 7 is gathering momentum nicely.  I gave “Kara” 8 out of 10.

Overall

There are two main camps regarding this episode.

One camp believes that this episode was irredeemably, incomprehensibly bad. The other camp maintains that the charm of the episode's strengths by far outweigh the weaknesses.

I am somewhere in the middle.

There were a number of problems with the episode, but I'll start with the successes.

1. First, the episode successfully established a number of important relationships - some one-on-one, some corporate. (By corporate relationships, I mean the relationships that change in tone because of the addition of a third person. The changes may be positive, negative, or neutral.) We saw Kara-Clark, Kara-Lex, Kara-Lana-Clark, Kara-Jimmy, and the reestablished Lana-Clark and Lana-Lex. (Chloe still does not seem to have found her place in relation to Kara, unfortunately.) All these relationships had a distinct dynamic that played out consistently, through all scenes.
2. Second, Lana's return was unexpectedly fulfilling, although not as poignant as some expected. Granted, it has been argued that her return was anticlimactic. But since Lana actually witnessed Clark's death in "Hidden," making his return later in the episode all the more emotionally powerful, I think they couldn't aim for the same level and type of emotion without the Law of Diminishing Returns taking effect. They needed something different. Moreover, there was a distinct tone of "reunion" in their conversations. Yes, they sounded more like long-lost friends or long-lost lovers than soulmates reuniting after one was thought to be dead. But this was the first time they had been able to speak openly in the course of their whole relationship. It was almost as if they were meeting again after a long absence, getting to know each other again. Feeling their way. I didn't mind this take on their reunion.
3. Third, Clark channeled his inner Jonathan. I never thought I'd see this on Smallville, and it was a fun surprise.
4. Fourth, we got to see Clark from a new perspective, and it gave hope for his future.
5. Fifth, the final scene with Lex and Kara. More on that in "Moments".

Unfortunately, the problems of the episode were significant and almost inescapable. Positioned between distasteful chunks of a freak-of-the-week A-plot that could have fit comfortably in failed Season Four, even the best elements of the show could not entirely escape the overtone of cheesiness.

Much as we love Clark’s parenting style playing off Kara’s preteen level of maturity, we have to roll our eyes when it takes place before and after an incredibly bad slow-motion shot of three vixens. Fascinating as it is to see Clark through Kara and Lana’s eyes – as a grown man – it loses impact when his big reconciliation scene comes directly after the defeat of the two sexy meteor freaks. Clark's emotional reunion with Lana, in fact, one of the highlights of the episode, cut straight to a shot of pretty pink shoes stalking down the sidewalk. The A-plot's distasteful flavor seeped into the edges of every good scene.

And then, even apart from the gimmicky A-plot, there were other specific problems.

1. Kara tries to come to grips with her powers and identity in her own way, something that Clark confesses is a good and proper thing. Except her way is by showing off her body to Smallville. The moral of her story boils down to, "If you’ve got it, flaunt it, girl."
2. Although Kara manages to make Clark feel like a stranger on Earth, we learn that another Kryptonian landed years ago, and that Earth was a part of the mysterious plans of the House of El. And we already know that Jor-El sent the Martian Manhunter to save Clark from any trouble. Instead of feeling alone, Clark should be feeling stalked.
3. The episode loses credibility with a number of giant questions bound to go unanswered, like:

• How exactly did Lana "siphon" ten million dollars away from Lex?
• Kara is posing as a Kent cousin. She's even arrested under the name "Kara Kent". But surely it would only take an Internet check to reveal that there is no Kara Kent. Moreover, when she entered the contest, she did not have any ID. In case that wasn't enough, when she was arrested, she didn't have any ID. Finally, she broke out of jail. Were there any repercussions, legal or otherwise, for any of these huge issues?

The situations felt so contrived at times that the actors settled for mediocrity at several important points during the episode. Were they reluctant to deliver such lines as, "She saved me from drowning in the evil of my ways"? Did they feel, as we did, like they’d been transported into S4 Land, and simply begin to act accordingly? (Surely I wasn’t the only one who experienced déjà vu when Kara glided into frame in her bikini.) Whatever the case, this episode was slightly ashamed of itself.

Endearing in spots, but awkward all over.

Verdict: 5.

Good/Bad Moments

1. The camera pans over an eyeful of bright yellow and red balloons, signs, and clothing. This felt distinctly reminiscent of Season Four, when they brightened the high school colors and found ways to overwhelm us with them.
2. Kara complains that she is sick of watching Bravo and CW shows. Funny.
3. Kara complains that, after weeks of Clark keeping her indoors, she only gets to go to a corn festival. She and Clark then have a discussion about using her abilities to find the crystal, right smack in the middle of a crowded booth. Wouldn’t they have had this conversation long before they got there? This was a MOCE (Moment Of Contrived Exposition).
4. Kara catches sight of Jimmy, and her eyes start to light up. Clark notices it. “Hey. Cool down.” He looks very awkward. “It’s okay. Used to happen to me all the time.” He’s so clearly embarrassed by the situation that we have to laugh. But when Clark started developing this ability, he started fires at two locations. This fun moment could have been better if Clark had put his hand in front of Kara’s eyes to absorb the blaze. Since Kryptonians can hurt each other, he would be burnt before he healed. That way Kara’s development would be a little more in line with the Smallville mythos, and Clark’s hyperprotectiveness would feel more justified.
5. Clark tells her about the time capsule story. Kara replies, “What I don’t get is why everyone is so excited to open up a bunch of old junk.” “How did you…” First, Kara’s comment doesn’t reveal that she looked in the capsule, so Clark has no reason to react with surprise. Second, considering that she did look in the capsule, it would have been more realistic if she’d said, shrugging, “It’s just a bunch of old junk.” Either that, or she could have made a comment about the map being there since, after all, that’s why everyone was excited. Third, nobody can tell if they use X-ray vision. Clark has used it in the mansion and in plain sight plenty of times himself. (He’s also used heat vision in plain sight, although those with him were usually distracted.) So Clark has no reason to be annoyed. Perhaps the whole point was that his annoyance here was unnecessary, but it would have been more believable if they’d both instinctively X-rayed it together.
6. The trio of evil, immature, and incomprehensibly shallow vixens stalks through the crowd in slow motion, rock music playing in the background. This was the point where viewers truly felt as if they’d been transported to Season Four. One Weather girl: “Out of our way. The new Miss Sweet Corn has arrived.” The camp of this moment was unspeakable.
7. “Hey, buddy. Kara throw you out of the house too? That’s all right, you can hang out here with me.” I liked this moment, both because it showed Clark’s gentle side, and because it implied that Kara at least had the decency to secure some privacy before she glided around in her bikini.
8. Lana enters the barn. Hauntingly beautiful piano music plays. She enters and pauses, looking at Clark. Sees Clark kneeling with his back turned, fixing something at normal speed. And there’s something about the picture that appeals to Lana. I liked this moment. We saw Clark through Lana’s eyes in this episode…Lana’s and Kara’s. And it served to make him a lot more like the Clark we’ve wanted him to be. More responsible. More Supermanish. Suddenly he’s a grown man running a farm and raising a cousin. Wow.
9. “Uh oh, looks like she found us. Kara, I’m almost done here, would you grab me the Phillips head screwdriver over there in the toolbox?” I loved this moment. It was completely unlike the reunion we expected, and yet there was something that seemed so right about it. I think part of what carried this scene was the excellent music, which conveyed their emotions as they wordlessly reunited.
10. It is a crime that the touching reunion scene segued into a jarring shot of bright pink shoes. This is why the episode felt almost irredeemably cheesy. It was impossible to escape the A-plot, even for a momentous scene in the barn.
11. “I never wanted to hurt you.” “But you didn’t trust me anough to let me help.” I appreciated it that Clark raised this objection, and that Lana promptly turned it around on him. This conversation definitely needed to happen.
12. “But I have to warn you, my life has become a little more…” Long pause so that we get a good look at Kara. “…Complicated.” Lana turns toward him. We’re afraid that the drama queen will make a reappearance. That she will condemn him for his secrets and lies. Instead she says, without batting an eye, “That might be an understatement.” The way Lana rolled with the punches here was magnificent. I can like this Lana.
13. Clark introduces Kara as his cousin, and before he’s even finished, Lana is smiling. When she discovers Kara’s identity, she beams. I’m not sure why the writers are so much more successful at establishing Lana-Kryptonian relationships than Chloe-Kryptonian relationships, but this is an excellent example of that pattern. Lana’s delighted to meet Kara, and Kara easily accepts Lana. It’s also just a fun moment, as clearly the Lana from the trailer (who is not the same when she comes back) is just like the old Lana.
14. “Ha ha, um, listen. When I talked about fitting in, I was thinking something with a little more clothes.” Clark’s earnest, awkward moment here was endearing.
15. It’s fascinating to see this side to Clark – Clark the head of the family. I had expected something more along the lines of a mature friendship, but the writers seem to have assigned Kara the maturity of a twelve-year-old, so this works. However, it will be difficult to maintain what they’ve established. Kara can’t leap back and forth from preteen to peer, and Clark can’t leap back and forth between parent and peer mentor. It remains to be seen whether their relationship and maturity levels can remain consistent.
16. “I guess I don’t have to ask which side of the family you come from.” Lana gives Clark a smile. She’s surprisingly relaxed here, considering her recent intense encounter with Lex. Significant, or something that the viewer is just supposed to accept?
17. “Right. Kinda like being the captain of a football team.” Score one for Kara. I suspect that if there were any Kara-haters, this line melted them.
18. “If you’re anything like me, you’re going to do this whether I want you to or not.” Clark sounded so much like Jonathan here. His head and eyebrow movement as he said, “But not until you learn to control your abilities” was spot-on. It was nice to see everything come full circle.
19. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a little uptight? You definitely get that from your father.” Clark was such a perfect image of Jonathan that at first I thought she meant Jonathan instead of Jor-El, and wondered how she came to see Jonathan in action.
20. “Let’s see you put a mug on this melon.” Over the past few seasons, Clark has lost his sense of humor. This dry line came as a surprise.
21. “That’s it. You’re not ready, and out there on that stage, there’s too many things that can go wrong!” My word, he’s exactly like Jonathan. Incidentally, I always hated it when Jonathan did that. He was much more patient (and hilariously proud) in “Heat”. Still, this moment felt like the writers were making lemons out of lemonade…making a funny and meaningful homage to Jonathan’s stubbornness.
22. “Now why would the government be interested?” I’m so accustomed to hearing that sentence finished with “…in the schedule of a small-town farmboy?” or something similar that this sentence felt cut off. I expected the government to be interested “in…” something. I rejoice at the originality of changing the usual sentence structure, but chopping off the end was only part of the answer. Lex should have said something like, “It’s a homemade drawing. I fail to see what the government finds so provocative.”
23. Jimmy, affectionately: “Not just ‘back’. But bearing gifts.” He hands her a picture of a frozen corpse. Sometimes Jimmy is dead weight, but other times he’s a stitch. This moment tickled me.
24. Chloe brushes off the frozen corpse story. First, Chloe has gotten better at covering her emotions. I liked this very subtle discomfort. Second, I liked the angle that the girl in the picture – at least once frozen – looked like Chloe. The way Chloe nervously looked at the photograph showed that she saw herself there. Nicely done.
25. Grant enters, shouting into his cellphone and broadcasting his half of the conversation to the entire basement of the Daily Planet. (Note: I stole this observation from Otto Berkeley. Hope you don’t mind, Otto.) [Anytime -- Otto] So not only is he pompous and self-conscious and disruptive, he’s also just plain rude.
26. “Frosted beauty queen! Not bad, Sullivan!” The delivery of this line made me feel as if I had slowly sunk my teeth into an icy popsicle. Grant sets me on edge every time.
27. Grant eagerly encourages Chloe. Although it was a relief that he was no longer forcibly shoving her down, his utter inability to listen to her reply was still gratingly condescending.
28. “And you might just get to follow in your cousin’s footsteps.” Although I know that this phrasing was very intentional and was simply meant to make Chloe feel competitive, the weird look which accompanied it – an elfish raised eyebrow and a crooked smile – pushed this over the line into “repulsive” territory.
29. “Show ‘em what you got, Chloester.” I have to admit, Jimmy has a funny sense of humor sometimes. I still don’t know why he and Chloe are together, but he has the makings of a decent character.
30. I believe they used a new establishing shot of the Kent home. Nice.
31. “Remind me to thank my mom. Before Kara, I had no idea what she and my dad went through.” Again, this attitude is distinctly parental. I like it that he is now the parent having this conversation in the kitchen, but I hope that this angle won’t disappear and reappear from episode to episode.
32. “Don’t you think you’re being a little hard on Kara?” “ Clark, your parents trusted you to live your life and find that balance on your own. Don’t you think Kara deserves that same chance?” Although their deliveries in the first part of this conversation sounded more like actors doing a practice run than an actual conversation, I liked it that Lana and Clark were talking about Kara as if she was their child. Cute.
33. “This is how you’ve had to live your whole life, isn’t it?” Lana is getting a glimpse into Clark’s life, and it’s really, really good for her. This was payoff for all the resentful accusations over the years.
34. “Of all the conversations I imagined having with you about my powers, this was not one of them. I can’t believe I ever worried that you wouldn’t understand.” Actually, Lana’s lack of understanding hasn’t been the problem, especially after “Reckoning” – the big obstacle was the danger her knowing posed. As I’ve noted before, the writers seem to have abandoned the idea of Clark’s secret being dangerous: virtually everyone significant in the Smallville world knows. Even Lex is well aware of the secret, although he never secures any absolute proof.
35. “I got your message.” Lex makes an awkward gesture with his hands. His head is tilted sideways at an uncomfortable angle. “I guess it would have been a little awkward for you to come to the mansion.” Another awkward hand gesture. “I understand.” Another awkward hand gesture. “This isn’t a conversation I’ve been looking forward to having.” Another awkward hand gesture. Sigh. “I guess I just wasn’t ready.” Another awkward hand gesture. Then he stuffs his hands into his pockets. Was this an expert portrayal of the intense awkwardness that Lex feels, meeting Lana in Clark’s home? Or was it simply as out of place as it felt? What has always set the Lex-Lana relationship apart was their intimacy, the comfort and familiarity with which they addressed each other even in their coldest fights, even when she held a gun to his chest. This abruptly changed that dynamic. Is it because the meeting is taking place in the Kent home? Whatever the justification one could find for this moment, it made me shift uncomfortably. It felt like the acting quality suddenly took a plunge.
36. “Well, with a little persuasion…” Lex’s hands come out and he makes another awkward hand gesture. “…the DA has decided not to press charges.” “…the felon my father sent to prison…” Another awkward hand gesture. “You’re a free woman.” Another awkward hand gesture. I’m certain by now that they’re intentional, but they’re making me squirm. The camera angle contributed to my discomfort; while Lana is permitted to fill a significant portion of the frame, Lex is only shown from a fairly wide shot, the camera below his head, so that we are at a distance looking up at him. The scene might have flowed better if he had gotten the same closeup shots that Lana did.
37. Lex gets his first close camera shot. “I don’t suppose I can ask you to somehow see that every horrible thing I did…was because I truly do love you.” Although this wasn’t as compelling as his “Kara” scene last week, I still believed him here. Nobody in Smallville will ever believe him – that’s his curse – but here we were meant to believe him.
38. “I don’t want your money.” For the first time, Lex seems to smile. “Should I assume that includes the ten million you skillfully siphoned out from under me?” This was a nice moment, bringing the old level of intimacy back into the conversation.
39. “It’s not every day someone’s clever enough to manage a coup like that. Although I’m not sure Clark would see it that way.” The deep, musing music rises. The music for Lex-Lana scenes is always gorgeous and stirring. It emphasizes the tragic tension between them.
40. “I understand he has a cousin visiting.” The music becomes cold. The camera slowly circles Lana. It’s a challenge. Lana turns around and answers with a hint of a defiant smile. “From Minnesota.” Lex turns and smiles, inscrutable. “I look forward to meeting her.” He leaves. The unspoken threat behind this moment, and the fact that it remained unspoken – marvelous.
41. Chloe: “Hey. Thank you so much for calling us.” Kara, awkwardly: “No problem.” The writers still haven’t found the Chloe-Kara dynamic yet. Although Kara’s reply was deliberately awkward, there’s a haltingness to the scenes between them that doesn’t feel intentional. (Chloe doesn’t say another word until Kara has departed, making their relationship feel even more undefined.)
42. “The doctors said that Jimmy’s suffering from hypothermia, but he’ll be fine.” Chloe and Clark came in together, and seemed to have traveled to the hospital together, as signified by Chloe’s “thank you for calling us”. (Otherwise, Clark would have arrived at Jimmy’s room far sooner than Chloe.) This means that Chloe would have known about Jimmy’s hypothermia. This was another MOCE.
43. Chloe takes the opportunity to give Clark the scoop on the Weather girls, but, again, they seemed to have been together for a while. Another MOCE.
44. Clark stands in the back of the Talon like a parent, embarrassed to be there but showing up for Kara, not in the least interested by the “vapid eye candy”. He doesn’t have a hint of a smile. I appreciated that they didn’t sugarcoat the absurdity of this moment by having Clark sit down and enjoy himself.
45. “She saved me from drowning in the evil of my ways.” This was so uncharacteristically trite. I have to believe that there was a private hint of facetiousness here. Lex is trying to phrase it in such a way that the government agent will dismiss it…right?
46. “I mean, we are on the same side, aren’t we?” Intriguing moment.
47. “Kara Kent, you’re under arrest.” Kara looks helplessly at Clark. It was a relief that her foolish exploits didn’t lead to a happy ending, that she found herself looking to Clark for help. But considering the way the prison plot was dropped, perhaps there isn’t much to celebrate in this moment.
48. “Your patronizing watermelon tutorials, your reprimands, or your general disinterest in everything I’ve done since I showed up?” I understand the second objection. The first, however, didn't refer to anything genuinely problematic …it wasn’t really any different from Clark’s scarecrow and candle experiments in “Heat,” and she should have kept at it longer than she did. And the third…I thought the problem was that he was too interested and involved in her every move.
49. “There was some freak gust of wind that blew it away.” Clark groans. Chloe, intervening, “Okay, it’s all right, it’s all right. Sounds like one of the Weather girls.” I thought Clark’s reaction to the map and its disappearance was a little extreme. His insistence that she stay in jail until Chloe got her out legally, his exasperation with her secrecy, I could believe; but the groans and the “Why not?” were too much.
50. “Well, there better be something good in this box.” This is possibly one of the most stilted lines I’ve ever heard on Smallville. It isn’t colossally bad, but even by the greatest stretches of the imagination, I can’t see anyone, in any tone, of any age, in any situation, ever saying it.
51. Weather girl: “You’re not as tough as you talk.” Kara’s voice: “But I am.” I wanted to bury my face in my hands here.
52. Kara rushes up and hugs him. “ Clark, I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you,” she says. This simply didn’t ring true. First, she hasn’t had any problem going against his wishes before. Second, since she just defeated the Weather girls and saved Clark, her first words would more likely be, “What did I tell you?”
53. “Does that mean you’re going to stop trying to tell me what to do?” “Probably not. Isn’t that what family’s for?” They exchange huge smiles. It so happened that someone walked into the room during this moment, stared, then looked at me with raised eyebrows. This “What are you watching?” look may have colored my reaction to this moment, but I think that even without it, this moment was cringe-inducing.
54. “What about in fifty years? Look, I’m sorry, but we both know what’s going to happen to everyone you love. And if you think you can just spend your life here hiding on the farm…growing old with Lana…you’re fooling yourself.” I appreciated it that the writers tried to restore the “You are alone” theme here, even if it meant less coming after a conversation about a third Kryptonian on Earth.
55. “We found her. Just where you said she would be.” Presumably this is the Kent farm, not jail or the Miss Sweet Corn Pageant. (I'm not even going into the joke that begs to be made here.) Nice that Lex recognized the Kryptonian touch in his second mysterious savior.
56. “Congratulations. You just delivered a front-page freak story.” I certainly hope this wasn’t meant to be taken seriously. If Chloe truly made the front page of the Daily Planet – or the front page of any section, for that matter – we needed to be told in a more meaningful way than a MOCE. And if this is just speculation, and they were simply informing us that she turned in her story, they could have conveyed the point more believably. It just needed a flirtatious touch: “We will be reading your story on the front page tomorrow.” “You think so?” “Well, day after tomorrow.” (Cutesy? Yes. But that’s the Chloe-Jimmy relationship.)
57. “You know, when we first got together, I thought you were pretty prejudiced. Quick to jump to the conclusion that some meteor-infected murderer was behind every bad thing that happened in Smallville.” That’s a tongue twister. Jimmy needed a less awkward, more heartfelt line here. Like, “You know, when we first got together, I thought you were pretty prejudiced. Everything that went wrong, you were pretty quick to blame it on some meteor-infected murderer.” That would make Chloe feel guilty about her prejudices and sound more believable coming from Jimmy.
58. “Well, you’re right. I’ve seen enough now to know that, sooner or later, they all…snap. So from now on, it’s open season on the infected.” This was a good concept, tagging Chloe with a stereotype of her own making.
59. Just when I was starting to feel somewhat reconciled to Jimmy and Chloe dating, Jimmy gazed longingly at Kara. Ouch. It remains to be seen whether this development is really necessary, but as it stands, it feels very, very wrong.
60. I liked the choice of music as Clark and Lana strolled through the festival/carnival atmosphere. No idea what the lyrics said, but the music and imagery conveyed freedom, with the music bringing a little sadness.
61. “I know exactly what I’m getting into. Clark, I came back here for you. For us. I never want to let the past come between us again. I want us to wake up every morning and be there for each other. I want to grow old together.” This was a good moment. Lana needed to make it clear where she stood, since from Season Four she has been the one throwing obstacles in the way of their relationship. And the ominous significance of the last line – the impossibility of their truly growing old together – was the perfect bittersweet ending to their story here.
62. The cat and mouse game between Kara and Lex was probably Holly Harold’s best work on the show so far. “You must have been through a terrible ordeal.” “You were there.” Lex is desperate for honesty in a town that holds so many dark secrets. His quest is hopeless, and he’s already starting to realize it, but he keeps trying. That’s the tragedy of Lex.
63. Lex tells Kara everything that he’s wanted to tell Clark, all in one long speech. “It’s okay. I won’t tell anyone, I promise. Your secret’s safe with me. I’ve already protected you.” This was compelling. One felt as if Lex must have been bursting to say it for years, and now he’s unloading it all at once on Kara.
64. “Like I would have protected others close to me, if they would have told me the truth. This time I’m hoping to change all that.” We honestly believe him. But he’s just met Kara. Can he really ask that she tell him her secret the first time they exchange words? His unrealistic expectations here were a hint that he’s still not balanced.
65. “I just need you to be honest with me.” Here Lex essentially puts responsibility for his actions on her. Tell me the truth, and I’ll do the right thing by you. It’s a mixture of opportunity and ultimatum. It would really, really be interesting if Kara did what Clark did not, showing us the flipside of Lex.
66. “Sooner or later, I’ll find out the truth. Are you a savior? Or are you a warning?” I’m still trying to figure out what this meant. It sounded profound, but it’s baffling.

Details

1. “I can’t wait to see the look on Chloe’s face when she finds out you’re alive.” “She can’t. Not yet.” It’s official, apparently – Chloe wasn’t involved in Lana’s escape. I had hopes that Lana’s superhuman feats could be made plausible by Chloe’s involvement, thus helping Chloe to escape the Clark’s Little Helper label. This was a disappointing development.
2. Kara walks in, casually unclad. Because this is exactly what Smallville needs, another half-naked chick. Does this mean that Lois can keep her clothes on now? (Sorry. Small rant.)
3. The editing was a bit sloppy as Clark said, “Can you just go change, please?” and Kara made her face of protest. Kara’s look should have been cut off sooner, and Clark’s firm “Now” should have come in sooner.
4. “It’s all about control, which you don’t have.” As Clark straightens the melon, he keeps staring beyond the melon off-camera, as if aligning the melon with something. Since I’m not sure what on earth he would align the melon with, my guess is that this was simply to give Tom Welling something to do. It looks slightly ridiculous.
5. “I was wondering…yours looks so good.” Her what? I was honestly at a loss to figure out Kara’s reference the first time around. Possibly this was because I started to shut down during every pageant scene, but still, a specific noun would have been helpful here.
6. It was unclear why Kara went over to the two Weather girls and asked for help. Did she honestly want help, or was she motivated by overhearing their vague conversation about a “problem”? Considering her hurt reaction, her approach didn’t appear to have anything to do with their conversation; but in that case, why was a point made of showing her overhearing it first?
7. Jimmy’s eyes were red this episode.
8. Jimmy, a Daily Planet photographer, takes a picture of the two remaining Weather girls. They promptly decide to murder him. The motivation here wasn’t clear at all.
9. “I have got a major lead on our ice queen.” Again, why? He overheard the sheriff asking questions about the two new girls?
10. Right after saying, “I have got a major lead on our ice queen,” freezing air spews into the car. Jimmy’s reaction is to reach for the air conditioner. When this is ineffective and the windows start to ice over and frost appears on his face, it takes him six full seconds (“one mississipi, two mississipi…”) to reach for the door handle. This was bad.
11. Jimmy never tried using the door handle to break the window, which would have been brittle from the freezing.
12. As Lex enters the Kent home, we see that the house is filled with flowers. I always thought that the floral decorations were Martha’s touch. Since Kara has barely been let out of the house, please don’t tell me that Clark has gone flower-gathering.
13. “Should I assume that includes the ten million you skillfully siphoned out from under me?” How exactly did this take place?
14. I disliked the concept of kryptonite being disintegrated by heat vision. First, if Kara discovered it during her first real encounter with kryptonite, then Clark looks exceptionally slow. Second, this gives Clark an easy answer to every kryptonite predicament, as long as the kryptonite is in a solid form and he’s a certain distance away.
15. “I know that you need to figure out how to use your abilities your own way.” Peaceful smiles. Neither of them appears to be concerned that Kara just broke out of jail and could be arrested any minute. Is Chloe left trying to fend the sheriff away from the empty jail cell? Does Clark sneak Kara back into jail and search for a way to vindicate her? And that vindication surely couldn’t come from pointing out the unconscious Weather girls trying to uncover the treasure, since Kara knocked the girls out and he took the treasure.

Well, the much anticipated (well by this Smallville fanatic anyway!!) Season 7 Premiere, Bizarro, certainly didn’t disappoint.  This was an action-packed season opening that followed in the SV tradition of hectic episode ones.  From the superbly edited recap sequence to the Clark v Bizarro battle scenes, this installment had plenty for us Smallville tragics to salivate over.

We open with a father and son fishing downstream of Reeves Dam, Lex sitting sullenly in a Police car after his arrest and Lois dragging an unconscious Chloe out of the water within the Dam structure.  The dam bursts in some tidy special effects (I particularly liked the reflection of the dam’s collapse in the Police car window as a disbelieving Lex watches the catastrophe unfolding) and next thing you know the Cop car and Lex are being washed away in the surge.  Clark, after the super-collision with Bizarro, dusts himself off in a forest some distance from the Dam.  Bizarro swoops down through the trees and his crystalline features (explained later in the episode as being caused by exposure to the yellow sun) blink out.  Clark wants to get back to the dam to help the injured but a deep-voiced Bizarro spin-kicks him into a nearby boulder (looked like the same one that Lexod beat the snot out of Clark on!!!).  He then holds Clark’s attention by telling him he has all his memories and thoughts (“every last twisted one”) and how he won’t make the same mistakes when he is living Clark’s life.  The chalky one then under-estimates Clark in taking a swing at him, and is super-punched miles away into an electricity transmission tower.  A real “hell yeah” moment.

Back to our trout-trackers.  A rumbling wall of water comes roaring around the bend and the dad trips and bangs his head.  Some “Clark-time” ensues as our hero zips into view and uses his heat vision to vaporize the torrent.  The special effects were a little cheesy in this scene but only rate a minor mark down.  Clark then gives a very Supermanly nod to the gob-smacked lad who is trying to wake his dad up.  Clark speeds off to a “whoa” from the boy.  Another “hell yeah” moment but I’ve lost count of just how many people in the Smallville world now know that the our primary-colored leading man has super powers (pretty much everyone except Lex!!).

Beyond the new opening credits (with KK now demoted to position 3 in the cast listing) we find a soon-to-be-unconscious Lex struggling in vain to free himself from the submerged Police car before we get our first look at Kara, a floating vision that Lex lets himself believe is an angel (well, for this episode at least).  Cut to the buckled transmission tower where Bizarro is impaled on piece of steel.  After he slides himself off the steel with an evil grin, he fries a would-be rescuer with his own sparky heat vision, just to emphasise that he really is a bad, bad version of Clark.  Nicely played by TW.

Back to the Dam, we see Lois dragging Chloe to a dry spot before she looks into a water-filled room full of floating “bodies”.  Can this really be the end of Lex’s super-army?  TPTB seem to have gone to a lot of trouble to have Lex create these super-soldiers only to wipe them out in S07E01.  I guess we’ll see as the season unfolds.  The youngest phantom host then startles Lois and asks for help.  After we get a shot of an unconscious Lionel being dragged away from the river bank, a wall of rubble then collapses within the Dam and in comes Clark (“the ceiling is unstable, it’s lucky it caved in”) to rescue Lois, the boy and, much to Clark’s concern, a lifeless looking Chloe.

Down on the Kent Farm, Bizarro is raiding Clark’s loft for Green-K, which we see has the power to heal him.  For the female fans TW rips off his T-shirt and reveals that he has been working out in the off-season!!  More evil grins from Bizarro as his wounds heal and the Green-K turns white.  I think TW enjoys the opportunity to play the villain and stretch away from the wimpy, whiney Big Dumb Alien.

Lex comes to on the river bank and looks up to see his angel who then promptly flies away.  Over to Smallville Medical Centre where Chloe is fighting for her life.  She has a team of doctors working on her.  Outside the theatre a pensive Lois explains her near-death-at-the-end-of-an-eight-inch-knife experience to Clark.  They jointly explain her survival away with the rather dodgy idea that Lex’s experimenting laboratory dudes must’ve done something to her and Chloe, before Lois says she’s off to take her chances with Dr Evil (Lex) and get Lana to help her do some digging.  Cue sad expressions from TW, which are cut short by Lois who doesn’t want to hear another heart-to-heart about Lana.

Over to LuthorCorp Tower where an executive and a security team are making preparations to remove Lex from US jurisdiction via chopper.  Lex recounts his angel vision and asks why would she save him.  Some moist-eyed recounting of morning images of Lana (“she was the only thing I was living for”) and Lex says he’s turning himself in to the Police.  Oh where has our beloved super-villain gone?  Does he believe in redemption of the soul?  Surely not?  Harden up, you big sook.

On to an amusing little scene at the Mansion where Bizarro meets Lois (who thinks it’s Clark) for the first time.  Bizarro can’t believe Clark hasn’t made a move on her as he ogles her then grabs her ass, much to Lois’s mock disgust followed by a slap.  Bizarro has made his point and leaves.  Back to SMC where concern amongst the medical emergency team for Chloe’s well-being increases before she flat-lines and they try to jump-start her unsuccessfully.  Looks like our super sidekick has bitten the dust.  But hooray (and not surprisingly given all the off-season spoilers) it’s not so, as Chloe wakes up in a body drawer in the morgue.  A shocked Clark finds out that Chloe didn’t make it but in his swirling emotions of grief his super-hearing kicks in to detect Chloe’s screams from the morgue.  He frees a rather freaked out Chloe from dead-storage and cutely removes her toe-tag to officially welcome her back to the land of the living.  Clark digs for what really happened to Lois and Chloe in the Dam but Chloe blows him off before seeing her own death certificate and then Lana’s.  Some suitable sad and shocked expressions are exchanged between Chloe and Clark.  That’s some ace on-screen chemistry TW and AM have.

We are now in Lex’s holding cell with legal advisor Keating playing back a tape of the infamous bitch-slap Lex laid on Lana in Phantom.  “Doubt we’ll be able to get you bail” but Lex is more worried about recovery efforts on the super-army at the Dam and on the whereabouts of model 503 (do I hear Clona?).  Some noble “I was brought back to face my demons” palaver from Lex (was the evil washed out of our malevolent genius in the dam burst?) before Bizarro appears, rips off the cell door and guts Keating.  Bizarro needs meteor rocks to take on and kill Clark but Lex says he’d never help him kill Clark.  Bizarro asks why would Lex protect someone who hates him when he can help the one who wants to be his ally.  Lex’s mind ticks over.

Some suitable and well played grief from AM/Chloe at the Talon apartment as she watches some home movies of girlie escapades in New York with Lana on her PC.  Some big guy emotional strength from Clark “there’s a lot more people that can get hurt right now” avoids some tears from the man in the red jacket and focuses Chloe on the matters at hand.  Clark explains that the phantom needed a Kryptonian body to become whole and the resulting entity is powerful and can fly.  “You gotta get on that one Clark” says Chloe and all the fans!!!  And very Chloe-like, she christens the creature “Bizarro-Clark”.  A bit of hero to sidekick banter and they determine that Bizarro reacts the opposite to Clark e.g. Green-K makes Bizarro stronger.  Chloe tracks the latest meteor rock movements to Reeves Dam, so that’s where they think bad Clark will go.

Back at the Kent Farm Clark is chatting with the Martian Manhunter (now fully healed after leaving Earth’s atmosphere for a while).  Lots of soul-searching about Clark’s humanity before they get into the key discussion that Clark derives strength from the yellow sun while it weakens Bizarro.  On to Reeves Dam where Lex has taken Bizarro to the Green-K shipment.  Lex tries a bit of a double cross but gets belted unconscious for his trouble.  Clark shows up just as Bizarro is powering up on the Green-K radiation.  A scared looking Clark is ready to do what ever it takes to defeat Bizarro. A pre-emptive strike from Clark is repelled with a double fisted punch by Bizarro, leaving Clark motionless amongst the rubble.  The old “villain fails to finish off the hero” cliché kicks in at this point as Bizarro looks down disdainfully at the fallen Clark then turns and walks away.  Some cool yellow sun healing Clark’s wounds moments ensue before a recovered Clark taunts Bizarro with “Hey. Is that all you got?”  As Bizarro walks into the light we see the telltale crystalline facial features appear and his next punch on Clark is ineffectual.  Clark lines up a super-punch and dispatches his imperfect copy skyward, where he is intercepted (fairly obviously by MM) and transported to places unknown.  Clark looks suitable happy with the outcome.  “Hell yeah” moment number 3.

Back to the Kent Farm, where Clark is listening to news reports of Lana’s death.  Chloe offers some words of support before Clark questions whether Bizarro is any more evil than he is, given that he himself had intensions to kill Lex at the Dam to avenge Lana, and how he ironically now thinks he finally really understands Lex in a cool “love is difficult but hate is so clean” speech.  Clark tells Chloe that he saw the monster he could become in Bizarro’s eyes and is not human but is reassured by his best friend that coming from a galaxy far, far away just adds character to his obvious humanity.  Chloe offers the “I’m here for you” line and Clark say ditto, which Chloe deflects.  Clearly she is too freaked about her own meteor power to talk it through with her big buddy and wants to do some soul-searching before sharing.  Time for some levity as Lois joins them and after some heart-felt sympathy about hearing of Lana’s demise, Ms Lane warns him that if he ever grabs her ass again, she’ll take his head off.  Some “what the…” looks from Clark to Chloe only get a grinning response.

On to a sad-looking Clark in the loft getting reassurance from MM about his taking of responsibility for dealing with all the phantoms and that he is not weak for caring about humans, “they have made you what you are”. 

We end the episode with a dialogue-free montage accompanied by Kelly Clarkson’s “Sober” (quite a nice choice in line with many excellent scores that have been put together for SV episodes over the years).  First up we see Chloe burning her death certificate with a rather serious look on her face, then Lex is shunted into a cell and looks sadly at a happy snap of him and Lana in more joyous times, then it’s off to Shanghai for a less than perfect reveal of Lana amongst the thronging masses in (for heaven’s sake) a cheesy blonde wig.  I swear, the writers just keep serving up curve balls for poor old KK.  Why would an apparently murdered wife of a billionaire wanting to go incognito, do so but strutting around as a blonde amongst a country of people pre-disposed to having straight dark hair?  It just looked goofy.  The montage moves on to Lana and Clark simultaneously gazing up at the moon (presumably to signify their undeniable love-link), before another superhero moment with Kara doing the hands-on-hips pose (which was just a tad cheesy) atop a water tower before flying off into the closing credits.

As an unabashed Smallville fan, I really liked this episode, which didn’t disappoint after the long off-season wait.  The special effects were more than adequate (although just a little cheap looking in one or two places), the acting was strong (especially from TW with his normal understated, expression heavy performance, and his admirably pulling off of the good Clark/bad Clark double act, and AM, with her ongoing and pivotal super-sidekick role) and the action was frenetic, packed full of super-moments to keep the mythos fans happy.  Another strong point was that Bizarro was not killed off, leaving it open for him to return and create mayhem in later Season 7 episodes.  The only minor point deductions where for Lex’s softness in believing he was being redeemed by an angel and then choosing to face his accusers (hell, would the real Lex ever do this?), the potential quick killing-off of the army of super soldiers from 33.1 after a full season 6 build up of said army, and the rather odd choice of putting Lana in a blonde wig disguise in China.  The off-season has been abuzz with rumours of a clone Lana but this episode didn’t clarify this issue (although the episode-starting recap did show the long-haired “soldier” in 33.1 – is this Clona?).  I guess most of us think that the real Lana escaped the car bomb in the passing van in Phantom but the closing scenes didn’t clear this up one way or another. Maybe we’ll know in an episode or two.

The episode had me hanging for each new scene and demanding that I rewatch it several times to pick up all the special moments that played out.  All-in-all, an excellent season Premiere that has set up Season 7 as a potentially great one.  Let’s hope the writers maintain their mojo.  I gave “Bizarro” 8.5 out of 10.

Overall

There are two basic views regarding this episode. According to some, the episode injected freshness and potential into a show that, admittedly, had begun to peter out. According to others, the new developments in this episode were so contrived as to be completely unacceptable. Although I am somewhere in the middle, I confess that I tend toward the latter perspective. Not only did most major developments seem contrived, but there were just too many elements to this episode that rubbed me the wrong way.

I’ll start with the problems.

Contrived

• The biggest stretch of credulity was the role that Lana supposedly played. Granted, we could see the clone explanation coming a mile away. The pieces all fit so clearly that it didn’t seem like too great a stretch, especially considering that we knew relatively little of Lana and to what lengths she would go until the last several episodes of S6. But Lana, despite her newfound resourcefulness, could not have seriously penetrated Lex’s security, managed to break into the clone room, zipped up Model 503 in a body bag, wheeled the body bag out past security again, obtained and rigged the bomb, traveled to Shanghai, and set herself up in an expensive apartment wearing expensive clothes without any assistance. Either the writers intend to claim that she actually did all this, or we will discover that someone helped her out in many significant ways. And if the latter, then the portrait they painted of Lana in this episode as an entirely independent woman was completely unjustified.
• Would Lana really leave a trail of “bread crumbs” for Lex to lure him to Shanghai in order to shoot him? (The fact that she could not shoot him in the end answers this question: she simply isn’t that cold-blooded.)
• It’s a given that all editors at the Daily Planet are abrasive and push their writers to be better without any regard for said writers’ feelings. But did Grant’s dynamic personality really require that he bellow every word he spoke? And would such a “boy wonder” editor really be so intrigued by a spaceship story from an Inquisitor reporter? (More on that later.)
• Suspended animation? We saw that when Clark traveled in his spaceship, he aged several years – from an infant to a three-year-old. So why would Kara, living in her spaceship, freeze?

Disappointing

• They've finally admitted it. Chloe Sullivan has lost the magic. We've seen it coming ever since Season Three. But we didn't want them to admit that Chloe isn't the charming intrepid reporter she used to be. We wanted them to wake up and make Chloe the charming intrepid reporter she used to be.
• It’s official. Lex’s entire army has been destroyed. That whole plot, which took up such a large chunk of S6, went nowhere.
• Kara’s character and role kept morphing. I assume that she is supposed to be untrustworthy, matter of fact, and a little detached, even if ultimately we realize that her heart is in the right place. And in spots, she was – cluelessly quizzing little boys, looking and feeling like a stranger on earth, etc. But then at other times she lapsed into pre-teen pettiness (“That’s what happens when you touch my stuff,” knocking Lois out, kicking at Clark, etc.). And at still other times she seemed to slide into a comfortable, intimate, sisterly role (recalling Clark on Krypton, feeling stunned at the discovery of Krypton’s fate). I felt that the writers couldn’t decide who and what she was, and as a result, her character was chaotic and frankly exasperating.
• Kara’s arrival also quenched two important elements on the show – the sense of mystery and distance surrounding Krypton, and the angle that Clark Kent is ultimately a lonely stranger on Earth. Now we’re starting to see Krypton as a place swarming with quarrelsome, irritable families and blue-eyed blondes. And as for Clark, every time he feels a sense of loss and loneliness, a new meteor freak or extraterrestrial shows up at his doorstep, claiming friendship.

The good points:

• They showed Lana acting on her masterplan, instead of simply telling us. I appreciated that they returned to previous events and showed a new side to them…particularly the “mailman” arm pulling Lana into the truck as the SUV exploded. And I wouldn’t mind if, in the future, they returned to the clone room flashbacks and expanded them a little in the same way…revealing the person who must have knocked out the security guards, etc.
• The Department of Domestic Security. First, the fact that such a department was fabricated. Second, the fact that a government department (real or not) is taking notice of Kryptonian relics. It’s what blackmailers like Nixon have always threatened, yet I don’t think it’s ever happened until now.
• Lex. As Jeff Woodie put it, all the fascinating layers of Lex were on painful display. His love for Lana, his neurotic, compulsive need for her love in return, his desperate emotional manipulation as he told her to shoot him, his offer to take care of whatever she needed so that she could return…This was Lex at his most brilliant and most poignant.

And then the points hovering over the line, ready to dip one way or the other. You decide whether or not these were successes or failures.

• Clark’s snippy conversation with Jor-El. I felt that this was intentional on the part of the writers, reinforcing the image of the House of El as one big dysfunctional family. But would it have been better to maintain the cold sense of distance that Jor-El and Clark have always had? I had wanted the two to develop a little more familiarity – they’ve been communicating for four or five years now – but was this going overboard? And, inarguably, the scene did show that the writers still aren’t sure where Clark and Jor-El stand in relation to each other…what Jor-El really desires for Clark, and to what extent Clark trusts Jor-El.
• Lois. She not only gained a more significant and relevant role, but she also stumbled onto The Great Secret. At least part of it.

  Positive

  Lois is finally getting involved in the meteor/Kryptonian mysteries. After years of doing nothing but acting as an obstacle, third wheel, or at best, an entirely peripheral character, she's getting closer to the heart of Smallville. And she has something to do.

  Negative

  Will her involvement have serious consequences? Probably not. To use an odd analogy, consider the mystery of Clark & Co. a sealed tin can. Lois, after overlooking said tin can for years, has finally noticed the tin can and begun circling it and inspecting it. But we can be fairly certain that she's not even going to make a dent in it, much less open it. Instead, she will get knocked out. Repeatedly.

  Positive

  Lois is now developing her "intrepid reporter" persona and working at the Daily Planet. After her S4 groaning about hating to write, and general lack of ambition, this is a relief. Her character is going somewhere at last.

  Negative

  The only reason Lois got the job was because an impossibly young editor had a crush on her and kept talking to her over Chloe's head the first day they met. Grant played favorites with her before he had read a line of her work, so his Lois-worship could only have been due to three factors - 1) her looks, 2) her bluntness, and/or 3) her insisting that she'd seen a spaceship and that there was an alien invasion. None of which are valid reasons why he would have latched onto her that way. It was also clear that Chloe is capable of writing stories based on concrete and provable facts, while Lois tends to write stories based on conjecture and filled with embellishments. So Lois's being lifted on a pedestal and praised as the future star of Daily Planet felt extremely contrived and undeserved.

Were these moments, mixtures of good and bad, forgivable or unforgivable?

No matter which way the balance of the last category tips, for me the bad outweighs the good.

Verdict: 4 out of 10.

Good/Bad Moments

1. “Lois, you’ve had a near-death experience. You should be resting. What are we doing out here?” “I’m going to find out what Lex is up to.” Would Clark really have followed Lois on foot into the woods and waited until then to warn her that she shouldn’t be here, and ask her what they were doing? This was a moment of contrived exposition. A MOCE. (Incidentally, “moce” is also a word of farewell in Fiji. Literal translation, “sleep.” I’m liking this as a term for contrived expositional moments that lose the viewer.)
2. “Besides, it gives me a good opportunity to say goodbye.” “You can’t break up with me, Clark. We’re not even a couple.” A more natural reaction would have been, “Goodbye? Where are you going?” The writers sacrificed believable dialogue here in order to toss in a Future Reference.
3. I liked the moment when Lois realizes that she is going to miss Clark. If I were completely ignorant of the Superman mythology, this would still work.
4. “Come on, Lois. You and I both know they don’t really exist.” As Clark calls to Lois, he nervously looks around for the owner of the spaceship, talking off the top of his head to distract her. This was a well-executed moment.
5. “I was the one who helped you to your feet. Why do you think I’ve got mud all over me.” Clark finishes conclusively and shoots Chloe a look. Somehow this look cracks me up. I like Clark here.
6. “Whoa. Sounds like we got ourselves a true blue super-girl.” Supergirl is part of our vocabulary, but it isn’t part of theirs. And the term “super” really isn’t used any more, so this wasn’t a believable nickname for Chloe to concoct. This Future Reference was contrived.
7. “Yeah, what is it with you people? Are you the only half decent member of your Kryptonian race?” The first sentence was funny. The second sentence was awkward (“member of your Kryptonian race”), injudicious (Lois is in the next room), and a little insulting (half decent?).
8. Chloe blocks the door and says resolutely, “ You know what, Lois, no. I'm sorry. But after everything we've just been through together, I'm not letting you put yourself in danger. I'm taking you to the hospital.” In the background, Clark smiles appreciatively. Chloe shoots him a look on the way out. I liked this moment. I always love it when Clark and Chloe work so smoothly together. And this was fairly subtle, unlike some of their behind-Lois’s-back looks.
9. “He blew up my wife to get back at me?” Lex muses, troubled. This acting was spot on. We can see that he’s been thinking about this for some time. He’s even willing to try to disprove the disgruntled employee’s claim, if it will help him find Lana.
10. “Look, Chloe, you’re Lana’s best friend. If she told anyone about her plan, it would be you. Tell me, Chloe. Tell me everything you know.” Intriguing moment. If Chloe truly was the hidden hand behind some of Lana’s accomplishments, and if we witness some believable resourcefulness and ingenuity on her part, this could go a long way toward restoring her image.
11. “…writing filler stories sandwiched between sofa ads by day.” If Grant has such a low opinion of Chloe’s writing, then why was he so enthusiastic about meeting Lois when he thought she was Chloe? It could be argued that he saw her enthusiasm and curiosity about the unknown, and thought that the talent of The Torch still lingered somewhere, waiting to be reawakened. But more likely he was busier checking her out. This moment was irksome.
12. “See, that's the kind of old-guard thinking that's putting newspapers in the crapper all around this country.” Chloe, in disbelief: “Since when is truth in journalism old-guard?” Grant, as if it’s obvious: “She says it’s true. I believe her.” This was the giveaway. An editor who believes it simply because he heard a complete stranger say it. If he truly operated on a mindset like that, how did he get to be editor at the Daily Planet? This either demonstrated his incompetence or his crush.
13. “You deliver me your spaceship story, a story that will sell papers…” The Daily Planet would not sell papers by running an Inquisitor story. What separated the Daily Planet from the Inquisitor – what made it successful – was quality writing, respectability, and reliability. Again, Grant seems to be revealing either his utter ineptitude or his crippling bias toward Lois.
14. “No. This yellow sun has fried your brain cells.” I know it was supposed to be charming and/or funny that Kara mixed her formal Kryptonian English with very human slang, but this moment only served to make me skeptical…particularly positioned as it was in such a grave moment.
15. Nice image of the red diamond-shaped ship, with bluish smoke rising in the background.
16. I liked the peculiar mix of electric guitar and Superman horns in the ship-inspecting scene.
17. Grant tells Lois that she has the option to pursue the story and become “ Lois Lane, star reporter whose name is synonymous with the Daily Planet”. As far as we know, he has not read a line of her work. This brash assurance…well, see Moments (l) and (m).
18. “I don't care how wide your net is. If you don't find Lana, it's not worth the string it's made of.” This vies with Moment (n) for worst line.
19. All of Chloe’s meetings with Kryptonians end up proceeding with minimal interaction between Chloe and the Kryptonian. In “Fallout,” Chloe gave Raya a line of greeting, then gave Clark some information. He then turned to Raya and they consulted together and Chloe became irrelevant. In this episode, Chloe gave Kara a line of greeting, was offended by Kara’s briskness, then inadvertently gave Clark some information. He then turned to Kara and they consulted together and Chloe became irrelevant. It would be nice if some kind of relational dynamic could be sustained between Chloe and the Kryptonian.
20. The sequence with Clark teaching Kara how to superhear was well done. I appreciated that the writers made this an emotional moment, Kara groaning and doubling up with the pain of hearing it all. The circular camera movement and distorted surroundings were perhaps derivative of Clark’s superhearing last episode, but nevertheless effective. And the fact that we heard shouting and car alarms and other disturbing sounds foreshadowed Superman listening to the pain of the world.
21. “Then we can find it.” This line needed to be cut. It would have been far more dramatic if they’d ended on “I can hear it”.
22. “My ship – it’s gone.” This was another obvious line that could have been cut. It would have been more effective to use a crane shot from behind Clark and Kara, rising to show the empty space where the ship once perched.
23. Beautifully haunting moment, as Lex sits in his chair, staring straight ahead, listening to the recording of his exchange with Lana. Over…and over…and over. It’s impossible to read him. It’s impossible to tell what he is going to do when he finds Lana. The scene even ends with the question…”What are you going to do, Lex?” But we can see that whatever his motives, he loves Lana with a deep and twisted love. And we know that Lex’s destiny is to keep doing what he’s doing now. Torturing himself. Writers – I applaud you. Thank you for this Lex.
24. Lana quietly watches Lex approach in the mirror. She doesn’t turn around until she’s finished brushing her hair. Her slow coolness here, especially in the face of his self-destructive, psychotic tendencies, was chill-inducing. Lana and Lex just became one of the most fascinating couples on TV. Even if it only lasts for one episode, this is a relational situation to remember.
25. “Lana. If I wanted revenge, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” Lex looks broken here. It almost looks as if he’s about to cry. This was Michael Rosenbaum at his best and most complex.
26. Lex, very softly: “ I don't blame you for wanting to ruin my life. I probably would have done the same thing... only not as elegantly. I always knew you were smart, Lana. I didn't know you were brilliant. Using my own science against me.” The haunting thing about this moment is that he means every word of it. He genuinely admires her for her knack for crime. He really sees her moves as “elegant”. Beautiful.
27. “It wasn’t science, Lex. It was your own psychosis.” Lex swallows, as if this hurts him. The subtlety of this moment was genius.
28. I could have done without Lex narrating over flashbacks. Most of what he said was already evident. “By the time the car exploded, you were safe and sound while Model 503, with your DNA, was being blown to bits.” It would have been worthwhile to cut most of his dialogue and alter the flashbacks so that they could, for the most part, stand alone. The choppy flashes of memory they had told the essential story; a couple more shots tying them together, and changing the color effects back to real color, might have been more compelling.
29. “You’ll never hurt another person again, Lex.” “I don’t want to.” Lex moves slowly forward and presses his chest against the barrel of the gun. Looking at her steadily. “After all the pain I’ve put you through, I deserve to die. Please, Lana. Pull the trigger.” He puts his hand on hers, steadying it. Lana is fighting tears. He breathes earnestly, “I promise you, the world will be a better place. Do it.” In a whisper: “Kill me.” Is this desperation? Despair? Emotional manipulation? Maybe a little of all three. Either way, this moment took Lex’s tragic, messed-up complication to new heights. This was his worst and his best, his most restrained and his most abandoned. I’ve never been so utterly captivated by Lex.
30. Lex and Lana look at each other, souls bared. Lex knows that Lana still has enough feeling for him that she can’t kill him. Lana knows…we’re not quite sure what she knows. But we know that Lex’s suicidal offer was not simply on impulse. In his mind, if she had been willing to pull the trigger, then life would not have been worth living. This moment of mute understanding spoke volumes.
31. Lex gives the best, most sincere apology speech ever given. “ If you want to come back to Smallville, you'll be safe. I'll take care of everything. You can live your life however you want. My father’s gone, presumed dead. And as for me... I would never, ever hurt you again. I’m sorry, Lana.” There could not be a better, more persuasive apology. This was an apology I could see Lana accepting despite everything that had happened. And that’s why it succeeds on a creative level. It is a perfect setup…no matter what happens. This created a history between Lana and Lex far beyond anything they had before.
32. Kara’s description of Lara was refreshingly simple and real. I could easily imagine someone giving this description to the son who had never known his mother; and the description was vivid enough that it was emotionally meaningful.
33. “Well, you're with family now.” As much as I dislike it that Clark is no longer the last son of Krypton…well, the last survivor of Krypton…I liked it that, since the writers did introduce Kara, they went the whole way in integrating her into Clark’s world. It was heartwarming to hear Clark finally greet someone as family. This scene suggested that life around the farm was going to change with the new family member, and that was a suggestion we all needed.
34. The exchange between Clark and Jor-El was awkwardly funny. I’m still unsure as to whether this was intentional or not. It’s possible that this was an attempt to represent this family unit as dysfunctional. It’s also possible that this scene was just poorly constructed. And granted, this sort of amusement does seem out of place in a Fortress of Solitude scene. Either way – whether intentional or not – the comical side to this scene just tickles me.
35. Offscreen, Clark presumably inserts the crystal. Jor-El, gratified: “Kal-El, my son, you have finally chosen to start your training.” (My emphasis, but even without emphasis, it’s still funny.) Clark, ignoring his father: “A Kryptonian girl showed up at my doorstep. Her name is Kara. Last time that happened, you were behind it.” Jor-El is nonplussed. “I know nothing of her arrival.” Clark, brattily: “She says she was sent here by her father, Zor-El. You might remember him, since he's your brother. Care to tell me why you ignored that branch of the family tree?” Jor-El, still speaking slowly and oracularly, despite his son’s attitude: “Whatever Zor-El wanted with you, it was not for the greater good of Krypton. He could not be trusted, and neither can his daughter.” Clark, defensively: “You can’t blame Kara for the actions of her father. She’s not here to cause any harm.” Jor-El, knowing best: “That is an emotional human reaction. Be careful of your feelings, Kal-El. They can betray you.” Clark snaps, “My feelings are part of who I am, whether you like it or not. Now what about my training?” (Actual quote.) Jor-El, admirably maintaining his poise: “Your training starts with Kara. Watch over her, Kal-El. She poses a greater threat than you believe.” Apparently Clark has no comeback for this, because the scene ends. It’s a classic wise-father/rebellious-son exchange, and even though Clark is far too old for this, though Jor-El hasn’t always been a wise father, and though we went into this scene with a beautiful and imposing establishing shot of the Fortress of Solitude by moonlight…I still have to laugh. Unfortunately, since I also laughed when Jor-El kept ignoring Martha, which certainly was not intentional on the part of the writers, it’s quite possible that this exchange was comical only by accident.

Details

1. “My neighbor, Ben Hubbard, is going to run things for a while.” That’s convenient. What farmer would decide on short notice to run two farms at once? Not saying it’s impossible, but this seemed a little too easy.
2. Kara sulkily squeezes the phone, shattering it. The shard with the “Sprint” logo flies straight at the camera. That was very contrived product placement.
3. The first time Clark collides with Kara, she sends him pinballing through the woods. Yet afterward he is clearly much stronger than she is. Was this supposed to indicate that Clark was off his guard the first time, not expecting her speed and strength, or was this simply inconsistency?
4. The Talon finally has a new sign: “Have a laugh/with your decaf.” I’m not sure what it means, but it’s a relief that not every night is karaoke night.
5. The first patient in the Belle Reve file was suspected to have ESP in the form of telepathy. The second patient appeared to have the ability to teleport, and was suspected to be mentally unstable. The third patient had increased physical abilities that included speed and stamina. The fourth patient was merely super-intelligent.
6. We don’t hear or see Chloe move the second patient’s file, but some time while the camera is on her sad face, the top page changes to the third patient’s file.
7. Lois says crankily, “Where’s my laptop?”, whirls around, and looks in the sink, as if she expects to find it there.
8. Nice detail – Lois disappears into the back with blood on her forehead, then emerges with the blood cleaned off. And she didn’t say, “I’m going to go clean up,” or come out wiping her forehead with a towel. This is small, but I appreciated the realism.  They don't need to hammer the point.
9. When Kara sets little Cody down on his knees, his head is bent down. Next shot, his head is lifted and he is staring up at her.
10. “Zor-El told me that Krypton's salvation was on Earth.” We have been told that Clark came to Earth in order to conquer and rule, that Clark came to Earth in order to save it from destroying itself, and now we are to believe that Clark and Kara came to Earth to save Krypton. The writers need to make up their minds. (Personally, the first one is still my favorite. I like the idea of Clark breaking free from Jor-El’s vision for him and choosing his own path.)
11. “Prepare to evacuate now. We don’t have a lot of time, people.” It’s as if Evil Government Guy expects the explosion. How is this possible? Interesting development.
12. As Lois and Grant wandered through hitherto unseen rooms, they were surrounded by Superman colors at every turn.
13. Lana placed a call through a landline or cellphone. That’s how they found her. It isn’t a major point, but who did she call? And was this a deliberate “bread crumb”? And if it was, how did she know they would use that particular method of tracking her?
14. When Clark and Kara came racing into the warehouse…or whatever it was…why was Clark flung onto his knees?
15. “I had always heard whispers of a doomsday scenario, but I never thought anyone would actually do it.” This makes it sound as if the destruction of Krypton was caused by someone. I thought that in the comics, Krypton exploded due to natural causes – in some versions from thermonuclear pressure and in others from the red Krypton sun. Is there an exception I don’t know about, or is this solely Smallville mythology?
16. How is it possible that everyone on Smallville can draw such accurate and helpful drawings from memory? Clark drew maps of the caves, Lana drew pictures of the spaceship, and now Lex has, apparently, drawn a picture of Kara. The first one I could believe, the second one was a stretch, and the third is completely unbelievable.