The first half of last night’s 100th episode of Smallville made me very happy.

Hooray! I thought. They actually did it! They actually killed off Lana! The whiny bitch is gone! Finally!

But as soon as Jor-El sent Clark back to live the day over again, I knew what was going to happen. (As any halfway-intelligent viewer would.) It was foreshadowed by Clark and Jonathan’s conversation at the beginning of the episode, of course. And it was clear that the much-publicized death was going to be either Lana or Jonathan (Alison Mack is so good that I knew they wouldn’t kill off Chloe).

That scene at the end with Clark and Martha at the Kent house was so sad and real-ish. I actually felt an emptiness watching it.

I Annette O’Toole.

I read somewhere today that Jonathan had to die so that Clark could develop more as a hero. I guess. But I’ll miss John Schneider.

I also saw this, which captures why the show is so flawed:

But give us something concrete. Not the weekly veering off into territory that contradicts the previous week. Not the constant rehashing of the dysfunctional relationships of the main characters. Not the leaping back and forth between characters being best friends or mortal enemies. Pick a direction, go in it, let it go slowly if you want, but stop running into brick walls.

Yeah, it’s generally not a great show. But I can’t explain why I keep watching.