Smallville Spoilers - After the picture...

Smallville’s mid-season finale will air on December 10, but tonight’s episode signals the return of John Glover, who plays Lionel Luther. Cassidy Freeman spoke with Zap2it about what’s in store for Tess Mercer.
We recently learned that Tess was actually born a Luther (Lutessa Lena Luther, to be exact). Freeman was extremely excited with this development because she thinks it gives Tess much more depth than she previously had.
In the December 3 episode Tess stumbles on a box that had previously belonged to Lionel Luther. Clark is transported to an alternate universe when he activates the box - a universe where he was discovered in the cornfield by Lionel, not by the Kents. This universe’s Clark is a very different person from the one we know, as he was raised by a very vicious Lionel. In order to try and get back to his universe, Clark must pretend to be this other verson of Clark, a version that is hated by his friends and girlfriend.
But Freeman says the episode won’t take place entirely in the alternative universe:

Throughout the episode, we'll also see Clark Luthor in the Smallville we know and love. "You'll see both worlds going at the same time," Cassidy says."It was a bit of dual personality that week for all of us. But [executive producer] Kelly Souders was directing, and she'd obviously been with the idea from the inception, so she was so versed in who these alternate characters were that it made the transitions easy."

Freeman says that she really enjoyed playing against Tom Welling’s new interpretation of the alternate universe’s Clark. She was also very excited to be working with another Luthor:

"John Glover is awesome," she says enthusiastically of the returning star. "It's been a total dream of mine to work with him from the time I started the show. I've been wondering how they could bring him back in a way that would let me interact with him, and man, they did it so creatively. It was really fun. He's so talented and just brilliant to work with." She pauses. "I do still really want to work with Michael Rosenbaum, though. Just to throw that out there."

Freeman is looking to the future as Tess learns more about her family and her place in it:

"Now that she knows she's a Luthor, some major questions are answered for her. She's got this sordid past that's now explained a bit, but it's also very upsetting in a way. It's like now, any evil thoughts or evil doings aren't just circumstantial. They might be ingrained in her; they might be in her blood."
Her connection with the Lex clone she's essentially nurtured may grow deeper as well. "Internally, knowing that she's a Luthor definitely changes that connection," Freeman says."It's not just a sort of mothering instinct, it's an actual biological connection to this person."

Freeman also speculates what might happen when Clark, Lois and Oliver learn that she’s a member of a family that they don’t like:

"They'll have a choice -- if and when they find out," Freeman says coyly. "They can accept her for it and base their judgment on her actions, or they can totally not accept it and push her away. Knowing the characters, I'd imagine that Oliver will probably have a much harder time accepting it than Clark will. Clark always wants to see the good in people."

As for Tess’s interaction with other female characters, Freeman says that Lois and Tess will interact more going forward, especially with everyone working on the same team now that Clark’s secret has been revealed.
When Chloe returns in episode 12, however, she and Tess won’t be interacting at the beginning. Freeman says that she hasn’t had an opportunity to appear in any scenes yet with Allison Mack, who is busy taking care of her character’s other storylines. Will they interact during Chloe’s limited return this season? We’ll have to wait and see.
A new episode of Smallville will be airing December  at 8:00 p.m. on The CW.  You can view five sneak peeks and promo photos for this episode.