Smallville (2001 - 2011): Review By ejk1

I'm not going to write a huge review, but I feel that this episode was very important, so I'm going ahead with this review. Spoilers ahead.

The story was good. Obviously, it had to do with Clark going to his high school reunion(Lois went to-apparently she felt being in class for 5 days was enough to warrant recognition. Spoiler alert: it wasn't), which involved a trip down memory lane, as we saw footage from earlier seasons, including the first time Clark talked to Lana in the show(they were so young back then). But as always, something develops. Brainiac, played by the great James Marsters, showed up and did something unusual-he helped Clark. See, this is not how the Brainiac that Clark knows operates. Luckily for him, this is Brainiac 5, a good guy all the way from the 31st century. Lately, our boy Clark has not been feeling all super-heroic, and needed someone to set him straight. Well, this is what Brainiac did. Brainiac phased Clark and himself out of time so they could be unseen, and also traveled through time to key moments of Clark's past and present. Although he did have help, particularly when Clark, after seeing an old enemy approach Lois, tried to grab Brainiac's Legion ring(which helps him travel through time), and ended up in the Daily Planet of the future. Here, he met both Lois, who mistook him for her present day love, and the Clark Kent of the future, decked out in trench coat and glasses. After some heroism and one helluva kiss, Brainiac appears and takes Clark back to just before he left. What Clark sees is his former enemy asking Lois if Clark is around, and when she says no,he tells her that Clark changed his life for the better, and to thank him. That's right, no fight. Just someone who appreciated Clark. The episode ended with Clark showing support for Oliver, who announced that he was Green Arrow recently, and was now being lambasted in the media, and also at Jonathan Kent's grave, where Clark said good-bye to his father.

I'm not going to dwell on the acting or directing, which were both up to the usual standard(which means it was good on both fronts), because there was something more important going on in the story. As said above, Clark has been struggling. He feared that he is not the man he should be, and his dark side(not to be confused with Darkseid) is growing. However, this episode changes all of that. By the end of the episode, there will be a renaissance of Clark Kent, as he becomes focused and recharged. The last shot of Smallville:Homecoming, which I will not divulge, leaves no doubt that the weight of his past has been lifted. In short, this is the episode that Clark Kent begins the transformation into Superman.