User Reviews

Point One: Tom's great acting performance in this episode. I love Tom Welling as Clark Kent. Great casting, and well-worth the creators' badgering him to take the role (he thought the role was too big for him and had refused the offer to play Clark once or twice (DVD commentary, Season One)). That said, sometimes throughout the series Tom doesn't show the emotional depth that I think Clark should be showing at many points. Stlll love him in the role, though. This episode, however, Tom is brilliant. He plays three characters: 1) Clark Kent, 2) alternate reality Clark Luthor, and 3) the new Clark Kent persona (for the first time), in which he acts nervous and awkward and bumbling as spectacled Clark in order to differentiate Clark from the Blur. He's fantastic in all three rolls. He successfully and distinctly changes just the right amount in his posture, voice, demeanor, and facial expressions-all subtly, but very clearly-to let you, the viewer, see instantly which one is there (even without the hint of Clark Luthor's all-black outfit). Bravo to Tom. So well done.

Point two: That alternate-reality Lois has the relational perception and depth to recognize Clark KENT in the alternate, Clark-Luthor world (that is, to see in his eyes, face, and voice that it's NOT Clark Luthor), is an exquisite touch written into this episode and wonderfully pulled off by Erica Durance in her role as Lois. Really a great moment in the Clark-and-Lois arc-really, really great-when they make that connection, and then again when "real Lois" and "real Clark" meet again in the "regular" universe.

Point Three: The subtle, unemphasized, heartwarming truths for Clark in the alternate universe. When Clark Kent gets switched into the alternate universe, he sees a number of ugly realities that would have existed in the town of Smallville had there been no HIM-no Clark Kent: 1) Oliver is dead and Lois is a grieving widow, 2) Though Jonathan Kent is still alive, he's an embarrassing, angry "town drunk," 3) Jonathan and Martha Kent are divorced, and 4) The reason Jonathan's an angry drunk and that Martha left him is because Jonathan lost the farm after the meteor shower. The reason he lost the farm? He couldn't keep up with all the work the farm required. And there, in this #4, is the unemphasized, heartwarming thing for Clark: in reality, Jonathan kept the farm because superspeed Clark got all the chores done, and Jonathan through this was able to keep up with the farm and thus keep the farm. Martha and Jonathan were not split apart because Clark was there, giving them, in the real universe, purpose, and never giving Jonathan the opportunity to lose the farm, get bitter, and drive Martha away. Since Season Five's Jonathan's death, Clark has blamed himself for his father's demise (with the exception of his "Homecoming" episode realizations earlier in this season), and here-heartwarmingly for you as the viewer, but for Clark, too-Clark gets to see that he's the reason for his dad's having such a great life, keeping the farm, being happily married till death, and getting to be a wonderful, character-causing father for Clark.

Point four: Related to point three, and perhaps this constitutes a fourth character Tom plays in the episode (referring to point one), Clark's interaction with his dad in the alternate universe in his Smallville home shows how much Clark has grown in maturity. He's not acting like a kid anymore, as he used to. His sees his dad in his dad's terrible state, and isn't worried about his (Clark's) own situation. He's only, out of love for his dad, focused on saving his alternate-universe dad. The scene is one of the best (if not THE best scene ever between Clark and his dad). The love Clark has for his dad, and Clark's maturity in understanding and then relating to his dad in a way that's effective in helping him, is truly a wonderful, wonderful thing. Jonathan walks away as a changed man. And then, to top it off: Jonathan's action at the end of the episode is heartwarming in regard to Jonathan and Martha, and it's satisfying in that it shows that Clark has saved his broken, alternate-universe dad, indeed.

Really wonderful stuff here, all very subtle, but all very satisfying.

Another brilliant episode of season 10. A recap: When Martha signs over the deed to the farm as a wedding present for Clark and Lois, they have to decide what they're going to do next. Clark is unsure and ponders selling it, and though Lois thinks different, she remains silent. In the meantime, Clark Luthor finds the box in his parallel world and uses it to return. He sets up Clark with the box and sends him to his universe, and destroys the box. On the parallel world, Clark finds out that his doppelganger killed Oliver after he revealed to everyone how kryptonite affects him. In the funeral, Clark reunites with Lois-2 and tells her the words of their last encounter (in Luthor) in Luthor to prove who he is. She gives him the last updates on the world's situation, and tells him to return, otherwise people will kill him. But when Clark sees Jonathan-2, he changes his mind. Clark follows him to the farm, and though he's captured, he manages to explain that he's Clark Kent, raised by him in another world. On this darkest world, Jonathan separated Martha after the meteor shower, and lost all his lands to Queen, including the farm. He stayed, holding on to it. So Clark talks to Jonathan about his lessons, how he's the man he looked up to, his hero, and convinces him that his home is where Martha is, not the abandoned farm. In the real world, Clark Luthor tries to act like this world's Clark, and Lois tells him she's not ready to sell the house (early she had to welcome a realtor, and was upset thinking Clark called her), because is the closest thing to a home she ever had. Anyway, she quickly realizes this is Clark Luthor, after she sees him discard the telescope and not react when police sirens are heard. When he leaves, Lois rushes to the farm, and with Emil they try to restore the box. They finally make it, and Clark Kent is returned just when Jonathan was about to hold him. Meanwhile, Clark Luthor tries to recruit Tess in order to find and kill Lionel-2. He invites her to dinner, and proposes her a life together. Though she realizes who he is, she still agrees to help him. But later, at Luthorcorp, she changes the route to the apparent tracking device which leads to Lionel, so Clark-2 returns and tries to kill her. She tells him her reasons (that she really considered being tih him, but that she doesn't want to kill a man), and this gives Clark enough time to appear and save her. Then, Clark takes his doppelganger to the Fortress, where Jor-El returns him to his world, and Clark Luthor is seemingly convinced to change his ways, now that Lionel is gone from that world. Back to normal, Emil tells Tess that gold kryptonite actually exists and could take out a kryptonian's powers for good (though Jonathan, Clark found out the existence on the parallel world), and they also talk about her relationship with Clark Luthor. At the farm, is revealed that Clark didn't call the realtor, so he and Lois talk about what to do with the farm. She realizes that something shook him up on the parallel world, and though he doesn't mention his encounter with Jonathan, he tells her that he has been holding out to the house too, to his parents, and that his home will be where she is. Lois agrees that her home is with him, and they decide to move to Metropolis. At the end, in the parallel world, is shown how Jonathan goes to a building to ring Martha's bell, following Clark's advice.

The main theme of the episode is what to be a Kent means, and the Kent farm. It's logical for Clark and Lois to move to Metropolis, they work there, and he's closer to action. But the feelings towards the home to come back to are strong for both of them. What Lois said about the farm perfectly suits her, she has lived there on-off for many years, spending time with Clark, his parents, Chloe. When Lucy and General Lane visited her, she was at the Kent farm. Still, though she seemed more reluctant than Clark, she agreed that they have to leave. It's clear that Clark's near destiny is not at the farm, but anyway, if the Crisis on Infinite Earths is considered, after some years, seems like Clark (surely using blue kryptonite, like Dax-Ur was using in Persona) and Lois will return to live a family life at the Kent farm with their children. For me it was a great idea. There's a time for Clark to be Superman in Metropolis and the world, and a time for him and Lois to be happy parents at the Kent farm.

Another big theme of the episode is Jonathan. John Schneider made a great job once again, the way he and Tom manage to portray father-son is excellent. The conversation they had was brilliant, emotional, becomes tearful when Jonathan realizes how much Clark loved his dad, when he was about to hug him. Just as Tom is one of the best Clark Kents of history, John Schneider is probably the best Jonathan Kent of all.

To finish, two details. Tess as a character is evolving pretty well. It's implied that the feelings for Clark Luthor mean feelings for Clark Kent, and it's clear that his good influence on her is sorting effect. The fact that Clark was forced to be honest with her about his identity, made everything better. For Tess, doesn't prevail the Luthor part, prevails her own life experience. Then, the fact that Lois recognized Clark Luthor almost inmediatly is not minor. During Gemini and Persona, Chloe and Lana had to deal with Bizarro, who had all Clark's memory. He was a better personification, but Chloe realized something was wrong, and Lana not. And here, on a little detail, like the telescope, Lois easily realized her Clark wasn't there. She's his only true love, and the only one who deserves to be a Kent.

One of the best episodes of the series. Brings back a classic character and ties in with the Darkseid plot line by making Kal-El more settled with himself by resolving his issues about his dead father. Yes it is a bit emotional, but that doesn't necessarily make it good or bad. But the interactions in that last bit of black/white segment are perfect (not when his father walks up and hits the button).

The Chloe exit was done perfectly, with the « Hangover » episode that seemed to be popular amongst WB series writers somehow... But the way they handled the « darkness » plot, was just the kandorians nonsense all over again. Another season arc that just goes nowhere, because it involves problematics that are beyond the realm of Smallville and its characters. It may have been a nice way to make viewers all warm and fuzzy, when Clark was reunited with his late father, Jonathan Kent. And help his version of the world, move on, so he would as well. By agreeing to sell the Kent farm, and move to Metropolis. But even the return of « Clark Luthor » was handled poorly and simply erased by the episode's end, when it implied he's becoming good under Jor-El's influence. So does that mean this parallel world doesn't exist anymore? And collided with the real one, now that Clark is whole again? Also, why did they had to waste Welling and Freeman's great chemistry, on those boring scenes? Of course, now that Lex is Conner, does that also mean he was as well in « dark » world? Hopefully the last episodes will answer those questions...