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So Tess isn’t as reformed as we thought she was, but she IS working for Kandor. Yes, I said Kandor, as in the Kryptonian city in a bottle.

Tess’ team of meteor freaks, including a shapeshifter in the form of Chloe, track down Doomsday and convince Clark that even Chloe is no longer safe. Clark asks Ollie to steal the black Kryptonite from Tess’ safe (since he can’t go in there), but Plastique and Parasite show up after finding out that Tess is killing off the team whenever they don’t work out. Clark and Ollie save Tess, and Ollie finds out that Clark is planning on sending Doomsday to the Phantom Zone after separating Davis from him. Ollie admits to Clark that he killed Lex, and that’s where he got the Kryptonite ring he used to defeat Parasite when he had Clark’s powers. Clark then discovers that Tess has destroyed the crystal that opens a portal to the Phantom Zone in order to force Clark to kill Doomsday—and, it turns out, she’s doing it at the request of Kandor, which is apparently trapped in the Kryptonian orb she has.

Anyone who claims they saw the Kandor thing coming (other than reading spoilers) would have to be lying. That was so far out of left field that it actually brought a smile to my face—not because I’m a fan of the bottle city, but because it’s been so long since this show actually did something so completely unexpected.

Speaking of the show not usually doing things unexpected, I DID see the Chloe-was-really-a-shapeshifter twist coming from miles away. I knew right from the previews last week that Chloe wasn’t acting like herself, and it only became more obvious as time went on.

Tess actually had me fooled after she found out Lex had been monitoring her. She seemed like she had become a good guy (girl?) other than trying to manipulate Clark into killing Doomsday. But she didn’t even hesitate when it came to killing off the members of the team she created. Now the question is whether she’s acting on her own, or whether Kandor has her under some sort of control.

Dr. Emil kind of snuck up on me as a semi-regular character. And when did Clark start trusting the guy so much? I’m not sure if I missed something, or if I’m just not remembering when they became BFFs.

Parasite was a good villain to bring in along with the rest. There are very few bad guys who can give Clark a run for his money, so having one who can actually steal Clark’s powers is a good move. I don’t really feel the same way about Plastique. In fact, I went back and read my review for the episode early in the season where she was introduced and realized for the first time that I never even mentioned her except in the summary. Anyway, with all but those two dead, so much for the “Injustice League.”

Ramping up the conflict between Clark and Ollie is a great idea, and it’s really adding some texture to the show. Part of the problem with Superman (as opposed to, say, Batman or Wolverine) is that he’s such a boy scout. He usually gets along with everyone. That can get boring really fast. Other than Batman there probably isn’t another hero in the DC universe who’s had more conflict with Superman than Green Arrow, so he’s a good character to have around.

All in all, this was a good episode and I have few complaints. And now I’m really looking forward to the season finale, which Smallville has always done well.

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