Back in November, the overdramatic WB announcer guy exhorted me NOT to MISS the last five minutes of "Shattered," a well-done if not entirely original musical montage of Lex Luthor's erstwhile lunacy.

Screw that. These were the five minutes not to be missed.

As much as I did enjoy it at the time, "Shattered" left no lasting impression. Lex was sane and amnesiac again by the end of the next hour. While he may yet recover some of those memories, I doubt they will be the interesting ones about his buddy Clark. And the ones he might recall about his father will pale in comparison to the coda on this episode.

Since season one, I've been aching to see LuthorCorp, under either Lionel or Lex, stretch its evil wings and step up to the plate as a true villain. Not just an agricultural or big business bad guy, either, convicted in the court of public opinion; a genuinely criminal force in the town of Smallville and beyond.

And so, after countless tantalizing glimpses of Lionel experimenting with the meteor rocks, snooping around to learn more about the mysterious Clark Kent, and generally fomenting disaster and disorder, the show takes a giant leap forward in one bravura scene, a scene capable of catapulting (or at least shotputting) this show over its own mediocre mythos and into at least the lower echelons of X-Files territory.

His distinct silhouette coming into menacing focus, Lionel reveals his disappointment to Adam, his living experiment designed for the purpose of getting close to Lana Lang and learning more about Clark Kent. Adam has been unsuccessful, however, making Lana wary and suspicious with his moods and strange disappearances - but really, who can blame Lionel for not seeing that coming? Clark's been doing it to her for nigh on three years and she hasn't shut him out yet.

Lionel is now denying Adam further treatment from Dr. Tang, ultimately considering the boy a failure even if the yet-to be-revealed science was a success. Strictly speaking, we're not supposed to know until next week that the science does indeed involve Clark's blood, but previews are fair game.

Hell, I'm so happy about this I don't even care if we ever learn why he started or if he's truly behind the krypto-cabal of past freaks or when exactly he connected the dots to Clark. I don't want the answers anymore, I just want the action. Bad fanboy, I know.

Huh? Oh, the other stuff? Clark met a girl with teleporty powers, they swap secrets and spit until she turns completely psycho - a half-caf freak of the week with a twist.

It's not a bad little turn, but the crazy goes over the top a bit too fast, which robs an interesting premise of some oomph. Clark, we're reminded, does have rather a lonely existence, and not just in the metaphoric teenage way. He longs for a kindred spirit who can be trusted with his secrets, doubts, and fears. But Superman will be, in this continuity as in others, the first "metahuman" to make the scene, so it's a false hope for this show for Alicia (even non-crazy) to stick around.

Alicia's parents, afraid and threatened by her strange ability, once again mirror the Kents strong, self-assured guidance of their meteor boy. We've seen it before and I like it every time, although a few more times and it might wear thin.

Seems to me that, for better or worse, Alicia's main premise was to reintroduce the "Clark + Lana, Sittin' in a Tree" conundrum into the collective viewer consciousness, as if we somehow needed to be reminded. Granted, Clark has been remarkably restrained with his own stalkerish tendencies and hasn't done anything obsessive in at least three episodes, but after all this time it's pretty well burnt in to the screen.

Does Clark still have "feelings" for Lana? Oh, probably; even if the show takes a dramatic Dawson's Creek turn and pairs up its "soulmates" with others for awhile, it would take a huge tide of public opinion to make that stick. But the actors are being directed in such a way to make me think they are indeed trying to downplay the all-consuming fire of young luuuuv.

At least until May sweeps.

Thanks to Mr. Goodson again for filling me in on the minutes that my VCR missed, and the producers for finally, maybe, hopefully making something new happen.

Sarah Stanek