Written by: Brian Peterson, Kelly Souders
Directed by: Michael Rohl
Rating:
The One Where: Clark battles his “bizarre” doppelganger, Chloe does the resurrection shuffle and Lana proves to be alive and well and living in Shanghai. Oh, and we glimpse a very super girl...
Verdict: After Smallville’s frequently disappointing sixth season it’s good to see the show rally with an explosive and dramatic comeback. There’s a real sense of high-stakes spectacle to the opening dam sequence and some great comic book imagery in the smackdown between Clark and Bizarro (though he’s a cipher of a villain). Kara’s introduction is stylish and intriguing.
Highlight: The brilliantly staged dam sequence, complete with Welling’s Christopher Reeve-channeling look to that awestruck kid.
Influences: The scenes of the bursting dam echo the climax of Superman The Movie, where an earthquake destroyed the Hoover Dam.
Trivia: According to Chloe’s toe tag, she’s 21 and 5’ 3 – four years younger and one inch shorter than Allison Mack.
Did You Spot? Reeves Dam is a nod to George Reeves, the doomed thesp who played the Man of Steel in the ’50s Adventures of Superman show.
Character: Sorry, but I don’t buy Lex’s witterings about being rescued by an angel. “Soft skin... and her hair!” he moons. Come on – the cynical Lex of old would already be plotting her dissection in a secret underground lab.
Best Line:
Chloe (to Clark): "The fact that you’re from a galaxy far, far away just adds character."
Nick Setchfield
