The House of El: A Superman, Smallville & DCU Podcast

February 11, 2011 – Tess discovers that the alternate-universe Lionel has taken over LuthorCorp under the guise that he only faked his death years prior. Martha Kent holds an anti-VRA rally that results in her being shot by a spectator. Lionel finds the Lex clone in an abandoned building and realizes that he is the one who shot Martha, though his real intention was to kill Clark with kryptonite bullets. Later, Martha confronts Lionel and Lex at the Luthor mansion, but Lex subdues the others and sets fire to the mansion. Tess convinces Lex to give up his quest for vengeance, while Clark is able to save Lionel and Martha from the fire. Afterward, Tess attempts to kill Lex but discovers he is indestructible and the superheroes watch as the VRA is repealed by voters. In this week’s episode, Robin and Joe talk about the thirteenth episode of the season, ‘Beacon’, which quickly became a SHoE favorite between the return of Martha Kent, Lionel Luthor, and fan videos featured in the episode. If one of yours was shown, let us know!

February 4, 2011 – After being knocked unconscious at Carter’s funeral, Clark and his friends wake up without their powers and flashbacks of Chloe experimenting on them in a secret lab. Chloe informs Oliver that the government has put everyone in a coma and imprisoned their minds in a virtual reality. Clark and the team learn that the government is attempting to find a way to turn on and off the heroes’ powers in the real world to ensure their cooperation with the Vigilante Registration Act. Chloe hacks into the program and one-by-one helps each hero back into reality. Chloe reveals that she blackmailed Flag’s Suicide Squad into joining forces with her as a means of keeping them from harming innocent lives. After nearly two months of no new episodes, Smallville is back with the 12th episode of the final season, ‘Collateral’. Damian and Derek kick off the first batch of new episodes with a full recap, plus talk of NBC’s pilot for a new Wonder Woman series, and discussion of the new Superman reboot

Steve Glosson returns to Starkville’s House of El along with Derek Russell to cover the entire first half of the final season of Smallville. There’s a lot to discuss in those first eleven episodes from Lazarus to Icarus, that will shape what is to come when Smallville returns next Friday.

January 17, 2011 – An oldie but a goodie! Steve and Derek bring you a full length running commentary from 2009 of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Since we never got to release it via SHoE we thought it was a good a time as any since Smallville has been delayed a week. Enjoy!

December 10, 2010 – Clark proposes marriage to Lois and she accepts, but shortly after their engagement party Oliver is attacked by Metropolis citizens which sparks a manhunt for Queen and the rest of the heroes. Realizing General Slade is still alive, Clark orders all heroes underground until he can find a way to stop Slade. Subsequently, Slade brings in Emil, Tess, and Lois for questioning to find out where the Blur is. Carter Hall arrives and rescues Lois, but sacrifices his own life in the process. To stop Slade for good, Clark banishes him to the Phantom Zone. The heroes come together to bury Carter in his home country of Egypt, but are knocked unconscious by an unknown object that sprouts in Carter’s burial chamber. Happy Holidays! The gang is all here as Damian, Joe, Derek, and Robin discuss the winter cliffhanger, ‘Icarus’. We’ve got a full look at the eleventh episode of the final season inside, plus news, our casting picks for the new Superman film, a lot of laughs, and some spoilers for 2011!

December 3, 2010 – Clark learns that there is another Lex clone in existence, and that Tess has been keeping him alive behind everyone’s back. Clark also discovers that Tess has a Kryptonian box, and when he activates it, it sends him to a parallel universe where Lionel Luthor is his adoptive father and not the Kents. While on the alternate Earth, Clark learns that Tess is actually a Luthor, that his doppelganger goes by the alias Ultraman and murders anyone that gets in his way, including Lex Luthor. Clark acquires the Kryptonian box and manages to send himself back to his own reality, but unknowingly brings Lionel with him. Smallville writer Bryan Q. Miller (Warrior, Committed) joins Derek, Joe, and eventually Robin this week to discuss his episode, “Luthor”, which featured the return of John Glover as Lionel Luthor and placed Executive Producer Kelly Souders behind the camera as director for the first time.

November 19, 2010 – Oliver registers for the new vigilante registration law, now being overseen by Col. Slade Wilson, in order to protect the rest of the team and find out what the government is planning. Oliver’s suspicions are confirmed when the registration location is revealed to be a trap designed to locate and arrest superheroes. Clark teams up with Arthur Curry, now aware of his Atlantean heritage, and Arthur’s wife Mera, to track down the superhero prisons the government has built. After the team rescues Oliver, Clark discovers that Slade’s actions were influenced by Darkseid. Subsequently, Clark brings Lois onto the team and finally reveals the threat of Darkseid’s arrival to everyone. Happy Thanksgiving all! This season keeps right on moving and this week Joe and Robin have the Tom Welling directed “Patriot” to discuss which features a lot of cool turning points for the final season and opens some new doors for our Darkseid arc as it continues to play out.

November 12, 2010 – Lois watches a video tape left by her mother, where Ella Lane tells Lois not to let the loss of a loved one keep her from living up to her full potential. Subsequently, Lois goes to the Fortress of Solitude and pleads with Jor-El to reconcile with Clark so that Clark can be the hero he needs to be. Meanwhile, Clark helps Tess uncover the truth about a dream Tess had about being in an orphanage. Tess eventually learns she is the illegitimate child of Lionel Luthor, who abandoned her at 5 years of age; her birth name is Lutessa Lena Luthor. Tess was left with Granny Goodness, who turns out to be one of a trinity of prophets for the dark lord Darkseid, the other two being Gordon Godfrey and club owner Desaad. Damian and Derek discuss the eighth episode of the season, ‘Abandoned’ and all the Superman universe goodies that it provides, including appearances of Teri Hatcher as Lois’ mother, Julian Sands and Helen Slater returning as Jor-El and Lara, and our first glimpse at Darkseid’s minion Granny Goodness.

November 5, 2010 – General Sam Lane and Lucy Lane, Lois’s father and sister, come into town to celebrate Thanksgiving with Lois and Clark. While visiting, the General reveals that he is a proponent of a new vigilante registration law, much to the dismay of Clark and Lois. Tess and Oliver discover that the team is being tracked by Rick Flag, who is reforming the Suicide Squad and has sent out an assassination order for the General. Flag launches a missile to kill the General, but it detonates next to Lois. “The Blur” saves Lois, which helps to change the General’s opinion of some vigilantes. Regardless, the vigilante law passes and Flag begins ordering acts of terrorism on anti-vigilante headquarters. Robin and Joe return to discuss the seventh episode of the final season, ‘Ambush’, which brings General Sam Lane and Lucy Lane back to Smallville for Thanksgiving dinner. There’s a full review of the episode inside, plus SHoE and Smallville news, your tweets and emails, spoilers for “Abandoned” and a big announcement from Joe!

October 29, 2010 – Clark and Lois get a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, so Clark goes to the nearby town to fix the tire while Lois stays behind. Lois meets a young girl who takes her to a village where the water supply has been contaminated with blue kryptonite. Clark returns to find Lois missing and sets out to look for her. Lois discovers the villagers are planning to sacrifice her to bring continued good crops and health. She and Clark, who is powerless next to the villagers who emit blue kryptonite radiation, are captured. As a result of Lois’s intervention, the villagers eventually move far enough from Clark that he super speeds himself and Lois back to Metropolis where they later make love for the first time. Meanwhile, Tess decides not to stop Alexander’s accelerated growth after realizing that he has all of Lex’s memories and his evil personality. Smalllville writers/producers Al Septien and Turi Meyer (whose credits include ‘Apocalypse’, ‘Kandor’, and ‘Salvation’) join Derek to discuss their haunting episode, ‘Harvest’, which includes a lot of milestones for this final season of the series. The two discuss the episode from its inception, where they drew from to bring Clark and Lois together,