What's up with Clark? The spaceship that brought Clark to Earth begins to speak to him. The ship claims it is the memory of Clark's biological father, Jor-El. It explains to Clark that his true name is Kal-El and that it's time for him to leave Smallville and accept his destiny. The next morning, Clark tells his parents what happened and they tell him only he can decide his destiny. The next night the ship speaks to Clark again, and again Clark says he will not obey it's orders. The ship becomes enraged and hurls Clark against the wall and the proceeds to burn "the mark of his ancestors" on his chest (It's a pentagon with an 8 in the middle. The Superman emblem, except with an 8 instead of an S). It then tells him that if he doesn't follow his orders by noon, everyone that he loves will be hurt.
What's up with Lex? Lex finds Helen talking to Lionel in a hallway. It appears that Helen is giving an envelope to Lionel. When Lex inquires as to what's going on, Lionel says Helen is refusing a wedding gift and walks away. Lex then professes to Helen that he was the one that ransacked her office and stole Clark's blood. Helen is aghast and calls off the wedding. Lex tells Clark the wedding is off, but asks him not to tell anyone so he can "hold on to his romantic notions for one more day."
What's up with Lionel? Clark heads to the cave when he hears that Lionel has set up special equipment. Lionel finds Clark there and tells him he thinks he can unlock the secrets in the cave walls. He says the advantage he has over Dr. Walden is that he has the key. When Clark reminds him that the key was stolen from his safe, Lionel says he's made a new one from material from one of the meteors (kryptonite).
What's up with Pete? Clark refuses to tell his parents that he's still hearing voices from the ship and sends them off to Lex's wedding. The only one he confides in is Pete. He informs Pete about his plan to destroy the ship by stealing Lionel's kryptonite key and placing it in the ship. Pete reluctantly agrees to help Clark and runs interference while Clark steals the key.
What's up with the Kents? The wedding is all set to happen, except Lex is missing his best man. He asks Martha and Jonathan where Clark is. When Lana arrives without Clark, the Kents are worried and tell Lex to start the wedding as they speed home. As they're driving back to the farm, Clark uses the last of his energy to place the key in the ship. The reaction is a violent explosion that destroys the storm cellar and topples the Kents truck as they pull into the driveway. Martha is rushed to the hospital where the doctor tells Jonathan and Clark that she'll be fine, but her unborn child didn't survive. Jonathan is furious at Clark for lying to them and not consulting them before he took action. He turns away from Clark and heads to console Martha.
What's up with Lana? Lana and Clark's relationship really heats up and both seem completely in love with the other. After the wedding, Lana rushes to the farm where she finds Clark distraught and in shock. He tells her about how his mom lost the baby, and tells her to go away before he hurts her too. She tires to console him but he'll have none of it. He puts on a red kryptonite ring he stole from Chloe's office and jumps on a motorcycle. He tells Lana he's leaving Smallville and asks her to come with him. Lana refuses and Clark takes off leaving Lana and Smallville behind.
What's up with Chloe? Chloe finds out about Lana and Clark and is angry at Clark for not telling her about it. She's so upset she meets with Lionel and tells him she'll investigate Clark. As Chloe leaves the meeting with Lionel, he takes out the envelope that was supposedly his wedding gift to Helen and twirls it ominously in his hand.
What's up with Helen? Helen comes back just in time for the wedding. She tells Lex that even though what he did is unforgivable, she wants it to work. After the ceremony, the two newlyweds take off on Lex's private jet. They toast champagne and Helen slyly looks at Lex as he drinks his champagne. Lex soon passes out and when he awakes he finds he's the only one left on the plane. He opens the cockpit door in time to watch as the plane crashes into a large body of water.
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Previously on the season finale: Clark and Lana kissed; Chloe saw it all. Professor Snideface, perhaps as a personal favor to me, woke from his brainbusted coma and told Papa Luthor and Lex that Clark is destined to take over the world. Lex broke into Dr. Dropkick's office and stole the vial of Clark's blood. The wedding was off. And Clark stepped into the orange glowing light of the storm cellar after a voice told him that "the day is coming."

We pick up right where we left off, with the glowing orange light of the storm cellar and the blissful ignorance of everyone in a mile radius. Down in the cellar, Clark is squinting against the orange glow. Whatever's down there also brought a wind machine with it. It's the spaceship! It's glowing like an ad for Target. The space voice says, "Fear not, Kal-El." Clark yells at the ship, "Who are you?" The ship is "Jor-El." And Jor-El comes with a five-year, 50,000-mile warranty. The ship turns and faces Clark. Clark, still yelling over the din (wanna turn that down, dad?), says he thought his father died. The ship stands up, just to show that it can, and says that it's Clark's dad's memory and his will. Couldn't he have just sent a lawyer from his estate? The ship says it's there to guide Clark through all the days of his life. No one will notice Clark walking around everywhere with a giant yellow ship following him, telling him what kind of sauce he should get with his teriyaki chicken. The ship somehow sheds its exterior and turns into a floating metallic egg. Completely and totally unnecessary. I think the special-effects guys just wanted to get their Benjamins on. The ship blabs about how when Clark arrived, he carried the hopes and dreams of his people. The ship pronounces "hopes" the way Lorne Michaels would.

The ship says "It is time" and morphs into a spinning globe of the Earth. The room goes from yellow to cool blue. Does the show do rock-concert projections as a side gig? The ship says it's time for Clark to accept his destiny. In a really funny line reading, Clark begins, "I don't know what you have in mind for me, but..." The ship says Clark will return to him (It? There? Where?) once his destiny is fulfilled. The camera does a sudden Sam Raimi-looking zoom from the ship to Clark. Clark turns, and there are glowing projections of MamaKent and Bo Duke, with Lana standing at the front. The ship says that Clark's thoughts are not a mystery. Maybe it's because Clark has no inner monologue. The ship says that these people have served their purpose, and that it's time to leave them. Especially Lana. Clark reaches for her, and she crumbles into a bunch of data bits, like a clip from Simone, a movie I hope none of you paid to see. Everybody shatters, and it's not a bad effect. Clark stares at his hologram-busting hand. Clark turns and defiantly yells that everything and everyone he loves is there in Smallville. So he's including inanimate objects here? Way to weigh down your argument, Clark. The ship didn't seem to hear Clark. It says it will guide Clark through his future. Clark yells that he doesn't want guidance. Clark says he wants to create his own future. I'm getting an awful Matrix Reloaded flashback. ["Any reminder of that movie is awful." -- Wing Chun] The ship says that Clark has no choice. It's become a yellow egg. Now it spins furiously. Don't fuck with the space egg! The egg explodes with light. We cut to outside, where the light shooting from the storm cellar is now baby lace white. As we stay on it, the light suddenly turns off. We go straight to opening credits. (more...)
-- Omar G (TWoP)

A sense of foreboding surrounds Smallville as Clark must choose between staying with Lana and his family or fulfilling his destiny to rule the Earth. Meanwhile, Lex and Helen plan their upcoming wedding, but outside forces may ultimately keep them apart. Also, a hurt Chloe considers Lionel's offer to investigate Clark. Sam Jones III, Annette O'Toole and John Schneider also star.

Pete: Careful, Mr. Luthor - you don't want to look too weak.

Pete: (to Lionel's security guards) Don't touch me - you know you hate him.

Jonathan: (giving Lex a compass for his wedding) ...it will help you so you don't get lost coming down the aisle

Lionel: Love has a way of blinding even the sharpest minds. We don't look because we don't want to see. But once love has been stripped away, then we see the real person clearly. They're revealed to us, with all their flaws, their foibles, and their secrets.

Lex: I've always been fighting my destiny. Trying to avoid becoming my father. But we all have certain genes that we are all want to change that dominate us.

Lana: Smallville's my home. It's yours too.
Clark: Not any more.

Jor-El: Fear not, Kal-El.
Clark: Who are you?
Jor-El: I am...Jor-El...your father.
Clark: I thought you died!
Jor-El: I am his will, his memory. I am to fullfill his promise and guide you all the days of your life. You are the last son of Krypton. When you traveled through the cosmos, you carried the hopes and dreams of your people. They now live through you, Kal-El. It is time.

All right, generally speaking, the big problems with this episode is how it promotes tension as opposed to the last one. Last year, Lionel could potentially have died. That is a big deal. A big deal. The big deal this episode is that Chloe has gone evil. Is Lex dead? No. We know this. The moment held no tension for me. Is Clark never coming back? No. We know this. The moment held no tension for me. What made those two items, though they mean nothing ultimately, cool to me, is the way they were shown. The plane crashing had as good, if not better effects than Castaway, by far my favorite plane crash scene, and it was believable. A good twist. Lionel might try to kill his own son. Heck, he paid for the trip. Maybe Helen was conspiring with them. She's gone, as is the crew. This was well done, even though there is no tension. And who didn't get goosebumps when Clark, on his motorcycle, rescinded into a great pan up to Metropolis with the Superman music in the background?

So what am I saying? I chastise the writers for making silly cliffhangers, but I laud the direction and the cast for making them well executed, remarkably executed.

A lot of things didn't make sense in this show. Let's put it plain. They didn't. (more...)
By Neal Bailey