Smallville Season 7 : The Superman Mythos Returns to the Forefront Part 1 of 3

Smallville Season 7 : The Superman Mythos Returns to the Forefront
Part 1 of 3
By Kate Blake
Aka SN66 Admin Operation Save Clark Kent

Click on red links to view video clips

Next week the highly anticipated episode Veritas airs on Smallville. This episode is number 15 in the season and was the tentative cliffhanger season ender when it looked like the writers strike might not be settled in time to finish the season. When the strike ended this episode was adjusted some to allow for 5 more episodes to
finish the season but this one is supposed to tie up some long loose ends from earlier seasons. My previous posts have detailed the Superman Smallville Mythos as it has played out in earlier seasons. This post will review what we have learned this season so far and watch how the Smallville Superman Mythos has been slowly pushing its way to the forefront of the storyline as the soap opera angst of the first part of the season makes way for big action and big revelations to come.

Episode 710 Persona

This second half of the season started up with episode 710 Persona. I detailed that episode in depth earlier ( Persona Part 1, Persona Part 2 ) but the key thing for this post to remember is that Lana enabled Bizaro to work with Brainiac and lead him to Dax-Ur which allowed Brainiac to fully recharge his powers. Lana’s inability to distinguish the Phantom from Clark led to the Kryptonian super-artificial intelligence that was released from Lex’s lab when she went on a rampage in Wrath (episode 707) to rebuild itself and is now a lingering threat to Clark and Kara and the world in general as we have no clue as to what his intentions are or his new plans. The return of one of Superman’s greatest foes is a challenge Clark needs to remind him of his unique abilities in the fight to protect mankind and his adopted planet.

710 Brainiac & Dax-Ur

Episode 711 Siren

In episode 711 Siren Lana told Lionel she would not help him gather evidence against Lex to bring him down for Grant’s murder. She handled the envelope on Lionel’s desk with the wax seal and the Veritas emblem on it. Lana proclaimed that she is no longer hiding things from Clark ( note- she has not given Clark full disclosure on past actions). Lionel is skeptical that she is sincere and is certain her Luthor ways will win out. Lana and her character flaws and past mistakes cannot be erased by present day good intentions. She can tell herself all she wants that she is being honest and true but to be with Clark and his unflinching honor, she has to be more than just true from now on.

VIDEO 711 Lana Lionel 2

In Siren we saw Clark make a fast decision and save Black Canary over Lex in the showdown. Clark making a conscious decision to not help Lex- that he is no longer Clark’s primary target in the saving category is important.

Final important part in Siren that is mythos related- we saw our first really emotional moment between Lois and Clark this season when he went to comfort her over her breakup with Oliver. Clark assured her the right man would always put her front and center in his life and just because a man has a destiny doesn’t mean that she has to come second. This is important because this is the relationship between Lois and Clark- they are partners and have been since they first appeared in print 70 years ago. A very modern relationship at the time- the rest of society has evolved to where now their matching as equals in work and in love is the societal ideal not an oddity as it was when it was first written.

711 Clois Scene

Episode 712 Fracture

After Clark has come back to Smallville after spending his time on ice, after defeating his doppelganger and helping Green Arrow and Black Canary foil some of Lex’s new plans, Clark is focused on finding Kara. He is genuinely worried about her, where she is, how she is doing and what has become of her. In the beginning of the episode we see he has reason to fear. Lex has tracked Kara down and in the process put her into very real danger. An obsessed co-worker has kidnapped her and Lois, shot Lex and is holding the two young women prisoner in an old junk yard in Detroit.

VIDEO 712 Lex Lois Kara

Lex is not dead after taking a bullet to the head, but is found in a ditch and is rushed to Smallville by his father. Finding out that he knows where Kara and Lois are and they are in danger, Clark decides to undergo a risky procedure and do a krypto mind-meld to see inside Lex’s head to try to find out info to save the girls.

VIDEO 712 Clark entering LEx’s head

When he gets inside he finds things he is not anticipating- prime among them is a glimpse into the very unhappy childhood of Lex Luthor. Young Lex is bullied by his father and his mother cannot protect him though she tries. We see Lex playing with some toy soldiers who all bear the same V as the crest we saw on the seal on the letter Lana handled in Siren. We hear and see Lionel and Lillian fight about the time Lionel is spending with his secret group and her questioning him about Veritas. It gets ugly. Clark is taken aback by the violence this Lionel exhibits toward his young defenseless son.

Video 712 Little Lex and Lionel

Long time viewers of the show are reminded of the man we met in the first three seasons who took joy in humiliating his son. One of the best examples of parental extremes had to be from season 1 , the final episode Tempest when Lionel comes to town and shuts down the fertilizer plant and blames it on Lex and his poor management. Lex came out of this by buying back the plant along with the employees and starting his own empire. Out of this attempt to squash his son, Lionel sowed the seeds of competition. In Fracture we see Lionel giving Lex an example of ruthlessness at any cost , no matter who you hurt.

Clark gets the information he needs about where to find Kara and finds out she has lost her memory and apparently her powers.
Kara & Lex 1, Kara & Lex 2

Something else happens along the way- Lex knows Clark is in his mind and decides to show him what he has become. He torments Clark with a vision of Lex and Lana making love while they were married and makes a point of making sure he hears her tell Lex she will always love him. Clark is rightfully disturbed by this.

More so though he is disturbed by the sheer cruelty Lex shows in going after his younger self and trying to extinguish that bit of good that still hides inside of him.

Clark battles Lex and Lex smiles and smiles knowing Clark cannot hurt him.

Clark tells the young scared Lex that now that he knows he is in there he will keep an eye out for him. This is a very Superman moment- we see Clark doing what he does best- relating to a small child and making him feel safe. Clark at his heart knows that this voice inside Lex is being slowly extinguished and pushed into hiding but now he will look out for the victim inside.

Video 712 Inside LEx’s head

Coming out of the experiment- Chloe is called upon to use her powers to save Lex’s life at great risk to her own, and to save Clark’s by extension as the two men’s minds are linked. Once Chloe has healed Lex , in front of Lionel, she collapses again after using her powers.

Clark is ok and goes off and rescues Kara and Lois without either of them seeing him in action. Since last season in episode 618 Progeny Clark has gotten very fast- he now not only superspeeds he is faster than the human eye can take in, seeming to be just a blur of red and blue. Who needs flight and tights when you can blur?

Video 712 Rescuing the girls

Kara is returned home along with Lois- both unhurt but Kara is confused and all she knows is that Lex came after her and tried to help her. We know that Lex is now just as obsessed with Kara as he was with Clark and sees Kara as a tool to learning the truth about Clark once and for all. Knowing that an outright assault on Kara would set Clark off and against him, Lex employs more subtle tactics. He sets out to seduce the innocent young woman using his charms and silky voice and playing on her own suspicions of those around her. Lex Luthor pursuing Supergirl and using her for his own devices is right out of the modern comics with Lex and Matrix.

Check here for more info on their comics relationship. Kara like her cousin is usually a little naïve and trusting of others- wanting to see the best even when it is not there. Again- a very Super trait.

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