This episode definitely lives up to it's place as the 150th episode. I admit, I was skeptical when I heard that it was going to be a clichéd "What if I never existed?" type storyline, but I think Smallville pulled it off.
Clark gets a message from Kara that Brianiac is going to destroy him as a child on Krypton. He has a way to go back and save himself, but chooses not to because he thinks the world and his friends' lives will be better if he had never come to Smallville. As he explains this to Chloe, his Kryptonian key flares to life and the next thing he knows, he's standing in a world where he never existed. It turns out that he was right about his friends being better off, but the world definitely needs Superman.
The episode was well-paced with some fun Superman lore references that you normally don't see on Smallville: Jimmy in a bow-tie, Lex as President, Clark in a dorky suit. There's also some great continuity from earlier seasons: Sheriff Adams is still alive, as is Jonathan Kent, Lana is in Paris.
I didn't like the recycled shots of the rising nuclear missiles and the shot of Smallville. The old Smallville shot was especially jarring when it was a setup for a street scene that was definitely not the usual downtown Smallville scenery.
I didn't think the special effects in this episode were up to Smallville's usual standards. The bullet Lex fires seemed a little overdone, ditto for when Kara punches out a wall. Krypton's explosion sequence seemed familiar, I'm wondering if it was recycled from something else?
The acting was well done. Especially the Lex-Clark and Lois-Clark scenes. I suppose that as an actor himself, Tom Welling knows how to get the best from other actors. I recommend watching Tom closely after Kara "handles" Brainiac. The first time I saw the episode I thought his acting was a little off, but after seeing the ending twist, I think he's spot-on. I think Clark knows. It'll be interesting to see what happens in future episodes.
Clark gets a message from Kara that Brianiac is going to destroy him as a child on Krypton. He has a way to go back and save himself, but chooses not to because he thinks the world and his friends' lives will be better if he had never come to Smallville. As he explains this to Chloe, his Kryptonian key flares to life and the next thing he knows, he's standing in a world where he never existed. It turns out that he was right about his friends being better off, but the world definitely needs Superman.
The episode was well-paced with some fun Superman lore references that you normally don't see on Smallville: Jimmy in a bow-tie, Lex as President, Clark in a dorky suit. There's also some great continuity from earlier seasons: Sheriff Adams is still alive, as is Jonathan Kent, Lana is in Paris.
I didn't like the recycled shots of the rising nuclear missiles and the shot of Smallville. The old Smallville shot was especially jarring when it was a setup for a street scene that was definitely not the usual downtown Smallville scenery.
I didn't think the special effects in this episode were up to Smallville's usual standards. The bullet Lex fires seemed a little overdone, ditto for when Kara punches out a wall. Krypton's explosion sequence seemed familiar, I'm wondering if it was recycled from something else?
The acting was well done. Especially the Lex-Clark and Lois-Clark scenes. I suppose that as an actor himself, Tom Welling knows how to get the best from other actors. I recommend watching Tom closely after Kara "handles" Brainiac. The first time I saw the episode I thought his acting was a little off, but after seeing the ending twist, I think he's spot-on. I think Clark knows. It'll be interesting to see what happens in future episodes.
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