Starkville's "House of El" Podcast (Standard MP3)

April 30, 2010 – Checkmate breaches the Watchtower computer firewalls and begins stealing information. Clark, needing to find Zod, sends Oliver to the Luthor mansion to look through Tess’s things to see if he can find any information. At the same time, Clark talks to Faora and reveals to her that Zod has had powers for weeks and that he was the reason Krypton was destroyed. Armed with this new information, Faora attempts to organize the remaining Kandorians to seek out peace with humans, and stand against Zod. Meanwhile, Oliver finds Zod at the mansion and they get in a fight that leaves Oliver with a House of Zod symbol branded on his chest. Checkmate locates the Kandorians and attempts to execute them, but Clark arrives and saves them. Meanwhile, Zod confronts Faora about her betrayal and subsequently kills her; afterward he learns she was pregnant with his child. Zod, now honored with the rank of “General”, uses Faora’s death—he blames it on humans—to bring the rest of the Kandorians to his cause. Crunch time! Less than 24hrs to go until the ninth season finale of Smallville, ‘Salvation’, and it’s almost sad to be delivering the last few episodes of SHoE of the season. But we’re quickly approaching episode 150, and with that comes the last two episodes of the season before the finale,

We’ve got a huge episode to make up for being a week behind (that will also line us up with Salvation being our 150th episode) with some amazing surprises awaiting you inside. We’ve got two special guests to help us cover the last two weeks worth of episodes, plus lots of news surrounding the end of season nine.

April 9, 2010 – Tess and other agents from Checkmate successfully kidnap Green Arrow and transport him to the Checkmate organization. While in transport, Amanda Waller attempts to recruit Green Arrow, unaware that he is billionaire Oliver Queen, to a government cause designed around preparing for a potential alien invasion. Green Arrow declines and escapes. With Oliver still missing, Clark and Chloe begin searching surveillance feeds. John Jones is also investigating and he discovers the location of Checkmate’s home base. There, he learns Waller has a sample of Kryptonian blood. Meanwhile, Oliver returns to Metropolis, only to have Tess realize that Oliver is Green Arrow. Tess informs Oliver and Clark that Checkmate has kidnapped Chloe, who was the real target. Clark heads to the Checkmate base and saves Chloe. John Jones destroys the sample of blood, and uses his abilities to erase Waller’s memory of Clark, Chloe, and Oliver’s faces, preserving their identities. Afterward, Clark tells John that Waller may have been correct about an alien invasion, recalling his vision of the future. Sterek Returns! Steve and Derek are getting the band back together, just in time for the end of season nine. With only five episodes left, the duo discuss the release of the season on DVD, as well as what we have to look forward to in the final episodes.

April 2, 2010 – Clark and Lois head to a bed and breakfast for the weekend, but when they arrive they find Chloe and Oliver having their own romantic getaway. While settling in, Lois unwittingly releases the spirit of Siobhan McDougal, who was cursed and sent to live in the underworld, from a painting at the bed and breakfast. Known as the Silver Banshee by the villagers, the spirit transfers from one woman to the next, looking to murder any men who come into her path. Eventually, Chloe discovers that destroying the portrait of Siobhan with fire will send the spirit back to the underworld, so she throws the picture into a lit fireplace. Meanwhile, Tess reveals to Zod that she knows he has his powers and also proves to him that she knows his weakness when she opens a box of kryptonite around him. Zod reveals that he is jealous of Clark, as the latter has won the love of the city. Zod, pretending to be “The Blur”, contacts Lois and requests that she find information on Tess. We’re back after a LONG break and the first of a few wham-bam episodes you’ll get in a row from the SHoE crew. First up is ‘Escape’ where Steve walks you through the in’s and out’s, tells you what’s been going on with SHoE and introduces a new weekly segment we’re bringing into the show.

February 26, 2010 – Bernard Chisholm, a doctor who was experimented on by Kandorian scientists, begins kidnapping those same Kandorians in order to expose them to the world. Chisholm tries to persuade Lois to write the story, but when she refuses he kidnaps her and forces her to write it. Clark attempts to locate the missing Kandorians and is confronted by Zod, who knows that Clark destroyed the solar towers. Meanwhile, Oliver discovers that Chloe has been stealing money from his company in order to build kryptonite weapons to use against the Kandorians should they get their powers back. Oliver decides that Clark needs to know, but not until the time is right. Zod locates Chisholm, but he is shot in the stomach during his rescue attempt. Clark arrives and saves Lois and the surviving Kandorian, but watches as Zod dies from massive blood loss. Using his own blood, Clark resurrects Zod. The next day, Zod pretends to make a pact with Clark to help the Kandorians adapt to Earth, but once Clark leaves he reveals that he has gained the powers he was missing thanks to Clark’s blood. It’s going to be a long five weeks leading up to the next episode of Smallville, so let’s make the time go faster with a little SHoE. This week Derek and Joe from The 10th Wonder discuss the spring finale episode, ‘Conspiracy’. There’s also really big news involving Smallville’s 10th season return.

February 19, 2010 – Clark is unknowingly exposed to a new form of kryptonite that gives him the power of hypnosis. As a result, Lois quits her job at the Daily Planet and moves in with Clark after he tells her he wants a more traditional relationship. Once Clark finds out about his new power, he goes to Zod to see if he can force Zod to reveal who killed Jor-El. Zod tells Clark that Tess murdered his father, and tries to convince Clark to seek vengeance. After refusing to kill anyone, Clark accidentally hypnotizes himself into seeking revenge and he goes after Tess. Before Clark can kill her, Chloe uses green kryptonite to weaken Clark, which also removes the hypnosis from everyone, including Clark. Zod discovers that one of his soldiers, Alia, killed Jor-El for fear that he would destroy all of the Kandorian clones. As is Kryptonian law, Zod kills Alia for her actions. Clark learns the truth, but still does not trust Zod. As such, Clark destroys the LuthorCorp solar towers, which Zod hoped would bring him powers of his own. This week Derek and Media Junkyard co-host Robin (aka the boy wonder) bring you a look at what Kandorians do on their day off, in ‘Persuasion’. There is a LOT to talk about in this one.

February 12, 2010 – After stealing an enchanted Warrior Angel comic book, adolescent Alec is transformed into a super-powered adult. With his new abilities, Alec saves Chloe’s life. Thinking that Alec, who calls himself “Steven Swift”, is another superhero, Chloe tries to get to know him and recruit him to Clark and Oliver’s super-powered team. At the same time, Zatanna returns and informs Clark that her father was the one who cursed the comic book that turns Alec into Warrior Angel, and enlists his help to track down Alec so that she can reverse the spell. After finding the comic, Zatanna and Clark realize that the story is not about a young boy that becomes a hero, but about becoming a villain. When Chloe attempts to convince Alec to have the curse reversed, Alec turns on her and attempts to throw her off a building. Before he can, Clark saves Chloe and Zatanna reverses the spell, returning Alec back to normal. Steve and SHoEligan favorite Damian Holbrook, from TV Guide Magazine, take on the Allison Mack directed episode which was moved around a bit due to the earthquake in Haiti and Absolute Justice.

February 5, 2010 – After former superhero Sylvester Pemberton—also known as Star-Spangled Kid—is killed by supervillain Icicle, Chloe and Clark begin investigating the murder. The pair discover that Sylvester was part of a group known as the Justice Society of America, which was led by a man named Carter Hall who went by the name Hawkman. They also learn that Carter Hall and the rest of the Justice Society of America have been monitoring Clark and his super hero friends. Another member of the JSA, Dr. Fate, arrives and informs Clark that he will lead the new generation of superheroes, just as Hawkman led the JSA. After Icicle kills Wesley Dodds, whose code name was Sandman, Hawkman and Sylvester’s apprentice, Stargirl, decide to set a trap for Icicle. In the process, Green Arrow interrupts the trap, which causes Hawkman to threaten his life. Oliver calls in John Jones for support, who helps convince Hawkman, Stargirl, and Dr. Fate to work with Green Arrow, Clark, and himself to bring down Icicle. At the same time, Lois receives a package from an organization known as Checkmate, led by Amanda Waller, which leads her to discover the existence of the JSA. Split up into pairs, Dr. Fate saves John from Icicle’s attack, sacrificing himself and giving John his powers back at the same time. Banding together, instead of splitting up, Clark, Hawkman, Jones, Stargirl, and Green Arrow defeat Icicle. In the end, Hawkman and Stargirl decide to locate the other members of the JSA, their children, and their protégés to help organize a new generation of superheroes. Icicle is transported back to Agent Waller, who tells him he is part of the Suicide Squad and then shoots him. Afterward, Waller meets with Tess, who is revealed to be another agent of Checkmate. Here is the audio from our post-Absolute Justice live show this past Friday night.

January 29, 2010 – After a date with Clark, Lois is shot with an arrow by a man dressed as the Green Arrow. Later, Chloe is attacked by the same individual. Oliver begins investigating and discovers that an old mentor, named Vordigan, is the one behind the attacks. Meanwhile, Zod tells Clark that the Kryptonians are waiting on Clark to help them all get their powers, and that they will resort to anything to get them. Oliver’s old mentor kidnaps Mia, Oliver’s new apprentice, and uses her as bait to lure Oliver in and force him to kill Vordigen, who believes that he must die at the hands of his own disciple. Instead, Oliver only injures Vordigen and leaves him for the police. After Clark discovers that Zod visited Lois in the hospital, Clark tells him that he will not help the Kryptonians gain their powers and threatens to destroy all of them if they go near Lois again. We’re mere hours away from the two-hour event that is Absolute Justice, and that leaves us a little time to see where we’ve been. This week Steve and Smallville director Mairzee Almas discuss the first episode of 2010, ‘Disciple,’ and tell you what you need to take away from it.

January 2, 2010 – Welcome back! It’s the first SHoE of 2010 and we’ve got some catching up to do. First off, this episode was recorded before the disastrous earthquake in Haiti and the announcement of the Telethon that will take the place of “Disciple” on 1/22.