Everything Old is New Again

[rivkat]

Well.

Actually, I'm pretty much speechless.

Nope, I lied. Incoherence isn't the same thing.

After I watched Angel (thank you, TiVo!), I said to Z. "I can't imagine that Smallville will approach the wonderfulness of that last minute of Angel." I had no idea -- I was slightly expecting either Dru or Wesley when Eve started blabbering.

Not only is Lindsey back, he & his evil hand have been hitting the gym pretty seriously, no? It's a miracle the neighbors didn't bang on the walls to keep me silent.

The whole Dru thing didn't move me -- is it my imagination, or has Boreanaz's Irish accent stayed just as bad as ever? And Slick Willy seems to have dropped his educated diction really quickly.

Then I turned to Smallville. I've never been so glad to be wrong.

"Are you with me or against me?" I'm glad I held off from fainting, because then! Lex killed another man to save Clark, just like Nixon! (Or I thought so.) And then! Clark destroyed another car to save Lex's life! And Lex saw it, and knew he'd been right all along, just like in Clark's dream! And then Clark left to preserve his secret, leaving Lex to be regarded as a crazy guy and stuck in a loony bin -- Lex was just jumping the gun a little on the "Judas kiss" accusation; he wasn't wrong.

Although, in fairness, given that we now know the nice doctor is in cahoots with Lionel, even if Clark had backed up Lex's crazy story Lex still would have been put in the padded room, so it wasn't really a betrayal. It just played one on TV.

This, this is my bulletproof kink, the storyline that grabs me around the throat and shakes me like an insolent kitten: Tragedy as the machine of the gods, making every right decision lead to the next bad outcome. The gift of the Magi, Lex destroying himself for Clark and Clark sacrificing almost everything -- forsaking all others, turning his back on his parents, endangering Lana -- only to see it all shattered like Edge's Kryptonite rosary. Fate or free will? Can we know the difference?

Also, anyone who doubts that Lionel loves Lex is wrong. Anyone who thinks that love is some sort of excuse is still more wrong. Lionel loves, and he's evil. Not mutually exclusive.

Finally: Pete? Has that fatal head injury caught up to you at last?

Comments

[ter369.livejournal.com]

This, this is my bulletproof kink, the storyline that grabs me around the throat and shakes me like an insolent kitten: Tragedy as the machine of the gods, making every right decision lead to the next bad outcome

I'm nodding my head at this analogy and definition. I love to be surprised, too, which is why I view spoiler free, for that moment of leaping up to shout, "Oh.My.Gawd!"

Only a few shows can offer that thrill.

[tobyfan.livejournal.com]

Also, anyone who doubts that Lionel loves Lex is wrong.

Amen. That whole revelation made me oddly misty.

[garryowen.livejournal.com]

This is why I love you. Thank you thank you thank you for picking up on these ceaseless repetitions on the show. They prove the inexorability (is that a word) of the final outcome. It is very Greek. And very tragic. It totally makes me high.

And, yes, Lionel has the most twisted love ever. Just because we can't understand it, doesn't mean it isn't there.

[ladydey.livejournal.com]

I knew that I missed Lindsey, but I didn't realize how much 'til he was back and half-naked. If they do nothing else with him I was happy for that. "Evil-hand" has to be one of my all time favorite Angel episodes.

As for Smallville, I am still a misty-eyed squeeing girl. Lionel have more free rein to screw with Lex, even if he calls it love, is never going to be a good thing. And he said Lucas was nuts because of his mother, yeah right. I think those sociopathic tendencies are paternally related.

yep yep

[(Anonymous)]

I completely agree; this has been the best Smallville episode since I-don't-know-when.
The best part about it, though, is that until January there's going to be tons of fantastic Lex!Hurt fanfics in response.
Perhaps some of them will come from you...? (Wink, wink, hint, hint)

BTW, /Loved/ Ruat Caelum.