NOTE: Major spoilers and plot twists are revealed in this review! If you don’t want to be spoiled but haven’t yet seen this episode, maybe you should go watch it now. This is another awesome episode.
Recap:
Lex discovers an old crony of his dad’s, Griff, is willing to find (or even manufacture) information that would derail Jonathan’s senatorial campaign. Lex hesitates to take Griff up on his offer. He then gets shot by carjackers and dreams that he wakes in the future next to a very pregnant Lana. He is even more surprised by his young son, Alex, jumping into bed with them. Afterwards his deceased mother (Special Guest Alisen Down) appears to him and tells him that this life could be his if he makes the right choices.
Back in the present, Clark and Lana share Christmas-time bliss before Chloe ropes Clark into delivering toys to needy kids. In the dream sequence, Lex runs into Clark and Chloe at the Christmas tree lot and discovers Clark is a reporter at the Daily Planet. Chloe thanks him for helping with her book exposé on Luthorcorp. Back in present time, Lionel takes charge of Lex’s care much to the consternation of the doctor and decides to proceed with a risky operation. While out delivering gifts, Clark finds a “Santa” that is suicidal.
Back to Lex’s dream future, Lex tells Lana about the bleak Christmases he spent with dear old dad and they have their own little moment of Christmas bliss. Back to the present time, Clark talks Santa out of jumping and then saves his life when he falls.
In Lex’s dream, Jonathan toasts Lex as the best man he knows. Lex confesses to Clark that he can’t believe Lana fell for him, but Clark tells him he finally became the man she could love. Lana goes into labor and delivers a girl but then hemorrhages and is given little chance to live.
Lionel is again the Magnificent Bastard and refuses to help get Lana to a specialist and she dies, but not telling Lex he should never change. Lex is inconsolable but his Mom shows up again. He asks her why this life is so great when his wife has died, but his Mom tells him that this life is filled with love.
In the present Chloe is visited by Santa and he offers to help distribute the toys but mysteriously disappears, along with all the gifts. Lex is angry with Lionel for risking his life on such low odds of survival. Chloe tells Clark that she thought it was the real Santa, but he’s skeptical. Back at the hospital, Lex tells Griff to find something on Jonathan, or make it up if he has to. The key to happiness is the power needed to keep what he loves safe and he means to have it all, no matter what.
Review:
Wow. Is this season amazing, or what?
I think by this time last year there were like three or four sub par episodes and I’m not sure there’s really been one of those yet so far this season. Well… maybe aside from Aqua.
This episode was terrific and close to brilliant. As much as I liked Obsession and Pariah, this is probably scribe’s Holly Harold’s best Smallville work to date. Maybe she should write Lex more often. Excellent pacing, a teaser that actually teased, wonderful dialogue, great act break cliff hangers, terrific romantic moments, tragic drama, and Lex unrepentantly taking a big step onto a darker path made this a fantastic episode. I also loved that this story showed a perfect world from Lex’s skewed dream perspective. Of course he would marry Lana in his perfect world. It could happen, maybe. However, I cannot see any reality that would have Jonathan think anyone other than Clark is the finest man he knows.
Lex dreams big.
I think the script’s only flaw was the cheesy b-story with Santa. I almost would have preferred him to have been a drunk that was redeemed by Clark’s and Chloe’s altruism instead of a hammered suicidal Santa. I don’t know… Perhaps Santa was just playing a part to find out what Clark was up to. However, if he was the real Santa wouldn’t he have known that without pretending to be an inebriated potential suicide?
Anyway, the biggest standout of this episode was Michael Rosenbaum. Michael hasn’t had much happiness to play for poor Lex lately and he clearly had a great time playing a lighter side of his usually more somber character. I loved the scene where the totally flummoxed Lex woke up next to Lana. He played that perfectly. But Michael went with apparent ease from lighter comedic moments like that to Lex’s desperation when he found himself descending into the nightmarish reality of Lana dying and not being able to stop it.
The scene where Lex confronts Lionel was nigh on brilliant and then Michael actually kicked it up another notch for Lana’s death bed scene. He was amazingly authentic with Lex’s grief and the despair he felt at being unable to save Lana. What a brilliant scene for Michael. I also loved the cold determination he played once he was awake and finally back in control.
Lex decided it was better to be in control and be powerful than to be helpless and happy. As surprising a lesson that was for him to take away from his experiences in this episode, Michael totally sold that. That’s a pretty long leap to make believably and yet Michael had Lex’s actions make sense. This kind of complexity shows yet again that Michael’s Lex is possibly the best live action version of the character so far. He was truly astounding in this episode and this is probably some of his best work in the series.
I was impressed with how good Michael Rosenbaum looked in this episode. Not that he’s ever in any way looked less than fit, but I can’t remember his pecs and abs looking this fantastic before. Maybe Lex should be shirtless more often.
Kristin Kreuk’s performance in this episode was one of her best. Her Lana was sparkling and in love, which made her radiantly beautiful for most of the episode. Lana’s death bed scene was a revelation. Kristin’s performance brought tears to my eyes. She totally outdid herself and was truly marvelous.
I’m sorry Tom Welling didn’t have more screen time and that most of what screen time he did have was dedicated to a mostly lame b-story. I know Clark can’t be front and center in every episode, the show has to deal with Lex’s journey too, but if you’re going to relegate the star to the b-story at least have it mean something. I did enjoy Clark’s humorous role as Santa’s stand in. Clark taking the cookies and drinking the milk at Superspeed was very funny.
The supporting cast was again great. Allison Mack was awesome and totally gorgeous with the extensions in the dream sequences. I also loved seeing John Glover’s Magnificent Bastard back to his old evil self, even if it was only in Lex’s head.
Director of Photography Glen Winter did an outstanding job with this episode. I loved the soft focus in the dream sequences. That helped make brilliant what would have otherwise seemed an overenthusiastic use of Christmas tree lights by Production Designer Dave Willson. It just made everything look all the more festive. This was another beautifully shot episode which reminded me a great deal of another episode he shot, Memoria. It was just as beautiful and just as breath taking.
Helmer Rick Rosenthal did an excellent job with creating smooth transitions between the current time and Lex’s dream alternate reality. It was perfectly done and helped the episode shift seamlessly between the two. Going back and forth between current time and flashforwards, or flashbacks for that matter, usually ends up being choppy so I really liked what he did there.
Aside from the less than ideal b-story with the Santa, this episode was fun. It was great that they could turn what could have been another fluffy episode into one that included an extremely meaningful step on Lex’s journey to his evil destiny. Michael’s excellent performance took this episode to a higher level than it would have been otherwise. He more than made up for the silly Santa storyline.
I give this episode 4.5 twinkly Christmas trees out of a possible 5.
Note: The views of Triplet don’t necessarily represent the thoughts and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite. Send her feedback.
