norwich36 | Smallville: Descent

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Smallville: Descent

Before I get to the review, I have to say: WOW! Indiana Jones movie preview! *Bounces with anticipation*

Lionel
I realize that I spent a good part of my last couple reviews talking about how satisfying Lionel's death was going to be and how imminent I thought it was--in fact, in the opening scene I was actually talking to the TV: "Goodbye, you magnificent bastard, I bet tonight is your last on this show"--and yet it turns out I was actually a little bit sad when he died. (Plus, I couldn't believe the CW promo department actually gave that away so I was expecting some sort of misdirection). Oh, Lionel. I'll miss your incoherent characterization and your scenery chewing. And I was hoping your actual death would have been a little more dramatic. Still, I have to confess I felt a little uncomfortable at Clark's...grief? Guilt? However one would characterize his feelings at the end. I mean, I suppose in a way Lionel did die for Clark, but it was so far from what I consider a real sacrifice that I was cringing a little at the deliberate parallelism drawn between Jonathan's funeral and Lionel's non-funeral.

Lex
The Lex parts of this episode--DAMN. They were completely made of awesome. Every single one of his confrontations, starting with his initial one with Lionel, and ending with the wordless, chilling stare he gave Clark across the gravesite, were amazing. I was especially pleased at how well MR showed the progression from someone who, while willing to commit patricide, still had realistic human emotional responses to the immensity of that act, to his complete coldness at the end of the episode. I *loved* that killing his dad produced that sort of mental break bringing Alexander into the picture--and that he temporarily allowed himself to indulge those emotions (like the story he told Gina about his dad at the Air and Space Museum), even if he was just trying to cover up his role in the murder--but then he actually KILLED ALEXANDER.

DAMN.

I mean, that was even worse, I think, than actually killing his dad. (And is Alexander really really dead? Can you actually kill a piece of yourself like that? I'm voting no, not permanently, but that may just be the last vestige of my Lex denialista speaking).

Plus, am I the only one thinking he had Gina the faithful minion killed? I mean, I thought she was marked for death the moment she figured out he killed his dad (or put her hand on his arm--I couldn't actually decide, but he looked really less than pleased every time she touched him, perhaps fearing she was going to become another fanatical Lexfan), and I can't think of anyone else who would want to have her killed, so my vote is that Lex had it arranged. And I'm finding it appropriately ironic that if he had just waited a bit longer she would have told him Clark's secret.

Clark and Chloe

Ok, those two were alternatingly frustrating me (um, Chloe, Lionel wants to give Clark a locket right before his mysterious death, and you don't think it's important? Also, way to hide that key convincingly in your desk drawer--couldn't you at least have stuck it in your bra, or something? And also, Clark, you can use your superhearing in the Daily Planet but can't hear Gina breathing slealthily in the Isis foundation?) and impressing me (I really loved Chloe's speech to Clark about how his three father-figures didn't just die for him, they died for all of humanity, because YES. Stop making it all about your guilt, Clark, really! Also, all of Clark's confrontations with Lex were terrific. Especially the very last one.)

Lois and Jimmy

I love the banter and I love the investigative duo, especially when Jimmy gets to be the one finding the significant clue. I was a little disappointed that Lois didn't get to take Gina down, though. And wouldn't you have already died of hypothermia before you started getting ice crystals all over your skin?

There's probably a lot more to analyze in this episode, when I get a chance to rewatch, but for now I want to read other people's reviews, so I will stop here.

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couldn't you at least have stuck it in your bra, or something?
That is exactly what I was thinking! Stick that thing down your shirt girl! Give the Chloevage a purpose!

Seriously! (And I don't, alas, have a Chloevage icon, so a boob icon instead.

Oh! And I'm with you on Lex having Gina killed. As soon as she said that bit about nobody ever knowing about Lionel I knew she was done for. And when she was wall "we did it" she made it even worse. Lex isn't about to share his awesome, alien controlling power with anybody.

Yeah, you would have thought she would know better than to let Lex know she figured it out. Though honestly I suspected she was toast from the moment they actually gave her a name!

Though logistically, it's too bad they didn't keep her around, since MR is probably only going to be in a limited number of eps next season--they need an evil minion to represent him!

Seriously! (And I don't, alas, have a Chloevage icon, so a boob icon instead

Here you go. D-Cups of Heresy, indeed.

Thanks!

It was kind of Clark to warm Lois and Jimmy up but um..isn't Lois still bleeding quite profusely from a bullet wound?

Good point! And also, don't they have to warm hypothermia victims very slowly so they don't go into shock, or something?

[OTOH, WHY would I try to apply earth logic to injuries on Smallville? They certainly rarely do]

The episode was so fantabulous that I could only find one thing to criticise. Putting Clark in a suit is just eveil unless they plan to repeat it. A lot.

Oh, I definitely agree they should put Clark in a suit as much as humanly possible.

Still, I have to confess I felt a little uncomfortable at Clark's...grief? Guilt? However one would characterize his feelings at the end.

I had a couple of issues with it. Primarily, I'm not crazy about the idea that Clark apparently just forgot that about three seconds before he found out Lionel was dead, he still thought Lionel murdered Ollie's parents. And Virgil Swann. And he knows Lionel killed his own parents and he knows Lionel had him kidnapped and held in a kryptonite cage. And that's just the stuff off the top of my head.

Like, I am fine with Clark being horrified that Lex committed patricide. And I'm fine with Clark feeling a semblance of debt to Lionel because from his POV, at least, Lionel's 'sacrifice' was willing. But Clark can acknowledge that Lionel protected him without having to think the mere fact of Lionel's protection of him makes Lionel a good person instead of a shady mofo. It doesn't. It makes Lionel a shady mofo who occasionally protected Clark. The other big problem I have with it is related to this:

I mean, I suppose in a way Lionel did die for Clark, but it was so far from what I consider a real sacrifice that I was cringing a little at the deliberate parallelism drawn between Jonathan's funeral and Lionel's non-funeral.

The parallelism was off-putting to me because it felt like the creative team was conflating Lionel and Jonathan in Clark's mind and that's wrong on more levels than I can count. Jonathan Kent was deeply flawed, yes, but at the end of the day, IMO, he was both a good man and a good father. Lionel was neither, yet there the show is, suggesting that Clark's somehow come to regard him in a manner equivalent to his regard for Jonathan. That's completely absurd to me. Especially given all the crap that Clark knows Lionel's done (and it becomes even more absurd when one factors in the things Clark's pretty sure Lionel's done -- like killing one of his good friend's parents).

Plus, am I the only one thinking he had Gina the faithful minion killed? I mean, I thought she was marked for death the moment she figured out he killed his dad (or put her hand on his arm--I couldn't actually decide, but he looked really less than pleased every time she touched him, perhaps fearing she was going to become another fanatical Lexfan), and I can't think of anyone else who would want to have her killed, so my vote is that Lex had it arranged.

I think he did, too. Gina became a liability the minute she revealed that she knew/believed he'd killed Lionel and I think she sealed her fate when she became proprietary about what transpired ("We did it, Lex.") Not only is Lex not interested in sharing the potential power of whatever he finds in Zurich, but I don't think he's got the emotional patience right now to finesse her obvious-yet-unrequited-erotic interest in him in a way that keeps her from going all bitter, vengeful not-really-ex. Gina was besotted with him and she knew too much; she had to go.

um, Chloe, Lionel wants to give Clark a locket right before his mysterious death, and you don't think it's important? Also, way to hide that key convincingly in your desk drawer--couldn't you at least have stuck it in your bra, or something?

I KNOW, RIGHT? Also, how did Clark know Lionel wanted to give him a locket? I've not watched Veritas again since the night it aired, but did Lionel actually try to hand it to Clark during their Isis scene? Because if he didn't, then I don't know how Clark knew that's what Lionel wanted to give him.

Edited 2008-04-18 22:15 (UTC)

Like, I am fine with Clark being horrified that Lex committed patricide. And I'm fine with Clark feeling a semblance of debt to Lionel because from his POV, at least, Lionel's 'sacrifice' was willing. But Clark can acknowledge that Lionel protected him without having to think the mere fact of Lionel's protection of him makes Lionel a good person instead of a shady mofo. It doesn't. It makes Lionel a shady mofo who occasionally protected Clark.

In general, I agree with your reading of this, but I think I have read one too many OTT critiques of Clark's behavior in this episode, so my kneejerk reaction is to defend him here. I want to rewatch the scene again before I do it, though. Based solely on memory, while I agree with you that Clark is overlooking Lionel's many, many crimes in that scene--and I am pretty disturbed at the conflation of Lionel and Jonathan in the loft scene and the graveyard scene, and I say that as someone who never had much love for Jonathan--I still actually saw where Clark was coming from, here.

mahaliem had a great line in her review about death closing off the option of someone ever changing again, and that is certainly something that could be legitimately mourned--that Lionel will never actually get to atone for his behavior.

Also, it does seem quite in character for Clark to feel guilt precisely because he believes that Lionel died for him, and coupled with that accusation Lex made about Jonathan's death (that clearly hit home for him), I can see his conversation with Chloe in the loft as reflecting not a permanent change in attitude about Lionel but just the combination of guilt and distress he was feeling in that particular moment that yet another person had died keeping his secret.

I just...I don't know. I didn't particularly love it, but I actually don't see this as (a) a massive retcon or (b) the canonization of Lionel or all the other things people are frothing at the mouth about. And sorry, I probably shouldn't be directing this at you, because your criticisms are eminently rational, it's just that I made the mistake of reading some reviews I should know better than to review.

Gina became a liability the minute she revealed that she knew/believed he'd killed Lionel and I think she sealed her fate when she became proprietary about what transpired ("We did it, Lex.") Not only is Lex not interested in sharing the potential power of whatever he finds in Zurich, but I don't think he's got the emotional patience right now to finesse her obvious-yet-unrequited-erotic interest in him in a way that keeps her from going all bitter, vengeful not-really-ex. Gina was besotted with him and she knew too much; she had to go.

Yeah, I pretty much totally agree. Especially his impatience to deal with her interest in him; they really drew a lot of attention to how much she was touching him in this episode.

I KNOW, RIGHT? Also, how did Clark know Lionel wanted to give him a locket? I've not watched Veritas again since the night it aired, but did Lionel actually try to hand it to Clark during their Isis scene? Because if he didn't, then I don't know how Clark knew that's what Lionel wanted to give him.

I wondered about the locket thing myself. I thought he was trying to give Clark a letter, not a locket. (Maybe I'll rewatch that scene when I rewatch Descent tonight). And how the hell could it be that Chloe did not open her desk drawer at all before Lex sauntered in? (Oh, I guess all this action is supposed to have taken place on the same day?)

I still actually saw where Clark was coming from, here. mahaliem had a great line in her review about death closing off the option of someone ever changing again, and that is certainly something that could be legitimately mourned--that Lionel will never actually get to atone for his behavior.

See, I actually get this and agree with it, and if that's how the show had actually framed Clark's reaction -- if Clark said something along the lines of "You know, I told him he hadn't changed, but what if he was trying to, Chloe? Now, he'll never get that chance," I would have, I think, really liked it. But the conflation with Jonathan, and Clark saying Lionel deserved better, and the general lack of any acknowledgment that Lionel protecting Clark and Lionel actually being a good person are separate and not synonymous ... it was just a little too much for me. Because while I think Clark feeling guilt over it is in character for him, I feel like the screenwriters could have taken a little more care to ensure it didn't come off like Clark was giving him a pass for being a horrible person just because he died protecting Clark.

I wondered about the locket thing myself. I thought he was trying to give Clark a letter, not a locket.

I think he just tried to talk to Clark. He left a letter for Lana (which Lois and Jimmy took) and we now know in retrospect what he left for Chloe when he came to see her at the DP. I don't think he tried to hand Clark anything when they were at Isis, though, which is why it was jarring that Clark suddenly knew Lionel was specifically trying to give him a locket.

Edited 2008-04-19 00:57 (UTC)

I just rewatched, and I actually think there is a pretty logical progression in the episode, from Chloe's first comment (I hate to speak ill of the dead, but Lionel left a lot of damage in his wake) to Clark finding out that Lionel died protecting him (which, frankly, is true--regardless of the other motives Lex had for killing Lionel, which were of course legion, the proximate cause of the murder was to get the key) to Lex himself getting Clark to make the connection between Lionel and Jonathan's death, in way he might not have done so on his own, to Clark and Chloe's final conversation in the loft.

I do think, from an external POV, the conflation of Lionel and Jonathan is just wrong--but I also can see how Clark, feeling renewed guilt over Jonathan's death after that argument with Lex, could transfer some of that over to Lionel's more recent death. I still agree with you that the writers might have done more to acknowledge Lionel's many crimes, but I see their internal logic a little more after having, um, compulsively taken notes on every single line anyone said about Lionel in the episode. Which may become an esaay in itself.

Hi! *waves* I hope you don't mind me crashing your journal!

I've watched the episode several times, and I don't think Clark was putting Lionel on the same level with Jonathan, even though the funeral scene was quite evocative of Clark at Jonathan's graveside. I think his feelings for Lionel, and his feelings for Lex, and his horror at what Lex has done, are all jumbled together. I think he wants to honor the man Lionel was trying (unsuccessfully, IMO) to be at the time he died, and he feels that someone needs to step in and do what Lex won't to put his father to rest (stand up for him at the cemetery, symbolically bury him by scattering the handful of soil). He's remembering Lionel as a human life taken in violence, which he still sees as wrong, in spite of all the evil Lionel perpetrated during his life. That is consistent with Superman's moral code, I think, but it doesn't mean he's giving Lionel a pass.

I also think he went to Lionel's funeral specifically to send a message to Lex that he would oppose his evil machinations at every turn, that they are now enemies, and that Lex will NOT be controlling him, whatever keys he has. Because I also believe that Lex knows full well that Clark is the Traveler, and that Clark knows he knows.

Word to everything you say about MR. What an amazing actor he is! I think he should be able to double his negotiated contract price based on this performance alone! I couldn't be more impressed. And I especially loved his scenes with Clark.

I'm choosing to believe that when he thrust Alexander into the fire, he was not killing him, but just banishing him back to the recesses of his subconscious. I'm clinging to the theory that white suit Lex would have to kill him inside Lex's mind, as he tried to do in Fracture, to destroy him permanently.

I don't want to believe that Lex had Gina killed. In spite of her tendency to be inappropriately touchy feely with him, I think she truly loved him. Would he willingly destroy that? But if he did, before she could tell him what she witnessed at Isis, it calls back to when Lionel fried Lex's brain, and then realized he had erased Lex's knowledge of Clark's secret in the process. Wait, but now Lionel has known Clark's secret since the beginning, so why did that make him mad? Although by the same token, I believe Lex already knows who the Traveler is, so it's exactly the same!! That sound? Is my head exploding. LOL!

Let me stop here, and just say that I loved the episode, mostly because of MR, and I'm excited to see more of Clark and Lex as full-blown adversaries. I'm looking forward to the remaining episodes.

Sorry for the late reply--I actually wanted to rewatch the ep before I talked about it any more, and this weekend has been kind of crazy.
I think, having just rewatched it, that this is a brilliant reading of what's going on in the episode: I think he wants to honor the man Lionel was trying (unsuccessfully, IMO) to be at the time he died, and he feels that someone needs to step in and do what Lex won't to put his father to rest (stand up for him at the cemetery, symbolically bury him by scattering the handful of soil). He's remembering Lionel as a human life taken in violence, which he still sees as wrong, in spite of all the evil Lionel perpetrated during his life. That is consistent with Superman's moral code, I think, but it doesn't mean he's giving Lionel a pass.

I completely agree. I don't think he's excusing Lionel's deeds or overlooking them; he's actually simply opposing Lex's goal of completely erasing any of the good his father has done in his life ("No one will remember your name.")

Unfortunately, though, rewatching the episode has convinced me that it was Lex that had Gina killed, perhaps precisely because of her faithfulness. I noticed this time through that the point at which he kills Alexander is directly after Alexander has promised never to leave him. It's as if he's decided that any human connection whatsoever made him weak--which makes me think that Gina's obvious loyalty and affection were what marked her for death.

I rewatched the episode, too, and I think you're right about Lex having Gina killed. The moment that convinced me was the look he gave her in the DP right after he fired Chloe, when she not only had the effrontery to touch him (again), but then goes on to remind him that she knows entirely too much. Oh, honey, you just signed your own death warrant.

Good call on the parallels between Alexander and Gina, that makes perfect sense. He couldn't allow himself to feel the tenderness her devotion might inspire in him, just as he couldn't afford to have Alexander constantly imploring him to take the moral path. Poor Lex, he's so tragic.

And I was hoping your actual death would have been a little more dramatic.
Oh, wow, it was so much better than I expected it to be! But maybe that's the vidder in me...

uncomfortable at Clark's...grief? Guilt? However one would characterize his feelings at the end.
I think it wasn't quite either. But there was a flicker of both. I found that much appropriate. Don't get me wrong--I hate Lionel and I don't see his death as a sacrifice in any way. But I think his death made Clark confront his culpability about Jonathan's death and I think that's something I've always wanted him to do. I also think he thought about Jor-El (or maybe that's just wishful projection on my part). So it worked for me that Lionel's death was a Very Big Deal to Clark. And I am completely in love with the fact that he went to say something and then nothing came out. That sums it all to me.

still had realistic human emotional responses to the immensity of that act, to his complete coldness at the end of the episode. I *loved* that killing his dad produced that sort of mental break bringing Alexander into the picture--and that he temporarily allowed himself to indulge those emotions (like the story he told Gina about his dad at the Air and Space Museum)
*nods*

And is Alexander really really dead? Can you actually kill a piece of yourself like that? I'm voting no, not permanently, but that may just be the last vestige of my Lex denialista speaking-couldn't you at least have stuck it in your bra, or something?
Srsly.

See, what I was expecting from Lex killing Lionel involved something a lot more protracted and involving torture--so the fact that it happened so quickly was somewhat of a letdown. Though I agree with you that the shot of Lionel falling, and the reflection in Lex's eyes, was gorgeously done.

I have some more thoughts about Clark's culpability, but I think I will answer them at your journal, since I've been meaning to reply to your reply.

Yeah, the Lionel patricide has been built up for so long, I can imagine if you had certain expectations it would be a letdown. I think I'd thought it would be at a cold, calculated distance, or would be a frenzy of rage. So I was pleasantly surprised.

And I'm finding it appropriately ironic that if he had just waited a bit longer she would have told him Clark's secret.

I don't immediately want to believe Lex had her killed for that thing alone. She was leaving him a message saying she knew what he needed to know, and BAM. DEATH. But yeah, who else would have wanted her dead?

I suppose it could have been Edward Teague--I've seen some speculation that he might still be alive--but otherwise it's hard to imagine who would have wanted her dead.

Awesome icon, btw.

I realize that I spent a good part of my last couple reviews talking about how satisfying Lionel's death was going to be and how imminent I thought it was--in fact, in the opening scene I was actually talking to the TV: "Goodbye, you magnificent bastard, I bet tonight is your last on this show"--and yet it turns out I was actually a little bit sad when he died.

I'm still wondering what he was going to do at Luthorcorp, was he just going to brood the night away?

I was especially pleased at how well MR showed the progression from someone who, while willing to commit patricide, still had realistic human emotional responses to the immensity of that act, to his complete coldness at the end of the episode. I *loved* that killing his dad produced that sort of mental break bringing Alexander into the picture--and that he temporarily allowed himself to indulge those emotions (like the story he told Gina about his dad at the Air and Space Museum), even if he was just trying to cover up his role in the murder

That was definitely a very satisfying portrayal. It IS his father, after all. Although, I think the whole trip down memory lane was triggered by the quiet shock that there was actually no key in that necklace. The murder had been in vain. Although of course, he managed to get his hands on it anyway but that's beside the point.

And I'm finding it appropriately ironic that if he had just waited a bit longer she would have told him Clark's secret.

I'd love to see Lex's reaction when he played that message. He'd be so utterly furious, lol.

I'm still wondering what he was going to do at Luthorcorp, was he just going to brood the night away?

LOL! That's a very good question. Though we never have actually seen where Lionel lives--maybe he has a penthouse above his office? Or had, I should say?

That was definitely a very satisfying portrayal. It IS his father, after all. Although, I think the whole trip down memory lane was triggered by the quiet shock that there was actually no key in that necklace.

I know. Just a little bit of karma there, just like having Gina killed. Poorly played, Lex. Get the mcguffin first THEN commit the murder.

Hi I've been your reviews for a while now, and never commented, but I just had to because of this(um, Chloe, Lionel wants to give Clark a locket right before his mysterious death, and you don't think it's important? Also, way to hide that key convincingly in your desk drawer--couldn't you at least have stuck it in your bra, or something? Because that's EXACTLY what I was thinking.

Hi! Nice to meet you!

I guess, to be fair, Chloe didn't know for sure that's what Lex was coming for; he could have had another reason. But I wish she had thought faster, nevertheless!

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