Every season and every episode of Smallville has been leading up to this episode: one of the most gut-wrenchingly sad variations of the Romeo and Juliet I’ve ever seen on TV or read in print. It’s hard to describe without giving away too much - in case you haven’t seen the episode.

All I’ll say is that Kristin Kreuk (Lana Lang) and Tom Welling (Clark Kent) deserve Emmy nominations for their roles for this episode alone. Such depth of character, passion, and emotion in such young actors. If they don’t get at least a nomination, then there’s something wrong with the process.

And kudos to the writers for so many years of thought-provoking Smallville episodes, giving the young Clark Kent character (pre Superman) the Achilles heel of human emotion despite his otherworldly origins. Who knew that so much gripping drama could come out of one of the oldest comic book characters. And how can a young man so powerful feel so much pain?