Season 3 Overview

1. Exile 10/10

2. Phoenix 10/10

3. Extinction 10/10

4. Slumber 7/10

5. Perry 10/10

6. Relic 6/10

7. Magnetic 6/10

8. Shattered 10/10

9. Asylum 10/10

10. Whisper 8/10

11. Delete 10/10

12. Hereafter 5/10

13. Velocity 7/10

14. Obsession 9/10

15. Resurrection 7/10

16. Crisis 8/10

17. Legacy 8/10

18. Truth 6/10

19. Memoria 10/10

20. Talisman 9/10

21. Forsaken 9/10

22. Covenant 10/10

SEASON AVERAGE 8.4/10


Top 5 Episodes
    1. Memoria
    2. Covenant
    3. Shattered
    4. Delete
    5. Phoenix

Episode 3.22: Covenant

A woman named Kara arrives at the Kent farm claiming to be from Krypton. She exhibits the same powers as Clark and tries to persuade him to go back to Krypton with her through the cave walls. Jonathan does not trust her and so enlists the help of Chloe to find out the true identity of the woman.
Lionel tells Lex from behind prison bars that he is dying but Lex doesn't believe him and is determined to have him convicted. But he needs an eye witness to Lionel's crimes in order to prevent the judge from granting bail. Clark offers to help, but Lionel tells him about the room in Lex's mansion, that has all of the information Lex has been collecting on him. So Clark ends his friendship with Lex and decides to go with Kara. This is after he forgets to drive Lana to the airport. But Lex is able to be there to see her off. When Chloe gives Jonathan the true identity of Kara he tries to stop Clark, revealing that the woman is just a pawn in Jor-El's scheme to bring Clark through the cave wall. Jor-El kills "Kara", then threatens the life of Jonathan, leaving Clark with no choice but to step through the wall. The episode closes with Lionel saying goodbye to his hair in prison, Lex seemingly being poisoned, while Chloe and her dad appear to be blown to pieces when their witness protection accommodation is bombed out.

I never had the pleasure of seeing this episode in continuity as the first season I properly watched was season 4. This meant that the explosion that supposedly kills Chloe and her dad never hit me quite as hard as I'm sure it would have done had I seen it without the knowledge of what comes next. Even so, if I put myself into the shoes of someone who did watch this in continuity, I can easily imagine it being a shocking moment. It's a brilliantly orchestrated sequence in which pretty much every main character on the show finds themselves in a tight or unfamilar spot at the end.

Jor-El really does come off as a controlling, manipulative, and even murderous douchebag in this episode. There's no way around it. He's simply not the noble character that you would expect him to be based on his history in the comics and other media. I'm not sure how I feel about that. On one hand they are telling their own story here so, ultimately, they don't have to be so strict in their adherence to the lore of these characters. On the other hand, I feel it more fitting for Jor-El to be the kind of man that Clark can aspire to be. But then there's always Jonathan.

I actually like the fact that Lex meets Lana at the airport. I'm enjoying his interactions with her over the past few episodes more than I am the ones between her and Clark. At this point I can sort of understand why some fans of the show prefer the Lexana relationship over the core Clana one.

It's painful to see how fractured the relationship between Clark and Lex has become. I really do feel sorry for Lex here. It always seems like he's the one who is actually making more of an effort to still be friends and do the right thing in spite of his circumstances. Even the care he shows to Chloe, by making sure she fully understands the danger she is putting herself in testifying against Lionel, is somewhat endearing.

Covenant is a densely packed season finale that is Smallville at its best. A great end to perhaps the greatest season of the show.

10/10

Episode 3.21: Forsaken

Emily Dinsmore, the clone of Lana's childhood best friend, who we last saw in the Season 2 episode, Accelerate, has been held prisoner by Lionel Luther for the past 11 months. When she escapes she kills the new owner of The Talon and then kidnaps Lana, holding her captive inside a giant glass prison. Clark has decided that the only way to stop Lana leaving Smallville is to tell her his secret. But when she doesn't show up for dinner it leads him to investigate her wareabouts, bringing him into a confrontation with Emily. Lionel finds out that Lex is wearing a wire. He pays off the FBI agent, Frank Loder, that was working with Lex to work for him instead. Part of that work involves attempting to beat Pete Ross into spilling the beans on Clark. He doesn't! Lex eventually comes to his aid and forces Loder to make an arrest on his father, thanks to evidence provided by Chloe of the confession that Lionel thought he had deleted.

I wasn't overly keen on 'Accelerate'. So imagine my surprise when this sequel to that episode actually turns out to be pretty damn good! While I'm still not all that fussed about the character of Emily Dinsmore, I do like Lana's interactions with her here, thanks to the performance of Kristen Kruek. Kruek is on great form throughout actually and I really feel her disappointment and frustration in her final moments when Clark backs out of telling her everything. But Clark does this after Pete decides to leave Smallville with his mother, due to the unbareable pressure of trying to keep his secret. So you can understand the choice Clark has made and kinda feel sorry for him.

There's a scene in this episode where Clark comes to Lex and accuses him of being responsible for making Lana leave for Paris early. This is a way of putting Clark onto the trail of Emily but, even so, it's still a hard scene to watch because scenes between these two men now always seem to be laced with a touch of bitterness as their distrust of each other grows. It's been a subtle shift across the course of the season but these are not the same two men who hugged each other like brothers in Phoenix.

Lex gets to save Pete. It is clear that he is trying to bring down his father and that he had nothing to do with Pete being beaten. Yet Pete still doesn't cut Lex any slack when he tells Clark about what happened. Based on his words to him, Clark could be forgiven for thinking Lex was really up to no good. I like this scene because it highlights how the ways that people frame information about a certain someone can shape the way we view them. It's a good reminder that we should always form our own opinions about people rather than being informed by other people's prejudices.

To be quite honest, I'm happy to see Pete leave Smallville at the end. I don't hate the character, and he has had his moments to shine now and then, but on the whole he's the character from the main cast that I'm least drawn to. There has just been too many times where he has been a liability or just plain whiney about living in Clark's shadow.

I love Lionel's arrest sequence. He refers to Lex as Judas, painting himself as the Jesus figure, which reveals just how monumental his ego truly is.

A highly entertaining episode with a lot going on.

9/10

Episode 3.20: Talisman

When Lionel Luther unearths an artefact from the Kawache caves, a small dagger, he believes it to be made of the same metal as the octagonal disc. This means he should be able to use it to make a new key. Unfortunately for him, the dagger is stolen by a young man named Jeremiah Holdsclaw, who works for Professor Joeseph Willowbrook. Both men believe the dagger to be part of a prophecy, in which Naman, whom Willowbrook thinks is Clark Kent, will kill the evil Sageeth. However, when the dagger grants Jeremiah the same powers as Clark, he decides that the prophecy must be referring to himself as the saviour Naman and goes on a quest to kill Lionel, the man he determines to be Sageeth. Meanwhile, Lana Lang asks Lex to buy her out of The Talon, so that she can afford to go to Paris. But when he puts the place up for sale she begins to have doubts about going until Lex persuades her otherwise.

This is a really good episode that I don't think I fully appreciated until now. When I go through the series like this and review each episode, it forces me to be a bit more analytical and a bit more objective. As a result I find that my opinion can really change on some episodes and this is definitely one of them.

I love the stuff between Lex and Lana here, particularly the fact that Lex admits to going into business with Lana in the first place because it kept a part of his business affairs grounded in a person of honesty and integrity. I also love that Lex is able to bring a strength out of Lana whereby she feels capable and driven enough to be truly independent. She doesn't always get this from Clark due to his overprotectiveness of her.

The story with the dagger forces Clark to consider his destiny. Is it already written or does he get to decide for himself who he is going to be? Sure, this is hardly a new question for him to be asking, but seeing the way that Willowbrook already looks to him as his people's saviour, it gives us some insight into the kind of pressures Clark will eventually have to face once he dons the red cape. How do you cope with people looking to you almost like a God?

We see how quickly such a pressure can transform a man so negatively through the character of Jeremiah. His belief that he is the chosen one has a huge impact on his ego, turning him into someone who thinks that he has the right to determine who gets to live and who gets to die. This is the way that most self-proclaimed saviours have gone when you look throughout the annals of history.

I love Lex's interpretation of the prophecy at the end. He asks Clark to consider the possibility that, actually, perhaps it is Naman who is the villain of the story. It's an interesting take, as most villains would never really see themselves as such. We are all the heroes of our own stories after all.

Clark and Lex's relationship is really starting to show cracks in this episode too. This is mostly because Lex senses that Clark is lying to him. The thing is, he is right, Clark is indeed lying to him. But you can see the way in which that growing distrust is affecting Lex's attitude towards Clark. And it's really hard not to see it from Lex's perspective and think, "You know what, you're right not to trust this dude!" That being said, the secrets that Clark wants to keep truly are nobody's business but his. As a viewer you are caught between a rock and a hard place in this complex relationship between the two men.

9/10

Episode 3.19: Memoria

When Lex is found by Lana standing on the edge of his rooftop balcony, screaming the name 'Julian', she tells Clark out of concern. Clark learns that Lex has been undergoing treatment with Dr Garner, at Sommerholt, to retrieve his missing memories. Fearing this might help Lex to recall his secret Clark goes to Lionel to have him do something about it under the guise of protecting Lex from the dangerous procedure. But Lionel betrays Clark, luring him into a trap, so that Dr Garner can use the machine on him and discover the secrets of his origins. Whilst in the machine Clark has a memory of his birth mother, Lara, while Lex eventually remembers the truth about Julian and, ultimately, the reason for why his father has never truly loved him.

WOW! What a bloody brilliant rollercoaster ride of an episode. Not only is Memoria my favourite episode of the third season, it might just be my favourite episode, period! The unfolding of Lex's history, particularly the final reveal about what truly happened to Julian, is jaw dropping and very emotional. Rosenbaum's performance is incredible throughout and by the time we get to the end I've probably never felt more sympathetic towards his character.

Glover is on form as Lionel as well. He makes a pretty sharp observation about Clark's motives for helping Lex at one point. Sometimes, Clark's drive to protect his secret really does outweigh his better nature, but it shows us that Clark is definitely more human than he cares to acknowledge.

Lionel realizes his mistreatment of Lex for so many years was all based on a lie. It is a really tragic moment. But if he'd have known the truth from the beginning it's pretty clear that nothing would have been different between him and Lex. Instead, he would have had Lillian killed and Lex would hate him for it. Either way, the evil nature of Lionel would always be the source of division in the Luther family.

Clark learns that his birth mother's biggest fear was that nobody on earth would love her son. It gives him a new perspective on his natural parents, who have so far been very alien to him, particularly with the demands that Jor-El has been placing onto him over the past year.

This is a stellar episode that really deepens the characters and enriches the mythology of the show.

10/10

Episode 3.18: Truth

When Chloe breaks into Luthercorp in search of proof that Lionel has blacklisted her dad from finding other work, she gets caught in a lab accident that sprays her with a kryptonite-infused gas. The gas gives Chloe the power to make anyone tell her the truth by merely asking them a question. Chloe's reporter instinct goes into overdrive and she makes enemies all over the place, pulling the darkest secrets out of everyone she meets, including Lionel Luther.

The concept for this episode is brilliant. It allows us to get to the heart of some of our main characters by bringing things out of them with a level of clarity that we are just not used to seeing, whether it's Lex admitting that the only thing he wants is for his dad to tell him he loves him, or Pete coming clean about how he really feels about Chloe. The standout scenes in the episode are between Lionel and Chloe. Glover is particularly on form and the way he subtly intimidates and manipulates Chloe, just with his body language and tone of voice, is brilliant.

My big problem with Truth is that Chloe is just so damn unlikeable in it. No matter what dark roads the character has taken up until now, I've always still managed to empathise with her and root for her. There's usually a good reason for those dark roads to be taken. But here she just comes off as a mega bitch! That's not something I would personally expect to be saying about the character as she is one of my favourites. I blame the writing here though. They just make her run too wild with her power, to the point that she doesn't care who it hurts, which doesn't ring true of a character that once removed the "wall of wierd" from her office for fear that the information on there was risking lives. Chloe IS a truth seeker, but she is NOT reckless with people!

There are a couple of scenes that are pretty laughable too. One is the opening in which Chloe is gassed, just because the whole set up seems very contrived. I don't know what she was hoping to find in the way of proof that Lionel was blacklisting her father. The other is the scene in which Clark gets the antidote. He finds the man who used to run the lab that produced the gas. He's been unemployed for years and appears to be living out of a camper van. And yet he pulls out a syringe from his fridge like one of the hosts of Blue Peter. "Here's one I made earlier!". It's just so... convenient.

These issues aside, I can still enjoy many of the other scenes throughout, like Martha blurting out info on Jor-El, Pete almost giving up Clark's secret, and the real sting that comes from getting Lionel to confess to the murder of his parents before finding out that he has erased the recording of that very confession. Where does Chloe go from here?

6/10

Episode 3.17: Legacy

The octagonal disc calls out to Jonathan, causing him to have an accident that nearly kills him. Lex begins to help the FBI to catch Lionel by wearing a wire, but only turns their attention on Clark due to Lionel's interest in him. Lionel visits Virgil Swann to see if he will help him gather info on Clark. Swann declines but says he can offer something else instead. When Lionel's men, posing as the feds, storm the Kent farm looking for the disc, it prompts Jonathan to confront Lionel and the two get into a dustup, during which, the key ends up disappearing into the wall of the Kawache caves, only to resurface later in the possession of Dr Swann.

This is a somewhat frustrating episode. By the time it ends I'm not entirely sure what happened. All the stuff with Jonathan Kent hearing the voice of Jor-El doesn't really seem to go anywhere. Stuff just seems to happen without any kind of explanation or reason. Just what exactly was it that Virgil Swann is supposed to have done for Lionel to help him out? And how the hell does he end up with the key?

Also, what was Jonathan thinking getting into a fist fight with Lionel so soon after a triple heart bypass? I can only assume this is why, for the majority of the fight, Jonathan seems to be getting his ass handed to him, which is actually a nice touch as I would expect him to be more of a fighter than Lionel. Honestly though, it's quite satisfying to finally see these 2 have a shot at each other.

Lana is getting cold feet once more about stepping back into a relationship with Clark, which is about as yawn-inducing as that sounds.

Michael Rosenbaum is pretty good, typically, as Lex begins to feel pulled in many different directions. When his actions against his father have repercussions for Clark, you can totally understand how Clark would see it and why he might be mad, but also feel for Lex as he genuinely did not mean to bring Clark into it.

It's a really good episode but definitely let down by some incoherent plotting. At one point Clark is suddenly with Lana, telling her that he's looking for his missing father. But this is the first we are hearing about it as well. It kinda feels like there is a scene missing.

Ultimately, I feel like they tried to do too much with this episode and, as a result, it's not quite as tidy as it should have been.

8/10