Spoiler Alert! Here's our recap of the opening of the last season for the fledgling man of steel...

Superman has never really had a fair shake when it comes to any media outside of comic books. Television programs and movie series are usually limited, and the actors that have portrayed Earth’s greatest hero have typically fallen victim to the alleged “Superman Curse”, ending in maiming, death, and lost careers. One can only wonder why it is, then, that Smallville has survived the test of time, starting its tenth and final season tonight. Is it the characters, the teen/young adult soap opera style, the comic book action, or is it that we as a collective whole need a hero to believe in?

Truth be told, I think it’s a combination of all four, and tonight’s episode, “Lazarus”, had all of that. Last season ended with Clark defeating Zod, but at the expense of his life. “Lazarus” starts out immediately after the events of the finale. Lois finds Clark’s lifeless body, blue kryptonite knife still stuck in his chest. Clark, however, is fighting for his life in what appears to be a dream state. Jor-El is explaining that Clark needs to become the hero the world needs to fight an unnamed coming evil. Clark comes back to our world, and not a moment too soon. Tess wakes up in an abandoned LuthorCorps lab only to find numerous clones of Lex. One, a little boy, she seems to adopt to raise. One, a clone gone wrong and more than a little insane, kills the rest of the experiments, and goes to test Clark before he dies. And in order to find Oliver – who was captured at the end of last season – Chloe finds the Helmet of Dr. Fate.

Lois, having figured out Clark’s secret, gets him a present – the costume. The good ol’ red & blue, complete with cape. But before she can present it to him, Lex (New Lex?) takes Lois, and leaves her tied up in a cornfield, just like Clark was the night he saved him. He leaves her surrounded by fire, and has rigged a bomb to the top of the Daily Planet, which will cause the globe at the top to fall into traffic, killing many. Lex tells Clark he has to decide to save the public, or save Lois. But he dies before he can see Clark prove him wrong, saving Lois and then racing to Metropolis to save the day. Clark actually leaps up and catches the globe, seemingly flying to the top of the building, and is rewarded with a standing ovation. He is the hero that the world needs!

But unfortunately, Jor-El doesn’t see things the same way. He accuses Clark of pride, and tells him there is darkness in his heart. Kal-El will be the evil the world with face. Clark is unsure of himself, until he gets a well-needed visit from his human father, Jonathan. He comes back from beyond to give his son the kick in the ass needed to get him moving. He tells Clark that Jor-El’s wrong, and that he should do what he does best: Prove Jor-El wrong. The cameo isn’t very long, but was a very touching scene. We have seen Clark at his darkest and most heroic. Tonight, we saw him at his most fragile. And his father’s visit has given him a new resolve, and shown that in this last season, he can truly face any opponent.

And as for the baddie this season? Why, none other than one of Supes’ oldest enemies: Darkseid. In the last few moments we see a swirl of dust in Watchtower, collecting itself outside and forming the foe just as he’s been seen in comics and animated programs (which caused me to squeal like a little girl at a Justin Bieber concert, and caused my wife to give a look that said she was questioning why she ever let me see her naked).

"A solid start to one of the best shows on television, even with all of the highs and lows it has had"

“Lazarus” throws an awful lot at the viewer, but that’s because there’s a lot to set up for this final season. And according to much of the internet buzz, we shouldn’t expect the typical season, where it starts out strong, and then drags along until the last few episodes. High points of tonight’s episode were the Lois and Clark moments, seeing a mentally bruised and battered Clark proving once again that what doesn’t kill him only gets him one step closer to wearing tights, and of course, the cameo from John Schneider as Jonathan and the glimpse of Darkseid. Disappointment, of course, in the fact that Michael Rosenbaum was not reprising the role of Lex, but rather several actors portrayed the various clones (Rosenbaum has stated he is done with the role, but producers are trying to sway him back). All in all, a solid start to one of the best shows on television, even with all of the highs and lows it has had. The absence of original producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar has made for a tighter show, with less of the high school style drama and monster-of-the-week stories. This new Clark may be filled with pathos and uncertainty, but he is a hero re-imagined for a new age, and I believe that in this, the last season, we will see him truly fill the boots of Superman.

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