By Brandon Nolta

All right, wrap your head around this. Imagine you’re a foxy blonde Kryptonian named Kara (Laura Vandervoort), who’s been sent to a planet upon which, thanks to the yellow sun, you have extraordinary powers. Reunited with your cousin and only living relative Clark (Tom Welling), what would you do? Use your powers for good? Take over the world? Decide to get involved in a farm town pageant and fall in love at first sight with geeky photographer Jimmy Olson (Aaron Ashmore)? Guess which one the writers of SMALLVILLE picked.

Oh, and Lana (Kristin Kreuk) returns. That’s a pretty minor plot point, I know, but it seems only fair to mention it. Anyway, back to the important stuff: Kara decides she wants to fit in to Earth society, and feels that competing in the Miss Sweet Corn Pageant is the best way to go about it. Clark is understandably concerned about this, as the number of ways in which their cover could get blown and thus draw unwanted attention is mind-boggling. However, the Man of Steel also knows bone-stubborn when he sees it (which will serve him well when he finally meets Batman), and reluctantly decides to stand aside. This in turn allows Kara to run afoul of three fellow competitors cruising through life at bitch factor nine, at least one of whom is packing an extra-special power that goes with her winning personality.


Meanwhile, Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) is fencing with Agent Carter (guest star Kim Coates), a shadowy guy from a shadowy department of the government, as Chloe (Allison Mack) is dealing with the squirrelly new editor of the Daily Planet. Other minor stuff, really. Except, some of the stuff isn’t so minor, as it turns out that Lex and Lana had some kind of deal concerning her return, which just begs the question of what the hell is going on with these two. I suppose we’ll have lots to look forward to this season in the way of secrets and revelations.

On the other hand, one long past due development has finally come about: Clark and Lana having a relationship, of any kind, without Clark having to hide his true nature. It probably should have happened about three seasons ago, but better late than never. As the characters lurch into adulthood, so does the complexity and themes of SMALLVILLE’s storylines, and the progress is fun to watch. This week’s acting honors go to Michael Rosenbaum, who manages to make Lex even more placidly creepy than before. Something is going on in Lex’s head, but it’s quite different than the mental states Lex has exhibited before; this is the first time I have been able to see the fearsome supervillain he will become, a dude so badass he doesn’t flinch from taking on any of the heroes in the DC pantheon. Until now, Lex has been many things, but a truly formidable adversary hasn’t been one of them. That’s changing, and Rosenbaum is why. Good on ya, baldy.  


So far, SMALLVILLE’s off to a roaring start, and this reviewer’s looking forward to the rest of the season. And hey, next week, we get to see Dean Cain go bad. Woo-hoo!