The Kents learn that Virgil Swann (Christopher Reeve) has passed, just as Clark (Tom Welling) receives a package from him. It’s another of those Kryptonian stones, so it’s back to the caves, where Jor-El (Terrence Stamp) informs Clark that he has three stones to recover, they hold the knowledge of all of Krypton, with the Earth’s safety hanging in the balance.

This is Sacred. Written by Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson, it first aired on 23 February, 2005.

Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) and Jason (Jensen Ackles) are in Shanghai following the map hidden in the ancient manuscript. Lionel (John Glover) reveals all this to Lana (Kristin Kreuk), one more secret Jason has been keeping.

Oh, and that map, it’s going to lead to one of the other Kryptonian stones that Clark needs. So that means both Clark and Lana are on their way to China! Which may be a good thing, because Lex and Jason end up being caught and tortured by Chinese security.

So Lana and Clark are off on a treasure hunt. But what happens should they find it? Things will get complicated before then as Lana finds herself repossessed by the witch, Isobel, and goes hunting for the stone on her own.

Clark is able to free Lex and Jason, but what happens when he catches up with Isobel/Lana and she’s already found it? Combat – obviously influenced by The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Happily Clark wins the day, but the stone is gone. Or is it? Jason has it… and instead of giving it to his mother, he gives it to Lana.

For not being shot in China, the production makes nice use of locations, lighting, some VFX and sets to create the reality, though you can’t hide the fact that it rains a lot in Vancouver.

Hanging over it all, is Clark’s future. Not only who he will become, but also what is going to do for schooling next year after graduation? And how much is he being manipulated and/or guided? Things are definitely in flux in his life.

Lucy was written by Neil Sadhu and Daniel Sulzberg from a story by Sadhu. It was first broadcast on 2 March, 2005.

The series introduces us to another canon character, Lucy Lane (Peyton List) who shows up at the Kent farm, hoping for a place to stay. And let’s be clear, she’s trying to find a place to hide. It seems she’s made some bad moves, and owes some money to some Swiss loan sharks led by Marcus Becker (Peter Wingfield) – this allows for a James Bond-esque ski sequence to open the episode.

Lois (Erica Durance) is a little anxious about her sister showing up out of the blue. Will she and Clark be able to help her out? There’s also some fun chemistry between Lucy and Clark, which puts Lois on the jealous back foot.

It’s also revealed that Lex has had some dealings with Becker.

And that stone that was so hard to recover last episode, it’s gone missing. So who has it? Lex? Lionel? or Lana?

The season arc takes back seat to this fairly fun episode, and the introduction of Lucy adds a fun new dynamic to the Lois and Clark relationship. And the character reveals put some delightful twists on things.