This week, we set them up. Next week, presumably, we'll knock them all down. Convenient, in its way, that next week can be all action and no exposition -- and it will be a pretty relentless hour, I'm sure -- but at least this week's expository fun fest had a little substance of its own.

Three major events will come to a head next week, setting the tone for Season 3 and determining whether we'll spend our summer in suspense, indifference, or disgust.

The Day is Coming... when the last son will begin his quest to rule the third planet. The catatonic linguist wakes up muttering that, in a rapid recovery that puts everyone in our little corner of Smallville on high alert.

It's not quite clear if Walden is now a receptacle of the cave's body of knowledge, or if he's receiving messages on the same wavelength that Clark sometimes does, or just what exactly is going on with him, but it doesn't really matter because he's pretty resoundingly dead now.

He tries to steal the octagon back from the Kents, and when Clark arrives to stop him, alerted by the octagon's own high-frequency danger alert, Walden lets loose with some newfound powers, attacking and levitating Clark high off the ground. Trying to chase the speeding Kryptonian boy with his psuedo-Force lightning, Walden accidentally triggers a huge explosion that chars his entire body beyond recognition -- except for a small octagon of skin on his hand, that is.

But before he fries himself to a crisp, Walden actually spills the beans, outright, no tricks and no mistaking it; he tells Lex and Lionel that Clark Kent is the one the cave is talking about, and Clark Kent is the one they must destroy for the good of humanity.

Lex wants to hold on to his skepticism, even though this cries out to every suspicion he's ever harbored about his Best Man. Lionel goes right for the throat, asking Chloe for an investigative report on Clark, as payment for getting her a regular feature in the Planet.

Finally, she takes a look around at her shiny new Torch office and realizes what, exactly, she's sold her soul to. Thank heaven, really, because I was starting to worry that Lionel and Chloe were going to start doing it, or something.

The BIG excitement, though, is a mysterious voice and a great light, emanating from the storm cellar and "calling" to Clark. He walks in, ending the episode on a very promising note.

I'm Getting Married in the Morning... or am I? That's the question before Lex and Helen, who may have called off their wedding after the mostly successful rehearsal dinner. Helen's office was burglarized, and one of the missing items is an unlabeled vial of Clark's blood.

Though she insists she doesn't suspect her fiance, when Lionel confronts her about snooping around in his study, Helen can come up with no other terribly good reason for her actions. So when Lex points out that they really need to trust each other or they shouldn't be getting married, she walks out without a word.

And a good thing too, because he's got the blood right there, in a climate controlled tube in a special box in a secret compartment. For a second I thought it was a cigar, but that might have been unpredictable.

Will the wedding go on as planned? Good question, you know. Since we're not getting a dramatic birth until November sweeps (at least, I hope we're not) I don't know if it's possible to pass up the chance to end the season with dramatic wedding hijinks, November Rain-style. But on the other hand, we pretty much had that last year, with the prom, and nothing I've seen in the previews indicates any pretty party clothes.

Sittin' in a tree... K-I-S-S-I-N-G. To celebrate Clark's arbitrarily chosen birthday, Clark and Lana finally have their first real kiss, then proceed to overthink it too much, then make up and kiss some more. They're very awkward around each other, and around Chloe, but in the end, I guess they decide it's more important to try and fail than never try at all. More kissing. It makes Chloe cry, apparently because she's stupid.

So that's what we're sitting on, waiting for the conclusion next week. What will be left unanswered and why, oh, WHY will there be more red kryptonite?

Sarah Stanek