Smallville Season 3 received generally positive reviews from critics, with an 8.1/10 rating on IMDB. The season averaged around 6.3 million viewers per episode, solidifying its place as a popular CW show.
"Exile" (season premiere), "Shattered," "Asylum," "Covenant" (finale). smallville season 3
When Jonathan Kent makes a literal deal with the devil (Jor-El) to bring his son home, it sets off a chain reaction of physical and emotional debt that haunts the Kent family until the season's final seconds. The Rise of the Luthor Civil War Smallville Season 3 received generally positive reviews from
Michael Rosenbaum delivers an Emmy-worthy performance in Season 3. After surviving a car bomb (orchestrated by his own father) in the Season 2 finale, Lex is a broken man. He spends the early episodes in a catatonic state, haunted by the memory of his brother Julian. When he recovers, he isn't the sympathetic friend from Season 1. He is calculating, paranoid, and desperate to prove he is smarter than Lionel. The arc culminates in the masterpiece episode "Shattered" and its follow-up "Asylum." Lionel has Lex drugged, gaslit, and committed to an insane asylum to keep him from uncovering LuthorCorp’s secrets. Watching Lex’s grip on reality slip—and seeing Clark fail to rescue him in time—is the emotional gut-punch of the series. By the season’s end, Lex has faked a reconciliation with Lionel, only to systematically dismantle his father’s company and throw him in prison. The friend Clark once knew is gone, replaced by the cold, strategic villain we know is coming. When Jonathan Kent makes a literal deal with
: Lex Luthor survives being stranded on a desert island, only to return to a father, Lionel, who is increasingly manipulative. A major arc involves Lionel attempting to convince the world of Lex's "mental illness" to hide his own crimes. The End of Friendships
Often cited as a top series episode, Lex tries to regain memories through a dangerous experiment.