8.5/10 Best Moment: Baby Jonathan using heat vision to pop a balloon. Worst Moment: Clark being gaslit by the DOD (it hurts to watch a good man be bullied).

Find the Web-DL version. Whether you buy it digitally or acquire it through legitimate means, the difference in the "Bizarro" sequences and the nighttime cinematography is night and day (pun intended).

“The Ties That Bind” is a masterclass in second-episode syndrome avoidance. It doesn't slow down the mystery of the Bizarro world, but it also refuses to forget that this show is, at its heart, a family drama.

Let’s break down why this episode works, what the Web-DL format reveals, and how it sets the tone for the rest of the season. The episode opens not in Smallville, but in a dusty, desolate inverse world. Thanks to the crisp 10-bit color depth of a proper Web-DL, the visual separation between our Earth and the "Bizarro" world is stunning. Our world has warm amber tones; the other is a sickly, cold teal.