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.