The episode starts with the in-flight execution of Edward Teague (Robert Picardo). The last member of the Veritas secret society sits nervously sipping a drink on an empty private jet. Cut to Kara walking into the cabin, donning a sexy flight attendant uniform, and subsequently scaring the crap out of Teague. Pissed-off Kara punches a hole through the airplane and extorts information on the whereabouts of the device that can control The Traveler (Lex has it). Kara takes off and lets Teague's plane crash. Bye, bye secret society.

Much of the same back in Smallville and at the Daily Planet. Lex Luthor wants to make Jimmy Olsen his bitch-boy because he got Jimmy's girl Chloe Sullivan out of lock-up for that whole terrorist imbroglio. Note to Chloe, don't hack into government files if you don't want to get arrested. So now Jimmy has to lie (gasp) to his pal Lois Lane, or Lex will tell National Security that Chloe is a terrorist and it's back to the pokey for her.

Lois is jazzed that Chloe's firing opened up a spot for Clark Kent at the Daily Planet. She even brings him an application. Yay, more Lois-and-Clark time. But Clark will have to get over his whole petty "I'd never work for Lex Luthor" attitude first. We all know it will happen. Chloe ruins this moment by taking Clark to her secret computer lair, where she reveals that Teague is dead. Together they figure out that Kara is the one that destroyed Teague's plane and now they're both scared because Kara has gone crazy and is killing people. Clark then heads to Lex's mansion to intercept Kara and scold her for being a murderer. Kara protests her actions are only aimed at saving Clark and humanity. Because whoever controls the device controls Clark, and they can turn him into a weapon. Lies! She later teams up with Lex saying she wants to destroy the Traveler too, and tells Lex he needs to go to The Fortress of Solitude to use the Veritas orb.

Jimmy meets up with Lois and plants Lex's seeds of deception in the worst acted scene ever. I get it, you're so moral, Jimmy, lying is hard for you, we don't need to see you physically in pain while lying. Then of course, Jimmy tells Lex this will be the last time.

Meanwhile Chloe tries to stop Kara with a bit o' kryptonite. But it's not Kara and she shape-shifts to reveal that she's actually Brainiac. He zaps her brain the same way he zapped Lana's, but Chloe's not the same as Lana, because she was affected by the meteor as well. Chloe falls into a coma and Brainiac is weakened by Chloe's secret powers.

Clark is pissed that all of his friends are now in comas thanks to Brainiac, and confronts him. Brainiac admits he's done something terrible to Kara and won't tell Clark where she is, and on top of it all he mocks Clark for being weak. In response Clark kills Brainiac with a power cable, thus freeing Lana and Chloe from their comas.

Lana awakens and bolts the hospital before Clark can get there, leaving a sad DVD message that they just can't be together, and the world needs Clark more. Clark cries about Lana, again. I may have a gigantic girl crush on Lana, but I'm glad they decided to end this going-nowhere relationship. Wake me when Clark takes that job at the Planet.

Now that Chloe is awake Jimmy realizes he can't live with out her and gets down on one knee. But as with everyone else in Smallville, happiness in a relationship is unacceptable so the government barges in, ruins the romantic moment and hauls Chloe off to jail again. Lex, you evil, bald genius — kill as many people as you want, but interrupting a proposal? Your heart is a cinder. The moment did give Jimmy the chance to deliver one last terrible line for the season stating that Chloe went from, "life support to life without parole in less than a day." With all the drama surrounding Chloe's return I wonder if the writers threw her back in prison just in case they couldn't reach a contract agreement.

Jump to the Fortress of Solitude when a not-so-surprised Lex sees Clark for who he really is. After a quick back and forth about how they used to love each other and the overall betrayal between the two, Lex goes ahead and inserts the control orb from the Veritas. In Lex's defense he does firmly believe that Clark will destroy humanity and this is his birthright. This causes Clark to buckle and the fortress to start crumbling from above. Large, horribly animated crystals start to fall on Lex and Clark. Lex holds Clark, looks into his eyes and says, "I love you like a brother Clark but it has to end this way."

And finally where exactly has Brainiac hidden dear Kara? Turns out he's shoved her in a Phantom Zone and she is floating through space trapped.

Boo, what does the device do exactly? I want to see Clark as Lex's robot. I'm not too worried about Lana being gone as Clark is not meant for her anyways. It should be interesting to see how Smallville uses Lana and Lex, now that they won't be around as much.

Two new villains are stepping up to take the place as the antagonist in Smallville. Expect to see the DC Comics' character Doomsday (notorious for slaying Superman) along with an unknown female baddie. But this may not be the last you hear from Luthor. Although he's no longer a series regular, producers of Smallville released a statement that hinted at a few cameos later in the year saying, "He is one of the best actors on television and has never failed to bring a new layer to the character of Lex Luthor in every episode. While Michael won't be a series regular and we won't have the pleasure of working with him on a weekly basis this fall, we like to think that we haven't seen the last of Lex Luthor."

But the real question is, now that Doomsday is coming to the show are they going to try and kill Superman only to bring him back as four other versions of Superman, like in the comics? Or will young Clark Kent kick Doomsday's ass? [Hollywood Reporter]

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In response to rumors about DC instituting a new zero-tolerance policy for creators who break deadlines, DiDio dropped his usual huckster persona to talk about the problems that the company faces with late books. Admitting that the "reality is, a lot of people can't meet the monthly schedule," he said that DC's aim was to make sure that books shipped in a timely manner:

We had a month where we didn't put any Superman books out because they were all late... In our minds, that was inexcusable.

Asked to "cut back on killing and maiming young heroes" in their comics, VP of Sales responded that "Sidekicks die!" should be the ad copy for upcoming comics. DiDio admitted that it was a concern, and said that they'd try to cease with the teenage torture. On a related topic, the panel all agreed that they didn't want to pull back on teenage suffering of the emotional type, with writer Judd Winick pointing out that "they can't all be happy, who the hell's gonna buy that?"

The amount of potential deaths was also a topic for discussion when it came down to DC's big summer series, Final Crisis. When asked if there would be a limit to the amount of deaths happening in that series, DiDio said that he couldn't promise anything, and announced the official tagline for the series for the first time: "It's the day evil wins." We also found out that "The Great Disaster" that's been the plot McGuffin of Countdown to Final Crisis will happen within the pages of Countdown (and may include a giant turtle version of Jimmy Olsen fighting New God Darkseid), and that the Final Crisis is something altogether different that may spell doom for the multiverse: "It's called Final Crisis for a reason," DiDio said.

Before that happens, fans can expect to see Power Girl go home to Earth-2 in the pages of Justice Society of America in a way that may lead to a future solo series for Superman's parallel-universe cousin. One of the reasons that the multiverse may be about to end again is that even the creators can't keep the various earths straight; when someone asked about Earth-13, no-one on the panel knew exactly what Earth that was. "I have a big white board - " DiDio started to explain, before Countdown editor Mike Carlin cut him off by saying "This is why we have charts."

New titles teased, besides the Batgirl series, were a new Lex Luthor miniseries focusing on his evil genius and technology, as well as a return of the 1990s Milestone characters (better known to most from the WB's Static Shock cartoon); asked about a possible return of those characters, everyone on the panel got very nervous as DiDio chose his words very carefully: "I think the Milestone characters are great," he said, "I think it'd be very exciting to see that creative strength in the DC Universe." Bob Wayne broke in, adding "It's a subject that takes more lawyers than fans to make happen."

The panel closed with DiDio telling everyone that the upcoming The Dark Knight and The New Frontier movies were projects that everyone at DC were very excited about, and inviting everyone to tonight's world premiere of the latter at the convention.

• Chloe's power is finally revealed: While we already knew Chloe was a meteor freak with some kind of magical healing tears, it wasn't really shown what she could actually do until this episode. She takes Jimmy's cut finger in her hand and makes the poor little boo-boo go all bye-bye with some sort of weird E.T. light-up hands. Her one tear could bring Lois back from the dead, but it takes a lot of effort just to seal up a one-inch cut? Give us a break.
• Grant Gabriel is a clone of Julian Luthor: We've also knew that Grant Gabriel was Lex's long-dead brother Julian for a few episodes, last Thursday was the first time it was revealed that he was actually a clone of Lex's brother, who died when he was 12 years old. Lex has been playing around in the cloning toybox and trying to bring his brother back. The first effort resulted in a clone who aged prematurely, but he seems to have it fine-tuned now. However, everyone seems to have forgotten about Lucas Luthor, Lex's other younger brother who he had hidden away several seasons ago. Counting last night's old clone, Julian, and Lucas, that gives Lex quite a family reunion to come home to. Of course, he put a bullet into old clone's chest, which will make it a bit awkward at future family meetings.
• Brainiac is on the way back: The last time we saw Milton Fine / Brainiac, he was reduced to a tiny bit of goo living in a glass vial. Last night Chloe told Clark that the fluid was evolving and getting smarter each time it tried to escape. It's liquid with a memory and a mission, but how the hell does Chloe come by this stuff? She can translate Kryptonian, hack military firewalls, and score top-secret lab reports. Too bad her talents are wasted in the basement of the Daily Planet. She could be a one-woman Geraldo.
• Clark is actually Bizarro: Clark returns from a two-week visit to the Fortress of Solitude and everything seems to be just hunky dory with the Young Adult of Steel. That is, until he hugs Lana near the end of the episode and we his shift turn angular and crystalline for the briefest of seconds, meaning he's the Bizarro version of Clark. Then we see what we imagine is the real Clark, trapped inside some kind of glass chamber back in the Fortress that looks like the device that took Supey's powers away in Superman II. So why the hell is Bizarro acting so nice and hugging folks? We'll have to wait until next year to find out.

• We were going to add "Clark finally flies!" to this list, but it turned out to be Bizarro-Clark shooting up that stairwell like a comet, so we'll still have to wait to see him take to the skies. At which point the show should instantly be canceled for violating its "No flights, no tights" rule. Then again, they should have put the brakes on this show back when it started to suck. Four seasons ago.

Famous names: John Byrne, Dick Giordano

Crunchy goodness: 3

Elevator pitch: It's just like regular Superman — only without Superbaby and the legion of Super pets.

Stunt casting: Batman puts in an appearance in one issue, but he and Superman aren't best friends. Instead, Superman mistrusts the shrouded vigilante, who resorts to becoming a suicide bomber to halt Superman in his tracks.

Most painfully dated moment: The Man Of Steel tries to flee the silliness of classic Superman so frantically, that it ends up looking old-school twenty years later.

Spinoffs/Sequels/Copycats: Byrne's reinvention of Superman helped to inspire the 1990s show Lois and Clark.

The Continuity Pages: Superman - John Byrne Era

Famous names: Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Jamie Grant

Crunchy goodness: 5

Elevator pitch: What if instead of Superman's supporting cast "grounding" him as usual, they catapulted him into a psychedelic supernova made of cheese?

The shit: Lex Luthor, in prison, lectures Clark Kent about his hatred of Superman, never realizing whom he's talking to. Luthor is vain, deluded, petty — and more magnetic than he's ever been.

Design breakthrough: Superman's trappings look alien and cool for the first time in years. His Fortress of Solitude is huge and over-the-top, containing the Titanic, a space-shuttle and a baby sun-eater. The headquarters of PROJECT is trippy and shiny. And Jimmy gets to wear a crazy iridescent rainbow coat. It's futuristic and colorful.

All Star Superman Review