Speaking of Earth's savior, there are plenty of explicit religious references that directly relate to both Davis and Clark. The story of Superman has always been comparable to that of Jesus Christ being sent to Earth by his father to be a savior. This time around, the Smallville team have elected to take Davis Bloome/Doomsday and turn him into Judas. The writers aren't coy about this either; using Tess Mercer they explicitly refer to both as Jesus and Judas in the episode – just in time for Easter. How convenient. Regardless of whether or not you like your Smallville filled with explicit religious references, the idea behind it makes sense. Davis (Judas) is destined to betray and kill Clark so that he will rise again as the immortal Superman. The story this season has been going in that direction but I somehow doubt we'll see Clark wearing the classic outfit in season nine. I have a feeling this just means he will be able to fly.
The various flashbacks that retroactively add Bloome to Smallville history are serviceable but I find it odd that Lionel Luthor knew when and where the space ship with Kal-El was going to crash. If he eventually found out Clark was the traveler, as this episode suggests he might have known, I can't imagine anything in the world stopping him from taking the child by force from the Kent family. Also, why would he discard Davis so quickly? If he was found nude at the crash site it's possible that he may still be of some value even though he isn't the traveler. That's the problem when trying to retroactively add characters, there are always far too many plot holes to account for.
You've got to hand it to Tess. She's been able to piece together the complete mystery behind Clark Kent and Davis Bloome in just under one season. Of course she did have the help of a conveniently drawn out Luthor journal that laid out events in various pretty pictures. I was intrigued by Tess' character after she discovered that Lex was using her but she has pretty much been transformed into Lex 2 at this point. Her obsession over Clark and his abilities is far too comparable.
Chloe finding out the truth about Davis was handled perfectly. Chloe's a lot like Clark, she really wants to see the good in people despite their obvious shortcomings and in Davis' case she looked the other way far too many times. The visual of the mass grave through Clark's x-ray vision was striking and really gave you a sense of how often Davis has had to kill.
"Eternal" ended on a very strong note with Davis convincing Chloe to end his pain and kill him. Bringing back Dr. Groll's kryptonite chamber was a nice touch and acted as a great visual when Chloe was left with no choice but to turn the switch. His desperate pleas to end his suffering almost had me feeling sorry for him despite what I said a couple of weeks ago. Even Clark was able to see through the monster and find the good in Davis.
Of course, Davis' return in the last scene sunk any hopes of redemption I had for the character. The kryptonite making him stronger is inline with the character's ability to adapt to his weaknesses and overcome them. Unfortunately, he has still not overcome the 'love' he feels for Chloe and basically gives her a choice she can't refuse. It's dirty, cruel and to be honest I would have rather seen Chloe leave the room. I'm looking forward to the next episode simply for her reaction to the position she's been placed in. They're really tearing the character of Chloe Sullivan apart this season and I'd be quite surprised if they didn't kill her off in the final episode.
