Season 7, Episode 20: Arctic

"Arctic"

Episode 20

Air Date: May 15th, 2008

Well, this finale was 7 years in the making as it's more of a culmination of Lex's journey on the show as the writers wrap up his story until setting things up between Superman and Lex in the series finale.  I'm not gonna lie, compared to the finale's of the past, Arctic is very light for series finale.  There isn't any real apocalyptic threat looming until the final moments but rather the final moments itself that make the episode worth watching if you've been following the series for 7 years so far.  Finally, Lex finds out the truth about Clark, a secret he has been after since the Pilot episode and not only does he find out the truth but fulfills his destiny of being Clark's greatest enemy by using the orb to finally defeat his opponent/former friend after their journey from best friends to greatest enemies. Of course, it doesn't make Clark look in the best light, but this season as a whole has been Clark at his lowest in terms of motivation and purpose.  Luckily, Lois decides to stop by the Kent Farm and give Clark an application for an internship at....the DAILY PLANET!??? O_O *Gasp!*  Of course, he'd rather stay on the farm than actually pursue an active career in journalism! :P  But considering Lex is the owner of the Planet now, I actually not surprised considering the last thing he'd want to do is work for Lex so.... At least the set-up for next season was a nice moment here! Thank God for Season 8! *genuflects with tears of joy*

Meanwhile,  Kara is on a shocking one woman mission that leads to her killing Edward Teague and trying to steal the orb from Lex's mansion.  After a brutal confrontation between her and Clark in the barn that sends him flying, Kara heads back to the mansion to confront Lex in probably my favorite scene outside Lois with the application for Clark and the final scene between the two comic rivals.  Laura Vandervoort may have been seriously shafted this season in terms of a character, let alone an arc but her performance as "Kara" is very menacing and nuanced! I'm so surprised she pulled it off and if she's capable of giving this kind of performance it makes the fact that Smallville's version of Kara was kind a big fat failure this season more than before! -_- I love how she manipulates Lex yet makes him realize the truth all along that was fight in front of his face for the past 7 years.  But while Lex prepares to go to the Arctic himself, Clark and Chloe must deal with Kara who finally reveals herself to be really Brainiac all along....uhhh DUH!!! Tho it was terrifying knowing Chloe was done for when the kryptonite clearly wouldn't work and Brainiac just toys with her before doing his machine lobotomy thing!  In a surprising twist tho, Chloe's healing power somehow drains him of his energy; leaving her catatonic but him desperately needing electricity to power him again.  Clark, for once, quickly figures it out and immediately confronts Brainiac in an awesome SFX sequence.  Tho his defeat left A LOT to be desired...but old Brainy ain't done yet! ;)  Oh and Kara is actually in the Phantom Zone as Brainy trapped her before turning into her to go with Clark. Yup! That's the end of Kara's journey this season.......sigh.......

But as finale's go, just because Brainiac is gone, doesn't mean impending doom isn't around the corner as Lex goes back on his word of protecting Chloe from being arrested by domestic security and she is carried away to federal prison just after Jimmy popped the question! YIKES!!! Poor Jimmy! Poor Chloe! But unfortunately, Clark doesn't have time to save her as he must confront Lex as he makes it to the Fortress to witness the horror of him finding out the truth about him.  Like I said, it is a 7 years in the making moment with Lex confronting Clark as his enemy and using the orb to officially defeat him.  I mean Clark is just so pathetic here, letting things get this far and the moment the Fortress falls apart as Lex holds him is just painfully surreal.  I always liked how Lex hated it a bit by saying "I love like a brother Clark, but it has to end this way".  So sad how even in the end, Lex still saw Clark as his brother but knowing the fate of the world comes first ironically.  HA! So now here we are! The end of Season 7 and thank god for it.  So much to say in my overview.  

Final Kryptonite: B-