--What's with all the weird platitudes Lionel is spouting to everyone? "In its darkest hour the soul is replenished?" Come on, Lionel, you can do better than that. And that scene with Lex again makes me wonder what the hell his true motives are. His schizophrenic attitude about Lex (cautioning him at the same time he condemns him) seems to make even less sense than normal, if his goal is to worm his way into Lex's confidences again.
That scene actually encapsulated, perfectly, why I so often want to punch Lionel in the face and why I also don't buy it that he's really one of the 'good guys' now. Unless and until he accepts his role in Lex's creation, I honestly cannot abide his carrying on about how terrible Lex has turned out; and no one who was good or striving to be would be as regularly hateful towards someone else as Lionel to Lex whenever he swoops in to tell Lex what an awful person he is. And yes, I realize that Lex is a shady mofo, but Lionel had a GIANT HONKIN' HAND in him turning out that way. So every time Lionel tries to act as though he somehow bears no culpability for Lex's moral compass (or lack of one), it makes me, well, want to punch him in the face. And I actually cheered when Lex cut Lionel off at the knees when Luthor, Sr. tried to get on his high horse about Lex's treatment of Lana by bringing up Lionel's treatment of Lillian, then rewound that part of the scene and watched it so I could cheer again. Did that shovel to the face give Lionel selective amnesia about the fact that he extorted Lana into a marriage with Lex? 'Cause I'm not seeing how forcing someone into a marriage she doesn't want ranks high up there on the morally righteous scale. Every time Lionel starts in with Lex, since about Vessel, he just makes me think, "Old man? When Lex hauls off and slits your throat where you stand, you're going to have it coming."
Whew. Sorry about the rantlet, but Lionel lecturing Lex about his moral failures just raises my hackles something fierce. And it's not even that I think Lex shouldn't be lectured about his moral failures, because I totally think he should be. I just don't think Lionel "I'm A Moral Pygmy, Ask Me How" Luthor gets to be the one who does it!!!
Anyway, my reactions to this one were largely the same as yours. I wanted to love the Lara stuff, but it fell really flat to me, emotionally. And I hate with the fire of a thousand Kryptonian suns the Jor-El/Lara/Zor-El triangle. God forbid any of the men on this show actually be in opposition to each other because of vastly differing world views. Who would have ever imagined that it would fall to Clark/Lana to illustrate how differing moral philosophies could tear a relationship apart?
Farewell, Agent Carter, we barely knew you. Although Lex having him fired Just Because was deeply awesome.
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That scene actually encapsulated, perfectly, why I so often want to punch Lionel in the face and why I also don't buy it that he's really one of the 'good guys' now. Unless and until he accepts his role in Lex's creation, I honestly cannot abide his carrying on about how terrible Lex has turned out; and no one who was good or striving to be would be as regularly hateful towards someone else as Lionel to Lex whenever he swoops in to tell Lex what an awful person he is. And yes, I realize that Lex is a shady mofo, but Lionel had a GIANT HONKIN' HAND in him turning out that way. So every time Lionel tries to act as though he somehow bears no culpability for Lex's moral compass (or lack of one), it makes me, well, want to punch him in the face. And I actually cheered when Lex cut Lionel off at the knees when Luthor, Sr. tried to get on his high horse about Lex's treatment of Lana by bringing up Lionel's treatment of Lillian, then rewound that part of the scene and watched it so I could cheer again. Did that shovel to the face give Lionel selective amnesia about the fact that he extorted Lana into a marriage with Lex? 'Cause I'm not seeing how forcing someone into a marriage she doesn't want ranks high up there on the morally righteous scale. Every time Lionel starts in with Lex, since about Vessel, he just makes me think, "Old man? When Lex hauls off and slits your throat where you stand, you're going to have it coming."
Whew. Sorry about the rantlet, but Lionel lecturing Lex about his moral failures just raises my hackles something fierce. And it's not even that I think Lex shouldn't be lectured about his moral failures, because I totally think he should be. I just don't think Lionel "I'm A Moral Pygmy, Ask Me How" Luthor gets to be the one who does it!!!
Anyway, my reactions to this one were largely the same as yours. I wanted to love the Lara stuff, but it fell really flat to me, emotionally. And I hate with the fire of a thousand Kryptonian suns the Jor-El/Lara/Zor-El triangle. God forbid any of the men on this show actually be in opposition to each other because of vastly differing world views. Who would have ever imagined that it would fall to Clark/Lana to illustrate how differing moral philosophies could tear a relationship apart?
Farewell, Agent Carter, we barely knew you. Although Lex having him fired Just Because was deeply awesome.