Lex rhymes with sex

Episode seventeen of season four of Smallville is one of the finest
pieces of televisual entertainment that ever made me screech with joy.
I think all the comic nerds who read this list (and let's face it,
that's almost all of you) need to see this episode.

Early Smallville writing was plagued with the kind of mushy high
school crap that I find very irritating. But as time goes on, the
writers are moving further away from love triangle shenanigans and
closer to pure comic book writing. And that's far from an insult. I
think that Clark Kent is wasted on stories where his powers serve as
nothing more than an easy way to save the day and an impetus for yet
another will-they-or-won't-they-work-it-out moment with his friends.
I'd much rather watch stories that are bigger than "Smallville High".

I've never collected superhero comics, but I do borrow other people's,
and what attracts me to these stories is the same thing that I find
fascinating about most science fiction: what would the world be like,
if this were possible? How would everything work if there were
superheroes? This same process of world building and conjecture is one
of the things I love about roleplaying games.

The reason that season one of Smallville failed for me is that it was
much more about "What would Superboy do if he went to high school?"
Lately the show has been much more about a world where super powers
exist and where money really does buy justice.

This episode is also a turning point in the Clark-Lex-Lionel
tug-of-war. For me, the central struggle in Smallville is not between
Lex and Clark, it's between Clark and Lionel, and they're struggling
over Lex's soul. I know that it should be obvious which side will win,
because we all know that Lex is Superman's arch-nemesis. But...!
Smallville is a long way from comics canon, and I'm determined to hold
on to the idea that no-one is beyond saving. Clark still has a chance
to show Lex that there is some good in the world despite all the abuse
Lex suffers from his father.

One of the nice ironies about Clark is that he lies to Lex, just as
Lionel does. A recurring theme when Lex discovers Clark's secret (as
he has done several times so far, but always loses his memory again
(yay, comics!)) is Lex's bewildered hurt. "You lied! I trusted you and
you lied!" Clark is the only person Lex believes in, and if Lex finds
out that Clark has lied to him all along (and that Clark is still
lying to him), then Lionel will win.

The only way for Clark to win is to trust Lex enough to reveal his
superpowers, and let Lex choose to support him. Clark, despite
being a Good Man, is still incapable of realising that this is the
right thing to do. I love a good tragedy.