Smallville, Season 9 Episode 2, 'Metallo'

Show: Smallville
Episode: 9.02 'Metallo'
Air Date: Friday, October 2, 2009 on the CW

Alien technology and Kryptonite, with a little dose of vengeance, make for a powerful weapon against our growing superhero. John Corben has a super-sized grudge against the Blur and when he is run over by a truck which should have killed him, he wakes up with a Kryptonite heart and super-strength. Realizing his new abilities, Corben sets his sights on killing the Blur but not without killing someone close to him.

We find Lois inviting herself into Clark Kent's seemingly unlocked home only to find dust covered counters and a thought to be abandoned Shelby. Taking Shelby to the Talon with her, where she has another dark dream, Lois speaks out her concern for the Blur's loneliness to Chloe who is hurt to learn he's still reaching out to Lois. While Lois faces Tess to get her job back, Chloe calls Clark out on lyingn to Jor-El about his chats with Lois as the Blur.

Disregarding Chloe's feelings on the matter, Clark reaches out to Lois at the Daily Planet after discovering the person causing super-strength havoc at Metropolis General [Hospital] works there. Lois, being only too willing to play sidekick to her favorite superhero, jumps in headfirst to investigate. But acting before thinking lands her face to face with the vengeful John Corben.

Meeting at their phonebooth as planned, Lois is able to talk to the Blur on the phone long enough to tell him Corben's name before she is taken. Clark enlists Chloe's help to find Corben meanwhile explaining that talking to Lois has been easy for him and just feels right. Finding his location, Clark rushes to save Lois. Clark arrives just in time as Lois is conveniently knocked unconscious. Corben turns his focus to the Blur, blaming him for the murder of his sister when he had saved prisoner's on a bus from dying thereby changing fate. Calling him out on his watching from the shadows behavior, Corben has decided to take the life of someone the Blur loves - Lois. Activating an EMP Grenade Dr. Emil Hamilton had given him , Clark manages to shut down all power within 50 feet of him, including the device keeping Corben's Kryptonite heart beating, and get to Lois. But running out of time to get her to safety, the power comes back on and Corben proceeds in his plan to kill Lois. Distracting him by the call of his name, Clark, having found a block of lead, super-heats it and shoves it on Corben thereby eliminating the Kryptonite threat. Corben, not realizing the physics of the situation, takes off the lead only to discover the lead caught hold of his heart. And so the villain has managed to cause his self-destruction. Waking up moments after Clark assures her safety, Lois sees the Blur in person for the first time. When asked to see his face, Clark thinks for a moment but super-speeds out of sight.

Back at Chloe's headquarters, Clark realizes he cannot completely cut ties with his human life while he does his training with Jor-El. And after Chloe fills him in on Tess' motivations to find out where Lois has been the past three weeks, Clark decides to go back to his life at the Daily Planet. There he finds Lois who lets her guard down long enough to let him know how much she missed him.

Meanwhile, at the Luthor Mansion, Tess is informed of several Kryptonian spottings with the markings of family crests but a mysterious man laying in the Clark's crest catches her eye...

'Smallville' would not be 'Smallville' without it regular doses of the meteor-infected. The first few seasons had large doses of them but as the series progressed, the theme was toned down. While the show was created to portray the origins of Superman, it is nice to see the origins of his enemies. For the first 7 seasons, the relationship between the Man of Steel and his arch nemesis, Lex Luthor, was firmly established. But without Michael Rosenbaum, the show has progressed to show other villains our hero will one day defeat. Season 8 had the evolution of the Doomsday character, who will one day cause the death of our hero. And in this episode, we have Metallo. While he may have been put to pasture by episode's end, we are presented with the possibility of his return.

While this episode follows the basic recipe of Clark saving someone without revealing his identity, it is fun to see how close he will get to exposing himself. Cleverly written phrases tying to the comics and the convenience of Lois being knocked out and a block of lead laying right in front of Clark just in time lighten up what is looking to be a dark season.

I will admit to having liked 'Savior' a bit more than 'Metallo' but that is not to say I didn't enjoy this episode. The characters are all growing and with every episode I can feel them getting closer and closer to the characters I grew up watching in movies and on TV. I give this episode a 5/5.

Preview for 9.03 'Rabid':