Lionel Luthor (John Glover) finds himself in a game of life-and-death when a masked perpetrator traps him in riddles and puzzles. Is it someone from Lionel’s past? He initially suspects Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) but who is it really?

Mercy was written by Steven S. DeKnight and it debuted on 20 April, 2006.

Lionel tries to figure things out, and soon finds himself trying to help and work with Martha (Annette O’Toole) when she gets pulled into things as well.

Sounds like a bit of a riff on Saw to me. Seems like a few episodes this season are riffing on horror film franchises. Heck, the hooded and masked tormentor even says he wants to play another game.

Meanwhile, Clark (Tom Welling) reveals to his mom that Lionel has somehow figured out his secret. Could the person who was blackmailing Martha with the video of Clark be the same person toying with Lionel now?

We also see Lex and Lana (Kristin Kreuk) dance around last week’s kiss. While they figure out what to do, Clark, Chloe (Allison Mack) and Lex try to track down Lionel and Martha. Is there a possibility of restoring their friendship? Will they find Martha and Lionel before they meet their demise? And what will they all learn about one another?

As much as I enjoy John Glover and Annette O’Toole, and I do, this one just seems to be another homage episode that takes now super-saturated horror tropes and adapts them to the DC television universe.

This one is pretty standard fare, elevated by Glover and O’Toole’s performance.

The only thing that seems really interesting is that something strange happens to Lionel at the end of the episode and he struggles to write something down as the credits roll.

Fade was written by Turi Meyer and Alfredo Septien. It was first broadcast on 27 April, 2006. And this one riffs on Invisible Man/Hollow Man.

After Clark saves the life of Graham Garrett (Alex Scarlis), a hitman with the ability to turn himself invisible, Garrett is determined to return the favour by killing Lex so that Clark will have the opportunity to win Lana back.

Lois (Erica Durance) makes a welcome appearance, still serving as Martha’s chief of staff, and enjoying a number of gifts that Garrett has sent Clark’s way.

There’s also a little more on the Lex/Lana front, not just the growing romance (which Clark witnesses), but also the hunt for Milton Fine (James Marsters) so we know that will pay off in two episodes (the season finale).

How close will Garrett get to taking Lex out? Garrett is determined to make this happen for Clark, and is insinuating himself into almost every aspect of Clark’s life, and actually gets a date with Lois!

I feel this one is stronger than Mercy, at least character-wise and moving things forward. You know this is going to toughen up the growing relationship between Lex and Lana no matter how things play out.

Still not a fan of that choice, but it is what it is.

Let’s see how things ramp up next week when we hit the penultimate and final episodes of Season Five.