On February 5th, those tuning in to Smallville will see the DC Comics characters The Justice Society in full costume (see picture). What they forgot to mention is that later on in the season we will see another familiar costume make the rounds in the Smallville universe.

Spoilers after the jump...

The path is clearing for Smallville to return for a tenth season. CW president Dawn Ostroff recently dropped some positive comments about the show's creative direction and hinted at a renewal.

Speaking to IGN, Ostroff seemed pleased with the show's ratings and optimistic about its chances for another season, but the final decision won't be made until May.

Ostroff also told EW that Smallville producers Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders have yet to pitch the final episode to the network.

"... We haven't even gotten to how we're going to deal with the last episode and whether it's a season finale or series finale. But right now, I think it's just a season finale," she said.

Michael Ausiello has posted on EW.com some first pictures of the Justice Society appearance in Smallville. A photo of Hawkman had already been released which admittedly I thought was a gag. Now we have another photo of Hawkman laying the smack down on Green Arrow and a picture of Doctor Fate and Stargirl to boot.

Once again Geoff Johns shows his subject matter expertise. In the comics, Hawkman had conservative tendencies while Green Arrow had liberal ones, so they tended to not get along unless a supervillain showed up when they would team up to stop him or her.

These sort of costumes are a step away from the "no tights no flights" rule that was there since the beginning of Smallville. Perhaps their appearance is marking a policy change for the show. Of course, once Clark puts on the cape and takes flight, the show is pretty much done.

To paraphrase Dexter's Trinity Killer, traditions matter because they give us a sense of history. They also teach us who we are and what's expected of us.

So in celebration of that fiendish character's warped but delightfully old-fashioned worldview, I'm happy to take part in this little Thanksgiving Day tradition we have here at TV Squad. Here are a few things I'm thankful for this TV season ...

Year four of Dexter – Well, duh ... Sure, the Batista-Laguerta relationship is a little dull, and Quinn is a poor stand-in for Dokes, but Dexter's dealings with Trinty and his Dark Passenger are fascinating to watch. John Lithgow's complex and unnerving portrayal of suburban serial killer Arthur Mitchell is sure to earn him an Emmy nod, if not the win.

Community - Here's the thing: It's just so damn funny. And it has the best and weirdest cast of characters on TV. I can't get enough of Señor Chang and Abed.

(S09E08) The whole alternate timeline or alternate future concept has been around sci fi for ... well, I don't know how long. The most famous example I can think of is the classic Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror," though I'm sure there are many more. We've already had alternate timeline stories in Smallville (such as Lana's "death" in the 100th episode), and now we have an alternate future story.

Although it used an old television and sci fi concept, this particular story served a dual purpose: it let the viewer know what happened to Lois between the 8th and 9th seasons and also let us know the stakes of a potential Zod victory (although we probably could have figured that one out on our own).

I'm sure most of you Smallville fans have already seen this preview pic of Michael Shanks as Hawkman, taken from the upcoming Justice Society episode. So why am I posting it here?

Because that photo looks weird, man!

First off, I must say that I'm really looking forward to this Smallville two-parter, and I think Stargate's Shanks is a fine pick to play Carter Hall. Smallville has been a lot of fun to watch this season, and I hope the upswing continues through next year.

Now, back to that photo ... Why does it look like a still image from a video game? Is it a mostly CGI shot? Concept art? Did somebody switch the real photo of Shanks with a fan photo manip? I'm hoping that some of you graphic designer-types can tell me what's really going on here, because ... yeah ... that photo looks weird.

(S09E08) Wonder Twin Powers, Activate! Okay, so it wasn't so much the Wonder Twins as an homage to the Wonder Twins. Or Wonder Twins: The Next Generation. You get the idea. The blingy Gleek cell phone was a nice touch. Hell, the ringtone even sounded like an alien monkey.

Of course, the Wonder Twins were just gravy for the actual purpose of the episode: to further the legend of the Blur and heighten the Lois/Clark relationship. Like her predecessor in the 1990's Lois & Clark series, Lois is a smart cookie but really blind when it comes to secret identities. Speaking of cell phones, her ringtone for the Blur was very cute indeed.

Pam Grier, famous for her appearances in '70s blaxploitation flicks like Foxy Brown and later for her appearances in Quentin Tarantino movies, will be stopping over in Smallville. She'll be playing the character of Amanda Waller for the upcoming two-part episode with the Justice Society of America.

Amanda Waller was created in the comics and has appeared on television already in the animated Justice League series. She was ... how shall I say ... bigger than Ms. Grier. To play the character as she was created, Grier would either have to gain a lot of weight or don a fat suit.

Actually, the creators will probably just leave her as she is. Smallville is something of its own universe (as proven by the appearance of the Wonder Twins). Her appearance is slated for the episodes written by comics writer (and writer of the previous Smallville episode "Legion") Geoff Johns, so I'm already convinced it will be a good episode. Pam Grier is just icing on the cake.

So that silly pair of purple-clad superheroes, The Wonder Twins, are coming to Smallville this Friday. I can think of worse things that could happen to the show: Kristin Kreuk could return (shudder), for example, or Clark's bare chest could start to sparkle in the sunlight, ala Edward Cullen. Now that would be truly terrible.

But Zan and Jayna nerding up the joint? Sounds like fun to me.

Being a fan of the veteran superhero series, I'm not embarrassed to say that I'm looking forward to seeing the live-action Twins bump fists this Friday. (I wouldn't even mind a cameo from everybody's favorite blue monkey, Gleek, but sadly I don't think that's in the cards.)

(S09E07) If Smallville continues to produce episodes of good quality like tonight's, I may have to take back some of the things I've been saying about it. Seriously.

Tonight we got a lot of backstory and explanation about some of the stranger aspects of the Smallville universe. Why is Earth such a magnet for Kryptonians, dead or otherwise? Because Krypton has been observing Earth for a long, long time and designated the planet as a bolt-hole. We also learned more about that Kryptonian artifact that has been a mystery in Smallville for a few seasons now.

All this and no Lois, too.

(S09E06) Tonight's episode had everything but the metaphorical kitchen sink. There was a lot going on. We had the rather amusing attempt by Lois to score a morning show job, the start of Green Arrow finding his sidekick Speedy and a little more Tess/Zod action.

In all the years I've watched or read Superman in various forms, I've never seen him go on an online date. I would have enjoyed watching more of that, particularly with Lois whispering in his ear. Isn't it illegal to tape someone without their permission (unless you're the government)? What would Clark write on his profile anyway? " Can lift cars, run real fast and shoot lasers out of my eyes. No Kryptonite, please. Must love farm animals."

Smallville really is the show that won't die.

After more than eight years, numerous cast departures, and countless recycled plotlines, Smallville might be headed for a tenth season, producer Kelly Souders told EW. Somehow, the veteran superhero series manages to stay on the air while shows like Southland and Trauma can't seem to make it past season one.

Smallville has experienced a drop in ratings since its recent move to Friday nights on The CW, but Souders says the drop off hasn't been that bad. Last week's episode, "Roulette," attracted 2.5 million viewers, a season high for the series. It shared third place in the ratings with ABC for the 8 p.m. hour. That's not terrible for a CW show in its ninth season.

(S09E05) Tonight we get an Oliver-centric episode that finally resolves his issues. Good! Now we can get to the more interesting dramas of the series such as that with Major Zod and his time-traveling Kryptonian army.

I had a myriad of questions about certain inconsistencies of the episode. No matter how wrecked Oliver was, how did he get so stupid as to swallow a pill given to him by a stranger in a casino? How did he get a flashlight while in the coffin? What casino takes car keys as collateral? Fortunately, they wrapped it up all neatly at the end by blaming Chloe for all his troubles during the episode.

Yesterday we told you that Big Brother winner Adam Jasinski was arrested for trying to sell oxycodone pills that he had bought with some of his winnings from the CBS reality show (I'm going to assume he didn't spend all of the $500,000 on the pills, but who knows), and now we have another TV personality involved with the drug.

Sam Jones III, who you might remember as Clark Kent's best friend Pete from Smallville and Pratt's younger brother Chaz on ER, was arrested this morning on charges of attempting to deal 10,000 oxycodone pills. The official charge is "conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute." The plot was major, says the DEA, and Jones has been called "the Hollywood connection."

Stay tuned the rest of the week for what I'm sure will be daily updates on Hollywood stars who are involved with oxycodone. Maybe we should start a category for it.

Fans of actor Michael Shanks won't have to wait until the next Stargate DVD movie/telefilm to see him back on the small screen. The SG-1 alum has landed the role of Hawkman on the upcoming Justice Society episode of Smallville.

Shanks' Hawkman won't be the only classic DC Comics hero making an appearance in the episode. Dr. Fate, played by Brent Stait, and Stargirl, played by Britt Irvin, will also appear in the ep, penned by comic book writer Geoff Johns. More Justice Society characters are expected to appear.