Smallville prepares for its first Harvest Festival since Martha Kent’s passing. That, and some further domestic troubles, prompt some recollections for Clark of his own teenaged years and his relationship with his mother. Lois’s investigation into Morgan Edge takes an unexpected turn.

As hokey as it might sound, having this episode focused on the whole Harvest Festival is actually a perfect way of telling all the various stories it needs to in order to push the narrative forwards, and it does it very well as always.

Clark is excited about the festival as the values it represents speak to the man that he tries to be – it’s all about giving what you can, a sense of community and helping one another out. It perfectly represents the spirit of his departed mother, meaning of course it represents the spirit of Superman himself. And Clark wants his kids to share in that excitement.

But life is not that straightforward for teenaged boys, especially ones in love. As fast as Jonathan is good-naturedly helping his brother get over his general awkwardness when Sarah asks him on a date to the festival, he’s then hitting the hard reality of a long distance relationship when his girlfriend lives in Metropolis and he’s stuck in nowheresville Kansas.

This leads to some understandable friction in the Kent household. Jonathan feels like his life is out of his control – he’s got no friends, he’s effectively lost his football status to his brother and now he’s lost his girlfriend as well. Heated words are exchanged, and then there’s the usual bit of teenage rebellion you might expect.

That conflict triggers some more painful memories for Clark of his own youth, wherein we learn perhaps why he’s quite so determined to honour his mother’s memory and get everyone invested in the festival. Turns out that life for young Clark wasn’t all idealised small town bliss when he was busy being a regular teen like any other, and that’s something that haunts him as he reflects on time wasted. It’s a nice bit of character work and proves yet again there’s plenty of things that can be done with the character if you just try.

Meanwhile, Lois’s investigation into Edge takes an odd turn when an unexpected face appears. It’s clear that odd things are still going on though, doubly so when an incident takes place at the hall where the festival donations are being organised, but this gives Edge the opportunity to swoop in like the town’s hero.

Luthor is also stalking Lois, knowing the importance of the reporter to this world’s Superman, and another revelation about his own world throws new light on this too.

Verdict: Setting up an awful lot of threads and weaving them through one single framing device. Deftly written and well-acted. 9/10

Greg D. Smith