Welcome back to Rewatching Smallville, my weekly dive into the iconic series that explores Clark Kent’s journey before becoming Superman. Whether you’re a long-time fan or new to the show, you’re invited to join in each Tuesday as I revisit episodes and share my thoughts and observations. Be sure to share your own memories and theories in the comments below!

When Smallville hit its 50th episode milestone with “Relic,” it gave viewers something they probably weren’t expecting: Tom Welling playing two characters. Yes, in addition to our favorite farm boy Clark Kent, Welling also portrayed Clark’s biological father Jor-El in 1961 – complete with a leather jacket that would make James Dean proud. The episode pulls double duty as both a noir-tinged murder mystery and a crucial piece of Superman mythology that reframes Clark’s entire origin story. Let’s dive into this blast from Smallville’s past.

The Case of the Dead Aunt and the Drifter

“Relic” opens with Lana Lang visiting Dex McCallum, an elderly man who’s been in prison for 40 years for allegedly murdering Lana’s great-aunt Louise. Plot twist: Dex claims he’s innocent and shows Lana a sketch of the real killer – a handsome drifter who looks suspiciously like Clark Kent. Because in Smallville, all roads somehow lead back to the Kent farm.

What follows is a unique structure for the show. Rather than the usual meteor freak of the week, we get Clark experiencing flashbacks to 1961 whenever he touches objects with connections to his father. These flashbacks reveal that Jor-El once visited Earth (looking exactly like his future son, convenient casting budget-wise) and fell in love with Louise McCallum, who happens to be Lana’s doppelgänger.

If you’re keeping score at home, that means Clark is essentially crushing on the same woman his father did, just two generations removed. Freud would have a field day with this one.

When Jor-El Came to Town

The flashbacks paint a picture of young Jor-El as quite different from the stern, authoritarian AI voice we’ve heard in previous episodes. This Jor-El is rebellious, romantic, and surprisingly human – despite being an alien. Sent to Earth by his father as some sort of cosmic time-out (parenting techniques are apparently universal), Jor-El saves Louise from a robbery attempt by none other than Lachlan Luthor, Lex’s grandfather.

Yes, the Luthors and the El family have been at odds for generations. Some feuds transcend planets.

The episode elegantly weaves together two love stories that end in tragedy. In the past, Jor-El and Louise fall for each other, but he knows he must return to Krypton to “accept his destiny” (a phrase that will haunt his son years later). In the present, Clark helps Lana uncover the truth about her great-aunt’s murder while grappling with what these revelations mean about his biological father.

The Father-Son Connection

“Relic” shines brightest when exploring the parallels between Clark and Jor-El. Both fall for a Lang/McCallum woman. Both struggle with their predetermined destinies. Both have moral compasses that point true north. The episode suggests that nature trumps nurture in some respects – Clark has inherited more than just his superpowers from his biological father.

This theme is particularly poignant given Jonathan Kent’s obvious discomfort throughout the episode. When Clark and Martha discuss his interest in his birth parents, Jonathan’s face might as well have “threatened” stamped across it. For a man who’s spent years raising someone else’s child as his own, learning about the biological father must feel like competition from a ghost.

The most moving revelation comes at the end when Clark discovers that his adoptive grandfather, Hiram Kent, helped Jor-El escape the authorities in 1961. This creates a beautiful symmetry: the Kents helped the father before helping the son. Clark’s final vision reveals that Jor-El may have intentionally sent baby Kal-El to the Kent farm – not by random chance as previously believed.

“I guess Mom and Dad didn’t find me by accident,” Clark tells Jonathan. “Jor-El chose them. He chose you.”

It’s a touching reframing of Superman’s origin that adds layers to both Clark’s adoption and Jor-El’s character. Rather than a cold, distant father who callously shot his son into space, this Jor-El carefully selected loving parents for his child. It’s a twist that softens Jor-El considerably after seasons of portraying him as a manipulative force.

The Luthor Legacy

While the Kent/El father-son dynamics take center stage, “Relic” doesn’t neglect the show’s other complex paternal relationship. Lex learns that his grandparents didn’t die accidentally in a tenement fire as Lionel had claimed. Upon investigation, Lex discovers the fire was deliberate – murder.

Lionel’s blasé reaction – “I always suspected” – speaks volumes about the Luthor approach to family trauma. While Clark embraces his heritage and finds comfort in the connections between generations, the Luthors bury their pain and secrets, poisoning their relationships in the process.

The contrast couldn’t be clearer: the Els and Kents build generational bonds of love and protection, while the Luthors pass down deception and emotional detachment. This episode plants seeds for Lex’s inevitable turn toward villainy by showing just how deeply dysfunction runs in his family tree.

The Good, The Bad, and The Super

“Relic” stands out as one of Smallville’s more ambitious episodes, both visually and thematically. The 1961 sequences are beautifully shot with a nostalgic filter that transports viewers to a simpler time (well, simpler except for the alien visitor and murder). The costume design deserves special mention – Jor-El’s leather jacket and Louise’s vintage dresses capture the era perfectly.

Tom Welling deserves credit for differentiating his portrayal of Jor-El from Clark while maintaining enough similarities to make their connection believable. He gives Jor-El a confidence and worldliness that Clark still lacks, while Kristin Kreuk similarly distinguishes Louise from Lana through more assertive body language and dialogue delivery.

The episode’s structure, with flashbacks triggered by touch, could have felt gimmicky, but the writers use it effectively to parcel out information at a satisfying pace. The murder mystery works because it connects to deeper themes rather than serving as a mere plot device.

Where “Relic” falters slightly is in its convenient coincidences. The fact that Jor-El looks identical to Clark (rather than just similar) stretches credulity, as does Louise being a perfect double for Lana. The odds of Jor-El randomly encountering both a Luthor and a Lang/McCallum during his brief visit to Earth are astronomical. But hey, this is a show about an alien who disguises himself with glasses, so perhaps some suspension of disbelief is warranted.

Superman Mythology Connections

For Superman fans, “Relic” offers several nods to the broader mythology:

• Jor-El’s visit to Earth before sending his son there has precedent in comics, appearing in Superboy #121 from 1965.
• The episode draws from John Byrne’s “The Man of Steel” mini-series concept that the Kents were specifically chosen as caretakers, rather than finding baby Kal-El by random chance.
• The inclusion of Elizabeth Taylor’s image on a magazine (as noted in the episode’s trivia) references Adventure Comics #183, where Lana Lang once portrayed Cleopatra – a character Taylor would famously play.
• Louise’s Hollywood dreams mirror a storyline from Superboy #18, where Lana Lang briefly flirted with movie stardom.

The musical choices also connect to the broader Superman universe. “Earth Angel” playing during Jor-El and Louise’s barn scene echoes Superman III, where the same song played when Clark reunited with his high school crush Lana Lang (played by Annette O’Toole, who, in a delightful meta twist, plays Martha Kent in Smallville).

Similarly, “I Only Have Eyes For You” was previously used in both Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and the animated Batman film Subzero – keeping everything in the DC family.

Legacy of “Relic”

As the 50th episode of Smallville, “Relic” served as both a milestone and a turning point. It humanized Jor-El after portraying him primarily as an antagonistic force, giving context to his sometimes harsh methods. The revelation that Jor-El specifically chose the Kents adds emotional weight to Clark’s adoption story and sets up future explorations of his dual heritage.

The episode also foreshadows the tragic nature of Clark and Lana’s relationship. Just as Jor-El had to leave Louise to fulfill his destiny, Clark will eventually have to leave Lana behind for his fate with Lois Lane. Some heartbreaks, it seems, are written in the stars – or at least in Kryptonian DNA.

In retrospect, “Relic” represents Smallville at its best: using the Superman mythology as a foundation while building its own unique interpretation. By giving Jor-El a love story on Earth, the show added dimensions to a character often reduced to a few scenes in most Superman adaptations. This tendency to explore the emotional lives of characters typically treated as plot devices became one of Smallville’s greatest strengths over its ten-season run.

Final Thoughts

If there’s one lesson “Relic” teaches us, it’s that our parents’ stories shape our own more than we realize. Clark discovers that his father once walked the same streets, loved a woman from the same family, and even befriended his adoptive grandparents. These connections don’t diminish Clark’s individuality but rather enrich his understanding of himself.

As we hit the series’ quarter-life (little did viewers know in 2003 that Smallville would run for a full decade), “Relic” serves as a perfect bridge between Clark’s past and future. It honors where he came from while hinting at where he’s going.

In true Smallville fashion, it reminds us that becoming Superman isn’t just about developing powers or donning a cape – it’s about reconciling all the parts of yourself: alien and human, son of Jor-El and son of Jonathan Kent, destined hero and small-town farm boy.

And occasionally, it’s about realizing your dad once dated your crush’s great-aunt. Now that’s a family complication even Superman might find challenging.