Episode 3.12: Hereafter

A new kid at school has the power to see how people are going to die. But when Clark intervenes and changes one of the kid's premonitions, it raises questions about how much control we might have over our destiny. Also, new information comes to light about Adam, when Chloe, Lex and Lana all begin to investigate him after Chloe sees him apparently taking drugs and Lana witnesses him having a terrible nightmare.

The plot involving Jordan, the kid with the premonitions, is just terribly wooden. It feels very much like Smallville going through the motions, making this mostly a filler episode. The characters of both Jordan and the coach, grieving over the loss of his daughter, are so heavy handed, both in terms of performance by their respective actors as well as the way in which they are written, that I just feel absolutely no emotional attachment to them at all. The coach goes from grieving and suicidal to homicidal maniac so fast that I begin to wonder if he isn't meteor infected.

The awesome pyrotechnics in the final showdown feel somewhat wasted on the story that preceded it.

The revelation that Adam has died before doesn't quite hit as hard as it ought to either, but it does set up enough intrigue to make one wonder where they are going with this character.

The most notable thing about this episode is the cliffhanger ending, in which Jonathan appears to have had a heart attack. Again, a moment so huge feels somewhat wasted on this episode. But I do remember thinking when I first saw this one that this might genuinely be the moment where we lose Jonathan, knowing that this had happened already in multiple iterations of the character. It gave this moment a lot of weight for the first time viewer.

Other than that ending though, this is a pretty mediocre episode.
5/10