There’s a broad spectrum of news about Smallville today that fans will be both excited and sad to hear.

The CW has just announced that Smallville‘s 10th season — debuting this Fall — will be its last. As a longtime fan, I have mixed feelings about this. Smallville has certainly managed to live longer than anyone thought it could, while maintaining its compulsively watchable quality through all nine seasons thus far. That said, it’s starting to feel kind of ridiculous that ol’ Clark hasn’t become Superman yet. I mean, in the current season, he spends more time in Metropolis than in Smallville itself, working at the Daily Planet alongside Lois Lane, while he moonlights as a costumed hero. Sound familiar? And yet he’s still not wearing the red-and-blue or going by his destined super-name. On the other hand, knowing when their end date is should allow the producers to tie up the series in a satisfying way and bring Clark full circle.

In related news, actress Allison Mack has announced that she won’t be returning as a full time cast member for the final season. Mack’s popular character Chloe Sullivan will be back for an undisclosed number of episodes in the final season, to give the character a proper sendoff, but she won’t be in the opening credits as a regular, leaving series star Tom Welling as the only remaining original cast member still on the show.