joh03096 Reviews

Smallville: Quest (2008) Season 7, Episode 19

"why think it through when you can just see how it plays out " - jor-el

[6/10 · 31 December 2012]

Clark's faced with a dilemma. If he lets Lex live, then Lex could find a way to control him and he could become incredibly dangerous to the people of Earth. But he can't just kill Lex, because of his principles. Clark has had this dilemma before, when Lex was going to be Zod's vessel. It might be an interesting dilemma if we didn't know before hand what choice Clark was going to make. Lex lives, of course. We know this. So we're not really left weighing the pros and cons of committing a murder, and the dramatic "you have to kill Lex!" moments really fall flat. We're simply left wondering how Clark is going to stop Lex from using his Kryptonian controlling device on him.

That's fine. How IS Clark going to survive the Kryptonian controller? That's an entertaining enough question to fuel the next few episodes.

We learn during this episode that the device that can control Clark was supposedly sent to Earth by Jor-El to prevent Clark from turning against humanity. It's not hard to see why Krypton exploded. With Jor-El at the helm who knows what's going to happen. That guy makes absolutely terrible plans. Remember when he froze Clark? Remember when he took away Kara's powers? But really, making a device that can control your superpowered son and then giving it to the very humans that said son is supposed to be protecting humanity from takes the cake. That is by far the best, worst laid plan Jor-El has ever made.

Smallville: Sleeper (2008) Season 7, Episode 17

it's 4pm, plus or minus a few feet

[7/10 · 30 December 2012]

Spy vs spy with Chloe and Jimmy. The a special agent from the federal government is convinced Chloe is a terrorist and, for some mind boggling reason, decides to enlist Jimmy Olsen in a counter intelligence effort against her. Chloe immediately discovers Jimmy's attempts to spy on her and becomes distrustful of him.

For a heavily Jimmy focused episode that doesn't advance any seasonal story arcs much, I didn't mind this episode. Both Jimmy and Chloe know the other one is up to something, and they both distrust each other. The tension works well. The two of them end up at a nightclub opening together, each with different spy goals. Their conversations are short and terse, and the one dance they do together was almost kind of sexy. I wish Clark and Lana's relationship had been more like this.

At the end of the episode we learn that Kara and Brainiac went back in time to Kyrpton in 1989 "plus or minus a few lightyears." This is a disappointment. Time travel, with its inherent inconsistencies and unreasonableness, is the most irritating plot device. Once it's invoked you just have to give up, and say "ok I guess that's possible" to whatever the show throws at you. Hopefully they wrap up the time travel quickly and never go back to it.

Smallville: Descent (2008) Season 7, Episode 16

descent

[8/10 · 30 December 2012]

Lex has been getting progressively worse over the past few episodes. He killed the failed clones of his brother, he killed the actual clone of this brother, he killed Patricia Swan, and now he's killed his own father. His very own father! I've been waiting so long for this moment, and now that it's here it's so rewarding. Lex has finally met his inevitable destiny.

We've seen Lex and Clark confront one another in the past. Clark accuses Lex of something and Lex deflects. Little is resolved because Lex's previous evils have been ambiguous and hard to definitively pin down on malice or anything truly ill intentioned. But in this episode we get the first confrontation between Clark and Lex where Lex is unambiguously the bad guy. We saw him kill Lionel. And during this confrontation we see what's going on in Lex's mind. We see his inner good trying to convince him to tell Clark the truth, and turn back the tide of evil that's been steadily rising for the past seven seasons. We can only assume this same inner dialog has been occurring during all of Lex and Clark's confrontations through out the show.

But now we see Lex for who he really is. We see the truth and the conflict and ultimate evil.

Also, I'd like to say that the Veritas story is one of my favorites of the entire series. The envelope with the secret of how to control the traveler doesn't grant ultimate power, it merely promises to reveal ultimate power. And yet that is enough to drive people to murder. The envelope hasn't even been opened yet. It could contain anything! But the belief that it holds some secret to god-like power has already gotten a handful of people killed and driven Lex mad.

Smallville: Veritas (2008) Season 7, Episode 15

i want a show just about the luthors

[8/10 · 30 December 2012]

While everyone is running around trying to deal with Brainiac and holding their fingers in their ears while Lionel talks, Lex is collecting special Veritas keys. Veritas, we learn, has known about the Traveler's impending arrival and Virgil Swan has supposedly discovered a way to control the Traveler. The keys Lex is collecting will unlock a deposit box containing Virgil's discovery.

The scheming and mutinous plots and secret murders that Lionel used in the past and that Lex used in the last episode are fun. Rich men killing other rich men for the opportunity to read a secret they believe will be able to give them ultimate power by controlling the traveler. It's a wonderful piece to fit into the Luther backstory.

Lionel is still paying for the whole kidnapping bit that happened in the last episode. No one wants to listen to him, even when he begs them to. Everyone thinks he killed Patricia Swan. I want to complain (again) that Lionel hasn't done anything wrong and has always looked out for Clark's interests since becoming Jor-El's emissary, but I guess this time everyone has pretty good reason to be suspicious of Lionel. Sure would have helped, though, if Clark had just taken 30 seconds to talk to Lionel when he brought the evidence that Lex killed Patricia. Probably could have saved a lot of trouble. Communication! But it just wouldn't be Smallville without needless obstacles and unnecessary misunderstandings.

And Lana, poor Lana. Lana meets an interesting fate in this episode. Thanks to Brainiac she's not exactly dead, but not really alive, either. The tears in Clark and Chloe's eyes sure made it seem like there's not much hope for her. But there is still SOME hope for her. She's not dead dead. Not yet. A man can dream. But, dead or not, her current fate is satisfyingly brutal. Awake, conscious, in pain, but unable to control her own body. Unable to communicate with anyone. Brainiac sure is a dick.

Smallville: Traveler (2008) Season 7, Episode 14

we learn what veritas is, but not what it's for

[7/10 · 30 December 2012]

Isn't it a little unfair to be criticizing Lionel for the things he did before he became Jor-El's emissary? Lionel's methods have been suspect recently, but not his intentions. He's always done what he could to protect Clark. Lionel has been saying for ages now that he's a different man. Is there any reason not to believe him? All the people Lionel is accused of murdering in this episode died long before he changed. (And when Patricia Swan is murdered, it seems to have been at Lex's hand, not Lionel's)

When Clark confronts Lionel about being kidnapped by him, Lionel says he had been getting threatening letters about people trying to kidnap Clark. Clark asks why Lionel didn't just tell him about the threats. Right? That makes sense. A little communication here and there would do this show wonders. Maybe Clark wouldn't have had to be kidnapped. Maybe Kara wouldn't have run off to Lex when her memory was gone. Maybe, maybe not. But at least I wouldn't be frustrated with every episode, constantly asking why no one is talking to anyone else.

So, anyway. We learn that Veritas is a secret organization of people who predicted the coming of "the Traveler." We learn that all the famous rich families in the series were part of Veritas. We don't quite learn what Veritas wanted with the traveler. All in good time, I suppose. The revelation of Veritas wasn't earth-shattering, but satisfying enough for one episode.

Smallville: Hero (2008) Season 7, Episode 13

sorry pete but you're a nobody

[3/10 · 29 December 2012]

Oh great, Pete Ross is back. I really missed him! He was such an important character.

Does anyone not know exactly how this episode is going to unfold from the first five minutes before the opening credits? And haven't we already seen almost this same exact episode with Pete Ross before, when he got addicted to kryptonite street racing? Pete Ross is doing kryptonite stuff, he thinks its great, but Clark thinks it's terrible. Pete gets mad, says he's tired of Clark being the only one with powers, tired of living in Clark's shadow. SOUNDS FAMILIAR.

As for the Kara storyline, why are Lana and Clark being so secretive about Kara's history? What's the worst that can happen if they tell her the truth? What's the worst that can happen if they DON'T tell her the truth? Oh, she'll go to Lex and get answers from him. Is everyone on this show an idiot? I mean, really, why can't Kara know? They never give a reason. This is a needless obstacle, and a pointlessly frustrating storyline.

Also, does One Republic play a lot of shows in gum factories?

Smallville: Fracture (2008) Season 7, Episode 12

lexiac

[7/10 · 29 December 2012]

This is a bold episode. Lex gets shot in the head! Right in the head. And Clark jumps into Lex's mind with some Fringe machine and rummages around in Lex's memories to try and find out who shot him and where Kara and Lois are being held prisoner. Lex's evil self tries to stop Clark from seeing anything and Lex's good self tries to help. Some memories are trite, like a memory of his dad being abusive, some advance the Kara-search-and-rescue plot. But one memory, the memory of Lex and Lana having sex that evil Lex forces Clark to watch, is just perfect.

Chloe uses her meteor power to heal Lex's bullet in the head, and it leaves her dead longer than the last time she used it. It's getting pretty dangerous. How long until her meteor power corrupts her? She's probably searching for Hitler's grave on the internet right now.

Lex, alive again, has built a relationship with Kara while she was in Detroit. And now that she's back Lex promises to hold no secrets from her and help her recover her memories and find out who she really is. We've heard the "no secrets between us" spiel before, with Lana. Oh Lex, just a typical guy, using the same move on all the ladies.

Smallville: Siren (2008) Season 7, Episode 11

siren

[7/10 · 29 December 2012]

Lana takes a beating in this episode. Clark hates her (at least for a while)! At last. Welcome to the club, Clark. We're so glad you finally decided to join us. Kidnapping that Brainiac infected woman, spying on Lex, kidnapping Lionel, falling in love with Bizarro. It's all catching up with her. So that's good. I guess I have to stop complaining about how nothing bad ever happens to Lana. Now if only they'd let Lana go bad. Good girl Lana is the most mind numbing character in the history of television.

They killed Jonathan Kent. Why can't they make Lana evil?

The story with Oliver was enjoyable. I like seeing Oliver yell at Clark about saving the world. Yes, Clark. What are you doing with your life? If I was Oliver, I'd be mad at Clark, too. Oliver gave up Lois to be a superhero, but Clark's just sitting around in his empty Smallville farmhouse getting mad at Lana for banging his twin. I wish there was more of Oliver in this show. Oliver's story lines resolve and progress. Just think how far he and Lois have come. They dated, he broke it off to be a superhero, she discovered his secret identity, etc. All in just a handful of episodes. It takes Clark a half dozen seasons to accomplish as much.

Smallville: Persona (2008) Season 7, Episode 10

persona

[9/10 · 29 December 2012]

This was an extremely unremarkable episode until the very end, when Lex has Grant/Jullian killed. Watching Lex turn into a monster is the best thing this show has to offer. You can almost feel bad for him. Jullian is the one thing that mattered most to him. He brought Jullian back to life, only to kill him to protect his own interests. This is the Lex I've been waiting so long to see. The Lex that would kill his own brother. Poor Lex, is this what he imagined he'd grow up to become?

The Bizarro story was pointless, I guess? It seemed like the only purpose of the Bizarro story was to make everyone hate Lana even more than they already did. Which should be impossible, but the writers keep finding new ways to make Lana even more awful. Lana sassed off at Chloe when Chloe told Lana that something was wrong with Clark. She pulled out the daggers and told Chloe to get over her schoolgirl crush on Clark (in so many words). Then, when the real Clark came back and told Lana that the guy she'd been banging and making plans to move away with was actually Bizarro, she didn't even believe him!

And she fell in love with Bizarro. Which is fine, you're allowed to love whoever you want! But that doesn't change it. She loved Bizarro. She was not lying when she said she'd never been more in love than she had been the past month with Bizarro. This would have been the best episode ever if she had left with Bizarro after that, instead of killing him. But you know. I'm sure, in that moment, that she understood how Lex felt after killing his brother.

Smallville: Gemini (2007) Season 7, Episode 9

at last lex does something

[8/10 · 28 December 2012]

Finally, there's something worthing calling Lex a villain over. Cloning your dead brother and murdering one of the failed clones who threatens to expose the cloning secret is something I can get on board with. It's a scheme that's perfect for Lex. It's a somewhat well-intentioned plan, but he's a complete sociopath in the means by which he accomplishes it. Lex could be the best character on this show if they gave more stories like this cloning story. I know, 33.1 and Lana's fake pregnancy were on par with the cloning story. But those stories didn't feel as fleshed out or integral to the rest of the story as this cloning story is already turning out to be.

Unfortunately, it's only the audience and Grant Gabriel, and somewhat Lois, who actually learn about Lex's clone experiments. So I'm still going to be mad every time someone yells at Lex for being evil when they don't have any reason to think he's evil. As far as they know he's reformed! What do they know? They know nothing. But at least I'll know he's evil, and maybe that'll make it better.

Chloe is still upset about her meteor power. That storyline is getting extremely tedious. Her meteor power is the power to HEAL PEOPLE. How could that power possibly corrupt a person? Does she really think she's going to go crazy and dig up Hitler's grave and heal him back to life or something? I would understand Chloe being upset if her meteor power was death-touch like Rogue from X-Men, or fire eyes, or the ability to force people to tell the truth (which she loved, let's not forget) but not mystical healing. Never mystical healing.

And in the last episode Jor-El promised consequences for Clark's constant refusal to take Jor- El's advice. We had to wait until the end of the episode to find out what those "consequences" were. Apparently, the consequence Jor-El had in mind was freezing Clark in ice and unleashing Bizarro Superman. Jor-El's advice is usually solid, but his actions haven't always made a lot of sense. Jor-El doesn't really seem to be all there on this one. What is he hoping this will accomplish?

Smallville: Blue (2007) Season 7, Episode 8

blue

[7/10 · 27 December 2012]

I hate to think that this entire episode could have been avoided if Clark would have only listened to Jor-El's advice in the beginning. Hasn't Clark learned by now that Jor-El tends to be pretty on about things? Hasn't Clark already tearfully lamented not listening to his father?

Whatever. Maybe he forgot.

The episode itself wasn't bad. Kryptonian battles are fun. And we finally learned what the crystal Kara was sent to Earth with was really for. But the best part of the episode is the very end: at last, a consequence! We don't know what the consequence will be, but Jor-El has promised a consequence for Clark's constant defiance. That's new for this show. I hope the consequence is something truly awful. Jor-El has a pretty good track record so far in that regard. He killed Jonathan! Maybe he'll kill Lana this time.

Smallville: Wrath (2007) Season 7, Episode 7

lana's superpower is that everyone loves her unconditionally for no reason

[5/10 · 27 December 2012]

What's the worst thing we learn about Lex in this episode? He's doing science on the alien tech? He's tracking aliens? I guess we "know" that Lex is evil, and therefor anything he does is clearly for no good. It'd be nice to see Lex do something that's actually bad. There was 33.1 last season, which was pretty bad, but that's really the only truly bad thing we've seen Lex do. It's hard to keep blaming Lex for everything bad in the show when we never see him do anything wrong. But maybe that's the magic of Lex Luthor. Nothing bad can be pinned to him, but you know in your heart that he's committing all sorts of atrocities. Somehow I don't think that's what the show is going for.

The Lex-blaming is almost comical in this episode. Clark blames Lex for Lana getting violent with her superpowers. In this show's deluded world, it is Lex's fault that Lana is obsessed with revenge, and it's Lex's fault Lana would resort to violence to get vengeance.

Of course, despite breaking into Lex's mansion, stealing his stuff, punching a hole in his car and threatening to electrocute him, nothing bad happens to Lana. Lex decides, conveniently, not to press charges on Lana after she attacks him, so at the end of the episode Lana's back in Clark's barn. Lana gets a stern talking to from Clark, and then asks him to love her no matter what. We're right back where we started. An entire episode has gone by and, once again, nothing has happened.

Smallville: Lara (2007) Season 7, Episode 6

lara

[5/10 · 27 December 2012]

Some Krypton back story. Kara learns an important lesson from some kryptonite memory drug, which shows her that her dad was a jerk/maybe-rapist. This convinces her that she should be looking forward to her future on Earth and not her past on Krypton. That's nice.

The rest of the back story we're shown in the episode isn't particularly revelatory. We learn that Lara had visited Earth before the meteor shower and chosen the Kents as the future home for Clark. Supposedly the Kents were chosen for their capacity to love, which seems at odds with everything Jor-El has said in previous seasons. The fortress of solitude version of Jor-El spends most of his time trying to convince Clark to be Kal-El, the Kryptonian, instead of the weak and emotional Clark Kent. So this episode is delivering some mixed signals.

The Lana storyline moves forward imperceptibly. Lana basically sounds like a female Lex Luthor at this point. Lex, meanwhile, hasn't done anything bad this season yet everyone is still yelling at him and blaming him for everything any time anything bad happens. It's as if every character in the show is determined to turn Lex into a monster. Sorry, Lex, you can't escape your destiny.

Smallville: Fierce (2007) Season 7, Episode 3

nothing ever matters

[5/10 · 26 December 2012]

There are no consequences in this show. At least, not for the good guys. Lana faked her death at the end of season 6 in those most audacious manner possible when she rigged her own car to explode (in public, no less) with her dead clone in the driver's seat. And what comes of it? Nothing at all. Three episodes into season 7 and she's already back in Smallville as if nothing has happened at all. She admits that she committed "a serious crime" and that she has to wait for her name to be "cleared," but that's it. Three short episodes and she's back, same as she ever was, ready to continue on with her mind-numbing, stunted romance with Clark.

We've been watching the Clark/Lana romance go back and forth for six seasons already. There has got to be something better to do with Lana. It would almost be acceptable if we knew Lana and Clark were meant to be, but it's the exact opposite. We know Clark and Lana are not meant to be. Everyone knows this. And having us suffer through six seasons of a romance that we know will never work feels like a punishment, and a waste of a character.

The rest of this episode had a frivolous story about a beauty pageant. There were lots of shots of Kara in a bikini, and other girls in bikinis. We got to see Kara balance a book on her head in preparation for the beauty pageant, so it felt really deserved when she won the competition. I knew she could do it. Yay.

Smallville: Kara (2007) Season 7, Episode 2

oh chloe

[7/10 · 23 December 2012]

How much can you trust Jor-El? I mean, whether he's good or not, how much can you trust him to be even remotely competent? When Clark goes to the Fortress of Solitude to start his training he asks about Kara, and Jor-El says he doesn't know about her arrival. Then Clark asks about starting his training, and Jor-El says the first step of his training is to watch over Kara. Uh, Jor? Are you just making this up as you go along? (Prediction for next episode: "Clark, the next step of your training is.. to make me a delicious sandwich..")

And Chloe. After all these seasons I've been waiting for the moment when Lois gets a job at the Daily Planet. Like seeing Lex and Clark's friendship fade, there's a twinge of anxious anticipation about watching Lois become the Lois everyone knows about, while Chloe fades into the obscurity she's destined for. Sorry, Chloe! Your pain is my pain, but you can't be the hotshot reporter forever. Someday you'll be surpassed by Lois. Sometimes you're just not good enough.

Smallville: Phantom (2007) Season 6, Episode 22

if only this could have been prevented

[7/10 · 22 December 2012]

The episode starts in a cottage in Quebec where a woman is washing clothes by hand in a pot of hot water while a priest performs an exorcism on her father, who has been possessed by a wraith from the Phantom Zone. Anyone who has ever been to Quebec will tell you that the entire population of Quebec is just medieval farmers. I'm pretty sure.

Lex shows up to get the wraith possessed man because he needs wraith people to make more super soldiers. Lex does not realize that the reason Wes died was that Wes was too stupid to stay invisible while he fought Clark, and instead Lex believes that Wes just didn't have good enough alien DNA, so he needs a live wraith possessed person for that perfect alien DNA.

This seems to be what Lionel has been trying to protect Clark from. A few episodes ago Lionel wrote down some Kryptonian symbols and then wrote "mirror" underneath it, which all makes sense when we find out the wraith turns into Bizarro Superman. Lionel must feel like an abject failure. He's known, clearly, for quite some time what threats lay in Clark's future, and his grand plan to protect Clark from those threats just did not pan out, despite his best efforts. I've been right there with Lionel the whole time. I always thought the absolute best way for Lionel to stop Lex from capturing a phantom that would turn into Bizarro Superman and threaten the life of Clark Kent was to cut out the middleman and just threaten the life of Clark Kent directly by telling Lana that he'd personally kill Clark if she didn't marry Lex.

Surprisingly, "threaten to kill Clark Kent and pointlessly force Lana into an unhappy marriage" plan doesn't seem to have kept Clark out of danger. It has caused a lot of needless drama, though. Lana "blew up in a car bomb," which is so unlikely to be what actually happened that I will actually blow MYSELF up in a car bomb if we don't find out five minutes into season seven that Lana faked the car bomb to escape from Lex. An entire dam is destroyed now, because of Lionel's bad planning. A senator is dead. And Clark is still in danger.

Meanwhile, while Clark is fighting for his life against the bizarro version of himself that everyone refused to tell him about before it was too late, Lois and Chloe are busy getting stabbed and crying rejuvenating tears. I'm surprised to find that Chloe's meteor power is the power to trade her own life for someone else's. Maybe she was acting really selfless when the meteors hit? That really isn't the story of Chloe's life. We all know that if Chloe got a meteor power it would be exactly like the meteor power she had a few seasons ago where no one could lie to her. And she would abuse it, and everyone would hate her. Just like last time. This "I give my own life for your life" power is a cop out.

Prediction for season seven: Clark kills Bizarro Superman with a single punch in the first ten minutes, then goes back to complaining about how much he loves Lana. Chloe's second meteor power is revealed: the ability to bring joy and peace to the world.

Smallville: Prototype (2007) Season 6, Episode 21

hello helo

[6/10 · 22 December 2012]

First, a minor irritant: "You'de be surprised what I know." - Lana

Here is what Lana knows: 1) Clark has superhuman powers, and some kind of weakness. 2) Lex is up to something, it involves a codeword and sometimes Lex talks to a senator. That's not a surprising amount of information. Aren't we all more surprised that Lana has managed to stay relevant in this show for so long without ever seeming to know anything at all?

As for the rest of the episode, Wes Keenan is a super soldier with Titan infused DNA who can truly hurt Clark, yet all it takes to kill him is a blast of heat vision. I guess that's pretty convenient. It's also pretty convenient that Keenan decides to stop using his invisibility power when he's fighting Clark. Lex whispers "you were almost perfect" to Keenan's dead body at the end of the episode and demands to find out what exactly went wrong. Here's a hint: try making your super soldier stay invisible during battle next time, Lex.

It's unfortunate that Wes has to die so quickly and so anticlimactically. Clark is rarely put up against villains who actually pose a threat to his health. Even here, one episode away from the season six finale and Clark's biggest problem is that Lana is married to Lex and she won't tell him why. There are incredible alien criminals from the Phantom Zone crusading around earth, likely wreaking all sorts of havoc and still Clark is singularly obsessed with Lana and his own paranoid delusions about Lex. Wes was a good villain, a real threat, and an actual concrete reason to fear Lex. And even so, he was killed off in about ten minutes.

I guess if Wes had lived that might have distracted from the riveting Clark/Lana drama.

Smallville: Noir (2007) Season 6, Episode 20

i hope you are patient with diversions

[4/10 · 22 December 2012]

I had high hopes for this episode for about five seconds. Then Jimmy Olson showed up and started mouthing the words to some film-noir movie like a lonely nerd and then Lana was found lying on the floor of an elevator with a bullet hole in her chest. Lana being shot is, at face value, wonderful. Maybe she will die! Unfortunately, we all know she will live.

But what really takes this episode to the limit is the transition into film-noir parody. Or "homage?" Jimmy gets hit in the head and suddenly the episode is a film-noir dream that's running inside Jimmy's unconscious head.

There are a lot of things this show needs. An entire episode that plays out inside Jimmy's head is not one of them. A heavy focus on Jimmy is bad enough, but a heavy focus on Jimmy in a completely irrelevant side story that takes an entire episode? That's an insult. The only redeeming aspect of Jimmy's dream is Clark Kent's secret identity as a suave man about town. Also the car chase. The car chase was fun. Jimmy's subconscious was very committed to accurate cinematography of the film-noir era.

Smallville: Nemesis (2007) Season 6, Episode 19

Lana blind folded, aiming a gun in the dark. Story of her life

[5/10 · 22 December 2012]

With only minutes to live in a collapsing tunnel system that is rigged with explosives Lex and Clark, trapped alone together in the tunnels, have to cooperate to survive. Will they overcome their differences and work together to escape the tunnels? Or will they stop, pointlessly, and get in an argument about Lana. You guess! You're right. They stop pointlessly and argue about Lana, the most important woman in the world. Clark accuses Lex of hiding the tunnels from the rest of the world, Lex takes this to be Clark's way of saying he kept the tunnels secret from Lana. Clark then tells Lex that Lana visited him before she married Lex and said she didn't want to marry him. That's a bold move, Clark. You need Lex's help right now, and tell him his new wife doesn't love him doesn't really seem like the best plan of attack.

Meanwhile Lana, Queen of Lies, is lying to doctors and threatening Lionel's life and breaking into Lex's things. She breaks into the briefcase left in Lex's car and finds an exit to the tunnel, but doesn't pursue it because she is willing to see him die. Poor Lana, misguided and flailing. Perpetually cut out of the loop, she would watch the world burn just for a handful of answers. Toward the end of the episode, when Lex confronts her about telling Clark she didn't want to marry him, she jumps into a pity speech about how she was afraid Lex wouldn't love her if her pregnancy didn't come to term.

Is Lana on Lionel's side, now? Is she staying in this marriage because of what Lionel told her? We never really got to hear what exactly Lionel told Lana. Does anyone know what Lionel told Lana? Why does Lionel insist that Lana be near Lex. What is Lex going to do that Lana will have any power to stop?