(no subject)

[out_there]

There's 40 minutes to go on a Friday afternoon. You don't expect me to be working, do you?

I've been thinking about what happyminion mentioned about Lionel's past. I mentioned earlier how Lionel really has the ruthless ambition that I'd always liked in comic-Lex (or, in my case, "Lois and Clark"-Lex and movie-Lex, but sticking to comic-Lex is an easier reference *g*) so I'm not too surprised.

I am, however, vaguely disappointed about SV turning Lionel into comic-Lex. I should be happy. For all those who don't want to believe in the Clex rift, we have a perfect scapegoat. Of course Lex doesn't turn evil, Clark just fights against the way Lionel runs LuthorCorp. It's an easy out for Clex fics, and it's certainly makes the pairing easier to work with for futurefics. It also makes Lanning Cook's Identical Series incredibly convincing.

On the other hand, it's the show itself that I'm concerned about. I do like MR's Lex. Sure, he can be immature and bratty at times, but he's a hell of a lot of fun, and it's almost impossible not to like him. On the other hand, I liked comic-Lex, because he's a great villian. Intelligent, ruthless, ambitious; someone who enjoys their stature and power; who rather enjoys the fact that he doesn't have to play by the rules.

Now, what is the future for SV-Lex?

It's a certainty that SV is eventually going to turn Lex bad, but now I'm concerned about how evil he's going to be. I have a feeling that SV-Lex will be... well, to borrow a phrase from Dr Evil, "the diet pepsi of evil". Our Lex is emotional and concerned for others. He cares and he yearns; he still mourns his mother and longs for his father's approval. I can't actually see him as ever being cold-hearted enough to commit the atrocities that Lex Luthor is supposed to.

I don't think he's ever going to reach the depths of evil that Lionel seems easily capable of. And it saddens me that I think that one of my favourite shows is going to end up saddled with a villian who will never be as frightening, intimidating or downright enjoyable as his previous incarnations.

Of course, this feeling is also caused by the fact that I prefer Wendi's Leo Luthor series than the show canon. Man, I wanted that to be Lionel's background. I would have far preferred that the show stop making Lionel a symbol of pure evil, and make him understandable. I think that there was more promise in S1 of Lionel not being the devil and it was far more fun to be ambigious about his morals. To make us question how much of Lex's attitudes are caused by Lionel's cruelty, and how much is caused by Lex's own preconceptions about who Lionel is. A fic that explores this idea wonderfully is celli's Smoke and Mirrors.

Personally, I like the idea of Lex being someone who isn't seeing reality quite the way it is. I'm intrigued by the idea of Lionel being a caring father (albeit one who believes in harsh lessons and has difficulty expressing his love) and Lex being rather unstable and consistantly seeing things in the wrong light.

I think it would lead to Lex being a truly chilling villian, but I don't expect that network TV could actually get away with it. You can't have one of the most popular characters (in a show aimed at young people) be emotionally or mentally unbalanced. I'm not surprised by how SV is shaping up, but sometimes I long for the pure creep factor of the pilot, when the show was still rathe unnerving, before Lex had been so subtly white-washed.

What I need to remember is that as the idea of "Lex as a villian" becomes weaker, the idea of "Clark and Lex are Meant To Be" become more believeable.

If I get time, I'll come back and edit this post to include links to the fics mentioned.