['Smallville' - 'Kent']

'Smallville' is back! All hail Ultraman!

This week's episode, titled 'Kent,' was a worthy follow-up to last December's fun and twisted Earth-2 romp, 'Luthor.'

It's always a blast when Clark Luthor comes to town. These episodes give star Tom Welling a chance to cut loose a little and to unleash his inner Nicholas Cage by playing the malevolent and dangerous Ultraman.

Clark Luthor felt a little more restrained here than he did when we last saw him. I guess it's hard to keep acting like an entitled and self-important superdouche when everyone in the world is trying to kill you.

CL caused so much havoc on Earth-Two that he was forced to retreat and try to start over again in our world. His universe-hopping instantly zapped Clark Kent back to the alt universe, where he had to bear the brunt of the people's rage, fear and loathing.

One of the most affecting subplots in this episode involved Clark bonding with Earth-Two's Jonathan Kent.

Jonathan 2 was a broken shell of a farmer, living sad and alone on a farm that he didn't even own. He blamed everyone else for his problems -- especially CL and Oliver Queen -- but Clark helped turn his life around by relaying a bit of his own wisdom, "You taught me that the only person who controls your destiny ... is you." And there was also this choice nugget: "It's better to risk everything than to hold on to nothing." Oh, 'Smallville,' I'm such a sucker for your funny pages philosophy!

The Clark-Jonathan 2 bonding session cut to the heart of the night's big theme: "It's not the place, it's the people," as Clark said, or, home is where your heart -- and your sexy, overworked fiancée -- is.

And speaking of Lois, she didn't have a lot to do here but help Emil repair the mirror box and fret about losing the farm. At the start of the episode, we learned that Connor was living with Martha in DC and that Clark and Lois were the new owners of the farm.

Perhaps mirroring the viewer's attachment to Clark's home for the past 10 seasons, Lois didn't want to let the farm go. Clark was also having trouble letting the farm go, as, he said, it was the place that kept him grounded.

But, this being the final season and all, it's time for Clark to leave the Smallville farm and, in keeping with Superman lore, head to Metropolis for good. One quibble: Selling a giant Kansas farm will only get you enough cash for a studio apartment in Metropolis? I thought this was Kansas not Northern California!

Tess remains one of the most interesting and compelling characters on the show. Simply put, Cassidy Freeman owns this role. I love that she's still struggling with her dark side. She admitted that she was drawn to Clark Luthor and tempted to join his EVIL PLAN. Tess' identity struggle here was much subtler and more effective than Connor's was last week.

The short (so short!) fisticuffs between the two Clarks morphed into the ultimate self-help session as Clark inspired his doppelganger to stop being such a superjerk and learn how to use his powers for good. It was cool to see CL get zapped back to the Earth-2 fortress and to hear Earth-2 Jor-El greet him when he arrived.

It was a surprising end for CL. I figured the crafty Emil would somehow nab some Gold Kryptonite form Earth-2 and use it to strip him of his powers. Instead, CL was given another chance to make things right.

Oh, yeah, there's Gold Kryptonite now! And it could potentially rob Clark of his powers permanently. How long do you think it'll be until Lionel Luthor and Darkseid get their hands on that stuff? Perhaps we'll find out next week, when Booster Gold and The Blue Beetle come to 'Smallville' to shake things up.

Other thoughts:

- Missed Oliver and Chloe this week. (But I didn't miss Connor one bit!)

- How about a big hand for John Schneider! He hit every note perfectly here. I really, really wanted to give him a big hug too. Glad to see he's taking another chance with Alt Martha.

- So Tess still kinda has a little thing for Clark. Well, OK, but who on the show doesn't?

- Jonathan's jacket looked pretty good on Clark. And, yeah, Tess' dinner dress ... yeah ...

'Smallville' airs Friday at 8PM ET

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