What I'm Watching: Smallville

Smallville: Season 10, Episode 1 "Lazarus" (C+)

When this episode started, I thought perhaps that this final season might be really great. By the end, however, I wasn't so sure. After a strong opening, it became clear that since this is the final season, things might be very exciting. The major problem, however, is that the show is trying to incorporate a major element of the classic Superman mythology - Lex Luthor - without having the actor who originated the role on this show. The fact is that Michael Rosenbaum used to be the best part of this show, and to try to bring Lex back without having Rosenbaum just doesn't work. As one of his clones says, there's only one Lex, and it definitely isn't the guy who played him in this episode. The idea that Clark is his own worst enemy isn't great, so hopefully this season can focus on more compelling villains. Watching the opening credits, I thought that Chloe was gone from them, but it turns out that now she's earned the coveted "and" credit. The cast really is a skeleton crew at this point, with a mere five players - Clark, Lois, Oliver, Tess, and Chloe. It's pretty big news that Lois finally knows, and like the way that both Lana and Chloe found it, it's not actually as a result of Clark telling her. That should prove interesting for a bit, and I'm intrigued to see how he'll figure out that she knows. Some of this episode's lines are a bit grandstanding: "I'm not guilty of anything except for trying to save the world" / "You may not see me as a hero, but the rest of the world does." With a pep talk from fan favorite John Schneider, Clark is off to a very superheroic start for the final season. And though the show really is going off the air at the end of the year, it's worth noting that the new duo of "Smallville" and "Supernatural" managed to score third place in the ratings, beating both FOX and ABC, which is huge news for the network.