With the exception of a few minor plot holes (how could the Luthors raise Kara? She was nineteen when she left Krypton.) Apocalypse was phenomenal. From beginning to end, it was a wild ride that, unlike some AU episodes, worked perfectly in concert with the main universe.

Mostly. See, Apocalypse worked too well. The writers outdid themselves and, in doing so, only served to highlight the massive mistakes they've made with the 'real' universe. The biggest one?

Lois.

After four years, Erica Durance finally got to play Lois Lane. This episode is my inarguable proof that the problem with Smallville's Lois lies 100% with the production staff and their approach to the character.  They're not writing Lois Lane.

The woman we saw in Apocalypse was the real Lois Lane. The 'take no prisoners, never say die' Lois. This is the woman who will go toe to toe with terrorists, Lex Luthor, all manner of alien monsters, and Martha Kent without batting an eyelash. This is not a woman who can't seem to finish high school, sleeps with her editor, and then completely misses the fact the man's been murdered.

It was Lois. Damn. Lane. No substitutes need apply. She was the Lois we're never going to get in the 'real' universe. The Lois they should have been writing four years. The Lois I was hoping they would give us the moment the spoilers of her arrival first leaked.

Smallville's worked some miracles with characters over the years. They restored all the dignity that the Superman movies stripped from Lex. The movieverse Lex Luthor is almost always ten different kinds of a buffoon, but that's an comment which can never be made of Michael Rosenbaum's Lex. Even when Smallville reversed itself midstream (witness the debacle that was Lana's pregnancy), they never turned Lex into a caricature. He's the sort of man who will make the world sit up and take notice, whether the world likes it or not. They'll love him, fear him, but they'll never laugh at him.

The same can be said for Clark.
They've made some major mistakes with Clark over the years, but at the core of him, he's still Superman. A man willing to wish himself out of existence if it means saving those around him. (And how wonderful a moment was that? Not a wish of despair, but a wish of true selflessness)

In truth, they did the same for Lois, but not the one going by the name. Some may not remember, but the original pitch for Smallville was not Smallville at all. It was a young Lois Lane series Al and Miles wanted, not a young Superman. Thus, when Warner Brothers gave them young Superman, they had a reimagined Lois all cued up and ready to go. Rather than toss her aside, they filed off the serial numbers and gave us Chloe Sullivan.

It worked like gangbusters, Chloe became - and remains - a fan favorite, but it also shot Al and Miles in the foot. When they finally got permission to bring Lois Lane - by name - to Smallville, they had the minor problem of her already being in town. The writers had to scramble to create a visible difference between Chloe and Lois.

Unfortunately, they went a little too far. In most episodes, we can forget, but not when episodes like Apocalypse come round. We got a chance to see the Lois we might have had. I don't know about my fellow fans, but it made me angry. Erica deserves better, Allison deserves better, Smallville deserves better, and we deserve better.

I'm just not sure the production staff knows how to give it to us. We're looking at a season without Lex, without Chloe, and, possibly, without a chance. Smallville could survive the departure of John Glover, it might survive the departure of Michael Rosenbaum, but the departure of Allison Mack on top of that? I don't see how. Not with the writing we're currently getting.

Not every episode is going to be this one. Come on, Smallville, come on CW, catch a clue. With Apocalypse and others like it, Smallville has shown us what it's capable of. What can do when all its major players - writers included - bring their A-game.

We've got one season left. Don't drop the ball now. I want episodes like Apocalypse to be the rule, not the exception.