Amac Productions

Superhero Sunday – Reckoning

According to IMDB, Smallville’s 100th episode is the highest rated of the series. And without even needing to look it up or rewatch it, I knew exactly what episode it was based on the title – Reckoning.

I watched Smallville religiously as a kid. I remember watching this season premiere and anticipating the fallout from Clark’s choices from the end of season four and beginning of season five.

Quick Recap: Clark was supposed to begin his training by sundown at the Fortress of Solitude he had just created per the voice of his biological father, Jor-El. As this was happening a second meteor shower hit his hometown of Smallville and two evil Kryptonians were looking for him. Between saving everyone and stopping them, Clark missed the deadline. Because of this, the consequences were him losing his powers.

However, for Clark this wasn’t a big deal. He always wanted to be a normal human and now he is. Time goes on and he enjoys being mortal, but he can’t stop himself from being a hero. He gets involved and is fatally wounded. Jor-El brings him back to life but tells him there will be cost. A life for a life. Someone close to him will die in order to keep the balance and everything comes to a head in this episode. The Reckoning.

I f*cking loved this episode as a kid and I still do. I’ve rewatched it countless times and it’s really clear to see why it’s the best rated episode.

Let’s just dive in.

Clark wants a future with his first love, Lana Lang. Anyone who has ever read a comic book or seen a Superman anything knows that’s not going to happen because it will always be Lois Lane.

She’s here right now, but they’re not in love. In fact, they kind of annoy the crap out of each other. But heaven forbid anyone messes with the other, because they’ll be the first in line to kick your butt.

In order to have a life with Lana Lang, Clark must tell her the truth. So he does. Things mostly work out and it appears that he might get his happy ending with the woman he thinks is the love of his life. But after all the times Lana has bemoaned to Lex about Clark lying, her complete 180 and saying that he’s not hiding anything, makes Lex realize she’s now hiding something from him. He follows her like a crazy person and helps cause an accident which takes Lana’s life.

Devastated, Clark begs Jor-El not to take Lana from him. Jor-El allows Clark to redo the day, but he only has one crystal that will allow this, so he must choose carefully. Determined to keep Lana alive and seemingly not realizing that he’ll trade someone else’s life for hers, he goes through with it.

Thus, Clark repeats the day determined not to make the same mistakes.

He doesn’t tell Lana his secret and ultimately manages to save her life with some help from Chloe. However, because of this, Jonathan Kent dies in her place.

And what I love about this episode is how everything intertwines.

If you’ve watched it enough, you’ll know that when Lana dies in the first day, Jonathan Kent stops along the same road. He comforts his son and pulls him away from the wreck.

The second time, Clark stops the accident and Jonathan carries on confronting Lionel Luthor, which leads to his heart attack.

In the first day, Lana worries about whether or not the truth has changed things between her and Clark. She heads to the Talon to talk to Lois and catches her from falling while trying to get a snack. We also get the lovely foreshadowing of Lois saying ‘that she would be lucky to end up with someone as honorable as Clark.’

Second day, Lana never goes to the Talon and Lois falls unconscious. Which is important because she left the sink running and it’s spilled over by the time that she was supposed to appear and announce the winner. But she doesn’t.

Clark notices. He goes upstairs and saves her from being electrocuted.

While he’s doing that, he loses Lana who goes to Lex just as she did the first time.

Clark doesn’t even realize she’s gone until he gets a phone call and books it to save her in the nick of time. Not that Lana knows that since he doesn’t tell her the truth. Instead, this choice pushes her further to Lex.

Which truly sucks.

As someone who watched the show mostly from the start, it was nice to see Clark and Lana truly happy for like five seconds. Their storyline did not need to be so fraught or painful just because it was doomed. Simply not being right for each other is enough.

While I was watching the episode I recorded some of my thoughts and I said that this episode is a love letter to how imperfect Lana and Clark always will be.

This show continues to beat a dead horse for a while after this, but in this moment, the show firmly understands and explains to the audience that no matter what, Lana and Clark simply will never work.

Even if he tells her the truth and she’s fine with it, something will go wrong. It’ll never be right.

It’ll never sit just right.

She couldn’t even manage to hide the truth from Lex through one encounter before it blew up in her face. Unlike Chloe who kept his secret even from Clark for almost an entire season.

Lana is told the truth, and she wonders if this changes things. Asking Lois for help to work through it. Lois.

Irony.

Lois gives her a simple question to put things in perspective and reminds us why she’s perfect for him. She doesn’t need to know what it is. Unlike most of the people in Clark’s life in Smallville who want explanations from him about why he’s so weird or secretive. Lois never demands anything of him.

Not like Lex who literally chases Lana down for the truth.

Or Lana who wants to dump him over it.

Or Chloe who nearly betrayed him over it.

Lois just trusts that because it’s Clark, it can’t be that bad. She firmly believes that she knows enough about Clark to know that whatever he’s keeping from everyone can’t be that bad. That he must have a good reason.

In fact, in Smallville she never demands the truth from him or tries to pry into his secret. The only time it ever caused conflict was when she felt Clark was sitting on the sidelines and had no interest in getting involved in doing the right thing or being a hero which was so opposite to what she knew about him, that she wondered what the heck was wrong with him. Why was he so down on the Blur? Or her helping him?

Like there was way more at play that he couldn’t explain than just his secret. It was the first time she ever asked him about it.

Otherwise, she doesn’t really care.

Here for example, she gives some perimeters for what the problem might be, allowing Lana to be vague. When it’s nothing that would be bad or weird, Lois reminds her that Clark is a good man. There’s nothing he could have told her that would change that or how she feels about him.

We see this in practice later when they’re together.

This episode is a perfect example of why it’ll never work between Lana and Clark and why it will always work between Lois and Clark.

It’s masterful. Truly.

I also loved that without realizing it, Clark saved Lois from being the person closest to him from dying. It could have been her. But he noticed she was missing and rushed off to save her.

Willingly losing track of Lana to protect her.

Without even realizing it, he chose Lois.

Guess Jor-El knew something Clark didn’t.

I also love the subtle moments from the show. Like when Martha and Jonathan are all happy in the first day about Lana and Clark. Wishing them many happy years like they’ve had and we can’t imagine Clark with anyone else, Lois enters the scene right after.

Subtle.

Three lives were on the line.

Lana.

Jonathan.

Lois.

He could only ever save two.

Thus, Jonathan was lost to us forever in a devastating blow.

The moment before the funeral between mother and son, as the son takes the father’s place doing the necklace for her. The cool shots with all the snow. Clark dropping the dirt onto the coffin to say goodbye. And ultimately, he ends up alone.

His choice pushed Lana away.

Chloe and Lois are too far from him and his mother is hurting. His choices brought him here and you can literally see the weight sitting on his shoulders as he wonders whether or not he should ever let anyone get close enough again to be lost like this. Just because they’re in his orbit.

I love this gut-wrenching episode.

I love the little details with the blink and miss that Lois nearly died too. That she’s adamant that everyone should get back to celebrating Jonathan Kent’s win instead of worrying about her. But Clark ensures that she’s taken away to the hospital before realizing in the chaos he’s lost Lana.

Which, dude, you were planning to marry her, but the moment Lois was in trouble you forgot she existed. I think there were signs it wasn’t right before this really big one landed on you.

Just saying.

Jonathan calling his son a man. A clear nod that he’ll be the man of the house from now on.

The moment between mother and son.

The shots in the cemetery.

I also f*cking love the snow in this scene. So many funerals get rain. I love that this was snow. It was different and cold and still deeply upsetting as this thick snow settles around them as the world takes a new shape and color. It works so well, I love it.

Lastly, we’re at the point in the show where there really is no way to save Lex anymore. He practically gets Lana killed. He kisses her. He’s clearly trying to move in on the person he supposedly considers his friend’s girlfriend. He wants to become president, which we all know is a bad plan.

He’s just gone.

I mean, he’s been gone for a couple episodes now. Probably since Lexmas, but you know they really solidified here and in this season.

Final Thoughts: I completely agree with the rating. This is one of the best episodes of Smallville, if not the best episode ever. But what you, do you agree with me and IMDB?

If not, drop me a comment and tell me your favorite episode that you think is better!

Next month, the worst rated episode of Smallville. I’m not ready.

Thanks for reading! Spread the love and read on!