While this week’s episode of Smallville, titled “Abandoned,” was promoted for the guest appearance by Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane’s mother, it was other actors who dominated the hour.
Hatcher, who of course played Lois in Lois & Clark, appeared in a brief scene at the start of the episode as Lois’ dead mother, Ella — Erica Durance’s Lois watched a videocassette of a message her mother left her, before dying of cancer. In the recording, Ella offered a comforting message to Lois from beyond the grave, but also warned her that losing a parent can leave “a hole in a person’s heart.” This set up the other themes of the evening.
The bigger story line of the night involved Tess, who encountered Granny Goodness (Christine Willes), an evil orphanage owner. (Smallville is doing a good job of utilizing the New Gods characters, such as Granny, created by Jack Kirby.) Granny reawakened lost memories in Tess, who was revealed to have been left by her parents in the care of the dictatorial, abusive Granny. Although Tess escaped her clutches until this evening, Granny had raised a batch of damaged, angry young women led by Harriet (Lindsay Hartley, wife of series regular Justin Hartley, in a leather outfit with Wolverine-y claws). Mad Harriet and her sisters-in-villainy briefly trapped Clark, rendering him helpless in the presence of their “green fire rocks” — i.e., Kryptonite.
Meanwhile, Lois decided that her mother’s words about lost parents applied as much to Clark as to her, so she journeyed to the Fortress to try and force a reconciliation between Clark and his Kryptonian dad, Jor-El. Julian Sands re-appeared in that role, as did Helen Slater as mom Lara. The pair delivered a message of love and compassion for Lois to convey to Clark.
In a scene that stood outside the rest of the episode, Granny met with Desaad and Glorious Godfrey, with Desaad proclaiming that they now formed an “unholy trinity” that would “prepare the way for Lord Darkseid.”
The hour was a hodgepodge of scenes without much flow, yet virtually every one of them was key to the Smallville mythos, including the hour’s two surprise endings.
First, Clark showed us an engagement ring he has for Lois — she doesn’t yet know what a lucky girl she is. And finally, Tess discovers her real identity: she’s Lutessa Luthor, the illigitimate child of Lionel Luthor and Pamela Jenkins.
Once again, the hour was held together chiefly by the fine performances of Tom Welling and Durance, and the promise of more revelations to come as Smallville hurtles ever-closer to its series conclusion.
What did you think of this week’s Smallville?
Twitter: @kentucker
Simply amazing. No words can describe how good this episode was. After two weeks of “Clois” episodes (nothing wrong with that) we finally get back to the main story line by introducing Granny Goodness and of course the return of Jor-El and Laura.
I agree. My only regret is that they didn’t wrap up this series two years ago and move on to a new series, “Metropolis.” or “The Daily Planet” or “The Justice League.” etc. This has been AWESOME.
These seasons are the payoff of the earlier seasons though. They wouldn’t be as fulfilling if we started with them. But I definitely want a spinoff series with Tom as Superman.
I agree with both Barb and Brian. METROPOLIS staring Tom Welling as SUPERMAN would be awesome.
I agree they should have a spin-off! That would be so great have Tom and Erica and hell all the others too but whole different view on things where Tom is actually Superman! Go into the trials he has to go through with being superman and dealing with all the other superheros out there
one of their strongest yet. The overall themes and how they were explored and how those things will be built upon after tonight was simply awesome. Also can I just say, I love the ring. Reminds me of committed’s ring actually.
loved it
next week looks amazing
I wish they would get rid of the Granny Goodness and the minions and all that. Clark needs to get rolling on his disguise, and Lex needs to come back (as well as Zod) both of whom I believe to be the ultimate villains.
Zod was banished from the Earth forever. I think that story’s done. I’d rather have Bizarro (who can be rebuilt), Mxyzptlk (who can be repowered), Metallo, and Parasite back.
GRANNY GOODNESS IS AWESOME!!
I would rather see Zod and Lex back. Since Rosenbaum’s departure, Callum Blue filled in the role for Smallville’s big bad. He was awesome, tragic, and Smallvillizied. I only wish there was some way to bring back Callum Blue’s character, without it being a disservice to the character.
A little nitpicky here, but Jor-el and Lara did not deliver their message to Lois, it was delivered directly to Clark. Also, how did they explain Granny getting away from Clark? Loved the twist about Tess. I guess this sets up John Glover reappearing as Lionel
I was also pleasantly surprised they were able to link Tess to Pamela, who appeared in one episode of Season 1 and there was a throwaway line that she may’ve had something with Lionel. That’s great continuity, especially since none of the current writers were on the staff in season 1.
I just checked and it seems Tess has had red hair (or a very close derivative of it) since she first appeared in season 8. Pamela Jenkins had red hair when she appeared in season 1. That’s either a great coincidence or great continuity.
Well, I think the red hair was also a clue that she was a Luthor. Remember in Isis when Cat Grant thought Tess was Little Clone Lex’s mother cause they both had red hair?
Actually, the final message is what she was watching when she was frozen in the crystal blue haze. When Clark took her out of it he opened up the connection and was able to see what she had been watching.
was awesome!
Great performance Erikca, now that they are bringing Jack Kirby Univers/New Gods, why not bring Orion son of Darkside…..could be intersting..best regards
Agreed. I would love to see Orion!
SIMPLY BRILLANT I TRULY LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. TOM WELLING AND ERICA DURANCE SHINED IN THIS HEARTWARMING EPOSIDE FILLED WITH LOVE,COMPASSION,AND MOST OF ALL FORGIVNESS.SMALLVILLE IS MY ONE AND ONLY SHOW.I LOVE IT AND DON’T WANT IT TO END!!!!
LOVED this episode (just like the rest of this season). My one nitpick would be that we didn’t get to see much of the Furies. I would’ve liked better fights out of them.
But all the other actors and aspects were awesome!
I also love how this show is still able to provide parallels between Clark and Lex, even with Lex absent. Back in Season 1-2, Lex commented on how all of his trials and struggles from Lionel and his baldness made him stronger and the man he’d become. Here, Clark echoed that comment, but the difference is that Lex saw them as obstacles to survive, while Clark knows that they’re secretly lessons. Pretty brilliant.
I do wish we could’ve seen Clark and Lois doing karaoke. That would’ve been funny.
Ugh! The Furies were disappointing in every area: acting, fighting, etc. At least, Granny Goodness was good. Good choice of actress.
This was definitely one of the better episodes thus far this season. Teri Hatcher was really good and it was nice to see Clark’s biological parents again. It was also fun to finally see Granny Goodness, though I wasn’t very impressed with Mad Harriet. I thought the woman with the whips was cooler. Nice touch ending the show on the Luthor L. I’m a little confused about Tess’s mother. Was that the woman who came to Smallville several seasons ago, thinking Clark was the child she had with Lionel and had to give up? I remember that Lionel had another illigitimate child, Lex’s younger half-brother. Guess he really got around.
No, Pamela was Lillian’s nurse/Lex’s nanny while Lillian was dying. She appeared in the first season episode, “Crush,” with Adam Brody. They hinted that Lionel and she may’ve had an affair back then, but never touched on it again until now.
Thanks. It’s hard to keep track of over 9 yrs. of information.
No worries! The woman you’re thinking of was Lucas Luthor’s mother, Lex’s other illegitimate sibling.
I definitely thought that Erica and Tom shone tonight, in conveying Lois and Clark’s pain in dealing with their parent’s deaths, as well as in their joy in the relationship they have together! They really have been hitting it out of the park this season!
And Erica just broke me with her tears over her mom’s video. I thought Teri was awesome, but yes, she was on for so little time.
The Tess stuff felt a little slow. I liked introducing Granny Goodness and in getting the fact that Tess is really a Luthor out there. But it felt like there was a lot of build up for something we had already guessed (Tess is a Luthor) and a scene that lasted a moment (seeing the unholy Trinity hook up at the end). There needed to be some more meat to that storyline.
That being said, that last scene with Clois really proved why they are IT for each other. I love how they talked about their parent’s deaths and how it effected them, and really opened up to each other. And I love how they made plans to go out and just have fun as a couple, to celebrate being together and living together. But the best part? Oh, the best part were the wedding/engagement anvils! Lois being all smiles and blushes over seeing her mom’s card to her for her wedding day, and Clark just beaming over having the engagement ring all ready for Lois! I love seeing these two happy! I swear, Clark has smiled more this past season then he has in all of the seasons before combined! It’s amazing what hooking up with your soulmate and finally experiencing that amazing love/relationship that you were so worried you would never have, will do for a guy
LOVED it! Teri Hatcher is amazing! Great Episode! So happy smallville is doing so good!
This episode was amazing, i’d say the best so far in the season!! So excited to see Tess’s story continue!
It was so nice seeing her as someone other than Susan Mayer-Delfino. She was, as tig said, AMAZING!
I thought the episode was great sat this whole season has been. And as much as they are clearly leading to an engagement with Clark and Lois. Did anyone notice that in the future scenes from Homecoming that neither Lois or Clark is wearing a ring of any kind? Foreshadowing? Oversight? Or implication of having to keep a marriage secret?
I think they were having to keep the marriage a secret for some reason in 2017, because Lois is wearing a ring in the dream Clark had of 2013 in last season’s finale.
i forget which episode was the one we saw the future in 2013 ?
“Salvation,” season 9′s finale.
Well, Lois did mention something in the future about deciding to keep their personal and professional lives separate (which seems kind of impossible for a couple that works together as partners, but whatev.) And I was thinking-wouldn’t Clark have to take off his ring every time he switched to Superman? That’s taking a big risk that he’d forget. So I don’t think it’s a secret in the future that Clark and Lois are married, but that with all the double life they just have to be careful and keep it separate.
Yeah it’s possible they just don’t rings after a certain point.
I thought it was a solid episode but Welling and Durance keep me captivated I don’t know what it is but their scenes together bring me joy when watching Smallville. I saw the Tess being a Luthor thing way back in the premiere so wasn’t really surprised by it but it was nice to see Darkseid’s harbingers. All in all, kudos to Welling and Durance they shine in every episode together; even in this episode where they had limited scenes together, hopefully we’ll see more interactions between the duo in the coming episodes. PS: The scene in the fortress with Clark and his parents, it was like I was watching Superman on my screen, Tom Welling is Superman, that scene was great and nicely shot.
This is the first time I’ve ever watched Smallville all in due to the lovely and charming Ms. Teri Hatcher being a guest star, and might I say she did a wonderful job as the deceased mother of Lois Lane; her video is every mothers worst nightmare, I to lost my mother at a young age so I felt the connection to the scene between Lois and Ella, Smallville did it justice and I am very proud of Teri in keeping the Superman tradition alive, she’s my Lois Lane till I die. But I did end up watching the entire episode even after Teri had finished her part and I will admit I liked it of course I do not understand anything that was going on but the leads of the show are quite charming, the last scene between Smallville’s version of Lois and Clark was utterly adorable, loved the spark they had and they both genuinely love each other, that’s Lois and Clark to me and Tom who plays Clark is so beautiful I loved how giddy he played Clark when pulled out the ring that’s a man in love and oh did it remind me of my Lois and Clark (Dean and Teri) whom I miss very much, but Tom and Erica playing the younger versions of Lois and Clark was beautiful to see, I think I might have to watch Smallville from the start just to see Tom and Erica when they were young Clark and Lois. Okay I think I’ve written a long essay here so I will stop but thank you to the Smallville producers for allowing Teri to come on board very nice gesture to recognize the past. It was nice to see Teri and her trademark Lois look.
Glad to hear that you enjoyed it. Although just a heads up Clark and Lois start up in Season 4… Lois wasn’t in the first 3 seasons. But I agree Teri was great, she’s a doll for making a cameo.
Janet, glad that you watched, now you can really enjoy it even better if you would rent some of at least this seasons’ previous episodes, and bone up on what’s happening. This show is amazing, and you just would be a amazed at what a great show this is.
unfortunately the first four seasons are quite stale, and I really didn’t start enjoying it until season 7ish. Season 9 was fantastic but so far Season 10 has stolen and run off with the cake
I’ve loved the show since day one, so of course I’d recommend watching the whole thing. You can see all the connections, foreshadowing, and character traits planted in those first few seasons that played out over the rest of the series. It’s pretty awesome!