(S07E16)

Lionel Luthor is dead. He was killed by Lex in order for his baldness to obtain the second key to open some sort of lock in Zurich. Evidently, whatever is in Zurich can control Clark (or, as Veritas calls him, The Traveler). Here's another interpretation of the murder: Lionel was more interested in Clark than his own son and Lex killed him for it.

It's surprising that Lex waited this long to do it. He's had more convoluted father issues than most others I've seen on television. It's also surprised he even felt bad about it afterwards.

This episode was a slaughter-fest of violence. It started with Lionel, went to the attempted murder of Lois and the assault on Chloe (who tends to be attacked almost every episode anyway), then to Gina's murder (presumably by Lex to cover his tracks), and ended with the murder of "Little Lex." Even Isis was destroyed via computer virus. With the murder of his "good side," Lex is now free to be completely evil with no conscience whatsoever.

Anybody else catch the placement of Nietzsche's "Beyond Good and Evil" in front of Lionel's message to Clark? Yeah, I figured you did.

Lex's young self has appeared in three episodes this season. That's pretty good mileage out of an imaginary character (okay, they're all imaginary, but you get the idea).

The absence of Lana was felt strongly. It was almost as if Lex had to pick up the slack with the whining.

Gina's affection for Lex was pretty obvious, and since this is Smallville, when she learned Clark's secret I knew her life expectancy was on an egg timer. Her character reminded me a bit of the character of Lex's bodyguard Mercy from the comic books and cartoons. Was her interest in Lex was romantic or maternal? Due to the nature of the show, it's probably the former.

Another motif taken from the comics is Lex's blindness to the truth about Clark. In that case, he doesn't believe that a person that powerful would hide the fact. The line Lex used towards Lionel "No one will even remember your name" was kind of ironic. In the comics, Lionel has never even been mentioned until recently (when he was incorporated into continuity in yet another revamp).

Since Chloe has been fired, perhaps she'll get another job in programming or computer security (or maybe even simply Photoshop skills)? They pay better and she obviously has the ability. Why did she keep personal stuff in the office when she knew she had an evil boss?

There are other questions involving the usual Smallville logic. When someone goes from cold to heat too quickly, they usually feel some sort of shock. Why didn't Lois and Jimmy? Why does Lex have such a good camera system to pick up his father's falling body but still uses CRT monitors at the Daily Planet?

I knew Superman was secretly Jewish (well, his creators were anyway). In Judaism, you bury your own like Clark started to do at the end with Lionel's casket.

The episode started strong with the death of Lionel then faded rather quickly. It was as if the writers were trying to compensate for the lack of budget on this episode. Very few characters appeared. Lionel had one of the worst-attended funerals of any billionaire I've ever known (although for television billionaires perhaps that sort of attendance is standard). The dialogue of this episode was so wooden that George Lucas could have written it. This was exemplified by Chloe's line after they realize that Lex killed his father: "Some say that's the definition of evil." While a great deal happened in this episode to move this along, the road to get there wasn't terribly impressive.

Obviously, a lot of this season has to be something of a wrap-up for Lex's character since Michael Rosenbaum will only be a part-timer next season. Next week: Lex visits the Fortress.