Last season ended with Clark stopping Zod (Callum Blue) and sending he and his followers into the Phantom Zone. In the end, Clark is stabbed by blue kryptonite and falls off of the building. While Zod and the other Kandorians are sucked off into the prison dimension, Clark is saved when Lois (Erica Durance) pulls the glowing blue blade from his chest, but runs away before he wakes up and realizes that Lois now knows his secret.
Meanwhile, Oliver/Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) is captured by a para-military organization that seems to want him to join up ... after a bit of a beating, that is. So, while Clark recovers from his fight with Zod, Chloe (Allison Mack) starts to work on finding Oliver. What none of them realise though, is that Clark has accidentally released an evil onto the planet. This ancient god-like creature known as Darkseid can look into the doubts and fears of a person and take control of them. While this season is all about getting the cape onto Clark's back, it will involve going through Darkseid before he can do it.
As Darkseid's influence increases, the public starts to feel unrest towards their masked heroes. Some want them to step into the light, fearing that they have something to hide, while others think they are simply a menace. A good portion of the season deals with a Vigilante Registration Act that requires all of these heroes to step into the light, and before it's all over, one of the main characters does reveal his identity to the public.
There is also a new wrinkle this season when Tess (Cassidy Freeman) not only learns of her family history, but she finds a bunker filled with Lex clones. While one has gone mad, another is just a small child and she takes it into her care. The rapidly aging Alexander has also started getting all of Lex's memories and he seems to have some old grudges against Clark that he wants resolved. Oddly enough, before the accelerated aging can remove Alexander, he starts to lose his memories and experiences some new changes. Before long, Clark finds himself having to teach the now-named Conner how to handle his new abilities.
Several characters return this season, even if it is for brief scenes. Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) shows up a few times in visions, while Martha (Annette O'Toole) also makes a few appearances. Lionel Luthor (John Glover) actually becomes a major character in this season when Clark is sent into a parallel universe where he was raised in the Luthor household. As Ultraman, this version of Clark is ruthless. Later, this alternate version of Clark comes to the main world, and Lionel isn't far behind. Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) even comes back before it's all over as the show wraps up and sets itself up to fit into the standard Superman mold. I also enjoyed the return of Kara (Laura Vandervoort), Clark's cousin, and even Zod makes an appearance when Clark and Oliver go into the Phantom Zone.
Smallville: The Complete Tenth Season has a few interesting featurettes. One covers the show's 200th episode, "Homecoming," where Clark goes to his high school reunion. In this episode, Clark is confronted by his past in more ways than one. I liked this episode a lot because it shows how far Smallville has come, plus James Marsters returns to the show as Brainiac 5. The character from the future has come to the past to show Clark who he was and who he will become. Since this is such a pivotal episode in the season, it's no wonder that there is a special feature about the making of it.
The other featurette focuses on the different father figures in the show and their affects on their kids. Clark not only has to deal with how Jonathan Kent raised him, but also what Jor-El (Terence Stamp) expects from him. This featurette also talks about how Lionel's parenting shaped Lex.
Besides a collection of commentaries and deleted scenes, the only other special feature in this season includes a music video of Emil (Alessandro Juliani) and Tess singing in the episode "Forturne" where the gang goes out for a night on the town and end up having to reconstruct their drunken night.
Smallville: The Complete Tenth Season is a good season for a show that's had its ups and downs, while you know where the show will end, it's the journey to get Clark there that makes it worth while. I will say that I was a bit disappointed by the show's final few scenes when Clark finally dons the red-and-blue, especially since it was all CG and seemed to be lifted almost directly from Superman Returns, but the events leading up to it made up for the less-than-expected closing. If you've been following the show so far, or just have a casual interest in Smallville, then you won't want to miss how it all ends.
