Smallville: Quest

Clark: "That's the last thing I need: someone going around killing people in my name."
Chloe: "That's probably how God felt about the Crusades."

Superman has always been something of a Jesus figure, but the symbolism is usually a bit more subtle than this.

I was trying to figure out which member of Veritas could still be alive. It made sense that it was Edward Teague, whose evil wife and son are now either dead or starring in Supernatural. But I had a problem with Teague's abrupt 180. Teague went from abject worship to cutting Clark into pieces in zero to fifteen seconds. It seemed out of character that, after a lifetime of obsession and devotion, he launched right into a do-it-yourself crucifixion. Ah, well. The blood and the cutting, both Lex and Clark, actually shocked me. More graphic than usual. And wow, did it looked painful.

Lex did finally find the Kryptonian version of a Magic Eight Ball, and now he knows where Clark's Fortress is. That was big. The season finale is next week, and we've already heard that Michael Rosenbaum won't be a cast member next season. Will we get the ultimate Lex/Clark showdown? Will Lex learn that Clark is the Traveler? I think he will. Yes, there's still season eight, but come on – this is really the only opportunity they will have to complete Lex's journey in the Smallville universe.

Will Lex find a way to control Clark, as they've been working up to for several episodes? (When Lex found that tiny black thing with the four white buttons, I thought at first that it was a teeny tiny Clark remote control.) Will they put Lex in a coma or in prison or something so that they can conveniently bring him back when they can talk Michael Rosenbaum into doing a guest shot?

Or will Lex actually die in some resurrectable comic book way? Both Teague and Chloe suggested in this very episode that Clark should play God and kill Lex. A big hint, or are the writers just trying to freak us out?

Bits and pieces:

— The symbol that Teague cut into Clark's chest was also burned into it by Jor-El many seasons ago. I'm having a hard time believing what Teague said, that Jor-El would have condoned sacrificing Clark. But I guess when you think about it, Jor-El never knew how Clark would turn out. He could have turned out like Zod, right?

— The Traveler versus the Destroyer. Sounds like WWE. Plus we're back to the cave drawings and Namaan versus Sageeth. I have to give them points for continuity.

— Clark said that there was no word for church in Kryptonian, which implied a lack of organized religion. That was cool and futuristic. Extreme right wing evangelists would probably say that was why Krypton exploded.

— Cryptograph. Or Krypt-o-graph, with kapital K for Krypton. Virgil Swann left clues all over the world, making him much like Rambaldi on Alias.

— The church in Montreal resembled the Luthor mansion. Speaking of which, they just explained the Luthor mansion. Did the producers know all of this for the past seven years? I seriously doubt it. But like Veritas, it's a great retrofit.

— Robert Picardo (Teague) played my favorite character, the holodoc, on Star Trek: Voyager. The antiquities dealer with the Eastern European accent was played by Donnelly Rhodes, who is also the curmudgeonly Doc Cottle on Battlestar Galactica.

— This was the third episode in a row without Lana. I could get used to this. No Kara, either, although she would have come in handy when Clark was about to be sliced and diced. And no Lois. I missed Lois. I like Lois. And at least we had Chloe, who just saved Clark's life for the nth time in between nuzzles with Jimmy.

Quotes:

Chloe: "I guess skywriting is passé."

Chloe: "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Clark, but the writing is literally on the wall."
I liked that one. Very cute.

Three out of four stars,

Billie
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Billie Doux had a love-hate relationship with Smallville, which is why some of her reviews are briefer than they should be.

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