Episode 5.1: Arrival

Clark throws the stone and moments later a large Kryptonian fortress bursts forth from the earth. When he enters Jor-El begins his training. But Clark stops him in order to save Chloe from freezing to death. Jor-El allows it but only on the condition that Clark return before sundown. Back in Smallville, two Kryptonians come out of the alien space craft and start tearing up the town, looking for Kal-El. Martha recovers in hospital thanks to help from Lois. Lex covers up the circumstances surrounding the death of Genevieve Teague and takes the alien space craft back to Luthercorp. When Clark confronts the two Kryptonians they try to trap him inside the phantom zone. But Clark turns the tables, trapping them instead, saving Lana from them in the process. He holds onto Lana as the sun goes down, quickly discovering that his powers are gone. As the episode closes, another lifeform comes out from the alien space craft.

This is a really fast paced episode with lots going on, as is customary for a season opener. But despite all the big action set pieces and crazy goings on, my favourite scene is the one in the Ukranian hospital where Chloe finally gets to talk to Clark about what she knows. I almost feel as relieved as she does, that he finally has someone to confide in, especially as that someone is her. I love the way she admires him for having all these abilities and constantly saving lives without ever asking for something in return. She, in effect, gets to be the voice of the audience watching the show.

Of all the stuff going on back in Smallville the most interesting or compelling thing to watch is the way in which Lex begins to spiral out of control. His obsession with finding out what's going on with Clark and the stones brings out his darkest side and it's troubling to see the ways he tries to manipulate Lana and push Chloe around in order to get the answers he seeks.

Having 2 Kryptonians show up promises a really great showdown in the final act. Unfortunately, the 2 aliens in question don't seem to be the sharpest tools in the box and so they rather foolishly turn their backs on Clark at the precise moment they should be delivering the deciding blow. This is a bit of an anticlamatic battle given the damage we've seen these two cause in the lead up to this moment. While this final battle ends up being unsatisfying it does give us an awesome callback to Superman the Movie in its depiction of the Phantom Zone prison that wisks away the two villains.

Add to that the Kryptonian symbol that Lionel scribbles furiously into the floor and it can mean only one thing: Zod is on the horizon, which is an enticing prospect.

Jor-El taking away Clark's powers has much more meaning to it upon a repeat viewing, knowing where the season is heading. It puts a heavy burden of responsibility onto Clark's shoulders. This isn't just one of those times where Clark loses his power only to get it back in the next episode. He will indeed get it back, but doing so will pay a price, and we all know what that price is in hindsight, which is what makes the events of this episode carry more weight second time around. Doesn't do much to make me think of Jor-El as anything less than a douche bag though.

A cracking start to the season.

9/10