What I’m Watching: Smallville

Smallville: Season 10, Episode 17 “Kent” (B-)

We’re now officially in the home stretch, with this serving as the first of the final five ever episodes of this superhero show. Maybe it’s a sense of nostalgia coming over me or the fact that we’re so close to the end, but I do think this episode was considerably better than some of the recent installments, mainly because it references that alternate reality we first saw a couple of episodes back. Even if I’ve never been particularly impressed by the acting abilities of Tom Welling, Clark Luthor and Clark Kent do seem like two completely different characters. It’s weird only to see Tess and Lois as the supporting players with old favorites like Chloe and Oliver gone, but we do get a chance to see one character I know to be beloved by many fans of the show: Jonathan Kent. It’s good to see Clark get some therapeutic closure by talking to his dad once again, and this show is really hard to emphasize the idolization of Clark as a hero. Having Clark Luthor present just helps to underline the fact that Clark is perhaps the nicest, most well-intentioned crime fighter ever to exist. With the Kent farm being sold off, Clark and Lois can move to Metropolis to abandon the show’s title for good and help him to become the Daily Planet reporter and Superman he was always meant to be. I’m not sure how far things are going to get in the show’s final four installments, but I’m looking forward to them.