Review: Smallville, Episode 8.1, "Odyssey"

The seventh season ended with a cataclysmic showdown between Clark Kent and Lex Luthor in the Fortress of Solitude. The eighth season begins with both men missing and feared dead. Green Arrow's Justice League searches for Clark, while Tess Mercer, acting head of LuthorCorp, searches for Lex.

This is a fun start to what could be the show's final season. It was important to get off to a good start after original showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar left after seven seasons and were replaced by the showrunning committee of Darren Swimmer, Todd Slavkin, Kelly Souders, and Brian Peterson, all of whom have worked on the show as staff writers since the second season. Based on this episode written by the four new showrunners, I'd say it's in good hands.

Besides the change in showrunners, regular cast members Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor) and Kristin Kreuk (Lana Lang) also left the show after last season, while Justin Hartley (Green Arrow), Cassidy Freeman (Tess Mercer), and Sam Witwer (paramedic Davis Bloome) join the regular cast this season.