Watch Smallville S01E (5)

Upon its premiere, "Reckoning" earned a Nielsen household rating of 2.2, and was watched by approximately 6.28 million viewers in the United States; along with an estimated 375,000 viewers in the United Kingdom. The episode received generally positive reviews from commentators, who felt that Jonathan's death was both emotional and pivotal. One faction of fans was unhappy with the choice of Jonathan, however, as they would have preferred Lana dying instead.

Watch Smallville S01E (5)

Clark Kent (Tom Welling) sits in his loft holding a piece of coal, waiting for Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) to arrive. Clark expresses fear that Lana is drifting away because of his secret, so he decides to reveal his powers to her. Clark takes her to the Kawatche Caves, where they are then transported to the Fortress of Solitude. Lana is in shock as she looks around at the Fortress. Clark then uses the coal to make a diamond ring and proposes marriage. Afterward, Clark reveals what he did to his parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent (John Schneider and Annette O'Toole), who tell him that he is old enough to make decisions on his own without the advice of his father. After some initial doubt, Lana returns to the Kent farm to accept Clark's proposal.

Clark is in the barn trying to repair the tractor, repeatedly breaking tools in frustration. When Martha comes in, he tells her that he dropped out of college for the rest of the semester because there is too much work to do at the farm. Martha is disappointed, but doesn't press the issue. She tells him that she has to go to Metropolis to talk to the Governor's Office about Jonathan's State Senate seat. While she is there, she plans to drop off some of Jonathan's clothes at the homeless shelter. She suggests Clark to look and see if there is anything he wants to keep, but he refuses. She offers Clark Jonathan's watch, but he tells her to wear it instead. Martha looks worried and leaves.

When Martha is dropping off the items in Suicide Slums, muggers push her down, steal the watch, and almost kill her. However, she is saved by a masked female fighter who swoops out of the sky and beats them up. The rescuer leaves just as the police arrive.

Lana asks Clark to coffee, but he says he is too busy. She urges him to stop bottling his emotions up, but Clark insists she doesn't have to worry. Martha arrives home with a large bruise on her cheek and tells him about the masked rescuer and the stolen watch. Clark goes to the Daily Planet and tells Chloe that the police have no leads. As they wait for the report to be faxed, they talk about Martha's benevolent rescuer. Chloe says she has been tracking the vigilante for weeks and is excited to have an eyewitness to complete the story. Clark feels guilty about; not accepting the watch, not escorting Martha to the city, his father's death, and his relationship with Lana. With all of his emotions close to the surface, he gets upset with Chloe for trying to "cash in" on the situation. He says all he can think about is getting the watch back. As he exits the office, he bumps into another intern, the clumsy and bespectacled Andrea Rojas, who apologizes profusely and shuffles away.

Clark devises a plan in which he pretends to be a robber mugging Chloe to draw out the masked vigilante. When she arrives, Clark fights and unmasks her, revealing it is Andrea. She tells him that she received a heart transplant from a victim of the second meteor shower and gained superhuman agility and strength with it. She reveals that she always carries a locket with a meteor rock in it to remind her. Clark asks her about saving Martha and the stolen watch. He admits that it belonged to his father and she correctly guesses that Clark is grieving his death. She tells him that she was stabbed in the heart during a botched mugging in which her mother was killed. She agrees to help him get the watch back, but acknowledges that what Clark really wants is justice. They decide to confront the gang that was responsible.

Clark and Andrea find the 13th Street Gang, but they refuse to reveal their leader, Snake. As they leave, the gang member calls Snake and Clark superspeeds and steals the phone from him and takes it to Chloe. After faking a pizza order and getting the address, Chloe starts to call the police, but Clark intends to deal with it himself. Knowing that Clark probably isn't thinking straight, Chloe strongly protests, but Clark speeds away, and Andrea promises Chloe that she will follow to keep an eye on him. Clark finds Snake and the two fight. Snake says he sold the watch and Clark chokes him until he is almost dead. Andrea arrives and encourages Clark to kill him, but he stops himself. Andrea decides to finish the job. She subdues Clark with her locket and threatens Snake. Snake claims that the man who hired him to kill her mother had received a call from Lionel Luthor. Against Clark's protests, Andrea kills him and leaves.

With so many episodes to choose from, it's difficult to narrow down to just ten being the "best;" episodes like "X-Ray," "Crush," "Heat," "Red," "Lineage," "Exile," "Memoria," "Covenant," "Run," "Commencement," "Arrival," and "Bride" were all at the very least considered and are definitely worth watching. If you want the cream of the crop, though, these 10 are a great place to start. (be aware that there may be some spoilers if you are new to the series).

We see Clark flying and TV audiences are introduced to Lois Lane -- and it's only Season 4! Of course, there's a reason Clark can fly here even though he doesn't in later episodes (the reasons for that are revealed when you watch it). Erica Durance's Lois arrives in Smallville to investigate the "death" of her cousin, Chloe, and what was originally a four-episode stint for Lois ended up going on for seven seasons. The flying sequence alone makes this one of Smallville's best; the introduction of Lois makes it even better.

Less memorable about the pilot is what was referred to at the time as the "freak of the week" plot: Jeremy Creek, the "14 year old who hasn't aged" who looked 30 even then, played by Adrian McMorran, probably didn't resonate as well as the other things that were set up in the story, from Clark's first save of Lex Luthor's life to the introduction of the "Wall of Weird." But watching the episode with 15 years gone by, and knowing where the show went and what it would become, makes the "Pilot" all the more special. Sometimes the "best" is your first exposure to something - and here, the "Pilot" set a standard for all 217 episodes to follow, landing it at the top spot on this list.

In an epic tome to the Superman trope, Clark constructs his Fortress and Kryptonian villains are sent to the Phantom Zone, which is first introduced. Smallville tries to cope with a much larger, much more destructive meteor shower and Lex inches closer to the dark side. This episode is a strong establishing push towards Superman and is definitely a must watch. 041b061a72