I'm in the midst of working my way systematically through last season's Smallville episodes. I've never been the biggest fan of the show but it can be fun. I really like Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) - yes, yet again I like the bad boy. What's fun about Lex in Smallville is that he's mostly good although there's hints of darkness to come - I love when characters are ambiguous.

I just watched Onyx (written by ex-Buffy & Angel writer Steven S. DeKnight!) which was - surprisingly - really excellent! I'm not not just saying that because of my Buffyverse bias, Smallville always excels when the characters are being bad because otherwise the show can exist too much in schmultz-land.

In Onyx, Lex gets split into two and his hidden/repressed evil side takes over. What's neat is that in some ways the evil Lex doesn't seem that different from the Lex that's always on the show. That's why I particularly like the exchange between Lex and Clark near the end of the episode:

Clark: Don’t be too hard on yourself. It really wasn’t you.

Lex: That’s what I’ve been standing here trying to figure out. Did the accident create an evil Lex, or is that what’s really inside of me?

Interestingly the show comes down on the side of nature in the nature vs nurture debate. The overwhelming suggestion is that no matter how much Lex pulls away from the socialization he received from his father, deep down he really is his father's son. The final moment of the episode suggests this when Lionel - who's reverted back to his evil ways after an awakening encounter with the evil Lex - says:

Lionel: A man can’t deny his true nature, can he, Lex? No. We’re Luthors. ... We’re Luthors.

I think the repetition emphasizes the similarity between father and son, and that despite Lex's fondness for the Kents, he'll never be like them (thank god, there's only so much sickly sweetness I can take).

The problem with not having watched Smallville for 7 months and not having a good knowledge of the Superman mythology (I'm sadly not that well-versed in comics), is that I get confused. Clark says that Lex is split in two because of black kryponite, except that I have no recollection of Clark coming in contact with black kryponite nor do I know the significance of it. I have a feeling that Clark has encountered black kryponite on Smallville and that I just don't remember that (I have a horrible memory unless it's something that falls into an obsession, eg. Buffy, Veronica Mars, Anne of Green Gables).

Now that I've had this positive Smallville experience I'm actually looking forward to the next 5 episodes.

I'm excited to go home because I've taped the VM episode Weapons of Class Destruction and I might re-watch my favourite scene in it (hint: it involves kissing but not with Jonathan Taylor Thomas). Oh! I also have an Amazing Race episode to look forward to - I'm now watching season 4 and am hoping it'll help me get over the severe disappointment at Flo and Zack beating Ken and Gerard.