It was a bit of a history lesson in SMALLVILLE. Some of the mysteries behind Davis’ (Sam Witwer) origins are cleared up, and now it seems certain where this season is headed. After the rash of aimless filler episodes of recent weeks, it’s good to see some direction again. Season eight is on the final stretch, and a showdown between Clark (Tom Welling) and Doomsday seems inevitable. The only question now is who is sitting in whose corner.
Since his introduction, we all knew that Clark and Davis were eventually going to have to duke it out. Davis is Doomsday after all, so that battle was never in question. But after a strong presence in the first half of the season, Davis abruptly dropped off the map after “Bride”. But a few episodes ago he started his comeback, and now Davis is back at full strength.
It’s a good direction for SMALLVILLE to go in. Witwer himself is a solid actor. He delivers his less than Shakespearean lines with confidence and believability. But more importantly, SMALLVILLE needed a focus. Since the whole Lana (Kristin Kreuk) thing (here I go harping on that again) SMALLVILLE as whole seemed to lack purpose. There was nothing of real interest to make me want to tune in to the next episode.
Let’s face it. Chloe (Allison Mack) and Jimmy’s (Aaron Ashmore) relationship wasn’t all that interesting. It certainly doesn’t have enough weight to carry an episode. Clark and Lois (Erica Durance) have some chemistry, but after the Lana sidestep that Clark took, bringing Clark and Lois back together would just seem too forced. Tess (Cassidy Freeman) and Oliver (Justin Hartley) work best as minor supporting characters. That leaves only one person worthy of elevating to main storyline status: Davis.
“Eternal” itself wasn’t a spectacular episode, but it does set up the final run nicely. The truth about Clark and Davis’ past is discovered by Tess through some old Luthor journals she discovers. She finds out that two beings landed in Smallville that fateful day, and that Clark is the reason that Davis ended up having such a horrible upbringing (well, one of the reasons. The fact that he was destined to be an instrument of doom doesn’t help either). Lionel Luthor searches the field looking for Clark, the savior, but instead finds Davis. Mistaking Davis as the savior he was looking for, the Lionel has him captured. Lionel soon figures out, however, that Davis was not the person he was looking for, and callously has Davis abandoned.
Flashing forward to present day, Davis, realizing that he is destined to kill Clark and destroy the world, asks Chloe to help him die. After some back and forth, Davis is finally doused in kryptonite, killing him. Except, of course, since he is Doomsday, he doesn’t die and instead comes back even stronger. In fact, he is pretty much immortal now. Not good news for Clark or planet Earth.
But SMALLVILLE keeps it interesting by having Davis go back to Chloe and asking her to stay with him. His rationale? “There’s something about being around you that seems to calm the murderer inside me,” he says (I know SMALLVILLE has never been known for its brilliant dialog, but seriously, that is one of the most absurd lines I’ve ever heard spoken on television. Kudos to Witwer and Mack for being able to perform that scene without bursting out in laughter). By the looks of it, Chloe decides to stay.
Some bad dialog, yes, but real story and character development keep this episode afloat. And for the first time in a while, there seems to be promise for the upcoming episodes. The Clark and Doomsday saga will pan out, have no doubt. With Doomsday becoming immortal, we’re talking about one epic battle sure to be full of carnage and destruction. There is one last issue that needs to be resolved: who will Clark fight Doomsday as? The Red/blue blur, or you know who? I have my hunches. In either case, the season finale is glimmering with potential.
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