It seems this season really is about Clark finally embracing his destiny.  Who knew, though, that it would be Cat "Pretty-in-Pink" Grant to finally give Clark the impetus to come out of the vigilante closet?

I wasn't crazy about the introduction of Cat on "Shield," as she was just... annoying.  Maybe if a different actress had played the part, I wouldn't feel this way, but something about her just really irritated me.  However, she did manage to make the point to Clark that true heroes need to be seen and understood to be appreciated, not lurking in the shadows.

And by the looks of Clark standing, in broad daylight, wearing a new spiffy red leather jacket sporting the symbol of the House of El embossed across the front, it appears he's ready to embrace who he is to become. 

For a split second I thought he might actually fly, since he dropped the airline tickets to Africa he had printed earlier.  Yet another tease. You know the writers are sitting in their bullpen laughing it up as we speak. 

I guess if you can't bring in Batman, you do the next best thing and bring in one of his adversaries.  Confession time: I've never read Superman comics, or Batman for that matter.  I've always loved superheroes, but much prefer seeing the TV and movie incarnations rather than reading the comics. 

So I did a little Web search and lo and behold Deadshot was created by Bob Kane as a Batman villain.  Interesting. The representation here wasn't all that exciting, but it was an interesting little twist to see Plastique show up at the end and the two working in tandem with Rick and the Suicide Squad.

It wasn't a reveal provocative enough to erase the disappointment that after the dramatic and all to brief introduction of Darkseid last week, this was the follow up story we were given.  I get that Suicide Squad was a big DC Comics institution, but this is the last season and I want to see the Darkseid story evolve, not just a one or two episode face-off and that's it. 

I suppose it was only fitting that Carter Hall be the one to talk to Lois about her destiny with Clark, seeing as how he and Shayera are star-crossed loves.  He knows of that which he speaks. Incidentally, it was rather cool to catch a glimpse of Shayera; I wonder if we'll see more of her - hopefully as Hawkgirl!  Perhaps I'm just too used to instant gratification, but I like my heroes costumed. 

I mean, how can you have Carter and not even a single glimpse of Hawkman? Although, when he spoke Nietzsche to Lois, and she replied "a Superman" I got chills. I understand she ran off to Africa because she felt she endangered Clark in Metropolis, but it's just not the same when these two aren't on screen together.  Lois needs to hop a plane back to the big city pronto.

It's taken a few seasons, but I finally like Tess Mercer, and I love that she knows Clark's secret - though, let's face it, everyone knows it by now. It's much more fun having her in on what's going on than trying her dastardly best to unearth hidden truths. Even though her moral compass doesn't always point north, she definitely is someone who can be useful to both Clark and Oliver.

I'm not sure "Shield" was quite as spectacular as the season opener, but it definitely served its purpose in pushing Clark, and Smallville, on a journey to the ultimate conclusion.

Jeffrey Kirkpatrick is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow him on Twitter.