What I'm Watching: Smallville

Smallville: Season 7, Episode 16 “Descent” (C+)

First things first, I don’t believe Lionel is dead. But his death was pretty well-done, with Lex’s declaration that “no one will even remember your name.” There a bunch of elements of this episode that work quite well, like the idea that Lex’s loyal servant would have helped him solve the mystery he had waited all his life to solve but he didn’t think he could trust her so he had her killed first, but the execution needs some work. Time also passes way too quickly, with Lex’s disciple moving from place to place with her gun at impossible speed. Lois and Jimmy’s relationship is really being forced, and the two of them are just so annoying by themselves that together they’ll be unbearable. Who makes jokes and comes up with puns when someone has a gun pointed at them? And Lois’ response to getting shot: “Are you serious? You actually shot me?” Fortunately, Chloe is actually spared terrible lines during the second half of the episode in her half-moving, impassioned speech to Clark. The Jonathan/Jor-El/Lionel comparison is actually fairly effective, certainly more so than the rest of the things on this show.