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*
no subject
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*