DVD, Smallville S5 (Lexmas)
I can't decide if I like this or not. Maybe I can talk myself round one way or the other. A Christmas episode was completely unexpected and something I could never have foreseen - the series just isn't that type of show, it doesn't do 'special' themed episodes like that. Not that that's a bad thing, but it was a bit jarring at first, and I have to say that as far as the twinkling lights and sparkling glows went I found them rather garish, a strange admission to make watching it in the run up to Christmas time! Lex' fall into a coma wasn't the sort of thing to impress, but a standard writer's device for carrying off an 'It's A Wonderful Life' or 'A Christmas Carol' style of story (both of which are referenced, Clark says Lex has a wonderful life, and Lex mentions Ebeneezer Scrooge). Again, it doesn't matter that it's not inventive because of the way it shows an alternate future, one we know will never happen, in which Lex finds love and happiness by turning his back on money and power, only for it to blow up in his face and become the lynchpin in his turn to the dark side.
I don't get what the intentions were with this story, beyond having some fun with the 'what if?' scenario. Is it telling us that Lex has no prospect for a happy life whatever he does? Is he destined to self-destruct whatever happens? It's a bleak message wrapped up in a big, red ribbon, which is the hardest thing to swallow in the story. It isn't hard to accept that Lex has realised what he wants and slowly is letting his grip on real life slip away as he moves towards the evil figure he should become, but it is hard to accept that he would dream of his Mother telling him that this was the only way he could go - short-lived happiness was all he could get in exchange for riches and status. Or is it all just something conjured up in his mind, and he's so bent towards his own wants that he came up with this scenario to convince himself he should stop at nothing to protect himself in life? Or did it all mean nothing and it was just a dream he's decided to take seriously?
The sad thing is that the need to control everything, even for good intentions such as the protection of loved ones, is what real people aspire to, and what can make people evil in real life. Yet they, and Lex, aren't seeming to see the truth of living - no matter how much money, how much control, you can never control everything. It's surely better to be happy in obscurity than trying to take hold of 'destiny' or the environment around you to the detriment of all else. Put it down to the madness Lex experienced in Season 3. He never went back to the totally friendly, true guy he had been and his own dark childhood has twisted him almost completely.
The other side of the story, the 'real world' as you might call it, features some fun little moments, such as Clark saving an old man from jumping off a building, and for the fact that Clark actually becomes Father Christmas for a bit, dashing round to deliver presents. I wonder if he left a trail of smashed in locks in his wake?! I wasn't quite so keen on the old guy turning out to really be Father Christmas, and, maybe this was a comment on the 'magic' of Christmas, but I found at times I almost wasn't sure if we were in Lex' head or in reality, so surreal was the episode, and so bright and twinkly were both settings! It pushes the envelope out even further, to suggest FC really was there, and that was one thing I thought might be explained away - he had special powers from meteorite-laced Vodka, or whatever. The other bit was why the girl shot Lex. He'd already handed the keys over to her boyfriend, and she actually seemed taken aback when he pulled a gun. I was sure there was going to be some explanation, some clever reason why she had been the one to shoot him instead of her boyfriend, beyond the immediate surprise of where the shot came from.
Dr. Scanlan is back again in the SMC, and I think the name Dr. Litvack had been mentioned in other stories, or seen. I still don't buy Lex' obsession with Lana, which came out of nowhere, even if he says he always loved her, and Mr. Kent's running for office seems more and more like it was only created to get rid of him, even though Jonathan being interested in political office is about as far from the character as you can go. No wonder John Schneider wanted out. Most of what I've written has been negative, mainly because those are the easier things to notice and remember, but I think I did edge towards thinking favourably overall - seeing Lex struggle with a baby seat, or driving some cramped old car, wearing jeans, was so far from his usual slick image adding moments of joyful oddness to the story.
Whether it would have been better to make the episode from the point of view of the coma as reality until we find out otherwise may not have worked as well, since we'd know it wasn't real and he was going to wake up at some point, and also would have negated the option for Clark Claus to show up. He'd better watch out - already Chloe's using emotional blackmail to take advantage of his skills! So I can't give any points for originality, or even style, but whether it's the Christmas spirit coming through or the smaller elements that popped up here and there, I'm going to be generous and officially mark it as a good episode. Up until the totally unhappy ending.
***
Monday, 13 December 2010
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