(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.

(S09E15) 'Smallville' is back! For a tenth season, no less.

Six more episodes remain in this season, and tonight we got some advancement in the Lois/Clark relationship, plus some sort of relationship between Chloe and Oliver which remains vague. But then, if relationships on television weren't fluid, they'd be far more boring.

When we last left the show, Zod had obtained his Kryptonian powers from Clark's blood. Now, instead of one of the 'Saw' movies, the episode has become an 80's horror flick with Silver Banshee becoming the equivalent of Freddy or Jason (or perhaps one of the 'Leprechaun' movies, if you want to keep with the same Irish heritage as the Banshee).

I'm beginning to think that Jon Hamm is one of the funniest people on television. Maybe it's the serious, moody demeanor he displays on Mad Men that makes his comedy really stand out when he does it, but he's a funny guy. His episode of Saturday Night Live was one of the best in years, and he had a funny scene on 30 Rock. The Funny or Die video after the jump shows more of his humorous side.

That's Hamm as super villain Lex Luthor, asking the government for a bailout. Seems that Luthor and his corporation have lost billions of dollars trying to do various things to take over the country and/or get rid of Superman. The video isn't laugh-out-loud funny, but it's clever, and you can see bits of Don Draper in Hamm's portrayal of the bald bad guy. Oh, about that: it's an obvious wig that makes him look a little bit like Max Headroom in close-ups, but it's actually funnier this way.

(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.

(S05E21) Whew. I don't know how I feel about last night's episode. Basically, it confused the crap out of me, but I think that was the point. It was all just a tease for the finale, which is next Thursday.

Still, there was a lot of stuff that the writers could have tidied up a bit. Namely, the Kryptonian Alphabet.How come Clark can't read Kryptonian letters? Didn't he learn Kryptonian back in like Season 2? Here is Lionel handing him a treasure map of Kryptonian goodness and Clark just shrugs and goes, "What does it say? I don't know." That was just dumb.

(S05E19) If you ignore the blatant Saw rip-off, then this episode was super fantastic. But any episode that centers around Lionel is a winner in my book. This ep was a total incubator for cliffhangers. In this episode, Lionel is kidnapped by a masked tormentor who forces him to endure all kinds of riddles and physical challenges in order to live. Of course, Martha gets thrown into the mix, and several amazing things happen...

In last night's episode, Lana becomes addicted to flatlining so she can spend some quality time with her dead parents. Eh, at this point in the series, I find Lana-centric episodes only slightly more exciting than Chloe-driven plots. Plus, I was slightly disappointing with the lack of time that Lana was actually spending in the hereafter. From the previews, I thought she was going to be spending some quality time with her parents, not just 10 second teasers. I guess Lana felt the same way and that's how she became addicted to the kryptonite-serum that was inducing the flatline.

But still, for the sake of television...