Clark's reaction to the drug might not have been exactly like Lex's or Lana's. I hadn't thought of that, but you are of course right. I always found it particularly fascinating that only Clark could see Cassandra's visions.
it's also information he himself must have suspected since Hidden. After all, Jor-El used Lionel as an avatar. Some part of Clark may have been worried all along that without meaning to do so, Jor-El might have exposed Lionel to the truth. So it's possible that Clark's vision tonight was telling him something he already knew/believed deep down Yes, I also feel that it could be read as Clark's fears coming 'into the light' (rather literally, since they're voiced by light-drenched Jonathan). When you really sit back and think about it, it's almost absurd that Clark has not articulated more about the collective knowledge that Lionel has built up over the years. And Jor-El using him would have compounded so many of those fears. While there was that brilliant scene in Vengeance where Clark was so oblivious to Lionel, it's actually hard to believe that he wouldn't be fretting at least unconsciously about it. And the fact that Lionel was sneaking around subversively during the senatorial campaign makes it not that much of a stretch that Clark could imagine Jonathan 'dying defending his son'. While the priveleged audience reads that as Jonathan's reference to his confrontation with Lionel before his death, this isn't actually spoken aloud. I think Clark does remember his father as someone that protected and defended him to the end--so there's still some ambiguity there.
I do think though that these visions are open to interpretation still, and I'm ok with a blend of reality and unreality to them. In a show that is obsessed with the idea of surface image versus deeper truth, it seems appropriate that these visions can be read at different levels.
Re: part II
I hadn't thought of that, but you are of course right. I always found it particularly fascinating that only Clark could see Cassandra's visions.
it's also information he himself must have suspected since Hidden. After all, Jor-El used Lionel as an avatar. Some part of Clark may have been worried all along that without meaning to do so, Jor-El might have exposed Lionel to the truth. So it's possible that Clark's vision tonight was telling him something he already knew/believed deep down
Yes, I also feel that it could be read as Clark's fears coming 'into the light' (rather literally, since they're voiced by light-drenched Jonathan). When you really sit back and think about it, it's almost absurd that Clark has not articulated more about the collective knowledge that Lionel has built up over the years. And Jor-El using him would have compounded so many of those fears. While there was that brilliant scene in Vengeance where Clark was so oblivious to Lionel, it's actually hard to believe that he wouldn't be fretting at least unconsciously about it. And the fact that Lionel was sneaking around subversively during the senatorial campaign makes it not that much of a stretch that Clark could imagine Jonathan 'dying defending his son'. While the priveleged audience reads that as Jonathan's reference to his confrontation with Lionel before his death, this isn't actually spoken aloud. I think Clark does remember his father as someone that protected and defended him to the end--so there's still some ambiguity there.
I do think though that these visions are open to interpretation still, and I'm ok with a blend of reality and unreality to them. In a show that is obsessed with the idea of surface image versus deeper truth, it seems appropriate that these visions can be read at different levels.