This story contains MAJOR SPOILERS if you haven?t seen ?Descent,? last week?s episode of The CW?s ?Smallville.?

Although this column is titled SciFriday, a more accurate title for this week?s is SySaturday because although some of you may be reading this on Friday, my clock has just ticked past midnight, making this the early hours of Saturday morning.

And even though over a full week has past since ?Smallville? featured its ?big? death of a major character, I?m still relieved that it wasn?t Chloe.

Original reports went out on the death indicating that a character never presumed dead (by the audience) would be the one to head to the Fortress in the sky. The main phrase of course being ?never presumed dead by the audience.? Lets face it, life and death is a weekly occurrence in ?Smallville? thanks to all the meteor infectees, phantoms and badly conceived clones in the resident billionaire?s basement.

The key difference in this death, though, is that it is permanent and it will be a character that has never come this close to death in the past. And with the phrase ?never presumed by the audience,? the obvious name that comes to mind is Chloe Sullivan (played by the fantastically wonderful Allison Mack).

She may have been declared dead when entering witness protection at the end of the third season, but fans never believed the reporter-to-be would be written out in such an impersonal fashion (even when her name was absent in the season four premiere?s opening credits).

As a character in the series, Chloe has grown along with show itself. Ever since she discovered the truth about Clark?s (Tom Welling) super-human powers she has been a guiding light (or a Torch) in the man of steel?s life. Covering for his bizarre absences, weird adventures and regular unbelievable excuses for it all, Chloe has delved heavily into the Superman mythology and has even become an honorary member of the Justice League of America.

In the real world, Mack?s credits may be limited, but she is a fantastic asset to the series. At the end of ?Veritas,? the episode designed to serve as a make-shift finale due to the writers strike, Chloe happened to catch a glimpse at the pain coursing through Clark Kent with Lana (Kristen Kreuk) trapped inside her own body. And in only a few seconds she expressed so much pain and concern for her friend.

The most frightening thing about her though is that she is completely unique to the ?Smallville? universe. She?s not from the Superman comics or any other incarnation of the Kryptonian super-hero. So with her now a meteor infectee herself with the ability to heal, does this mean her days are numbered? Will Chloe depart the series by using her abilities to heal the catatonic Lana Lang? I certainly hope not because ?Smallville? without Chloe would be like watching ?Battlestar Galactica? without Cylons.

I do find myself somewhat disappointed by the marketing employed by The CW themselves. With the cryptic message that someone would bite the dust, waiting to see whom would finally depart the series (almost for good) was part of the fun of ?Descent.? Why then did the network place several key scenes on YouTube revealing not only that Lionel Luthor (John Glover) would be killed but also who was responsible (although with an episode title like ?Descent,? the answer may not exactly be a surprise).

Thank you, ?Smallville,? for sparing Chloe. John Glover is a serious loss to the show, but at least we still have our resident super-sleuth.

Alan Stanley Blair is the assistant news editor for Airlock Alpha and its sister site Rabid Doll. He is currently studying for a diploma in freelance journalism and can be reached at anytime at ablair@airlockalpha.com.

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