Lexmas begins with Lex in Luthor-mode and a Ray Charles tune in the background. He's surreptitiously gone to see Griff (a Luthor lackey) about the upcoming senate elections. It is testosterone city as Lex and Griff swagger around each other, making veiled threats and plotting to take a swing at Jonathan's run for senate. The good in Lex makes him hesitate at Griff's proposition to "launch a grenade", whether fact or fiction. Lex leaves without giving a clear answer. Outside, he's approached by a pair of trigger-happy miscreants. As he falls from two gunshot wounds, he goes into a visceral dream/alternate state where he is married to Lana, has a son (Alex) and a daughter (Lily) on the way, is friends with Clark and Chloe, and is accepted by Jonathan and Martha Kent.
L/L SCENES TO WATCH: This episode is laden with L/L gifts, beginning from Lex waking up with Lana to Lily's birth. However, there are three scenes I've become endeared to:
1. The Christmas tree lot. Lex and his pint-size namesake stand together, hands in pockets, looking up at one prospect. There is a strong implication that the son is the shadow of his father, either genetically or intentionally. The father/son shadowing is more visibly emphasized within the Lex/Lionel scenes by the end of the Lex-mas. It's obvious from their very first scene that Alex is all about Daddy, not only inherently possessing some of his traits, but also purposely imitating some of his mannerisms. The kind of father Lex is in this experience is so different from his real-time experience with Lionel because, unlike Alex, he has rebelled against morphing into his father. He's also repeatedly questioned his father's sincerity in loving him, something Alex has no doubt about. Good stuff.
2. Returning home and getting the tree inside the house. I loved Lex joking with Alex, "Come on, Muscles! Do I have to do this by myself?" as they were pulling in the tree. Again, Lex reveals how comfortable he has become with this alternate existence. Lana, Lex and Alex respond to the house in such a way that the house looks and feels lived in. However, all the cuteness aside, this is where the real point of the eppy comes in when Lex notices a LuthorCorp gift:
Lex: Hey, what's this?
Lana (retreating from the stairs): Your father's secretary never does forget us.
Lex: No. This is a corporate gift. Not something from my father. I don't understand.
Lana: Lex, you know that Christmas is just another opportunity for your father to ignore you. It's his way of reminding you how disappointed in you for turning your back on what he thinks it means to be a Luthor. (Something was going on below my vision, but I get this sense that he was touching her belly.) But, as far as I'm concerned, getting shot was the best thing that ever happened to you. Coming that close to dying made you realize the things in your life that are important. It made you the man that you are today, the man that I married.
One thing that surfaces here and later is Lex's apparent attempt to redefine the Luthor legacy. Lana never said that Lex changed who he was, nor did she imply that he changed in order to be with her. What she recognized was that he became aware that there were more important things in life than money and power.
3. Lex struggles with losing Lana. In my opinion, this scene has become the benchmark for "bittersweet" on Smallville. Michael brings viewers to their knees and Kristin also brings up her game.
Lex: Lana, please, don't give up. Don't leave me.
Lana (weakly): Lex. You have be strong, Lex. For Alexander. For Lily.
Lex: Lana, I love you. Maybe I tell you that all the time. I don't know. Please listen to me. I mean it, I love you. I have always loved you.
Lana (she smiles): I love you too, Lex Luthor. You're a good man. (Her voice becomes softer) Don't ever change. (She wipes a tear from his cheek and caresses his face. She flatlines and Lex is inconsolable).
LEX TEXT: When Lex regains consciousness in real-time, he discovers Lionel made a reckless pre-op decision that he feels was more about appearances than survival. He says, "How dare you play God with my life?" His rebuke is so precise that there is implied anger about Lionel's role in the loss he experiences in his alternate state. A fear of a loss of control seems tied to his subsequent reaction. He tells Griff:
Lex: Don't worry, Griff. We Luthors are made of tough and definitely expensive material. . . . It's not everyday that someone has a near-death experience. It's true, much like Ebenezer Scrooge, I realize that what I more than anything is to live "happily ever after." And do you know what the secret to living happily ever after is? (He looks at Griff, detachment in his voice) Power. Money and power. See, once you have those two things, you can secure everything else and keep it that way. . . . I want you to pull the pull the pin on that grenade. Find it. Fake it. Do whatever it takes to knock Jonathan Kent out of the race. I want to be senator. I want it all.
His reaction is more emotional than it is rational. He's scared of loss because he's been deeply scarred by loss, so he's trying to buffer himself by using his "Luthorness" to deal with a situation currently under his consideration, a situation which could be the first step to acquiring power he thinks he needs. Undoubtedly, being able to afford the best of everything gives one a sense of comfort, and, yes, a degree of happiness. That's not in question. However, the irony of the choice eclipses its practicality and realism somewhat. Having the power and money doesn't automatically guarantee that he will "secure everything else and keep it that way." His father had power and money, but it didn't keep Lillian from dying, did it? This false sense of security and control is where he treads dangerously. He wants to be happy, but the methods of acquiring and keeping power, coupled with his obsessive nature, can ultimately undermine the "happily ever after" he so desperately wants to secure.
Lillian fades away as Lex shadows Lionel. Lillian tells him earlier, "You just have to make the right decision. Follow your heart, not your ambition." I don't think she's telling him not to be ambitious. She wants him to let the goodness he still has guide his ambition and she avoids imposing her will on his choices. In contrast, Lionel imposes his will on Lex's life in both real-time and in the alternate state, propelling Lex to take a darker route of self-preservation. This is the young man Lionel has been trying to provoke into existence since we first met the Luthors in the Pilot. In that way, Lionel is a trigger and an instigator more than he is an enemy. Either way, Lex's chances of long-term acceptance and happiness are jeopardized in different ways. So the angst begins again and badass Lex is coming into his own.
L/L TEXT: "Well, you became the kind of man she could love", Clark tells Lex at the Kent's party. One of the things I remember hoping for at the beginning of S3 was for Lex to be loved for who he is. He's able to justify his bad choices, but to be loved by Lana; all he has to be is himself. Lana has already said she admires his protectiveness, friendship and wisdom (Metamorphosis, Legacy, Splinter), his passion and decisiveness (Heat), and his ability to challenge her (Precipice). She sees his lost soul; she wants to be his friend and she wants to trust him (Shattered, Memoria). She isn't quite there in terms of loving him or trusting him, although that may come in time. The most important thing Lex will need to change to gain her trust is his penchant for secrecy. The Lex and Lana I see in Lex-mas are emotionally uninhibited and honest with each other, so much so they apparently know what the other is thinking. To get to that place with Lana in real-time, Lex will need to be more transparent with her even if he's not transparent with anyone else. Lana will also need to reassess who she is.
And as she turns
This way she moves in the logic of all my dreams
This fire burns
I realize that nothing's as it seems -- Desert Rose by Sting
