John Henry’s long road to recovery is still hitting the odd speed bump, as is Clark and Natalie’s relationship. Kyle and Lana unexpectedly share some time together. Jordan and Jonathan continue to get into trouble. Anderson and Ally Alston join forces.

Anderson is a wanted man. Only despite the best efforts of the Department of Defence and actual Superman, nobody can find him, which is kind of fitting given that it feels like his part in things has been played out for now – or has it?

At any rate, the episode makes a welcome decision to bring back John Henry, who’s been a little absent of late, and focus in his recovery and more importantly, on how all this has affected Natalie. John’s occasional moments of confusion don’t tend to help her anxiety, and she’s clearly (and justifiably) still very angry at Clark, knowing that it was her father’s going to save him that ended up with him being injured.

It’s another nice angle for the show to do what it does best – showing the actual struggles someone with all Clark’s abilities would have. Yes, he can go faster than a jet plane and stop a speeding bullet, but none of that will help him gain the trust of a teenager who only sees her mother’s murderer every time she looks at him. Being Clark, he wants to fix it but wisely allows himself to be guided by others as to how he might approach that, and it’s lovely to see how genuinely bonded he and John Henry have become.

Jordan gets somewhat blindsided by Sarah’s admission that she had reached out to the girl she kissed at camp for advice, and even more so by her insistence that he meet her new friend. Unfortunately, distracted as he is by something his super hearing catches, he’s found himself agreeing before he even knows what he’s done. And that something relates to Jonathan’s secret, which leads to another decent example of the show’s core messaging. Jordan may have all the strength and speed etc, but that’s only good for solving a very particular kind of problem. Jonathan may be ‘just’ human, but he often has the emotional insight to help his brother. Between them, they make an excellent team, and it’s sure good to see the Kent brothers back to what they do best, having one another’s backs.

As to Lana, she finds herself unexpectedly reliant on Kyle for help in debate prep, and that’s a whole interesting dynamic in itself. Whereas Kyle obviously desperately wants to fix things, Lana – for whom this betrayal is fresh – isn’t there yet. This is where we see that whereas Kyle may have his faults, underneath it all he’s every bit as decent a man as Clark Kent himself – he pushes Lana to really examine what she needs to say and how, and he clearly is genuine in his love for her and his belief in her ability to do the job.

Just as it seems everything might be going in a better direction, a tragedy strikes which cuts both Lois and especially her father to the bone. Dylan Walsh has been allowed to have some fun with the more playful side of Sam Lane’s character this season but here he earns his paycheque and some with a performance that reminds us of the human side of the man who raised his daughters alone and saw one of them go on to marry Superman. His devastation in the face of tragedy is so real it hurts, and that’s only the start of the pain he has to face.

Verdict: Another stunning episode. 9/10

Greg D. Smith