Loved It? Hated It? What did you think of "Eternal?"

[KSiteTV]

This thread will open once the episode has aired.

[Supsfan]

I gave it a 5, the retcon was just plain dumb. They could have built Doomsday in a lab and I would have found that more interesting. Being positive I thought Clark looked good this episode for the most part or I would have scored it lower

[xHerox]

From the initial moments of the episode I could tell that “Eternal” would definitely be an experience different from that of a typical episode of Smallville, and when all was said and done I definitely wasn’t disappointed -- as evidenced by the ‘10’ that I gave this episode.

At first I wasn’t sure exactly how well scenes from the first episode of the series would be integrated with the new footage, but I definitely feel as though the effect was executed well. In addition, it was very interesting to see another perspective on such a familiar scene, and seeing characters like Jonathan, Martha, and Lionel was a nice bonus.

Yet perhaps what I liked most about this episode was how much it added to the overall mythology of the show. Although I felt like some elements of last season’s plotline were kind of convoluted, I genuinely felt as though the new revelations revealed in this episode add a lot to the show’s storyline as a whole (and particularly this season’s plotlines). The fact that this episode managed to reference both last season’s plot as well as some of the mythology involving the Kawatche legends (and not to mention Biblical allusions as well as foreshadowing) without feeling forced was completely intriguing, and there is no doubt in my mind that this episode will definitely affect how I view some episodes in the show’s past.

Finally, I just have to point out that everyone involved with the scene between Clark, Chloe, and Davis really deserves to be commended. The acting was superb, the cinematography was near perfect, and the entire scene just really struck a chord within me.

Overall, this was a fantastic episode and I am really interested to see what direction the storyline takes in the final episodes of the season!

[ClarkNLanaTogether4Eva]

10...amazing and thrilling episode!

[saltyweeks]

i've like the last few but this is my first ten.

Sam did a wonderful job.

man, do I love Chloe Sullivan. so strong, so flawed, so raw. no competition for my favorite character in the series.

[melissan02]

Knocked it down a few pegs for no Lois, but overall, I liked it!:) Things are starting to come into focus as to what may happen to Chloe.

[ledzepfan23]

I give it a 9. Another great episode. I love how the Veritas storyline is being brought back in a different way.

[-Nora-]

"Davis, everything that's happening to you is because of me". Oh shut up, Clark!

[skylar]

I did not like this episode Tess knows too much about Clark and Chloe
what the hell is wrong with her. So much stuff in this episode that pissed
me off. Give it a 5.

[spideyfan]

I give this a 7. It was decent.

Pros:
The regeneration of Doomsday
The retcon and story of Davis
Ma/Pa kent scenes...old footage

Cons:
No Clois

[gilliang]

1. It sucked.

[luvinChlark]

10. It soo much better than I expected.

[ClarkyBoy14]

I gave it a 9. I really like this episode. :) The flashbacks were really interesting, and I always love Smallville's flashbacks, anyways. All of the acting was good. Clark was doing some good investigating, and that Clark/Davis/Chloe scene was really touching. I thought Tess's Clark/Davis = Jesus/Judas anology was interesting; however, I don't really like Clark being compared to Jesus. I think the episode really looked good, I like how Veritas was brought back, too. Can't wait for "Stiletto." :D

[wingster55]

I give it an 8 due to the retcon. Not as action based as I thought but it's the calm before the storm i suppose

[thehenry89]

I gave it a 7, it was alright. Kinda a downer from last week...

[Melekith]

I gave it a 3. It immediately felt off to me when it seemed there was a commercial every 7 minutes. It only had about 10 minutes of Clark on screen. Chloe immediately reprised her role as Clark's side kick...despite her leaving that all behind in the last episode. Couldn't Clark just call the off-screen Lois for help? Above all though...why the hell are the writers completely writing Jimmy off of this show? Chloe and Davis now? The guy that ruined her wedding, is now Chloe's new love? This episode was total crap.

[kszonew]

This was my favorite episode so far of Season 8. The first time I've really enjoyed Smallville since Quest. Most of Season 8 has been good concepts (Clark moving on, Davis/Doomsday evolving) but the stories themselves I've felt have often been overrated by many.

Although Eternal won't rank up there with the likes of Descent and Memoria, it is a step in the direction of Season 8 (to me at least) having a standout episode among average and just good ones. I am looking forward to the final 3 episodes, and hope that Stiletto is somewhat amusing and not too much "Lois & Clark: TNAOS".

Although I did like working the Vertias and Caves back in, I will admit I am not 100% crazy about Sageth and Namen being Clark and Davis and not Clark and Lex. But like someone said in another post, there are 2 ways to look at it. And to me it can be about both Clark/Lex and Clark/Doomsday at the same time. Clark needs to deal with the serpent's body (Doomsday) before he can deal with his greatest adversary, the head (Lex). Of course even having never read the comics I know that Doomsday is the greater enemy, in Smallville he appears to be Clark's rite of passage - so I think it fits.

But overall I really liked this one. Everything clicked, which is something I've said before, but felt different about after rewatching an episode this season. I like Erica and Lois and understand that she is important to the show. But Lois and Clark and Lois herself are just storylines of a bigger picture, they aren't the "heart" of the show. That is Clark's journey and his friendship turned rivalry with Lex. Davis is the rite of passage, so to speak.

[Hakoon]

Gave it an 8. I enjoyed it but remaking the Lionel storyline was silly IMO. I wasn't expecting much from this but was surprised. The only reason I didn't give it a 6.5 was that Tess sold me on this episode...her character is so interesting to me.

Someone above posted about Clark's guilty trip again...gimme a break SV, we get it that Clark is guilt-man.

[Glove]

I gave it a 7. This wasn't bad. I like that Davis is fighting
the monster inside. I like that Tess figured out about certain
secrets and agrees with Lex's anger with Clark. I like the
thing that keeps Davis from becoming the monster and the
apparent decision made to help prevent the inevitable. I
thought the episode was slow. I know it was necessary to
tell this part of the story and they did the best they could
with what they had to convey, but it kind of dragged along.

[origin]

I really enjoyed the episode I'm giving it a 9

[Night_Hawk90]

5 this episode didnt do much for me.

[shamville]

Eternal could been better if add tess and chloe scene. Maybe end chark chloe told clark she kill a person for him. Shock davis still a live and i hope davis not knock up chloe.

[WELLINGWIFE#2]

I gave it an 8..I don't want to say this is the best epi cause I still have hopes that the finale will blow my mind! What I did like about this epi was the range of emotions the actors showed us. Tess was amazing , at times she reminded me of Lex but she seemed to explain some of her actions as being for the greater good. The young Davis and Lex did an excellent job, they remind you that everyone is young an innocent once. I like how alot of things were explained and the relationship between CK and Davis. The scenery, camera shots and lighting was all excellent. This was well written and all the actors did an excellent job. I wish we would have gotten a kick ass song at the end like we have been but I'll take a good epi over that anyday.

[Jack-El49]

I thought it was a good episode - I gave it a 7. It was full of plot holes - that's the worst part as well as retconning the Sageeth and Naman legend.

[Amelie]

I gave it a 9. The only reason why is because I love SW and I love his portrayal of Davis (even though I'm not too happy about the entire storyline). Plus, I realized that Davis/Tess would be sooo much hotter than Davis/Chloe. Lol. But yeah, it was a good Davis ep! ;)

[reobeem]

Ok to start off with seeing Jonathan, Martha Kent, and Lionel Luthor even if it was odd footage was great. It's a real shame they can't get any of the actors back maybe for the series finale. The whole episode seemed to flow together well except for one thing, how did Lionel's security guards not catch the Kents with baby Clark or loading the ship onto their truck.

Davis seems to really be a guy you can feel sorry for. The whole bad childhood thing has been done to death in different stories so nothing new. Same goes for connecting everyone to the Luthors. Somehow the writers I think tried to recton all the loose ends in this show and it seemed work but felt lazy. As for Davis' love for Chloe again nothing new but it gives me a reason to see another heartbreak which happened right away for once. I want to see how she deals with loving a guy who can't die.

Clark while heading in the right direction really needs to let go of this saving everyone complex. It'll get him killed again if he keeps it up. It felt like old Smallville again the way he talked to Tess even though she knows. That last scene between them might be what sets off the events of Injustice. I wonder if he'll turn to Jor-El for help since Davis can't die. Ok after the next episode we'll get to see some action.

[Supsfan]

I thought it was a good episode - I gave it a 7. It was full of plot holes - that's the worst part as well as retconning the Sageeth and Naman legend.

I can actually live with the small plotholes personally, the complete retcon of alot of events to me just comes across bad. Also doesn't help that this episode seemed like Clark light(you know the main character on the show who I actually give 2 poops about)

[Bre723]

Chloe immediately reprised her role as Clark's side kick...despite her leaving that all behind in the last episode.

She didn't say that she wasn't Clark's sidekick anymore, she said she was done reporting I think.

[Saber]

It was a strong episode but I hate that they are changing the details to suit their season 8 story arc. Too many inconsistencies to ignore, to say, “Ok I’ll buy that now”.
I wouldn’t be surprise if Tess bites the bullet in the end. She knows too much and now she will have to wear the red shirt, like in the old Star Trek TV show.

I give it a hesitant 7 because I liked the original “Pilot” episode just the way it was, with out this hidden agenda.

[pleasenoclois]

10 - Love the Doomsday storyline. Loved the acting. Love SW.

[dru-zod2501]

I give it an 7 cause seeing jonathan & martha again really warmed me up. Tess was wooden for the most part, and I'm not sure how I feel about the retcons yet

[Dresden]

I enjoyed the acting and I do enjoy Davis but this episode was just so full of garbage. It retconned so much it was ridiculous. Way too many plot holes for this episode to deserve a high rating though I already see a lot of people jumping to hit that 10 button.

[batfinx]

All episodes start out as 10 for me until I deduct points for things that didn't work for me. I gave it a 6. I didn't like them retconning the sageeth/naman myth because in Talisman the knife vanished when Lionel and Lex tried to grab it just as the Kawatchi myth said it would. This was a myth Smallville itself created and it was disappointing they changed it. So one point off for that retcon. Lionel left a storybook journal behind? Yeah, right. A point off for that. Chloe acting like she's single while she's still married? I don't care how much the marriage sucks, it's just wrong until the marriage is officially put asunder, so a point taken off for that. Clark blaming himself for Davis' lot in life, a point off for that. I take a point off every time Clark says that in an episode :D

Beyond that, I thought the episode started stronger than it finished. I liked how they wove the pilot into the story of Davis "hatching" near Clark's ship. The child actors were very good and had the most energy of all the actors. Anyway, a solid 6 from me.

[AgentChaos]

That was much better than last week. This is where Smallville shines- no wacky hijinx, no headache-inducing anvils- just good storytelling, intense non-soap operaish drama, and great acting.

Loved:

-The acting. Every one of the featured actors was on their game. Not one bad performance tonight.

-The very solid development of Davis' storyline. The Doomsday storyline has been the most interesting this year because it's been developed at a realistic pace, and tonight was no exception.

-Lack of Lois. There was no place in the episode for her nonsense, which would have taken away from the great drama.

-Tess having the Omegahedron/Traveler controller thingy. That could spell serious trouble for Clark down the road.

-Despite her disgust in what Davis had done, Chloe was still unable to "kill" him until Clark was in danger. After all the bad turns her character has taken, her first priority is still keeping Clark safe.

Didn't like:

-The retconning of the Traveler/Naman storyline. Not cool at all, but like any legend, it could have been easily misinterpreted, so I'm willing to let it slide.

-Jimmy continuing to be a royal jerk to Chloe with the nasty e-mails. This guy is supposed to be a good guy?

That's about it on the dislikes.

I don't give out a 10 rating very often. An episode has to be extra special to be considered for that. But Eternal deserved it. The retconning of the Traveler storyline wasn't enough to dock any points.

[bobby1984]

gave it a 10, loved it, the story was so good about clark and davis' past until now and how their great battle will come about along with leaving a lot of question about it to though, the story was great overall, it tied in so much and from different angles and added new ones along with building it up,the acting was great, and it was kinda a step way from the norm. and it made u wanting to see the next show right away with anticaption of what will happen next

[TayLaneBloom]

i hate this hole human side to Doomsday that Smallville got going on.
Doomsday is all about pure hate and killing. No feelings but anger.
anyway, in matters of Smallville only, it was kinda good episode.
for me it was too much trash movie like.
but anyway. Sam Witer did a great job, and i love the recaps from Pilot.
nice to the Kents... I really miss them.. =[

and no Lois, down side.

[MetroGirl06]

Gave it a solid 8. The main point was the incredible acting from all the cast members. I can live with the retcons because they are necesarry to the story. I have a feeling things will get interesting from here on out. Also, the episode had several good points.

Clark in a suit. Briefly, but still drool-inducing.
Shirtless Davis Bloome
Hot Tess
Chloe making choices that Clark doesn't have the guts to consider.

Overall, the good outweighs the bad :D

[STFanatic]

I liked the flashback with Jonathan, Martha & Lionel.

I do not like the Davis storyline, I would rather them bring back Toy man if they need a bad guy.

[Sports72Xtrm]

I gave it a 6. The Chlavis scenes I did not like. It was so..i don't even know how to describe it. I think it was an ok episode but not terribly important or exciting. No new revelations that wowed me. Just a bunch of Chlavis angst.:rolleyes:

[jcsolcp]

liked this episode, but starting to get worried about chloe i know she is not really in the superman story but allison mack is very good

[Jack-El49]

Loved that Chloe locked the door. Now she has Davis all to herself and doesn't have to worry about Clark or Jimmy or anyone else interrupting the two. Just wish she would have done that before she got married and got Jimmy gutted. Great job Chloe. Saving the world? Hardly since you know what he's capable of. So sad...pathetic actually.

And some fans were upset with her leaving journalism? :rotfl:

[ClubXerxes]

Didn't really like it. Tess feels like she was shoehorned into the story - she now feels out of place. I realize they wanted someone to fill the void after Lex, but did they have to involve her in this Veritas arc?

Speaking of which...Just when I thought that arc was dead and buried, they bring it back to life...ugghhh...

And what of Chloe? Chloe's purpose now is to keep the beast at bay??? She is going to be housing the ultimate destroyer in the hopes that his misguided love for her can keep the monster under wraps, which will somehow spare Clark? What's she going to do? House him until Clark is ready to fight? She'd better wait till Doomsday the way he's been going lately.

The one thing I liked about the Superman in the comics - he respected life, but he instantly recognized dangers and dealt with them. Clark is still too focused on this "Life at all costs" business. I thought he was moving on after he lit up Brainiac with the massive voltage, but here we are, trying to find some good in something bred for pure destruction. I can somehow feel Jor El's frustration with him - maybe the fortress can come to life and smack him upside the head.

[Karafan1]

I loved it! I give it a 10!! When Davis was getting a kryptonite shower I remembered the part in "Abyss" when Jor-El said "It adapts and evolves to any attack"..So how is anybody gonna stop Doomsday now?? Tess having that purple Traveler control ball is interesting, but won't it only work in the fortress?? I have no idea why Chloe would help Davis when she knows he's there to destroy Clark..Should be interesting to see where they go with that!!

[AgentChaos]

I gave it a 6. The Chlavis scenes I did not like. It was so..i don't even know how to describe it. I think it was an ok episode but not terribly important or exciting. No new revelations that wowed me. Just a bunch of Chlavis angst.:rolleyes:

Better Chlavis angst than Clois stupidity. At least both actors of Chlavis have chemistry and are superb actors. Clark/TW is the only decent thing about Clois.

[susangail]

My husband asked if he could vote a negative number :D

I gave it a 2, mostly for the retcon. Chloe's poor judgment didn't help. Wow.

[TayLaneBloom]

Better Chlavis angst than Clois stupidity. At least both actors of Chlavis have chemistry and are superb actors. Clark/TW is the only decent thing about Clois.

Don't know where Chloe and Davis have chemistry. For me they're like this high school impossible couple, where one of them has a fatal diseases, or something. Too much drama.

and about TW and ED. They're both are amazing. Together and apart. Erica is receiving great comments about her acting, specially as Chloe last week.

[saltyweeks]

Every hero needs his enemy. Even Jesus has his Judas, as Tess Mercer tells Clark Kent in one of the rare times I’ve seen a super hero show allow a decent biblical allusion to be brought out and even expanded on, without ridiculing either religion or super heroes. The fact that this neat exchange wasn’t even one of the highlights of “Eternal” tell you just how much I enjoyed the latest episode of Smallville and the forging of the final arc of the year. A year that I fear all too prophetically will afterward be called the Doomsday season.

For most of the series the presumed enemy of Clark has been Lex Luthor. Even when they were friends, you just knew that two-headed carving on that cave wall, the one representing the dual natures of man as good battling evil, referred to the final inevitable showdown between Lex and Clark. With Lex absent, this season has seen a shift in that scenario complete with a reboot of the show’s foundational mythologies in “Eternal” and summed up in the character of Davis Bloom, a guy who fell out of the sky as a boy (more or less) the same day as Clark did. Clark was meant to save the world. Davis was meant to destroy it. The same hero with a new enemy—the same dynamic with a new face.

But therein lies the rub. Are we absolutely true to our natures, our destinies, despite the concept of free will? “Eternal” is all over that age-old question. Davis seems to have accepted that he is a destroyer, a beast at heart, even though he wants to do good. The guy kills, but so far only murderers and three-time DUI offenders. In a twisted way, the free will of a decent fellow seeks to subvert the monster inside. The illusion is dropping for him, though. Every episode of the season, and every moment of “Eternal”, he seems to move closer to the realization that he has no free will. His nature is to do evil, to be the wrong side of the two-headed carving. In the end, he decides only his own death will help the world; his existence, vigilante or not, is too dangerous.

Clark has spent the season on the anti-Davis bandwagon, and when he sees him making time with dear old Chloe Sullivan his look positively smolders—in a very funny sequence not played for laughs Chloe worries that Clark’s heat vision will go off and burn the back of her head. An x-ray of a field littered with bodies near Davis’ burned-out truck (after Tess has tried her own vixen-direct method of altering destiny) only cements his feelings. And yet Clark is Superman…oh yes, costume or not, by now he is…and he doesn’t kill. Still, he seems to have decided, as Davis has, that no good can come from the existence of Doomsday, no matter how good of a cook the shell he resides in may be.

Leave it to Tess to dive the blade home to them. Tess is the stand-in (and a damn good one) for Lex and Lionel Luthor this year, and like the two men whose empire she inherited she craves knowledge and isn’t afraid to turn it into action based on her own feelings of morality. She lays down the facts to both Davis and Clark with perfect understanding and very little pity. They both tell her she doesn’t understand, but actually Tess is the one character who seems to have everybody’s number down pretty good. Poor Davis has to get his lecture while he’s just a big wound lying in a bed. As for Clark, his wounds are inside, from years of living a life of secrets and lies.

As Tess separately tells our hero and our villain how everyone fits so neatly into this biblical-like story, we get to see glimpses of their past. Clark’s we know, but Davis’ story is new to us. In a heavily symbolic scene a naked Davis watches Clark being comforted by the Kents as they rescue him from that old cornfield, and then is promptly put in an actual cage by Lionel’s men. We get to see a confused Davis play with young Lex at the mansion, we see him harmed by exposure to kryptonite, we see him left on the street by Lionel who has suddenly turned his fixation on the Kent boy. We see, in effect, not just what their destinies were supposed to be but how the environments they grew up in helped shape what they would become.

Except they didn’t. What a neat twist. Yes, the Kents instilled Clark with the values that make him a hero. But the abusive childhood Davis has does NOT turn him into a monster. The monster may be inside, but Davis grows up to be a decent guy. A paramedic, someone who helps people and genuinely enjoys it. A Jeykll who hates the Hyde part of him, and tries to fight it—first through pills and then by only killing bad guys. Clark is what his childhood made him, and it fits his destiny. Davis overcomes his childhood to become a good person. Just a good person who can’t stop being Doomsday.

Destiny or free will? Nature or environment? For Davis, it’s too much for the decent side of him to contemplate anymore. He makes his call. You can’t fight nature he decides. He asks Chloe to kill him. Let the Kryptonite wash over him and end it, for the good of the world. And Chloe (who I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned very much—what a great performance by Allison Mack) reluctantly agrees with him.

Not Clark. Upon learning the truth he does a 180 degree turn, one that’s in keeping with the hero we love. You CAN fight nature. It isn’t Davis’ fault. They, Clark says, should have been brothers. What a telling statement. Clark won’t give up on anybody. Now that he knows that Davis is the destroyer, is in fact the enemy meant to kill him, he is less willing to take him down than before. He tries to stop Davis and Chloe from completing the assisted suicide. He feels, as Clark so often does, responsible, reasoning that somehow he is to blame. "It’s because of me."

True? It depends on where you, and the show, fall on these hard questions of nature and free will. For Davis, though, the suffering is enough. And Chloe-- strong, flawed, raw Chloe-- pulls the lever, willing to wash away a guy we know by now she has strong feelings for, feelings that may not be love, but definitely are something.

“I’ve had better days,” a saddened Chloe tells Clark after Davis’ death, “and that’s saying something in Smallville.” Clark wants to talk about it. Chloe won’t hear his logic. She tells him she’ll do what’s right for the world no matter what his code of ethics. Her eyes, though, bring us closer to the truth. She knows Davis was meant to kill Clark. And Clark is the last thing Chloe has to lose. She can’t let that happen.

So is destiny averted? Doesn’t seem likely, especially not with a very alive-looking Davis hanging out down in Chloe’s cellar. Tess even reasons that changing things would be wrong. Jesus needed his Judas to rise from the grave. Clark gives her his blank stare. “You’ll come to me,” she tells him. He doesn’t even ask for what. The destroyer is dead to him. It’s back to the secrets and the lies.

Not for Chloe. The truth is staring her in the face. Davis still harbors no illusions about his nature. But he loves Chloe, and she keeps the beast from rising. Will she stay with him? What about Chloe’s free will? With all we know about her, the decision is not really in doubt.

Right or wrong, she’s going to be in the middle of it. I fear for her there, for the answers she may find to those age-old biblical questions. Smack in between the two-headed monster, we wait now with Chloe, in the dark of the cellar, hiding a serial killer, about to find out if we really are going where Tess assures us we are meant to go.

Into battle. Where there are two sides. The hero and the villain. But maybe no absolute right or wrong. Maybe only pain…and victims.

[NinaDavis]

3!
This episode was so LAME!

IMO:

BAD


Davis (I could live with him just being Doomsday)
Chlavis kitchen scene
Chlavis opereta (Kriptonite cage)
Flashbacks with bad plot
Tess storyteller
Having Lex (little) without Lex (Michael)
Guilty Clark :mad:


GOOD


Jimmy don't wan't come back with Chloe
Clark knows (Davis=Doomsday)
Clark reaction to the Chlavis kitchen scene (Team Jimmy)

[geminis]

Better Chlavis angst than Clois stupidity. At least both actors of Chlavis have chemistry and are superb actors. Clark/TW is the only decent thing about Clois.

Your opinion. And Lois/Erica wasn't in this episode so please, you don't have to insult her, thank you very much.

I haven't been spoiling myself lately and so had no idea what to expect from Eternal. All in all, it was better than I expected. Seeing Martha, Jonathan, and Lionel was a very nostalgic moment and I miss them all the more for seeing the old footage.

I'm not really sure how to rate this though. I'd have to rewatch it and I'm not sure if I want to. In part because Clark was flip flopping again and the horrible thing they did with Jimmy. Sigh.

I look forward to reading more expert and unbiased reviews. One more thing I have to say, I wish it were already April 23rd. I was very very happy to see that ad for Stiletto.

[BadToad]

I didn't care for this episode at all. I found it boring. plodding, and full of impossible and annoying retcons. The retcons alone should make this episode unforgiveable.

The over-the-top woobification of Davis, whose alter-ego is a serial killer with victims numbering in the dozens is really nauseating to me. As is the hint that its, somehow, Clark's fault? Clark blathering on about Davis being his fault, and all he needed was good parents? Was ridiculous! Davis needs to give it one last chance? What does that even mean? Everyone he killed was just a little whoopsie? Really, this storyline just infuriates me.

What was even the point of young Lex and young Davis? It just felt like a tremendous waste of time. The only good thing about that was seeing Jonathan and Martha again, and being reminded of when this show still had a family for Clark.

Boy, Chloe sure did get over that whole marriage thing fast, didn't she?

And really, we still need to show Clark running to Chloe to help him with a story? That crap should've stopped a long time ago.

I like Tess a lot, and CF and TW have tremendous chemistry, but this episode just gave me the impression that Tess is seriously unstable. And no thanks on the heavy-handed religious comparions and imagery.

And no, Naman and Segeth can't be Clark and Davis. The legend was that they were friends, like brothers, who eventually became enemies. That doesn't describe Clark and Davis. The idiotic retcons just keep on coming.

I think Chloe and Clark need to take a long break from each other. Their relationship just feels very forced and prickly at this point. Chloe is clearly annoyed that Clark isn't there for her like she wants.

And really, that reaction at the end was the best acting AM could muster? Shouldn't she have appeared shocked? Scared? Instead, she barely registered a reaction at all.

Why is everyone acting like all the people Davis killed don't matter?

Ugh, disliked this one a lot. A 3, and thats generous, only due to the Martha/Jonathan flashbacks, and the Clark/Tess chemistry.

I can't believe this episode was directed by James Marshall. Our most reliable director has gotten rusty, IMO

[ywm]

1!

[devilicus rebel]

I wasn't looking forward to this episode but I was pleasantly surprised by its content. I gave a 7 because I really didn't care for the flashback stuff much but the struggle in the current storyline as interesting. I also thought the kryptonite rain was cool.

[diinIN]

i hate this hole human side to Doomsday that Smallville got going on.
Doomsday is all about pure hate and killing. No feelings but anger.

It's that human side that makes it so fascinating, his fight against his fate, that he is powerless to stop the evil inside. I love that.

I thought this was one of the best of the season, maybe the best. I give it a 9, because very few episodes will ever get a 10. I save that for the epic ones (Pilot, Memoria, Reckoning, to name a few).

Not sure about the Namaan legend being changed. I guess the knife Lionel and Lex were reaching for way back when didn't mean anything then?

Oh, and Jesus wouldn't have risen if not for Judas??? Okay, well, coming from Tess, I guess that wacko assumption isn't much of a surprise.

Otherwise, it was truly excellent. I seem to love all the Davis-centric episodes. SV has done great things with that character, made him quite fascinating. I'm going to go watch it again. Both SV and Supernatural really rocked tonight!

[lm1212]

Ok, so I am guilty of liking the Doomsday story and Chlavis, so my rating is a 7, higher than most. I like the overall story, but some of it is just stupid at the same time.

"What the Hecks"

-Why would Clark assume so much about Davis? Usually, Clarks the one who is able to get good background info, like knowing that Davis actually HULKS OUT. "We could have been brothers?" It was odd, the writers never write him to be so ignorant, I didn't like that.

-Tess thinking Clark will eventually "come back to her"? Okay so she used the metaphor of him being Jesus or whatever, so why the heck would Jesus come back to someone like Tess? She needs to realize that she has no important role in Clark's life. I don't know where the hell she would even get that idea from.

-The retcon itself was just too much.

[ginevrakent]

I didn't care for this episode at all. I found it boring. plodding, and full of impossible and annoying retcons. The retcons alone should make this episode unforgiveable.

The over-the-top woobification of Davis, whose alter-ego is a serial killer with victims numbering in the dozens is really nauseating to me. As is the hint that its, somehow, Clark's fault? Clark blathering on about Davis being his fault, and all he needed was good parents? Was ridiculous! Davis needs to give it one last chance? What does that even mean? Everyone he killed was just a little whoopsie? Really, this storyline just infuriates me.

What was even the point of young Lex and young Davis? It just felt like a tremendous waste of time. The only good thing about that was seeing Jonathan and Martha again, and being reminded of when this show still had a family for Clark.

Boy, Chloe sure did get over that whole marriage thing fast, didn't she?

And really, we still need to show Clark running to Chloe to help him with a story? That crap should've stopped a long time ago.

I like Tess a lot, and CF and TW have tremendous chemistry, but this episode just gave me the impression that Tess is seriously unstable. And no thanks on the heavy-handed religious comparions and imagery.

And no, Naman and Segeth can't be Clark and Davis. The legend was that they were friends, like brothers, who eventually became enemies. That doesn't describe Clark and Davis. The idiotic retcons just keep on coming.

I think Chloe and Clark need to take a long break from each other. Their relationship just feels very forced and prickly at this point. Chloe is clearly annoyed that Clark isn't there for her like she wants.

And really, that reaction at the end was the best acting AM could muster? Shouldn't she have appeared shocked? Scared? Instead, she barely registered a reaction at all.

Why is everyone acting like all the people Davis killed don't matter?

Ugh, disliked this one a lot. A 3, and thats generous, only due to the Martha/Jonathan flashbacks, and the Clark/Tess chemistry.

I can't believe this episode was directed by James Marshall. Our most reliable director has gotten rusty, IMO

I was going to write my reaction to this episode up, but you took the words right out of my mouth.

[amberdawn]

Besides the plot inconsistencies, I liked it.

[superspider02]

Well tonight was last episode we got to april 23rd. sucks we have to suffer through the next two weeks with the two bad lana episodes of the lana arch. But this isnt about that. Overall i thought it was a pretty good episode, acting was well, story flowed well, and the look/direction of the episode was pretty good too.

The flashbacks featuring the first metoer shower, and seeing little lex/clark/younger lionel/martha/johnathn was pretty sweet. I loved how the scenes at the crash site in the past was mixed with the newly made footage. Also i loved how they tried to make clark's ship look more like how it was in the pilot episode before later in season 1-present it was changed to its cooler better look. Also the way davis human form was made was pretty neat. Weird how he came from ooze pretty much.

It would have been a bit nicer to have see martha/lionel in the episode though we know both are off doing other things and probably couldnt return or wasnt even asked to come back. As for seeing the last young lex actor back was pretty nice i believe it was the same kid from last year. He acted well and his scenes with young davis were pretty well acted and looked good. As for davis young actor he looked pretty simular to sam witwer which was nice to see them do that. He acted well. Also it was cool in his last scene he became doomsday at a very young age was pretty neat to see.

The whole kawati caves/versitas plot was pretty interesting take this time around. It was nice they were trying to fix the bad mistakes made last season with that plot. Though it does make things a little screwy with what was known about the cave legend and the whole star blade thing back in season 3. Also with the whole diary lionel had didnt really make much sense like how would he known all that happened then and all that. Though it did look cool. Though the whole cave legend could easily be mistaken and taken out of context. Like how when clark first learned of jorel/krypton and the message in his ship.

One thing i didnt really like was the whole davis/chloe developing love relationship. Like clark pointed out in the episode she does seem to be moving on a bit to fast. Though with what has been learned of him being a killer/doomsday maybe we could see chloe/jimmy have some fixing of their relationship and be in a better place. As for davis thanks to tess he now can not be harmed by expolisons and by clark/chloe is immuned to kryptonite. I did think it was cool they finally showed he was able to be weaked by kryptonite. I was wondering all season if he would be in this incarnation.

It was pretty interesting though davis wanted clark/chloe to end his life so he wouldnt hurt anyone any more. But due to clark's actions of not killing and trying to see the good in all people and you can always change didnt work out well. Just like how davis is back and chloe is trying to help him hold off the beast inside. Its likely going to be the thing that doesnt go well for her in the coming episodes.

As for Tess i thought she was pretty good all episode first trying to kill davis, then telling his past with the luthors and trying to get clark to believe her was done well. Though with her now knowing as much as she does i could see her being one of the ones to die or to be just leaving. I dont think she is the right character like lionel after he learned everything about clark/orcale phase to be an ally like he was to clark. As for clark trying to play her bluffs is an interesting approach to take with his whole secret thing and all that. Cant wait to see how that all works out.

So as i said earlier overall i enjoyed the episode alot and we got to see alot of cool things in the episode. We learned more on davis and the whole traveler/veritas plots returned. Cant wait for episode 19 on the 23rd. The preview looked good and it should be a very fun episode.

[clois-destiny-forever]

It was better than I expected, but still just a 5.

[Heilige]

And no, Naman and Segeth can't be Clark and Davis. The legend was that they were friends, like brothers, who eventually became enemies. That doesn't describe Clark and Davis. The idiotic retcons just keep on coming.




Agreed!


Though, just because Tess thinks that, doesn't make it true, right? Once they find out Lex really isn't dead, then they will probably realize that it is Clark and Lex.

[Slight Return]

I didn't care for this episode at all. I found it boring. plodding, and full of impossible and annoying retcons. The retcons alone should make this episode unforgiveable.

The over-the-top woobification of Davis, whose alter-ego is a serial killer with victims numbering in the dozens is really nauseating to me. As is the hint that its, somehow, Clark's fault? Clark blathering on about Davis being his fault, and all he needed was good parents? Was ridiculous! Davis needs to give it one last chance? What does that even mean? Everyone he killed was just a little whoopsie? Really, this storyline just infuriates me.

What was even the point of young Lex and young Davis? It just felt like a tremendous waste of time. The only good thing about that was seeing Jonathan and Martha again, and being reminded of when this show still had a family for Clark.

Boy, Chloe sure did get over that whole marriage thing fast, didn't she?

And really, we still need to show Clark running to Chloe to help him with a story? That crap should've stopped a long time ago.

I like Tess a lot, and CF and TW have tremendous chemistry, but this episode just gave me the impression that Tess is seriously unstable. And no thanks on the heavy-handed religious comparions and imagery.

And no, Naman and Segeth can't be Clark and Davis. The legend was that they were friends, like brothers, who eventually became enemies. That doesn't describe Clark and Davis. The idiotic retcons just keep on coming.

I think Chloe and Clark need to take a long break from each other. Their relationship just feels very forced and prickly at this point. Chloe is clearly annoyed that Clark isn't there for her like she wants.

And really, that reaction at the end was the best acting AM could muster? Shouldn't she have appeared shocked? Scared? Instead, she barely registered a reaction at all.

Why is everyone acting like all the people Davis killed don't matter?

Ugh, disliked this one a lot. A 3, and thats generous, only due to the Martha/Jonathan flashbacks, and the Clark/Tess chemistry.

I can't believe this episode was directed by James Marshall. Our most reliable director has gotten rusty, IMO

ITA

This reminded me of Quest last year, and I thought that one was unpleasant, but this was even worse.

And I really have no patience for Chloe acting like Clark's morality is some idiotic whim.

[Seeya'round Smallville]

I didn't care for this episode at all. I found it boring. plodding, and full of impossible and annoying retcons. The retcons alone should make this episode unforgiveable.

The over-the-top woobification of Davis, whose alter-ego is a serial killer with victims numbering in the dozens is really nauseating to me. As is the hint that its, somehow, Clark's fault? Clark blathering on about Davis being his fault, and all he needed was good parents? Was ridiculous! Davis needs to give it one last chance? What does that even mean? Everyone he killed was just a little whoopsie? Really, this storyline just infuriates me.

What was even the point of young Lex and young Davis? It just felt like a tremendous waste of time. The only good thing about that was seeing Jonathan and Martha again, and being reminded of when this show still had a family for Clark.

Boy, Chloe sure did get over that whole marriage thing fast, didn't she?

And really, we still need to show Clark running to Chloe to help him with a story? That crap should've stopped a long time ago.

I like Tess a lot, and CF and TW have tremendous chemistry, but this episode just gave me the impression that Tess is seriously unstable. And no thanks on the heavy-handed religious comparions and imagery.

And no, Naman and Segeth can't be Clark and Davis. The legend was that they were friends, like brothers, who eventually became enemies. That doesn't describe Clark and Davis. The idiotic retcons just keep on coming.

I think Chloe and Clark need to take a long break from each other. Their relationship just feels very forced and prickly at this point. Chloe is clearly annoyed that Clark isn't there for her like she wants.

And really, that reaction at the end was the best acting AM could muster? Shouldn't she have appeared shocked? Scared? Instead, she barely registered a reaction at all.

Why is everyone acting like all the people Davis killed don't matter?

Ugh, disliked this one a lot. A 3, and thats generous, only due to the Martha/Jonathan flashbacks, and the Clark/Tess chemistry.

I can't believe this episode was directed by James Marshall. Our most reliable director has gotten rusty, IMO

You've pretty much summed up my problem with the entire Davis and Davis/Chloe/Jimmy storyline this entire season. I don't care how good of an acting job Sam does, I feel zero sympathy for his character because of who he'll be and who he is. It's not like with Lex, something built up over YEARS, where there's actual tragedy in a guy being able to make the right choices but not doing so. Davis is a guy who has no choice whatsoever, which is not human in any way and therefore to me not relateable in the slightest. I guess for those who like "tragic unavoidable fates" it has appeal...but see I HATE that stuff on this show. I have no investment in it and quite honestly it just bores me.

That and all the retconning is moronic. Reusing old footage to do a retcon? This is Season 8. If I wanted old footage I'd pop in a DVD. This show needs to let go of the freakin' past already and stop trying to retcon things just so they can keep bringing it up.

And what the heck happened to "Watchtower"? "It's time to move on...until next week when I flip-flop again." I'm just glad I'm not a Chloe fan 'cause her character is just written to be all over the place from week to week depending on what's going on. Last week it looks like she finally learned a lesson and found a new purpose for herself, this week she tries a mercy killing and ends up hiding a monster in her basement. :confused:

This has literally become two different shows. There's this convoluted retcon storyline of Clark/Davis and Chloe/Davis(/Jimmy when he actually appears) and Tess as some sort of female Lex/Lionel hybrid that is all-drama, all-the-time. And then there's the episodes with Lois where it's Clark/Lois, Red-Blue Blur, Justice League action-adventure with drama making up maybe 10% of it instead of 90%. I prefer the latter 'cause then it's actually a show about young Superman. Episodes in this storyline seem to attempt to be retroactively reliving Season 3 as dark as possible with character substitutes and by and large failing miserably.

And then look at the next episode's trailer! The complete opposite of this stuff, action-adventure and fun. This show is bi-polar 'cause it's about as close to two different shows as you can get and in this second half post winter arc it is alternating back and forth episode to episode. That's what happens when you have to shuffle cast in and out and have writers giving sub-par efforts like tonight...and these two are our remaining showrunners. You have no consistency. I hope Brian & Kelly learn that lesson from the second half of this season so that they don't repeat it in Season 9.

[geminis]

Agreed!


Though, just because Tess thinks that, doesn't make it true, right? Once they find out Lex really isn't dead, then they will probably realize that it is Clark and Lex.

I agree too. And after all, Tess is a misguided whackadoodle. Somehow I didn't feel as scared seeing her with Lex's purple Clark control ball in her clutches. I have my suspicions about how that's going to play out.

One other thing BadToad was right about; Chloe gave up on her marriage way too quickly. And I'm still fuming about making Jimmy the bad guy scape goat. They both need a marriage counselor pronto. With Chloe 'protecting' Davis, she isn't going to spend as much time with Clark. Fine by me. Looking forward to a little more Chlo-Lo. And Clois.

[Kschreck]

With as many plotholes as this episode has, I can't give it a very good review.

[Bizarrolover]

Better Chlavis angst than Clois stupidity. At least both actors of Chlavis have chemistry and are superb actors. Clark/TW is the only decent thing about Clois.


Lack of Lois. There was no place in the episode for her nonsense, which would have taken away from the great drama.

There's no need to insult other characters or ships to make your point. Ed wasn't even in the episode and you already insulted her character twice in two different posts.

[SnowBird]

I gave it a 7.....I'm not going to say much since it was a little disappointing. Doomsday's background isn't all that important to me to use a whole episode to tell his story. Some of it was interesting but it won't be one that I will look forward to watching again. I really need more Clark scenes for me to fully enjoy an episode.

[fly'n special]

I just don't know about this episode. I love AM and the character of Chloe. But I have a bad feeling about where this is going. The whole Chloe and Davis together doesn't sit with me at all. I can't put my finger on it but it just seems weird. Chloe helping Davis/Doomsday seems so out of character for her IMO. She is so good as watchtower! I like the Tess and Clark angle. I liked alot of this episode but alot I didn't like. I did not like the naman/sageeth being clark/doomsday at all. Overall, it just didn't do much for me either way.

[jwm]

What was even the point of young Lex and young Davis? It just felt like a tremendous waste of time. The only good thing about that was seeing Jonathan and Martha again, and being reminded of when this show still had a family for Clark.
...
And no, Naman and Segeth can't be Clark and Davis. The legend was that they were friends, like brothers, who eventually became enemies. That doesn't describe Clark and Davis. The idiotic retcons just keep on coming.
I'm hoping the Lex flashbacks lead to something because you're right, it doesn't seem like Davis can be Segeth. Though I don't remember the legends all that well. Maybe the "like brothers" is supposed to refer to their heratige and the part about the friends was a misinterpretation. But I don't now how to gloss over the part where one was all powerful and the other was pretty much a mere mortal. (Unless it's flipped and compared to the immortal Davis Clark is supposed to be the mortal.)

Small plot holes and inconsistencies I can gloss over but this? I'm having a hard time dealing with. I'm willing to wait and see what happens for now though. Can't say this episode was a favorite.

[AgentChaos]

Boy, Chloe sure did get over that whole marriage thing fast, didn't she?

So did Jimmy, apparently. From what I could interpret from her conversation with Davis, she tried reaching out to him through e-mail and other means, and he said, with unnecessary profanity, that he wants nothing more to do with her. So her attitude is coming across as "If Jimmy doesn't want to try and make things work, why should I even bother?".

Good for her, I say. If my husband treated me like that, I'd walk away, too.

----- Added 6 Minutes later -----


There's no need to insult other characters or ships to make your point. Ed wasn't even in the episode and you already insulted her character twice in two different posts.

I am seriously getting tired of being told there's no need to state my opinion just because it isn't flattering to one particular character.

[batfinx]

Good for her, I say. If my husband treated me like that, I'd walk away, too.

There's a big difference between walking away and having dinner in your apartment with a guy your husband said he saw commit murder and you didn't believe him and then you find out later he was telling the truth. I say good for Jimmy.

[geminis]

So did Jimmy, apparently. From what I could interpret from her conversation with Davis, she tried reaching out to him through e-mail and other means, and he said, with unnecessary profanity, that he wants nothing more to do with her. So her attitude is coming across as "If Jimmy doesn't want to try and make things work, why should I even bother?".

Good for her, I say. If my husband treated me like that, I'd walk away, too.

Those drugs have obviously done a number on him. But they're both over-reacting. Like I said, they need a good marriage counselor. Or better yet, they should have listened to Lois and waited before tying the knot.

----- Added 2 Minutes later -----


There's a big difference between walking away and having dinner in your apartment with a guy your husband said he saw commit murder and you didn't believe him and then you find out later he was telling the truth. I say good for Jimmy.

That too.

[monel49]

Wow! Excellent mythos episode worthy of a 10. Very exciting, well acted, with a brooding, almost film noir haunting air to it. What I think is amazing is that for the first time since the creation of this character, whether in comics, novels or movies, the origins of Superman are coming together as a tightly told, fascinating story.

Note once again the religious overtones and the crucial element of Davis/Doomsday being Judas the Betrayer. Just before Holy Week begins, this is way cool. Note too that Davis/Doomsday is not a counterbalancing evil force equal to Clark. I'm amazed at how close this mythos adheres to the Christian story.

Finally, I am so impressed with the Chloe storyline. Thought it was going to degenerate into, "lost jimmy,now I can have davis.' Much more complicated now. Does she have to stay with Davis to save Clark? She's being put into a martyr role.

Way to go writers! Thoughtful episode with a solid plot. You are uniting all the seasons into a great story arc. I agree with critics who wish there was more Clark. TW needs more face time on the screen. None the less, it is easy to see how he is moving into an adult Superman role that will have depth. Not since the Dark Knight have we seen such character development in a super hero role.

Too long to wait till April 23.

[antx]

I think I'd give it an 8.5.It was a very well done episode with Davis's backstory and the flashbacks.It was so good to see Jonathan,Martha,and Lionel even if it was in flashbacks.I don't really like the way Chloe's character is going towards this whole thing with helping Davis,but at least it will still be interesting,and that is always good tv.I love how they involved Tess into this story,she is so badass in everything she does.It sucks that the next episode will be on April 23,but that's okay Cause I'd wait forever for a great Smallville episode.

[tibbit78]

I liked this episode very, very much! I don't even know what to rate it, so I didn't vote on the ratings at all.

[Eeyore840]

I gave it a 10. All four actors brought their A-game tonight, and the childrens' scenes were wonderfully heartbreaking, too. The Davis/Chloe/Clark/Dooms arc is one of the best storylines ever done on this show. Even though they were retconning again, I could actually buy into Lionel's motives. Besides, it reminded me of what an evil s.o.b he really was. Lois was not needed for this episode, and to shoehorn her in would have completely ruined it, imo.

Saltyweeks(post#47), thanks for your post. I enjoyed reading it.:)

[Bre723]

I gave it an 8, I liked it alot, but i barely ever give 10's.
and I think Davis saying that he has to be with Chloe might set up Chloe harboring Davis to save Clark

[Juju]

i don't enjoy ep without lois. i gave it a whopping 1

[Mrs. Superman]

10!!! This episode was great, but the acting is what put it over the top for me. I mean EVERYONE brought their A game. Allison showed such great range, and man only Sam could make me love Davis so much. I really feel for the guy. I mean he's willing to kill himself in order to avoid the terrible destiny he is supposed to fulfill. Sam did a great job portraying that internal struggle. Tom and Cassidy were excellent and young Davis really broke my heart. His story does make me feel for future doomsday. Now when doomsday loses his conscience then I will definitely have no pity for him. But as he is now...I feel bad for Davis.

[TWistim]

You've pretty much summed up my problem with the entire Davis and Davis/Chloe/Jimmy storyline this entire season. I don't care how good of an acting job Sam does, I feel zero sympathy for his character because of who he'll be and who he is. It's not like with Lex, something built up over YEARS, where there's actual tragedy in a guy being able to make the right choices but not doing so. Davis is a guy who has no choice whatsoever, which is not human in any way and therefore to me not relateable in the slightest. I guess for those who like "tragic unavoidable fates" it has appeal...but see I HATE that stuff on this show. I have no investment in it and quite honestly it just bores me.

That and all the retconning is moronic. Reusing old footage to do a retcon? This is Season 8. If I wanted old footage I'd pop in a DVD. This show needs to let go of the freakin' past already and stop trying to retcon things just so they can keep bringing it up.

And what the heck happened to "Watchtower"? "It's time to move on...until next week when I flip-flop again." I'm just glad I'm not a Chloe fan 'cause her character is just written to be all over the place from week to week depending on what's going on. Last week it looks like she finally learned a lesson and found a new purpose for herself, this week she tries a mercy killing and ends up hiding a monster in her basement. :confused:

This has literally become two different shows. There's this convoluted retcon storyline of Clark/Davis and Chloe/Davis(/Jimmy when he actually appears) and Tess as some sort of female Lex/Lionel hybrid that is all-drama, all-the-time. And then there's the episodes with Lois where it's Clark/Lois, Red-Blue Blur, Justice League action-adventure with drama making up maybe 10% of it instead of 90%. I prefer the latter 'cause then it's actually a show about young Superman. Episodes in this storyline seem to attempt to be retroactively reliving Season 3 as dark as possible with character substitutes and by and large failing miserably.

And then look at the next episode's trailer! The complete opposite of this stuff, action-adventure and fun. This show is bi-polar 'cause it's about as close to two different shows as you can get and in this second half post winter arc it is alternating back and forth episode to episode. That's what happens when you have to shuffle cast in and out and have writers giving sub-par efforts like tonight...and these two are our remaining showrunners. You have no consistency. I hope Brian & Kelly learn that lesson from the second half of this season so that they don't repeat it in Season 9.

Great post! And after reading this it just occurred to me that the true two headed monster is the show itself! :lol:

[redkryptoniteisthebest]

I really liked it! I'll give it an 8!

[lana 9]

i like it i give a 8

[Kryptochloe]

I loved it... specially Clark being able to empathize with Davis's life.. and finding that he really is trying to stop the killing beast...

[geminis]

Great post! And after reading this it just occurred to me that the true two headed monster is the show itself! :lol:

:\ Touche.

[-Nora-]

The over-the-top woobification of Davis, whose alter-ego is a serial killer with victims numbering in the dozens is really nauseating to me. As is the hint that its, somehow, Clark's fault? Clark blathering on about Davis being his fault, and all he needed was good parents? Was ridiculous! Davis needs to give it one last chance? What does that even mean? Everyone he killed was just a little whoopsie? Really, this storyline just infuriates me.

Oh god, so much word. Especially to the bolded part. Why I'm supposed to feel sympathy for this guy is absolutely beyond me. Poor Doomy, he's destined to kill Clark and already killed a bunch of other people. But he loves Chloe and wants to be goody! Boo-hoo! No thanks.


And no, Naman and Segeth can't be Clark and Davis. The legend was that they were friends, like brothers, who eventually became enemies. That doesn't describe Clark and Davis. The idiotic retcons just keep on coming.

That brother line pissed me off. The guy kills people left and right and Clark calls him his brother? Seriously?


Why is everyone acting like all the people Davis killed don't matter?

Because he's entitled to be executioner. He's the poor victim that can't control the beast within.

[Eeyore840]

He's the poor victim that can't control the beast within.

Glad to see that you guys are finally getting Davis' storyline. :lol:

[-Nora-]

Oh I get his storyline. I just don't care for this desperate need by PS3 to make me feel sorry for every villain on this show.

[Lilah]

This was one of the worst of the season for me. Tonight was a real "crapfest"! They crapped on their own mythos for goodness sake! What was up with that? Clark was good up until his line, "we could have been brothers...." Give me a freaking break!!!! He does realize that this guy was created to destroy him? Doesn't it? I mean is Clark even there... mentally... and I am so sick of Sam Witwer's Davis Bloom I was dying to pull the damn lever myself! Argh! So many things about this episode just annoyed me. I was kind of excited to see the backstory of Doomsday, even if it was totally Smallvillian, but after watching it.... nah... not so much. I'll stick to the comics. Thanks. For me, I will put this episode in my lead box where "Power" and "Requiem" currently reside, never to be opened or even thought of again. On the plus side, Supernatural kicked ass tonight. So at least my two hours wasn't a total waste.

[Eeyore840]

Oh I get his storyline. I just don't care for this desperate need by PS3 to make me feel sorry for every villain on this show.

I know you do. I was joking. :)

[Lilah]

I loved it... specially Clark being able to empathize with Davis's life.. and finding that he really is trying to stop the killing beast...

Oh yeah... that's what I wanna see. An empathetic Clark, as opossed to the superhero side that has to kill Doomsday. At this point, I can see the fight now. They'll be holding hands skipping about the meadows of Smallville.. *gag*

[topping82]

BEST EPISODE OF THE SEASON, and that's hard after Turbulence. Chloe and Davis = EPIC.

When they held hands through the glass, I wanted to kiss Souders and Peterson. THEY ROCK!!!!!

And they also brought back what's great about Clark and Chlark. I didn't see doormat Chloe. She's taking control of her destiny and I love it.

Poor Davis and his Phantom of the Opera childhood. I like that Clark doesn't blame him for any of his actions. That would have been unbearable to watch.

Well anyway, awesome episode. I don't have time to go into all the details of why. But man can Allison Mack and Sam Witwer act their butts off. Great writing, great acting, great directing, etc...Just awesome. KUDOS.

[Eeyore840]

Oh yeah... that's what I wanna see. An empathetic Clark, as opossed to the superhero side that has to kill Doomsday. At this point, I can see the fight now. They'll be holding hands skipping about the meadows of Smallville.. *gag*


Can they both be shirtless in that scene? :p

[Lilah]

^That is probably the only way I'll watch that. lmao!

[geminis]

This was one of the worst of the season for me. Tonight was a real "crapfest"! They crapped on their own mythos for goodness sake! What was up with that? Clark was good up until his line, "we could have been brothers...." Give me a freaking break!!!! He does realize that this guy was created to destroy him? Doesn't it? I mean is Clark even there... mentally... and I am so sick of Sam Witwer's Davis Bloom I was dying to pull the damn lever myself! Argh! So many things about this episode just annoyed me. I was kind of excited to see the backstory of Doomsday, even if it was totally Smallvillian, but after watching it.... nah... not so much. I'll stick to the comics. Thanks. For me, I will put this episode in my lead box where "Power" and "Requiem" currently reside, never to be opened or even thought of again. On the plus side, Supernatural kicked ass tonight. So at least my two hours wasn't a total waste.

Yes, Supernatural did. Even poking fun at their own writers and previous episodes.

Don't forget, Clark is the eternal optimist. He's also not wearing the Red Jacket; instead it's the Bizarro combo. What does that say?

But here's hoping that Lex's purple Clark controller ball is actually able to control Davis as well as Clark. I was rooting for Chloe to pull the lever too, but I also knew Davis would be pulling a Vandal Savage. Clark doesn't know much about Davis yet, but he'll learn.

[Lilah]

Yes, Supernatural did. Even poking fun at their own writers and previous episodes.

Don't forget, Clark is the eternal optimist. He's also not wearing the Red Jacket; instead it's the Bizarro combo. What does that say?

But here's hoping that Lex's purple Clark controller ball is actually able to control Davis as well as Clark. I was rooting for Chloe to pull the lever too, but I also knew Davis would be pulling a Vandal Savage. Clark doesn't know much about Davis yet, but he'll learn.

Clark knows the most important thing... Doomsday is the world's ultimate DESTROYER!

Was anyone else screaming this at their tv??? I was like what the hell am I watching?? Dawson's Creek????? Kudos on noticing the jacket combo. I couldn't really tell since I was closing my eyes and shaking my head in disappointment for most of this crap. You know with Power and Requiem I expected crap, but tonight wow. They blew me away with the amount of crap someone can put on paper. I mean, I was starting to think they should visit fanfic sites for some inspiration or something...:confused:

As for Supernatural, I thought it was going to be a filler. I am so glad it wasn't. It was actually really vital to the main arc. So kudos to Eric Kripke for that!

[zHeN_zHeN]

Awesome, Awesome, AWESOME! This episode was way better than I expected! I really enjoyed it and Sam and Allison did an amazing job!

9/10 :D




"Davis, everything that's happening to you is because of me". Oh shut up, Clark!

:lol: Exactly!

[Kryptochloe]

Oh yeah... that's what I wanna see. An empathetic Clark, as opossed to the superhero side that has to kill Doomsday. At this point, I can see the fight now. They'll be holding hands skipping about the meadows of Smallville.. *gag*


A superhero can't be empathic with a guy who is trying to fight his doomed destiny??
Really??

----- Added 49 Seconds later -----


Can they both be shirtless in that scene? :p


Yes, please :p

[geminis]

Clark knows the most important thing... Doomsday is the world's ultimate DESTROYER!

Was anyone else screaming this at their tv??? I was like what the hell am I watching?? Dawson's Creek????? Kudos on noticing the jacket combo. I couldn't really tell since I was closing my eyes and shaking my head in disappointment for most of this crap. You know with Power and Requiem I expected crap, but tonight wow. They blew me away with the amount of crap someone can put on paper. I mean, I was starting to think they should visit fanfic sites for some inspiration or something...:confused:

As for Supernatural, I thought it was going to be a filler. I am so glad it wasn't. It was actually really vital to the main arc. So kudos to Eric Kripke for that!

He may have heard it said, but obviously he doesn't quite believe the whole Doomsday yet. When he starts getting knocked about, though, his opinion will change.

As for the jacket, well, it was glaringly obvious to me. I've learned to pay attention to those little things. And hello, it's still Clark. Don't ask me what Chloe was wearing, my eyes were on Blue Boy.

[alejandrita439]

i gave it a 9...
i thought i would dislike this episode

[Marfeic2011]

Oh yeah... that's what I wanna see. An empathetic Clark, as opossed to the superhero side that has to kill Doomsday. At this point, I can see the fight now. They'll be holding hands skipping about the meadows of Smallville.. *gag*

made me laugh :rotfl: i don't know you but I love the way you think

sometimes I think the writers of this show get so caught up with Clark's morality that they forget to write him as a hero at all - nevermind giving him a pair...

and what was that about how all the people Davis killed were criminals - was Clark actually trying to justify it?

[wattowatta]

Great stuff - frankly, too much going on for the 40 minute limit. It really needed to be 3 minutes longer, or so, to breathe a bit more, have more character beats, and smooth out the transitions from scene to scene.

[Lavenderrose73]

Ok I'm just now watching it on my DVR and Davis just told Chloe to help him die. It's back on...

[Cyclonekat]

I dunno...
hmmm
I liked some of it...
Like the whole Judas, biblical aspect they brought in, I LOVED that. (Probably because I'm a religion major in school, so that piqued my interest). I thought it was a genius way of describing him, and hinting at Clark's possible death later on in the season finale
I liked (for the most part) the flashbacks...with lil' doomy and lex....and Martha and Jonathon of course...

The Chloe/Davis bits...ehhh...
I dunno... I mean, I like that she finally got a frikken grip and realized that her new bff/crush was a psychokiller (can we get a resounding amen from Jimmy and myself?)
However, the whole Davis in the tank with the green gak stuff? .....eh....I felt like the old Nickelodeon and Smallville had somehow gotten mixed in a freak accident and I was watching Davis get slimed in the slime chamber...so I kind of had a hard time taking it seriously...(to be perfectly honest, me and my mum were cracking up...) And the end scene bothered me...I don't know why...I just thought Chloe might hold onto her grip for more than two seconds and NOT trust him...heck I wouldn't...

Hmmm...what else...

Clark moping about how it's all his fault...

No Jimmy...

No Lois....sigh...and not even a mention of her?
I found that EXTREMELY disapointing...it seems its always out of sight out of mind for miss Lane... Jimmy at least got a mention.

[ginnyfan]

I gave it an 8.

It was enjoyable... mostly due to Tess... but also rather emo. And Clark blaming himself for Doomsday's childhood was gag worthy.

[Lavenderrose73]

Oh no, I've got this terrible feeling that that K. is only going to kill the good part of him!
(bear with me, I'm still watching this)

[Lilah]

made me laugh :rotfl: i don't know you but I love the way you think

sometimes I think the writers of this show get so caught up with Clark's morality that they forget to write him as a hero at all - nevermind giving him a pair...

and what was that about how all the people Davis killed were criminals - was Clark actually trying to justify it?

Thanks!:) I'm actually really a nice person lol.... it's just tonight I wished more than anything for that remote from the Pleasantville movie... I would have killed to be able to jump into my screen and beat Clark upside the head with a kryptonite bat, send Doomsday to the sun and slap Chloe for making the worst decision of her life. Oh yes and drag in Lois, Oliver and Jimmy for one big party at the expense of the other regulars. Except for Tess. I like her. She's cool.

[halvor311]

I thought it was cool. A little slow for my taste, but still really cool. Any time Doomsday is talked about it's awesome. I hated the retcon (retroactive Continuity for those who may not know), but I LOVE that Tess knows Clark's secret. I thought a while back that she may become a valuable ally the way Lionel Luthor became a valuable ally. I gave it an 8 b/c it wasn't as good as most episodes and for the retcon.

[Throwback24]

I'm getting tired of Clark repeatedly blaming everyone elses troubles on himself. Albeit that, good episode. 8

[Lavenderrose73]

Oh crap, she called him Kal-El! Is this supposed to be Lex's bimbo sidekick Tess I remember from Superman, or is that a different character altogether?

1 Minute Later...
P.S. Sorry, still watching. I keep pausing it to answer messages on another Internet site.

After it ended (for me)...
Ok I finished it. Oh my gosh, is Chloe really going to stay with Davis? She must really love Clark! Reminds me of The Ten Commandments when that lady agreed to stay with that Egyptian kiss-butt creep of a Jew so that Joshua, whom she loved, would not be killed. "It's on her own free will!" Yeah, I understand from the Bible that in real life he didn't survive an earthquake so severe the ground split open. But at least in the movie, the lady was freed eventually. Hopefully Chloe will be too.

[jjsmallvillelvr]

8

[Ellsbury]

I gave it a 7.

I usually love dark episodes but this one had too much plot holes to get a 9 or 10.

[jjsmallvillelvr]

it did have a few annoying plotholes...but we have learn that smallville is full of plotholes! :P

[Tess is Smokin]

a safe and solid 8. funny how Davis and lex were friends quite cute IMO :)

[jjsmallvillelvr]

yes, both inncent turned evil! they were perfect for each other, lol

[Tess is Smokin]

i miss MR as young not soo evil lex... *sigh*

[Timester]

I can't honestly care about an episode that retcons 3 seasons of story, especially when that story was the best on Smallville until today.

[luthorian]

Perfect 10!!!

[amalie]

I gave it an 8 but I'm wishing I'd given it a 9. This was a great episode, not my favourite of the season but close.

[xrayvision]

I give it a 5 for all the plotholes/contradictions & for the excavation of garbage that was Veritas.

[badraven]

Very, VERY good episode- a solid 9 (an A.)

A LOT of good stuff in 'Eternal.' For one thing I loved how much SV history was in this episode. You had the great scenes/flashbacks from the pilot (how great was it to see Jonathan and Martha again.) You had the Kawatche caves and the Naman/Segeeth legend. It also brought back the whole Traveler storyline from last season in a new and fresh way. This episode was almost entirely playing with the Smallville take of the Superman mythos and not much else. Think about it, unless you've been watching the show for the last 8 years not a lot in this episode would've made much sense. It was a show of confidence that TPTB did 'Eternal.' They would have never tried something like this in early seasons and I think it shows just how serialized SV has become this season. I will say, on the negative side- Lionel kept a picture journal? That was the one part of the episode that didn't really work for me.

Another great part was how Tess, Clark and Chole were shown. I really liked how Tess believes she needs to help "Judas"/Davis so that "the Savior "/Clark can achieve his destiny. Crazy stuff. Something tells me Tess ain't all there anymore. I also liked how Chole didn't want to kill Davis, even after all the things she knew about him but the minute it looked like he was going to hurt Clark she "pulled the trigger." Also I liked Clark trying to find some other way than killing Davis to deal with the problem. Superman always tries to find another way than killing the bad guy.

One thing for sure- this episode is setup for more to come. Again this shows just how serialized SV is now. You have to have episodes like 'Eternal.' Let's face it not a lot happend (as far as action) it was all about setup. Filling us, the audience in, and letting the characters learn more about what is going on. Davis finds out more about himself, Clark and Chole learn about Davis' true identity. Tess is shown to believe she has to help Davis in order to somehow help Clark progress. Chole trying to sacrifice herself to Davis to save Clark. The payoff for all of this is going to come later in the season but it couldn't happen without 'Eternal.'

Two quick things I've picked out reading the thread- the dislike about the supposed recton of the Naman/Segeeth legend and how Davis is shown as tragic. First as a long time comic book reader the "retcon" of Naman legend doesn't phase me in the least. Did a Kawatche tribe memeber show up and say- "yep- that is what it means." The Naman/Segeeth legend is just that...a legend. And legends throughout history are always open to interpretation. This is just another interpretation, nothing else. Second the "tragic" nature of Davis Bloom. I for one have little pity for a serial killer but I do think the tragic part of Davis is that he doesn't want to be what he is but he can't seem to stop. The question then becomes- who is real- Davis Bloom the EMT who want to help people or Doomsday the killing machine? Deep question.

I end as I began...a very, VERY good episode. IMO 'Eternal' shows just how far Smallville has come. Just think- not a freak of the week to be found.

[Lea]

Wow.
Overall I liked it, but some things were off. The whole Kawatche legend retconning doesn't bother me too much because that's just Tess' interpretation, which is not necessarily the right one. The religious comparison, on the other hand, was way too heavy for my taste. Not to mention the fact that comparing Davis to Judas really doesn't make any sense. So now Judas would be the reason Christ became a savior? Please. If they really have to throw religious references into the mix, they should at least know what they're talking about.

[SupermanRox]

I gave it a 7. No Lois. It was a good solid episode with lots to say for it which everyone has already mentioned.

[Sarevokcz]

The whole Kawatche legend retconning doesn't bother me too much because that's just Tess' interpretation, which is not necessarily the right one.

well, to quote Braniac back from s5: "history is not about facts, its about the context and who is telling the story." everyone can have its own interpretation, not that i nescessarily agree with Tess interpretation, but it doesnt really have anything screaming "PLOTHOLE" imho and even the dagger could be explained that both Luthors had a close contact with Davis.

Lionel suspecting Clark being the traveler from the "day 5" is bothering me more tbh :)

[72001]

Ok I finished it. Oh my gosh, is Chloe really going to stay with Davis? She must really love Clark! Reminds me of The Ten Commandments when that lady agreed to stay with that Egyptian kiss-butt creep of a Jew so that Joshua, whom she loved, would not be killed. "It's on her own free will!" Yeah, I understand from the Bible that in real life he didn't survive an earthquake so severe the ground split open. But at least in the movie, the lady was freed eventually. Hopefully Chloe will be too.

Cool . I love the Ten Commandments movie as well and appreciate the comparison!

[Solisfanfic19]

i waited two weeks for this episode. SOme cons:it seemed like they tried to force everything into this episode (looked rather rushed), i definitely love how they incorporated veritas in, including tess having the device. But i ranked it a nine because it clearly showed evidence that Chloe loves Davis (huge Clavis fan), when it came to protecting clark, she killed sebation in cold blood, but hurting davis really tormented her. And the ending was rather crappy, instead of her just locking the door, she should have turned around, looked at davis, and asked "are you coming?' that would have deffinitely put a cherry on top.

[jordan_caye]

It was okay, but Bloom's encounter with the anti-drug seems to make him stronger and doesn't seem to pose a threat to Clark now that Chloe has saved him from himself and locked herself in the basement with him. Clark needs to fly-lol

[Chloe Sullivan 2010]

i loved this one it didnt have me bored for a second. leave it to chloe to try and kill the destroyer of the world, only to lock herself in a room with him later on. i love chloe but seriously doesnt she know that shes just setting herself up for more pain? how much can that girls heart get mangled b4 she breaks???

[costas22]

Fantastic pace to the episode with a breathtaking climax.Could have done without the retcons,but overall no complaints.With Marshall you can't go wrong.

[darkone]

Wow, they've deconstructed Chloe and Chlark it's not even funny. To think that they did that to their holy creation Chloe Sullivan makes me even more happy that Lana has left the show.

[Minamostaza]

Eternally one of my favorites!!!!

[geminis]

You know, re the whole retcon thing, in real life past things that you knew nothing about can come back to bite you in the rear and haunt and torment you. Or try and grind you into paste.

It was well filmed and well acted but I still can't bring myself to watch it again. Instead I I find myself fast forwarding over and over to the Stiletto promo. And I still don't know how to rate Eternal.

[saltyweeks]

i loved this one it didnt have me bored for a second. leave it to chloe to try and kill the destroyer of the world, only to lock herself in a room with him later on. i love chloe but seriously doesnt she know that shes just setting herself up for more pain? how much can that girls heart get mangled b4 she breaks???

that's one of the things i love about this character! picture yourself a real person, a young woman named Chloe Sullivan, who is sorta like the one we know, only in a real world with no super heroes.

would she be passionate, rash, indecisive--or TOO decisive, fun, mopey...make bad decisions for good reasons and good ones for bad-- of course, she'd do all this stuff in real life! how many young women do you know like that?

now throw THAT Chloe into the Smallville world and see how she comes out. i'm thinking about exactly as they portray her. just like the other girl, but with opera!

the Smallville Chloe lives in a world where you are coordinating the Justice League one night and pouring kryptonite on a guy who could destroy the world the next-- and people are upset she had a date right after her marriage deconstructed. what???

THAT'S Chloe, god love her.

but strong, realistically flawed female characters REALLY piss some people off. i've seen that before, but it seems to be especially true for in Smallville.

[9-SOSIHTWB]

Eternal went down well then, so is Smallville finally back on track?

[Mickey_Bickey]

I give this episode a 6. The things I liked in it was SW's performance, he's an excellent actor! I liked how Clark was so strong with Tess in the end, and he didn't waiver with her at all! I liked that Chloe didn't hesitate to pull the lever when Davis was changing. I liked that Clark discovered the bodies in the field and stuck to his guns when speaking to Chloe. Of course seeing the Kents and Lionel Luthor again as well! I miss them all three of those characters on this show.

Now, the things I didn't like very much was the "lightswitch" (not a term I use, but many throw it around so......) with Chloe's character in regards to her marriage. We have her marriage to Jimmy breaking up two epsiodes ago, yet she's flirting and giggling with Davis and admitting that she's falling for him to Clark! What??????? Then, after Chloe pulls the lever, she comforts Davis and agonizes over her decision. This isn't good. Which brings me to my next thing, which is the Judas analogy. It's Chloe, plain and simple. No one is close enough to Clark to be "Judas" except for Chloe on this show. The relationship between Judas and Christ was a very close one, and the only way you can betray someone is if they give you their trust and love. Chloe comforting Davis is demonstrating to the audience that she regretted killing him, she cares for him, and I believe that in the future she will be the one to betray Clark. Even the look on Clark's face was of worry and concern. Finally, we have her harboring Davis in her basement. Although, there is a part of her that's protecting Clark, there's another part of her that wants to be with Davis. This is very evident, and that's the part that scares me the most for Clark's safety!

No one can argue that Chloe is doing this only to protect Clark.

I also didn't like that they now have Tess becoming totally obssessed with Clark just like Lex did! Her character was not as interesting to me last night as she has been in all of her previous episodes.

[Tompouce]

Fantastic pace to the episode with a breathtaking climax.Could have done without the retcons,but overall no complaints.With Marshall you can't go wrong.
Exactly what I think, thanks I have not to find the right words to say it:D
I would prefer absorbing climax though;)There is one thing which was wrong : not enough Clark. But when he was here, it was breathtaking, I agree, Costas:D As for the rest, it was perfect. I hesitate between the 10 or the 9...

[saltyweeks]

Wow, they've deconstructed Chloe and Chlark it's not even funny. To think that they did that to their holy creation Chloe Sullivan makes me even more happy that Lana has left the show.

i've wanted to know this from quite a few folks, so i'm not trying to single you out :)

but...if you feel that way about Lana AND you think Chloe is worthy of being called a "holy creation"-- goodness gracious, how can you like Smallville at all? doesn't it just make you mad?

[Lea]

well, to quote Braniac back from s5: "history is not about facts, its about the context and who is telling the story." everyone can have its own interpretation, not that i nescessarily agree with Tess interpretation, but it doesnt really have anything screaming "PLOTHOLE" imho and even the dagger could be explained that both Luthors had a close contact with Davis.

Lionel suspecting Clark being the traveler from the "day 5" is bothering me more tbh :)

Yeah, well, we already knew Lionel was involved in the process of Clark's adoption, and since the last half of season 7, when his involvement with "Veritas" was revealed, I've been asking myself how could it be that it took him so many years to figure it out. I mean, he always had his suspicions, but given the amount of evidence in his hands and the type of man he was, I'm surprised that he did so little to gain definitive proof about Clark's true nature. Maybe he didn't want to ruin his already strained relationship with Martha? :rolleyes:

[LuckyLois]

I didn't care for this episode at all. I found it boring. plodding, and full of impossible and annoying retcons. The retcons alone should make this episode unforgiveable.

The over-the-top woobification of Davis, whose alter-ego is a serial killer with victims numbering in the dozens is really nauseating to me. As is the hint that its, somehow, Clark's fault? Clark blathering on about Davis being his fault, and all he needed was good parents? Was ridiculous! Davis needs to give it one last chance? What does that even mean? Everyone he killed was just a little whoopsie? Really, this storyline just infuriates me.

What was even the point of young Lex and young Davis? It just felt like a tremendous waste of time. The only good thing about that was seeing Jonathan and Martha again, and being reminded of when this show still had a family for Clark.

Boy, Chloe sure did get over that whole marriage thing fast, didn't she?

And really, we still need to show Clark running to Chloe to help him with a story? That crap should've stopped a long time ago.

I like Tess a lot, and CF and TW have tremendous chemistry, but this episode just gave me the impression that Tess is seriously unstable. And no thanks on the heavy-handed religious comparions and imagery.

And no, Naman and Segeth can't be Clark and Davis. The legend was that they were friends, like brothers, who eventually became enemies. That doesn't describe Clark and Davis. The idiotic retcons just keep on coming.

I think Chloe and Clark need to take a long break from each other. Their relationship just feels very forced and prickly at this point. Chloe is clearly annoyed that Clark isn't there for her like she wants.

And really, that reaction at the end was the best acting AM could muster? Shouldn't she have appeared shocked? Scared? Instead, she barely registered a reaction at all.

Why is everyone acting like all the people Davis killed don't matter?

Ugh, disliked this one a lot. A 3, and thats generous, only due to the Martha/Jonathan flashbacks, and the Clark/Tess chemistry.

I can't believe this episode was directed by James Marshall. Our most reliable director has gotten rusty, IMO

I agree with you Badtoad. It did keep me interested though, but the entire time I was scratching my head trying to figure out all the plot holes.

Why would Clark blame himself for Davis when he was a piece of matter attached to his ship? What makes him think they were supposed to be brothers?

What about Lionel? He knew who the Traveler was all along, and spying on the Kent's for all of those years was just a ruse? Remember he had Chloe digging up stuff about Clark too!

Chloe looked so pretty last night, but if my marriage had just broken up I think I would be a little less put together. I also can't believe she gets so pissed at Clark when he points out things about her relationship when Chloe never puts the stop button when telling Clark all his pitfalls. Love you Chloe, but that pissed me OFF. I'm glad Clark barged in on you and Davis just like you barge in on Clark all the time!! Hypocrite much!

Tess, the all knowing, was just ludicrous. Who would harbor a total destroyer in their mansion? Think of all the priceless artifacts that might get broken? I don't get it. Tess how many aliens does it take to knock some sense into that head of yours? Why is Clark going to go to Tess for help? I thought the stone only took Clark's powers away or made him be controlled by the possessor? :confused:

The actors themselves did a great job, don't get me wrong, it's the writers I don't understand.

TW is looking more and more like Supes to me every week, but stop having him say dumb things like "it's all my fault" and having Chloe, or Tess be the reason he becomes Superman! ;)

I gave it a six out of respect for the actors.

[Jedimaster_TTBaby]

This episode kinda turned a lot of the series around...and for that i give it 5, because it was not done convincingly!

The one that stood out the most to me, was Tess saying that the two-headed painting on the cave wall actually depicted Clark and Davis. I was about to buy into it for a second (because it did make sense) until I remembered the knife that will destroy if Clark's destined enemy touches it...I do remember that it destroyed when Lex and/or Lionel touched it.

It was simple crap like that that pissed me off...but it was not like a really horrible episode.

[Smallville Vamp]

All in all I HATED IT! Only good thing to come out of this episode was it finally gave me proof that some of the things I have recently suspected about Chloe IS TRUE!

SHE WILL KILL to protect Clark. I always thought the fact that she was Brainiac infected at the time HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH HER KILLING SK, it was all Chloe's doing and now I'm more than positive it's true. She even shows little to NO remorse afterwards; GREAT CHARACTER TO ADMIRE, NOT! I thought her using the taser on Jimmy was to PROTECT DAVIS NOT HER HUSBAND and now I'm convinced that's also TRUE and to top it all off, she's in love with Davis. I think it would be REALLY hard for them to make Chloe out to be any more pathetic or desperate than she appears right now but pairing her up with Davis is a great start, I'M ALL FOR IT NOW! Can you hear that? All the cries that Chloe's ONLY doing IT to PROTECT CLARK! LOL, yeah sure she is. We'll see soon enough, I can hardly wait to see how all of this pans out in the end.

Moving on to why THIS show out right SUCKED, IMO. Um season 7, HELLO this is like having a bad nightmare(for me personally) all over again. Let me see how would that work out? I can't think about THAT it's too painful but something close to this:

Tess/Lionel, Davis/Lex, Chloe/Lana and Clark as Clark or is THAT Bizarro?

PLEASE WAKE ME WHEN THIS CRAPFEST IS OVER! Hopefully when I awake to season 9 Lionel, Lex, Lana AND BIZARRO will be LONG GONE AGAIN!

I only watched it the once when it aired but I gave it a 1. I don't think I can bear to look at it again. I actually prefer the Lana arc to THIS and believe me when I say that's not saying a whole lot!

[Jedimaster_TTBaby]

^^WOW, the Lana arc was nowhere better than this!

[ColdPlay3r]

my review

meh

-7-

[Bilza]

The episode was pretty good but because it had a major plot hole by no means it was a classic. It would have been a classic if it weren't for this major plothole.

The plothole being the 2 headed monster from the cave wall. Cast your mind back to Season 3 Episode 20 "Talisman". The dagger was disintegrated when Lionel and Lex tried to grab it. Therefore, it would cast the conclusion on Naman's (i.e. Clark's) true enemy Segeeth and he (Clark) ofcourse witnessed all of it. Ofcourse, we know that to be Lex. Clark obviously doesnt know that because he thinks Lex is dead and he's assuming the friend that becomes the enemy is Davis Bloome given their upbringing which this eipsode tried to portray but surely Lex would have been a more obvious choice with his traumatic upbringing he had and the friend that becomes the enemy. Davis Bloome was already evil deep down inside him. Lex was Clark's friend for years and Davis wasn't so the writers have got it completely wrong on that account. They've obviously just focused on the very first episode and completely forgotten the rest especially "Talisman".

So to add to the disappointment, it felt kind of desperate to bring up the 2 headed monster as the reason why Davis Bloome and Clark become enemies. The obvious would have been that there's this uncontrollable monster raging inside Davis Bloome and it simply is just destiny for him to become this monster or something along lines that Zod sent him to kill the last member of the house of El (i.e. Kal El). Chloe calming his inner demons is fair enough but using Clark as the reason for Davis becoming evil is to put it lightly ill-advised.

Apart from that the episode was gripping to watch and I liked the confrontations between Tess and Clark about his secret and how she brought up the fact that Clark pushed Lex over the edge which was always my feeling when it came to the Lex/Clark relationship. In terms of the script and the storyline, season 8 for me has been the weakest out of all the seasons. It's just Lois and Clark that have made this season good to watch and some Doomsday moments.

[cma_454]

...SHE WILL KILL to protect Clark. I always thought the fact that she was Brainiac infected at the time HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH HER KILLING SK, it was all Chloe's doing and now I'm more than positive it's true. She even shows little to NO remorse afterwards; GREAT CHARACTER TO ADMIRE, NOT! I thought her using the taser on Jimmy was to PROTECT DAVIS NOT HER HUSBAND and now I'm convinced that's also TRUE and to top it all off, she's in love with Davis. I think it would be REALLY hard for them to make Chloe out to be any more pathetic or desperate than she appears right now but pairing her up with Davis is a great start, I'M ALL FOR IT NOW! Can you hear that? All the cries that Chloe's ONLY doing IT to PROTECT CLARK! LOL, yeah sure she is. We'll see soon enough, I can hardly wait to see how all of this pans out in the end...

I have to wonder where they're going with this.

Is this just a bump in her life's road, or is Chloe going over to the dark side?


IMHO 'Eternal' was well acted and directed, but not well written (too many plot holes and retcons, plus I don't like where they seem to be taking some of the characters). YMMV.

Major gripe: I am completely sick of Clark's 'it's all my fault' guilt trips.:mad:

[IcedSun]

Loved it! :) 10!

[superpal1]

I thought the pace of the show was a little slow, but the acting was exceptional in the episode. I love how Tess just comes out and confronts Clark telling him that she knows. Different approach than Lex,who just wanted Clark to trust him and openly tell him. I also like how Tess doesnt want to exploit Clark, but rather believes in who he is going to be. The episode did a good job in explaining Davis' origins and it set up the end of the season.

[FlashInSV]

I have to admit, this episode was WAY better than I expected. TW was perhaps the most Supermanly he's ever been, the direction was brilliant and Cassidy Freeman officially takes second place in my Hall of Favourites right after ED. The script was - for the first time in a number of episodes - compact, straight to the point and with insignificant plotholes (as fas as I can tell). My only doubt was the Davis-at-the-Mansion plot, which in the end was rounded up quite elegantly. I give this episode a well-earned 8.


It was certainly exciting to see the opening scenes; it reminded me so much of the wonderful Pilot that it actually forced me to watch it all over again, so I could remember it. Okay, egg hatches and big, disgusting ooze comes out. That’s Doomsday?! :( Excellent special effects work, btw. Might I add that Tess’ “There was another” reminded me of Star Wars’ “There is another Skywalker”? :lol: :o

<O:pDP globe. Clark</ST1:p struts in, looking handsome. “I am ready for my first front page” Somebody, get me a tissue. Our boy is all grown up. Blah, blah, blah. “You will not find a web of lies behind this façade. That would be your department” OUCH! That nail hit me smack on the forehead. I love Tess already 5 minutes into the episode. :D

Oh, ain’t that sweet? Davis and Chloe are experiencing some bonding moments...Can you feel the love? He’s cooking dinner. Nice Jimmy mention. I am waiting for the soap opera to end... And finally it does! <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comhttp://www.kryptonsite.com/forums/ /><st1:City alt=</st1:City><ST1:pDavis</ST1:p’s finger magically heals and what do you know, Chloe is onto something. That’s my girl! Nothing gets past her! And <ST1:pClark </ST1:phad to bust in on the handholding moment, of course.

Blah, blah, blah. <st1:City w:st="on"><ST1:pDavis </ST1:p</st1:City>looks like he’s about to throw up. Did the onions make him sick? Nope, it’s just the killer instincts resurfacing. No biggie. :\ Do you really have to slide that shovel on the ground?! You’re Dooms-freaking-day, pick it up! OK, if you should ever see a blue station wagon with DLP 495 plates, CALL THE COPS! Better yet, scream “Superman, Help!”

What is it with the cross?! Do you think you’re doing this in the name of god?! It means nothing to you anymore, just throw it away, give it to a homeless, or something! “Forgive me” If He does forgive your sins; I’m so going to heaven! :rolleyes: Oh-oh. Tess is on the scene. “The prayer for dismembering a body!” !! :lol: HA! I love this woman! :lol:

<O:pAnd we’re back to the Chlark talk. Nothing unexpected here. I had this scene pretty much played in my head already. Let’s fast forward a bit.<O:p</O:p
Tess is playing nurse? If I were a male, I’d be thinking dirty right about now. Then again, that never stopped me before. ;) :p Holy Chocolate Starfish, Batman #1: Was that a Batman reference from Tess??!! (i.e. The bats to rid us of the parasite that prey on the city)

<O:pOOH! Flashbacks again! AWESOME! No joke or irony here, I am truly moved by this scene. Seeing Jonathan and Martha again, it’s a wonderful emotion. I miss Annette O’Toole and Jonathan Schneider. I wish they could come back, even for a few episodes as guest stars!
<O:p
WAIT! What just happened? Who are those guys?! I smell Luthor... And I’m vindicated. Little Lex is so cute! Nothing like the spawn of Satan he becomes afterwards... Alright, let’s hold our horses for just one second here. He was living in the Mansion?! That’s outrageous! It makes no sense! *Calm down, it’s just a tv show*<O:p</O:p
Sweet! The kids are acting so well! Great scene! Holy chocolate starfish, Batman #2! Shock! The parrot is dead!

Oooh, a shiny red Dodge pickup truck! I like this! How much did it cost, I wonder? Un-freaking-believable. He buried the victims in the field – THE legendary field? That’s some nerve I say. Wh- What the heck? He’s up and smooth like a baby’s bottom! Strutting down the corridor, strutting, and pausing...what is it? What did you see? What’s behind that door?
<O:p
Again the kids with a cool acting sequence. Brilliant metaphor, btw, Saint George and the dragon. Good job on that one, writers. Meteor rocks! They hurt him, too? Another metaphor, Christ and Judas this time. Interesting, very interesting. Everything Tess is saying is very true but I can’t help but be confused. So, is Tess helping <ST1:pClark</ST1:p? That is completely the opposite with raising an army of Injustice Leaguers.

For once, <ST1:pClark </ST1:pis rightfully mad at Chloe. Those are irresponsible, ridiculous excuses that she’s using trying to cover up for herself! She has lived practically her entire life amongst the weird and unexplained, it is impossible she’d not recognise the sings! She CHOSE to ignore them. YAY! Jimmy vindication! :D This day is getting better by the moment.
<O:p
The way <ST1:pClark</ST1:p barged into the hospital room was hilarious for me. He started talking away about <st1:City w:st="on"><ST1:pDavis</ST1:p</st1:City> anxiously and I was like, “Um, hello to you, too, Clark! Thank you for wishing me to get better soon!” :p

<O:pTess’ ulterior motives are still unclear to me and until they become clear, I enjoy seeing how brilliant she is. She is so smart and when she explained to <ST1:pClark</ST1:p the situation, her eyes shone with such passion. Cassidy Freeman did an excellent job tonight, as all of the nights.
<O:p</O:p<O:p
“He was a drunk driver” !!! Oh, sure, that makes it perfectly okay to wander the streets and kill people! That justifies your actions! :confused: Uh, this is probably a stupid question to ask, but WHY is Chloe under the impression a few files and a lamp dropped in <st1:City w:st="on"><ST1:pDavis'</ST1:p</st1:City>s way are going to stop him?! Oh, I get it, they serve their purpose, how else would<ST1:p Clark</ST1:p know Chloe’s missing?

<O:p</O:pIs that the same cage <ST1:pClark</ST1:p was in, a season back? Cool! Nice continuity, Smallville. Very noble speech from <ST1:pClark</ST1:p, as was expected. Indicative of his huge heart, “We could have been brothers” stroke a chord. When are you going to get it through that Kryptonian head of yours? EVERYTHING is set in stone!

Harsh flashback and wonderful, magnificent scene. This time I actually felt a connection. She is the one that can stop the beast rising from within because he loves her. Hopelessly romantic, I know, but alas, magnificent.
<O:p
“Didn’t turn out to be much of a fight” Um, you want fight? Don’t get ahead of yourself, Clarkie boy.
<O:p
OOOOOO!! <ST1:pClark</ST1:p is being offensive! Nice comebacks to Tess. The entire scene is perfect. And now we see Tess, accessing her ... hidden stack of booze? OH NO! OH HELL NO! Not that thing again! NOT THE ORB!
<O:p
This is like a cheesy horror movie. The young, powerless girl hears a noise from the creepy cellar and goes down to check it all alone, weaponless. GOOD THINKING, Chloe! Okay, so it seems we have a tiny problem here. <st1:City w:st="on"><ST1:pDavis </ST1:p</st1:City>is alive, stronger than ever and currently living at the Talon’s cellar.
<O:p
“I won’t kill <ST1:pClark </ST1:pif I’m with you” Ah, that’s an original threat if I’ve ever heard one! Don’t say it, Chlo. I can see you considering it. Just don’t, don’t do it! Don’t – she did it.

Oh, and a footnote: TOO MUCH RELIGION! I am not particularly religious myself and I got all the metaphors they inserted, but please! I do NOT think Tess was a nun before Lex met her. Do not screw her magnificent character for me, please.

[Supermeng!]

THE BEST EPISODE OF THE SEASON! The only thing im not feeling is how tess knows too much about clark.. And clark really is running out of stories.. I think the twist with Chloe and davis was awesome and how the krypto shower made him immortal.. AWESOME twist.. so now that Davis knows who Clark really is.. Now the big match is on its way..

[Autumn]

10! One of my favorite episodes of Smallville ever! Loved it! Everything about it was amazing. The acting, writing (despite that weak Judas comparison), directing, etc. Awesome and Epic! Loved the Chlavis, the Chlark (did I sense some jealousy?), Tess, etc. Will definitely be an episode to be remembered. Props to Souders and Petersen. I'm actually ecstatic (bodes well for Chlavis) they are the ones staying!!!

----- Added 33 Seconds later -----


THE BEST EPISODE OF THE SEASON! The only thing im not feeling is how tess knows too much about clark.. And clark really is running out of stories.. I think the twist with Chloe and davis was awesome and how the krypto shower made him immortal.. AWESOME twist.. so now that Davis knows who Clark really is.. Now the big match is on its way..

Definitely the BEST!!

[Habits]

I am seriously getting tired of being told there's no need to state my opinion just because it isn't flattering to one particular character.

And some of us are getting seriously tired of you disrespecting an actor/charactor that had nothing to do with the episode.

[Kj-El]

I hated it!!!

I hate that:
-Tess knows everything
-These mystical Native mumble jumble crap.
-Davis/DoomsDay made from a puddle of yellow goo.
-Clark to Davis "We could have been brothers!"
-Lex and Davis, playmates.
-The whole "Traveller" idea.
-There were two babies that were jetted to Earth from Krypton? Huh?

I Liked:
-Nothing.
-Oh wait, yes I did....the credits.

Fry me if you want, but my gawd I am hating how the story has played out. I guess I shouldn't since the comics changes all the time and I realize that the writers have to come up with ideas to keep the viewers interested.

And what truly pisses me off is that how on Earth can man decrypt an alien language? I guess that's is the thing with Smallville, once you are Supersmart, you can figure anything out. I bet Lionel Luther/Lex/Tess can find out the secret recipe at KFC too!

[Davis Bloome]

I gave it a 9. I think I was expecting a little more of it. Maybe more action, it seemed shorter than it actually was. Maybe also some more history about Davis would have been nice, but overall it was a very good episode.

[stenochick]

Hopefully I will have the time to write a proper little "review" of Eternal because it definitely deserves to be discussed. Let my just say for now that I gave it a 10. I thought it was great, even though it contained the dreaded ret-con (retroactive continuity). I'm glad Hex was light and humorous because the intensity started last night and will continue straight to the finale -- intensity of Biblical proportions! (pun intended) :lol:

[Tatiana]

i liked it a lot, i gave it a 10. I enjoyed Clark's attitude thruout the episode, Chloe was also very touching, I felt for her. Davis was scary and sad also, damn Lionel he was really messed up. Davis was scary in the end, even Tess got scary when she revealed she had the sphere to control Clark. The way she put the story together it made sense even though it changed what they had said in the beginning, it made sense Lex and Lionel had obsessed to see who was worthy...I just loved it, there was a lot of suspense, and sadness and I thought everyone did a great job with their acting. I got scared with Chloe's face at the end and I am starting to understand why she will help Davis

----- Added 30 Seconds later -----

the music was scary too...especially at the end...creepy

[stenochick]

I love how Tess just comes out and confronts Clark telling him that she knows. Different approach than Lex,who just wanted Clark to trust him and openly tell him. I also like how Tess doesnt want to exploit Clark, but rather believes in who he is going to be.

I caught that, too. I know there has been a lot of speculation and joking about Clex during the years, but in my heart of hearts, I believe that Lex was obsessively in love with Clark and only married Lana to make Clark jealous. The triangle was actually, Lex-Clark-Lana.

Lex had a different approach to Clark than Tess because Lex was in love and Tess is not in love with Clark.

[chlo-el]

!0 One of my all time faves! Il oved this ep. I even liked Clark in this.

----- Added 1 Minutes later -----


I caught that, too. I know there has been a lot of speculation and joking about Clex during the years, but in my heart of hearts, I believe that Lex was obsessively in love with Clark and only married Lana to make Clark jealous. The triangle was actually, Lex-Clark-Lana.

Lex had a different approach to Clark than Tess because Lex was in love and Tess is not in love with Clark.

IDK that whole "I'll wait for you" line made me think different.

[Tatiana]

I thought the pace of the show was a little slow, but the acting was exceptional in the episode. I love how Tess just comes out and confronts Clark telling him that she knows. Different approach than Lex,who just wanted Clark to trust him and openly tell him. I also like how Tess doesnt want to exploit Clark, but rather believes in who he is going to be. The episode did a good job in explaining Davis' origins and it set up the end of the season.


I am not so sure she doesn't want to exploid him, I thought she didn't until I saw her with the sphere, she has an evil look that just made me think she might go down the same path. Or maybe she just wants to push Clark into turning into the man she thinks he is supposed to be. I do think she is right about Doomsday's challenge pushing Clark into becoming Superman, probably flying and all...I liked the conversation she had with Davis, I think her using Jesus dying and then coming back to defeat Judas, was sort of telling us the same thing might happen to Clark, he will die and come back super super..or maybe it was about how Doomsday died and came back immortal, who knows.

[ims001]

I hated it!!!

I hate that:
-Tess knows everything
-These mystical Native mumble jumble crap.
-Davis/DoomsDay made from a puddle of yellow goo.
-Clark to Davis "We could have been brothers!"
-Lex and Davis, playmates.
-The whole "Traveller" idea.
-There were two babies that were jetted to Earth from Krypton? Huh?

I Liked:
-Nothing.
-Oh wait, yes I did....the credits.

I disagree!

Clark was rocketed to Earth, not jetted. :rotfl:

[Tatiana]

!0 One of my all time faves! Il oved this ep. I even liked Clark in this.

----- Added 1 Minutes later -----



IDK that whole "I'll wait for you" line made me think different.


I agree, that I'll wait for you line sounded very romantic lol who wouldn't be in love or infatuated with Clark, he looked so hot in this episode too. I loved the scene where him and Chloe are at the field, and the wind is making his t-shirt tight on his torso, what a tease lol

[Tompouce]

I caught that, too. I know there has been a lot of speculation and joking about Clex during the years, but in my heart of hearts, I believe that Lex was obsessively in love with Clark and only married Lana to make Clark jealous. The triangle was actually, Lex-Clark-Lana.

Lex had a different approach to Clark than Tess because Lex was in love and Tess is not in love with Clark.
Really ?:eek:Lex in love with Clark ? I knew it too (about speculations) but well...to me, Lex wanted a brother, an equal, a confidant but his obsessions to be the best, the first to experiment, know, manage everything spoiled their relationship forever. In love...?:eek:Definitively, I don't feel the same but no problem:D;)

[Kj-El]

I disagree!

Clark was rocketed to Earth, not jetted. :rotfl:

Oh yes, how wrong of me. Thanks for the correction.

But give it time, perphaps the writers of Smallville will change their minds and Krypton will be a tiny South American county. :p

[Nadège]

Great episode. This episode show us that the season eight is very well done. Davis was darkest than ever and we know the truth about his story and Clark's story for the occasion. I haven't much things to criticize about Eternal: there were emotion, action and some revelations; in short, it was pretty good. I would like Chloe choice to rest close to Davis, just for saving Clark as he saved her many times... I really think she will die at the end of the season, and Davis too. So I hope she will have a great end (for a great character : Chloé (L) ). But I am sad: it is already the 18th episode and only 4 episode to come =(...

[Tompouce]

:(
I am not so sure she doesn't want to exploid him, I thought she didn't until I saw her with the sphere, she has an evil look that just made me think she might go down the same path. Or maybe she just wants to push Clark into turning into the man she thinks he is supposed to be. I do think she is right about Doomsday's challenge pushing Clark into becoming Superman, probably flying and all...I liked the conversation she had with Davis, I think her using Jesus dying and then coming back to defeat Judas, was sort of telling us the same thing might happen to Clark, he will die and come back super super..or maybe it was about how Doomsday died and came back immortal, who knows.
The problem with Tess, is for the first time, I can see she is really evil. She wants to use someone who is ptentially (she is not sure after all) the savior of the world against his worst enemy who is here to destroy it. And she really believes, at the end, the purpose is good : Clark could be what he is meant to be. It is a very weird way of thinking. It is a dark way of thinking.
I mean, why not support Clark to let him become the hero without putting him in danger and risk he can fail and the worst happens ? It seems to be a kind of game, a dangerous, a insensitive one. To me, now, she is really a villain. No doubt (and I am sad to tell it, I thought she could be saved:().
The other thing which really exasperates me is this analogy with the Bible. Judas and Jesus. Sorry but I find it "too much", ridiculous and inappropriate. They have to stop these analogies. A little, fine but in almost each episode, it becomes nonsense.
They have to stay with the story : a savior you trust without any religion. If you read me, thanks :D

[NIGHTRAVENXLR1]

i loved it.
sure there where many plot holes but i still liked this episode really much.
loved the ending with chloe and davis

[candor]

this episode sucked! i really hated it ! if i would have skipped the first 45 minutes i would have done myself a favor. we have known davis came to earth with clark for like 5 episodes so the big dramatic line tess speaks "there was another!" had no impact at all! and why even involve the luthors? its bad enough doomsday was hatched from an egg but now we have to make him an old childhood buddy of lex's!?
this was a horrible episode to end on before ANOTHER break.

[rej@ne]

I really liked this episode. I gave it a 9. But I am confused abt several things like: Lionel´s journal (how come Lex never found that journal easlier/) How crazy was the fact of Lionel abndoning an ALIEN child to his own fade? What Tess´s doing with that device that can control Clark´s powers? And I really loved Chloe choosing to "save Clark and the world" when she decides to stay with Davis/Doomsday!
The season rocks!!!!

[love_smallville]

I did not like this episode Tess knows too much about Clark and Chloe
what the hell is wrong with her. So much stuff in this episode that pissed
me off. Give it a 5.

I agree. It's like all of a sudden boom she knows everything. Pardon my ignorance (I don't read the comics)-is she a made up character like Chloe not?

Thought overall it was a good episode-not great-but had some good stuff.

And I totally forgot Kryptonite makes Doomsday stronger so that was cool.

[stenochick]

Really ?:eek:Lex in love with Clark ? I knew it too (about speculations) but well...to me, Lex wanted a brother, an equal, a confidant but his obsessions to be the best, the first to experiment, know, manage everything spoiled their relationship forever. In love...?:eek:Definitively, I don't feel the same but no problem:D;)

It's just what I see and it makes Lex more interesting and three-dimensional, IMO. Plus, "Clexana" is so much more interesting this way than with the two men fighting over boring Lana. While Clark loved her deeply (even though he idealized her and put her on a pedastal), she was just a pawn to Lex.

But, back to Eternal. I predict that whoever becomes the Judas, it will cost him or her his or her life, just like Judas in the Gospels.

[BWOracle]

For now, I give it a 5. This episode doesn't stand on it's own. It's only a stop along the route from Point A (Prey) to Point B (Doomsday). Until the story arrives at it's final destination, I won't be able to give it a real score.

[Tompouce]

It's just what I see and it makes Lex more interesting and three-dimensional, IMO. Plus, "Clexana" is so much more interesting this way than with the two men fighting over boring Lana. While Clark loved her deeply (even though he idealized her and put her on a pedastal), she was just a pawn to Lex.

But, back to Eternal. I predict that whoever becomes the Judas, it will cost him or her his or her life, just like Judas in the Gospels.
I agree with you : Lana was a pawn for Lex whatever we see the situation:D;)

[superjude]

Hmm. I can't decide what rating to give it. I neither hated it ,nor loved it! I may have to take the middle road and give it a 5. I know that I cannot give it a 10 because it loses at least one point for just not having Lois in it again. Clark so needs his love interest to be in the show. Lois is missed whenever she is not there.

Flashback to the Pilot scene. Hmm I liked this even though I saw it just a few days ago when I re-watched the Pilot. But, it reinforced to me how much I miss Clark's parents. And Martha Kent really needs to return. Clark really, really could use his mother. He needs someone other than flip-flop Chloe to confide in. Anyways, even with the old footage it was good to see Martha, Jonathon and Lional again. They are missed.
oH! Ooooo! What is that? Is that an egg?? Oh, look at the goo!! (My little boy asked"Mom, is that a goo monster? He so had it pegged!). Goo monster turns into large Earth speaking goo boy!

Tess, hmm... reading some journal- Lional was too blind to see the truth- there was another.

Save ME. Somebody save me from the GOO Monster!! I had to watch the opener because I wanted to see Lois.
Planet! Tess on phone. Clark Enters! Man , do you look GOOD!! God, he is just too goodlooking. Hey, way to go baby, you have an article worthy of the front page! Good for you! Tess, please stop looking at Clark like he is a dork! Just stop it!! Hey, watch how you talk to him! Can't you see that body, that face. Stop talking down to him. Clark cannot be so oblivious to her remarks. Well, she does kind of have a point. You really should get with Jimmy on this- he may just have the facts that you need to back up your story. But hey, psst. So does Tess!! Conspiracy Theory- you can bet on it baby.

Sam and Allison. WooHooo. You go girl! Keep up that flirting dear. He is really good looking but hey, do try to remember Jimmy. Even if he doesn't want anything to be with you, he is still, technically, your husband, so be a little less in love with that other man. He really is not Sam Witwer here, okay. He is really a very bad creature. I kind of like the play, it was cute, but CHloe where in the world is your common sense? In steps my main man!! Now, it is possible to take your eyes off of Davis cause Clark is in the house! Clark, love his reaction here.

Shovel, field, truck-not ambulance, kiss Rosary, phone rings, vigilante Tess, explosion. There goes the heat vision! Completely useless! Thanks, Tess.
Chloe and Clark searching for murder information. Heat vision cock'd (shakes vision from my head)to safety, Chloe's hair in flames. LOL I laughed. I loved that! Clark, good for you baby. Stick up for Jimmy! And you can fight a dual for me anyday! I love this scene between Clark and Chloe.

Davis in bondage, err bandage. Chorus of Angels. Know-it-all Tess, mentions her theory. How does she know so much? Is she now Zod? Lional's journal. Lame. LAmer!
Hey, Martha and Jonathon! Flash to suited Luthor men chasing Goo Boy! The flashback between the two boys was nice but moved soooo ssllloowwww.
Back to Tess/ Davis. Prophesied Messiah! What?? I do not like where I think she is going with this. Retcon. There you are again.

Charred truck, poor Chloe thinks her new lover is gone, Clark starring. Clark is wearing the Blue Red Blur combo so I am somewhat worried. It's THE field! Cool! Xray vision- Oooooo Look at all those skeletons. This was pretty cool! DAvis is caught now!
Davis Healed! Thanks again Tess. Heat vision useless! What's with all of the Jesus Judas comparison stuff. I didn't like this at all. I get the comparison, but did it really have to be taken into the religious sector? Memory of the lead box. Oh! Hmmm, GooBoy is hurt by Kryptonite too. This could be a good thing. Jesus/ Judas reference again. Hey, I can actually get this. I know that Tom is a Sexy GOD!!!

Clark arguing with Chloe! Yes! I love this part!! Serial killer that Jimmy warned us about! Point for Clark! Hospital scene with Tess. My man enters! He looks so GOOD!! Tess, What did you just say? You did not just tell Clark that he was the reason Davis was abandoned in the first place. Really. Miss Know it all Biatch!!! Stop looking at him like he is a dork!! I think that I have just decided that Tess has got to go!!!!! Clark, Don't you dare give in and tell her anything! She does not deserve it!

Davis/ Chloe. Run Chloe Run!! What in the heck! You did not just tell Davis that you thought that you did love him? What?? Jimmy! What about Jimmy? Hmm.. Help him die huh. NOt a bad idea really.
Cage, Dr. Gruels(Grohl's) lab, Lana Jitters anyone? , Clark, why on Earth did you stop Chloe? OKay, they all played their parts excellently here, but my dear , Clark, it is not all your fault. I really wish that he would stop saying that. This time I blame Tess though! Everything that happened to you is because of me , we should have been brothers. AH What? Please. That is not the case. It was the fault of Zod and Faora, and possibly Brainiac. Purely evil beings!!!!
But I must say that I did love this scene. It was excellent and it had my favorite Doomy part yet. I loved that when he said" There are not enough prayers in this world to give me redemption" In a growl. God! That was HOT!! Oooo No CHloe Oooo Krypto Goo!!
DArn! There goes the kryptonite. Totally useless now!!

Luthor aide drops off GooBoy! Cool! Gooboy turns into Doomsboy!
Chloe/ Davis cage, Mr Spock Thing. Ah Chloe crying. Hmmm. I wish that I could feel sad, but I just can't. It was all well played, but man, now I find fault with Chloe again!

Talon/ Clark and Chloe. How is she holding up? Had better days. Your notta kiddin! Oh no! Oliver is taking care of it. I see visions of him being tied up with no shirt in the basement of the Talon!

Chloe/ Clark /Talon. I won't risk the safety of the world because of your code of ethics. Because you refuse to stop the things that threaten you. Snap!! Clark, man , I love ya!
Naman/ Segeeth-retcon. Might as well burn the picture. Pretty useless now.

Farm, sunshine, My man in a bLUE shirt! All is right with the world again. Ah crap, Tess. MIss know it all/ I've got it all figure out nut! Good!!! Clark keep lying to her. She does not deserve the truth. God, I love that man!!!Tess needs to chill out and give it a rest already. I have to admit though, even as a woman, I did think that CF was fine at her acting and that she looked really good.
Did she just call him KAL-EL? Who is she now, ZOD? Oh darn, she has that Arctic Purple Orb thingy. Well, hey, maybe this will be something good! Does she have this object along with the Phantom Zone Crystal spoiled or is it instead of? Hmm.
Chloe/ Talon/ noise in basement. Do not go down there? Oh no ! Oh, Hey Doomy! I knew it was you! Immortal- GREAT-Wonderful!!! Thanks Chloe! oh ,Chloe, no, DOn't lock the door honey. You really need to tell Clark! I know you think your protecting him, but really ,it is really not a good idea! Clark won't like it at all! BUt, hey, I can't blame you. He really is goodlooking. I might want to lock myself in a room with him too. Psst. He really has bad red eyes, and protrusions coming from his body, but hey, some people may like that sort of thing. Locks Door!

Okay. so not all that bad of an episode really. I guess I enjoyed it. I really love the actors and actresses in the show here and think that they all did superbly with their parts. But there was no Lois, I am once again upset with Flip flop Chloe, I do not like Tess anymore, and I am a little anxious about where they are going with this line for the finale. But because I love Tom Welling as Clark Kent So much, I will bump it up to a 7.

[lm1212]

I agree. It's like all of a sudden boom she knows everything. Pardon my ignorance (I don't read the comics)-is she a made up character like Chloe not?

Thought overall it was a good episode-not great-but had some good stuff.

And I totally forgot Kryptonite makes Doomsday stronger so that was cool.

her character is Smallville's interpretation of Mercy Graves, who was like Lex Luthor's sidekick in the comics, and Miss Tessmacher, who was another parter of Lex in one of the Superman movies, but not the comics.

[Tompouce]

Have you noticed ? We didn't see Clark's shoes (the tennis ones) like in the pics Craig put on the site before it aired :lol:

[Lelak]

Just a bad "filler" episode.

Chloe still not trusting Clark (or Jimmy) about Davis. Chloe staying with Davis after she found out that her HUSBAND was right about Davis is pretty lame even if she thinks that she is in some way helping to protect Clark from Davis/Doomsday. What happened to her being "Watchtower"? I was worried about Chloe getting killed this season, this episode makes me think Chloe being killed off wouldn't be as big a loss as I believed.

Plus... Tess suddenly knowing everything about everybody from the journal that she stole from Lionel - that even Lex didn't know existed.

No Lois!

On the bright side, Lana didn't pop up...

[superjude]

Just a bad "filler" episode.

Chloe still not trusting Clark (or Jimmy) about Davis. Chloe staying with Davis after she found out that her HUSBAND was right about Davis is pretty lame even if she thinks that she is in some way helping to protect Clark from Davis/Doomsday. What happened to her being "Watchtower"? I was worried about Chloe getting killed this season, this episode makes me think Chloe being killed off wouldn't be as big a loss as I believed.

Plus... Tess suddenly knowing everything about everybody from the journal that she stole from Lionel - that even Lex didn't know existed.

No Lois!

On the bright side, Lana didn't pop up...

I also want to know what happened to WAtchtower Chloe!! And I no longer have any like for Miss KNow it all/ stop talking to Clark like he's a dork Tess.
But, as for no mention of Lana. Well there wasn't by name. BUt, I sure had Lana chills when they mentioned Dr Grohl's lab! Shudders

[SnowBird]

Superjude...Cool review. You just made my day by making a depressing episode more bearable for me with a few laughs. Clark is the best part of SV and it's nice to see some love go his way.:)

[Jaderoyale]

Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Thursday night. The night of dreams. The night where all new Smallville airs. And this is the last episode before the lovely three week hiatus we're going to get. *rolls eyes* I don't like hiatus' one bit to be honest. Just run the programme through. Give us some joy.

Its fair to say after last weeks episode (Hex!!) i'm not expecting something great. Thats the way it goes with me, what i'm used to. Smallville gives us a great epsiode, then gives us a complete stinker (see Season 7 > Descent then Sleeper). I'm not overly interested in the storyline tonight. In fact, i don't even think i know what it is. Tess tries to kill Davis because she knows all about him? Clark blames himself for everything? Thats what i have in my mind. I'm ill again and i'm not in the mood mentally or emotionally for a backtracked Clark Kent right now.

Okay, here we go. Yet again there is no Previously on Smallville, so i will make one up. Clark got lost in the Artic (see Odyssey) and Tess Mercer appeared looking for Lex because she was his booty call (i kid). Davis rescued everyone (see Plastique), then killed a meteor freak (see Prey), then got stabbed by a Phantom possessed Lois, making him invunerable to metal (see Bloodline). He fell ridiculously in love with Chloe and unleashed his monster, injuring all the guests at her wedding (see Bride). Then he vanished for a while. Only to come back and show us that Chloe's touch, soothes the savage beast (Turbulence). Can anyone say EW?!

- Do i need tea or something stronger? I'm too ill for alcohol and tea is soothing. Yet, i feel the need to be tense. Coffee it is -

Luthor mansion. Tess reading something. About the meteor shower. And we're straight into a flashback. Gosh. Don't get me wrong. I'm a fan of the flashback in some senses; in a way they attempt to bring continuity to the series, so i can't really complain there can i? Plus, you got to love the 8 year old recycled footage that they're using here. Bit of footage from Season 4's Scare there too. Oh. Jonathon and Martha. Lionel. Man, i miss these guys. Look at Lionels hair line. Theres little baby Clark. Aw isn't he cute. Now where are we going. Ew, whats that. That is gross. I feel sick. Little Davis. Man thats traumatizing for that kid actor. Lying there stark naked. Oh he was blind was he Tess? Leave Lionel alone.

Opening credits. Majestic as ever.

Daily Planet. Tess on the phone. In strolls a usual daper looking Clark. Whos' ready for the front page. Oh, i like this. Clark isn't happy that Tess won't print the story. Tension between the too. Lets not forget she knows he's the RBB, at least we think she does. One can never be too sure. This scene was too short and my head is hurting me. *takes sip of coffee*

The Talone. Chloe. And a crying Davis. Urgh. What is he doing there. Cooking her dinner. Chloe, how long have you been separted from Jimmy? And theres the mention of him. I like the sound of this email from Jimmy. Jimmys got some angst going on. Thank heavens its fair to say that Chimmy is 100% over. Chloe, you're close to Davis and know nothing about him. Oh look, hes cut his finger. Chloes panicked. Oh if only she knew. Thats going to heal. And its healed. Hello Clark, just walk in why don't you. He looks like hes just interrupted them sitting on each other or something.

Leaving the Talon and Davis has some sort of inner body spazam. Then we cut to what is obviously Davis (or is it?!) burying a body of a newly murdered victim. At least i assume thats what he was doing. I doubt he was just dragged that spade along for fun. Oh Davis its too late to ask for forgiveness. Besides, you're not even human you fool. Plus, those rosary beads aren't even yours. They're from one of your victims (see Prey). Phone rings. On go the car lights. There's Tess. She knows, Davis looks like he's wet himself. Then with no second thoughts at all, Tess has just blown up his car. Nice Tess. You've just made him invunerable to fire. Not that she knows that.

Back at the Talon. Chloe's scrolling on her laptop. She can't believe it. Niether can i. When was the last time you used that thing? Missing persons. All Davis' victims i wager. Clarks going to be judgemental now. Yes it is too soon to move on. Chloe be quiet. Don't you dare compare Clark to Davis, Clark has obviously been doing his research on Davis, can we blame him? Get to know your enemy well Clark, hes gonna kill you one day.

Nicely wounded Davis. With Tess. She aplogises. Oh she didn't expect it, she wants him dead. Davis doesn't even know who she is. Bats? What on earth. She knows he can't die. Shes giving him some sort of pep talk. I'm yawning. Yes Tess he has no background. Lionels diary, so i assume. No the boy obviously didn't come alone. Gosh this sounds like a childs bedtime story.

Cue another flashback. Little grubby child Davis decides to hide behind a tree like a stalker and watch Jonathon and Martha from our nicely integrated footage. And they walk away with one child leaving another naked, to be chased by random men. Naturally with guns. Then he's put in a cage. Oh young Lex! I adore Connor, hes so cute. He hears humming and goes to investigate. Small voice from behind the door. Why are Lex's socks that high? Why would he be cold? No hes not Warrior Angel. What is Davis doing there? Experimented on, obviously. Was that Lionels doing? The MB. Whos gone to farm, to sort out Clarks adoption. Nice continuity there.

Back to Tess' room, or so i assume thats where they are. Davis is not the Traveler. This is a massive plothole. MASSIVE. Lionel was meant to believe that Clark was the Traveler. *rolls eyes*

Open field. Davis burnt car. Chloe looking sad, Clark staring into the distance. The field where his ship landed. Clark uses his xray vision to see all the dead bodies buried in the field and looks absolutely disgusted. I don't blame him. I would be too.

Oh a completely healed Davis. Picking up randomly placed clothes and walking around. Then having a flashback about swordfighting with Lex. Connor looks weird with no hair. If only you'd slayed the beast Lex. Bless your bald head. Oh look kryptonite. That seemed to hurt Davis. Which he now thinks is the way to kill himself, when he comes back to reality. Turns round and sees Tess. Judas? Oh gosh. Are we going to be having biblical references all episode? Yes, he is here to betray the saviour Tess. See, we knew Tess knew about Clark. Theres the reveal. One mention of Clark and Davis has gone slightly insane and slapped Tess. What, on, earth.

Daily Planet. Chloe get out. Sorry. Course it didn't set off any alarms Clark. Chloe doesn't want to believe Davis is the killer, the one that Jimmy warned them about. Yes, the Jimmy. From the episode when he was the man. Course someone took him Clark, what person just ups and vanishes these days?

Tess in the hospital, nicely bruised. Clark comes in and doesn't even ask her about her injuries. Nice Clark. Oh he has. I apologise. Tess decides to give Clark a history lesson and mentions the Kawatche caves. Shes technically just told him she knows his secret. Clark has laughed. As you do. Sadly his denial here is nowhere near as good as the one in Identity with Jimmy, that one was fabulous. Blah blah Lionel, blah blah wrong boy.

Dead bodies. Nice. Chloe thinking its Clark says something, sees its Davis and practically flies out of her chair. Now Davis tries to justify his serial killings. Thats just stupid. And Davis has told Chloe he loves her. I think i might be sick. Thats right Chloe, how can he ask you that. Davis wants Chloe to help him die.

Clark comes to Isis and sees overturned objects. So Chloe's gone. Murder not bother her then? Clark pieces it together and superspeeds off.

Dr Grohls lab. Davis in kryptonite cage. Oh bless him, he actually thinks thats going to work. Chloes watching him, her face shiney. Have a tissue love. That can't be Clarks cage from Traveler, cause that was destroyed by Kara. PLOTHOLE. Oh just do it. Here comes Clark. Here comes the episodely Clark speech. Oh i see why he says everything was is fault now. Davis obviously wants to die. Oh hes looked at Chloe. Gosh. I actually want her to pull the lever. But he can't die anyway. Hes gone angry. Shouted at Clark. Chloe, obviously favouring Clark, pulls the lever and what can only be described as kryptonite water comes into the cage. Making Clark feel it too. Chloe pulls Clark away and Davis decides to have a flashback, as his life is "ending".

Davis left on the streets and turning into Doomsday as a child. Thats just creepy. Back to the present. Chloe does a stupid thing and puts her hand on the cage thinking Davis is dying and proceeds to cry like a baby.

Talon, next day i assume. I like Clarks hair. Clark asks Chloe how she is. Obviously, shes saddened. Shes killed someone. Again. Chloe's using Clarks code of ethics as an excuse for murder. Turning into Oliver is she? I'm still angry with Oliver. Oh Clark, the fight hasn't even begun yet, you poor thing. Clark talks about a nightmare from when he was a child, which was Davis' life. Clarks backtracking. Be quiet. Yes he was Doomed. Doomsday.

Kent farm. Clark with chains. Tess in the barn. Clark references the Luthor obssession, calls Lionel a madman. Takes a swipe at Tess' personal life. Nice. Be careful Clark, shes smart. Tess top talking about Judas. In a way, i think she favours Davis. Is she threatening you Clark? What do you mean you'll wait for him. I don't like the sound of that. Darn straight it'll be a long one. Kal-el? Crikey.

Back at the mansion Tess opens some metallic briefcase. That has the blasted orb in it. Oh don't even think about it.

Back at the Talon, Chloes home. Hears noises. Goes to see. As one does. And finds Davis. Alive and well. Oh heavens, the rocks made him stronger. Oh god, he's using Chloe against Clark. Because she soothes the savage beast. Oh this is why she'll harbour him. To protect Clark. You're going down a dangerous road Chloe.

-

Okay overall.
It wasn't as bad as i was expecting, i will be honest. Though there are some complaints and fields of angst. Lets have some good stuff.

Clark. His first scene with Tess was good, showing us the reporter Clark, wanting to break that story. I understood in the end why he blamed himself for Davis, because it could have been him that was found by Lionel and without a real home. I can understand that and forgive him for it. I also commend him lying to Tess throughout. He doesn't trust her with his secret, fair enough.

Chloe. Hmmmmm. While i understand that what she's doing is technically to protect Clark, i don't like it. She just pulled the lever without a though as soon as he moved to Clark, thinking she'd killed him. I don't agree, with her moving on so fast from Jimmy. He was meant to be the "love of her life", granted we knew it wouldn't last, but still. Also, whats happened to Watchtower Chloe? One episode and shes gone?

Davis. I don't like him. Which, i think is a good thing now. He's Doomsday. Clarks ultimate killer. So i think thats good that i dislike him. What i disliked most, was his, guilting Chloe. Using the feelings he has for her against her, saying they will save him. Yes they will for a while, but what about after?

Tess. Didn't like the bible references. Referring to Clark and Davis and Jesus and Judas. Kind of grated on me. I'm not massively religious (well not at all), so those references made me confused. I got them, but they made no sense to me within the episode. The fact that Tess has the orb has worried me. Is she going to try and control Clark so he will fight Doomsday? Hanging questions.

Plotholes. TOO. MANY. For anyone whos never watched the show before it'd be fine, but i was getting SO annoyed its unreal. First we were told Lionel always knew Clark was the Traveler (see S7 Veritas arc), now we're told he initially thought it was Davis? Sort it out.

The acting, was great. I must say that. We have an awesome cast. AM seems to be able to cry on command. And CF just goes from good to bad in a 2 episode gap. TW as ever was great, i never have no problems with him. He seems more happy with this Clark than he has for a few seasons, which gives me faith.

However, too many plotholes. Tess somehow turning into Lex, getting obssessed with Clark (we had 7 seasons of that, Clark needs no more obssession). I didn't like Chloe and Davis going to have dinner. Signals Davis as a rebound and makes Chloe look, well, i can't say. Shes going down a dark road now, and i'm worried about where she's heading.


7/10

[ekoo]

Loved it. SW and AM are awesome together.

[superjude]

Superjude...Cool review. You just made my day by making a depressing episode more bearable for me with a few laughs. Clark is the best part of SV and it's nice to see some love go his way.:)


Thanks and I am glad that it made you laugh. I watched that episode last night and was really undecided how I felt about it and then I re-watched while writing my review and then knew how I felt. Clark is the best part of Smallville and he is the one person that usually shines for me in all conditions. Now, if they would only allow Lois to work her magic with him. All would be well.:)

[ticker]

Great review Jade. Lovely avi ;)

You pretty much hit all the point I wanted to make so... 7 from me as well.

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great... All in all an enjoyable episode. (I miss Lois)

[Joelito]

I gave 8...The story was ok, I love continuity...filling some plot holes...making new ones..

What's up with chloe? ¬¬

[Maria1023]

ITA!! with everything you just said. I lost all hope for Smallville the minute they introduced Lois Lane, but I have to say that I absolutely LOVE this season and it is because of the Davis/Doomsday story. The character of Davis Bloom fascinates me. The contradiction between who he wants to be and who he actually is gave new life to this show and I am enjoying the ride.
Eternal is my favorite episode this season so far. I can't believe that I have to get through a show about Lois playing a superhero before we get anymore Doomsday/Clark interaction. Talk about a fluff story..
I gave this episoe a 10..



It's that human side that makes it so fascinating, his fight against his fate, that he is powerless to stop the evil inside. I love that.

I thought this was one of the best of the season, maybe the best. I give it a 9, because very few episodes will ever get a 10. I save that for the epic ones (Pilot, Memoria, Reckoning, to name a few).

Not sure about the Namaan legend being changed. I guess the knife Lionel and Lex were reaching for way back when didn't mean anything then?

Oh, and Jesus wouldn't have risen if not for Judas??? Okay, well, coming from Tess, I guess that wacko assumption isn't much of a surprise.

Otherwise, it was truly excellent. I seem to love all the Davis-centric episodes. SV has done great things with that character, made him quite fascinating. I'm going to go watch it again. Both SV and Supernatural really rocked tonight!

[Vegas911]

I actually like the storyline with Chloe and Davis....Jimmy and Chloe to me were boring!!! With Davis, there is danger, longing, lust, love, loyalty, trust!! She had NONE of that with Jimmy, she only THOUGHT that she did. Thier relationship was doomed from jump street, and I am happy that the torture is finally over! I think that the Chloe/Watchtower change over was great...but as someone said before she has gone back into sidekick mode for Clark, but the transfomation is not going to be immediate, give it a lil time and let the storyline work itself out.....I AGREE 100% with the whole...Clark feeling like everything is his fault, and is because of him....GET OVER IT CLARK!!!!! The fans are tired of it!!! He needs to man up and stop thinking about what his arrival to eath has done to hurt people, and start focusing on how he is going to save them!

[cloisthelegendbegins]

USUAL LONG POST WARNING – You know the drill by now...

We start at the Luthor mansion with Tess doing some fireside reading. I did kinda wonder how it was Lionel had this magical journal complete with sketches and yet Lex had never got his hands on it. It's not like Lex wasn't hunting all things Veritas last season, to the point of killing Lionel. And if he got all of Lionel's things when his father died, how come he didn't get the journal that told the story of the Traveller, complete with how Martha Kent came to Lionel for help with adopting Clark shortly after the meteor shower. Seemed to me Lex didn't know Clark was the Traveller until Kara/Brainiac told him, and even then he still didn't seem to believe it until he saw Clark at the fortress. PROBLEM NUMBER ONE. And I see it as a major problem seeing as most of the episode is centred around it. In a nice merge from book sketch to live action we revisit the meteor shower in the Pilot, and there's Jonathan and Martha in the truck as balls of fire fall from the sky. Question: Did Lionel ever see the ship Clark came to Earth in? I always thought it was kept in the storm cellar at the Kent farm after Pete found it in Duplicity and until Clark blew it up in Exodus. If Lionel didn't know what it looked like how did he draw it so accurately? Kara's ship was roughly the same design as Brainiac's and I don't remember Lionel seeing those, so did Jor-El tell the members of Veritas what to look for? PROBLEM NUMBER TWO.

Kent truck turns over, toddler Clark finds them, all the way I remember it so far. Then we go back to the crater created by the landing of Clark's ship and we discover he had a passenger in the form of a weird egg thing with tentacles that pops open, then oozes yellow slime into the shape of another boy. That's in keeping with what Faora told Davis in Bloodline about him being genetic matter attached to the ship, so yay for continuity! Switch back to real time and Tess has come to the realization Lionel got it wrong and there were two boys that came to Earth that day. Man that girl is SMART. I know she's learned a lot this season, but wouldn't reading the entire journal first have been more likely to bring her to that conclusion, not a few pages?

OPENING CREDITS and at the Daily PlanetTess is talking on the phone when Clark is shown in. Clark thinks he's ready for the front page. He's been doing some investigating into the sudden spate of missing persons in Metropolis. Bit of a shame he doesn't talk to Lois more often, considering she was working the same story from a serial killer angle as far back as Toxic, when she handed an article to Tess. Clark is passionate about the fact people should know, even though Tess makes a dig about how it's a shame the RBB doesn't do something about it instead of just sitting around. But Tess tells Clark she can't print the story because there aren't any facts. Aren't lots of people missing a FACT? Won't there be Police reports? Otherwise how does Clark know they're missing? Yeah, Clark doesn't buy it either. He says she's sweeping it under the rug. Tess says great, another conspiracy theory, and that he won't find a web of lies behind her façade – that's his department. I love how Clark stands up to her, but I don't see him getting a front page story any time soon. GREAT to see he's investigating like a reporter and doing something with it though!

Talon apartment and a cosy scene between Chloe and Davis, who is cooking dinner. Why is he there? Because Chloe is doing some fancy stuff to his phone that he couldn't do for himself. He screwed up his phone that bad just by reaching into the glove compartment for it? Was he reaching for it when he was Doomsday? Cute line from Davis about Chloe's brainpower and technical skills with the phone and we move on to the subject of Jimmy. Turns out Jimmy is a tad bitter about the events in Turbulence and is sending nasty emails. Chloe makes a comment about thinking she and Jimmy were best friends – which is LAUGHABLE considering her relationship with Clark – but obviously there was some stuff brewing below the surface. You THINK? I have a bit of a problem with Chloe coming across as the victim here. It takes two to screw up a marriage in this case and there were mistakes made on both sides. Jimmy was in the wrong hitting Davis with a pipe and handcuffing him to a fence/Chloe was in the wrong for not giving him the benefit of the doubt when it came to Davis being a murderer. Jimmy was having a problem with painkiller addiction/Chloe TAZERED HIM without warning. Jimmy is sending Chloe nasty emails and telling her to leave him alone/Chloe is having a cosy dinner with the guy who made a pass at her when she was ENGAGED and who she believed over her husband. There are no winners in the Chimmy marriage as far as I'm concerned. Chloe asks how can you be that close to someone and not know who they really are. Give it a while Chloe and those words will come back to haunt you. Davis is of course sympathetic, even though he did what he did to Jimmy and caused the break-up to happen sooner rather than later. He then slices his finger with a knife while chopping tomatoes (they're an ingredient in Mac and Cheese?) Chloe tries to help him, but when she wipes what I'm guessing is supposed to be blood, cos the inside of a tomato ain't that red, she discovers there isn't a wound. Little detail here. Faora stabbed Davis with a metal pole in Bloodline and killed him. When he came back to life, he tried to see if he could do it again with a knife. The knife shattered. So are we saying only his torso can't be pierced with a knife? He still has vulnerable fingers? PROBLEM NUMBER THREE.Davis tries to fob it off as quick reflexes, Chloe for the first time in pretty much FOREVER looks like she doubts what he's saying. But before she can push him on it, enter Clark the traditional Smallville way – without knocking – catching Chloe and Davis looking like they're having a moment. Chloe moves away from Davis, looks embarrassed, then makes the comment 'Call much?', suggesting that Clark walking into her apartment unannounced is SOMETHING NEW. It's not like everybody in the known universe – INCLUDING CHLOE - doesn't walk into the Kent house unannounced about 798 times a season, is it? He looks stunned to see Davis there. A-w-k-w-a-r-d moment ensues. Then Clark makes the kind of LAME ASS STATEMENT that suggests once again that he's dependent on Chloe. He says he's working on a story she might have some information on. Right, Because you hadn't already been investigating that story ON YOUR OWN Clark. I really wish this would stop. Once again it makes it look like Clark can't do anything without HELP. Davis takes it as his cue to leave with one of the most obvious excuses of all time. Chloe tries to get him to stay, he says they can have dinner tomorrow – like it's something they do on a regular basis/like they're dating/at the very least BFF's. But when Davis goes downstairs, we see him having a Doomsday reaction, so maybe being so close to Clark wasn't a good plan anyway.

As the transformation has started, Davis needs to find a victim to keep the monster at bay, so we next see him dragging a shovel across a muddy field, getting in his vehicle and kissing a cross as he asks for forgiveness. Then his phone rings and it's Tess. What's the prayer for dismembering a body she asks as he turns on the headlights to find her standing in the field? He doesn't get a chance to answer, because it turns out the Tess Mercer judiciary system is as harsh as Davis Bloom's and with the push of a button, he's blown sky high. Man that woman is COLD.

Back to the Talon and Chloe is doing the research work for Clark AGAIN while he somehow manages to read a sheet of paper. Now I understand her new role as Watchtower means she does research for the members of the Justice League but A/ The show hasn't told me Clark knows she's officially Watchtower, B/ The show hasn't told me Clark is officially a member of the Justice League and C/ There has been nothing to tell me Clark thinks the disappearances of these people are linked to anything metahuman/Kryptonian/paranormal. So I'm STILL taking option D/ Clark is dependent on Chloe to do things he could do himself and with FASTER TYPING AND READING SKILLS (even though he did it all on his ownsome to write the article he gave Tess) Have I mentioned how sick I am of this? Well I am. PARTICULARLY when he was able to research the story ON HIS OWN and take it to Tess, claiming he was ready for the FRONT PAGE. Seriously show, could we at some stage STOP MAKING CLARK LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT? In fairness, Clark does then confront Chloe about her relationship with Davis and how it seems to be a bit fast after Jimmy. Well yes, it would be if there wasn't already something below the surface between them when she was engaged to Jimmy. When Clark says he doesn't see what she sees in him – not at all like something a fourteen year old would say :rolleyes: - Chloe says Davis is kind, supportive and a strong shoulder for her to lean on, which in case Clark hadn't realized, she could really use. What the hell happened to the friendship they had at the end Hex? You know, the one where they talked? The one where Clark gave her an opening to talk about Jimmy and she skirted over the subject? Now I know in the same episode she learned that Clark thought there were two sides to her break up with Jimmy – which there ARE – but if she doesn't talk to him about her problems or try to tell him her side of things (even when he gives her an opening) how in hell is he supposed to know how she's feeling? Again with the victim. It's easier to talk to Davis because Davis takes her side, but then Davis would, and not just because he helped cause the problem with Jimmy, but because he has never made a secret of the fact he's more than a little interested in her. I'm sorry, but Clark isn't at fault here and she was more than a little defensive about it. Clark has a bad feeling about Davis, but when he brings up the fact Davis disappears without explanation and there's no record of his childhood, Chloe says it sounds familiar. Good point. I still can't get over how much blind trust she puts in this guy though. It takes Clark to bring up the subject of how he doesn't keep morbid crime scene photos in his locker and how he's not the first EMT to show up at every gruesome murder before Chloe seems to listen. Or has she? Because it turns out she's just got some information on her computer screen and Davis' vehicle has been found on fire just outside of Smallville.

At the Luthor mansion Davis is mummified in bandages. Few questions here. How did he get out of the fire if he was that badly injured? How did Tess manage to get him out of the fire if he didn't stumble out on his own? How did she get him into her car on her own? And if she didn't how long did it take for her henchmen to get there to help her before someone reported the vehicle was on fire? How did his hair survive the fire when a layer of skin seems to have burned off? Anyhoo, he's in the mansion with Tess. How? Who the hell knows. She tells him she tried to kill him. Yeah, he might have got that from the whole blowing him sky high thing. She seems surprised he isn't dead. But since she figured out his back-story after a few pages of Lionel's journal I would have thought having recently been saved by the OTHER GUY who fell to Earth at the same time it might have maybe crossed her mind. Oliver's jet? Thousands of feet up in the sky? You survived without a scratch? Yes Tess. It becomes clear she knows Davis is a killer, she even commends him on his altruistic method of selection, likening it to keeping bats who prey on the parasites of the city. Nice Batman reference Tess. Davis says he can't control himself. Tess says she knows he's tried to absolve himself, but even suicide wouldn't work on a guy who can't die. Yeah, cos a guy who asks for forgiveness from God after murdering dozens of people is likely to worry about the sin of suicide when it comes to the Catholic church. I'm not sure I like the religious themes to this arc. When it comes to Superman I understand the comparisons, but I never really liked that either. Attaching it to Davis this way? I like it even less. And frankly I just don't get it. Because as a practising Catholic Davis would be even more aware of what he is doing to his immortal soul. So he either believes or he doesn't. I don't see why they had to bring religion into it and why they had to choose the Catholic faith to make the point. I guess putting him in the confessional and having him kiss the cross every time he murders someone makes for good TV scenes. But I'm sorry, it just doesn't work for me on several levels, not least of those being the fact he's so far removed from the practices of the faith that it just makes it seem even more hypocritical than it already is for him to ask for forgiveness for what he's doing while continuing to do it. It would have had just as much dramatic effect for me if I'd seen him praying by a bedside or saying a prayer over one of his victims shallow graves or saying Lord forgive me out loud. I already know he's fighting the inevitable and has been struggling with it for some time. Davis ends by saying that he's not who Tess thinks he is. Tess in return says no, you're not who you think you are. Cos he didn't get that hint from Faora in Bloodline? Here's where Tess starts to fill in Davis on everything she's learned from Lionel's big book of secrets. The first thing she says? She's been investigating him. She looked into his background and thought she'd hit a dead end until she inherited the book. Let's just stop here for a moment shall we?

Tess investigated Davis. Tess knew Davis was a serial killer. She knew what kinds of victims he was choosing. She knew he was trying to absolve his guilt through religion. She looked into his background and hit a dead end. When did she do all this? According to this scene she investigated him BEFORE she got the book. According to show canon the suggestion would be she investigated him after Jimmy left a file on her desk at the end of Turbulence. Now let's compare those investigative skills with Clark and Chloe. Clark has suspected something wasn't right with Davis since Prey when he found those crime scene photos and pointed out Davis was always first on the scene. Chloe has known about Davis' blackouts since Prey when Davis pointed he'd been waking up covered in someone else's blood – he even told her he had blackouts his whole life but they were getting more frequent. Chloe's husband told her he saw Davis commit a murder but she believed Davis without looking into it. Both Clark AND Chloe investigated Davis' background and found the same dead end. Do I really have to ask the question here? I get that Clark still feels the need to share a brain with Chloe but seriously? Between them they couldn't put some of the pieces together when Tess was able to do it in a matter of weeks? This is Clark and CHLOE we're talking about here. And Chloe never ONCE suspected Davis? Chloe Sullivan? Okay, okay so they've been busy with Brainiac, the Legion, vigilante cops, the two episodes I'm trying to block out of my mind for all eternity and the small matter of a bit of a body swap, but Chloe has had more interaction with Davis since the very beginning and even though he told her about the blackouts and being covered in blood – something she failed to mention to Clark – she didn't put her renowned research skills to work for five minutes? Even to look into his blackouts? Even after what happened with Jimmy?! Instead she's sitting having a cosy dinner while she plays with his phone?! How the hell is this in character? She's either as good at research as she's been for the last seven and a half seasons or Clark shouldn't be coming to her for help. Not that he should be doing that at this stage anyway but make up your mind show – you can't have it both ways. *End of Rant 1.*

Bedside story with Tess and into the book we go. We go back to footage from the pilot with Martha, Jonathan and toddler Clark while a scared young Davis hides. Of course I'm curious as to why young Davis seems several years older than Clark in the blink of an eye from primordial ooze and why he hasn't grown at the same rate ever since, but since I know next to nothing about Kryptonian DNA, I won't dwell. I do however know something about how babies learn to talk and I find it somewhat miraculously convenient that he can speak, but again I won't dwell. Young Clark didn't say anything, did he? No. I'm NOT dwelling. When the Kents leave with young Davis watching, a kind of SWAT team arrives to hunt him down and catch him in a cage – which is when he can say the word 'no'. But since I'm not dwelling on his power of speech, I'll instead focus on how COMPLETELY USELESS this small army of men are. They caught the boy, so that's something. But they then LEFT THE SPACESHIP IN THE CRATER for Pete to find years later. Now you'd have thought it might be useful to take it with them, or search the area for alien stuff in general, considering who they work for and why they were sent - but oh no. I guess they just went back and DESCRIBED IT to Lionel so he could do a sketch of it for his book. PROBLEM NUMBER FOUR. Have to say at this point, the way old footage and new was spliced together with and without the aid of the drawings in the book, was one of the most successful parts of this retcon for me. And to see young Davis hunted down after he'd just watched the Kents leave with young Clark was incredibly sad and scary at the same time. It could so easily have been Clark in that situation. It could so easily have been Davis in Clark's place. Sad and scary. But the two of them in the one house would have taken feuding siblings to a whole new level...

Via the book we then transport to the Luthor mansion where young Lex is searching for his loose budgerigar 'Feathers'. Good to see Connor Stanhope back again! In the search for Feathers he finds a locked bedroom with young Davis inside. Davis with his remarkably good speaking skills (STILL not dwelling) asks if young Lex's head is cold cos he has a woolly hat on. Cute. Then we have a Warror Angel bonding session. Young Lex introduces himself as Alexander, young Davis doesn't know his name but knows a man brought him there and has been sticking needles in him. Off they go to play. Then we see poor dead Feathers on the table. This is a really nice nod to the comic book Doomsday. For those who might not know, when Doomsday punches his way out of the underground tomb at the start of The Death Of Superman one of the first things that happens is a little bird lands in his huge clawed hand. Doomsday looks down at it for a moment and then squoodges it dead; establishing him as a killer. Back to Tess in real time and she informs Davis that Lionel thought he was a prophesied messiah known as the Traveller, a visitor from another planet sent to save humankind. But what Lionel didn't realize was there were two boys who fell to Earth that day – the Traveller and Davis...

Clark and Chloe are at Davis' burnt out vehicle, Chloe immediately concerned for Davis and being told by the tow truck guy there was no sign of the driver. Clark says it's weird Davis stopped there considering it's where Clark's ship landed. Chloe says that's a pretty big coincidence pill to swallow and it must bring up a lot of memories. Really? We're gonna take the time for a trip down memory lane Chloe? Now? And how much realistically can he remember from then? Clark instead focusses his x-ray vision and discovers there are more than memories buried in that field. They've found a burial ground for rather a lot of bodies, not as dismembered are we might have expected, but Davis has been a busy boy, hasn't he? Nice use of a superpower Clark.

Back at the Luthor mansion Davis is all better, wide awake and conveniently has clothes nearby. A walk through the halls brings him a memory of being there and playing sword-fights with young Lex. Young Davis spies a box and Lex explains it was made from the armour St. George wore when he killed the dragon. He then plays St George, slays the 'Beast' that is Davis and claims the box as his prize. When he opens it to reveal a lump of meteor rock, young Davis reacts the way Kryptonians do and writhes in pain until young Lex closes the box. In present time Davis realizes: 'There's a way.' Let's just pause for another minute and discuss the box shall we? We know according to Memoria that Lex was given this box on his 12th Birthday. This is the lead box Lex would later give to Clark and Clark would keep that damn piece of Kryptonite in. I always thought it was one of the few nice things Lionel had done for Lex, giving him that box when no-one turned up for his birthday. Now I know he had it sitting on his desk for years beforehand, and hadn't bought it specially, I'm inclined to think not as much thought was put into that rare father/son moment. Stoopid retcons. :\

Tess walks in. Davis asks does she think she can keep him there? Tess knows better. But she's been thinking about it and wondering what to do. Then we get yet more religious analogies. What do you do when you find Judas in your midst? Who would Christ have been if Judas hadn't betrayed him? Maybe we would only remember Jesus as a teacher roaming the desert. Without Judas, Jesus would have never risen from the dead to come back and face his greatest challenge: Saving human kind. There is a saviour among us she says. You are here to betray him she tells Davis. He can't become the world's saviour without defeating the world's destroyer. Is anyone else but me getting sick to their stomach of this? I mean talk about laying it on thick. And AGAIN I get the religious themes when it comes to Superman but to suggest that JUDAS is responsible for JESUS CHRIST being the man he was? How many people is the show trying to offend? And Tess is telling Davis that HE'S JUDAS and HE'LL BETRAY Clark? He's hardly gonna kiss him on the cheek, is he? Smallville is now telling us in order for Clark to ACCEPT HIS DESTINY he has to die at the hands of Doomsday? Now I know this show doesn't follow comic book continuity to the letter time-line wise and I've never had a problem with that, I've never had a problem with villains and friends alike being introduced too early or any of the original twists and turns they've added (except for the whole Lana fiasco) but do you know what they're telling me?YET ANOTHER PERSON IS GOING TO PUSH CLARK INTO ACCEPTING HIS DESTINY WITHOUT IT BEING CLARK'S CHOICE. :mad:

Back to the story and Davis now knows he and Clark are destined to kill each other. Tess told him so. How does Tess know? We'll get to that. Meanwhile Davis loses it and tosses her across the room. Just be thankful you blew him up and weren't caught breaking into a house somewhere in Metropolis, Tess.

Clark and Chloe are arguing at the Daily Planet where Chloe has walked in like she still works there and has helped herself to coffee. Clark is asking all the questions I've been asking since Prey. You didn't think to mention his blackouts Chloe? Answer: She thought he had low blood sugar. He told you he had something dark hidden inside, that didn't set off any alarm bells Chloe? Answer: I figured he meant dark as in moody or bipolar at worst - I didn't jump straight to serial killer. No Chloe, you're right, but neither did you INVESTIGATE HIM THE WAY YOU WOULD ANY ONE ELSE! And all the times you were angry at me for doubting him, Clark says. GO CLARK I say! And finally – FINALLY – Chloe admits she was in denial. She didn't want to admit things were that bad. Clark points out it's not that bad – it's worse. And if Chloe had been remotely like Chloe then she would have known or at the very least suspected it by now. I'm not even buying that her feelings got in the way, because you know what? She was IN LOVE with Clark for YEARS and that never stopped her from investigating him and tailing him as far as the caves and the fortress once she knew his secret. And she'd known Clark for at least half her life. Davis was a COMPLETE STRANGER. But STILL she didn't investigate Davis beyond finding out about his foster homes – even when he ASKED HER FOR HELP. She says she can't believe he's the serial killer, and Clark says it for us all: That Jimmy warned us about. How bad must they feel about now? And frankly I hope Chloe does feel bad, because by ignoring the warning signs with Davis and not giving her husband the benefit of the doubt, then defending Davis to Clark, she has been at best blinded by her feelings and at worst more naïve than the Chloe Sullivan I know has ever been before. She's WAY smarter than this. :mad:Clark says he checked the missing persons and they weren't exactly Metropolis' finest. Hardly the stuff worthy of the death penalty though Clark. Chloe asks if he thinks Davis is on some kind of vigilante mission. Cos it's okay to murder someone for B&E??? Clark thinks he was until last night, but that he's not stupid enough to have abandoned his car next to a field full of evidence. He thinks Davis has been taken by someone. Chloe says when she looked into Davis' past his county records had already been checked out by someone. (AND SHE DIDN'T FOLLOW UP ON THAT??? It just gets worse) She thinks it's time to visit the widow of Luthorcorp.Hang on a minute. Rewind.

Let's just look at that more closely shall we? When did Chloe check out Davis' past? In Plastique. Then Davis brought her files to look over and asked her to investigate further in Bloodline. Remember she dropped the file at Faora's feet and that was when Faora knew how to find her son. Now work with me here. Tess started investigating Davis when? We know it was prior to her getting her hands on Lionel's book. So when did she get the book? Well she did say she had unlimited access to Lex's affairs as far back as Odyssey, but as I mentioned earlier, if Lex had this magic book after Lionel's death then Brainiac/Kara wouldn't have needed to tell him Clark was the Traveller. Looking back on the scene with Tess and Davis after she blew him up she makes a reference to looking into him when he was a little unfriendly towards some of Metropolis' citizens. Meaning she looked into him after she got the file Jimmy left. And Jimmy left that file with her at the end of Turbulence. She thought she'd hit a dead end until she inherited the book. Earliest she could have 'inherited' that book and considering Chloe referred to her as the Luthorcorp 'widow' that would mean she got it after Lex was officially declared dead. When did that happen? End of Bulletproof. There was no mention of it made in Turbulence – just a mention of Lex's journals. So can someone please explain to me how Chloe investigated Davis in Bloodline at the latest and yet Tess had beat her to it before she had information she didn't have until Bulletproof at the earliest? I'm going to call this PROBLEM NUMBER FIVE.

Clark goes to visit Tess in hospital after one of Tess' henchmen says Davis escaped. Clark says he knows she's been looking into Davis Bloom and guesses he was the one who hurt her. Tess says there's no short version of that story, but Clark doesn't understand – he thinks he's missed something. Nope. Tess says he's been at the center of it the whole time. She then tells him she's come into possession of Lionel's book telling the tale of a boy who fell from the sky and how Lionel was in Smallville that day looking for the Traveller. Clark once again does well holding his own against her and claims he doesn't know why she's telling him, even though it's more than obvious Tess knows everything. And here's where we retcon the Kawachi caves and the continuity goes to hell in a handbasket. Work with me again. According to Smallville canon, five hundred years ago, the Kawatche Indians were supposedly visited by a Kryptonian who painted glyphs on the cave walls to commemorate their encounter with him. The paintings told the story of a strange visitor from another planet, and they prophesied another visitor called Naman and his sworn enemy Sageeth, who was once like a brother to Naman. Not according to Tess in Eternal. According to Tess yes, the two headed figure in the cave is supposed to represent good and evil, but the Luthors were two busy fighting among themselves about who was worthy to see the truth - there was another boy who came to Earth with Clark that day: Davis Bloom. So according to this the two heads on one body in the Kawatche cave paintings represent Clark/Naman and Davis/Sageeth; Sageeth being the friend who becomes an enemy. That's what they told us in Talisman back in Season Three, and the episode ended with Lex speculating that if Naman existed, he could rule the world with his powers. He then suggested that maybe Sageeth was the true hero for keeping Naman in check. That was then picked up again in the Veritas storyline in Season Seven. In Descent we discovered Jimmy had been researching the caves: he was determined the Kawatche symbols of good and evil portrayed a resolution of the conflict between Naman (the Savior) and Sageeth, (the Bringer of Darkness) - he'd even discovered that Naman's journey would end in a final battle. Okay so that would fit with Davis too. But Lex was apparently still convinced Sageeth was the good guy in Season Seven. So when he got the orb that could control the Traveller, Lex/Sageeth – the friend, who was once like a brother to Naman/Clark, became the enemy and since Clark could rule the world with his powers, Lex/Sageeth saw himself as the true hero for keeping him in check. We're supposed to just FORGET THAT NOW? Or are we saying Tess is smarter than Lionel and Lex in the space of a few months when they spent YEARS studying and investigating it. But how was Davis ever like a brother to Clark? How is he a friend who becomes an enemy? When was he ever friends with Clark? Simple answer is Davis doesn't fit the prophesies from that POV. As separate stories they both work, but they can't both be true, can they? The prophesies on the Kawatche caves already came true with regards to Naman/Clark and Sageeth/Lex so did they come true because it was right or because Clark and Lex believed it? If it was wrong then would it have happened? Not much of a bloody prophesy then is it? And how was the starblade supposed to kill Doomsday when Doomsday adapts? But did Naman/Clark's journey end with a final battle with Sageeth/Lex in the fortress or is it ending now with Sageeth/Doomsday playing Judas to his Jesus Christ? Guess what I'm calling this?PROBLEM NUMBER SIX.

Tess goes on to explain to Clark that Lionel held Davis for tests. Davis' tests seemed to be normal. How the hell does that work when he was created out of an amalgamation of Kryptonian DNA??? PROBLEM NUMBER SEVEN. He only held young Davis for five days and then he let him loose on the street. Why? Because he got a phone call from Martha Kent. In Lionel's own words and Tess even said she quoted it directly: 'I have the wrong boy. I believe I have found the true Traveller'. So five days after the meteor shower the man who wanted to control the Traveller had known who Clark was or at the very least believed he knew. Anyone else see a problem with this in regards to early seasons of Smallville? Lionel wanted to control the Traveller but once he knew he had the wrong boy and who the right one was he just sat on the sidelines and watched that boy grow up? Wouldn't it have made more sense from a Lionel POV to kill the Kent's and take Clark for himself or at the very least kidnap him when he was so desperate to control the traveller he killed the Queen's for a damn KEY? And in Season Two of Smallville, when Lionel learned that Clark had a mysterious connection to the Kawatche caves, he did all he could to figure out who Clark really was and, more importantly, where he came from. Erm... didn't he know from five days after the meteor shower according to his journal? Didn't he bribe Chloe to get information on Clark? Didn't he send Adam Knight to get information about Clark from Lana? Ladies and gentlemen I give you PROBLEM NUMBER EIGHT. This script is so full of holes it's practically a goddamn SPONGE. Tess finishes this scene by saying Clark is the reason Davis was abandoned. Shut up Tess. He was a TODDLER. He didn't KNOW a Kryptonian DNA cocktail was attached to the side of his ship. But all things Kryptonian are automatically Clark's fault in one way or another, right show?

At Isis Chloe is finally researching the murders around Metropolis. Better late than never, right? Might have found a connection earlier if we had a spare five minutes, but I won't dwell. I already have enough to dwell on with this episode as it is. Enter Davis and suddenly Chloe doesn't look as happy to see him as she did before. And now she's on Jimmy's side. I'm not dwelling. I'm not dwelling. I'm NOT... This is actually a GREAT scene and Allison and Sam both completely sold it to me. Davis tries to explain how he chose the people he killed but Chloe is having none of it. I so wanted to cheer for her then and there and yell AT LAST! And when she yells that he lied to her it was really heartfelt, I could FEEL her pain and the sense of betrayal. Which is a credit to Allison since really, IMO Chloe helped dig this hole by trusting him without question the way she did and continuing to despite all the warning signs. Davis says he didn't want to drag her into all this. Chloe asks then why is he there? And here it comes folks... The answer: I love you. Once that completely unexpected (*sarcasm*) bombshell has set in he then adds that he needs to know if she cares about him. Answer (with disgust from Chloe): How can you ask me that... and then she backs down a little and says she thought she did. If she cared about him in the same way he cares about her then why did she marry Jimmy? I'm gonna say it's not that kind of 'caring' she meant. Otherwise I might have to dwell. Davis says in that case he needs her to do something for him. Chloe says she won't. Davis says I need you to help me die. Wow. Okay. I really do love this two on screen together though. Just a shame that their story seems to have taken up so much of Clark's screen time this year. The screen time minutes for this episode should be as fascinating as always. It felt to me like Davis/Chloe came first, then Davis/Tess, then Davis/Backstory, then Chloe/Clark then Tess/Clark, with Clark as the C plot. But I've been wrong before...

Clark is in Isis and sees the mess left behind when Chloe was running away from Davis. Then he sees the computer screen and realizes they're off to Dr. Groll's lab and as he superspeeds off, we cut to a similar cage to the one Clark was held in by Lionel during Season Seven's episode Traveller. Only this one doesn't have electric Kryptonite bars, this one has a liquid Kryptonite tank overhead and a kind of plexiglass outer shell. Davis is in the cage looking nervous, Chloe is outside the cage looking really upset about killing him. Davis says it's time, but a weeping Chloe can't do it. Just think of him as Sebastian – NOT dwelling and moving on. She can't do it because she was right about what she thought. She DOES care about him. He says he's finally found a way out and he asks her not to take that away from him. I really did feel for her here, serial killer or not it's a tough call for Chloe. She tries again and reaches for the lever. But she can't do it, she can't kill him. And just as she says that in zips Clark to snatch her away from the lever with a yelled 'Chloe, what are you doing?'. Super hearing doesn't work at superspeed, huh Clark?

Davis still wants to die, he says it's his life to take. Clark says he shouldn't be a martyr. Davis says Clark doesn't understand. Clark says it's not Davis' fault IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF HIM. Yup Clark, all because of you. The falling economy, global warming, every natural disaster on the planet and the fact I stubbed my toe yesterday are all YOUR FAULT. Let's move on before I dwell shall we? Clark thinks if Davis had the happy home he had with the Kent's things would have been different. They could have been brothers - *see earlier comment about sibling feuds in that house* - Clark had always wondered what would have happened if the Luthors found him in that field. (Didn't pay much attention to what happened to Kara in the alternate reality of Apocalypse then, did we Clark? Though you'd probably have escaped making a new master race with Lex but you'd have had an inkling of what might have happened.) Then Davis says one of the best lines of the episode: No matter how hard we fight it we will always return to our true nature.BY GEORGE I THINK HE'S GOT IT! But Clark still won't give up. Sigh. It's times like this I LOVE Clark more than there is room on a page for exclamation marks for his willingness to fight to save a life, but I could SLAP HIM for the whole 'there's another way' when he's dealing with a SERIAL KILLER. By all means try and stop him from killing himself, but where the hell is the happy ending here? Are you CONDONING what he's done? Because it's all your fault you'll help him avoid the law the way he has been? Davis comes across as so much more mature than Clark here. When Davis yells for Chloe to pull the lever and let him end it, Clark then feels he has to persuade Chloe not to do it. Really? You have so little faith in her even though you don't know about Sebastian? And after she'd defended Davis for so long? There has to be something in your life, something worth giving it one more try, says Clark to Davis. Davis looks at Chloe. He really does love her. Clark sees it and looks behind him at Chloe. Now he knows too. It isn't always about where your heart is, it's about what you've done and what you're going to do, Davis tells Clark while I start to well up a little for a serial killer – yes, Sam Witmer is THAT good. I was sent here to destroy you Clark. And having uttered the words Davis begins to transform into Doomsday, trying to warn Clark as he falls to his knees while Clark bangs the outside of the cage calling his name. What the CRAP is that cage MADE OF it Clark can't get through it and can we get cars made out of the same material in case of accidents? And WHY is Clark suddenly so emotionally attached to a SERIAL KILLER?! Davis' eyes glow red, his voice changes and he snarls; “There aren't enough prayers in this world to give me redemption!” before lunging at Clark. And yet despite the fact neither Clark or Chloe know what he can transform into, Chloe immediately runs to the lever – and pulls it. Clark falls to the floor as the Kryptonite rains down on Davis. Chloe pulls him back and Davis falls to his knees, looking up in a mirror to the scene in the rain at the end of Turbulence. We see another flashback as he remembers being abandoned in Metropolis as a child, scared and upset as he asks who will meet him there. It's heartbreaking. And it was the first time he transformed and took a human life. As a CHILD. Zod and Faora are SICK. Lionel Luthor's DNA tests SUCK. Davis the serial killer is slowly dying in the green rain while Chloe breaks her heart, runs up to the cage and sets her palm against the super-tough glass. When Davis looked at her and set his palm to the other side I completely welled up. What? I did. It was sad.:(

Back to the Talon where Clark visits Chloe, who is wrapped up in a blanket on the sofa, clearly mourning the loss of Davis and thinking about what she has done. We find out Oliver is taking care of dead Davis details and Clark is saying he and Chloe need to talk about what happened. Chloe says that she wouldn't change what she did. Well, that explains the lack of remorse when it comes to Sebastian then. Clark says there's always a way. Chloe has a point when she says Davis could have killed him. Unfortunately we part company when she says she won't risk the world because of Clark's code of ethics. I know it's a fine line but this do what must be done attitude she apparently shares with Oliver? I'm not sure I like it. It's getting into the area of the danger of becoming the very thing you hope to defeat, darkness wise. I really don't want that for Chloe OR Oliver. But again she does have a point about Clark refusing to stop the things that threaten him. She's right. He does refuse to do that by KILLING THEM. He has the try everything possible attitude that marks him apart from everyone else, even Chloe at this point. He has quite the effect on women that way. Lana did everything to get her hands on a Power Suit that would make her Clark's equal only to have it separate her from him without him getting any say in the matter. Now we have Chloe killing people to protect him and telling him she'd do it again if that's what it takes, leaving Clark no say in it and quite possibly separating them at some point. Clark doesn't argue with her – WHY THE HELL NOT? - but instead picks up the picture she has from the Kawatche caves. “Jor-El said he was the ultimate destroyer. Didn't turn out to be much of a fight.”Clark Kent's famous last words? Small point here. What Jor-El told him was that Doomsday is a Kryptonian creature who adapts and evolves to any attack and is virtually unstoppable. Can someone point out where Clark and Chloe figured out that Kryptonian guy/Serial killer Davis = Doomsday? When was it brought up? And if Clark is so determined Davis=Doomsday then is he too dumb to heed the parts of the warning that said ADAPTS AND EVOLVES TO ANY ATTACK and VIRTUALLY UNSTOPPABLE??? Course he is. Cos Davis is dead at the first attempt. Job done. I dub thee PROBLEM NUMBER NINE. by means of stupidity.

In a poignant moment as he burns the picture Clark tells Chloe of a nightmare he used to have as a kid where his ship landed in a field and no-one ever found him. Chloe bitterly informs him that nightmare was Davis' life. That'll help with Clark's guilt complex, Chloe. You know Clark? The guy who tried to SAVE Davis. Davis the guy YOU killed? Clark says he always felt like it was burden knowing he was destined to save people, he can't imagine what it felt like knowing that no matter how you lived your life you were doomed. He's already realized how blessed he was, he's already taking steps to being the hero everyone needs. Why can't the show just let him continue on that path? And I completely resent Chloe's bitterness towards Clark in this scene.

At the Kent farm Tess comes a calling. Again Clark holds up well against Tess and is cool and calm while deflecting. Again, not that Tess is buying it. When Clark says he'll never be the man she wants him to be she mumbles something about Judas again, but I'm already sick of that - it's MESSED UP. She then says he will never fulfil his great destiny until he meets his greatest challenge. She's more arrogant that Lex. Who is she to manipulate someone's life? Clark tells her she doesn't know anything about his life and they get into one about Lex. Betrayal hurts more when you love someone Tess? You'd know that after loving Lex and what he did to you so why manipulate Clark? I'm not some problem to be solved Clark tells her while I cheer him on. Tess says she gets it, it's too early, but she'll wait for him to come to her. Clark says it's gonna be a long wait. GO CLARK! It'll be shorter than you think Kal-El, Tess says as he walks away. GREAT scene.

Back at the Luthor mansion with Tess and we realize she has the Veritas orb to control Clark. If she uses that at the wrong time he's STUFFED. Does it work on Doomy too? Chloe's bringing home groceries to the Talon when she hears a noise in the basement. Downstairs she discovers someone appears to be living there. It's Davis. The Kryptonite hasn't killed him. He tells her he's immortal. Chloe figures out that means Clark is in danger. No matter what he wants as Davis the other side of him will still try to kill Clark. But Davis says not when he's around HER. Whatever it is, being around her calms the murderer inside him. Chloe says he said himself it's in his nature and Davis answers that maybe there's something out there that's stronger than his need to kill. Will she stay with him? And this I'm afraid is where Chloe makes a BIG mistake. For a moment it looks like she's walking up the stairs to leave, but to heavy overly dramatic horror Movie music she bolts the door from the INSIDE. Despite what Clark told her about Jor-El's warning, despite Clark showing empathy towards Davis, despite seeing what little control Davis had over himself, despite the fact he's a mass murderer, despite being told he's immortal. She. Locks. Herself. In. With. Him. B-A-D -M-O-V-E.

Now we come to my final score. When I first watched this episode I really enjoyed it. It wasn't a ten but there were some great moments. Then I watched it a second time and found problems. Then I watched a third time with a more critical eye and it fell apart at the seams. Last week I scored Hex with a high nine then marked it up to a ten cos Bryan Q Miller did such a good job. I see him as one of the best if not THE best writer on Smallville right now. This week I have Kelly Souders and Bryan Peterson – the Smallville SHOWRUNNERS- writing the script and I'm sorry, but there isn't any kind of a get-out-of-jail-free card for the people who should KNOW what they're doing. James Marshall did a great job with what he was given but I'm bitterly disappointed that the problems with continuity and making sense weren't caught in the script at his end either. The old footage/new scenes blended together were great, the acting was vastly superior to the material they were given by ALL of the cast, but the foundation lies in the script IMO. And this one, despite some great dramatic moments, was a train wreck every time it touched retcon territory. I had NINE problems in ONE EPISODE. They weren't small ones either in some cases. And then there was the completely over the top/in my face religious aspect that went from the ridiculous to the downright INSULTING. Therefore I give it a four. The worst score I've handed out for an episode all season long (excluding Power and Requiem which I STILL haven't forgotten) and it's a shame, because on first viewing with my brain partially switched off, I really enjoyed it. This was a potentially great episode that under closer scrutiny was very messy. It was bogged down by the mistake of trying to retcon a retcon and doing it badly. SHAME ON YOU P & S. Bryan Q Miller ran LAPS around you last week. Next up is Stiletto. After ANOTHER break. Three weeks this time, right? Sigh. Okay then. I'm gonna watch Hex again... :D

[Krypton soul]

pretty awesome episode great acting from tess, loved it when chloe walked up the step and locked the talon door, showing that she will stay with davis

[KalEltheBoyscout]

I really really enjoyed last night's episode. It was definitely one of the season's darker episodes. But I loved all the continuity. It was great seeing Martha, Jonathan, and Lionel again (even if it was recycled footage). And Connor Stanhope returning as Lex was a big plus. Overall, I can't wait for the rest of the season. Stilletto looks great!!!

10/10 - A truly amazing episode.

[geminis]

Jade and superjude, that's what I was waiting for! Both terrific blow by blow reviews! I've been really down lately but you both made me smile and actually laugh. Thank you! Merci beaucoup! Mil gracias! Efkharisto! Vielen dank! Spaciba! Arigato gozaimasu! Xie xie!

Annie, I was waiting for your master review too. Yet again I am in awe. Unfortunately, I'm also down again at the veracity of your words. I really want to like Smallville but these dark episodes are giving me difficulties, not just because of personal reasons, but also because of the plot holes that I didn't want to point out (and would have done badly) and you just did so expertly. Thank God for Lois; if only Stiletto were next week. I could use some cheering up.

[BadToad]

Great review Annie. This episode deserved to get dissected like a frog in science lab, IMO

[rajman]

i thought the episode was good, it was good when chloe told clark about being too kind to the people who wanted to kill him, the ending was was good and its a good set up for the episodes to come

[SnowBird]

Great job Annie...You have some good points I hadn't thought of. One that should have stood out for me was Davis cutting himself when a knife to his body didn't make a mark. There are more and I thank you for pointing them out. too bad they can't have a do-over but unfortunately the Legion ring was destroyed:(

I enjoyed your review Jade...We are on the same page for the rating. Thanks for taking the time to give us your thoughts:)

[newbaggy]

Hmmm, I'm definitely in two minds about this one. On the one hand, it had generally very good performances, was well directed by James Marshall and was a lot less clunky than other "dark" episodes like "Prey" and "Transference". However, the story did leave a fair amount to be desired.

To begin, let's deal with the flashbacks/retconning. Now, I'm not one to get too worked up about continuity issues - except when a script appears obsessed with continuity over story. But even for me, this story was problematic. Firstly, Lionel's Veritas journal. A neat way to get Tess up to speed with the backstory, but where did it come from in the first place. And the illustrations - again, a way of segueing into the flashbacks, but otherwise they made no sense given what we know from previous episodes. Lionel never saw the spaceship, so how could he sketch it? And why would he include a drawing of part of a corridor in the mansion in the middle of an entry for no apparent reason? However, my biggest problem with this whole section was that the Veritas/Lionel/Kawtatche Caves retcon was completely unnecessary. What did it add to Davis' backstory to have him taken to the mansion and show him (briefly) as Lex's playmate? Now, I can understand possible reasons for this:

1) The producers understand that fans like continuity, so they think it automatically enhances Doomsday's story if he can be retconned into the existing mythology.

2) The series has placed so much emphasis on destiny and prophecy, that again, Doomsday has to be retconned into that mythology.

3) They could save money by re-using the mansion sets for scenes depicting Davis as a child.

The problems with this approach are for me twofold:

1) Doomsday is a poor fit for the whole Naman/Sageeth Kawatche mythology, and there is no good reason why that could not have been left as the backround to the Clark/Lex story, with Doomy being something of which the Kawatche - and Veritas - were completely ignorant.

2) If you are going to play the tragedy of Davis Bloome, nice guy who discovers that he is an alien monster destined to destry life on Earth, wouldn't it be better to play the sheer ordinariness of his childhood? Why not show him as the kid who always wanted to be good, but who got shunted from foster home to foster home, not because he was badly treated, but because something bad always managed to happen? Who became a paramedic through a conscious desire to save life, because he was aware that death was always close at hand. It would have helped make Davis come across as a more-rounded character - and made Chloe's dilemmas over killing him/helping him more understandable.

IMHO, the flashbacks in "Eternal" added nothing to Davis' character, and seemed a poor attempt to insert him into old storylines to no good purpose.

As to the "present day" storyline, there were various nagging problems:

1) Tess' "Judas" analogy simply doesn't work for Davis/Doomsday. In fact, Judas being necessary for Jesus to achieve his destiny is normally used by villains trying to justify their own behaviour: "people think that Judas was the villain of the story, but he's really the hero because he sacrificed himself to make Jesus great". It would make more sense for Tess to be accused of behaving like Judas, and responding with the above justification.

2) The way Davis' victims got conveniently forgotten in the climax. Suddenly, it was all about protecting Clark, not dealing with the fact that Davis' way of holding back the beast was serial killing.

3) Clark's "we could have been brothers" speech. Where Stupid of Smallville gets the idea that Davis being held by Lionel Luthor for five days is the reason that he wants to kill Clark and destroy all life on Earth, I have no idea! And for some reason, this makes it all Clark's fault! And Clark tries to get Davis to find something to live for as if he's a really nice guy - and not someone who murders people even when he isn't metamorphosing into an alien monster! Surely we could have had Clark being equally reluctant to see Davis "executed" without making him look like a complete idiot?

4) The purple polyhedral orb thingy is back. It was bad enough the last time!

5) The Chlavis "Beauty and the Beast" thing - it's dumb, and it diminishes both characters.

However, in the end, this episode's biggest problem was that it was neither entertaining nor particularly interesting. Not bad by any means, and it did do some setting up for the end of the season, but I was left with a general sense of wasted opportunities. So, overall a 5 from me.

[bigblueplanet]

Brilliant review, Annie.


..............................Chloe is doing the research work for Clark AGAIN while he somehow manages to read a sheet of paper. Now I understand her new role as Watchtower means she does research for the members of the Justice League but A/ The show hasn't told me Clark knows she's officially Watchtower, B/ The show hasn't told me Clark is officially a member of the Justice League and C/ There has been nothing to tell me Clark thinks the disappearances of these people are linked to anything metahuman/Kryptonian/paranormal. So I'm STILL taking option D/ Clark is dependent on Chloe to do things he could do himself and with FASTER TYPING AND READING SKILLS that he CAN'T THINK FOR HIMSELF. Have I mentioned how sick I am of this? Well I am. PARTICULARLY when he was able to research the story ON HIS OWN and take it to Tess, claiming he was ready for the FRONT PAGE. Seriously show, could we at some stage STOP MAKING CLARK LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT?

WORD. Thank you for pointing it out. We can never voice enough on this. Let’s keep saying until these show runners get it, shall we?


Then we see poor dead Feathers on the table. This is a really nice nod to the comic book Doomsday. For those who might not know, when Doomsday punches his way out of the underground tomb at the start of The Death Of Superman one of the first things that happens is a little bird lands in his huge clawed hand. Doomsday looks down at it for a moment and then squoodges it dead; establishing him as a killer.

Great catch! I gotta re-read TDOS.


Smallville is now telling us in order for Clark to ACCEPT HIS DESTINY he has to die at the hands of Doomsday? Now I know this show doesn't follow comic book continuity to the letter time-line wise and I've never had a problem with that, I've never had a problem with villains and friends alike being introduced too early or any of the original twists and turns they've added (except for the whole Lana fiasco) but do you know what they're telling me?YET ANOTHER PERSON IS GOING TO PUSH CLARK INTO ACCEPTING HIS DESTINY WITHOUT IT BEING CLARK'S CHOICE.

As a Superman fan, THIS seriously irritates me. How many more people who have to push him and how many villains who has to challenge him in order for him to become Superman? I mean, if someone who only knows Clark Kent from SV continuity, it’s like he never wanted to become Superman by himself if it weren’t for all those reasons? They GOT to be kidding me.


This script is so full of holes it's practically a goddamn SPONGE.
Thank you, Annie. I wholeheartedly agree. And if this was written by half of TPTB who is leaving for Melrose Place, then maybe I felt a lot better but unfortunately it was another half who will stay. VERY scaring, huh?


Davis is in the cage looking nervous, Chloe is outside the cage looking really upset about killing him. Davis says it's time, but a weeping Chloe can't do it. Just think of him as Sebastian –

LMAO.

So, what was the most shocking moment we were told to expect from this episode? :confused: The Orb? Another new retcons reveal of the Kawatche caves legend? Or Doomsday wants to kill himself to save a future Superman? Or Chloe locking the door at the end? I don't know which one to choose….. In other words, how not shocking.

3 out of 10.

.

[Tess is Smokin]

Wow annie... thats alot of problems im not going to try to solve :P

[Hopefulsuicide]

There is one word that sums up this episode...

STUPID!

I gave it a 1/10. And for a number of very good reasons.

1. None of it made sense
2. The script was awful
3. Characters where completely OOC
4. I did not get any entertainment from it whatsoever... i did not enjoy ANYTHING in the entire episode...

I'm sure everyone has pointed out the inconsistencies so i'm not going to bother... but i will say that this just proves why the Veritas story should have stayed dead and buried at the beginning of season 8... why does it all have to be a prophecy?

[H.B.]

"Davis, everything that's happening to you is because of me". Oh shut up, Clark!

I haven't even seen the episode yet but based on this quote I already hate it, Clark is such a dumb ass

[vyperman7]

Hmm.. It seems like this episode is getting a mixed reception at best. Personally I loved this episode. One of the best episodes of Smallville I have seen in awhile. I was rather skeptical at the beginning of the season knowing they were bringing in Doomsday. However, they are managing to tie it in with the show's mythology quite well. The episode brought back some good memories of the past, and the development of Davis' mythology through out the episode was fantastic. I thought that the editing in this episode was quite good, especially with how well they weaved the Pilot footage with the new scenes they shot. Finally, the chemistry between Davis and Chloe is still fantastic. It does make you wonder however. Is Chloe the real Judas? By choosing to stay with Davis, she is siding with him over Clark, and what makes it worse is that she does it despite knowing that Davis is supposed to kill Clark in the end. The only thing that really bugs me now is that yet another person knows about Clark in Tess. I think it is ridiculous how many people they have had find out about Clark over the years.

This was an episode I wasn't all that excited for, and I was into it from beginning to end. One of the best, if not the best episode of the season for me thus far.

[NoSupeForYou]

If I'm stepping on anyone's toes I apologize beforehand, but it's been a long day and I haven't got the energy to catch up on ten pages of comments.

I'm glad that Davis and Clark finally know about each other, but there were way too many problems with this episode.

First off, I guess I should have paid closer attention in church because I must have missed some things. Silly me, I always thought Jesus was important because he was sent by God. My bible didn't include Matthew 29, Jesus vs. Judas: the Throwdown. This was offensive and it's an allegory they shouldn't have gone anywhere near.

Second, how do the Luthors manage to hire anybody to do their dirtywork considering the average life expectancy of one of their goons is about three days?

Third, Chloe just needs to go away. I hate what she has become; whenever Clark acts smart she takes up a BDA-like role. Chloe is the new Lana. What next, Doomy will trick her into marrying him?

Fourth, Doomy, the Puddle of Ew. I don't care for his origin story/retcon and I don't care for Chlavis. I also thought that he adapts to attacks and since his stabbing there is no way a pipe to the head or a knife to the finger should have any effect on him. It's like the writers are a bunch of little kids arguing over whether something actually counts as a kill in a game they are playing.
"I have a shield!"
"So? I have special shield busting bullets!"
"My shield defends against shield-busting bullets!"
"My bullets also have knives that can cut right through your shield."

Fifth, Lionel's illustrated journal. I have the popup version of that one. Anyone think of the Fifth Element when they saw that? I mean, Doomsday and the mysterious moon-like evil thing from that movie a pretty much the same thing.
"The goal of this thing is not to fight over money or power, but to exterminate life; all forms of life."

Sixth, the abundance of kryptonite. Though I can just pretend that they found Lana and stuck her in a blender.

This episode was a snoozer mostly and I can't give it any higher than a 5.

[actaeon]

Uneven episode, I gave it a 7. There was some good, intense acting; I don't think I've ever seen Clark and Chloe fight like that, and Davis was truly on the verge of losing it. On the downside, SW and even AM verged on hysteria, and I think they overdid it at times.

Tess is a great villain, kinda crazy, taking insane risks to prove her hunches. I loved her scene with Davis, post-fiery explosion, with him bandaged up like a mummy! Didn't care for the Jesus/Judas metaphor, it really made no sense. Jesus didn't go around crime-fighting and throwing perps against walls, and Judas didn't go on murderous rampages. And why does Clark have to face Doomsday to find his destiny anyway? Didn't add much to the episode except maybe a touch of blasphemy... !

I like Davis, he's an interesting character, but I have zero sympathy for him. Aww, he got left by the roadside as a little boy... no wonder he's a mass killer. What??? Clark feels responsible for how Davis turned out???? Am I supposed to forget that this guy isn't even a person, he's an alien killing machine?

And Chloe must've been hit with a stupid stick recently. "Low blood sugar"-- that's how she accounted for Davis' borderline psycho behavior? And then she agrees to set up house with this killer, this stalker who she discovers hiding out in the basement, because he tells her it will keep him from killing again? She just takes his word for it? If only she trusted her husband, nice-guy Jimmy, half as well...

[Hopefulsuicide]

Oh god, i just feel like i'm going to explode with anger and emotion because of this episode...

Clark can't become Superman until he has faced Doomsday? Are you kidding me?

Doomsday is Segeeth? NO, LEX IS! Why did they have to bring in the caves at all...

Lionel has an illustrated Journal? that's ridiculous... and the drawings are of things he never even saw!

Chloe's logic was all over the place... Clark's logic was all over the place... Tess' logical was like a drunken man's stumbling... and Davis logic was all over the place... every decision a character made was entirely irrational...

I need to pretend this episode didn't happen... i need to go back to the wonderful feeling Hex gave me...

[marcella]

7, because I hate the Beauty and Beast thing they are doing with Chloe and Davis, but I loved the rest

[Hopefulsuicide]

Okay, just finished readin your assesment cloisthelegendbegins and i agree with you completely... i feel that your rant takes a weight of my shoulders as everything i want to rant about is in your review :lol: the burden is off me!

[Loulou26]

Though I can just pretend that they found Lana and stuck her in a blender.




:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

[cody]

Every hero needs his enemy. Even Jesus has his Judas, as Tess Mercer tells Clark Kent in one of the rare times I’ve seen a super hero show allow a decent biblical allusion to be brought out and even expanded on, without ridiculing either religion or super heroes. The fact that this neat exchange wasn’t even one of the highlights of “Eternal” tell you just how much I enjoyed the latest episode of Smallville and the forging of the final arc of the year. A year that I fear all too prophetically will afterward be called the Doomsday season.

For most of the series the presumed enemy of Clark has been Lex Luthor. Even when they were friends, you just knew that two-headed carving on that cave wall, the one representing the dual natures of man as good battling evil, referred to the final inevitable showdown between Lex and Clark. With Lex absent, this season has seen a shift in that scenario complete with a reboot of the show’s foundational mythologies in “Eternal” and summed up in the character of Davis Bloom, a guy who fell out of the sky as a boy (more or less) the same day as Clark did. Clark was meant to save the world. Davis was meant to destroy it. The same hero with a new enemy—the same dynamic with a new face.

But therein lies the rub. Are we absolutely true to our natures, our destinies, despite the concept of free will? “Eternal” is all over that age-old question. Davis seems to have accepted that he is a destroyer, a beast at heart, even though he wants to do good. The guy kills, but so far only murderers and three-time DUI offenders. In a twisted way, the free will of a decent fellow seeks to subvert the monster inside. The illusion is dropping for him, though. Every episode of the season, and every moment of “Eternal”, he seems to move closer to the realization that he has no free will. His nature is to do evil, to be the wrong side of the two-headed carving. In the end, he decides only his own death will help the world; his existence, vigilante or not, is too dangerous.

Clark has spent the season on the anti-Davis bandwagon, and when he sees him making time with dear old Chloe Sullivan his look positively smolders—in a very funny sequence not played for laughs Chloe worries that Clark’s heat vision will go off and burn the back of her head. An x-ray of a field littered with bodies near Davis’ burned-out truck (after Tess has tried her own vixen-direct method of altering destiny) only cements his feelings. And yet Clark is Superman…oh yes, costume or not, by now he is…and he doesn’t kill. Still, he seems to have decided, as Davis has, that no good can come from the existence of Doomsday, no matter how good of a cook the shell he resides in may be.

Leave it to Tess to dive the blade home to them. Tess is the stand-in (and a damn good one) for Lex and Lionel Luthor this year, and like the two men whose empire she inherited she craves knowledge and isn’t afraid to turn it into action based on her own feelings of morality. She lays down the facts to both Davis and Clark with perfect understanding and very little pity. They both tell her she doesn’t understand, but actually Tess is the one character who seems to have everybody’s number down pretty good. Poor Davis has to get his lecture while he’s just a big wound lying in a bed. As for Clark, his wounds are inside, from years of living a life of secrets and lies.

As Tess separately tells our hero and our villain how everyone fits so neatly into this biblical-like story, we get to see glimpses of their past. Clark’s we know, but Davis’ story is new to us. In a heavily symbolic scene a naked Davis watches Clark being comforted by the Kents as they rescue him from that old cornfield, and then is promptly put in an actual cage by Lionel’s men. We get to see a confused Davis play with young Lex at the mansion, we see him harmed by exposure to kryptonite, we see him left on the street by Lionel who has suddenly turned his fixation on the Kent boy. We see, in effect, not just what their destinies were supposed to be but how the environments they grew up in helped shape what they would become.

Except they didn’t. What a neat twist. Yes, the Kents instilled Clark with the values that make him a hero. But the abusive childhood Davis has does NOT turn him into a monster. The monster may be inside, but Davis grows up to be a decent guy. A paramedic, someone who helps people and genuinely enjoys it. A Jeykll who hates the Hyde part of him, and tries to fight it—first through pills and then by only killing bad guys. Clark is what his childhood made him, and it fits his destiny. Davis overcomes his childhood to become a good person. Just a good person who can’t stop being Doomsday.

Destiny or free will? Nature or environment? For Davis, it’s too much for the decent side of him to contemplate anymore. He makes his call. You can’t fight nature he decides. He asks Chloe to kill him. Let the Kryptonite wash over him and end it, for the good of the world. And Chloe (who I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned very much—what a great performance by Allison Mack) reluctantly agrees with him.

Not Clark. Upon learning the truth he does a 180 degree turn, one that’s in keeping with the hero we love. You CAN fight nature. It isn’t Davis’ fault. They, Clark says, should have been brothers. What a telling statement. Clark won’t give up on anybody. Now that he knows that Davis is the destroyer, is in fact the enemy meant to kill him, he is less willing to take him down than before. He tries to stop Davis and Chloe from completing the assisted suicide. He feels, as Clark so often does, responsible, reasoning that somehow he is to blame. "It’s because of me."

True? It depends on where you, and the show, fall on these hard questions of nature and free will. For Davis, though, the suffering is enough. And Chloe-- strong, flawed, raw Chloe-- pulls the lever, willing to wash away a guy we know by now she has strong feelings for, feelings that may not be love, but definitely are something.

“I’ve had better days,” a saddened Chloe tells Clark after Davis’ death, “and that’s saying something in Smallville.” Clark wants to talk about it. Chloe won’t hear his logic. She tells him she’ll do what’s right for the world no matter what his code of ethics. Her eyes, though, bring us closer to the truth. She knows Davis was meant to kill Clark. And Clark is the last thing Chloe has to lose. She can’t let that happen.

So is destiny averted? Doesn’t seem likely, especially not with a very alive-looking Davis hanging out down in Chloe’s cellar. Tess even reasons that changing things would be wrong. Jesus needed his Judas to rise from the grave. Clark gives her his blank stare. “You’ll come to me,” she tells him. He doesn’t even ask for what. The destroyer is dead to him. It’s back to the secrets and the lies.

Not for Chloe. The truth is staring her in the face. Davis still harbors no illusions about his nature. But he loves Chloe, and she keeps the beast from rising. Will she stay with him? What about Chloe’s free will? With all we know about her, the decision is not really in doubt.

Right or wrong, she’s going to be in the middle of it. I fear for her there, for the answers she may find to those age-old biblical questions. Smack in between the two-headed monster, we wait now with Chloe, in the dark of the cellar, hiding a serial killer, about to find out if we really are going where Tess assures us we are meant to go.

Into battle. Where there are two sides. The hero and the villain. But maybe no absolute right or wrong. Maybe only pain…and victims.

Wow. I like the things you said here! It was a very interesting post to read. And I wonder, did Chloe really even have a choice in the end? I mean, the whole time I was sitting there thinking NOOOOOOO run and tell Clark! But I was saying oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh, because I felt that if she refused Davis, he'd likely go off the deep end and kill her right then and there before she could even leave the building, much less get ahold of Clark. It was such a great episode. I love the new angles on things past, and THOROUGHLY enjoyed so many previous season tie-ins!:eek::D:p:rotfl:

[Promise]

I will rewview, but sorry, what the heck is retconning?????

[Bizarrolover]

I will rewview, but sorry, what the heck is retconning?????


<TABLE id=entries><TBODY><TR><TD class=word>retcon </TD><TD class=tools id=tools_175866></TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=text colSpan=2>(shortened form of RETroactive CONtinuity; first made popular in the comic book world)

1. (original meaning) Adding information to the back story of a fictional character or world, without invalidating that which had gone before.

2. (more common usage) Adding or altering information regarding the back story of a fictional character or world, regardless of whether the change contradicts what was said before.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Hopefulsuicide]

Wikipedia's explanation for it:


Retroactive continuity is the deliberate changing of previously established facts in a work of serial fiction.[1] The change is informally referred to as a "retcon", and producing a retcon is called "retconning".

Retcons are common in comic books, especially those of large, long-established publishing houses such as Marvel Comics and DC Comics, because of the lengthy history of many series and the number of independent authors contributing to their development. Retconning also occurs in soap operas, movie sequels, professional wrestling, video games, radio series, series of novels, and any other type of episodic fiction. It is also used in roleplaying, when the game master feels it necessary to maintain consistency in the story or to fix significant mistakes that occurred during play, often under the synonymous (in this context) term "reality shift".

----- Added 30 Seconds later -----

:lol: you got there first!

[cody]

Wow.
Overall I liked it, but some things were off. The whole Kawatche legend retconning doesn't bother me too much because that's just Tess' interpretation, which is not necessarily the right one. The religious comparison, on the other hand, was way too heavy for my taste. Not to mention the fact that comparing Davis to Judas really doesn't make any sense. So now Judas would be the reason Christ became a savior? Please. If they really have to throw religious references into the mix, they should at least know what they're talking about.

Um, I'm not professing to be a scholar or anything but I'm also pretty sure that everything with Judas HAD to happen so that Christ could fulfill what he was sent to earth to do. Whether a person is a believer and thinks the Bible is a recounting of events, or they just think it's a story, if Judas hadn't betrayed Jesus, the rest would have been changed. It would have unfolded differently and Jesus may have even escaped death for a time. In order for him to save humanity and conquer death, he had to be betrayed to the Romans. And to be honest, I think Tess is somewhat inaccurate in thinking Davis is supposed to be Judas. For those viewers who have any interest in the religious similarities, I think that Davis represents the Romans or maybe death/Hell itself, and Chloe will be Judas. Intentional or completely accidental, I think she will and has already started to play this role. But I love her and I just hope it doesn't kill her... :\

[John EL]

I gave it a 9.

[geminis]

Hmmm, I'm definitely in two minds about this one. On the one hand, it had generally very good performances, was well directed by James Marshall and was a lot less clunky than other "dark" episodes like "Prey" and "Transference". However, the story did leave a fair amount to be desired.

To begin, let's deal with the flashbacks/retconning. Now, I'm not one to get too worked up about continuity issues - except when a script appears obsessed with continuity over story. But even for me, this story was problematic. Firstly, Lionel's Veritas journal. A neat way to get Tess up to speed with the backstory, but where did it come from in the first place. And the illustrations - again, a way of segueing into the flashbacks, but otherwise they made no sense given what we know from previous episodes. Lionel never saw the spaceship, so how could he sketch it? And why would he include a drawing of part of a corridor in the mansion in the middle of an entry for no apparent reason? However, my biggest problem with this whole section was that the Veritas/Lionel/Kawtatche Caves retcon was completely unnecessary. What did it add to Davis' backstory to have him taken to the mansion and show him (briefly) as Lex's playmate? Now, I can understand possible reasons for this:

1) The producers understand that fans like continuity, so they think it automatically enhances Doomsday's story if he can be retconned into the existing mythology.

2) The series has placed so much emphasis on destiny and prophecy, that again, Doomsday has to be retconned into that mythology.

3) They could save money by re-using the mansion sets for scenes depicting Davis as a child.

The problems with this approach are for me twofold:

1) Doomsday is a poor fit for the whole Naman/Sageeth Kawatche mythology, and there is no good reason why that could not have been left as the backround to the Clark/Lex story, with Doomy being something of which the Kawatche - and Veritas - were completely ignorant.

2) If you are going to play the tragedy of Davis Bloome, nice guy who discovers that he is an alien monster destined to destry life on Earth, wouldn't it be better to play the sheer ordinariness of his childhood? Why not show him as the kid who always wanted to be good, but who got shunted from foster home to foster home, not because he was badly treated, but because something bad always managed to happen? Who became a paramedic through a conscious desire to save life, because he was aware that death was always close at hand. It would have helped make Davis come across as a more-rounded character - and made Chloe's dilemmas over killing him/helping him more understandable.

IMHO, the flashbacks in "Eternal" added nothing to Davis' character, and seemed a poor attempt to insert him into old storylines to no good purpose.

As to the "present day" storyline, there were various nagging problems:

1) Tess' "Judas" analogy simply doesn't work for Davis/Doomsday. In fact, Judas being necessary for Jesus to achieve his destiny is normally used by villains trying to justify their own behaviour: "people think that Judas was the villain of the story, but he's really the hero because he sacrificed himself to make Jesus great". It would make more sense for Tess to be accused of behaving like Judas, and responding with the above justification.

2) The way Davis' victims got conveniently forgotten in the climax. Suddenly, it was all about protecting Clark, not dealing with the fact that Davis' way of holding back the beast was serial killing.

3) Clark's "we could have been brothers" speech. Where Stupid of Smallville gets the idea that Davis being held by Lionel Luthor for five days is the reason that he wants to kill Clark and destroy all life on Earth, I have no idea! And for some reason, this makes it all Clark's fault! And Clark tries to get Davis to find something to live for as if he's a really nice guy - and not someone who murders people even when he isn't metamorphosing into an alien monster! Surely we could have had Clark being equally reluctant to see Davis "executed" without making him look like a complete idiot?

4) The purple polyhedral orb thingy is back. It was bad enough the last time!

5) The Chlavis "Beauty and the Beast" thing - it's dumb, and it diminishes both characters.

However, in the end, this episode's biggest problem was that it was neither entertaining nor particularly interesting. Not bad by any means, and it did do some setting up for the end of the season, but I was left with a general sense of wasted opportunities. So, overall a 5 from me.

Yet more valid points. Despite and because of that, I'm still having a hard time with the rating scale.

I'm with Becky, I want to go back to the wonderful feeling that Hex gave me too.

[topping82]

Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson have grown in my respect book after this episode. It was AWESOME!!!!I've even converted some newbies because of this episode and Turbulence. YAY!!! Much better than Hex, though that episode did have good moments, like Chloe going online.

Well anyway, without a doubt it was the best episode of the season, or for at least the past 3 seasons at that.

[geminis]

If I'm stepping on anyone's toes I apologize beforehand, but it's been a long day and I haven't got the energy to catch up on ten pages of comments.

I'm glad that Davis and Clark finally know about each other, but there were way too many problems with this episode.

First off, I guess I should have paid closer attention in church because I must have missed some things. Silly me, I always thought Jesus was important because he was sent by God. My bible didn't include Matthew 29, Jesus vs. Judas: the Throwdown. This was offensive and it's an allegory they shouldn't have gone anywhere near.

Second, how do the Luthors manage to hire anybody to do their dirtywork considering the average life expectancy of one of their goons is about three days?

Third, Chloe just needs to go away. I hate what she has become; whenever Clark acts smart she takes up a BDA-like role. Chloe is the new Lana. What next, Doomy will trick her into marrying him?

Fourth, Doomy, the Puddle of Ew. I don't care for his origin story/retcon and I don't care for Chlavis. I also thought that he adapts to attacks and since his stabbing there is no way a pipe to the head or a knife to the finger should have any effect on him. It's like the writers are a bunch of little kids arguing over whether something actually counts as a kill in a game they are playing.
"I have a shield!"
"So? I have special shield busting bullets!"
"My shield defends against shield-busting bullets!"
"My bullets also have knives that can cut right through your shield."

Fifth, Lionel's illustrated journal. I have the popup version of that one. Anyone think of the Fifth Element when they saw that? I mean, Doomsday and the mysterious moon-like evil thing from that movie a pretty much the same thing.
"The goal of this thing is not to fight over money or power, but to exterminate life; all forms of life."

Sixth, the abundance of kryptonite. Though I can just pretend that they found Lana and stuck her in a blender.

This episode was a snoozer mostly and I can't give it any higher than a 5.

:rotfl:

Big badda boom!

I actually stayed awake, but mostly for Clark's sake. I was watching the clock, counting the minutes until Supernatural. :\ I loathe it when villains (and the hero's friends) overshadow the hero.

[All about Clark]

I gave it a 9. But I had to dismiss the first 10 minutes in order to do that.

I hated the Veritas storyline, and even though this brings that back, I thought it was much better done. You could buy it on it's own, to bad it also meant Lionel knew about Clark when clearly he didn't.

I found that Tess knowing everything (more than Lex), because she found Lionel's journal, well let me see, why didn't Lex find this journal was a bit odd but surprisingly came off pretty well. Anyways, again I'm bypassing that to accept an episode that was enjoyable, better than Hex and Turbulence which I didn't think too highly of them. Clearly not the 10 that Infamous was though.

Chloe's web of crazyness mystifies me. I get her protecting Clark completely. But staying with Doomsday, a serial killer. Why didn't she just lock him in and call Clark ASAP. Again, this storyline seems to be set up for Chloe's doom of her own. It isn't resonable to think that she can keep Clark and Doomsday from their destiny, whatever that is.

I actually found Tess' intrigue that it's not time yet, but soon was interesting. She gets that Clark will be forced into the next level. And wants to be a part of it. And wants him to be victorious so that he will go to the next level. She's almost excited about a new turn of events. And she understands Lex's frustration with Clark. But she should get that Lex couldn't be trusted, and I think that's why she's trying to get Clark to trust her. Very, very interesting.

[Darth Pipes]

I didn't care for the first half of the episode. The retconning and the fact that horrible Traveler storyline from last season was brought up. Also, if you're going to tie Davis to the Luthors, at least have Lionel make an appearance. But the second half was very strong, with Davis's plan to end it all. I thought that was very good. The ending...I don't know about that ending. Pretty damn creepy.

Clark at his hypocritical best. He still hasn't told Chloe about the time he erased her memory and seems to forget that Davis was cleared of those earlier murders. I'm sure he won't appreciate what Chloe's doing for him. I'm glad Chloe got in his face earlier in the episode. Chloe is too good for him and Jimmy, who apparently thinks cursing like a child to the woman he married is acceptable.

I think Clark's worst trait came out tonight. Not the hypocracy but he once again blamed himself for something he had no control over. He just loves to do that.

Clark...it was not your fault Davis grew up the way he did. It's not your fault that Lionel was looking for him just like it's not your fault that Jor-El sent you over in the meteor shower. Clark has a great fondness for blaming himself for things he had no control over. Jor-El, Zod, and Lionel did all the stuff he blames himself for but he's too much of a drama queen to accept that.

I'm looking forward to the inevitable Clark/Doomsday confrontation. Sam Witwer has done a bang-up job and so has the actress playing Tess.

[kjedi]

So many holes.

Lionel's men capture Davis as a child but doesn't see the spaceship or the Kents driving off? And he knew all along about Clark? Of course he didn't!

Davis cuts his finger. After his mom, Faora, 'kills' him he is reborn and shoves a metal object into his chest and it shatters. What, the slice needs to be small and quick?

Chloe: She loves Davis now? She got married with Jimmy but ends up trying to save Clark by being Davis' love toy? I know Chloe and Clark are BFF's but come on. She even knows Davis almost killed Jimmy and painted him as a psycho. I guess no more Watchtower? Why even put that in the other episode?

Wow, the Jesus-Judas logic from Tess sounds more like serial killer talk. She does make a good wacko, though.

Episode = 5 at best

[LuckyLois]

Annie and Jade ITA with your reviews. It was really well acted but just too many plot holes that Annie pointed out.

[Tatiana]

:(
The problem with Tess, is for the first time, I can see she is really evil. She wants to use someone who is ptentially (she is not sure after all) the savior of the world against his worst enemy who is here to destroy it. And she really believes, at the end, the purpose is good : Clark could be what he is meant to be. It is a very weird way of thinking. It is a dark way of thinking.
I mean, why not support Clark to let him become the hero without putting him in danger and risk he can fail and the worst happens ? It seems to be a kind of game, a dangerous, a insensitive one. To me, now, she is really a villain. No doubt (and I am sad to tell it, I thought she could be saved:().
The other thing which really exasperates me is this analogy with the Bible. Judas and Jesus. Sorry but I find it "too much", ridiculous and inappropriate. They have to stop these analogies. A little, fine but in almost each episode, it becomes nonsense.
They have to stay with the story : a savior you trust without any religion. If you read me, thanks :D


I think you are right, she is really evil. I like that about her, it is confusing kinda like with Lionel and even with Lex in the beginning. I do agree their analogies are a bit annoying, especially because they try to force a certain religion but I guess I am used to it

[NoSupeForYou]

:rotfl:

Big badda boom!

I actually stayed awake, but mostly for Clark's sake. I was watching the clock, counting the minutes until Supernatural. :\ I loathe it when villains (and the hero's friends) overshadow the hero.

I love that movie and have always thought it cool that the hero and the villain never actually meet. It would be cool if Smallville had done it like that, where Clark and Doomy never run across one another until their big battle and the only thing linking them would be Chloe.

[Promise]

<TABLE id=entries><TBODY><TR><TD class=word>retcon </TD><TD class=tools id=tools_175866></TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD class=text colSpan=2>(shortened form of RETroactive CONtinuity; first made popular in the comic book world)

1. (original meaning) Adding information to the back story of a fictional character or world, without invalidating that which had gone before.

2. (more common usage) Adding or altering information regarding the back story of a fictional character or world, regardless of whether the change contradicts what was said before.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Thanks to the both of you for the definitions. :D

I gave the episode a 9. Loved the myth stuff, Clark stuff and old school Smallville stuff.

Next week we get filler, Filletto is it?

----- Added 17 Minutes later -----


That was much better than last week. This is where Smallville shines- no wacky hijinx, no headache-inducing anvils- just good storytelling, intense non-soap operaish drama, and great acting.

Loved:


-Lack of Lois. There was no place in the episode for her nonsense, which would have taken away from the great drama.




Agreed

[SVrnFAN]

What an amazing episode, WOW! The episode had me from the beginning to the end - the excellent writing, directing and OMG acting. TW, AM, SW were amazing together. I was going to give it a 9 but I had to give it a +1 for no Lois, so a 10 for this episode. :D

[Krypto_marcus]

Eternally one of my favorites!

I completely LOVED it! The Davis/Doomsday storyline is still awesome and I loved the flashbacks, really cool done! The acting,writing,directing was awesome, the music (Luis Febre delivers as always, and I liked that they used score from Descent) I loved how dark the episode was.

Smallville continues to kick a$$ after the Lana arc, imagine if Lana never had returned this season, then it would have been perfect! That's one of the reasons why I want a season 9 so bad.

[skully]

Excellent episode!!! Man, this show is on such a roll this season.

What a slickly shot, brilliantly written, dark piece of work it was. Great use of flashbacks and much-loved past footage from S1, with a skillful tying in of the Naman-Sageeth story. Sure there was the odd minor continuity glitch and many will not like that Sageeth was not apparently Lex, but what a gripping tale.

Great acting from TW, AM, CF and SW. What an excellent mix S8 is of Clois fun and Chloomy darkness.

9/10.

[Exedore]

This was my reaction to Eternal:

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/2350/siskofacepalm.gif

[Davis Bloome]

Meaning, "Why in hell am I starring in Star Trek while I could have been in an incredible show as Smallville?"

[Krypto_marcus]

^:lol:

[ims001]

Meaning, "Why in hell am I starring in Star Trek while I could have been in an incredible show as Smallville?"

With 1/3 the audience, and for 1/4 the pay. Yeah, who wouldn't want that.:lol:

[rebecavaldez]

Not the best, but still intresting. 9

[loistickyfingerz]

I thought it was pretty good. A little heavy-handed on Tess reiterating the Judas/Jesus story over and over, but in a way it reminded me of the good old days of Lionel and Lex doing the same thing.

Not sure how I feel about revisiting the old cave wall myth. Decent idea for an episode if they had disproven it by the end. True, Davis id a doppleganger to Clark, but not in the same way that Lex is, so it'd be nice if they'd at least found something else from the cave wall to illustrate Davis.

From what I know, Doomsday isn't just the destroyer of Clark/Superman/Kal-El, but he is also the destroyer of the world, and to me that should be given a different weight than the Superman/Lex Luthor rivalry.

I don't know. I actually like this Davis character now and I like how Chloe is so involved. It would really make me sad to lose one of them at the end of the season now. Strange, was this episode supposed to make me sympathize with Davis?

[actaeon]

if Judas hadn't betrayed Jesus, the rest would have been changed. It would have unfolded differently and Jesus may have even escaped death for a time. In order for him to save humanity and conquer death, he had to be betrayed to the Romans.
This is true, I get it. But the problem is, the parallel between Clark/Davis and Jesus/Judas doesn't work. It just doesn't fit

Davis isn't a disciple of Clark's, he's not even Clark's friend. Their connection is and always has been hostile. They're oil/water. "Eternal" even goes out of its way to point this out.

Davis isn't destined to betray Clark, he's destined to kill him.

Clark doesn't need to be killed by Davis to fulfill his role as Superman. Can anyone explain to me why he would? He's already fighting the good fight. And he has already faced death.

Clark isn't a spiritual leader, or a philosopher. He's a man of action. He busts heads, he forces evil people to stop their evil business. He's not Gandhi, he's not Jesus; the difference is glaring. I'm reminded of the great line line in BtVS, when Buffy says, "Want to see my imitation of Gandhi?" then breaks a demon's neck. Then the punch line, "if Gandhi was really pissed off..."

The Buffy/Gandhi thing was great, it's a great joke. The Clark/Jesus, Davis/Judas thing is just as silly, but the writers expect us to take it seriously!

I'm not religious, but if I were, I'd be offended. Particularly since this episode aired so near Easter. Mixing the sacred and the profane like this is-- quite literally-- blasphemous. I'm an atheist, and I still find it to be in bad taste! Plus, it's bad writing, a dumb metaphor.

[ClLaLeChFAN01]

The first time that I saw this episode...I thought it wasnt that great. I was waiting for it to pick up and get exciting and it never really got there. (Come on you knew that Davis was going survive that explosion!!!)

Then I started to think why wasnt I into this episode?
*Sure there are some loop holes that bother me like he crash landed at age 3 but looks like he is about nine in the flashbacks.
*Clark: "Its my fault Davis" OMG! Clark STOP! STOP WITH THE GUILT TRIPS, ITS ANNOYING and Im tired of them!!! Especially when Clark cant control what happens to everyone!!! I wanted to throw out my television when he said that line, but then I wont see what would happened next so I didnt.
*This one is different, it was more informative, no humor, you really had to think about what this one was saying. This episode was to tell the characters of the show what we as the viewers already knew. Davis is meant to kill Clark, there will be a show down. So in a way to the viewer (or to me) it was boring, and I love Smallville!
*Im confuse about Chloe, what the heck is she doing? Is she staying with Davis to keep Clark safe???


I watched it again and enjoyed it!!!!
*I was glad to see that Clark is on Davis's heals again, thinking that he is the murderer.
*Tess really threw it out of the park I really like her, but Im thinking what does she get out of this?
*Flash backs from the first episode was great!!!
*The two headed monster from the cave made more sense with Clark vs Davis then it did with Clark vs Lex.
*I like how Davis cant control himself around Clark.
*The Cage scene was cool, and intense.
*The cat is out of the bag with Davis being Doomsday and he distined to kill Clark, FINALLY!!!! Doing a happy dance!!!!!
*I like how they tied things together from the first epsiode and last seasons arch with the Traveler. It made sense for Lionel to make up an adoption for Clark. But I dont understand why he just didnt kidnap Clark if he thought that he was the true traveler back in the beginning...


The question now who is going to die (keep in mind I try to keep away from spoilers)?
Davis, He will truly become Doomsday
Clark, so he can comeback and save mankind
Chloe, because....I dont know why

[Lea]

Um, I'm not professing to be a scholar or anything but I'm also pretty sure that everything with Judas HAD to happen so that Christ could fulfill what he was sent to earth to do. Whether a person is a believer and thinks the Bible is a recounting of events, or they just think it's a story, if Judas hadn't betrayed Jesus, the rest would have been changed. It would have unfolded differently and Jesus may have even escaped death for a time. In order for him to save humanity and conquer death, he had to be betrayed to the Romans. And to be honest, I think Tess is somewhat inaccurate in thinking Davis is supposed to be Judas. For those viewers who have any interest in the religious similarities, I think that Davis represents the Romans or maybe death/Hell itself, and Chloe will be Judas. Intentional or completely accidental, I think she will and has already started to play this role. But I love her and I just hope it doesn't kill her... :\

True. But the point is: Jesus is the son of God, who chose to live as a man among men to bring a message of redemption and salvation. He's a saviour because of what HE does, not becuse of what Judas does. Judas' actions may be the means thanks to which Jesus is brought to confront his death and resurrection, but it's his acceptance of that, and not the betrayal per se, what makes him a saviour. To say that without Judas there would have been no Jesus, like Tess says, it's practically blasphemy. Moreover, there's the fact that Judas and Davis are clearly not filling the same role in the tale. If anything, Davis is more like the Devil, or the Antichrist.

[Inkpen23]

I didn't care for the first half of the episode. The retconning and the fact that horrible Traveler storyline from last season was brought up. Also, if you're going to tie Davis to the Luthors, at least have Lionel make an appearance. But the second half was very strong, with Davis's plan to end it all. I thought that was very good. The ending...I don't know about that ending. Pretty damn creepy.

Clark at his hypocritical best. He still hasn't told Chloe about the time he erased her memory and seems to forget that Davis was cleared of those earlier murders. I'm sure he won't appreciate what Chloe's doing for him. I'm glad Chloe got in his face earlier in the episode. Chloe is too good for him and Jimmy, who apparently thinks cursing like a child to the woman he married is acceptable.

I think Clark's worst trait came out tonight. Not the hypocracy but he once again blamed himself for something he had no control over. He just loves to do that.

Clark...it was not your fault Davis grew up the way he did. It's not your fault that Lionel was looking for him just like it's not your fault that Jor-El sent you over in the meteor shower. Clark has a great fondness for blaming himself for things he had no control over. Jor-El, Zod, and Lionel did all the stuff he blames himself for but he's too much of a drama queen to accept that.

I'm looking forward to the inevitable Clark/Doomsday confrontation. Sam Witwer has done a bang-up job and so has the actress playing Tess.

Completely agree. A voice of reason.

[KneelBeforeZod!]

This is true, I get it. But the problem is, the parallel between Clark/Davis and Jesus/Judas doesn't work. It just doesn't fit

Davis isn't a disciple of Clark's, he's not even Clark's friend. Their connection is and always has been hostile. They're oil/water. "Eternal" even goes out of its way to point this out.

Davis isn't destined to betray Clark, he's destined to kill him.

Clark doesn't need to be killed by Davis to fulfill his role as Superman. Can anyone explain to me why he would? He's already fighting the good fight. And he has already faced death.

Clark isn't a spiritual leader, or a philosopher. He's a man of action. He busts heads, he forces evil people to stop their evil business. He's not Gandhi, he's not Jesus; the difference is glaring. I'm reminded of the great line line in BtVS, when Buffy says, "Want to see my imitation of Gandhi?" then breaks a demon's neck. Then the punch line, "if Gandhi was really pissed off..."

The Buffy/Gandhi thing was great, it's a great joke. The Clark/Jesus, Davis/Judas thing is just as silly, but the writers expect us to take it seriously!

I'm not religious, but if I were, I'd be offended. Particularly since this episode aired so near Easter. Mixing the sacred and the profane like this is-- quite literally-- blasphemous. I'm an atheist, and I still find it to be in bad taste! Plus, it's bad writing, a dumb metaphor.

Actually, I don't see why anyone should be offended by religious allusions. As I understand it, the creators of Superman were Jewish and inspired by the story of Moses the Deliver when creating the character of Superman. Superman himself echoes many Judeo-Christian themes: The son sent by the father (from the Heavens)to deliver mankind. Richard Donner certainly didn't tiptoe around this GLARING similarity when be made Superman I; neither did he in his version of Superman II, and Bryan Singer really hammered it home in Superman Returns.

Whether you're religious or not should not make anyone squeamish at these similarities because not everyone believes in the Christian story. For some, historically, Jesus is simply just a good guy at the heart of a really cool morale story, a good picker-upper etc., and for others it's a deeply personal religious experience. Fact is, Smallville was just acknowledging what EVERYONE'S known for years regarding the Christ imagery. We might as well say it and get it over with. I liked it. It added to the look and feel and mood of an overall very dark episode.

Furthermore, Tess is a character, and characters should at least be allowed to be multidimensional, religion-loving, history-loving people (ahem...Lionel Luthor anyone?) who can make a biblical reference if they like.

As for the Judas bit, I'm not going to jump into that just yet because I believe Tess may be wrong. I think Chloe may turn out to be Judas. We've got 4 more episodes to go. Let's wait and see.

[cloisthelegendbegins]

Actually, I don't see why anyone should be offended by religious allusions. As I understand it, the creators of Superman were Jewish and inspired by the story of Moses the Deliver when creating the character of Superman.

Do you have a reference for this? I ask because I always understood that the creation stemmed from the loss of Jerry Siegal's father.


Siegel may have been inspired to create the Superman character due to the death of his father. Mitchell Siegel was an immigrant who owned a clothing store on New York's Lower East Side. He died during a robbery attempt in 1932, a year before Superman was created. Although Siegel never mentioned the death of his father in interviews, both Gerard Jones and Brad Meltzer believe it must have affected him. "It had to have an effect," says Jones. "There's a connection there: the loss of a dad as a source for Superman." Meltzer states: "Your father dies in a robbery, and you invent a bulletproof man who becomes the world's greatest hero. I'm sorry, but there's a story there."

And Superman most certainly did not start out based on Moses. In fact:


Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster first created a bald telepathic villain bent on dominating the entire world. He appeared in the short story "The Reign of the Super-Man" from Science Fiction #3, a science fiction fanzine that Siegel published in 1933. Siegel re-wrote the character in 1933 as a hero, bearing little or no resemblance to his villainous namesake, modeling the hero on Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and his bespectacled alter ego, Clark Kent, on Harold Lloyd. Siegel and Shuster then began a six-year quest to find a publisher. Titling it The Superman, Siegel and Shuster offered it to Consolidated Book Publishing, who had published a 48-page black-and-white comic book entitled Detective Dan: Secret Operative No. 48. Although the duo received an encouraging letter, Consolidated never again published comic books.

Siegel contacted other artists to collaborate on the strip, according to Gerard Jones feeling that "Superman was going nowhere with Joe". Tony Strobl, Mel Graff and Russell Keaton were all contacted as potential collaborators by Siegel. Artwork produced by Keaton based on Siegel's treatment shows the concept evolving. Superman is now sent back in time as a baby by the last man on Earth, where he is found and raised by Sam and Molly Kent. However Keaton did not pursue the collaboration, and soon Siegel and Shuster were back working together on the character again.

Even when he started to resemble the Superman we know, there doesn't seem to be any evidence of deliberate similarities to Jesus Christ:


The pair re-envisioned the character, who became more of a hero in the mythic tradition, inspired by such characters as Samson and Hercules, who would right the wrongs of Siegel and Shuster's times, fighting for social justice and against tyranny. It was at this stage the costume was introduced, Siegel later recalling that they created a "kind of costume and let's give him a big S on his chest, and a cape, make him as colorful as we can and as distinctive as we can." The design was based in part on the costumes worn by characters in outer space settings published in pulp magazines, as well as comic strips such as Flash Gordon, and also partly suggested by the traditional circus strong-man outfit. However, the cape has been noted as being markedly different from the Victorian tradition. Gary Engle described it as without "precedent in popular culture" in Superman at Fifty: The Persistence of a Legend. The pants-over-tights outfit was soon established as the basis for many future superhero outfits. This third version of the character was given extraordinary abilities, although this time of a physical nature as opposed to the mental abilities of the villainous Superman.

The locale and the hero's civilian names were inspired by the movies, Shuster said in 1983. "Jerry created all the names. We were great movie fans, and were inspired a lot by the actors and actresses we saw. As for Clark Kent, he combined the names of Clark Gable and Kent Taylor. And Metropolis, the city in which Superman operated, came from the Fritz Lang movie [Metropolis, 1927], which we both loved".

Are there allusions to the Last Son Of Krypton being similar to the Only Son Of God? I don't think anyone would deny there are, loosely speaking. But the main problem I have with Eternal is the suggestion that it was BECAUSE OF Judas that Jesus became the Earth's saviour. It suggests that without Judas he wasn't helping mankind and would never have been a saviour and that to me is complete and utter rubbish. Long before he gave his life he was preaching to the masses and performing miracles. Are we also saying that Jesus never wanted to do those things? Are we saying that he never wanted the responsibility of being Earth's saviour? Because that is what Smallville has said about Clark Kent many, MANY times and is saying again with Eternal.

In every other version of Superman Clark Kent CHOSE VOLUNTARILY to help the others and defend the Earth as his caped alter ego and had been doing so for years before Doomsday killed him, hence why he was so mourned after his death. Smallville is saying that fighting Zod, Brainiac and Bizarro wasn't enough to MAKE Clark into a hero? If they're following the line of thought with the Judas analogy that every hero requires a villain to become the hero he was meant to be then what about the villains he has met and defeated before? And what about the part where Judas was Jesus' friend and disciple? Davis Bloom hardly fits into that category, nor does Tess. If anything Chloe fits the description better.

To me it was an attempt at clever writing that falls flat on it's face. It would have been time better spent if they'd concentrated more on the gaping plot-holes in this script IMO.

[Fly by guy]

Gave it an 8. I haven't typically liked Davis, he's ruining my opinion of Chloe after I had finally forgiven her for not locking Lana in a cellar when the whole Lexana crap was developing, but this week I enjoyed the fact that we see him willing to die because he has no control over himself.
I understand that Chloe is feeling lonely with Jimmy and Clark both railing against her, but that does not compute to what we saw in Committed, and no that wasn't last season so the lightswitch must have had a finger on it the whole time.
Even though this eppy was as holey as swiss cheese, I enjoy it, partly because of the old Pilot scenes and remembering why after nearly 4 seasons of crap I still hold on to the hope that maybe if only for a partial season(think season 5) Smallville can be mostly good and sometimes great. A couple of good episodes a season should have done them in back in seasons 7 & 8.
I think with Tess knowing Clark's secret the writing is on the page. Bye.

[cloisthelegendbegins]

Annie, I was waiting for your master review too. Yet again I am in awe. Unfortunately, I'm also down again at the veracity of your words. I really want to like Smallville but these dark episodes are giving me difficulties, not just because of personal reasons, but also because of the plot holes that I didn't want to point out (and would have done badly) and you just did so expertly. Thank God for Lois; if only Stiletto were next week. I could use some cheering up.

Thanks Ann. I really took my time with this one and made sure I had all my facts right. The sad thing is the first time I watched this I really enjoyed it, it was only when I looked at it more closely that I realized what a mess it was. If they'd left out the retconning and stuck with the great dramatic tone they had to this one I think it would have been much better. Such a shame. And I always go in on the side of the show cos I'm such a fan. :(


Great review Annie. This episode deserved to get dissected like a frog in science lab, IMO

Thanks BadToad. Yeah, I'm afraid it did. One of the things I loved about BQM's script last week was the closer I looked at the episode and the more I watched it, the more I found. It really stood up to the test of scrutiny. This one was all over the place. And considering who wrote it, it should have been much better IMO. They fell into so many of Smallville's traditional bad habits. :\


Great job Annie...You have some good points I hadn't thought of. One that should have stood out for me was Davis cutting himself when a knife to his body didn't make a mark. There are more and I thank you for pointing them out. too bad they can't have a do-over but unfortunately the Legion ring was destroyed:(


Thanks SnowBird. I have to say that one made me roll my eyes when watching the first time, some of the other mistakes I only caught the second time and then once I started noticing mistakes it felt like they were everywhere. :rolleyes: A do-over would have been great! Darn that Clark for destroying the ring! :lol:


Brilliant review, Annie.

WORD. Thank you for pointing it out. We can never voice enough on this. Let’s keep saying until these show runners get it, shall we?

Great catch! I gotta re-read TDOS.

As a Superman fan, THIS seriously irritates me. How many more people who have to push him and how many villains who has to challenge him in order for him to become Superman? I mean, if someone who only knows Clark Kent from SV continuity, it’s like he never wanted to become Superman by himself if it weren’t for all those reasons? They GOT to be kidding me.

Thank you, Annie. I wholeheartedly agree. And if this was written by half of TPTB who is leaving for Melrose Place, then maybe I felt a lot better but unfortunately it was another half who will stay. VERY scaring, huh?

LMAO.

So, what was the most shocking moment we were told to expect from this episode? :confused: The Orb? Another new retcons reveal of the Kawatche caves legend? Or Doomsday wants to kill himself to save a future Superman? Or Chloe locking the door at the end? I don't know which one to choose….. In other words, how not shocking.

Thanks bigblueplanet. :) COULD NOT agree with you MORE on the part in bold. I've watched this show from the beginning to see Clark Kent become Superman because he WANTED TO despite his earlier dreams of a normal life. I haven't been watching all this time to see him pushed into it by 59870 people and the fact he gets beaten to death. It's why I LOVED moments like those in Identity and Infamous when he started to see both sides of being the RBB and in Eternal I loved when he talked about how he'd always seen the responsibility of saving people as a burden, but he realized how blessed he was compared to someone who was doomed from the beginning. THAT'S the kind of thing I wanted to see on this show, not 45 people telling Clark The World NEEDS YOU and you HAVE TO do x,y and z and here's how you do it and oh look, here's how you solve the secret identity thing. :rolleyes:

*Sigh.* :\


Wow annie... thats alot of problems im not going to try to solve :P

Sadly yes it is TessisSmokin Thing is there were moments when it was really great. I sometimes wish I was one of those people who could watch with part of my working life brain switched off, but I can't. And I really do love Smallville, so when it gets it this wrong it makes me sad. :(


Okay, just finished readin your assesment cloisthelegendbegins and i agree with you completely... i feel that your rant takes a weight of my shoulders as everything i want to rant about is in your review :lol: the burden is off me!

Glad to help Hopefulsuicide ;)


Annie and Jade ITA with your reviews. It was really well acted but just too many plot holes that Annie pointed out.

WAY to many my friend. And the actors did a GREAT JOB considering what they were given to work with. I thought the editing was great too. But like I said in my review, for me the foundation of the whole thing is the script. And this one was just too messy for me. At times it made me wonder if they even watch the show :rolleyes:

[NoSupeForYou]

I think they watch the show. The problem is that they've rarely watched the same one that we see.

[cloisthelegendbegins]

I think they watch the show. The problem is that they've rarely watched the same one that we see.

:lol: So true. They should be able to follow their own continuity though.

[VagrantDream]

retcon=bad. but new viewer, so that gets cancelled out.

this ep, for me? superamazing. 10!

[THEcrownsMINE]

6. it was good, don't get me wrong, but to me it seemed a little: "ho, hum....wait, that's it?" the ending was really overdramatic to the point that I was laughing instead of being interested. the young davis flashbacks were kinda the only interesting thing in the whole episode! that little boy was SOOOO cute. :) but everything else was blahhh.

[Tompouce]

All the kids were cute. My favorite was always the kid who plays Clark but after watching the one who plays Davis, I can't choose anymore. About the one who plays Lex, I didn't realize it until there but I really find he looks like Lex as an adult. It is impressive

----- Added 50 Seconds later -----


This was my reaction to Eternal:

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/2350/siskofacepalm.gif


looool

[e-µ-i]

I give it 8/10.
Tess somehow got a lot smarter...it took 7 years for Lex to find out what she had in 2 or 3 months. Unrealistic even by Smallville standards.
Now when Davis and Clark know who the other one is, it's gonna be a lot more fun to watch, so that good ;)

[disciples of zod]

gave it an 8. here's why

i thought the origins of Davis really did make sense, but something about the ep made it...not interesting. :confused: i really don't know, it just didn't hold my attention like the rest do

sorry all, been a lonnnng week of spring breaking

~K

[SGuthrie27]

ARGH! Argh, arghy ARGHness!!!! I had this super-long, super-cool review -- the first full-length synopsis and review of an episode EVER for me... and then somebody in my house turns on the hairdryer, and the fan, and somebody else is using another computer, and all the lights are on upstairs, and BOOM! The circuit breaker works its magic and my computer shuts down to avoid a power surge. No more review. Sad SGuthrie. :( Maybe next time. I still give it a 5/10. Great acting, bad characterization, great flashbacks, bad retcons... Eternally confusing and conflicting episode is "Eternal."

--SGuthrie ><>' :)--

[ClLaLeChFAN01]

Wow the really sucks!!!!!

[Jack-El49]

I give it 8/10.
Tess somehow got a lot smarter...it took 7 years for Lex to find out what she had in 2 or 3 months. Unrealistic even by Smallville standards.;)

That's called the Dawn Ostroff effect. It's how she sees the CW empowering young women - having them unrealistically outsmart male counterparts all the time and having them act slutty to achieve their goals, on such stellar works as Gossip Girl, 90210, and other CW shows (not SV or SN).

I thought Eternal was pretty good - it was pretty dark though. I think that when it all comes out in the wash, plotholes aside, this will be one of the better episodes of the second half as it really advanced the A-Plot.

[devilneedsaride]

I gave it a 1. I don't believe I've ever given an episode a 1 before. I even gave Requiem a 2.

I can't handle the retcons and plotholes in this episode. They make my brain blow a fuse.

[Tompouce]

I give it 8/10.
Tess somehow got a lot smarter...it took 7 years for Lex to find out what she had in 2 or 3 months. Unrealistic even by Smallville standards.
Now when Davis and Clark know who the other one is, it's gonna be a lot more fun to watch, so that good ;)
Which is very unrealistic is to know now that Lionel knew about Clark since the beginning:eek:It makes the show totally useless:\lol

[EternalTwilight]

Which is very unrealistic is to know now that Lionel knew about Clark since the beginning:eek:It makes the show totally useless:\lol

It feels like a really bad joke. They really need to go write for shows Melrose Place, the faster the better. Maybe the show can be somewhat salvaged. I hated this episode. There were a few moments I enjoyed but mostly it felt like watching a train wreck.

[TOMophilus]

It feels like a really bad joke. They really need to go write for shows Melrose Place, the faster the better. Maybe the show can be somewhat salvaged. I hated this episode. There were a few moments I enjoyed but mostly it felt like watching a train wreck.
I second that. PS3 are creatively bancrupt and should retire or leave to write their crap somewhere else.

[Tompouce]

But maybe it is Tess's interpretation. I hope we will see she is wrong in the future episodes. To be honest, I find this epi really good with its atmosphere and all but if you begin to think about all the things, it is totally nonsense.

[KneelBeforeZod!]

But maybe it is Tess's interpretation. I hope we will see she is wrong in the future episodes. To be honest, I find this epi really good with its atmosphere and all but if you begin to think about all the things, it is totally nonsense.

Exactly! I really liked this episode, and (no disrespect to everyone's else opinions:)) this episode is more or less Tess' point of view, so I don't think we should be so hard on it.

Yes, if you're going to retcon, loose ends and plot holes will be left hanging, but remember we were complaining about the direction of previous seasons and that Smallville was going downhill. Yet here we are complaining that THIS SEASON is not holding true tp the PREVIOUS SEASONS that we were complaining about in the first place.

I think what we should appreciate is that in Season 8 (here's me conveniently and deliberately and happily forgetting about the Lana arc) the writers are trying to bring quality back to the show, and I guess if that means blanking out some of the bad direction of previous seasons, pretending they never happened, and appreciating the Doomsday arc for what they've made it, we might find and interesting and entertaining story.

....but that's just me...I never been a "details" gal. Just give me good lighting, a good score, and a dark, brooding, over-the-top serious mood in an episode and I'm good to go.

Hey, it's only 1 hour of our life every Thursday...what's the worst they can throw at us?:D

[Mickey_Bickey]

This was my reaction to Eternal:

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/2350/siskofacepalm.gif


:rotfl: