TV episodes review
US airdate 3 December 2010; 10 December 2010; 4 February 2011; 11 February 2011 (The CW)

Parallel worlds, virtual worlds, the return of John Glover’s Lionel Luthor and the Vigilante Registration Act spice up recent Smallville episodes...

Clark is thrown into a parallel world thanks to a Kryptonian ‘mirror box’, swapping places with ‘Clark Luthor’, his alternate who has been raised by Lionel. It’s great to see John Glover back in action, and the ‘Ultraman’ stuff is fun, although perhaps the alternate Lois and Oliver aren’t different enough.

While we don’t see the ‘real’ universe battle with evil Clark (just the climax), it’s nice to see that his romance with Lois spans parallel worlds. The kicker is that Alt-Lionel escapes Clark’s world, with John Glover’s glee at not missing the end of the Smallville saga evident in his face.

Apart from the presence of the annoying Cat Grant, ‘Icarus’ is a great episode. As the forces of darkness gather, the friends of the superhero gang undergo McCarthyite interrogations. General Slade Wilson is back (and just like Battlestar Galactica’s Colonel Tigh, Michael Hogan’s got an eyepatch!). He’s enforcing the Vigilante Registration Act (VRA) against superheroes, who are now considered terrorists. Gosh, Smallville just got relevant!

The episode is built around the central clash between Wilson and Michael Shanks’ Hawkman, complete with him falling to Earth, wings aflame (note the episode title!). Clark gets the ‘join the dark side’ conversation before banishing Wilson to the Phantom Zone. The concluding superhero funeral features characters wearing any colour other than black. But what’s befallen them, with the flash from a white pyramid that knocks them all out?

Smallville enters its final stretch with ‘Collateral’. After that great cliffhanger in ‘Icarus’, what do we get? Smallville does The Matrix, and about a decade too late… Viewers may think the whole virtual universe is a red herring and there’ll be a clever twist, but it never comes. What you see is what you get — their brains are wired together and Chloe is dressed in white as an Angelic avatar out to save our heroes' souls.

Finally, ‘Beacon’ sees the Alt-Lionel Luther quickly installing himself behind the proprietor’s desk at The Daily Planet, while Senator Martha Kent aligns herself against the VRA. In an uncomfortable echo of recent real life events her move brings a hail of Kryptonite-tipped bullets her way. Lionel’s search for the Lex clone reveals the culprit.

It feels like old times with the family firm of Luthor and son back in feuding action, even if the episode ends with a schmaltz overload. It’s capped with the first sight of Clark wearing the new ‘S’ logo, so that’s a major plus. Brian J. Robb

VERDICT
Episode 10: Luthor: 8/10
Episode 11: Icarus: 8/10
Episode 12: Collateral: 6/10
Episode 13: Beacon: 7/10