michaelrosenbaum

(S06E02) Second show and already here we go with the gimmicks. Clark gets a cold -- a super-powered cold, but nevertheless ...

I know a lot a viewers were disappointed when Zod's conquest of Earth was thwarted in only one episode. I rather, prefer Lex to be Lex, but it's tough to buy the world returning to normal so soon -- even though Kal-el is spending his nights surreptitiously cleaning up Metropolis after "Dark Thursday." It's too soon for me to get excited over a comic relief episode filled with Kryptonian super-sneezes. Clark's fourth-wall-breaking quip to Chloe about putting the world in jeopardy "on an annual basis," was kind of cute though.

In unintentional humor: Lex is kidnapped by a black-ops duo using massively corny walkie-talkie code: the bear is hibernating. Over.

(S06E01) Quite a spectacular opener. Clark's imprisoned in the Phantom Zone, which is arid and menaced by cool monsters -- but that's not as bleak as Metropolis under General Zod's Krytonian virus. Zod's so bad, he only refers to himself in the third person. With Martha and Lois crash landing in the Fortress of Solitude, Lionel Luthor splitting for Smallville, leaving wounded Chloe in Metropolis, the cast could not be more far flung at the start of Smallville's sixth season, which starts off with ambition and style.

There have been few single episodes of a show that have emotionally drained me as much as last week's Reckoning. I thought the first half was perfect, and the second was perfectly devastating. I love Kristin Kreuk, and Lana's character (a lot more than most), but if they could have left it with her dying, I think it would have shown some real cajones and really splintered Smallville from every other Superman mythos out there. The anger that Clark and Lex have towards each other would be tangible. They could have played with Johnathan struggling to do the right thing with his power, wanting to destroy the Luthor's, but still do the right thing. Don't get me wrong; last week's episode was great, and everyone's performances were perfect. I just think an even bigger change to the status quo would have been to let Lana die. So, on to this week's episode. Much like after any loss of a loved one, everyone seemed to just be going through the motions. It was an OK episode, but it could have happened two weeks ago and still been in place. On with the show!