Season 10, Episode 13: Beacon

"Beacon"

Episode 13

Air Date: February 11th, 2011

Thankfully, Collateral seems like it was an unfortunate misstep this season (seriously, what the hell!? -_-) as Beacon brings the show back to its hopeful building up of Clark's final steps toward Superman by delivering an inspiring, thrilling episode where Lione Luthor of the mirror world finally makes his presence known while Martha also returns to repeal the VRA and Alexander resurfaces to make his move on Clark.  Having the tremendously talented John Glover back is just a breath of fresh air after last episode's terribly awful taste left in your mouth.  While it's a highly questionable how he stole Luthorcorp and Queen Industries from underneath Tess and Oliver, Lionel sure makes it convincing based on Glover's glorious smugness and delicious menace as he confronts Tess at the very beginning of the episode to deliver the news as well as demand where Alexander is. I love how the writers are bringing back the terrifying Luthor clan back together as not only does John Glover knock every scene out of the park per usual, but Lucas Graberal who returns as a teenage Alexander is equally scary and downright sinister.  I makes sense that Lionel would want to recruit that last remnants of his son and use him to rebuild the Luthor name and dynasty.  I especially loved the scene of Oliver walking in on Alexander's tux fitting while Lionel gleefully rubs in his face not only taking away his company but killing his parents in his world too. Ha! Jesus, Glover plays the villain so hilariously well that scenes with such tension in them are given such effortless comic relief.  I especially loved when Martha confronted Lionel and Alexander at the Luthor mansion as when Martha is trying to intimate Lionel, he just blurts out "I find you very attractive Martha!" OMG! Brilliant!

Speaking of Mrs. K, it's always been great to see Annette O' Toole and the writers have been making sure to make her returns to show essential to the story as well as Clark's final steps toward becoming Superman as of late.  I loved her pro-vigilante rally speech as well as her incredible strength and conviction in helping Clark not lose hope by doing whatever she can to make the world embrace heroes more than ever so one day he can reveal his face to world.....oh boy, we're so close! :_)  I also enjoyed the immediate scene after Clark visits Martha at the hospital after her shocking off screen assassination attempt when Chloe arrives to catch up with Martha as well.  It's a beyond welcomed one with both women realizing how much Clark has grown and doesn't need them to protect him anymore as he's growing closer into the superhero the world desperately needs. Considering this is the last season, I'm glad the writers are acknowledging this as Clark needs to be way more solo now as he makes the final decisions to be the beacon of hope to inspired the world.  Yeah, cheesy, but this is the kind of Superman we all know and love. He's suppose to be a brighter, lighter hero than most unlike Batman's dark, fearful persona. It's important for the last season to emphasize this and the writers are doing a sensational job of ramping up the true undeniable spirit of the Superman comics. :)

Not to be overlooked is Lois rallying the troops aka Chloe to find more support for Clark in hopes of overturning the VRA.  I really loved this storyline, especially Lois and Chloe managing to get hundreds of thousands of pro-hero supporters to make online messages to the Blur about his importance to their city.  Yeah, once again, it's all very cheesy but very much in the spirit of Superman and it's always a highlight of the series when Clark sees first hand just how much his presence truly brings out the best in humanity. He's an American hero alright Lois! :_)  With the show drawing to close, we continue to see set staples getting destroyed, this time the Luthor mansion when Alexander burns it down; leaving Clark to save both his Martha and Lionel.  Gotta love how Clark doesn't want to save him but his mom is like "Go."  At least he through Lionel on the ground like trash. Ha! Bye bye Luthor mansion! :(  Between Martha teasing Lionel before telling him to "stay away from Clark" to the VRA repeal scene where Clark and Martha talk about his Clark Kent disguise after seeing himself in the future, Beacon is a stunning episode that brings home the best of the Superman mythos in terms of establishing the world's faith in heroes again but also pushing the story forward again with great storytelling, especially when it seems young Alexander is becoming indestructible??? O_O *GASP* Could this clone be another young DC comic hero??? Find out! :)

Final Kryptonite: A+