What I’m Watching: Smallville

Smallville: Season 10, Episode 8 “Abandoned” (C+)

Forgive me if I’m still a bit confused about how Tess suddenly went from being a major villain to a trusted ally and new best friend for Clark. Ignoring that gaping plot hole, this episode was somewhat more interesting than recent installments because it delved into the past of a character whose origin story previously involved only Oliver. The revelation that the show’s replacement for Lex is actually his (half?) sister is intriguing, and it inspired me to do research on whether the character was actually part of the Superman mythology or simply invented for this show (more of the latter, it appears). It continues to mystify me that this show is going to such lengths to bring back the Luthor legacy after it pretty much dismissed it and moved past it (not quite, I guess) with Michael Rosenbaum’s departure a few seasons back. The rest of this episode was extremely self-contained, and I’m sure fans of the last live-action Superman show to be on the air were ecstatic about the appearance of Teri Hatcher as Lois’ mom. The congruity of all of the episode’s plotlines, dealing with accepting the absence of parents, felt a bit forced, but at least it’s better than things being all over the place, like an Amish clan trying to sacrifice Lois while Tess plans lots of birthday parties. Another compliment I can give this episode (the Tess part) is that it’s actually headed somewhere, which is important given the fact that this final season should present some sort of wrap-up for a decade-long saga.