Episode 6.22: Phantom

The last phantom is on the hunt for a kryptonian in order to copy there DNA and become just as powerful. That's bad news for Clark. Lana leaves Lex, which supposedly leads to her demise. Martian Manhunter convinces Clark that Lionel is on his side but is unable to convince him not to go up against the phantom and risk creating a bizarre version of himself. And Lois is critically wounded trying to break into Reeves dam, only to have Chloe save her at the expense of her own life, when her meteor power reveals itself.

The opening scene for this episode has to be the darkest teaser we've ever had for the show. It's very intense, like something right out of a horror film. The Exorcist meets David Cronenberg. I'd totally forgotten how full on it is. It definitely made me sit up straight.

Lionel tells Lex the truth about Lana, how he forced her to marry him. You can see how much it hurts Lex. Even now, after everything he has done, I still believe that Lex loves Lana and wanted her love in return. But he's so incapable of letting that love manifest itself in the proper, healthy way, that he just destroys it in his futile attempt to control it. It's the most tragic aspect of his character.

Clark says goodbye to Martha as she heads to Washington. I know that Martha does return, but it's nowhere near as often as we are used to. That's why this sort of feels like the show is saying goodbye to her in a way. But it's very underplayed. I like that Martha tells Clark to think about moving away from the farm. She understands that his ties to his home might in fact be holding him back, which is quite true of many young men in this day and age, I would imagine.

Lana tells Clark she's leaving Lex and he tells her everything about his secret. About bloody time is all I can say! This episode does seem to drop a tonne of truth bombs. Everyone seems to be confessing left and right. There's Clark telling Lana his secret. We've got Lana telling Lex she wants to leave him, as well as telling Clark about what Lionel did. Then we've got Lionel coming clean about being Jor-El's emissary with Martian Manhunter dropping in to tell Clark his reason for being on Earth. It's all very refreshing I must say.

I love that Clark gives Lionel a good thrashing. Again, it's long overdue. I flinch, however, when Lex hits Lana. Not necessarily because I care for Lana so much, but because it's such an act of cowardice from Lex, that's hard to see even him sinking down to.

Clark and Chloe track the phantom who is in the body of a small boy. It's super creepy to see this little kid in what I can only describe as a "possessed" like state. Again, it reminds me of a film like The Exorcist or something like that.

Lois gets stabbed breaking in to Reeves dam. I know she's an "army brat" as she is often fond of telling people. But sometimes I find her ability to take down fully trained military personnel to be a bit of a stretch, so it's nice to see one such fight that she has here end with dire consequences for her. It's far more believable.

Lana is "blown up". The moment has zero impact because I never believed for a second, even when I saw it the first time, that she was inside that car. The moment that does have impact though is Chloe's supposed death. That's mostly down to the absolute first class performance from Alison Mack. But also, given the fact that Chloe is not a character from the comic books, there was always the possibility that the show was going to kill her off. And if this had have been that time, it would have been a perfect send off for the character, just because of how bad it makes you feel that she is "gone".

I don't know why but I found it hilarious when Lex uses his scientist as a shield. It's terrible behaviour from him but it's absolutely first rate comic book villainy.

The climatic battle between Clark and 'Bizarro' is pretty epic. It's not as prolonged as, say, the fight with Titan, but the level of destruction that comes from the two Clark's trading blows is awesome in scale. Awesome stuff!

10/10