It doesn't exactly take long to figure out who the director is...

It'll take some fast scriptwriting to keep this from turning into the Monster Of The Week special, not to mention explaining why all these escapees keep showing up within Sam's operating range. (You can just hear the yell of 'Road Trip!') I'm willing to give them that pattern for a few episodes while our protagonist finds his bearings, but they've already said what the cycle is going to be -- which means it's already time to think about breaking it.

Some interesting casting here, and stronger performances than I was expecting from the leads (although you can pretty much dump the best friends in the toilet right now). F/X is going to be a problem as the series goes on: the CW is not the network you want to turn to when you need a big budget -- but Smallville seems to do well enough.

I'll be curious to see how much they dig into the psycological impact of Sam's life. Essentially, when you know you've been pre-damned, have absolutely no hope whatsoever for redemption, and it's no fault of your own -- what do you do? Are you free to commit whatever actions you wish? Do you just keep living by your moral code and call it a victory, despite the fact that said code will never ultimately save you?

Interesting. I'll be back next week.