Well this was directly addressed when Andrea asked 'what would you do if you were face to face with your father's killer?' and I think we're seeing a Clark who is gradually moving towards being able to hold back despite his anger.
Ah, but I think it's a little different when he's talking to Andrea, because it's not his father, it's her mother--so it's still a little abstract for him. And while he did finally restrain himself from hurting Snake, it was a close thing for a while--and Snake didn't really hurt his mom that badly.
Recognising just how dangerous the secrets are has also been a matter of self-discovery. I think when Lex says 'people have killed for a lot less' he's speaking personally. I think he knows *he* would kill for the secrets under certain circumstances (arguably he already has). And not only that, but *Lana* has killed for them and though it's unspoken between them, he is protecting her from becoming a killer again as much as protecting her from killers. The desire for knowledge taints people's morality and one of the things he loves about her is her purity, so I think part of him can't bear to 'soil' her with that secret.
Do you think Lex thinks Lana is still pure, though? I get that in some ways she represents season 1 Clark to him, but on the other hand, he's the only one who knows she killed Genevieve Teague--and he's protecting her secret about that. I wonder if that's going to come back to haunt her, later?
It's a good point, though, that Lex wants to prevent Lana from needing to kill to protect secrets, since he knows what that does to you. (I'm trying to remember--has Lex killed anyone directly besides Roger Nixon? Because Lana's body count is two, right now, counting that henchman of Edge she killed at the beginning of S3.)
I can see (speculation! that thing I'm bad at!) the possibility of them using Lexana to show that Lex comes close to achieving love but this time (in contrast to Helen) he messes it up of his own accord... showing that despite his 'better' self, he's further down the path to evil coldness that he imagines.
I agree with LaT that they really need to stop simply portraying Lex as the victim of other's choices, so I would like it if that scenario you sketched happened. It would be nicely symmetrical if the thing that drives Lana *away* from Lex was seeing the consequences of Lex *uncovering* some of CLark's secrets (and maybe doing bad things with them), leading Lana to realize that some secrets really *do* need to be kept.
I don't know if they can really have Lex learn Clark's secrets, but I assume that either Dr. Fine or General Zod is going to return by the end of the season, so maybe Lex's investigations will lead him to one of the two and have devastating consequences.
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Ah, but I think it's a little different when he's talking to Andrea, because it's not his father, it's her mother--so it's still a little abstract for him. And while he did finally restrain himself from hurting Snake, it was a close thing for a while--and Snake didn't really hurt his mom that badly.
Recognising just how dangerous the secrets are has also been a matter of self-discovery. I think when Lex says 'people have killed for a lot less' he's speaking personally. I think he knows *he* would kill for the secrets under certain circumstances (arguably he already has). And not only that, but *Lana* has killed for them and though it's unspoken between them, he is protecting her from becoming a killer again as much as protecting her from killers. The desire for knowledge taints people's morality and one of the things he loves about her is her purity, so I think part of him can't bear to 'soil' her with that secret.
Do you think Lex thinks Lana is still pure, though? I get that in some ways she represents season 1 Clark to him, but on the other hand, he's the only one who knows she killed Genevieve Teague--and he's protecting her secret about that. I wonder if that's going to come back to haunt her, later?
It's a good point, though, that Lex wants to prevent Lana from needing to kill to protect secrets, since he knows what that does to you. (I'm trying to remember--has Lex killed anyone directly besides Roger Nixon? Because Lana's body count is two, right now, counting that henchman of Edge she killed at the beginning of S3.)
I can see (speculation! that thing I'm bad at!) the possibility of them using Lexana to show that Lex comes close to achieving love but this time (in contrast to Helen) he messes it up of his own accord... showing that despite his 'better' self, he's further down the path to evil coldness that he imagines.
I agree with LaT that they really need to stop simply portraying Lex as the victim of other's choices, so I would like it if that scenario you sketched happened. It would be nicely symmetrical if the thing that drives Lana *away* from Lex was seeing the consequences of Lex *uncovering* some of CLark's secrets (and maybe doing bad things with them), leading Lana to realize that some secrets really *do* need to be kept.
I don't know if they can really have Lex learn Clark's secrets, but I assume that either Dr. Fine or General Zod is going to return by the end of the season, so maybe Lex's investigations will lead him to one of the two and have devastating consequences.