Smallville (TV Series) Homecoming (2010) User Reviews

Excellent: All this time I struggled to figure out exactly how Clark would change his identity, except the mistake made was the 'change'.

[maine_310 · 10/10 · 16 October 2010]

Nearing the end of a series, where an abundance of fans have followed since the beginning, writers often slip with the quality or step up their game. "Homecoming" was proof that not only these writers improved on the material, but gave meaning to the story of Smallville; a boy's journey to become the man he was destined to be. Ten years of Smallville clubs, shippers from videos on 'Youtube' and incredible reflections on the image previous writers played on the Superman image, created this milestone. What other meaning could this Superman be to us; the dream that gives every individual hope of life, that people beyond our imaginings hold our best interest at heart.

This episode was filled with such debt. Others have put strain on the pressure placed on Clark to become the hero he was already, but did not take into consideration the strain he placed on himself that held him back. Our minds were focused on the possible threats that Clark would have to battle on this journey, that no one paid attention to his destination. This trip down memory lane was for his own good, despite our resentments. Clark had to face his past; a past he dreams he could redo, correct the wrongs he made and save the people he hurt. He finds so many ways to hurt his already bruised heart from the suffering he had endured. Instead of learning from his mistakes, he transforms the pain into another load.

All this time I struggled to figure out exactly how Clark would change his identity, except the mistake made was the 'change'. There is no way Clark could change the person he spent years building. He once tried to erase himself completely for the betterment of others, rather than realizing the strength he already had to realize his humanity and his destiny. In fact, with a trip to the future, 2017 to be exact, Superman was already born, he was in love and he was on his prophesied path.

The future as painted in "Pandora" has changed drastically. Moreover since Zod was defeated. It can also prove that the future Clark was exposed to may be cause for changed and it would only be up to Clark to create his own future. I spent a while on this review, re watching clips of my favorite moments throughout this episode, which meant I had to watch the episode over to its entirety. Thumbs up to everyone who made 'Homecoming' possible. I applaud each and everyone to keep it up, the journey was a long one and fans are still traveling down the road you constructed for us.

Lexa

Read Full Review Here:

http://lexabuti.blogspot.com

Smallville: Season 10, Episode 4 "Homecoming" Review

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Five Stars

Grade A+

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Coming From A Fan Since Day 1

[rjaymolina · 10/10 · 15 October 2010]

Smallville has certainly had its ups and downs. From the soap opera drama of Season Six, to the convoluted subplots of Season 7. The list can go on about what has disappointed me about the series. But the fact is I have been a fan since the Pilot. Smallville has been that one show that I just cannot get enough of. I grew up with it, from the 5th grade right up to my sophomore year of college. And despite all the talk about Season 10 being the last, it never really hit me until I saw the show's second milestone, "Homecoming." It brought back so many memories in the most subtle ways. The Torch, Smallville High, and even the bug boy. The future scenes cleared up a lot of questions like Lois & Clark's working situation. Bye bye basement, hello glasses. It was so well done. My only gripe with the episode was the crazy guidance counselor at the beginning. But thank goodness Brainiac fixed that problem. Anyway I should probably cut this short before I go all biased and bring back old memories. It truly was a great episode. The best in the series. From here Smallville has nowhere else to go except up, up, and away. I'll be watching until the end.

10/10

Homecoming

[Colcatron · 10/10 · 5 May 2011]

During the season 5, Smallville aired it's 100th episode "Reckoning" which was one of the most serious and epic stories, if not THE most epic story in the show's ten year history. It had drama, action and tragedy. Many people still believe "Reckoning" was the greatest of all Smallville episodes. It may have been possible to top it for the 200th episode, but in the end the producers chose not to try and compete. Instead we have "Homecoming", which is a fun throwback to the early seasons of Smallville.

Two major characters from the past return, Brainiac and Greg the bug boy, who appeared all the way back in the 2nd episode of the series "Metamorphosis". Brainiac takes Clark on an It's a Wonderful Life journey to reflect on his past, present and future. There are moments where the tone is heavy, but for the most part this is a light hearted story with many nods to past seasons. It was great to see the Smallville High set again, and the twist with the bug boy was a refreshing surprise.

Even though I've been watching Smallville since the beginning, and continue to go back and watch old episodes, it's easy to forget how far this show has come, and how much it's changed over the years. "Homecoming" is a nice reminder of the simpler show from classic seasons.

The best episode.

[eltonroger5 · 10/10 · 16 October 2010]

Let me start by saying great job to the writers who are doing an amazing job since season 9, the dialogs , characters the script per episode has just been awesome. Season 10 especially is like a punch in the face for all those critics who are against Smallville, agreed the show started to suck season 6 onwards, and especially season 8 which seemed like "THE DA VINCI CODE" rip off. I have been watching Smallville for the last 10 years and have been a huge fan ever since, and this week's episode was just a mixture of past memories of the good times and bad times Clark had to face and how he was figuring out himself as a teenager with super-human abilities and also sweet/amazing peek into the future of our favorite super hero.............HANDS DOWN GREAT EPISODE AND A REALLY GOOD ADDITION TO THE SEASON 10.

10 OUT 10:)

Yesss, wow! The 9,5 score is MORE than deserved!

[JiS87 · 10/10 · 11 July 2020]

This is plain amazing. Not only the best episode of the freakin' show, but probably also the most emotional...and that says a lot when there is over 200 episodes! The trip to memory lane with a happily reunion, most notably with a (friendly) Brainiac (James Marsters, best actor of them all, in my opinion), and ending with a taste of the thrillinggg Superman near future, was a to-tal dream! And that last part....wow. The writers really outdone themselves! To be honest, I haven't seen the rest of the season yet, but I feel if this would have been like the second-last episode, it would have been even more perfect... :) Thank you, Smallville! Brilliant episodes like this makes it all worthwhile!

Memorable, emotional and brilliantly written

[TheMelancholySpirit · 20 December 2019]

Smallville has a lot of great episodes, and as you can see there is nearly thirty episodes alone that have ratings of 9.0 or higher. This episode, the fourth of the last season, is easily one of the most perfectly written episodes in all of the ten seasons that make up Smallville. The writing is great, it's an interesting episode, superb flashback-esque sequences, it's emotional, it's just ingenious for this series, definitely a highlight. Almost melancholic in a way. The memories and somewhat feeling of nostalgia from watching this episode is brilliant. The whole Homecoming topic itself is presented very well in this. It's enjoyable seeing Brainiac especially in a more so kind form. There's tons of fun in this one, probably the best episode of Season Ten honestly. Stellar performances, writing and directing.

This episode was just fun.

[daniel-j-stratton · 10/10 · 13 June 2018]

I usually only come here to share my thoughts when they are negative about this show, because there is some god awful things over this 10 year span like Kwan's reaction to his school spontaneously catching fire in season 1 Hothead, why does he not call the fire department or reach for a fire extinguisher? That scene haunts me to this day.

This for a change will be a happy review.

I watched the first three seasons original air dates but then gave up with the Isabela Magical countess story line. Now watching it online I lost track of the episode count and did not know it was number 200 until I came here.

Generally I would say any spin on a Christmas Carol is a clique, and it is, but they did it well, and it was a fun episode. You got to look down memory lane and you got a kind braniac. Gives a good message to try and remeber heros are made today and today is all you can affect. Made politically relavent stances even today about walls and immigrants. Darkness is in the dwelling of the past, and the fear of the unknown, what is real is now.

As well as wrap things up in the final season, we all know they will cram as many old guest/recurring stars into this season as possible, it was nice to see brainiac again and just behind the camera producing.

This episode stands alone from other plot moving forward episodes for the most part but still manages to tangentially tie in the theme of the season so far, super heros coming out of the shadows.

This show has always been best when meteor rocks or kryptonite is ignored. They are massively abundant and can do whatever you want them to. It is the greatest crutch a writer can have. The best episodes were when they focus on the relationships between those who care about each other and forget magic or meteor rocks exist. Sure they got the help of a legion ring but it was that or a dream sequence and I prefer this over a dream episode anyday. I mean they could try the darkness version of the phantom episode where the golden retriever saves clark from going to the dark side, but they already did that and I am always disappointed when they draw from the same well a second time. That is why I was finally happy to see Lana written out of the show.

Unlike season 9 where if the characters could have talked to each other the entire season could have been solved by episode 4, this episode did not have any of that hair pulling out problems. It was nice and yes the ending was fabulous.

This is the best episode with the episode when Jonathan Kent dies

[mrhfcb · 10/10 · 10 December 2019]

I just love this episode it's was full of memories & and it just perfect Maybe it's the best episode with Jonathan Kent dies I haven't decided yet , because I still don't finish the show yet but I'm so close

Very Intense, but with a little mistake

[zakariyyahzakiyyah · 10/10 · 18 October 2010]

One of the most romantic episode, yet it contains a literature mistake, a kind that we are not used to from the script writers. In the end of the episode "The Green Arrow" aka Oliver Queen quote John F Kennedy saying : "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." And builds up the following discussion on this point, while in fact this famous Sentence is well known to be first said by the famous Lebanese writer "Khalil Gibran" (author of "The Prophet") addressed to his Lebanese country men, and JFK was quoting him in an era that was under the influence of Gibran's "Prophet". The remainder of the episode is classical saga, where the villains try to leave the show as heroes, and here Brainiac is classified as a member of the Legion, which is not a classical from the written comics. One thing to mentions is that the episodes seem to be lacking the presence of "Chloe" which indeed made the difference between the classical comics and the series, especially in this episode where the "torch" should have taken a wider space of discussion.

Arguably best episode of the series and it's in Season 10!

[hnt_dnl · 10/10 · 25 May 2020]

In the decade since Smallville went off the air, there have been a flood of new comic book superhero series. It's crazy to think that just 10 years ago, there were really no other popular comic book output than this series. There was no Flash or Arrow or Gotham or Supergirl or Defenders or Agents of Shield. Smallville was IT back then. A full decade later, I have to say I still think that Smallville is still one of the top 3 superhero shows ever. And this episode I'm reviewing is a huge reason as to why, because this episode HOMECOMING, also the 100th episode of the series, is arguably the best episode of the entire show and it happens in the tenth and FINAL season! But not only this episode, but also I recall the last 3 seasons of Smallville 8, 9, and 10 ALL being great.

While shows like Flash and Arrow went bad after their first couple of seasons and Gotham ended on an awful note in it's final season and a show like Batwoman appears to be a giant hot mess to begin with, Smallville, a show that started 20 years ago as a somewhat cringe teen high school drama (that got lumped in with the likes of Dawson's Creek, Charmed, Gilmore Girls, and One Tree Hill) eventually evolved into a fun, engaging, entertaining, mature full blown superhero show. Smallville just got better and better, while these "modern" Arrowverse shows just get worse and worse.

I think a huge reason that Smallville worked is because it was uniquely the only superhero show of it's time, so it never had the albatross of being dragged down by being associated with other shows. No crossovers allowed in the 2000s, hence Smallville always remained it's own universe. Another huge reason for Smallville's enduring success is that it found a second life in it's final act by ridding itself of Lana Lang, one of the worst characters of the sub-genre of comic book TV shows. These "modern" shows seem to do the exact opposite and keep their Lana Lang type characters (Iris West, Felicity Smoak, Lee Thompkins, etc) around until the very end, thus sabotaging any chance their shows have of moving forward in a positive direction.

But I digress! LOL Homecoming is a 100th episode done right (American Horror Story REALLY should have taken notes). Tom Welling and Erica Durance completely shine in this episode as the iconic Clark and Lois duo. Homecoming was a perfect mixture of nostalgia, flashbacks, flashforwards, and plot movement. In this episode, Clark's life is in turmoil as the world is turning against heroes and seeing them as vigilantes instead of saviors. To pick up his spirits, Lois gets him to attend is 5-year high school reunion at Smallville High. She accompanies him and all of Clark's old memories begin to flood him. To help him on his journey, a re-tooled good guy version of Brainiac (a brilliant James Marsters) arrives from the future.

Brainiac takes Clark through all the important milestones of his life, including Jonathan's funeral, his high school missions, but most importantly, Clark gets a glimpse into his actual future as Superman and his life with Lois. Frankly, I enjoyed these future scenes in Homecoming better than the ones in the series finale. The Homecoming ones really had that iconic Christopher Reeve 70s-80s Superman vibe. Upon returning to the present, Clark finally mans up and tells Lois those 3 important words she's been waiting to hear for years. Clark and Lois' incredible chemistry is on full display.

Far from being just a by-the-numbers clip episode, as most shows tend to do, Homecoming is just as much of a plot-driven episode as any standard episode of the series. It's about Clark, the protagonist of the series, realizing his true calling as a superhero. I would tell the Arrowverse writers to take notes, but it's pretty much too late. Smallville was apparently one of a kind!

Undoubtful and most likely THE best episode

[WCHN71 · 10/10 · 28 January 2022]

There are many great episodes during the 10 seasons, I cannot remember them all, I would have to re-watch it all again then, but this episode stands out on its own. I have seen this particular episode a few times now since its just that good. It deserves a 10+, The acting is superb, specially Lois in this episode is so brilliant !!!

A Sad Past and a Bright Future

[tomasmmc-77198 · 10/10 · 2 July 2022]

The 200th episode of Smallville brings a trip down memory lane. It's the Smallville High School reunion, 5 years after graduation, and is Lois the one who reminds Clark of the event, and convinces him to go. Given the recent rejection of heros, Jor-El's disappointment, his solitude, Clark is depressed. Still, he and Lois go to the reunion: she's excited given her 23 days enrolled there in senior year, reminding cheerfully the short time at school. The funny part is that no one remembers her, and is only considered as Clark's companion. When they go to retrieve the name tags, Lois sees Lana's, and reminds when was the last time she saw her (Bride). Seems that Clark never explained what happened then, but when Lois becomes thoughtful, remembering how many memories Clark has from high school (including Lana), he calmly assures her that she's not coming. The way Clark said this was special, like he was assuring Lois that she doesn't have to worry about his past history with Lana, it's over. Then, Clark sees Chloe's name tag, and they go to the Torch, where he reminds when the innocent Chloe introduced the wall of weird. Lois feels sorry for bringing him there, and they're interrupted by the current students who carry the on the Torch. They ask about Chloe, who "disappeared" from the world, and talk about the superheros, Oliver, the Blur. They suspect the Blur grew up in Smallville, Lois tries to throw them off trail, and tells how he inspired a lot of people, like them. Then, a surprise is revealed, as Clark was the quarterback and won the title for the Crows in Senior year, he's crowned Prom King, and so, Lois is crowned as the Queen. She's obviously flattered, happy, but he's quiet, stunned. And just when he sees Greg Arkin, Brainiac 5 appears, to take Clark to the past. Of this part, the only reminding of the tragic, dramatic past of smallville high school was on the counselour's memory. Seemingly she treated every meteor infected student from the school, and so realized Clark's role on each case, but Brainiac 5 erased her memory. If each death or each meteor freak student would have been remembered on the reunion, it would have had a darkest tone. But instead, this episode tried to show that people got better, and the school reunion was as normal as possible.

Anyway, Brainiac 5 explains Clark how the Legion modified him for good, and now wants to show him how to become the man he's destined to be. Clark sees the defining moment of his life (and in some ways, of the series): Jonathan's death. Clark always blamed himself for it, and never understood that his father willingly gave his life, his heart to protect his son, he made that decision, just like any parent should. For the first time, Clark sees, thanks to Brainiac 5, the moment when Jonathan fought and hit Lionel the day of his death. The android also shows Clark the present, where is shown that Oliver is waiting for Clark's sign, support, after he revealed his Green Arrow identity to the world. By blaming him for past mistakes, Clark is not supporting Oliver now, leaving him alone against the media, the people who hates heros. They return to the reunion, where a couple of hours passed somehow despite the time travel, and they see Lois alone, looking for alcohol at the punch drink. There, Maddie, the punch girl, asks Lois about Clark and reminds about his strong friendship with Chloe, and his story with Lana. Lois is forced to admit that she and Clark are not together now, so Maddie thinks he doesn't like her. These moments were sad, and reminds that all the past and present has been mostly that way. Lois unfairly broke up with Clark in Hostage, but still, it's sad that the girl made her feel much less than Chloe and Lana, when she's actually the woman Clark truly loves. Then, when Greg approaches Lois to talk about Clark, he interferes with the ring, and is sent to the future, at the Daily Planet. On this brightest side, Clark finds future Lois, who warns him about his wardrobe. When he realizes the time he's at (2017), he tries to explain her, but she doesn't understands, and instead ponders each reason of why he'd be acting so disoriented: his responsibility as the last son of Krypton, the different types of kryptonite, or that she forgot the anniversary of the day that he told her his secret (she didn't). For some reason, Clark is surprised that she knows everything. This nice scene occurs in their office, 8th floor of the building, where they both work as reporters. Then, when Clark asks about the legion ring, Lois tells him to look at the farm, and so in the elevator, he finds his future self. Future Clark knew exactly what was happening, and says that he needs this experience to become him, besides, he has to be on the roof to save Lois, while himself goes to contain the explosion of a nearby nuclear plant. At the roof, Clark saves the helicopter, and Lois protects his secret from the pilot. Clark's surprised, shares a kiss with her before she leaves, and also sees his future self save the day. He finally realizes the life he can have, and Brainiac appears to bring him back to present. The advice is not question the past, or fear the future, but to live the present. Then, Clark sees that Greg was telling Lois to thank Clark for what he did for him, for setting him straight (stopping him for hurting more people I guess). He defines him as the hometown hero, and Lois agrees. Finally back, Clark takes Lois to dance, casually the same Lifehouse song of Pilot, Tempest, but the time for the reunion ends soon. The next day, Clark goes to his dad's grave, to say goodbye, knowing that he will always be with him, and that he can't remain stuck on the past. He buries the watch there, and goes to see Oliver during his interview with the press. His silent support gives Oliver the strength to justify his actions as Green Arrow, as a hero, as someone who's doing something for his country. At the night, Clark invites Lois to the barn, after setting up a disco ball, music, to make up for the missing dance. She tries to brush it off, that's not big deal, or that they're friends, but Clark nicely insists, "get over here", and they start. The magical moment comes after a trip, so she steps onto his feet, and they dance. Clark tells her "I love you", she says "I love you too", and though she mentions that they have to talk about (his secret), he just wants to enjoy the dance, nothing else. As this goes on, they both start to float above air, without realizing. The special about being Superman.

This episode takes us on a perfect trip to the past, the future, and illuminates the present. I got to feel not only season 1, with the distant memory of that crush on Lana, the innocent young Chloe and the Torch, the music, but also some of season 4, like Lois brief time at the school, Clark's short succesful career at football. And the dramatic side of season 5, Jonathan's death on Reckoning, linking the two best episodes of the series, the 100th and the 200th. That brilliant small sight of the future, with the uptight, mild-mannered, glasses-wearing Clark Kent, and his loyal kind of wife Lois Lane, both of them working together, under Perry White. In so little time, the moments of the future said a lot. And the present, where things have to be done. The role of Brainiac 5 here was perfect, just as his evil past self was one of the greatest villains, now he was the greatest guide, mentor. Many persons feel like living on past mistakes, and fearing the future. It has happened to me too, and a lot of people. Knowing what you want, the mistakes that you made, but in the meantime, not living the present. Clark went through that many times during the series, instead of forgiving himself or the persons around for their mistakes. What he says on Jonathan's grave will be corrected on the series finale, but from now on he'll try to be a better friend for Oliver, and a better man for Lois. The last scene at the barn was beautiful, what Clark and Lois deserved. There are times for discussions, for secrets, for action, and other times are just to dance, enjoy, times of love. The crucial about this trip, is that allowed Clark to follow the path to the bright future he saw., with Lois by his side.

I must have been watching a different episode...

[m-47826 · 2/10 · 8 August 2023]

There was nothing very special about this one either. It was just the regular Dickens tale adaptation, you saw on every WB series. And those old seasons bits, only reminded me how larger than life the show used to be. Now it's just so bland, with characters you barely care about. And got sillier than those early seasons overtly targeted to teenagers. The Lois and Clark romance is forced fed on us, when it should've had a true buildup for it to give justice to the eponymous 90s series TV couple. On Smallville, it just felt like writers remembered they were endgame, and recycled plots written for Clark and Lana in mind, before Kristin Kreuk decided to leave the show. And adapted the script a little, so it would fit the Clark and Lois dynamic more. And why bring back Brainiac? Was James Marsters the only one who agreed to come back for this very dull reunion? Not even the bug guy's return left a mark, and reminded me too much of Jonathan's BTVS prom speech. And the Clark/Chloe wannabes, what was that about? To me it is the worst season 10 episode so far. Even worse than the one with « kitty Cat ». The rest was good, better than most of season 9 even. But Clark really is a moron, and I tend to agree with Jor-El and Kara that his martyr complex, is a big risk with this year's big vilain. Oliver came out as Green Arrow and Chloe disappeared, which are two things that make me enjoy season 10 more as well.

Insulting but gutsy story, uniquely bad, questionable Clark & Lois, awkward writing, some fun, sweet nostalgia and memorable ending

[igoatabase · 4/10 · 17 October 2010]

Lost had the rotten Across the Sea, now Smallville has Homecoming. There're writing dream teams like Don Whitehead and Holly Henderson that can produce masterpieces like Metallo and Charade. Brian Peterson & Kelly Souders, executive producers, is not one of them. As much as I respect their work I can't possibly excuse such an outrageous story and lazy fanservice.

First let's summarize what the show is all about. Basically the concept is to cover the first steps of Clark Kent before he becomes the superhero we all know and admire, Superman. Like the average human he grows up and learns life thanks to the people who revolve around him. From his charismatic father Jonathan to Lex Luthor without forgetting Lois Lane all these characters, good or evil, contributed to shape his destiny and turn into Metropolis most famous vigilante, the Blur. This installment tainted most past efforts to make that idea grow in our soul, thanks to Lois and Oliver inspiring quests for example. In my humble opinion Homecoming is an insult to the devoted fans and a clear demonstration that Peterson and Souders have lost track of what's going on.

I can't help comparing this installment to the unique Warrior, directed by Allison Mack and written by Bryan Miller. A Clark driven story featuring Brainiac first seemed like a refreshing surprise but it quickly mutated into a nightmare. James Marsters is a wicked actor, I mean how can you forget Spike, but here his talent was under exploited. I waited for a twist but it never happened. As for an other guest his role was anecdotic. It's like if the writers intention was to make us believe in pathetic happy endings. What a naive thought, specially when it comes to Superman ! An other issue were the dialogs. I still have in my mind the inspiring words Lois said about the Blur in Idol. Here because of inappropriate lines Erica Durance's acting was over the top. Last but not least the few cultural references to comics weren't subtle enough and even the elevator encounter wasn't flawless when it should have been. It's specially true if you compare these scenes to the one at the convention with the Blur cosplayer.

Now let's decrypt the mumbo jumbo story. As I already mentioned it just jarred with past events and in the end didn't make sense. I mean how can we relate to CK anymore ? What about Lois ? They had a few funny scenes but not as hilarious as in Persuasion. Moreover trust should be love's foundation. She's the only woman who can help Clark become the Man of Steel. Of course we can't ignore how much other characters contributed to boost his skills but in the end it's mostly about Lois & Clark. If you add the inevitable inaccuracies, due to the controversial and overused context, well the bottom of the barrel is not so far… It gets even worse if you consider Jonathan's emotional come back in Lazarus. Clark didn't need to be remembered again about what his spirit told him. He already knew what it takes to let go !

Of course as the 200th episode Homecoming was fueled with flashbacks and references to past installments. It could have been a blessing but instead it revealed how much the writing was inconsistent. However these elements were well mixed and should brought you many sweet memories. I also loved CK's outfit but still can bare the "new" Blur one. As for Oliver his role was anecdotic and nearly misplaced. Still his interview should move and inspire you. Justin Hartley is the man and we all have the seeds of a Green Arrow within us ! Otherwise they should have saved him for an other time.

To sum things up Peterson and Souders don't have to be ashamed as much as Lost's Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof but your opinion should definitely be mixed. However I have to admit that they at least had the courage to write something original. The end was also beautiful, pivotal and should touch your long time fan heart. But don't get me wrong, Homecoming is an abomination. Even an enigmatic SMS wasn't that intriguing and it was by far the most disappointing episode since… last time we saw leather Lana flying and kicking around like a crazy monkey !