The penultimate episode of season five sees Clark (Tom Welling) celebrating his birthday, and receiving a ghostly visit from Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) who tells him that to become the man he has to be, and to save the world, he has to kill Lionel Luthor (John Glover).
Oracle was written by Caroline Dries from a story by Neil Sadhu and Daniel Sulzberg.
Martha (Annette O’Toole) is dubious at first but of it really is Johnathan, and he is advocating for Lionel’s death, then he must pose a real threat not only to Clark, but to everyone. Things escalate when he appears to Martha as well.
Lois (Erica Durance) tries to chat with Lana (Kristin Kreuk) about her relationship with Lex (Michael Rosenbaum).
Speaking of Lex, he is becoming increasingly suspicious of Milton Fine (James Marsters), who he is, what he wants and what his plans are.
It will come as no surprise that what Clark and Marta are seeing isn’t Jonathan, but Fine transforming into Jonathan to manipulate events to push Clark into action. The real Jonathan would never demand that Clark kill anyone, and that’s how Clark is able to figure out Fine is not his father. And we’re setting things up for the season finale!
And what did Fine inject Lex with? and what has it done to him?
As the episode concludes, Lionel reveals that he’s been channelling someone/something, and shares all of that info with Clark, with the warning that Zod is coming…
This was much more in line with what I want from the series; serialized storytelling, big arcs, and a move away from the freak-of-the-week episodes and the horror homages that were happening this season.
Vessel is the season finale. So you know it’s going to be big, and the stakes will be high. Written by Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson this episode debuted on 11 May, 2006.
Something is moving through Smallville; it triggers Lex (probably thanks to that injection), and in the middle of a field, something arrives… Fine and the ship, to prepare him… Lana sees it all happen in horror… Lex is taken; Fine and the ship vanish with him, and on the ground, the mark of Zod.
Buckle up cause here we go!
Lois and Martha are on their way to Washington in one of Lionel’s planes, but it gets seized by Fine…
Clark goes to the Fortress and confers with Jor-El (Terrence Stamp), who tells him that Zod, while trapped in the Phantom Zone, can possess a human… and what if Lex is that human? Jor-El tells him he must kill the vessel, no matter who it is.
Whatever is happening is spreading out from Smallville; it’s reached Metropolis, it’s infecting computers, and things are looking pretty dire, as it spreads across North America and the world. There will be heartbreaking confrontations between Clark and Lana, choices for Clark, and a battle with Fine. But what will Clark do when it comes to Lex?
So much going on! Will Clark be able to save Lex’s life, even if it costs them their friendship once and for all? And will he be able to stop Fine?
Lex is taken over by Zod, Clark ends up in the Phantom Zone, Chloe (Allison Mack) and Lionel are attacked by rioting citizens, and Lana embraces a possessed Lex as the world burns and we race towards a To Be Continued!
So after a middling season, it seems like they were determined to end this one on a high-note, and it is that, I’ll be curious to see how it plays out next episode and if they can continue this intensity in the new season.
