I'll be a little less judgmental if Lana runs off at her wedding, though, because although I agree, it would be more mature to break it off beforehand, *I* know (even if she doesn't) that Lex has been doing something hinky with her pregnancy, so I'm less concerned about his hurt feelings.
I won't be judgmental of Lana, but I will have a problem with the creative team, because it's the Jason Problem all over again. Yes, the audience knew as of the end of Spirit that Jason Was Evil Now but Lana didn't. As far as Lana knew, they were just having problems with their relationship but she wasn't ready -- or at least hadn't articulated to anyone yet that she was ready -- to break up with him. So when she went to the prom and was all snuggled up with Clark while still technically dating another boy, it made her look bad and a lot of the fandom judged her harshly for it. And in that instance, I didn't particularly think the harsh judgment was unfair because Lana didn't know what the audience knew, so that behavior was questionable on her part.
I don't care about Lex's hurt feelings. But I do care enough about Lana as a character that I think the creative team shouldn't squander whatever sympathy she deserves from the audience if she ends a relationship that means something to her even if it's not the love of her life. Lana being a bitch to Lex in how she ends it only makes sense intra-textually if Lana herself knows about the way he's manipulated her via the pregnancy. If the creative team pulls a Jason Version 2.0 with her, where her actions are questionable but questionable in a way that's not justified by what she actually knows as a character, then Lana's the one who's going to suffer for it in terms of episode commentary, not Lex (even if Lana ends it the day of the wedding I'm going to be on her side because she shouldn't marry him if she doesn't love or trust him; I just don't want her pulling an MJ or The Graduate unless it's specifically to get back at Lex because he hurt her).
It's lazy writing to rely on what the audience knows when the characters don't know the same thing just for the sake of an emotional moment. The writers have to earn Lana being a bitch to Lex when she breaks up with him if that's the way they decide to play it. That means letting Lana in on it that she was manipulated via the pregnancy. Otherwise, her being a hosebeast to Lex in breaking up with him doesn't make sense intra-textually. It's not an issue with the character per se, but it will be an issue with the creative team, 'cause they should know better than to repeat a mistake she's already been dinged for in the past.
A little piece of me thinks it would be cool if Lana finds out about the pregnancy manipulation the night before, thinks about running (a la Helen), tells Lex she's decided to come to the wedding after all, and then dumps Lex at the altar precisely like it was originally scripted in "Scare." Because that would be an awesome callback to "Exodus" and it would be an amazingly Luthorian form of revenge.
That would be amazing and it would make internal sense.
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I won't be judgmental of Lana, but I will have a problem with the creative team, because it's the Jason Problem all over again. Yes, the audience knew as of the end of Spirit that Jason Was Evil Now but Lana didn't. As far as Lana knew, they were just having problems with their relationship but she wasn't ready -- or at least hadn't articulated to anyone yet that she was ready -- to break up with him. So when she went to the prom and was all snuggled up with Clark while still technically dating another boy, it made her look bad and a lot of the fandom judged her harshly for it. And in that instance, I didn't particularly think the harsh judgment was unfair because Lana didn't know what the audience knew, so that behavior was questionable on her part.
I don't care about Lex's hurt feelings. But I do care enough about Lana as a character that I think the creative team shouldn't squander whatever sympathy she deserves from the audience if she ends a relationship that means something to her even if it's not the love of her life. Lana being a bitch to Lex in how she ends it only makes sense intra-textually if Lana herself knows about the way he's manipulated her via the pregnancy. If the creative team pulls a Jason Version 2.0 with her, where her actions are questionable but questionable in a way that's not justified by what she actually knows as a character, then Lana's the one who's going to suffer for it in terms of episode commentary, not Lex (even if Lana ends it the day of the wedding I'm going to be on her side because she shouldn't marry him if she doesn't love or trust him; I just don't want her pulling an MJ or The Graduate unless it's specifically to get back at Lex because he hurt her).
It's lazy writing to rely on what the audience knows when the characters don't know the same thing just for the sake of an emotional moment. The writers have to earn Lana being a bitch to Lex when she breaks up with him if that's the way they decide to play it. That means letting Lana in on it that she was manipulated via the pregnancy. Otherwise, her being a hosebeast to Lex in breaking up with him doesn't make sense intra-textually. It's not an issue with the character per se, but it will be an issue with the creative team, 'cause they should know better than to repeat a mistake she's already been dinged for in the past.
A little piece of me thinks it would be cool if Lana finds out about the pregnancy manipulation the night before, thinks about running (a la Helen), tells Lex she's decided to come to the wedding after all, and then dumps Lex at the altar precisely like it was originally scripted in "Scare." Because that would be an awesome callback to "Exodus" and it would be an amazingly Luthorian form of revenge.
That would be amazing and it would make internal sense.