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!

Sometimes the most memorable episodes of a TV series aren’t the ones that break new ground or deliver shocking twists—they’re the ones that take familiar elements and crank the emotional stakes up to eleven. Smallville‘s “Resurrection,” the fifteenth episode of Season 3, is exactly that kind of hour: a pressure cooker of family drama wrapped around yet another kryptonite-powered crisis, but one that manages to feel genuinely tense despite following the show’s well-worn “meteor rock of the week” formula.

The Setup: When Hearts Stop and Brothers Fall

“Resurrection” opens with the Kent family facing their worst nightmare: Jonathan Kent needs triple bypass surgery. It’s the kind of medical crisis that would be devastating for any family, but when your teenage son happens to be an alien with healing blood, the stakes become infinitely more complicated. Clark’s helplessness in the face of his father’s mortality sets the emotional foundation for everything that follows.

Enter the Davis brothers—Garrett (James Kirk) and Vince (Tahmoh Penikett)—whose own family crisis mirrors the Kents’ in tragically different ways. When Vince dies from liver failure, leaving his younger brother essentially orphaned, it seems like a straightforward case of loss and grief. But this is Smallville, where death is more of a suggestion than a certainty, especially when mysterious labs and experimental serums are involved.

The parallel between the two families is immediately clear: both have a younger member desperately trying to save an older father figure. The difference is that Clark has to accept his limitations, while Garrett… well, Garrett decides to strap a kryptonite bomb to his chest and take a hospital hostage. Different coping mechanisms, you might say.

The Resurrection Business: Plot Convenience or Character Study?

Let’s address the elephant in the room first: the medical science in “Resurrection” is about as realistic as Clark’s ability to change clothes in a phone booth that hasn’t existed since 1995. Liver transplants don’t work the way they’re portrayed here, Jonathan’s heart condition seems to shift causes depending on plot needs, and don’t get me started on the magical healing serum that can apparently bring people back from the dead but only sometimes works.

But here’s the thing—Smallville was never really about the science. It was about the emotional truth underneath the comic book absurdity. And in that regard, “Resurrection” delivers some of the series’ most genuine family moments.

The scene where Clark tells Jonathan how important he is, convincing his reluctant father to undergo surgery, is beautifully played by Tom Welling and John Schneider. There’s something deeply moving about watching Clark—this incredibly powerful being—reduced to the same helpless anxiety any teenager would feel watching a parent face life-threatening surgery. It’s a reminder that for all his abilities, Clark is still fundamentally a scared kid who doesn’t want to lose his dad.

The Davis Brothers: A Cautionary Tale

While the Kent family dynamics provide the episode’s emotional anchor, the Davis brothers represent its cautionary tale about how far we’ll go for family. Garrett’s descent from grieving brother to domestic terrorist is surprisingly well-handled, avoiding the typical Smallville trap of making the “meteor mutant” completely unsympathetic.

James Kirk (not that James Kirk, sadly) brings a genuine desperation to Garrett that makes his actions understandable, if not justifiable. When he discovers that his brother’s body was stolen and subjected to experiments, his rage feels earned. The tragedy is that by the time Vince is actually revived, Garrett has already crossed lines that can’t be uncrossed.

The kryptonite bomb itself deserves mention as one of Smallville‘s more creative uses of meteor rock. Instead of the usual “radiation gives someone weird powers” plot, we get a weapon that’s specifically designed to threaten Clark while endangering everyone else. It’s a clever twist that forces our hero to think strategically rather than just super-speed his way out of trouble.

Lex Luthor: Daddy Issues and Corporate Espionage

No Smallville episode would be complete without Lex Luthor uncovering another layer of his father’s schemes, and “Resurrection” doesn’t disappoint. Michael Rosenbaum gets some great material as Lex discovers that Dr. Lia Teng (Françoise Yip) wasn’t deported at all, but has been conducting secret research for LuthorCorp in an abandoned pharmaceutical building.

The revelation that the resurrection serum contains blood platelets of “unknown origin” (wink wink, nudge nudge) adds another piece to the ongoing puzzle of Clark’s secret. More importantly, it shows us a Lex who’s simultaneously working against his father’s interests while trying to protect people like Lana from the consequences of Lionel’s machinations.

Françoise Yip brings a nice moral complexity to Dr. Teng, a scientist caught between her ethics and her circumstances. Her admission that she’s been secretly keeping Adam Knight alive against Lionel’s orders adds layers to what could have been a simple “evil scientist” role.

The Numbers Game: Why “Resurrection” Struggled

Despite its emotional intensity and relatively high production values, “Resurrection” landed with a thud in the ratings. With 4.97 million viewers, it ranked 17th out of 22 episodes in Season 3, landing about 12% below the season average. For a show that was already fighting to maintain its audience, this kind of performance was concerning.

The timing might have been part of the problem. Airing on February 25, 2004, “Resurrection” came during a crucial stretch where Smallville was competing against established hits and struggling to maintain momentum. The episode also had the misfortune of feeling like a pause in the main Lex-Lionel storyline that had been driving much of the season’s narrative.

Contemporary reviews were decidedly mixed. KryptonSite praised it as “a necessary hour of back-story… and fun to watch,” appreciating the hospital siege tension and its contribution to the Adam Knight subplot. But Billie Doux Reviews was far less impressed, giving it 2 out of 4 stars and criticizing the rushed medical realism.

Fan forum discussions from early 2004 show viewers split between those who appreciated the high stakes for Jonathan Kent and others who felt the episode was filler before the more crucial “Crisis” episode that would follow.

Future Stars in Smallville’s Universe

One of the fun aspects of revisiting “Resurrection” today is spotting the future genre television stars in its cast. Tahmoh Penikett, who plays the tragically resurrected Vince Davis, would go on to become Karl “Helo” Agathon in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series, which premiered later that same year. It’s amusing to think that while Smallville fans were watching him die and come back to life in a meteor rock-powered plot, Penikett was probably already filming scenes as one of science fiction’s most beloved characters.

The episode also marks an early appearance by Françoise Yip as Dr. Teng, who would become a recurring presence in the LuthorCorp conspiracy storylines. Yip brought considerable genre credentials to the role, having appeared in Hong Kong action films like Rumble in the Bronx and later landing roles in Arrow and Shadowhunters.

The Kryptonite Bomb: Weaponizing Meteor Rock

“Resurrection” stands out in Smallville‘s catalog for how it handles its kryptonite plot device. Rather than the typical “meteor rock gives someone weird powers” story, we get a purposefully constructed weapon that raises genuine ethical stakes for Clark.

Earlier seasons had mostly used kryptonite as either an accidental exposure that created temporary villains or as a natural weakness for Clark to overcome. The idea of someone deliberately weaponizing meteor rock—especially in a suicide vest scenario—was relatively novel for the series at this point.

This wouldn’t be the last time Smallville explored kryptonite bombs (later seasons would feature everything from meteor rock bullets to dirty bombs), but “Resurrection” deserves credit for being one of the first to make the green stuff genuinely threatening beyond just making Clark feel woozy.

Family First: The Episode’s True Heart

Strip away the science fiction elements, the corporate conspiracies, and even the kryptonite bomb, and “Resurrection” is ultimately about how families respond to crisis. The Kent family faces Jonathan’s mortality with love, support, and difficult conversations about letting go. The Davis brothers face loss with desperation, denial, and ultimately destructive choices.

Clark’s admission to his father that he’s always thought of him as a “man of steel” is both touching and ironic—a phrase that longtime Superman fans will recognize, but which here simply represents a son’s admiration for his father’s strength. When Jonathan gently corrects him, pointing out that he’s just human, it’s a reminder of the show’s central dynamic: the alien boy learning humanity from his very human parents.

The episode’s final scene, where Clark suggests he might come forward about his healing blood to help others, shows how these family crises shape his developing sense of responsibility. It’s a moment that feels earned rather than forced, growing naturally out of the episode’s events rather than being shoehorned in for future plot development.

Verdict: Flawed but Effective

“Resurrection” isn’t perfect. Its medical science is laughable, some plot convenience stretches credibility, and the pacing occasionally stumbles. But it succeeds where it matters most: in delivering genuine emotional stakes and exploring how extraordinary circumstances test ordinary family bonds.

The episode works because it understands that the most compelling aspect of the Superman story isn’t the powers or the aliens or even the heroics—it’s the very human relationships that shape who Clark Kent becomes. Whether it’s Jonathan facing his mortality, Clark grappling with his limitations, or Garrett making terrible choices out of love, “Resurrection” keeps its focus on the human elements that make these characters relatable.

In the context of Smallville‘s third season, “Resurrection” serves as a necessary breather between larger mythology episodes, but it’s a breather that earns its place by deepening our understanding of what’s at stake for these characters. It may not have set the ratings on fire, but it’s the kind of episode that reminds you why you care about these people in the first place.

And really, in a show where someone gets meteor rock powers every week, sometimes the most extraordinary thing is just watching a family love each other through a crisis. Even if that crisis happens to involve kryptonite bombs and resurrection serums.

What did you think of “Resurrection”? Did the family dynamics work for you, or were you too distracted by the questionable medical science? Let me know in the comments below.