norwich36 | Smallville 6.19 Progeny

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Smallville 6.19 Progeny

Edited to add: This review contains material that most would characterize as Lex bashing, so please read at your own discretion.

You know, I've been watching Smallville from the beginning, and Chloe and Lex have always been my favorite characters, and I never thought I could choose between them. But one thing I was certain of, and that was that I would always love both of them. I certainly never thought that Smallville could ever actually make me hate Lex.

Apparently I was wrong. I haven't felt this kind of passionate hatred toward an SV character since Lionel in "Shattered" and "Asylum." I'm sure I'll eventually recover my Lex love--I eventually forgave Lionel, after all, and I do like villains--just not when they're targeting characters I love. I honestly feel guilty, since all season I've been wanting Lex to be an effective villain, and he was nothing if not effective in this episode--downright masterful, really--and I found myself actually wanting Chloe to shoot him. And I was actually happy he got hurt when Clark saved him from the bullet.

Targeting Moira was brilliant, and the way he manipulated her and then the way he kept Chloe from releasing the story--grade A effective villainy. Not only that, but his desire to control Moira made sense--he feels he needs to control the mutants both to reduce their danger to society and to counter the alien threat--I could actually kind of see that in this episode. And I still wanted to crush his skull ever time he was gloating at Moira or Chloe.

ARGH. Cognitive dissonance!! I don't want to hate Lex! I wanted sexy villainy, not really evil villainy, dammit.

I don't actually have a lot else to say about the episode. It was a very effective piece of Chloe characterization; I loved getting to see how similar her 8-year-old self was to her adult self, both in her interest in the weird and her sharp perceptions of people. And it was, of course, heartbreaking to see her regain and lose her mom. I was a little disappointed we didn't get to see what Chloe's meteor power was in this, but I loved that her mom didn't actually abandon her, but had herself committed just to protect Chloe.

When Lex played the motherless card as part of his attempt to manipulate Moira, I realized that at this point every single main character on SV has lost at least one parent, which just serves to reinforce the idea that it's not the loss, it's how you deal with it. And speaking of loss, I wonder how Lana's going to deal with her double loss--first losing the baby, and then losing all faith in Lex when she finds out there never was a baby. She told Clark "I'm going to come through this like I always do," and I actually hope that's true--and that she manages to wound Lex and Lionel on her way out. Look at me, rooting for Lana against Lex and Lionel! It's like the whole world has turned upside down or something.

P.S. I am UNSPOILED for future episodes and would really, really appreciate it if people are careful about what they say in the comments so that I can remain unspoiled.

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eeep! i'm not watching this season because i so so hate what they're doing with lex (*cough*lexana*cough*), but you kinda made me want to watch this episode! chloe backstory yay! i'll probably just read the recap on television without pity though.

Well, it's very powerful to see it. I don't think I would have had such a visceral reaction to Lex being evil if I had just read a description of it.

That sounds like what I was going through with Mortal and with what Lex did with Lana. I dislike Lana but that was beyond the pale. It was inhumane on every level and regardless of the target it's the type of thing that indelibly impacts my view of a character. It's one thing to hurt people you don't know or care about, it's another to do it the one you love or care about, to utterly break that person. It made me realize why they set up Lexana in the first place (since Clex can't be textual on the show and they wanted something stronger than Lex hurting a friend, they wanted to show what he'd be capable of doing to a lover/fiance/etc).

I do wish Chloe was more strident about forming a plan of action to get the story printed in the end though. I'm interested to see what Lex's next move is. Interestingly enough, I liked him in this episode in the sense that he was owning what he was.

As always this season, I taped the SV episode and watched Ugly Betty, so all I know so far is what I've seen on the internets -- if Moira's power was that she could control other mutants, how did Lex keep her from controlling him? Have they retconned away his mutant healing ability?

Much darker events have happened than they did in Progeny but, from my point of view, this was one of the darkest episodes of SV ever. Superficially, part of my reaction is due to Clark's flat-affect/pained support of Chloe and Chloe's hair being darker and her looking more mature.

Everything always feels inevitable on SV but in this episode it all felt ominous to the nth degree. *fears*

I want to hug all the characters now (except Lex who gets put in the corner for badbadbadness). And I think I may need a hug too. LOL!

When Lex played the motherless card as part of his attempt to manipulate Moira, I realized that at this point every single main character on SV has lost at least one parent, which just serves to reinforce the idea that it's not the loss, it's how you deal with it.
Well, how you personally deal with it and your support system afterward. I think Chloe's father protected her from the truth about her mother (what he knew anyway. It's hard to tell what Gabe knows when he's MIA for three years). Lois' dad had a hard time relating to his girls, but he didn't withdraw his love. Martha ~~is suffering from Alheimers~~ is just confusing, and I think if Clark had been younger losing his dad, he'd be pretty screwed. And Lionel... o.O

Oi! I'm relating Chloe and Lex more and more to each other. Moira may have thought she was protecting Chloe, but she was also hurting her a lot. I think I'm reading Moira a little differently than you are, but just from what we saw on screen, I think that both Lex and Chloe are sadly better off without their mothers having an active hand in their lives.

Not only that, but his desire to control Moira made sense--he feels he needs to control the mutants both to reduce their danger to society and to counter the alien threat--I could actually kind of see that in this episode.
I do like the continuity of plot, for sure. I think my belief that Lex has good motivation is why I haven't picked a side yet. I really should be angrier at him, but I'm not (I'm biased for both of them). Though I kind of want to kick him for his confrontation with Chloe at The Planet. Lex never bothers to explain himself, and no one ever really asks him why he does the things he does. Chloe should be asking him WHY WHY WHY, and Lex could definitely try to convince Chloe that his experiments are for the greater good. He gets no cookies for choosing to be mean and snarky rather than explain.

*Is confused* Isn't Mortal the episode where Lex tries to find out Clark's secret by sending the meteor mutants to the Kent house? I'm trying to remember what he did to Lana in that episode.

I think that when Mortal first aired, there was still some ambiguity about whether or not Lex actually set up that situation, at least for viewers who were still basically sympathetic to Lex.

His mutant healing ability has never been canonically confirmed, as far as I recall. But yeah, I kept expecting that to happen and it didn't.

Yes, ominous is a really good description. It feels like everyone is locked into their positions, and something bad is going to happen next.

*Hugs*

See, my reaction was just the opposite: I desperately wanted to bash Moira's and Chloe's heads in, and I was -- and am -- totally on Lex's side. He was perfectly reasonable in his offers to both of them, and he only got tough when he had to. If the war comes, I'm blaming it all on Chloe and her psycho mother.

>I think that both Lex and Chloe are sadly better off without their mothers having an active hand in their lives.

i think you're right about that. moira was not a force for good, so to say.

I agree that Lex, unlike most of the other characters, didn't have a loving parent in his life after his mom died, but for me that can only excuse so much.

I'm going to refrain from ranting, because I have Martha issues, but I just have to disagree with you that Clark would have been screwed if Jonathan had died earlier. I do agree that Chloe was definitely better off without Moira, though I don't see her as a completely negative presence because the choice she made actually *did* protect Chloe (whereas the choice Lillian made probably made things worse for Lex, in the long run).

I understand that Lex probably thinks he's defending the earth from an alien invasion, but do you really think that would matter to Chloe, after he has experimented on her and blackmailed her mom? There's no way I'd buy anything he was selling, if that was me.

And even though I think Lex's motives are intelligible--and I'm glad they're actually giving him a motive rather than making him randomly evil--I still can't condone the means he is using. Even if there was a real alien threat (which the viewers know is probably not the case), torturing people, experimenting on them, holding them prisoner and coercing them into his service are not justifiable, in my book.

I probably should have been more careful in my phrasing, since I really *don't* advocate violence, even fictional violence, and I know I get upset when people say they want my favorite characters to die, so I apologize for that.

I completely disagree with you that Lex's offer to Moira was reasonable, though. (I'm not quite sure what you mean by his offer to Chloe). He was holding her hostage and blackmailing her. He endangered her life by putting her in the holding cell with the superpowered mutant to get her to reveal her power, and tried to force her to bring another mutant back to his facility. Why on earth should she have trusted him or his intentions?

I'm not saying that Moira was a shining example of heroism--she was manipulating people to protect herself and her daughter. I find her actions intelligible but not laudable. She arguably endangered Chloe several times by controlling her from afar. I find actions understandable since I can see she felt she had no other recourse, but that doesn't mean I condone them.

In the same way, I can understand why Lex, fearing an imminent alien invasion, feels it necessary to create an army of mutants. His decision is intelligible--I can understand *why* he thinks he must do this, and I'm happy the writers are giving him an intelligible motive rather than making him generically evil--but I don't condone his actions, nevertheless. Kidnapping people, experimenting on them, blackmailing them, holding them against their will and in some cases torturing them are not justifiable behaviors, in my book. I don't condone them from my government officials when they excuse them by saying they need to torture people to defend our country, and I wouldn't be in favor of an involuntary draft, so I'm certainly not going to condone Lex's similar reasoning to justify the fact that he's using people against their will, endangering them and in some cases torturing them.

I'm still trying to figure out what you mean by his reasonable offer to Chloe. Threatening to imprison her? Threatening to do something worse than imprisonment?

and I found myself actually wanting Chloe to shoot him.

Me too. All season I've felt sort of a disconnect with Lex's character, but in this episode he was everything I had been saying I wanted him to be - scary, effective, villainous, for once not self-pitying - and I hated it. I didn't - don't? - hate Lex quite as much as Lionel in Asylum, but it's very close.

Even if his motivation isn't entirely selfish - which this episode thankfully did nothing to contradict - I can't agree with his methods. I just can't. Smallville's textual Lex is a sociopath. I didn't like that implication in "Reunion", but now I can't help but agreeing.

It was one of the best episodes of the season, though. I mean, it was extremely effective, so it has to be. But I'm not sure I can take watching a whole season of this Lex.

this episode he was everything I had been saying I wanted him to be - scary, effective, villainous, for once not self-pitying - and I hated it.

Oh, I know exactly what you mean. Be careful what you wish for, I guess.

I'm not sure I can take watching a whole season of this Lex.

Yeah. This is why I'm concerned about the way the Lexana went. If they had made it a real romance (rather than Lex, apparently, trapping her into marrying him by creating the fake pregnancy), at least we could have continued to see the human side of Lex and that would have made it somewhat easier to watch. This was just....awful. I don't WANT to hate Lex.

At the very least, we need some eps solidly from within his POV so we can at least understand his motives or something.

If I wanted to watch a whole season of this Lex, I would be watching "Dexter".

Lex needs a minion as a sound-off piece, so we can see what his motivation is. But it would have to be damn good to convince me to cut him some slack again. It would have to be smart and it would have to make sense.

Oh, a minion would be good. Maybe Mercy or Hope?

First off, Moira voluntarily committed herself, and then went catatonic, none of which was remotely Lex's fault. He went to the trouble and expense of coming up with a drug which could bring her back to consciousness, kept her temporarily confined in case she turned out to be yet another lethal mutant nutcase, and made her a perfectly reasonable business offer: he would continue providing her with the medication (which legally belonged to him, and which she had no automatic 'right' to expect to receive) and allow her to see her daughter, and in return she would help him in controlling dangerous mutants -- something which someone really needs to start doing because, hey, innocent people keep getting killed.

In response to his request, Moira lied repeatedly, initially claiming that she had no mutant powers at all, and then that her powers could only affect her daughter. Lex pointed out that she might well be able to influence other mutants, and she lied (yet again) in claiming that it was only her blood tie to Chloe which allowed such a bond with her (deliberately never mentioning the fact that she needed to be holding something of Chloe's to make it work).

Since Moira refused to voluntarily test her power on another mutant -- something which could easily have been done with no one getting hurt -- Lex had no practical recourse but to force her, and really the only way to do that was to threaten either Moira or Chloe with immediate harm. Since Moira was the one refusing to cooperate, Lex understandably chose to threaten her rather than her daughter, which I consider perfectly fair. (I'm not saying that it was a nice thing for him to do, but with the fate of the human race at stake, I'm frankly okay with it.)

And once it became clear that Moira knew exactly how to control the guy she'd been locked in with, Lex made another perfectly reasonable request: that she help recapture a dangerous psychopath on the loose. Had she questioned whether the guy was a psycho, and asked for proof, I might have sympathized a bit with her hesitation (though, really, I don't think Lex ever lied to her, which makes him infinitely more trustworthy than she proved to be). Instead, she took the clear stance of preferring to let a dangerous man roam free (and kill who knows how many victims) rather than help Lex in any way. He gave her a harmless nudge by reminding her that he could bring Chloe to see her if she were to cooperate, and she pretended to acquiesce, only to order the mutant to murder Lex in cold blood. And I remind you that Moira showed no sign of having been ill-treated in any way (other than in the demonstration she forced Lex to arrange), so it's not as if her life and well-being were threatened and she felt compelled to defend herself.

Only after Lana has wound up in the hospital, thanks to Moira, does Lex resort to threatening Chloe, which I'd call pretty restrained on his part. Someone truly evil would have hauled Chloe in far earlier for leverage, and taken far more pleasure in doing so.

As for Lex's offer to Chloe herself, I thought it was obvious. He offered not to give evidence of her criminal activities to the police in return for her dropping the anti-Luthor rant she couldn't actually prove anyway. (And, since no sane editor would print anything like that without hard evidence, what Lex was really offering was a kind of mercy gesture: he'd let her stay out of jail if she'd quit trying to annoy him.) Rather than do the rational thing and agree, Chloe literally dared Lex to do his worst. Only then did he truly threaten her, and I frankly don't blame him; he's trying to save the human race, and these short-sighted pissants keep hounding him about minutia.

So, regardless of what Chloe later said to Clark, it was not Lex who chose to turn this into a 'kill or be killed' situation -- Chloe chose that option. Lex was perfectly prepared to be reasonable and accommodating with both Moira and Chloe, and each woman turned a fair proposition into a declaration of all-out war. Which, I devoutly hope, is a war Lex will win, and with extreme prejudice. *cheers Lex on*

Why on earth should it be Moira's responsibility to control dangerous mutants? She didn't ask Lex to develop the drug, and he didn't offer it to her in exchange; he simply tested it on her without her will, took over her medical care without her consent, and kept her from seeing her daughter (the person who, by the way, should have the rights to make decisions about her care, legally, since Gabe seems to have been retconned out of existence) until she did what he wanted.
I really, really can't understand how you think that is legally or morally justified.

Since Moira refused to voluntarily test her power on another mutant -- something which could easily have been done with no one getting hurt -- Lex had no practical recourse but to force her, and really the only way to do that was to threaten either Moira or Chloe with immediate harm.

No practical recourse? What the hell? How about: Lex could have left her alone. It's true that if he developed the drug he has no responsibility to give it to her, but likewise she has no responsibility to do what he wants. What you're arguing is that Lex has the right to do whatever he wants to whomever he wants as long as his motive is to protect the earth from invasion? I'm sorry, but I just can't accept that--I actually find it a pretty frightening idea.

And once it became clear that Moira knew exactly how to control the guy she'd been locked in with, Lex made another perfectly reasonable request: that she help recapture a dangerous psychopath on the loose. Had she questioned whether the guy was a psycho, and asked for proof, I might have sympathized a bit with her hesitation (though, really, I don't think Lex ever lied to her, which makes him infinitely more trustworthy than she proved to be).

You see this as a perfectly reasonable request, I see it as a pattern of escalation. Lex refused Moira contact with the outside world until she revealed her power to him. She did reveal her power, albeit against her will, having been placed in a life-threatening situation. (What would have happened if Lex was wrong?) Having proved her power, his next act was to blackmail her into using it for his ends. While, as I said above in comments to someone else, I don't find what Moira did justifiable, I certainly can understand why a person in her situation would see Lex as a threat to her safety.

Only after Lana has wound up in the hospital, thanks to Moira, does Lex resort to threatening Chloe, which I'd call pretty restrained on his part. Someone truly evil would have hauled Chloe in far earlier for leverage, and taken far more pleasure in doing so.

Do you honestly think that because someone fails to take pleasure in the acts they commit that harm others that the acts themselves aren't still evil? Even if Lex was correct in his assumption that an alien invasion was coming (and the viewer knows he is incorrect), that still doesn't justify his actions. He's still hurting people, imprisoning them, experimenting on them, blackmailing them and attempting to force them to serve his ends.

Actually, we do not know that there's no alien invasion headed for Earth. Presumably most Kryptonians are dead, but some may have survived (like the minions who turned up earlier to free Zod), and even a handful of Kryptonians would be quite an invading force -- look what Zod and Brainiac managed together. Moreover, there are other dangerous aliens in existence in SV's universe, like the energy-eating alien, and the bone-eating alien and Titan, whatever he was; any of those species, and more, might have invading forces on the way. Lex knows alien life exists, and that it can reach the Earth, and he has more than ample proof that at least some of it is utterly hostile to the human race -- so, yes, under those circumstances, I think that some latitude in following normal rules is called for. The end doesn't always justify the means...but sometimes it does, and saving an entire planet is a pretty significant end. So if Lex has to lock up and study some dangerous people (and he only seems to keep the dangerous ones confined, hence the farmer he merely studied from a distance until it became clear the guy had been killing people), I don't think that's too high a price to pay. Clearly, you disagree, but that doesn't make me -- or Lex -- wrong. Just...pragmatic.

As for Moira having no moral responsibility to help control dangerous mutants...is that like the people who hear someone screaming for help, and tell themselves that, because they're not cops, it isn't their responsibility to do anything about it?

Well, you and Lex could be right about the threat of a possible alien invasion, but I still think the proper recourse to that would be to *persuade* people to fight on his side, not coerce them into it. Since you're trying to speak pragmatically rather than morally, a pragmatic reason not to coerce people is they're likely to turn against you when they have an opportunity (as Moira turned against Lex), whereas if you persuade people that there's a real threat and get them on your side, they're more likely to be loyal. I'm thinking of something like the scenario in Last Best Hope (http://teot.org/svbigbang/s4/Hope.html).

And you might say it would be hard to convince people of the dangers of an alien invasion--but would that really, logistically, be harder than the money and manpower Lex is spending to kidnap, confine, and track mutants? He would certainly have to spend less time tracking down escapees if he got them onboard with his mission.

I don't think someone who has powers is required to use them for the greater good, no. I think if they choose to use their powers for good, that's generally something they should be applauded for, but I don't think they're morally obligated to, especially when using their power exposes them to constant temptation. Moira's power could actually end up being more dangerous than helpful, in the long run.

Oh sorry, commas are my friends heheh... I meant: what I was going through with Mortal, and with then then again regarding what Lex did to Lana in Promise. Both episodes, for me, impacted my view of Lex the way you describe above. (I just didn't go on about Mortal because I felt like it would make me a broken record (coming from my last entry)) As for the ambiguity, when the show didn't contradict Clark and Chloe in the next couple of eps (it's not their style imo to let something like that hang, they're pretty heavy handed about reveals) I knew they weren't going to reveal it as someone else's scheme...but yeah, Mortal and Promise were my "Progeny" so to speak :)

The evil that was Lex in this episode! *shudders* I've loved him throughout all the seasons, remembering what he was like in the first three, and trying to understand him, but last night...

I was appalled at him keeping the mutants prisoner and experimenting on them. He believes there's an alien invasion? This to me doesn't justify what he's done. He could just as easily justify keeping *Clark* a prisoner with Green K and forcing him to use his abilities for his war, and that would sure not set well with me.

I hated seeing Lex turn into the person he's become, and I know canon demands all this, but it's very hard for a Clexer to continue watching. I do because I guess I'm a glutton for punishment ;) but I happily live in my own little world of AU Clexiness. ;) I approach the final episodes with trepidation and a growing sense of horror! Even Lana, who I am not particularly fond of, sure got a kick last night that *hurt*, and I felt sorry for her.

Next week's episode looks interesting, but knowing TPTB at SV, I'm not holding my breath that it won't be screwed up.

I'm sure Lex does his best to persuade people to help fight the coming alien hordes, just as he tried to persuade Moira. I'm also sure he succeeds in persuading quite a number of them, and perhaps in buying the cooperation of quite a few more. But Moira, with her particular ability, was a unique case, and he needed to pull out all the stops in an effort to recruit her. So he tried polite persuasion, and the carrot-and-the-stick routine, but -- to her discredit -- all Moira would respond to were threats, so he finally used those. He didn't succeed (more's the pity for the Earth), but he tried, and I cannot blame him for that. There are a lot more lives than Moira's and Chloe's in the balance, and when/if the aliens come, they won't make sure not to hurt Chloe and Moira just because they refused to help Lex save the world.

Sorry, I was overgeneralizing about the Kents. I don't really know how Clark would have turned out if one or the other left, but Martha has been bewildering to me lately.

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Smallville 6.19 Progeny

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