Smallville's Lex: destined to fall?

I've always argued that Lex must inevitably fall on "Smallville". What is fascinating about Lex is 'how' his journey towards evil has evolved.

I recall plenty of posts on message boards throughout the Net whose authors absolutely, positively couldn't bear that Lex Luthor (historically, Superman's nemesis) was going to become bad.

The question I asked then was: why should a character as great as Lex become just another sidekick, or do-gooder Scoobie (ie Buffy the Slayer's team of talented ... and not-so-talented gang of lackeys). It would be a waste of character potential.

It's evident that Lex on Smallville was written to travel a parallel journey to Clark's -- though they would be going on opposite directions. Each had a path to greatness, but what that 'greatness' entailed was unknown to them at Season One.

I'm confident that by the end of Season Four, no one will be able to argue that Lex cannot fall. That doesn't mean he was bad since Day One, or damned by birth. On the contrary, Lex has made many conscious choices along the way. While the lack of support/trust from people like Lionel, Jonathan Kent and especially Clark Kent have all contributed to Lex's eventual fall, he is not a robot. I can't accept the theory that Lex is a mere observer to all the mishaps that affect him -- as if any Luthor could be just a puppet of other peoples' whims and motivations.

Because of his Luthor heritage (or, in spite of, depending on your spin), Lex had choices. He's made them, and -one day- he will have to live with their consequences. I've read the Lex apologists' arguments that seem to absolve Lex of just about everything he's ever done ... and they're quite prepared to blame his mental break in 'Shattered' and/or Clark's lack of faith in him for Lex's subsequent bad behaviour.

If we're going to argue that Lex's character goes through emotions and conflicts that other human beings go through, that means he must also cope with the responsibilities of free will. His Luthor background is an aggravating factor, but any "Law and Order" fan will tell you that just having a screwed-up family life doesn't necessarily mean that you're not guilty.

Has Lex had opportunities to steer clear of the path that would lead to his fall? Yes, he has and he has, on occasion, resisted those darker impulses. Smallville, however, is not re-inventing the entire wheel, and some parts of the Superman legend remain intact. It's doubtful Smallville's producers were going to make Lex Luthor just 'one of the gang'.

Both Clark and Lex have been on journeys of discovery: about themselves, their values and their destinies. Lex said their friendship would be "the stuff of legends". We knew it was never meant to be, but neither Clark nor Lex recognized that. The tragedy in Smallville is that their friendship could have been saved.

If either of them were more willing to compromise on values that define them (Clark's sense of justice, Lex's ambition), they just might have had a workable -imperfect- friendship. On a show where Clark would one day embody the best of humanity, such compromise was not to be.

The powers-that-be could be faulted for other issues, but on the divergent paths of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor they seem to have a clear vision.

For Clark to seize the mantle of heroism, Lex -as his foil and counterpoint- will have to choose his own, opposing path. On this fundamental theme of destiny, there could never be any compromise.

Welcome to the Luthor Estate. Please mind the Kryptonite. 

'Superman' trivia!

There would be no such thing as "Smallville" if cartoonist Joe Shuster and writer Jerry Siegel didn't come up with Superman, a superhero who could jump tall buildings in a single bound and run faster than a locomotive.

QUESTION: Which daily metropolitan newspaper did Joe Shuster work for as a paper boy (and inspired The Daily Planet, Clark Kent's employer)?

Was it:

a) Kansas City Star
b) Columbus Dispatch
c) Toronto Star
d) Cleveland Plain Dealer
e) Metropolis Planet (Illinois)

I'll post the answer in a few days ...

Random historical quote for your Lex fics ...

If you've ever needed a witty, historical quote for Lex to utter in one of his pontificating moments in your fan fics, I've arrived with the cavalry.

Not surprisingly, today's quote refers to greatness:

"The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence; and the great welcome them out of vanity or need. "

-- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)

Thoughts on 'Bruce Wayne' in Smallville?

I am going to argue that it is not only realistic to have a young Bruce Wayne on Smallville, but that it could add much depth to both Clark and Lex's journeys to their opposing destinies.

I think it's unlikely they'll bring Bruce Wayne onto the show as a character, but I've written several fanfics that explored what it 'might' be like if Bruce was a recurring character. Many fanfics out there have introduced Batman into their stories -- which is cool -- but I figure that it would be more believable if the "no cape, no cowl" rule applied to Bruce. If Smallville is a tale of Clark 'before Superman', then a Bruce in that universe would be 'before Batman'

What that means is a 'Smallville Bruce' who is between two worlds: the jet-set socialite world he's been raised in ... and that dark destiny born out of Crime Alley and the senseless murder of his parents.

It's entirely possible that this Bruce could be a schoolchum of Lex in boarding schools and academies around the world. Perhaps they'd share some connection because of the traumatic events of their youth. But Lex could realize that the adult Bruce has emerged as the only viable rival of the Luthor empire. This could be a source for tension between them (which I've explored in some of my fics -- I know, it's a shameless plug, but isn't that what blogs are by definition ;) ).

Smallville's Clark could meet Bruce through that relationship with Lex. Bruce and Lex would seem similar to Clark -- at first. Both are supposed bluebloods who inherited their wealth and status. Both, however, are traveling different paths. What separates them could provide much fuel to the eventual 'rift' between Clark and Lex.

Batman Begins would seem to nix any hopes for Bruce appearing on Smallville in person, but I would be happy if they just mentioned Bruce's name in passing. Perhaps Lex could be on a conference call with him, or his name appears on the Planet's front page.

That's all for now. I'm off to repair the Bat-Signal ...

Hello ... Review of 'Sacred'!

Welcome to the Luthor Estate. Drop by and say hello!

Let's start with a review of Season 4's "Sacred" -- or, as others have called it: Mu-Lana. I should add that I have no 'spoilers rules' here, so you have just been warned. Spoilers aplenty! ;)

I think the best way to do this is with (cues drum roll) ... to just write what I think.

We finally got to see the resolution of what happened to Dr. Swann. I'm glad the powers that be were able to expand on the kryptonian mythology with the search for those three mysterious stones. Clark had an easy choice: read about the admission guidelines for college applications season (oh *yawn* joy), or look for stones that could reveal his destiny.

This takes us to the 'trust issue' between that proverbial liar/occultist/Luthor-lackey Jason and tattoo-branded Lana. You see, he was lying to 'protect' her -- at least that would be his justification. This was also the part of the episode which becomes Big Trouble in Little Shanghai, as Jason and Lex -- who, of course is going to be around on any global quest for these stones -- race through the streets of Shanghai, and -alas- captured by the Chinese People's Army.

I'll skip any logical, common sense explanations about Lana and Clark dropping everything to follow Jason and Lex to China, because you won't find them in the episode. Lana realizes that, at this moment, only Clark and Lionel could be trusted. Clark just left a phone message with Ma and Pa to explain his long absence (probably along the lines of: "I'm off to the general store ... it's out-of-state ... umm, yeah ... and you won't be able to reach me, but I'll be back") Ok, so Lana and Clark show up in Shanghai and manage to find the temple (where the commies are torturing Lex and Jason). It seems Lex was also double-crossed (Lionel? Genevieve?). Unfortunately, the Chinese catch Lana, notice her kryptonian henna marks and threaten to electrocute the truth out of her.

Bad move. Isabelle Thoreaux - everyone's favourite witch b*tch - emerges again and zaps herself free, leaving Clark (who had a brief run-in with green meteor rocks) to rescue Jason and Lex. They figure out the map to the temple was actually a painting of the temple, where a stone is hidden.

Isabelle does her bippity-boppity thing and finds one of the stones, but Clark confronts her. The episode enters its 'House of Flying Daggers' phase and Lana and Clark get into the whole wu-shu ass-kicking -- complete with Lana's flying wire works.

The battle zaps Isabelle away (for now) and Lana, Clark, Lex and Jason wonder "what the hell happened". The stone is missing, so all those Air Miles went for nothing.

Or did they? Jason reveals that he kept the stone and mailed it back to himself from China -- to prevent either Lex or Clark from knowing about it. He did all this to 'protect' her, if you recall. Lana beams, so I guess she's happy her occult experience is behind her for now (at least until Lana overloads the Talon's circuit-breaker!)

Clark returns to the caves again, fearing that he will have to find those stones and claim a destiny he doesn't necessarily want. Lex and Lionel get into a discussion about the value of knowledge versus wisdom, but is Lionel being helpful -- or is he playing the role of the puppetmaster: letting Lex and Jason do all the grunt work, while he exploits their discoveries to some hidden end?

In a sentence, "Sacred" is one of the better episodes this season -- complete with globe-trotting action, Clana moments for the angsty crowd, the usual Lex 'facing-an-abyss-of-his-making' moments, PLUS supernaturally-juiced Lana-Fu fighting.

Some fans want nothing but angst -- all the time; others want nothing but action. This episode should satisfy both of them.

[BTW, hi to all those from the KryptonSite, Yahoo Groups and fanfiction.net universe.]