I discovered the television series Smallville in about 2005, and have been a devout fan ever since.

Alfred Gough Jr., one of the creators of Smallville, grew up about an hour away from where I live now–so I had reason the cheer the show on even before I realized how great the show was and how much I enjoyed it.

The following is my recap of the most recent episode:

The episode starts out with Louis and Clark  having a conversation about attending their high school reunion. Clark is have doubts about going, but Louis is trying her best to convince him–and we get the sneaky idea that she’s going to succeed.

We flash to a woman who seems to be a guidance councilor at Smallville High School sifting through a pile of documents–articles with photographs and such–of Smallville’s “meteor freaks,” as Chloe Sullivan used to call them. The counselor is talking to herself about how she had to listen to these students’ weird stories. She’s also stating, in an aggravated tone, that somehow Clark Kent’s name keeps coming up.

The counselor grabs up a voodoo-style doll of Clark and is about to stab it with a long, pointy spike she just happens to have in her hand–a pair of scissors, I believe–and

the scene freezes.

Brainiac is standing beside the counselor, sticking one of his wiggly silver tendrils into her temple. “Leave Clark to me,” he says quietly.

Next scene: Louis and Clark arrive at the reunion, which is being held at Smallville High. As the pair is about to enter the building, they literally run into Braniac in counselor form–then she’s gone. Louis and Clark think nothing of the incident, and the two start walking around.

Louis greets lots of the other reunion attendees, but much to her disbelief, no one seems to remember her. They do, however, remember Clark–quite fondly, it turns out. Fans of the show will remember that Clark, in his senior years at Smallville High, had become quite the football star. Louis is more than a little shocked that Clark is known around the school the way she thought she would be.

Brainiac finally makes his appearance as Louis and Clark are being crowned by their fellow alumni–for what, it’s not exactly clear, but neither does it seem very important. What IS important is that Brainiac’s appearances freezes time again, although Clark is the only other one in the room to notice.

“This is the moment that your life changes forever,” Brainiac says to Clark. He touches Clark, and the two disappear in a flash of light.

We soon discover that this Brainiac is from the future–he’s actually the fifth incarnation of Brainiac. Brainiac warns Clark of the corruption that overcomes him in the future, just as corruption had overcome earlier versions of Braniac. Brainiac then takes Clark to the time in his past that was–and is–his defining moment: when he began blaming himself for his father, Jonathan Kent’s, death.

What happened to Jonathan was his own choice, just as we all choose our own fate, Brainiac points out. The darkness is the past, Brainiac continues, where Clark dwells–and holds on to his mistakes.

“Stop punishing yourself and others for what happened in the past,” Brainiac says.

Clark grabs at the ring that Brainiac has been using to move through time and is thrown into the future. In this time, he is Superman and Louis knows his identity. Then Clark runs into himself–complete with future disguise. (This was hilarious! OK, and his future self was pretty handsome in the Clark-in-disguise getup, too. I’ll admit it. But you probably already figured that out.)

After Clark-past and Clark-future work together to solve a crisis, Brainiac finally catches up to our Clark. He then points out that Clark’s darkness lies in fearing the future, as well as holding on the the past.

“A hero is made in the moment,” Brainiac says in parting as he leaves Clark back in the present. “Just remember that, Kal-L.”

So, that’s the jist of it. An excellent episode–well played-out, well plotted–believable, and not without its surprises. Not to mention, some romantic moments, and some moments of revelation for Louis.