There is a three page write up about this episode in the January 23-29, 2006 issue of TV Guide. The artical, (pages 31-33) doesn't say who will die but they feel that Lana, Lex and Lois will survive and that Martha, Jonathan and Chloe are good bets. Theres also a Smallville A to Z and yet another artical on page 77 about the upcoming death on this show and the deaths of major players on past show including:

Lt. Col. Henry Black of "MASH"
Bobby Ewing of "DALLAS"
Gary Shepherd of "thirtysomething"
Jadzia Dax of "Star Trek Deep Space Nine"
Nate Fisher of "Six Feet Under" and
Kate Todd of "NCIS".

My guess would be Chloe.

WOW! I can't believe they killed Johnathon Kent off!

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously though, I predicted the basic plot outline for this episode, as far as Lana was concerned (including Clark's revelation of his secret to her, Lana's subsequent death, and some sort of time reset bringing Lana back to life). However, I didn't expect Jonathan Kent to die, at least not in this episode, or this season.

Questions:

1. Will Lex somehow take Jonathan's place as Kansas' new Senator-elect?

2. Why did Clark allow Lana to leave the election night party the second time around, knowing that she was going to see Lex and might very well end up on that same road at that same time?

3. What might have been shown in that photograph/document that Lionel Luthor showed Jonathan?

4. How come Lex didn't have an election night party? Wasn't the election supposed to be close?

5. Did Clark even try to get Jonathan to an emergency room immediately after he collapsed?

6. How did Lionel Luthor slip away from the Kent barn without being noticed at least by Clark?


Observations:

1. Nice line by Chloe in responding cynically to Clark telling her that he spun back time (referencing "Superman: The Movie").

2. Clark seems to have developed a pretty good levitation ability (as seen in the Fortress of Solitude).

3. Clark can now crush a piece of coal in his hand and turn it into a diamond (also seen in "Superman III").

I didn't see Senator Jennings at the funeral. Some friend!

Or Pete Ross. Some friend!

TUE

TrekGrrl was crying at this, to the point that her mom and I thought she was hurt or angry (at us) about something!

Were Senator Jennings' indiscretions made public? (I don't recall if the episode in which he appeared made this point explicit.) If so, then he would not have wanted to be there, since it would've hurt Jonathan's image.

Pete Ross is pretty much out of Clark's life, for reasons he made clear in his final episode. There would've been no reason for him to have been there, even if he were particularly close to Jonathan, which I don't recall him being.

But hey, don't worry. Maybe John Byrne will show up in the next ep and bring Jonathan back to life!

Lana tells Clark she's approaching Loeb Bridge. This is a reference to Jeph Loeb, a writer for both the series and the comic books.

does anyone think that we will see what that picture was?

And was anyone really suprised when Loinel showed up to black mail Jonathan? I wasn't.

AND...
If anyone has seen the Superman Movie do you remember how Johnathan Kent died there?

If I recall it was almost the same way in Smallville, Pa Kent leaves the barn, falls to his knees ...dies.
exept for the scene with Loniel it was pretty much the same. Was this a homage to the movie?

This was the best episode of Smallville EVER.... for the first 20 minutes.

Then came the time travel.

Now, I'm mildly unimpressed.

First of all, Jonathan was going to die no matter what. The only reason he kicked it, or so it seemed, was that he over-exerted himself in his fight with Lionel. Well how long do you think he really had then?

Second, what are the odds that Lana would have spent EXACTLY the same amount of time at Lex's house the second time around. It actually seems like significantly less time

Third, Clark could have easily ended up with a dead Lana and a dead dad the second time through. His not telling her really proved nothing.

I mean, given how much trouble Lana gets into anyway, her having Clark's secret doesn't seem like such a big deal. It's not like Lex actually shot her or anything. It really was just a freak car accident.

If Kryptonians have time travel capabilities, why did their entire civilization die off? Jor-El could have gone back in time to either prevent it or save additional people.


I do believe that Lana learns Clark's secret in some variations of the Superman legend. I really believed that he was going to tell her. I was irritated that we're essentially back to square one minus Jonathan Kent.

Cute moment but minor irritant: Chloe jokes that Clark spun the Earth backward in order to turn back time, an obvious reference to Superman I. Nice reference, but that is almost universally regarded as the biggest copout ending in movie history. Jerry Seinfeld makes fun of it mercilessly. For Smallville to knowingly use the same device is just ridiculous.

Also, in Superman I, Jor-El tells Clark that it is forbidden for him to interfere with human history. I never really understood that line, but assuming Jor-El still believes it here, why would he provide the means for Clark to time travel?

It doesn't take a wizard to deduce that Lionel has probably figured out Clark's secret and that he showed Jonathan some evidence of this. I rather like this idea. Seems very appropriate to his character. He keeps the information for himself and then helps Jonathan gain power. He then has that up his sleeve to control a state senator. Very nice.

But that doesn't save most of the episode. This show tries my patience sometimes. I'm honestly glad that it's supposed to be ending this season. If it goes for a sixth, I don't think I can watch another year, but we'll see. When you compare this with Battlestar Galactica (my other current scifi obsession), there's just no comparison.

TUE

"It is forbidden for you to interfere in human history."

does anyone think that we will see what that picture was?

I think we will, since the episode made a point of showing Lionel retrieve the crumpled up photo before he slipped away.

If I recall it was almost the same way in Smallville, Pa Kent leaves the barn, falls to his knees ...dies.
exept for the scene with Loniel it was pretty much the same. Was this a homage to the movie?

Actually, in "Superman: The Movie", Jonathan Kent is near the road entrance to the Kent farm working on a combine/tractor piece of farm equipment when he sees that Clark has arrived home from school and is showing off to some classmates. Clark is showing off because he beat those classmates to his home despite not having a ride, while the classmates left school in a car, and despite having been left behind to clean the football team's practice equipment. Jonathan and Clark have a conversation about Clark's purpose in life, while both walk from the road entrance to the Kent farm along a path toward the barn and the house. Clark is cheered up, then jokingly challenges Jonathan to a race to the barn. Clark jogs ahead of Jonathan, while Jonathan takes a few steps and then stops. Jonathan grabs his left arm, becomes immediately aware that he is having a heart attack, and within a few seconds, he collapses face first into the dirt. Martha Kent at this time is sitting in a chair on the front porch of the Kent house. In the scene, Jonathan is never in or leaving the barn, and the scene takes place on a sunny Fall afternoon.

Biggy: Lana tells Clark she's approaching Loeb Bridge. This is a reference to Jeph Loeb, a writer for both the series and the comic books.
Luigi Novi: Yeah, I hear Loeb Bridge is just a mile past Siegel Road, and four miles east of Schuster Lake. Interestingly, I hear the bridge byrned down, so they had to start again from scratch.

The undisreable element:

What is so "tring" about Smallville? I happen to think its a great show! If you don't like it, you don't have to watch it. I don't understand why someone would continue to watch a show they don't like. Just so they can come on here and post how much they don't like it? Go back to watching Battlestar Galactia and be happy.

He didn't say that he didn't like the show; only that he didn't like most of this particular episode, and the the show "tries his patience sometimes." I like the show, but there are some aspects of it that I don't like either. Liking a show doesn't mean liking 100% of it.

TUE: For Smallville to knowingly use the same device is just ridiculous.
Because nothing is ever ridiculous about "Smallville".

Sorry Ryan Whitney, it's been quite a few years since I saw the movie and my memory of it is a bit fuzzy.
Thank you for letting me in on the details.

Mr. Crusher: Luigi hit it pretty much on the head. This is still one of my favorite shows. I wouldn't watch it otherwise; however, at this point, individual epiodes are getting pretty repetitive. I'm still really interested in how the overall plot turns out. Sometimes it just feels like the creators are just padding out the story to keep us around for five years. I'm getting a bit impatient. They keep resetting things when I just want them to move forward and do something new. If I didn't care about the show so much, I wouldn't be so upset about it. Grar.

Thought on Superman I:
When Jonathan dies in Superman I, he kinda acts like he knows exactly what's happening. It's a very odd reaction. One gets the impression that the guy knew more about his impending death than he let on. Obviously this was not the case. We're probably just supposed to take his death at face value. But one could almost read into this a bit. Jonathan made a deal with Jor-El in the movie world as well and realizes that his time is up.

Or maybe I've lost my mind on this one.

TUE

"Oh no."

Mr. Crusher: Luigi hit it pretty much on the head. This is still one of my favorite shows. I wouldn't watch it otherwise; however, at this point, individual epiodes are getting pretty repetitive. I'm still really interested in how the overall plot turns out. Sometimes it just feels like the creators are just padding out the story to keep us around for five years. I'm getting a bit impatient. They keep resetting things when I just want them to move forward and do something new. If I didn't care about the show so much, I wouldn't be so upset about it. Grar.

Sometimes characters on "Smallville" do seem developmentally stuck in the mud, but at least the show has moved beyond the "meteor freak of the week" format.

Thought on Superman I:
When Jonathan dies in Superman I, he kinda acts like he knows exactly what's happening. It's a very odd reaction. One gets the impression that the guy knew more about his impending death than he let on. Obviously this was not the case. We're probably just supposed to take his death at face value. But one could almost read into this a bit. Jonathan made a deal with Jor-El in the movie world as well and realizes that his time is up.

Jonathan could tell that he was having a heart attack and was probably going to die, but I doubt it had anything to do with paying up on a prior deal with Jor-El. In the movie, Jor-El first introduces himself to Clark on Earth after Clark creates the Fortress of Solitude, which occurs after Jonathan dies.

Smallville doesn't go by what the movie did. The fact, as you pointed out, is that Clark has already "met" Jor-El in Smallville before his dad died. He has already met Lois Lane and Perry White too. You can't expect everything to go along with the movies or the comics.

TUE: When Jonathan dies in Superman I, he kinda acts like he knows exactly what's happening. It's a very odd reaction. One gets the impression that the guy knew more about his impending death than he let on.
Luigi Novi: Actually, TUE, it's because he had a pre-existing heart condition, which, IIRC, Martha mentioned to him when they first found the baby Clark. He had probably had a more minor heart attack before, and knew immediately what the signs of the onset of one were.

When Clark makes the ring for Lana, his heat vision appears red.