‘Smallville’ will change direction in 100th episode

In the midst of a ratings and artistic revival in its fifth season, the WB’s “Smallville” hits a milestone next Thursday with its 100th episode.

And to mark the occasion, the producers of the Superman-as-teenager drama have come up with a grabber of an hour that includes the death of a main character.

“For us, it was a really exciting episode to shoot because it’s a turning point, and from this episode on, this show is going to be very different,” says Tom Welling, who plays the young Clark Kent.

“We’re finally going to get to what I believe the audience wanted the show to be.”

Welling says the writers want to redefine the relationships on the show, particularly between Clark and the young Lex Luther (Michael Rosenbaum): “We’re going to actually start seeing the Luther-Kent rivalry. It’s going to start to explode a lot faster than it has in the past.”