Onyx
I must shout thank you to the Gods of Smallville for restoring my faith. Thank you, thank you. You finally gave me something worthwhile after a season of crap.
My conclusion about the two Lex's (which I will call good!Lex and bad!Lex for simplicity) is that bad!Lex could never be as truly evil as Lex. Bad!Lex, for all his abrasiveness, was not manipulative, not cruel in the way Lex can be. Bad!Lex told the truth, was straightforward and took what he wanted. He didn't try to win people over, to coax their secrets out of them. He just did what he wanted.
Case in point - Lana. There's been UST between those two before. I'm sure if Lex wanted to he could bed Lana willingly. He can be very charming. But instead of trying a Dangerous Liaisons type of move, Lex out and out blackmails Lana into having sex with him (a fact she is reluctant to tell Clark, I am happy to note).
Because of this forthrightness, bad!Lex could never be a supervillain. A villain, yes, but not a supervillain. He alone could never achieve the unimaginable cruelty that Lex can achieve. It is Lex's higher nature, his humanity, his friendships and feelings that make him so incredibly dangerous.
For example - the confrontation with daddy Luthor. This mirrored the swordfight in Heat which Lex lost to his father. Lionel plays dirty here, backhanding his son across the face, but because of bad!Lex's immorality, he defeats his father in the end. This leads Lionel at the end of the episode to conclude that bad!Lex is the son he's always wanted. I'm sure this is true, but this is probably a tragic underestimation on Lionel's part. Bad!Lex was about as evolved as Lionel - purely selfish and amoral. Lex, on the other hand, can surpass his father in every way because he draws on that other side of his nature. So it seems that in all his years of psychological torture of Lex, all Lionel wanted was for Lex to strike back. But instead Lionel has created a man who can pursue his agenda much more insidiously. When the fall of Lionel finally comes, I think he will be just as horrified of what his son is capable of as he was when he saw him standing over the body of his dead brother.
Good!Lex, on the other hand, was a bit of a wimp. He was like a big puppy dog, all excited to show Chloe and Clark his experiments, wanting to help out with his father's charity. This makes him prey in the vicious Luthor family. This, I think, is a glimpse of what Lex could have been if he was raised by anyone but his father. But growing up under Lionel, good!Lex could not have survived. He needs bad!Lex.
Seeing the two Lex's reminded me of the Angel/Angelus dichotomy. Angelus was in some ways much more intelligent than Angel. By being removed from his relationships to those around him, he could see more clearly what was going on (see season 4 Angel). I think the same is happening in "Onyx," or at least the writers are implying that it is. If it is true that Lex reunited only retains good!Lex's memories (he seems to have only retained good!Lex's clothes at least), then he should still have enough information to deduce Clark's secret. But he doesn't, blinded, as bad!Lex said, by his friendship.
I believe that bad!Lex was not Lex's "evil twin" but an unleashing of the monster inside of him (as in Angel/Angelus). To this end, I think Lex does retain bad!Lex's memories. However, he is fundamentally invested in denying that possibility. To acknowledge that it was him that acted in that manner would be to destroy all of Lex's illusions about his own identity. Lex still tries to believe that he is a good person. To believe that he could strike his father, blackmail Lana, cold-heartedly murder someone (shouldn't he be facing charges for that?), shoot Mr. Kent and try to destroy Clark would deny irrevocably that Lex is a good person. So it's quite possible that he would bury those memories.
Lex has been confronted with this before - in the episode (Fear was it?) where he saw his own version of Cassandra's vision. We know when we see that that Lex is aware of his own darkness and, frankly, terrified of it. Unfortunately, this aspect of the episode was greatly underplayed to give us more time to watch Lana freak out about losing people. Gag me.
I think it's also telling that Lex is so forward in his actions (vis a vis, shooting Pa Kent) he'd probably land in jail almost immediately. If not the electric chair. Although I have to applaud him for murdering his scientist by injecting air bubbles. That is smart. It could just as easily have caused a stroke or muscle death as heart failure, though. It's not a fail-proof method of murder.
I find it interesting that Clark immediately assumes that good!Lex is the only Lex, that the other was an abberation. This could be partly from his own experience having to deal with the aftermath of going on red!K, but Clark eventually came to acknowledge that red!K just lowered his inhibitions, it did not cause him to do things he had no desire to do. (Aside: I love the fact that the writers used Lex's transformation to find resonance with Clark's numerous transformations. This shows a lot more maturity than in a first season episode like "Hug" where Lex's transformation is shrugged off.) Clark's dismissiveness could be in self-preservation - reinforcing Lex's assertion that he has no memory of Clark's secret. I think it has more to do with bad!Lex's assertion that Lex has thought about killing Clark and his friends. I'm sure this is true. I'm sure Lex has. But Clark cannot possibly understand that.
I was recently talking about the episode "Bound" with sydni_64 and we were both noticing Clark's unwillingness to acknowledge the tragic motivations for Lex's one night stands. Even when confronted with the darkness in the heart of Lex, darkness bred into him by his father, Clark denies it. Again we see that here. Clark will not acknowledge that his friend could be capable even of thinking of hurting him, despite the fact that Clark has shown again and again that he is terrified that Lex will do just that if he learns Clark's secret. Clark is not acknowledging the elephant in the room, as it were. On a fundamental level, I think he knows what Lex is capable of, but his inability to consciously acknowledge that will, I think, simultaneously prevent him from rescuing Lex from his baser nature and ensure that the fallout between them will be spectacular. Like Lionel, Clark will be horrified to see what Lex will become.
A few other notes. I very much liked the use of Chloe here. You could see she was very conflicted about Clark's powers, simultaneously trying to tell him how much it hurts her that he doesn't trust her with that secret and trying not to force a confrontation. She can't help pushing. She so desperately wants Clark to tell her it's eating her alive, but she knows that if she's the one who broaches the subject she might destroy their friendship. It was a bit too convenient that she just popped off to Lois's at the end, though. What the hell was that about?
Lex had some fantastic lines here. Oh, I love the writers for giving MR such juice. But that line about "puppies and hugs" seems a direct rip-off of a line in the BtVS musical episode "Once More with Feeling," when Buffy says that something doesn't generally lead to "hugs and puppies." I could be wrong here, but that line sounded very Joss-ish to me.
Forcing Lana to have the 'post-sexual advance under the influence of whatever' talk with someone other than Clark was a gift. At least we see she's just as hard-ass about it with Lex. Of course, in those talks with Clark there was always the tension of 'I really liked your forthrightness if only you hadn't ditched me.' With Lex, although I'm sure shippers will interpret her last line otherwise, I think she is purely horrified by bad!Lex's threatened rape (since that's what it essentially was). If anything, I would say that that interchange would have killed any sexual feelings she ever had toward Lex. Plus, we went a whole 16 minutes before she first appeared. And no Jason!
I'd also like to ask - why does Clark know what black!K is? He's never encountered it before. To have him say that Lex split because of something hinky going on with heated Kryptonite, OK, I can buy that. To have him conclude that Lex must have synthesized black!K? How did you come to that conclusion, Sherlock? Do you have a table of Kryptonites and their properties in your barn that we don't know about?
One more note on the wine cellar. Lex stated in the Pilot that Lionel had never set foot in the mansion, yet here Lex talks about getting trapped in the wine cellar as a child. This isn't necessarily an incongruity. I think it supports my view of Lex's childhood: his father sent him away, to boarding school, to Smallville, for extended periods of time with only the staff as supervision. Of course, since Clark remembers the mansion being built, there was a time when Lex was, say, a pre-teen and Clark was in grade school (to make up a timeline) when they were both in Smallville. Kind of makes you wonder if they ever bumped into each other, doesn't it?
In conclusion, I think the writers were trying to give us a taste of supervillain Lex. Giving him the Kryptonite ring was a direct parallel with the comic books. But in the end it is Lex's essential morality that will make him a terrifying villain, and no conscienceless version of Lex can truly show off what Lex is capable of.
My conclusion about the two Lex's (which I will call good!Lex and bad!Lex for simplicity) is that bad!Lex could never be as truly evil as Lex. Bad!Lex, for all his abrasiveness, was not manipulative, not cruel in the way Lex can be. Bad!Lex told the truth, was straightforward and took what he wanted. He didn't try to win people over, to coax their secrets out of them. He just did what he wanted.
Case in point - Lana. There's been UST between those two before. I'm sure if Lex wanted to he could bed Lana willingly. He can be very charming. But instead of trying a Dangerous Liaisons type of move, Lex out and out blackmails Lana into having sex with him (a fact she is reluctant to tell Clark, I am happy to note).
Because of this forthrightness, bad!Lex could never be a supervillain. A villain, yes, but not a supervillain. He alone could never achieve the unimaginable cruelty that Lex can achieve. It is Lex's higher nature, his humanity, his friendships and feelings that make him so incredibly dangerous.
For example - the confrontation with daddy Luthor. This mirrored the swordfight in Heat which Lex lost to his father. Lionel plays dirty here, backhanding his son across the face, but because of bad!Lex's immorality, he defeats his father in the end. This leads Lionel at the end of the episode to conclude that bad!Lex is the son he's always wanted. I'm sure this is true, but this is probably a tragic underestimation on Lionel's part. Bad!Lex was about as evolved as Lionel - purely selfish and amoral. Lex, on the other hand, can surpass his father in every way because he draws on that other side of his nature. So it seems that in all his years of psychological torture of Lex, all Lionel wanted was for Lex to strike back. But instead Lionel has created a man who can pursue his agenda much more insidiously. When the fall of Lionel finally comes, I think he will be just as horrified of what his son is capable of as he was when he saw him standing over the body of his dead brother.
Good!Lex, on the other hand, was a bit of a wimp. He was like a big puppy dog, all excited to show Chloe and Clark his experiments, wanting to help out with his father's charity. This makes him prey in the vicious Luthor family. This, I think, is a glimpse of what Lex could have been if he was raised by anyone but his father. But growing up under Lionel, good!Lex could not have survived. He needs bad!Lex.
Seeing the two Lex's reminded me of the Angel/Angelus dichotomy. Angelus was in some ways much more intelligent than Angel. By being removed from his relationships to those around him, he could see more clearly what was going on (see season 4 Angel). I think the same is happening in "Onyx," or at least the writers are implying that it is. If it is true that Lex reunited only retains good!Lex's memories (he seems to have only retained good!Lex's clothes at least), then he should still have enough information to deduce Clark's secret. But he doesn't, blinded, as bad!Lex said, by his friendship.
I believe that bad!Lex was not Lex's "evil twin" but an unleashing of the monster inside of him (as in Angel/Angelus). To this end, I think Lex does retain bad!Lex's memories. However, he is fundamentally invested in denying that possibility. To acknowledge that it was him that acted in that manner would be to destroy all of Lex's illusions about his own identity. Lex still tries to believe that he is a good person. To believe that he could strike his father, blackmail Lana, cold-heartedly murder someone (shouldn't he be facing charges for that?), shoot Mr. Kent and try to destroy Clark would deny irrevocably that Lex is a good person. So it's quite possible that he would bury those memories.
Lex has been confronted with this before - in the episode (Fear was it?) where he saw his own version of Cassandra's vision. We know when we see that that Lex is aware of his own darkness and, frankly, terrified of it. Unfortunately, this aspect of the episode was greatly underplayed to give us more time to watch Lana freak out about losing people. Gag me.
I think it's also telling that Lex is so forward in his actions (vis a vis, shooting Pa Kent) he'd probably land in jail almost immediately. If not the electric chair. Although I have to applaud him for murdering his scientist by injecting air bubbles. That is smart. It could just as easily have caused a stroke or muscle death as heart failure, though. It's not a fail-proof method of murder.
I find it interesting that Clark immediately assumes that good!Lex is the only Lex, that the other was an abberation. This could be partly from his own experience having to deal with the aftermath of going on red!K, but Clark eventually came to acknowledge that red!K just lowered his inhibitions, it did not cause him to do things he had no desire to do. (Aside: I love the fact that the writers used Lex's transformation to find resonance with Clark's numerous transformations. This shows a lot more maturity than in a first season episode like "Hug" where Lex's transformation is shrugged off.) Clark's dismissiveness could be in self-preservation - reinforcing Lex's assertion that he has no memory of Clark's secret. I think it has more to do with bad!Lex's assertion that Lex has thought about killing Clark and his friends. I'm sure this is true. I'm sure Lex has. But Clark cannot possibly understand that.
I was recently talking about the episode "Bound" with sydni_64 and we were both noticing Clark's unwillingness to acknowledge the tragic motivations for Lex's one night stands. Even when confronted with the darkness in the heart of Lex, darkness bred into him by his father, Clark denies it. Again we see that here. Clark will not acknowledge that his friend could be capable even of thinking of hurting him, despite the fact that Clark has shown again and again that he is terrified that Lex will do just that if he learns Clark's secret. Clark is not acknowledging the elephant in the room, as it were. On a fundamental level, I think he knows what Lex is capable of, but his inability to consciously acknowledge that will, I think, simultaneously prevent him from rescuing Lex from his baser nature and ensure that the fallout between them will be spectacular. Like Lionel, Clark will be horrified to see what Lex will become.
A few other notes. I very much liked the use of Chloe here. You could see she was very conflicted about Clark's powers, simultaneously trying to tell him how much it hurts her that he doesn't trust her with that secret and trying not to force a confrontation. She can't help pushing. She so desperately wants Clark to tell her it's eating her alive, but she knows that if she's the one who broaches the subject she might destroy their friendship. It was a bit too convenient that she just popped off to Lois's at the end, though. What the hell was that about?
Lex had some fantastic lines here. Oh, I love the writers for giving MR such juice. But that line about "puppies and hugs" seems a direct rip-off of a line in the BtVS musical episode "Once More with Feeling," when Buffy says that something doesn't generally lead to "hugs and puppies." I could be wrong here, but that line sounded very Joss-ish to me.
Forcing Lana to have the 'post-sexual advance under the influence of whatever' talk with someone other than Clark was a gift. At least we see she's just as hard-ass about it with Lex. Of course, in those talks with Clark there was always the tension of 'I really liked your forthrightness if only you hadn't ditched me.' With Lex, although I'm sure shippers will interpret her last line otherwise, I think she is purely horrified by bad!Lex's threatened rape (since that's what it essentially was). If anything, I would say that that interchange would have killed any sexual feelings she ever had toward Lex. Plus, we went a whole 16 minutes before she first appeared. And no Jason!
I'd also like to ask - why does Clark know what black!K is? He's never encountered it before. To have him say that Lex split because of something hinky going on with heated Kryptonite, OK, I can buy that. To have him conclude that Lex must have synthesized black!K? How did you come to that conclusion, Sherlock? Do you have a table of Kryptonites and their properties in your barn that we don't know about?
One more note on the wine cellar. Lex stated in the Pilot that Lionel had never set foot in the mansion, yet here Lex talks about getting trapped in the wine cellar as a child. This isn't necessarily an incongruity. I think it supports my view of Lex's childhood: his father sent him away, to boarding school, to Smallville, for extended periods of time with only the staff as supervision. Of course, since Clark remembers the mansion being built, there was a time when Lex was, say, a pre-teen and Clark was in grade school (to make up a timeline) when they were both in Smallville. Kind of makes you wonder if they ever bumped into each other, doesn't it?
In conclusion, I think the writers were trying to give us a taste of supervillain Lex. Giving him the Kryptonite ring was a direct parallel with the comic books. But in the end it is Lex's essential morality that will make him a terrifying villain, and no conscienceless version of Lex can truly show off what Lex is capable of.