Episode 1.9: Rogue

WOW! What a tremendous 45 minutes of television this edition of Smallville is. It is even better than the previous episode, which had been the season highlight up to that point, clearly showing that the makers of the show have begun to hit their stride.

Without a single meteor freak in sight Rogue offers up a traditional and more human nemesis for Clark to pit his wits against. The villain of the piece is Sam Phelan, a dirty cop, with blackmail in mind. Phelen offers a new challenge for Clark in the sense that Clark must defeat Phelan by outsmarting him instead of merely overpowering him.

The performances are great all round with the possible exception of Kelly Brook. She seems a little wooden, but as this is her first acting gig she may just require a little more time to get used to the part, so she gets the benefit of doubt for now. However, there are particularly notable turns from Alison Mack as Chloe, John Schneider as Jonathan Kent, and Tom Welling who gets to show a side to Clark that we have not previously seen when Phelan begins to push all the right buttons. Clark is pushed so far in fact that he actually considers killing his enemy.

A great episode and probably the best of the season so far. 9/10