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Eternal Return: "Promise" and Clark, Lex, and Lana as icons
Thus did I wind, and twine, and shrink, under the burden that was upon me; which burden also did so oppress me that I could neither stand, nor go, nor lie, either at rest or quiet." John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress
The original definition of an icon comes from the ancient Orthodox Christian tradition, in which an icon is a two-dimensional painting of a religious figure. The visual representations of icons never change, and yet they are seen as windows revealing a timeless truth. An icon's power comes from its symbolism rather than its representational accuracy. Icons often confound the untutored eye, because rather than expressing individuality--either of artist or subject--instead they tend to follow established patterns which are deep with the weight of archetypal meanings. In Christian Orthodox theology, it is said that humans are icons of God; they gradually become divinized over time, which involves a gradual infusion of grace in which one's true self is distilled and perfected over time.
In discussion of Smallville, we often talk about Lex and Clark (and to a lesser extent Lana)'s progress toward their "iconic selves" as Lex LUTHOR, Superman, and the girl who gets left behind. 1 I would like to suggest that one of the reasons many of us get so frustrated with the lack of coherent character arcs on Smallville is because the producer's vision of the characters has more in common with iconography in the literal sense--seeing the characters primarily as symbols or archetypes-- than it does with standard TV drama in which characters development must follow a coherent arc from point A to point B. Smallville is better at speaking in symbols than at mapping character arcs, and that is because each of the main characters is an archetype. Although the story of Smallville purports to trace a journey, because of its heavy focus on destiny--and specifically, character as destiny--rather than real movement from point A to point B, what we see instead is a constant circular motion, because at the beginning of the story Clark, Lex, and Lana already possess all the qualities they need to become their iconic selves. And yet change does happen; the circular movement is not simply a circle (the Eliadian eternal return to the mythic source) 2 as much as it is a spiral, tracing the same character foundations, but moving ever upward (or downward) toward each character's destiny.
Character movement in "Promise": Lex
So "Promise" retraces the roots of each of the main characters, while also moving upward (or downward). Lex, as always, is torn between his mother's heritage (openness to love and the vulnerability that is a part of truly loving someone) and his father's heritage (the desire to control everything so he needn't experience vulnerability). This was the fundamental conflict he experienced in "Lexmas;" in "Promise," his choices in Lexmas are recapitulated. 3 Just as in Lexmas, in Promise Lex is once again given a slim chance to embrace the openness to loss that authentic love brings. In the opening scene with his father, as he stands looking out of the Lexcorp Tower, he recounts his childish fantasy of controlling all the people below. This story reflects the duality in Lex that has been present since the very beginning of the series: he has an impulse to control others (innate? the product of Luthorian upbringing?) and yet he knows that desire is false one, and says as much to his father: real control isn't possible. He can't make Lana love him; he can't make her choose him.
In another character, in another show Lex's fantasy of total control might be taken for the childish grandiosity it was, something to be overcome as the child realizes that others are people too; certainly not an illusion that an adult should embrace. And yet Lionel criticizes Lex not for his delusion of control, but for his desire to accept reality, offering instead the Luthorian creed that controlling others is, in fact, possible--at least if Lex is willing to sell his soul to
Character movement in Promise: Clark
Many reviewers have suggested that Clark's movement in this episode is backward rather than forward, as he refuses to let go of his desire for a happy-ever-after ending with Lana even after he sacrificed that (and, inadvertently, his father's life) to save her life in "Reckoning." I agree, to some extent, that it is backward movement--partly because it is demanded to make Lana's upward trajectory possible (see below), but also because one of the goal's of this episode was to highlight the archetypal conflict each character experiences in the show. For Lex, that was Lillian v. Lionel, loss v. control; for Clark, it is love v. duty, the possibility of a normal human life v. embracing his heroic alien destiny. Lana has and always will represent love and the possibility of an ordinary life to Clark, and just as Lex is once again given the opportunity to rethink his "Lexmas" choice in this episode, so Clark is once again given his "Reckoning" choice to do over again. Must he sacrifice his love for Lana to save her life? Or can he tell her his truths--all of his truths--and gain her love? Unlike Lex, who simply reinforces the choice he made in Lexmas, Clark makes a different choice than he did in "Reckoning." This time, he chooses to tell Lana, regardless of the risk his secret may pose for her.
Is this a regression? A retreat from the hero's path? Possibly. 5 Certainly his dream of stabbing Lex in the back and killing Lana suggests he knows the price of changing his decision. Perhaps he thinks that the danger posed by marrying Lex is greater than the danger of knowing his secret. Or maybe he thinks that because Chloe has known his secret for almost two years and survived, it will also be safe to reveal himself to Lana. As it turns out, though, he is wrong (just as his initial choice to tell Lana in "Reckoning" was proven to be the wrong choice.) Once again, learning his secret endangers Lana and embroils her in a tragedy, though in a different way than in "Reckoning." 6
Character movement in Promise: Lana
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bop_radar has brilliantly explained how "Promise" is ultimately the apex of Lana's tragic journey, enshrining her forever in the facade of a fairy princess, her surface happiness belying the misery beneath, and I agree with Bop's interpretation. Although the episode was structured to give us access to Lex, Clark, and Lana's POV, ultimately this is Lana's "Lexmas" or her "Reckoning." Structurally, it consciously and deliberately echoes those episodes. In each storyline, the main character is offered which s/he desires most: Lex is offered love, family, respect from the community (represented by Jonathan Kent) and his friends (represented by Clark); Clark is offered total acceptance of his alien heritage, and the love of the person who has always meant a normal life; and Lana is offered love, marriage, security, and the truth.I had trouble deciding the poles that Lana must choose between, in this episode. In general in the series, she is torn between the need for independence and the need for protection, though I'm not sure what would be the opposite pole from her quest for truth. She seems motivated in this episode by her dream, in which Clark saved her from the tornadoes; is she then seeking a savior figure? That would imply character regression. On the other hand, to return to the religious metaphors I introduced at the beginning of my essay, in some ways the revelation of Clark's secret has an epiphanic quality: Lex, Chloe, even Lionel respond with awe and amazement when the secret is revealed to them, and that revelation is always depicted as transformative. So perhaps it is not knowing that Clark is her protector, but instead knowing his truest and deepest self, that ultimately draws Lana away from Lex? Once again the symbolic supersedes the real, if that is the case.
Of course, given the archetypal dimensions of Smallville, the true poles that divide Lana are, in fact, Clark and Lex, and being drawn to one or the other has profound symbolic weight. Lex fears that knowledge of his true self will drive Lana away from him. In reality, though, it is knowledge of Clark's true self that draws her ineluctably to him. Symbolically, I'm sure we're supposed to read this as the triumph of good over evil in Lana; having eaten the forbidden apple of knowledge, she can now see the difference between good and evil. Unfortunately, much of the audience chose to read the apparent text rather than the symbolic text, and were understandably upset that Lana would leaving the father of her baby at the altar with only a note to explain her departure. Most television drama paints three-dimensional portraits of characters, and gives textual reasons why we should sympathize with certain characters and reject others. In this episode the writers relied too much on symbolic shorthand, expecting the audience to read the icons correctly and being swept up in Lana's epiphany, and therefore sympathize with her tragedy. Most, unfortunately, did not. Structurally, though, Promise is Lana's tragedy.
Lana's tragedy mirrors that of Lex in Lexmas and Clark in Reckoning: she is given a taste of her dream, her ideal world, but it is snatched away from her. There is no happily ever after for these characters, only an eternal return to the the original tragedy when home, family, and love was shattered by the destruction of Krypton, causing Clark and Lana to lose their parents and Lex to be forever marked as different. But that is not all there is to the tragedy of Smallville. Lana, like Lex and Clark, has to face the fundamental choice: what do you do after you lose all that you love? That is the real question that will mark you as hero, villain, or ordinary person in the Smallville universe. Self-sacrifice, rather than the will to power, is the appropriate choice in the Smallville universe; so Lana has passed her initial test (whereas Lex failed, and began his true descent). Lana is not finished, though; we don't know if she will persist or fail in her choice. Clark, for the most part, chooses self-sacrifice, but in "Promise" he abandoned that sacrifice, perhaps moving downward. As the characters wend around the spiral staircase, they move upward or downward, revisiting again and again the fundamental character traits that make them who they are.
Around and around and around they wind, our heroes, our villains, eternally returning to their core traits, their loves and hates, winding around each other, up and down, up and down. Clark, Lex, and Lana are inextricably bound together in their circles, tracing the outlines and unable to break free of their destinies, as they become ever more and more themselves, as their true selves are distilled and perfected over time.
In your bright eyes/printed from the stars/I wind and wind./I wire and twine/like vines gone wild/in your hips and valleys. Dogpoet, Language of Love.
1. I adopted this terminology from
latxcvi, though I'm not sure if it was original to her, or if she borrowed it from someone else.2. Sorry, my religion geek is showing. Mircea Eliade was a prominent theorist of religion, who argued that one of the main reasons all religions have rituals--and often ritual calendars that repeat annually--is so that every culture can participate in the "eternal return" to the source of its basic mythology. In a way, I think, that's what Smallville does in its pivotal episodes: return to the character foundations that were laid in the first season, and reiterated over and over throughout the show.
3. I had originally intended to do more to trace the parallels between Lexmas, Reckoning, and Promise in this essay, but since I've already written a book I think I'll make that a separate essay.
4. I owe this insight to
serenography, whose excellent review of the episode helped inspire this essay. 5. After watching "Combat," I am actually more convinced that we are supposed to read Promise as character regression for Clark, at least to a certain extent. I don't want to spoil the episode in a footnote, but Clark's initial conversation with Martha concerning the wedding seems to reinforce my argument.
6. I am indebted to
isilweth and latxcvi for their insights in interpreting Clark's dream. And while I'm not sure I am directly using any of her ideas, romanyg's beautiful and insightful essay on truth-seeking and tragedy in Promise definitely influenced my reading of this episode.
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And this:
the image of the spiralling staircase that the ascend and descend, like angels in the biblical vision
reminds me so strongly of that show. A central setpiece of each episode was the opening up of a staircase and lift, which allowed the characters to ascend to a strange area in the sky, beneath an inverted fairy castle.
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