I hate Lana Lang. There, I said it. I just can't stand her character. The Lana-less portion of the episode was excellent though. This season has really picked up steam since the return from "the break". Last week's episode was great too.

In this episode, a freak accident causes Clark to temporarily lose his vision. During that time, his super hearing power makes its first appearance. Clark can now, when he concentrates, hear things from incredible distances.

The main story had to do with Clark having to use his super hearing to help save his friend Pete Ross who has been kidnapped to be used as random to get a criminal off because Pete's mom is a judge. Yes, it's pretty weak but it serves its purpose.

The side-story is much more interesting though. Clark learns that his friend Chloe and Lionel Luthor had been spying on him. This eventually leads to a confrontration between Clark and Chloe along with one between Chloe and Lionel which leads to very bad things for Chloe (she loses her internship and her father is laid off from Luthor Corp.).

Eventually of course Clark gets his vision back, saves Pete, and the standard Lana/Clark end scene is about Lana saying she's met someone else. Boo-hoo. ( Are there any fans who aren't happy to see Lana fade into the background when Chloe is a much more interesting character?).

So there you have it, new super power and the various story arcs progress.