(S09E17) Five episodes left in this ninth season, so General Zod needs to start putting together whatever his endgame plan is going to be. Steps were definitely taken toward that this week, but first we got the return of one of Superman's deadliest foes: Metallo.

It's always nice to see Brian Austin Green, and he's actually quite effective in this role. I was a little disappointed in how quickly they were able to re-establish his character in whatever way they needed him for this week, but I'll forgive it because it was so much fun seeing almost everyone else turned on their ears.

Checkmate and The Wall took a break from intimidating everyone and pushing Tess around, which freed Tess up to make an unexpected alliance. Also missing from the fun was Green Arrow, but there was plenty of action without them.

(S09E15) I'm usually pretty critical of 'Smallville,' but tonight was a darn good episode. Pam Grier's character of Amanda Waller, taken straight from the comic books, showed the right amount of menace (albeit a bit comic book-y). The interaction between Tess, Oliver, Chloe and Clark kept my interest. There was even a new mystery relating to whomever Jonn is working for.

If there were any downsides to the episodes, they were minor and revolved around Tess. Her character seems all over the place and has had too many different roles in her history. First, she's Luthor's pawn, then she's a bad-ass corporate CEO, then she's in bed with Zod, then she's a Checkmate agent, and now she's a rogue agent with a price on her head. The writers need to decide who she is and be consistent about it. Or maybe the inconsistency is part of her character. But that gets a pass since the rest of the episode worked so well.

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.