Season 7, Episode 10: Persona

"Persona"

Episode 10

Air Date: January 31st, 2008

Well, it doesn't get more eventful when not only one but TWO Superman villains team-up with some scheme to benefit both of their goals....but unfortunately, Persona isn't just the welcoming return of menacing Brianiac as Bizarro tracks him down for help in fully keeping Clark's life now that he is supposedly gone! No, it's also the final nail in the coffin that should have been buried with the meteor shower at the end of Season 4.  It's almost comical how naive and dense this girl is....yet again clearly, the writers are maybe trying to tell us the supposed love of Clark's life isn't exactly his one true love after all??!! *GASP* You're kidding!??? O_O Why?? Because it takes Chloe a mere few minutes to realize that Clark ISN'T Clark while Lana sleeps with (Yes, with another one of Clark's enemies! :), has breakfast with him and lives so blissfully on the farm.....for OVER A MONTH, yet she can't put the pieces together this ain't the guy supposedly have loved for YEARS!!! Yes, it is clear that Lana is not only meant for Clark but a complete idiot......hmmmmm, maybe THAT'S why they love each other so much when it isn't meant to be!? O_O :)  NOW it all makes sense.  The two best moments are without a doubt Lana trying to convince that it's not Clark, but CHLOE who is acting weird, says Clark is absolutely fine and tells Chloe (someone who has known Clark a lot longer with his secret and as friend no less! -_-) that she probably doesn't know him as well as she thinks! Mind you, Clark wants to just up and leave Smallville with Lana and DIDN'T even tell Chloe that they're leaving but that isn't even enough to spark in her mind that Clark is acting highly unusual, even if they have been having the month of a lifetime! I just......HA!!! 

Then when Clark is finally freed by Jor-El (Only to stop the Phantom I might add! LOL!), he has to hear from Lana herself more than ONCE that she not only slept with his evil double that was literally a trapped convict in an intergalactic prison, that she's NEVER been happier with Clark than with his poor imitation! HAHAHAHAHAH!!! And you know what??? I won't even wait until my next review.  He takes her back and wants to continue the relationship! Our Superman everyone! Now I'm beginning to understand why Lana was written out of the show like she was next season! Poor Tom and especially Kristin having their characters look so pathetically forced together like this for a relationship is clearly non-existent except for the fact the showrunners clearly wanted Clark to always be with her because they couldn't!!! -_- Ewww moving on! Of course, Bizarro has fallen for Lana (Lex, Bizarro....maybe even Zod, no one is immune to the power of Lang Vag apparently! -_-) and his only motivation for trying to cloak himself permanently is to be with his beloved Lana.  ........Ohhhhhhhh hit me with an meteor, Smallville Gods! *Tears of excruciating pain!* Luckily, James Masters isn't hindered by the rest of the script's constant contrivances as Brainiac returns weakened but managing to outsmart both Bizarro and Clark into leading him to the one Kryptonian on Earth who can fix his damaged state.  Funny how there are always a Kryptonian somewhere on Earth or arriving on Earth, taking away the importance of the whole Last Son of Krypton monkier from Clark but then again, one makes you wonder why Kryptonians never just wanted Earth to be their new home considering their yellow suns turns them into alien Gods but whatever! O_o

Dax-Ur, the mysterious Kryptonian with that weird metallic beacon Clark and Kara found in Fierce, leads Clark to him and is played by non-other than the 1978 classic Superman's Jimmy Olsen aka Mark McClure.  Who has an interesting backstory that leaves some very spotty continuity issues but it's the least of this scripts problems. Thanks to Dax-Ur, Clark can now use blue kryptonite to destroy Bizarro, since the opposite reaction will happen to him aka make him so damn powerful that'll overload and explode.  I love it how Brainiac orchestrated this by taking the form of Lionel.  I literally forgot about that twist and was wondering why he was acting so nonchalant when Clark confronted him.  Like I said, the Brainiac portion of the episode was truly excellent! :( But this episode isn't just about Braniac's machinations for rejuvenating or the once again queezy love triangle between Clark, Lana and a future Superman villain.  It's also Lex once again veering heavily into the land of darkness and insanity as when Gabriel decides to have a relationship with Lionel, he actually sets up a mugging to murder him! Honestly, it's so brutal and shocking; making any form of redemption for Lex now impossible.  While his reaction killing his brother's clone is over the top (Very Shawshank much??? O_o), scenes like when his father confronts him about doing so are still remarkable.  The writers still know how to write these characters, not to mention the actors playing off each other with the ease and awesomeness you'd expect from characters they've played going on 7 years at this point.  I honestly felt heartbroken for Lionel tending to his bloody dead son knowing full well Lex has finally crossed a line of no return.  Incredible! :) 

So Persona isn't as giant of a mess as I made it out to be.  Sure there's A LOT to dislike as the Clana Saga continues to spiral into Suckville and Bizarro ending up as some pathetic lovesick Lana boy right before he's destroyed is something absolutely didn't need to happen! -_-  But the mystery behind Dax-Ur, Brainiac's stunning return and the gritty violence of Julian's death to end that arc as well as bring Lex down a much more sinister path again is definitely worth the watch. :)

Final Kryptonian: C+