Smallville: Homecoming Review (5/5)

Episode Four of the tenth season of Smallville is an excellent look back on past moments in the show, the ramifications of Clark's recent actions and his impending destiny that the programme's producers are so eager to withhold until the finale. Homecoming opens with a bang as two baddies from Clark's first seasons, the once life-sucking teenager in Metamorphosis now reverted to a calmer, nostalgic security worker and Braniac 5, now a future member of the Legion team come to show Mr. Kent why holding onto his teenage years is holding him back from becoming Superman. John Masters was always a sublime villain for the young Man of Steel to face off against as his destiny took shape, and now as an ally and a pivotal turning point for Clark Kent does wonders for the story. Too often Smallville has struggled to find a balance between nostalgia and tedium in its 'Previously on' opening segments and the returning meteor freaks that have absolutely no impact on the destiny of Supes other than to hold him back that much longer, so to have Homecoming find a healthy equilibrium is deeply refreshing. I won't reveal too many of the plot twists, not least Clark's vision of his future, but sufficed to say that when the show returns to E4 this Summer the fourth episode of Season 10 is one you cannot afford to miss!