allison mack

(S06E17) You know you're in for a very special Smallville when it starts out with a WWF-style cage match, an extremely gratuitous shot of some very large boobs, and an all-out brawl between Clark and a Zoner who seems stronger than he is. It's like a Bizarro world version of the show starring everyone's favorite Kryptonian. Zowie.

Basically, it's Fight Club meets Smallville meets ... well, Superheroes Gone Wild. Toss in Lois chomping at the bit for a story, and you've got half the makings of a regular old episode of Lois & Clark, or is it just me? Although I don't remember Teri Hatcher donning red leather and claiming to be a wayward stripper from down the street who has a penchant for loving the ladies. Plus, did you catch the way Lois claimed she does a killer "Stars and Stripes" routine? Hello throwback to an old episode.

(S06E16) The wedding bells that have been ringing in the promos for this episode also sound like funeral bells ringing, is that a coincidence? We may never know. Anyhow, it's finally here, the Lex & Lana wedding that we've all been dreading/waiting for.

Did that scene of Lex and Lana watching the ultrasound creep anyone else out? It's scary to know what might come ripping out of that womb. I keep picturing that scene from Alien over and over in my head. I also hope that the photo Clark whipped out the window didn't end up decapitating someone in Malaysia. He really put some heat behind it.

(S06E15) Whoa, Smallville has a bowling alley? Who knew? What other secret little getaways is this town hiding? Do they have a roller rink? An arcade? Come on, Clark playing Defender, that's just aching for a write-in. Of course, if you had telekinesis would you be using it to score babes on the lanes? I can't think of a better place to put it to good use, except maybe cheerleading practice. Then he could reenact Zapped all over again, sans Scott Baio.

Also, is it just me, or did the premise of this episode seem a little bit like Heroes? You've got a guy tracking down meteor freaks, and stealing 'em away for some devious purpose. There was no Horn Rimmed Glasses dude, but someone creepily close to him. If you put a set of those spex on Dr. Bethany, I bet he'd look a lot like that dude. He does Lex's dirty work, seems to have no trouble getting in and out of the mansion, and has a good cover story as a doc to hide behind. Plus that really nifty ray-gun. Hmm.

(S06E13) Valentine's Day comes to Smallville about two weeks before the rest of the country. Why can't these episodes come on closer to the actual date of the holiday? Okay, I'm griping too much. We've got the return of Red Kryptonite, and it's about darn time. It comes at the right time, too ... given the fact that Lois has gotten a bit itchy in her relationship with Oliver Queen, and Lana is about to go fully over to the dark side and marry Lex Luthor, not to mention have his baby. That's getting a bit too close to the whole Anakin/Padme relationship, ain't it?

The whole little Zoltar machine slash Gypsy slash matchmaker woman who just gives Lois the magical lipstick was wayyyyy to much of a plot device for me. It's like the writers were in a post-Chinese food coma and decided to just have some character waltz in and hand it over. Was it too convenient? Am I griping about the small stuff too much again? Most likely. Granted, the alternative was probably having a department of LuthorCorp working on cosmetics, and some wacky scientist decides to add meteor rocks and yadda yadda yadda. K-powered shampoo and shaving gel for the world.

(S06E12) Or as I like to call it, "The Martian Manhunter Show!" All Martians, all the time. Either that, or "One Flew Over the Clark Kent's Nest," except we didn't get a Nurse Ratchett, unfortunately. You can tell right from the beginning that this is all taking place in Clark's mind, so it has the ring of "ripoff" to me. Basically, it's like holodeck episode of Star Trek: TNG. Although some good things came out of those (Dixon Hill, Moriarty, Minuet) so I'm not going to declare full shenanigans ... maybe only halfsies.

Someone needs to YouTube together all of the scenes of Clark working on farm equipment and make it a commercial for Clark's Tractor Repair. We must have seen him work on that thing a million times, but I don't remember him ever turning over any soil in the north forty. What gives, Smallville? The writers need to think about dropping the whole Kent Farm charade and just have them live on the land. Martha's a senator, which must pay fairly decent wages, right?

(S06E08) Lex is phase-shifted or something into another dimension, where he can look and listen, but not touch. You'd think that Lex would like this situation, at least temporarily, as gathering secret intelligence on loved ones is one of favorite pastimes. Chloe tells Lana that seeing Lex turn into static is no stranger than a lot of things that have happened in Smallville. Not to mention on multiple episodes of various Star Trek series. Because of this dilemma, the episode is packed to the gills with Lex/Lana longing for each other across a void.

Hey, from a distance, the evil nerd who imprisons Lex looks a bit like a young version of Heroes' Horn-Rim Glasses Guy. In the end, Black-Rimmed Glasses Kid will prove to be no match for Jimmy Olsen's ham radio skills.

Entertainment Weekly ran an interesting online reader's poll asking, "Who deserves more fame?"

While I'm not sure I'd wish big time, privacy-destroying fame on any of my favorite performers, there are definitely some TV actors out there who are severely underrated.

Who was included on the EW list? Christopher Gorham, Ugly Betty; Allison Mack, Smallville; Sara Rue, Less Than Perfect; Nathan Fillion, Firefly; Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, Supernatural; Wendell Pierce, The Wire; David Hyde Pierce, Fraiser; Matthew Settle and Damian Lewis, Band of Brothers; the cast of Everwood; Clea DuVall and Nick Stahl, Carnivale; Mary Lynn Rajskub and Roger Cross, 24 and Tahmoh Penikett, Battlestar Galactica.

I was afraid of this. Every other season of Smallville has suffered from this same type of ailment. There are these amazing, poignant episodes that crop up a couple of times a year (normally in November, February and May; go figure), and the rest of the season is a lot of fluff and filler. This season, as a whole, has been amazing. Even the episodes that weren't the cornerstones had huge character development that was being used later on. For the first time, this felt like an "epic", like the huge origin of Superman, instead of his weekly comic book adventures as a young man. Everything seemed to build to Reckoning, the 100th episode two weeks ago, and since that amazing event, the show has been, well, pretty "meh". On with the show!