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.

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Smallville Spoilers: Tess, Alternate Realities & Being a Luther

We were fortunate to have the opportunity to sit down with Smallville's own Tess Mercer, Cassiday Freeman, to discuss the upcoming finale and the daunting job of filling one Mr. Luthor's loafers.

From TheCw:

Newcomer Cassidy Freeman plays the new CEO of LuthorCorp, Tess Mercer. With Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) missing, Tess is in charge of all things LuthorCorp, which includes the Daily Planet. She quickly develops a rivalry with Lois Lane (Erica Durance) and takes up an interest in Clark (Tom Welling) that could prove to be very dangerous.

Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, Freeman has been performing since the age of 3. A magna cum laude graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont, she has loved and acted in various cities including New York City, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Bryan: Tess sort of inherited the weight of Lex Luthor initially as far as being a villainess. Was that a daunting task?

Cassidy: It was a daunting task because he's such a big character on the show, kind of like Clark Kent and Lex Luthor. The show's come a long way since then. I think that the first few episodes in kind of the beginning was sort of establishing a sort of respect to him and now I hope that people can see Tess's character for own.

Tess also has these moments of light, do you prefer playing her as evil or good? Are you just kind of ambiguous and don't care either way?

I think that playing her light for me is more fun because I would expect her to be dark instead of playing against type. I think that she is kind of is who she is. Not being a real character, kind of being an amalgamation of characters, allows me a little bit of freedom to not have a destiny like everybody else does on the show, so it allows me to be a little bit more playful but which I think it is fun either way. The change is fun, getting to play both is the fun part.

The finale is tonight, is Tess a big part of what is happening on the finale?

She is in there yea; the orb is a big deal. Love the orb! She is the catalyst, the one that is willing to throw herself in the fire just to get it to burn.

How will fans see Tess after the finale? Will there be any difference in their opinion of her or their thoughts of her progression on the show?

I don't think so; I kind of see injustice in Doomsday as sort of a two piece finale in a way because there is a pretty straight through line between the two. I think you saw the first part and it is going to be pretty much the same, as boring as that may be.

For a while there it seemed like there was no way that there was going to be another season of Smallville and now that there is going to be, are you excited? Was that very happy news to hear that they were going to continue on with another season?

Yes, it's funny because everyone up in Vancouver is kind of in disbelief as well. They are like, "really?!" It is just a win-win because if it didn't go then everyone can move on to something else and have a new experience but what is one more year of working with people that are really awesome and telling a story that obviously still has to be heard. I think that is great!

TVOvermind Talks Smallville Finale with Cassiday Freeman