I get the sense that now that he's moved firmly into the "villain" camp, they feel like it might make him too sympathetic if he ever got to explain himself.
Yes and no. I mean, he has explained his reasoning to Lana a couple times this season (in Fallout, for example, though she wasn't very receptive there to his "protecting humanity from the aliens") argument, and I almost felt Lana was speaking for Lex in Static when she said the meteor mutants were dangerous and she'd understand if he was studying them. So at least they're giving him some justification.
But I agree that they seem to be worried about making him too sympathetic, so when he's not mooning over/manipulating Lana, he's been extremely closed off this season. I had a conversation in the comments of somebody's episode review--unfortunately I can't remember whose--talking about how worried we were that when the Lexana comes to an end, we're not going to see an interiority to Lex anymore at all, just the cold opaque surface. And that worries me. I don't mind villainous Lex, but I want to be able to see his motives--otherwise he just becomes a cardboard villain, and that's no fun.
Giving him Hope or Mercy would definitely be a step in the right direction, though.
As for Lana--you're probably right that the writers are ultimately going to cheat chicken out not really allow Lana to suffer the consequences of the decisions she makes with Lex. It's too bad, because they managed to keep Lillian marginally sympathetic even though Lionel drove her crazy enough to murder her own child; it would be interesting if they went that far with the Lana parallel. But they probably won't.
Re: Reposting with correct icon!
Yes and no. I mean, he has explained his reasoning to Lana a couple times this season (in Fallout, for example, though she wasn't very receptive there to his "protecting humanity from the aliens") argument, and I almost felt Lana was speaking for Lex in Static when she said the meteor mutants were dangerous and she'd understand if he was studying them. So at least they're giving him some justification.
But I agree that they seem to be worried about making him too sympathetic, so when he's not mooning over/manipulating Lana, he's been extremely closed off this season. I had a conversation in the comments of somebody's episode review--unfortunately I can't remember whose--talking about how worried we were that when the Lexana comes to an end, we're not going to see an interiority to Lex anymore at all, just the cold opaque surface. And that worries me. I don't mind villainous Lex, but I want to be able to see his motives--otherwise he just becomes a cardboard villain, and that's no fun.
Giving him Hope or Mercy would definitely be a step in the right direction, though.
As for Lana--you're probably right that the writers are ultimately going to
cheat chicken outnot really allow Lana to suffer the consequences of the decisions she makes with Lex. It's too bad, because they managed to keep Lillian marginally sympathetic even though Lionel drove her crazy enough to murder her own child; it would be interesting if they went that far with the Lana parallel. But they probably won't.