****
"Lexmas" from Season 5
Smallville's grand Christmas episode is everything that a great Christmas special should be. It is heartwarming (evidenced when Clark plays Santa trying to deliver toys to underprivileged children, only to run into the real Santa Claus), and it is also a meditation on life and death, like all of the great Christmas stories of past (i.e., A Christmas Carol).
The episode gives Lex an Ebenezer Scrooge moment when he is shot and goes into a coma, having a near death experience, seeing what his life would be like if he does not decide to go down the dark path. The otherworld Lex shows the Smallville characters all smiles, best friends, and in love, with Lex married to Lana, lower middle class, but perfectly happy and content. Of course, things dip into tragedy when Lana dies in childbirth and Lex doesn't have the money to pay for the medical surgery to save her. Of course, when Lex finally awakes in reality, he chooses to go down the dark path, but it was nice to see what Lex could have been had he not become Clark's arch enemy and remained his best friend.
Of course, not only is this a great fluff episode, but it plays into the overall season arc of Lex running against Jonathan for state senate. Lex is contemplating throughout the entire episode about a decision to either drop out of the race or have a PI investigate Jonathan Kent to find a story that will ruin him in the public eye. When Lex decides at the end to try and ruin Jonathan so he can become senator, we see the evil glean in his eye, with his face half clouded in shadow.
The episode gives Lex an Ebenezer Scrooge moment when he is shot and goes into a coma, having a near death experience, seeing what his life would be like if he does not decide to go down the dark path. The otherworld Lex shows the Smallville characters all smiles, best friends, and in love, with Lex married to Lana, lower middle class, but perfectly happy and content. Of course, things dip into tragedy when Lana dies in childbirth and Lex doesn't have the money to pay for the medical surgery to save her. Of course, when Lex finally awakes in reality, he chooses to go down the dark path, but it was nice to see what Lex could have been had he not become Clark's arch enemy and remained his best friend.
Of course, not only is this a great fluff episode, but it plays into the overall season arc of Lex running against Jonathan for state senate. Lex is contemplating throughout the entire episode about a decision to either drop out of the race or have a PI investigate Jonathan Kent to find a story that will ruin him in the public eye. When Lex decides at the end to try and ruin Jonathan so he can become senator, we see the evil glean in his eye, with his face half clouded in shadow.
****
Tomorrow, it is here! My favorite episode of Smallville!
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