Smallville Cliffs Notes for Pielorinho [spoilers]

[Maerdwyn]

Lex Luthor.

General notes: Lex had been obsessed with Clark soon after the beginning of the series, but that obsession has, in some respects turned inward. He is now convinced that it was not Clark who saved his life when his car crashed into Clark and then fell into the river, but rather fate. He has seen enough weirdness in Smallville to believe that he too has a gift: he thinks he is a survivor. He doesn't remember being sick, injured, etc. The thought comforts him, and we see the first traces of egomania in him in the early part of Season 3, when he expresses this belief.

Throughout all this past season's episodes, Lex gets closer to Lana, and more and more confrontational with Clark, culminating with the stated end of their friendship in the last episode of the season, when he unsuccessfully tries to convince Clark that he hasn't been spying on him (if you saw the scene in Lex's secret room, Despite all the Clark-oriented stuff in the room, I think the most important thing in there was the preserved lock of Lex's red hair - a symbol of his survival during the meteor shower. Everything else was just a testament to his other survivals - Clark just happened to be the instrument of fate that kept him alive.)

Back to Lana: There have been of plans for a relationship between the 26ish Lex and the 16ish Lana. Lots of meaningful glances. He counsels Lana to go to Paris, tells Clark to let her go, and then promises to visit her in Paris, apparently knowing that Clark won't be able to. The last we see of Lex, he is hugging her goodbye as Clarke watches.


More details of events in Lex's life this season.

Last Season, Lex was doing pretty well. He was in love with, and engaged to, a beauty named Helen, on great terms with Clark's family, and he was helping Lana out by getting the Talon coffeehouse going with her.

Then the plane taking Lex on his honeymoon crashes and he is marooned on a desert island for several months (covered by the summer hiatus) until his unlikely rescue (another example of fate conspiring to help him survive when he shouldn't have). He comes back to Smallville to find Helen there, alive, and is mad that she never looked for him. He even suspects her of trying to kill him. He sets a trap for her by taking her up on another plane, and she in fact tries to kill him again, but he's ready for her. Before forcing her to parachute out of the plane over the ocean, she tells him that his father hired her to do it. She also admits staling a vial of blood (we know it's Clark's, but Lex doesn't) from him and giving it to his father.

From here on, Lex's relationship with Lionel becomes more and more antagonistic, and is that way all season 3. He eventually learns that Lionel killed his parents (more on that later), but before he can prove it, he has another psychotic breakdown.

It starts with visions of his time on the island, but also includes tortured memories of his brother Julian, who died as a baby when Lex was about ten. There is the strong implication that the psychosis is at least in part due to the fact that Lex killed Julian. At this point, however, Lex begins acting seriously paranoid. In trying to escape his enemies, He starts threatening all sorts of people, causes a horse to break both Lana's legs, etc. During this period, Clark saves him (from himself and others) several times, and Lex sees hi muse his powers - strength, invulnerability, maybe others - can't remember. He's pretty loopy though, and how much he actually knows isn't clear.

The actual cause of the break was the Lionel had been drugging his bourbon, with the intention of getting him committed and therefore unable to prove Lionel had killed his parents. To "cure" Lex of his "psychosis," Lionel has him subjected to electro shock therapy - but his main goal is to damage Lex's memory, a task at which he is successful. Lex loses seven weeks of memory. There are hints however, that he remembers bits and pieces of it, especially surrounding Clark.

Those memories gone, there is, on the surface a thaw between the two Luthors, but meanwhile, Lex becomes obsessed with regaining his lost memories.

Meanwhile, Lex is becoming closer to Lana, who, recovering from the broken legs, has met a new boyfriend, named Adam. Adam turns out to be a corpse whose been reanimated with a serum made from Clark’s blood, stolen by Helen and given to Lionel between Season's 2 and 3. More on this later when we get to Lana, but the whole thing went FUBAR, and in the end, Adam and the scientists who worked on the project were killed. Lionel framed Lex for it.

Lex then offers his father up to FBI and becomes an informant. On the memories front, he returns to Somerholt Institute (this is the asylum where he'd received his original "therapy" and where several former Kryptonite villains were confined) to demand an experimental procedure, involving being submerged in a Kryptonite solution, to restore his memory. It works partially, and in an awesome sequence, we learn that Lex's mom actually killed his brother, but that Lex took the blame, knowing that Lionel would never harm is sole remaining heir, but wouldn't hesitate to punish Lex's mom. Meanwhile, Clarke finds out about the procedure and is concerned for Lex's well being, as the procedure could also turn him into a vegetable.

Clark tries to convince Lex to stop the procedures, but fails. Clark then tells Lionel about what's going on and tries to convince Lionel to put a stop to it, but fails. Then Clark threatens him with the fact that Lex will be able to prove Lionel murdered his parents if he goes through with the procedure. Lionel puts a stop to it, but offers Clark up to the mad scientist at the asylum, and we get treated to some of Clark's early memories (more later), but the kryptonite solution begins killing him after he is submerged in it, until Lex comes in and saves him.

Lex is mad at Clark for interfering, but covers his emotions quickly. Then there is a confrontation between Lex and his father, in which Lex reveals the truth about his brother's death. Lionel almost tries to apologize for treating him so badly for all these years, but Lex will have none of it and walks away.

In the next episode, Lex and his father vie over an apparent Kryptonian artifact that grants superman-like powers, but will disintegrate if touched by Superman's greatest enemy (This has to do with an Indian tribe - the Kiwatchi - that was visited 500 years ago by who we assume was Jor-El. They believe in a savior named Namon who will fall from the stars and have the strength of a hundred men and be able to shoot flame from his eyes. Seguithe will at first be a friend to Namon but will become his greatest enemy). Lex and Lionel grab the knife from an insane Kiwatchi leader, but they touch it at the same time, and it disintegrates. Clark sees this, but can't decide which of them is Seguithe (He already accepts that he is Namon.) Lex thinks he himself is Seguithe, and gives a great speech about how Seguithe is really the hero of the prophecy: Namon would be extremely powerful, and would probably use his power to conquer and dominate. only someone of great bravery and character would dare oppose him, and it would be for the benefit of all people.

There isn't much carry over of this with the next episode, which finds Lex using evidence provided by Chloe (more later) to engineer Lionel's arrest on the charge of murdering his parents. Lex is somewhat stung by Lionel accusing him of being a Judas.

Lex, with the arrest of his father, is wide open as far as the future is concerned. Other than Lana, we have no idea what his plans are.

More tomorrow. The rest will be shorter, I promise.

 

[Maerdwyn]

Lionel Luthor: Lionel's three main goals this season were 1) Find a cure for his liver disease 2) Prevent Lex from learning that he'd killed his parents, and 3) Find out as much as he could about Clark Kent.

1)Lionel tried lots of things to cure his liver disease, but the most elaborate plan was finding those who had recently died of various liver diseases and injecting them with a serum made from Clark's blood. The receipients came back to life, but only as long as they were administered regular doses of the serum. He sent one of his subjects to befriend Lana with the purpose of spying on Clark. As stated above, the whole plan fell apart, and Lionel had to shut down the program and had to have everyone working on the project killed or deported. He pinned the murders on Lex by making him the new director of the lab building where the experiments had been located. Another plan seems to have involved cloning - but the clone he had created was of a dead childhood friend of Lana's. The clone went homicidal (in two different episodes) and the project was shut down before it benefitted Lionel. He is, as far as we know, still dying.

2) Lionel's parents were apparently nere-do-wells, and the family lived in a tenement in Metropolis. In order to get the money to start LuthorCorp, he purchased insurance on his parents, and paid a crime lord named Morgan Edge to torch the tenement while his parents were inside. Lex discovered as much, leading to the electroshock thereapy described above. This covered the secret for a while, and he had Morgan Edge blown up (it is actually likely that he survived, but Lionel thinks him dead), which covered that loose end. A superpowered Chloe (she temporaily had the power to force people to tell the truth) forces Lionel to admit the whole thing, and captures his confession on tape, leading to his eventual arrest.

3) Lionel has been keeping tabs on Clark ever since he learned that Lex had been keeping tabs on Clark. Lionel, however, has put a few more pieces of the puzzle together than has Lex. He knows that Clark has a secret, and knows that he has something to do with an octagonal key made of a metal that did not come from this planet. He believes that Clark is a very remarkable person, and this was said in context that suggested that Lionel believed that a few people have special powers. He believes a UFO crashed in Smallville on the day of the meteor shower. He is convinced that if he can learn the Clark's secret, he will gain power - certainly enough to defeat his illness.

To this end, Lionel has been showing up in Clark's life more often. He also has made some sort of deal with Dr. Swann (Christopher Reeve), who knows Clarks secrets, can read Kryptonian, and has been giving Clark advice. Swann probably hasn't told Lionel too much, but Swann did manipulate Clark into doing a couple things Lionel wanted him to do

*******************

Lana Lang

Lana has decided that Clark is bad for her. At one point, after a horse broke her legs while she was watching over the paranoid Lex Luthor in a stable, she decided that even being friends would be to much. For her, Clark telling his secret to her has become a pre-requisite of having any sort of a close relationship with him. However, in a couple episodes, she seems like she's heading back towards wanting a romance with him (They kiss briefly in one episode), only to turn him away when he begins to reciprocate. She has growing feelings for Lex, who is her main source of advice lately. Near the end of the season, she announced plans to attend an art school in Paris for at least a year. Lex first was supportive, then sold the Talon out from under her, then became supportive again, giving her an upgraded, open ended plane ticket so that she could come back whenever she wanted.

There were several Lana-in-distress episodes this season, including the Adam (resurrected corpse) arc -- he becomes more and more unstable, and then downright homicidal when his supply of serum is exhausted. As he was living in the loft over the Talon, Lana was his obvious intended victim. Clark repeatedly saves her - from Adam, from her cloned childhood friend Emily, etc., but this has no effect on either's feelings for the other.

 

[Maerdwyn]

Chloe: Lionel offered Chloe a weekly column at the Daily Planet. In return, he wanted her to spy on Clark. She refused, until her father was threatened with the loss of his job. So she spied on Clark, he found out, and their friendship took a hit. She eventually broke the deal off with Lionel, resulting in the loss of her column and the the loss of her dad's job. To get leverage against Lionel, Chloe started investigating him, which he found out about. He had the Torch offices trashed, and all the hard drives stolen from the computers. Late in the season, while Chloe was investigating some LuthorCorp activities, she was sprayed with a Kryptonite gas which altered her pheremones or voice in some way, forcing anyone who spoke to her to tell the truth. She almost gets Pete to spill the beans about Clark, but her tells her he loves her instead, and kisses her, effectively changing the subject. Later in the episode, she forces Lionel to admit that he killed his parents, but Lionel then convinces her that this would be the last chance she would ever have of learning the truth about Clark Kent, so he sends her to ask the Kents where Clark came from - another indication that Lionel thinks Clark may be an alien. The formula, however, was quite toxic, and she passesout before she gets there - Clark saves her by administering an antidote via a large syringe stabbed into her heart.

Chloe's characterization was - a bit all over the place this season, but by the end of the season, she was pretty much back to the way she was portrayed in the first season - nice to her firends, inquisitive, loyal, etc. She is starting to learn to let certain leads alone when it comes to her close friends.

*****

Pete Ross - The actor has left the show, and I can't blame him. Pete's character was badly abused this season. Sometimes he was just completely absent, sometimes used exclusively for product placement, sometimes as a sounding board for Clark. Then came an episode called "Velocity" in which we learn that Pete is one of the most popular kids in school, with hot girls hanging on him and everything. "ROSS IS BOSS!" was the chant, I believe. He has become such a stud by illegally racing cars, powered by Kryptonite gasoline, out on remote roads, almost killing Martha Kent once in the process. Huh? Anyway, the ring leader was a murderous criminal high school dropout, who told Pete he'd have him killed if Pete didn't throw a race. Pete didn't, and the guy was going to kill him outright, until Clark stole Lex's Porsche and offered it up as the prize in one final drag race between the two. Huh? Anyway, there was a bomb in Pete's car, which Clark saved him from, but the murderous guy crashed and died. Clark blamed Pete for getting him involved in illegal activities, and the two didn't speak for a couple episodes.

Later in the season, Pete, after telling Chloe he loved her, explained to Clark that he never told her or him how he felt because he always felt like he was living in Clark's shadow - that he could never compete with Clark for a girl, or in anything else for that matter.

Finally, Pete's parents announce a divorce out of nowhere. Some crooked FBI agents beat him up at Lionel's instigation, trying to get him to reveal information about Clark. His last important act in the series is to convinve Clark not to tell Lana his secret(he was planning to), because of the difficulty and danger Pete has experience trying to keep it. He has moved to Wichita with is mom, a newly appointed federal judge.

 

[WayneLigon]

Thank you very much for posting all this; I lost out on most of this season and it helps a great deal

 

[Pielorinho]

Yes, Maerdwyn, thanks! This is exactly what I was hoping someone would do; it's a wonderful summary. I caught a few bits of this throughout the season--the drag-racing Pete, Adam with a shotgun, etc.--but not much of it made sense without the larger story-arc context.

Two quick questions:
1) You mention Lex's wedding. Was this to the pheremone-chick with pink breath, or was she just another random evil fiancee?
2) Do we know who (seemed to) blow up Chloe?

Thanks again!
Daniel

 

[Maerdwyn]

Yes, Maerdwyn, thanks! This is exactly what I was hoping someone would do; it's a wonderful summary. I caught a few bits of this throughout the season--the drag-racing Pete, Adam with a shotgun, etc.--but not much of it made sense without the larger story-arc context.

Two quick questions:
1) You mention Lex's wedding. Was this to the pheremone-chick with pink breath, or was she just another random evil fiancee?
2) Do we know who (seemed to) blow up Chloe?

Thanks again!
Daniel

NP, guys.

1) Helen Bryce was actually a pretty cool character - she was doctor in town, who Lex met in an anger management class after he went ballistic on a meter maid for writing him up.(Great scene ). They don't hit it off, and she's pretty antagonistic towards him. He pursues.

Martha had, at that time, the key to Clark's spaceship (the octagonal metal thing which seems to cause so much trouble, and is currently in the possession of Dr. Swann. She goes down into the cellar and buries it, hoping no one (not even Clark) will find it. The ship bathes her in brilliant white light, and she passes out. At the hospital, Helen Bryce examines her, and says that she's not sure what she infected with, but also that Martha is pregnant (this was supposedly impossible, which is why they never had kids before Clark). Disease control comes and searches the farm for the source of the infection, and in moving the ship, Clark gets sick, too. Mainly, his super abilities are drained. While weakened, Dr. Bryce draws his blood (which leads to all sorts of plot twists in the third season, as mentioned above). She regognizes it as non-human, and the Kents confirm that theirs is a special case. She agrees to keep their confidence, but wants to study the blood, so that she can maybe help Clark if any symptoms persist/return.

Everyone recovers, and Martha carries the pregancy until the end of second season, when Clark tries to destroy the ship (This is only way he can think of to get Jor-El, who want Clark to fulfill his destiny, off his back). The resulting explosion injures both his parents slightly, but terminates the pregnancy.

In the intervening episodes, Lex tries repeatedly to get Martha's medical file from Dr. Bryce, but she refuses, and she seems very ethical. Lex is impressed by her, and continues to pursue. He wins her over, and they date. He eventually proposes (as a cover of "Don't Fear the Reaper" plays in the background). As they approach the wedding, he admits to her that he stole the blood from her lab, but he gives it back to her, and the wedding goes on, with Helen still keeping the Kent's confidentiality. Season finale of season 2 has the plane taking them to the honeymoon location crashing, with no real hints that Helen was behind it, or that she has delivered the blood to Lionel.


2) We don't know - two main theories are that Lionel blew her up in revenge for providing the evidence to have him put away, or the Lex has faked Chloe's and her Dad's deaths to protect them from Lionel. I subscribe to the latter.

 

[rangerjohn]

Once again, thanks for the summary.

 

[Pielorinho]

Yes, thanks--you rock!

Daniel

 

[Maerdwyn]

Clark Kent

Clark reaches a low point at the end of Season 2. He had been called by Jor El to fulfill his destiny, which, according to Clark's interpretation, is to conquer the world. I forget the exact wording but it was something like "Rule them well, my son." He starts questioning his entire reason for being, and the way his father looks at him after learning this definitely changes. Each episode following this contains at elast one instance of Clark questioning himself. He rejects Jor-El, but when he does so, weird stuff happens. For example, you may have seen the scar on his chest in shape of the Superman symbol, but with a figure 8 ("8" being the Kryptonian symbol of the El family) - that was bruned onto Clark's chest by Jor El after Clark rejected the call to come back to him. Jor El speaks to Clark in his mind, as well. Clark ultimately decides he needs to destroy the ship, because he thinks that's the only way Jor El is communicating with him. The resulting explosion makes a massive crater where the Kent storm cellar used to be (and it's actually noticed by the local media, and commented on by Lex later on - yay continuity ) Worst for the Kents, however, Ma Kent loses the baby. Both Jonathan and Clark blame Clark for this.

Now, Clark had already been feeling like he, through the meteor shower, had been the cause of everything bad in Smallville. So he decided to leave. Not only did he decide to leave, but he put on a Smallville High Class ring, knowing that these beauties had a gemstone made of red kryptonite set in them. He rode a motorcycle to Metropolis, and became "Kal." He worked as a bouncer, smashed ATMs to get money, and eventually came into the employ of Morgan Edge, the same crime boss who Lionel Luthor had hired way back when to murder his parents. Lana comes and finds him, but, under the influence of red kryptonite, he treats her atrociously and meanly. She's hurt, but still goes back and tells the Kents where he is.

Jonathan knows he can't stop Clark or bring him back against his will, so he goes down to the Kiwatchi caves and makes a deal with Jor-El. In return, Jonathan gets powers equivilent to Clarks. Big fight between Father and son, which ginds to an impasse until Jonathan shatters the red kryptonite ring, and Clark comes out of it. Clark spends the next few episodes mending fences. Jonathan starts exhibiting signs of heart trouble, likely as a result of the deal he made with Jor-El, and Clark blames himself for this as well.

After that feeling abates (and his criminal behavior over the summer is utterly forgotten - Boo! Lack of continuity! ), there are several freak of the week episodes that don't advance the main story arc or develop the main characters much.

Then he meets Perry White (played by Michael McKeon, Annette O'Toole's husband - and quite well, at that), a once great reporter, now reduced to chasing down paranormal stories for an Enquirer-like rag because he once crossed Lionel Luthor. Clark saves Perry while the reporter is drunk, but he remembers quite a bit of it and doggedly investigates the lead for the rest of the episode. He even jumps off a bridge, convinced that Clark will be able to save him, but Clark can't because he was under the effects of Kryptonite at the time - luckily, Perry hada secret bungie cord. As he leaves town, with a new sense of purpose, Perry offers Clark a job if he ever wants to get into journalism.

The next big bit of the story occurs when Clark finds a Kryptonian amulet that lets him see into the past, at elast where it's connected to Jor El. This is told in flashback - Jor El was apparently in Smallville in 1961. He had apparently been sent there by his father as some kind of punishment or to lear a lesson about humility. Close to the time he was to return to Krypton, he met and fell in love with Lana's great aunt, who was unfortunately married at the time. The present day mayor (the then sheriff) was the girl's husband's best friend, but was also in love with her. The sheriff kills the girl's husband, and the girl, and blames it on Jor-El. Jor-El flees, and Jonathan's father, Hiram Kent, gives him sanctuary. Jor-El thanks him, and Hiram says he can always tell and honest man, and offers him help if there's ever anything he can do for him in the future. Clark realizes that the Kents probably didn't find him by chance. The thing he doesn't seem to process is that throughout this whole episode, Jor El behaves honorably, doesn't kill anybody, even when the guy threatened him and killed his love.

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