Smallville Season 5 Episode 16-Hypnotic

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We start off with some two people dressed in yellow bio-hazard suits walking through the forest. They find a hut with some bloody, dead people inside. They take some blood samples from the dead people.  Someone walks in to the hut behind them with a gun, they warn him to leave, but he kills them and then with his heat vision, he burns the hut down. The man is none other than the missing Professor Fine, and he grabs the blood sample before he leaves the hut. At The Talon, Lana and Clark are laughing over coffee and discussing Clark's dance moves. Lana hints that they could have the dorm room all to themselves. Clark makes an excuse about having to do farm work instead. Lana says that she is willing to wait however long it takes. She leaves The Talon. A super attractive women approaches Clark and hypnotizes him with an amulet she is wearing. She seduces him and they start going at it in the back alley, Lois Lane pulls up in her car. Clark introduces the woman, Simone, to Lois, as his new girlfriend.

Lana stops by Lex Luthor's mansion and they talk about how Lex has tracked down Professor Fine in Honduras. Lex is planning to go there to track him down. Lana wants to go, but Lex won't let her go with but will tell her all about it when he gets back.

Back at the farm, Clark is entertaining Simone. She wants some champange, so he runs to Metropolis to get some. Simone questions Clark as to how he did that, to which he resonds, "I can run really fast.". She then requests some chocolate covered strawberries, so he runs and gets those for her. Simone is devious and recognizes his potential. She then requests that they tell Lana about their relationship. Clark agrees.

At Met. U in Chloe's dorm room, Lois and Chloe are talking about Clark's new found love. Chloe is in disbelief, but Lois tells her that she saw it with her own eyes. Chloe defends Clark and that something must have happened to him. Lois wants to tell Lana about it, while Chloe wants to talk with Clark first. Lana walks in and questions what they are talking about. They lie to her saying that Lois will be staying with them. Lana then gets a call from Clark, about how he needs to talk with her about something urgent.

Back in the barn loft, Simone and Clark are waiting for Lana, and Simone asks him what else he is capable of. Clark bends a bat in the shape of an S for Simone. They start to kiss and Clark takes his shirt off, then Simone does too. Clark takes of his pants and then he takes off Simone's. She asks him to make love to her. They start kissing on the couch and Lana walks in and sees them. Simone tells Clark to go tell Lana that he doesn't need Lana anymore. Clark goes and tells Lana that he has fallen in love with someone else. Lana leaves the barn crying and is heartbroken.

At the Luthor mansion, Simone shows up looking for Lex, but Lex is on his private plane headed for Honduras. Lex and Simone talk via Smallville's version of Skype. Lex asks Simone how her progress is going, and Simone responds that Lana and Clark's relationship is done. Lex asks if she discovered anything unusual about Clark, she say's "absolutely". But won't elaborate and only says that he is a great kisser. Simone won't turn on Clark. Lex is blackmailing her as she has a criminal history. Lex will be bringing back someone from Honduras for her to meet. She doesn't want to do this anymore, but Lex threatens her with the criminal history, so she relents. A Lex Luthor aid then tells Lex that he just got word from a contact that Professor Fine isn't who they think he is.

At the Kent Farm, Chloe shows up to talk with Clark about how Lana is heartbroken and crying. She is staying at Aunt Nell's (a long overdue Aunt Nell reference) for now.  Chloe questions Clark about Simone and Clark says he has fallen in love. Clark says that he has told Simone about his powers. Chloe warns Clark to stay away from her and that he is being manipulated, but Clark tells her to back off.  Of course Chloe can't do that to her friend. She starts snooping and discovers Simone in the house and starts talking to her about how happy she is for the two of them. Chloe steals her ID from her purse while she isn't looking.

Meanwhile in Honduras, Lex is deep in the jungle and arrives at a camp and discovers Professor Fine. Lex tells Fine that he knows who he is, and assumes that Fine is a government operative. Fine tells Lex that he was in Smallville investigating a possible alien life form and the alien spaceship that crashed in Smallville. Professor Fine is looking for the spaceship in Honduras.

At The Planet, Chloe and Lois talk about Simone and thinks that Clark is under some sort of hypnosis. They discover that Simone's dad was a hypnotist and he recently died. They see that the father had an amulet that they both recognize that Simone is now wearing. Chloe grabs a green kryptonite rock on her way out to go with Lois to talk with Clark.

In Honduras, Lex and Fine are investigating where the ship might be. A local native has carved a replica of the spaceship out of wood. Fine tells Lex that the local saw the ship and Lex wants to talk with him, but the local is dead. This local is one of the people that were dead in the hut that was burned down at the beginning of the episode. Lex wants to help in anyway he can, but wants access to all of Fine's data.  Fine says that if they don't work together, LuthorCorp will be in danger.

At the Kent home, Clark is packing his bags to go to California with Simone when Lois walks in and tells Clark he is hypnotized and he won't be going anywhere. Clark tells Lois to step aside and that she will have to take him down. Clark smiles, but Simone walks in and Lois puts on some sunglasses and tells Simone to leave Clark alone. Clark knocks out Lois from behind. Martha walks in on them and Simone hypnotizes Martha to prevent Lois from following them and that Martha is happy for them, to which Martha agrees. Simone tells Clark that they have to make one more stop at the Luthor mansion so Clark can kill Lex. Clark responds with, "He's a dead man."

Lois wakes up and finds that Clark and Simone have left and that Martha is standing over her with a gun. Martha tells her to stay right where she is. Chloe knocks out Martha with a rolling pin. Lois tells Chloe that Clark and Simone went to the Luthor mansion. Chloe takes off to the mansion.

At the mansion, Lex walks in to find Clark waiting for him. They struggle and Clark is beating him up. Lex tries to talk Clark out of it, but Simone reiterates to Clark to kill Lex. Chloe walks in with kryptonite disabling Clark. Lex is half awake and grabs a gun. Simone, using the amulet, tells Lex to shoot Chloe and then himself. Chloe and Lex struggle with the gun and then Chloe aims the gun at Simone and the fires it, the bullet striking the amulet and destroying it. Chloe gets rid of the kryptonite before Lex realizes what is happening.

Clark and Chloe are at The Daily Planet talking about how Clark feels like he just woke up from a bad dream and remembers everything. Chloe asks if he and Simone had sex, but they hadn't. Chloe asks about Lana, and Clark hasn't talked with her about it. He's not sure if he wants to talk with her. Clark is worried about Lana and that her heart has been broken too many times. He is worried about the continued lying and hurting her even more. This will give Lana the chance to move on and get on with her life. Chloe tells Clark he needs to think long and hard about this before he makes a final decision.

At the barn loft with the sun going down, Clark and Lana again talk about their relationship. Clark tells Lana that his feelings for her have changed. Lana wants him to look her in the eye and tell her that he doesn't love her. Clark does just that. Lana is shocked and has to sit down. She tells him that she has waited for him to get passed the hang ups, he attempts to apologize, but Lana says she doesn't want another Clark Kent apology and declares that their relationship is over, forever.

In the middle of the Honduran forest, we see the spaceship with "Professor Fine" standing next to it. But then a second person appears, and it's another Fine, and then we see a total of four Fine's. They say that they need more samples and run off to find more.

At the Kent home, Martha and Clark talk about him and Lana breaking up and how he needs an adult relationship now. Martha suggests that maybe Clark didn't tell her because she wasn't "The One". Martha is worried that Lana might start to hate Clark and that her anger will do something that they will all regret.

Lana goes to Lex and tells him that Clark and her broke up. She feels relieved that she doesn't have to deal with the secrets and lies anymore. She comments that she can never trust him and how could she have been so stupid. Lex comments that she isn't stupid and that she is only guilty of putting her trust in the wrong person.

While it appears the Clark/Lana relationship is finally over, for now, it's taking a turn that I didn't expect. A turn where quite possibly Lana could become partners with Lex in trying to uncover Clark's secret. How would this affect Lana and Chloe's relationship? I think this will change the dynamics of everyone's relationship in Smallville. Which can be a good thing as it will make for a more interesting story and provide more angst in the long run.

Smallville Season 5 Episode 15-Cyborg

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The episode starts off in a laboratory showing a man held captive in an upright, tubular cage. A Dr. Hong opens the cage and releases the man and apologizes for what they did to him and gives him a picture. An alarm is triggered and the man runs from the room as security begins to chase him. He escapes the facility and security. We then see Lana Lang driving her SUV and after being distracted for a second, she looks up and sees the man in front of the road. Lana hits him, but the car wraps itself around him, ala Clark Kent a season or two ago, and Lana is injured. The man takes Lana to the hospital and then leaves. She calls Clark for help.

At the Clark home, Martha Kent finds a package on her front doorstep, that contains a DVD of a warehouse explosion and Lana laying there.

At the hospital, Clark arrives and Lana tells Clark what happened and tells him what the man looks like. We see the man in a change of clothes, as he is leaving the hospital. Clark tracks him down and recognizes him as Victor Stone a fellow football player from a rival school. Victor knows Clark from football too. Clark tells him that he thought Victor was dead. Victor goes to leave and accidentally throws him through the air. Clark uses his x-ray vision and sees that Victor is made of metal.

At the Kent home, Martha receives a phone call from an unknown caller, who is trying to blackmail her. Just then Lionel Luthor arrives and offers to give Martha a ride to her meeting in his helicopter, which she declines. He sees Martha is distressed and offers help, again she declines. Lionel tells her that if she needs help with anything, anything at all, to let him know.

At the Kent barn in the loft, Victor is hiding out with Clark. He is reading an article about his death and begins to recount the accident.  It was snowing and he was in the car with his parents and little sister, they died but he didn't. He passed out and when he woke up scientists were working on him. Victor says that he wasn't the only one they were working on. Victor questions Clark as to how he knows about the bionics in his body and how he didn't get a scratch on him. Victor asks him about Lana and what she things of this. Clark says that she doesn't know. Victor says that he won't be telling Catherine about his either. He shows Clark a picture of Catherine. They were supposed to get married about know, he is afraid to go see her and questions how could she love someone like him.  Clark offers to help by finding out more about these guys that are chasing Victor. Victor stays at the barn, while Clark heads to The Daily Planet.

At The Planet, Chloe and Lana are there and all three look at the company's history. They provide prosthetics to people with severed limbs. They also discover that the company is owned by LuthorCorp. Clark goes to Lex Luthor at the mansion and questions Lex about Victor Stone. Lex claims he doesn't know anything about it. Clark says that he will take an necessary steps.

Lana goes to see Victor at the barn, and she fills in Victor about how LuthorCorp is involved. They talk about how Victor should or should not tell Catherine about all of this.  Just then, the security team arrives and shoots Victor. Clark shows up and dispatches the security team. Victor is wounded and they go to the Talon to hide out. At the Talon, Victor tears off part of skin to look at the mechanics. Victor's power cell is leaking and needs maintanence.

At The Planet, Chloe tells Clark that most likely Lex doesn't know about this project. They look up Dr. Hong's address to get him to help out. Clark goes to his home and finds Dr. Hong in a car in the garage with the car running, Dr. Hong is dead. Lex shows up at the same time and finds Clark there. They talk about how he didn't know anything about it and that the project manager, Dr. Creed, has gone rogue. Lex wants Clark to bring Victor in to him as Lex has the resources to fix him.

Back at The Talon, Lana receives a call from Clark that Dr. Hong is dead. Victor is sad and blames himself for Ddr. Hong's death. Victor is worried that he'll die soon. He wants to go see Catherine. Victor goes to Catherine's home, but finds Dr. Creed there. He threatens Victor that only returning to the lab will Catherine be safe. After being escorted out of the home, and it is revealed that Lex is part of this.

Martha is meeting with the person who is blackmailing her, and before they could exchange the money, Lionel Luthor arrives to scare him away. Lionel tells Martha not to give in to the blackmail. Lionel again tries to sweet talk Martha and offers to take care of this for her.

At the laboratory, Victor is hooked up to some machinery and is told that his arm is now repaired. Lex is there too and they talk about how his bionics costs over 6 million dollars. Lex tells Victor that they will be putting a chip in his head to help tamper his emotions and more controllable. Victor is sedated in preparation for the implant.

At The Talon, Clark arrives to find Lana alone and that Victor went to see Catherine. He leaves to go find Victor at the lab. At the lab, they are about to drill into Victor's head to put the implant in. Clark arrives and throws Dr. Creed into a wall knocking him out. Clark helps Victor escape. They jump off the roof and break the asphalt.

Clark goes to Lex's mansion and confronts him about Victor Stone and Dr. Creed. Lex admits he was in the lab, but says that he was trying to talk Dr. Creed out of it. Lex tells Clark to tell Victor that he hopes Victor is okay and that LuthorCorp has moved past it all.

At the barn, Victor and Clark talk about how Victor is better. He thanks Clark and he tells him he is thankful for his help. Just then, Lana shows up with Catherine and they embrace. Catherine recognizes something is different about Victor. She is interested in knowing about it and is accepting of Victor.

Martha is at the home reviewing the DVD and notices that in the blast, Lana is there one frame and then gone in the next frame. Lionel shows up and tells Martha that he took care of the blackmailer and he won't bother her again. Lionel tells Martha that maybe she shouldn't associate with him, as her public persona is important and he might sully it. Martha falls for his manipulation and tells him that he is a friend and won't put that aside.

At the loft, Lana and Clark talk about how Clark always tries to hide what he really is thinking. Lana tells Clark that he loves her, but they keep going around and around and never move forward. Clark tells Lana that he will always love her no matter what happens. Lana then leaves without any resolution to their relationship.

At Lionel's office, we see Lionel paying the blackmailer for his services. Cut to the Kent farm and we see Martha burning the DVD that was used for blackmail. But back at Lionel's office, we see Lionel looking at the same footage on his computer, but there is an additional image of Clark rescuing Lana from the explosion. Lionel says to himself, "You're secret is safe with me, Kal-El."

While this episode addressed the relationship between Lana and Clark and how even though someone may be different, it is possible for the other to love that person in spite of the differences. We also see how even though both Lana and Clark profess their love for each other, their relationship seems to be going backwards due to Clark's secret. We also see how Lex and Clark's relationship is getting more contentious and they are moving beyond just hiding things from each other and looking past the secrets to remain friends. Now they are accusing each other of hiding things and lying outright to each other. Lex knows that Clark is hiding something and is starting to put the pieces together, but still doesn't know the truth. He is starting to turn Lana against Clark as well, and is using her as a pawn against Clark.

Smallville Season 5 Episode 14-Tomb

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A dark and stormy night at The Talon, Chloe Sullivan is showering and the power goes out. Chloe gets out of the shower and sees something move out of the corner of her eye. She goes to the mirror and sees a reflection in the mirror of a girl who has slit her wrists and states "Help Me', Chloe screams. Lois Lane comes in to the bathroom and finds Chloe has slit her wrists and tells Lois, "Help Me.". At the hospital, Clark runs in asking for Chloe and finds Lois and Chloe's psychologist, Dr. Sidel. They talk about how Lois found Chloe and how Chloe has been stressed out lately and hasn't been sleeping well. Dr. Sidel tells Clark that sometimes people do this because they have a secret they feel they can't share.

Clark goes to talk with Chloe about what happened. Chloe says she doesn't know what happened, but thinks that there was someone else in the room. Chloe begs Clark not to tell the Dr. about his mother, he agrees.

At the Clark home, Lionel stops by to just check in on Martha to see how she is doing. Martha is annoyed at Lionel. They talk about the Senate seat again, Martha indicates that she doesn't know if she's going to take the seat or not. Lionel tries to comfort Martha by saying that it will take time to get through the hard times.

At the hospital, Chloe again hears the girls voice crying "Help Me" from the bathroom. She goes into the bathroom and sees the same girl with the slit wrists. At the same time, Lana shows up. Chloe sees bloody footprints on the floor, but Lana doesn't see it. Just then, the Dr. shows up and Chloe begins to freak out and Chloe is giving a sedative.

At the Luthor mansion, Lex is on the phone trying to locate Dr. Fine when Lana walks in. Lana tells Lex about Chloe and they talk about Belreave. Lex agrees to call a different doctor to get a second opinion.

Lex shows up to the hospital and Clark is there with Chloe. Lex tells Clark that he is having Chloe transferred to Belreave. Clark disagrees that Chloe needs to go to Belreave. Clark kidnaps Chloe and takes her to The Talon. Lois is there and Chloe wakes up. Chloe tells Clark that she didn't hurt herself. Chloe hears the voice and sees the girl standing next to Clark, but Clark doesn't see or hear her. The girl vanishes into the wall, and Chloe insists shes in there. Clark uses his x-ray vision and sees a skeleton in the wall. Clark breaks the wall revealing a skeleton, with Kryptonite bracelet. Clark goes out of the room and calls the Sheriff. Chloe touches the bracelet and an energy is transferred to Chloe. It is shown to the audience that Chloe has now been taken over by the girl's spirit.

Chloe is acting weird, and doesn't have Chloe's memories but her own. The dead girl is revealed to be Gretchen Winters. Chloe/Gretchen escapes and goes back to her college dorm room. She finds a stun gun belonging to Chloe and talks with Lana. Gretchen bumps into Lex in the hall and stuns him to get away.

At The Talon, Lois is waving some incense around, when an orderly from the hospital shows up looking for Chloe. He is a little strange and he admits that his father used to run the movie theater. Lois calls the Sheriff, but before they can talk, the orderly comes back and knocks Lois out.

Gretchen shows up to a home, that turns out to be the orderly's, whose name is Michael. She goes inside and Michael says she will help her. Gretchen talks to Michael about how Michael killed her and Michael grabs her by the throat. Gretchen then sticks the stun gun in Michael's neck and starts beating him up. Gretchen then hears Lois screaming for help, she stops and goes in the basement looking for Lois. She finds Lois tied up, but Michael knocks out Gretchen and now both are kidnapped.

Gretchen wakes up tied to a chair and Michael talks to Gretchen about how she is going to help her. The orderly reveals that Chloe's mother was crazy too. Michael grabs a kryptonite bracelet and puts it on Gretchen's/Chloe's wrist. He then grabs a knife and tells Lois to take the knife and slit her wrists. He threatens to shoot Chloe if she doesn't slit her wrists.

At the Daily Planet, Clark is doing some research and discovers Michael and his address. He runs to Michael's home. In the meantime, Lois throws the knife and stabs Michael. Michael pulls out the knife and is about to stab Lois, when Clark shows up and uses his heat vision to knock the knife out of Michael's hand. However, Clark isn't able to do more as the kryptonite incapacitates him. Gretchen then reveals who she is and pleads for Michael to help her. Gretchen then puts the kryptonite bracelet to Michael's neck and the energy transfers to Michael. Gretchen then destroys Michael and Gretchen leaves in peace. Lois releases Chloe and everyone is okay.

At the Kent Farm, Clark is working in the barn when Lana shows up to talk. Chloe is doing better. They talk about how they should've turned to each other instead of working against each other. Lana tells Clark that she loves him, but she doesn't know how to talk to him anymore and that they all have their secrets. Lana leaves without really resolving anything.

Inside the Kent home, Martha is reviewing the papers to take over the Senate seat. Clark encourages her to do it and that he will be okay and that he will take care of the farm. Jonathan would want her to do it., Martha decides to go forward.

At The Daily Planet, Chloe and Clark talk about the recent incident and why she was chosen by Gretchen. Clark feels that it's because Chloe cares about people more than anyone else he knows. Chloe feels that because there is something wrong with her mother, and her too. Clark encourages her to seek out her mother and find out more about her. Chloe agrees and ends up going to the mental hospital to see her mother.

At the mental hospital, Chloe finds her at the hospital and they embrace. The audience isn't shown who Chloe's mother is.

While the last five minutes do a great job of developing Chloe's character and break down her inhibitions and anxiety in reaching out to her estranged mother, I could do without the main storyline of the episode, ghost girl using Chloe to find her killer wasn't very memorable in the long run.

Smallville Season 5 Episode 13-Vengeance

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After Jonathan Kent's untimely death, Clark Kent decides to drop out of Central Kansas to be able work on the farm and help Martha out at home. Things are understandably melancholic at the Kent Farm.  Martha tries to pass on Jonathan Kent's favorite watch to Clark, but he declines.  Martha takes Jonathan's clothes to a local mission for the homeless, at night no less, and is mugged by some thugs. One of them steals Jonathan's watch, and the other is set to kill Martha. However, a mysterious woman  in red with a black mask and cape shows up and beats up the thugs and chases off the one who stole the watch. The police begin to arrive and she disappears as mysteriously as she arrived. Martha notices her belt with a skull and two crossed swords for a buckle. At the Kent Farm, Lana Lang shows up to speak with Clark, but he is angry and blows her off. Martha arrives home and Clark sees her injuries. Martha tells Clark about the incident. Clark goes to The Daily Planet and speaks with Chloe who has some info on this Vigilante. Clark bumps into a pretty young reported who drops her papers and Clark helps her pick them up.

At the Talon, Lana is closing up and Lex stops by to apologize to her for the other night. They talk about Clark and how they need to be there for him, Lex reiterates that he is there for Lana if she ever needs him.

Back at the Daily Planet, Chloe is trying to come up with a new moniker for The Vigilante. She comes up with The Angel of Vengeance. Chloe is then threatened by The Vigilante to stop investigating her, and Clark tries to intervene, but is pushed away by The Vigilante and is shocked that she could manhandle him like that. The Vigilante escapes. Chloe and Clark come up with a plan to catch The Vigilante.

They go around town and Chloe pretends to be mugged while Clark pretends to mug here. Eventually she shows up and The Vigilante and Clark struggle and The Vigilante is unmasked, revealing her to be the woman from the Daily Planet with whom Clark collided with earlier in the episode. The Vigilante tries to escape by leaping to the top of a building, but finds Clark already there waiting for her.

Lex comes to meet with Lionel at his LuthorCorp office. They talk about finances and how his campaign compromised their finances. They try to outmanuever each other.

Back at the top of the building, The Vigilante and Clark talk about their abilities. The Vigilante was given a heart transplant from a girl who died in a meteor shower, this gave her these abilities. She also carries a Kryptonite rock as a keepsake. They discuss the loss of Clark's father and the missing watch. The Vigilante describes how she and her mother were mugged too, by the same gang no less, and she was stabbed in the heart which led her to needing the heart transplant. Her mother was killed in the attack. The Vigilante knows where to find the attackers and will take Clark there.

Martha shows up to The Daily Planet looking for Clark, she and Chloe talk about Clark feeling guilty and how he might be looking to take out his emotions on the attackers. Chloe and Martha have a moment about how they both know Clark's secret and take solace in their both knowing this.

The Vigilante and Clark approach the gang to try and find the attacker with the watch. He isn't there, but Clark steals a phone and they head back to The Planet. With Chloe they try to find out where the attacker is at. The Vigilante comes out of a phone booth located in The Planet ,changed out of her cape and mask. Clark remarks "Do you always change in phone booth?"  The Vigilante wears glasses to hide her secret identity and comments that she was impressed with Clark's moves and could use a sidekick. To which Clark responds, "I'm not a sidekick."  Chloe remarks that The Vigilante works there because there is nothing that happens in Metropolis without it going through The Daily Planet. They track down the attacker's address. Clark indicates that he will go and take care of the attacker. Chloe tells Clark that he is too close to this and it's not a good idea, to which Clark responds that he can use his abilities to stop people like this from hurting others. He takes off, while The Vigilante tells Chloe that she'll keep an eye on him.

Clark finds the attacker, Snake, and they fight, Clark tells him he wants his dad's watch back. Clark begins to choke him, The Vigilante shows up and tells Clark to kill him. Clark realizes what he 's doing and stops. The Vigilante pulls out the Kryptonite and gets Clark out of the way. The Vigilante, or Andrea-as her name is finally revealed, is going to kill Snake and he tells Andrea that he killed her mother because it was a hit job made to look like a mugging. The orders came from Lionel Luthor himself. Clark pleads with Andrea to not kill him that he isn't worth it. Andrea stabs the attacker anyway, killing him. She then leaves to go find Lionel.

Back at LuthorCorp, Lex and Lionel again meet at his office and they discuss their family skeletons. Lex reveals to Lionel that he knows that Lionel met with Jonathan shortly before he died, he threatens to tell Martha. Lex blackmails Lionel to quit the company.

Snake's friend shows up and finds Snake dead and Clark lying there still affected by the Kryptonite. The friend grabs Clark separating him from the Kryptonite and Clark breaks free from the attacker and heads off to LuthorCorp after Andrea.

At LuthorCorp, Andrea jumps through the window of Lionel's office and grabs him and tells him about her mother's death. She tells Lionel that he will pay, and starts to through him out the window. Clark shows up and they talk about not doing this. Clark tries to convince Andrea to not do it, but Andrea throws him out anyways. Using his super speed, he grabs Lionel before he can fall, but Andrea escapes in the meantime. Lionel thanks him for saving him.

Back at the Kent Farm, Martha is in the barn with Jonathan's coat and Lionel shows up to talk. Lionel admits that he knows that the Governor is offering Jonathan's seat to her, Martha tells Lionel that she hasn't even told Clark about that. Lionel tries to manipulate Martha into letting her trust him, by saying that she doesn't have to pay the campaign contributions that he gave her earlier. Lionel leaves saying that Martha can come to him for anything.

The next day at The Daily Planet, Clark shows up to find Andrea's desk clear and she was gone. Clark and Chloe talk about the previous night's struggle with how Clark wanted to kill Snake, but didn't due to his father's memory. They talk about how Metropolis needs someone like Clark right now. Chloe asks Clark if he could do something like that. Clark tells her that he wouldn't want to hide who he is.

Back at the Kent Farm, Clark walks into the barn finding his father's watch. Lana is there too and she had searched many pawn shops to find it. They talk about losing a parent and how hard it is. Clark goes back into the home and finds Martha watching old home movies of Jonathan and Clark riding a tractor. Martha sees that Clark is wearing his father's watch, they embrace and Clark has a good cry with his mother.

This episode was another well written and executed episode and was a great follow up to the previous episode. Following up such an emotional episode as the last, with Jonathan Kent's death, is a tough act to follow but they pulled it off very well with the right amount of closure for the Kent's and inserting another new storyline that plays off the heartache of the recent Kent tragedy. This episode helps Clark and Martha move forward with their lives instead of getting stuck in this recent emotional rollercoaster.

Smallville Season 5 Episode 12-Reckoning

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Lana Lang and Clark Kent meet in the loft for a mystery date. Clark is nervous that he is losing Lana, he tells her that he should have shown her something a long time ago. He takes her to the caves, and to the secret room. He pulls out the key and inserts it into the table and they are transported to the Fortress of Solitude. Clark tells Lana he is from Krypton and she doesn't believe him. Clark takes her in his arms and jumps to the top of the Fortress.  She realizes how many times he has been there to save him. Then in one of the coolest proposal scenes ever, Clark then crushes a piece of coal into a diamond, sets it into a gold ring via his heat vision and the proposes to Lana. Back at the Kent Farm, Clark tells Martha and Jonathan that he has told Lana everything and then proposed to her. Clark mentions that he asked Lana to not respond yet and to thing about it. Clark and Jonathan have a man to man and Jonathan is proud of the man Clark has become and they hug.

Things are going too well in the episode and I'm wary that this is another dream episode or another alternate story that in the end everything goes back to normal.

At the Daily Planet, Clark and Chloe talk about how Clark has told Lana everything, and Chloe is happy.  At The Planet, weird things are happening, which tips me off that this isn't your normal story. Plus the soundtrack is too uppity and happy.

Lana and Clark meet at the Kent Farm and Lana accepts his proposal. Clark puts the ring on her finger and everything is awesome for them!

At the Talon campaign headquarters, Jonathan Kent appears to be winning the election and everyone is hugging. Lana breaks the news to the Kents and they are happy and hug. Just then Jonathan is announced as the winner. Lex calls Lana and she heads over to the mansion.

At the mansion, Lana and Lex talk about the election and how he lost. Lex expresses his feelings on how he wants to get out of his father's shadow. Lex is drunk and hurts Lana's feelings. Lex sees Lana's engagement ring and Lana breaks the news to him. Lex is bitter and tries to dissuade Lana by pointing out all the times Clark has lied to her. Lex realizes that Clark has told Lana the truth, he gets angry and Lana escapes the mansion. Lana calls Clark and Lex is driving real fast, Lana's car is hit by a bus and her car rolls. Clark rushes to the scene to help. Lex sees him. Lana is killed in the accident.

Clark goes to the Fortress of Solitude to plead with Jor-El for Lana's life. Jor-El reveals a way, but that the consequences are unpredictable. Clark is then taken back to the beginning of the episode where he and Lana talk about the mystery date. Clark decides to not tell Lana. Lana realizes that Clark is not telling her the truth. Lana tells Clark she can't do this anymore and wants a break from their relationship and walks out.

At the Daily Planet, Chloe and Clark talk about how he has come back in time. He points out the odd things that were happening in the beginning of the episode. He tells Chloe about how he told Lana and proposed. Chloe and Clark come up with a plan to keep an eye on Lana to make sure she is safe.

At the Talon, Jonathan Kent wins again, but this time, Lois Lane almost dies and Clark saves her from electrocution. Lana gets the call from Lex again.

However, Lana still ends up going to the mansion to talk with Lex, as he lost the election-again. Lex is drunk and Lana talks with him about she and Clark are no longer together. They've had their 'last' fight. She tells Lex that Clark would never let her in. Lex tells Lana how Clark will never trust her and puts the moves on her and kisses her. Lana leaves and again Lex goes after her in his car.

Chloe tells Clark that she can't find Lana and Clark rushes to the scene and stops the bus before it can hit Lana. Lana narrowly misses getting hit by the bus, but appears to see Clark stopping the bus. She is freaked out by the whole incident. Lex stops and tries to console Lana, but she leaves before anything happens. We see Jonathan driving home to meet with Lionel.

At the Kent Farm, Jonathan and Lionel have words and Lionel tries to blackmail Jonathan with a photo. Jonathan punches Lionel and  tells him to leave his family alone. Jonathan  starts feeling faint. He then collapses as Jonathan and Martha arrive home. Jonathan Kent dies in their arms.

The day of the funeral, Clark blames himself for his father's death. His mother consoles him and tells him that it isn't his fault. In this pivotal scene for the entire series, Martha tells Clark that he will be the man that Jonathan wants him to be.

Jonathan Kent is buried on a cold, snowy winter day. The visuals for this scene are perfect, the black suits and dresses contrasting with the white snow with large snowflakes falling all around them. Lana grabs Clarks hand for a moment, Chloe looks longingly back at Clark with Lex from afar watches the ceremony. Clark is left alone by the gravesite and drops a handful of dirt on the casket.

While I knew the upbeat and happy start to this episode was a setup, I didn't think this was going to be the ending. This episode ran the gamut of emotions from start to finish. While we all know Jonathan Kent dies from a heart attack in the story, I didn't think it was going to be at this point in the series. This episode did Jonathan Kent's character justice and provided a more than fitting end to his character arc in the series.

On a sidenote, in a deleted scene Clark brings Jonathan back to the Fortress of Solitude to plead with Jor-El to bring Jonathan back. There is no answer this time from Jor-El.

Smallville Season 5 Episode 11-Lockdown

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Two people, a man and a women, dressed as police officers break into Lex Luthor's mansion and threaten him. He escapes into his panic room with survellance cameras. The two people make their wants known: they want the spaceship that came down in the second meteor shower. Clark and Lana Lang are again in the loft and discuss their relationship and in the meantime, Clark discovers that Lana has been secretly researching the spaceship. They argue about it and Lana storms out.

Back at the mansion the two attackers reveal that the man was at the spaceship crash site and was one of the officers who responded. He was hiding under his patrol car and saw Lex and his people come and take the ship away.

Clark and Martha Kent discuss his relationship with Lana and Martha suggests that Clark tell Lana the truth. Pete and Chloe know the truth and they were still friends. Clark thinks about it as Lois Lane pulls up to discuss campaign strategy with Jonathan Kent.

Lana is kidnapped by the ex-officers and brought to the mansion as ransom for Lex to reveal the spaceship. Lex concedes and comes out of his panic room. Lana and Lex fight the intruders and escape back into the panic room. Lex is shot in the scuffle.

At campaign headquarters, at the Talon, Jonathan and Lois discuss campaign finances and it is revealed that Lionel Luthor has contributed a hefty sum to the campaign. As usual Jonathan is wary of anything coming from the Luthors, (rightfully so).

Clark shows up to Chloe and Lana's dorm room and Chloe and Clark discuss Lana and how long she has been meeting with Lex and studying the spaceship. Chloe gets a call from the sheriff that Lana's car has been found without Lana anywhere to be found.

Clark rushes to the scene, discovers a hidden GPS tracking device on Lana's car. Clark then rushes off back to the Daily Planet. At the same time a call comes in that there is an alarm at the Luthor mansion. It is revealed that the woman attacker is currently an officer with the Sheriff Dept.

The Sheriff shows up to the mansion and confronts the female officer. She discovers foul play and ends up getting shot.

Chloe and Clark do some internet searches and find out who is behind the attack and head off to find Lana.

Martha reveals that she took the money from Lionel Luthor and she and Jonathan argue about this. Jonathan lets his pride and ego get in the way, and Martha pleads with him to be different this time.

As Lex lays dying in the panic room, he and Lana talk about hair. Lex tells Lana about his 'Lexmas' dream and how she was the best part of his dream. He admits to Lana that the spaceship is gone and he doesn't know where. Lex apologizes for lying to Lana and then passes out. Lana leaves the panic room and tells the officers she will take him to the ship if they call for help for Lex. They agree and then leave the mansion.

Chloe and Clark sneak into the psychiatric hospital, via Super Shake, to review the records of the male officer. They find that Lex was observed taking the ship, and Clark runs to the mansion. He discovers the Sheriff and Lex.

The two officers take Lana to the warehouse where the ship was located, to blow it up. They don't find it, and Lana tries to escape but is knocked out. Their bomb is activated in the scuffle, the officers leave just as Clark arrives to find Lana about to be burned up from the explosion. He runs in and grabs her and rescues her.  The officers are apprehended and Lana is treated at the scene and released. Lana and Clark discuss how Lex saved her life.

Lex recovers at the hospital and Lana comes to visit. They have a heart to heart and they talk about honesty and the truth. They agree to try and solve the mystery of the ship and to be friends. They hug as friends, and of course Clark walks by and sees them hugging. Poor Lana all she wants is a friend who will tell her the truth and be honest with her, but yet none of the men in her life will be honest with her.

Chloe and Clark talk about Lana at the Daily Planet. Clark tells Chloe that he loves Lana so much and wants to be with her for the rest of his life. Once again Clueless Clark doesn't see the heartache on Chloe's face as he tells her this. Chloe tells Clark he needs to tell Lana the truth about himself.

The X-Files Season 1 Episode 10-Fallen Angel

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In this episode, "Fallen Angel", we have CLASSIC X-Files material. We have the downed UFO, a Clandestine meeting with Deep Throat, Fox going rogue and running through the forest, a military presence, Fox getting captured - for the first of many times, Scully coming to the rescue, blatant government coverups, etc, etc., etc..In this episode we meet Max Fennig for the first time. Max is one of the all time great characters of the series, in my opinion. Max is your stereotypical UFO nerdy guy, but he comes across as genuine and lovable. Max also has one of the weird marks on his body, this time behind his ear. Fox has read reports on this before and figures out that Max is an alien abductee. Meanwhile on her own investigation, Scully comes face to face with some evidence of her own, while she is treating the burned army soldiers in the hospital. While there is nothing definitive that says aliens did this, Scully can't help but think something strange is going on. The episode culminates with Fox being attacked by the invisible alien and witnessing Max get abducted by the alien. Scully of course is not present to actually witness the event but hears it happening through the communication devices of the military. Although this episode had cheesy visual effects as well, the story is more believable than say....Space :) , and is better produced, directed and acted. This episode is when the X-Files as a new series really finds it sweet spot and takes flight. All the classic elements of the X-Files are brought out in this episode and they are pulled off really well.

*This review was originally published on X-FilesNews.com in early 2012.

The X-Files Season 1 Episode 9-Space

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Okay, so the visual effects in this episode, Space, are laughable at best. The teaser culminates in the Mars face forming from the ceiling and attacking a man, Col. Belt. Then the ghost face attacks a woman driving her car. Then it gets worse from there. The ghost face then leaves Belt and goes into space and attacks the shuttle crew.
Although the story had good potential, I think it was too grand in scope for the first season with what appears to be a limited budget. I think that if this episode could have waited a couple of seasons, maybe it could have been better produced. Maybe I'm being too hard on the episode, as there were a couple of good moments. One of them was seeing Mulder turn into a fanboy when he meets Colonel Belt for the first time was pretty humorous.
But that being said, I don't know how this would've fit into the overall mythology of the show. Although there is a paranormal aspect to the episode and there is in essence an "alien" presence, it doesn't really fit in with the overall feel of the show. Overall I found this episode boring and I was glad when it was over.
*This review was originally published on X-FilesNews.com in early 2012.

The X-Files Season 1 Episode 8-Ice

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One of the best episodes of Season 1 is Ice. Although reminiscent of The Thing, I like Ice better. Overall it's an intense, creepy episode from start to finish. Starting with "We are not who we are." mantra which sets the tone from the start; to Mulder and Scully pointing guns at each other, "Mulder, you may not be who you are.".Once the team arrives to the Arctic Base in the middle of nowhere, we see the crazy dog attack Fox and Bear (coincidence?) and Bear (the only pilot that can get the team out of there) gets infected with the organism. Bear knows quickly that he is infected. He then starts getting confrontational and then things start moving in the episode. Especially when we see the team pull the organism out of Bear's neck! He of course dies as a result. On top of this, there is an Artic storm preventing any help from arriving any time soon. Conflict piled on top of conflict. This episode is not only a great X-Files episode, it's a great TV episode. You could stack this episode up against any other great TV episode from any era and any genre and it would compete well. Another great thing about this episode with respect to the X-Files mythology, is that it sets up the concept of the Black Oil very nicely. A great quote by Fox as the men disrobe to make sure no one is infected: "Before anyone passes judgement, we are in the Artic". It was good to see a young Felicity Huffman, Xander Berkley and Steve Hytner in this episode. Unfortunately, this great episode is followed by my least favorite episode of Season 1, if not the whole series (Yes, worse than Ghost in the Machine) - Space.

*This review was originally published on X-FilesNews.com in early 2012.

The X-Files Season 1 Episode 7-Ghost In The Machine

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Episode 7 is Ghost In The Machine, which happens to be one of my least favorite episodes of the whole series.I think one of the reasons I really don't like it, is that I'm sure 20 yrs ago, it was a high tech episode. For the most part, the X-Files holds up well over time. This episode however does not, it's a tech heavy episode, and the tech is early 90's at best. Also the cinematography isn't that impressive and the acting, outside of DD and GA, isn't that great either. During this re-watch, I'm noticing that there is some good character development on Mulder's part. This is an episode where we get a look into Mulder's professional past, back when he was a young, up and coming agent that dazzled the higher ups. He meets up with an old partner, Jerry, who has a checkered past in the Bureau. He comes to Fox for help and ends up taking advantage of Fox and steals his profile to make himself look good. Despite which, Fox forgives his friend and still tries to encourage him and tells him that he is a good agent. It was interesting to see Fox cover for Jerry multiple times and how Fox stuck with his friend and had compassion for him. This is a side of Fox that we don't get to see much of on a professional level. Outside of his relationship with Scully, we usually see Fox in conflict with everyone else he interacts with at work. Some things that I don't like about the episode, the COS trying to kill Scully in the vents; COS being able to electrocute people when they touch the door handles; a not so interesting appearance of Deep Throat (in my opinion); the COS being a poor ripoff of HAL9000. Interesting fact: Scully's Agent ID# is 2317-616. Good thing this episode is followed by one of my favorite episodes of Season 1 - Ice!

*This review was originally published on X-FilesNews.com in early 2012.

Smallville Season 5 Episode 10-Fanatic

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Smallville goes political. Lex Luthor and Jonathan Kent run against each other for political office. The episode starts off with a cliffhanger and then goes back in time 48 hours to show us how we got to that starting point. Lois Lane takes over as campaign manager for Jonathan and helps him back on track. During his run for office, Jonathan is harassed and assaulted by some Lex Luthor fanatics who will do anything to get Lex to win.

Clark and Lana address the angst of their relationship issues and the fact that they haven't had sex since Lana went away to Met U and since Clark died and came back to life as a Kryptonian. Clark goes to Chloe for relationship advice and trusts her and her friendship. They discuss the posssible side effects of Supersex. Chloe, again, shows how great of a friend she is and talks some sense into Clark. Proving how blind Clark is and can't see the best woman for him is right in front of him.

Lex and Clark discuss politics and Lex reveals that his ultimate goal is the White House.

Then there's this crazy psycho girl who shoots her friends and then shaves her hair off because they won't go to the extremes that she wants to in order for Lex to win the election. She then attempts to seduce Lex by showing up to his mansion buck naked. Oddly enough, I found this bald headed female strangely attractive.

We then go back to the first scene of the episode, picking up with an extended version of the beginning cliffhanger, and we get to see how it all turns out.

While the episode is well written and executed, personally I'm not too hot on the idea of mixing politics and Smallville.

Lana and Clark meet in the loft and resolve their previous differences and agree to take it slow. Lana admits to being obsessed with the meteor shower and hypothesizes that there was a spaceship in the first meteor shower.

Thirty-Six by Daron D. Fraley

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Make sure to check out this ebook by Daron Fraley! Thirty Six is free on Amazon.com, today only for Kindle. If you aren't able to get it today, you can always buy it at a later time.

From Amazon.com:

When Aaron Cohen buys a souvenir from an antiques store in Lyon, France, and then sees the police raid the store right after he leaves, he has no idea that this is only the beginning of his troubles.

Back home in Chicago, Aaron is stalked by an old man from the antiques store. Mandie, a single mother in his apartment complex, has asked that they just be friends, but Aaron can’t help developing strong feelings for her, especially now that she is being harassed by her abusive ex-husband. And in the midst of all his emotional turmoil, the souvenir he purchased turns out to be an ancient holy relic that triggers shared dreams and prophetic visions.

A mysterious dream shared with a jewel smuggler whose arrest makes the nightly news. A nightmare of horrifying tornadoes shared with Ethan, Mandie’s eight-year-old son. A dream shared with Mandie that shows Aaron her true feelings for him.

And visions . . .

Visions of historical events, centuries in the past. Visions of the Lamed Vovniks. Visions of dangerous possibilities to come.

And if Aaron doesn’t get to her in time, Mandie will die.

Daron is the creator of Thirty-Six and author of the first book in the multi-author series. Originally from Wyoming, Daron has lived in the Midwest and in many towns and cities in the Mountain States region.

Writer by night, Senior Data Center Engineer by day, he has traveled to more than half of the biggest cities in the United States, one of his favorites being Chicago. The architecture, the people, and the regional foods all fascinate him. But his favorite places on earth are those where he can relax, think, and dream.

Not yet an expert world traveler, he has been to France, Switzerland, the Bahamas, St. Thomas, San Juan, Canada, and Mexico. He loves the Caribbean, and wonders how a small-town boy from Wyoming ever got the chance to fall in love with the ocean.

Previously published works include The Thorn and Water and Other Stories.

His personal website is: http://www.daronfraley.com

Legion by Brandon Sanderson

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Legion is a quickly moving story about how Stephen Leeds uses his condition of having "hallucinations" for his benefit and for the benefit of others. These hallucinations are personalities that manifest themselves to Stephen, and the reader, as actual persons. As a result of these others he is able to quickly adapt to new situations that arise and uses these hallucinations to solve conflicts. Stephen comes across as crazy to those around him, but in his opinion is "perfectly sane". These hallucinations have their own individual personalities, likes, desires and flaws.

Legion is well written and has a good pace. For the length of the story there is good character and story development in the amount of time available to do so.  Legion is a fun book that can be read in an hour or two and is enjoyable.

As Legion begins we are introduced to the main character, Stephen Leeds, who is by his account, a genius. However, he is plagued by these hallucinations. These hallucinations are separate persons with their own personalities and agendas. Stephen interacts with them as individuals and relies on them for information throughout the course of the story. While this phenomenom is not explained or fleshed out (which is what the author seems to have done intentionally), it is intriguing to read.  The reader is expected to read on without the explanation being given, however it doesn't impact the story. There are hints in the story that this wasn't always the case with Stephen and that it was a condition that was brought on to him somehow.

There are a couple of interesting things about Legion that captured my interest from the start. One is the concept of having multiple personalities being a help and not a hinderance to one's life. This concept is addressed in the story, not only in theory but also demonstrated throughout the story, which is one of the reasons why the reader doesn't get hung up on "How does this all work?".   Another interesting concept is the MacGuffin (that is more fully fleshed out than most) of the camera and how it is included in the plot of the story. While this MacGuffin lends itself to science fiction, it was believable and fun to read. With the inclusion of this particular MacGuffin and it's capabilities, the story is like a modern day Indiana Jones adventure - but better.

This short novella is one of Brandon Sanderson's shorter books, and as Brandon is known for his lengthy novels this can come as a surprise for those that haven't read one of his shorter stories. While Brandon's longer novels are amazing, his short novellas are just as entertaining. Such is the case for Legion.  With the speed and efficiency that Brandon writes his books, I'm sure there will be a follow up to this story especially since the ending leads us to believe that there are more Stephen Leeds stories to tell.

I recommend this novella to all readers who enjoy a good mystery. There is a little bit of violence, akin to a PG movie, and there are no scenes of sex and no swearing.

Legion Novel

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I recently got my latest book, Legion by Brandon Sanderson published by Subterranean Press. It's a shorter Sanderson novel as it's only about 88 pgs, but it sounds interesting. The cool thing that Brandon is doing with this release, is that he is giving away, yes - giving away for FREE! - an ebook copy to everyone who buys this book. All you have to do is send him a photo of you holding YOUR book (that you bought) and he will email you a copy of the Legion ebook. Pretty cool, huh? For those that don't know Brandon, that's par for the course for him.

Divergent

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Divergent is the start of a great new series by author Veronica Roth. Veronica is a new writer, with this being her first published novel. She hangs out on Goodreads.com alot and blogs often.

Divergent is a young adult novel set in a dystopian world where society has broken down into different factions. Each faction has a specific purpose and serves a unique role in this society. This novel has drawn comparisons to the Hunger Games, and while there are some general similarities, it isn't the Hunger Games 2.0.  The story is a coming of age story with the main character, a teenage female named Beatrice Prior. (No, this is not the Hunger Games 2.0). Every year there is a ceremony where the young people have to choose which faction to join. Most end up joining the one they were raised in. Beatrice ends up choosing a different faction than the one she was raised in. She ends up leaving her home and family to join a new group of people to learn the new factions lifestyle.

Beatrice renames herself Tris and has to learn how to go from being raised in a peaceful faction, Abnegation, to learning how to fight, as she has joined the faction that is more aggressive and in charge of enforcing law and order - Dauntless. Much of the story's angst comes as Tris has to learn how adapt to this new lifestyle and her training with the other new recruits.  There are some emotional struggles for Tris, there is a lot of physical action and fighting, and there is romance as Tris falls in love with one of her trainers.

Divergent is written in the first person POV of Tris and while it took me a couple of chapters to get used to the style; it allowed me to easily read through the story in a matter of hours. While the world of Divergent doesn't have much depth to it, the characters are mostly well developed and their actions are believable. I had fun reading this book and it is one of those summer reads that you're glad that you read it and can move on to your next book.

Divergent is a good story overall, quick paced, easy to read with some good angst. At times, it was easy to tell this was Ms. Roth's first novel due to the simple writing style. The story was pretty linear with not much depth. However, I did enjoy the overall story and it is a page turner. I would recommend it for those that are looking for something fun and quick to read.