"More duplicitous than Lex ever was"--that's what Oliver said about Tess. And she's taken over the physical space and the exact role that Lex filled. Yes, someone would have taken over Luthorcorp in Lex's absence, and they would have searched for him. But they need not have focussed on that in the Smallville plot--they could have just made passing mention of it. Likewise, they didn't need to set up Tess as Clark's next enemy immediately. They could have at least put that one on the slow boil for a while... she felt completely forced down our throats in this episode. I think someone else said 'too much, too soon' and I'd have to agree with that. The combined effect read to me as if the writing team's anxieties were writ large: OMG, no Lex! *panic* What if we get a new CEO of Luthorcorp and just say they are as evil as Lex?! Immediately!

There are a lot of ways this plot could have worked better for me--for instance, if they'd cast an older woman, or one that was not obviously Lex's 'type'. I find it hard to buy that one of his army of brunette minions, one we've never seen before, has risen from the ranks this way. We've seen them rise and fall before! To do so, she would have to be truly ruthless and self-interested and she's not shown either capacity yet. I suppose she got rid of male!minion but compared to Lex she still seems like small fry.

And, I'm sorry, the writing team invited that direct comparison when they had her fill his shoes and then told us she was worse than him.

Gah. /rant