Sacrifice

Season 9 of Smallville hit a bit of a slump as it came near the end, in part due to the poorly executed Checkmate story. Season 9 had a big comeback with "Sacrifice". Sometimes the writers forget that you don't need an overly complex plot to make an exciting episode, but rather a simple and basic plot like has been written here. Tess tries to infiltrate Watchtower, and both she and Chloe get locked inside. The other half of the episode is less exciting, but again a simplified story involving Clark trying to stop the Kandorians who had been given their powers by Zod, by aligning with Faora and those Kandorians that were left behind.

As 24 proved, it is possible to make an exciting show in real time format. I'd go as far as to say it's easier to make a show exciting in real time. There's not a lot of action here in "Sacrifice". Basically a couple of extended scenes. The excitement of real time is built into the time demand itself. On top of that, with so many back to back scenes without story gaps, there's a lot more room for character development. A perfect example of that is with Tess' character. She has a big shift here, the biggest character shift in all 3 seasons she was involved in. I can't see it being as believable with time jumps in the middle of the episode. The interesting thing is that Clark actually takes a back seat here. This episode is about the development of Chloe, Tess, Zod and his wife Faora. Aside from the finale, this may be my favorite episode in the second half of season 9. This was exactly what the show needed to boost interest heading toward the finale.