SPOILERS ALERT: It's probably best not to read on if you haven't watched the first episode of Smallville Season 10 because the following review is full of spoilers!
The season premiere picks up where the finale left off. Lois (Erica Durance) finds Clark’s (Tom Welling) lifeless body and removes the blue kryptonite enabling him to heal himself. However, Lois sneaks away before Clark fully awakens in order to protect his secret. Meanwhile, Chloe (Allison Mack) is desperate to find Oliver (Justin Hartley), so she turns to an unlikely source for answers. Jonathan (Schneider) returns to the Kent Farm with a message for Clark, and Tess (Cassidy Freeman) awakens in a LuthorCorp lab. Kevin Fair directed the episode written by Don Whitehead & Holly Henderson.
I didn't have high hopes going into this final season of
Smallville. In fact, I've not really had high hopes since the start of season 6 when it all started to really go downhill. Season 9 was a vast improvement though, despite the fact that the Zod storyline was fairly dull. The feeling that they were still stretching things out too much didn't help things once again but the finale (and specifically the cliffhanger the season ended on) was pretty damned good. So, why the lack of high hopes? Because I have zero faith in the producers and writers not to [frick] things up in the year that we're all hoping will be the one where we finally see Clark become Superman. And although it's still too early to tell, "Lazarus" was most definitely a good start!
It was great to hear Terrence Stamp return as the voice of Jor-El after a fairly lengthy absence from the show and the entire opening sequence where him and Clark argue in the place between life and death was very well done and especially cool when we caught a glimpse of a certain bald figure in a white suit...this whole thing was undoubtedly a teaser of what is to come throughout the next year and it was a great way to kick things off. As was Lois being the one who saves Clark. It'll be an interesting dynamic to have her know his secret as one later scene in particular showed - however, the fact she was in Africa by the end of the episode left me a little bemused as to why they'd waste the opportunity just because she's worried that she's Clark's weakness. It feels like Lana all over again and despite the fact that she'll be back in a few weeks, it felt like a lazy way to get rid of Lois.
Someone else who suffered a fairly quick exit this time was Chloe. Hooray! What she saw when she put on Doctor Fate's is unrevealed as is why exactly she was exchanged for the kidnapped Oliver at the end of the episode. While I'm sure they'll expand on this in the coming weeks, it feels like a pointless storyline in a season where the focus should be on Clark. However, if it means we see less of the forced Oliver/Chloe relationship then it's surely only a good thing! Justin Hartley as Green Arrow meanwhile continues to irritate me (its as if he should have the words, "Tony Stark Lite" tattooed on his forehead) and it feels like they've done everything there is to do with the character so hopefully they'll send him off to search for Chloe most of this season. If this is the way that
Smallville would have handled Bruce Wayne, I'm glad they've never introduced him!
And then there was Tess. Brought in to replace Lex Luthor, she's always been a bit of a waste of space in the show and I was fairly disappointed to see her brought back from the dead. It was where she woke up that was most interesting though. A lab full of Lex Luthor clones, all of whom were created in order to heal him after the injuries he suffered in the appalling way they decided to write out Michael Rosenbaum back in season 7. Tess accidentally released an older version of Lex and the actor who played this version of the character really nailed the role. Everything from the way he talked to his mannerisms reminded me of Rosenbaum's performance and while I may have imagined that
to an extent, it was great to see Clark and Lex finally have a proper confrontation. The Clark/Lex relationship was handled well for the most part but nothing ever really happened for me to believe they'd one day become enemies and the weak way things were handled between them in both season 7 and his "return" in season 8 did nothing to help that. However, this was pure gold as the clone put him in a classic situation - save the woman he loves from being burned on the cross that Clark was hung from in the first episode of the show (a great nod to the past) or save the civilians from the falling Daily Planet globe. This all led to one very cool moment where he pushed himself to the limit and managed to save them both in a fantastic sequence which involved Clark catching the globe in midair.
Yes, that involved him flying...sort of. Him telling Jor-El that it actually felt like he was flying was a fun scene but if this is just another tease by the writers, I'll be really angry. I mean, I can understand wanting to leave the suit until the last few moments of the show (although I personally think it deserves an entire episode at least) but they've got to get him flying way before then in my opinion. Tom Welling did a great job in "Lazarus" and the moment where he nearly killed Lex's clone was very intense and dramatic. Him being reunited with Jonathan Kent was also a fantastic scene and it was great to see him have faith in Clark in comparison to Jor-El who has seemingly lost it. The final shot of the suit in the fortress though (which in itself was an epic thing to finally see in
Smallville) makes me think this might just be another test... Regardless, it was touching to see the parallels between Clark's relationship with his real and adopted fathers - the latter helping to really guide his son onto the path of becoming a true hero. Of course, I cant finish this review before mentioning the appearance of Darkseid. Although it wasn't exactly a clear look we got, what you could see, did not look good. The CGI was extremely poor and if that's the best they can do, it's best they use a costume for a live action actor or just keep him in the shadows.
Overall, this was a great season opener. Despite the odd dodgy moment here and there, it felt like a return to form for the show and the strongest part of this episode was undoubtedly Tom Welling's performance as Clark Kent. Between his confrontations with Lex, Lois, Jor-El and Jonathan, he really had some great material to work with here. Whether they can keep up this momentum for the next 21 episodes remains to be seen, but so far it seems that he's well on his way to finally becoming the Man of Steel!