Season 10, Episode 19: Dominion

"Dominion"

Episode 19

Air Date: April 29th, 2011

Well, I'm glad we are at least getting back to the Darkseid of things (:P) and moving that story along.  With only the penultimate episode and two part series finale left, Dominion needed to remind us that even tho Darkseid's minions have been defeat, the immense threat of his corruption of Earth is still growing and Clark needs to lead the charge in the final fight to stop him.  I was wondering when Slade would make his way back to Earth after Clark sent him to the Phantom Zone in Icarus and I'm glad the writers followed up on that here.  Everytime an episode has centered around the Phantom Zone is usually a guaranteed win and Dominion is no exception.  I loved seeing Clark so Supermanly and ready to go to the Zone solo to investigate but Oliver returning to tag along for the ride despite Clark's wishes.  It made for some great antagonism, especially when the two have to work together to face what exactly set Slade free from the intergalactic prison.  Considering he was such an exceptional villain last season, bringing back Zod as the unforeseen ruler of the Phantom Zone now was such a stellar idea, especially considering he has a beard now and all! :)  Another surprising fitting twist was the fact that when confronted by Zod (with a snake ridden thrown, YIKES! But so badass! :), he reveals he's a merged version of the original Phantom Zod and the clone that was sent there as punishment because of betraying the Kandorians.  It honestly works better than you'd think and gives the animosity between Clark and Zod some more stakes since he is facing the two versions of one of his greatest enemies in one.  Neat! :)

Callum Blue hasn't missed a single beat since we last saw Zod and gives a brilliant performance as usual.  Even without his powers, Zod is still a threat not to be taken lightly at all, especially winning over the prisoners of the Zone and forcing them into brutal gladiatorial matches for his own amusement.  But what also makes the story more substantial to the current season's storyline is seeing skulls of dozens of dead Zoners marked with the Omega symbol.  I love how the writers use this as an opportunity to make Darkseid an intergalactic threat that is far reaching and not just Earth's biggest problem right now.  It's awesome seeing that Darkseid has corrupted other beings as well as other worlds, making his presence as a villain far more intimidating in the process.  I love how he apparently went to Zod to lure Clark into a trap to leave Earth vulnerable for his continued takeover of it.  It would make sense since Clark has been his greatest opposition to his plans and promising Zod dominion over the Zone in exchange for the future Superman as he plans to corrupt the galaxy gives this storyline even grander stakes that a final season should give. 

The gladiator matches were pretty well choreographed and well directed (Justin Hartley's directorial debut I might add ;), even if this is clearly the Smallville writers and production once again capitalizing on the popularity of another well known film or series aka Starz's Spartacus at the time.  Slow motion shots and all! O_o  But if you ignore that glaring overused camera/editing trick that was popularized by 300, it's really incredible seeing Clark and Oliver in action, first when Clark is able to beat one of the fighters in the first match, showing he has come a LONG way to be able to handle himself so well without his powers. :)  Then you have the second match where Zod manipulates Oliver into facing off against Clark.  Once again, Callum is a delightful devil on the shoulder that steals the show as he reveals he knows about Oliver being marked and tempts him with an offer to join him in ruling the Zone by embracing Darkseid's corruption of him.  It's good to see the writers bringing back that shocking twist and building on it.  It did seem that Oliver may have in fact given into darkness building inside in him, especially the edge of your seat moment when he stabs Clark through the chest. Holy!!! O_O  But it turned out to be elaborate plan by Clark with Oliver following suit as they are able to retrieve the House of El crystal to make it out of the zone.  I love how the story ends with Zod trapped in the Zone with two prisoners by his side....almost as if they are setting up his return of Superman II! Ha! What a clever set-up by the writers, especially the visual of the mirror prism flying through space. :)

While all that was awesome and thrilling, the Lois/Tess side of the story took an even more unexpected turn that was kinda out of character for Lois.  As she finds out Clark told Tess to detonate the phantom zone crystal by a certain time so no other Phantoms can escape, Lois takes matters into her own hands literally by pulling out a gun on Tess to keep the gate open.  Honestly, I understand Lois' hostility and drastic action to save the love of her life but you would think she would be informed of all of this as Clark should have told her.  So in the end, her extreme measures ended up saving Clark and Oliver but Lois should know that Clark would do anything to protect the world, even if it means sacrificing himself to do so.  Maybe she's not ready to except Clark's greater destiny yet and be what Superman will need??? Sure explains the complete insanity of a 180 she pulls during the penultimate episode of the series.  Also, Oliver seems to be on a new mission to find something called the Bow of Orion which maybe the only weapon on Earth that can send Darkseid packing.  It's INCREDIBLY late in the game for this Deus Ex Machina being dropped on us but it does tie up some loose ends with the whole Veritas nonsense as the writers try their hardest to make past stories connect together overall.  Gotta admire their desire to make the show as coherent as possible from start to finish but sorry guys, plotholes and retcons are still mostly there! :P  All and All, Dominion is a fascinating,  ferocious hour of blood, brawls and potential betrayal as the writers bring back an superbly done previous villain to build on the main storyline with this season's Big Bad!  Only 3 more episodes left! *Sniff Sniff*

Final Kryptonite: A-