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.
I think my tolerance for Lionel being a total bastard to Lex is much higher than yours, but I too wanted to punch him in the face, here. Or stick him back in Lana's bear trap, or something. And like you, I also cheered when Lex brought up Lionel's treatment of Lillian, because YES. At least Lex only caused his ex to go crazy enough to fake her own death, not to kill her own son. (Not that I'm giving Lillian a moral pass on that, but I'm sure Lionel made her feel so trapped she didn't see other options).
Though I'm thinking the appropriate way for Lex to murder Lionel is suffocation (symbolic of their whole relationship AND a callback to Julian's death) rather than throat-slitting.
Having Lionel be the one to lecture Lex on his moral failings pretty much ensures that he won't listen, of course, which may be the writer's point, but it's still infuriating to listen to.
I did like the way Lex called Lionel on his attempt to replace Lex with Clark. Maybe that's the real parallel of the Zor-El/Lara thing? That Clark has all these psychos competing to be his dad? And for some reason that Lionel-Lex scene is making me think of Cain and Abel, but in this case Cain, with his insufficient offering, isn't going to kill Abel, he's actually going to kill God. (Which certainly fits Lionel's hubris, setting himself up as the creator and divine judge of Lex, and also possibly Lex's hubris as being the one to destroy the false God. Which only anticipates his lifelong quest to destroy that other false God, Kal-El, whose Hebrew name as you pointed out above suggests an emanation of God, and whose lifestory in the comics and SV has both Moses and Christ parallels).
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I think my tolerance for Lionel being a total bastard to Lex is much higher than yours, but I too wanted to punch him in the face, here. Or stick him back in Lana's bear trap, or something. And like you, I also cheered when Lex brought up Lionel's treatment of Lillian, because YES. At least Lex only caused his ex to go crazy enough to fake her own death, not to kill her own son. (Not that I'm giving Lillian a moral pass on that, but I'm sure Lionel made her feel so trapped she didn't see other options).
Though I'm thinking the appropriate way for Lex to murder Lionel is suffocation (symbolic of their whole relationship AND a callback to Julian's death) rather than throat-slitting.
Having Lionel be the one to lecture Lex on his moral failings pretty much ensures that he won't listen, of course, which may be the writer's point, but it's still infuriating to listen to.
I did like the way Lex called Lionel on his attempt to replace Lex with Clark. Maybe that's the real parallel of the Zor-El/Lara thing? That Clark has all these psychos competing to be his dad? And for some reason that Lionel-Lex scene is making me think of Cain and Abel, but in this case Cain, with his insufficient offering, isn't going to kill Abel, he's actually going to kill God. (Which certainly fits Lionel's hubris, setting himself up as the creator and divine judge of Lex, and also possibly Lex's hubris as being the one to destroy the false God. Which only anticipates his lifelong quest to destroy that other false God, Kal-El, whose Hebrew name as you pointed out above suggests an emanation of God, and whose lifestory in the comics and SV has both Moses and Christ parallels).