How many licks does it take to get to the center of Lex's mind?

Tune in Thursday night to find out!

OMIGOSH. I am weeping happy buckets and I haven't loved an episode this much since S3. Thank you Caroline Dries (screenplay) and Turi & Al (story) I'd forgotten SV could be like this….

And it's not just the Clex scenes that work: Lex/Lionel, Lex/Kara, and Chloe/Clark…just one amazing scene after another. Lois is likeable; Lana is almost entirely absent. (When Clark flat-lines, why is Chloe the only one to run in? Did the Pink get bored waiting for her boyfriend to come back from the dead or something?)

Young!Lex: "Trust me, Clark. You're my best friend…."

Clark: "Trust me, Lex, there's nothing that's lost that can't be found again…."

*SQUEE* Good Lex lives on! Thank you, Chloe!

Holy shit!
Awesome: Clark inside Lex's mind and finding young Alexander who only wants to be his friend. Soooo sweet!
Clark witnessing Lionel's abuse. Is he going to call him out on it? Not in this epi!
Clark and Chloe actually address her power! Yeah he hasn't forgotten it and it still freaks him out.
Chloe died. Again. But this time a little worse.

Hate:
Lois. Shoehorned much?!
Too much unexplained.

I found the whole thing very contrived. The best parts are Clark with young!Lex. Clark's last talk with young!Lex is very touching.

Continuity with the call back to Ollie's Rage cure!

What the hell is up with Lana's look? They're trying so hard to make her look mature (ie. "brilliant") but they just ended up with drab.

Initial Impressions

Cue the Strings of Drama and kudos to those of you who said it was going to start in the middle.
Did we miss another big chunk of Offscreenville? Why is Lois pursuing Lex again? And no Grulian wasn’t mentioned.

And we may have proof that Clark’s attachment to THRJ is pathological - why else would he be wearing it in a dreamscape. Incidently, when you're in a pensieve they can't hear you Clark.

That’s not how I envisioned Clark and Lex lying next to one another. The library scene was much gayer. Although Lex and the pie comment gave me a chuckle. And the “In Phase” light took my mind to the slash place.

And that Clark is how you be a hero, let Chloe show you.

Oh Lex that’s my evil mastermind -

See if these characters are kept far away from Lana their intelligence rises amazingly and so does my enjoyment of the episode. And having Lana and Chloe do exposition side by each only shows how AM does it better, particularly with the big words.

Lionel - even if you've had the Clark & AI re-boot, saying I love you to Lex is not going to magically heal the abuse of years you visited on him.

Interesting how the scenes in Detroit looked so much like the scene with Warrior Angel, Rachel, and Devilicus in Action. Maybe Lois is going to buy the farm. Not the Kent farm, I mean. You know... get killed. ;)

And Lex's St George box!


TW nailed that speech. That's when I really started crying. The actor playing young Lex was excellent too.


Clark: "What you did for me....it goes beyond friendship."


Man, the horrified look on Clark's face...."Memoria" made it seem like Lionel hitting Lex might be one-time thing; this episode proves otherwise. Very creepy how Lionel hits Lex, then strokes his face (Callback to "Asylum.") A reminder of how very scary JG can be when he wants to be.

You know I squeed when he said this. Very nice scene even if it leaves a lot of unanswerd questions.

And Lex's pie comment: yay! quiet Martha shout out!

For those following the recent coffee as a symbol of a third wheel in a triangle theory: Lex drinks coffee served to him by Kara while Kara's stalker boyfriend looks on. Hmmmm....

Ewww. The Lexana sex scene was unnecessary.

The Lexana scene was probably another shipper bone - last one left after Persona.

Heh, I thought it was funny because of the way Bad!Lex was clutching Clark's face and forcing him to watch: look, there's me naked! It will make for some delightful Clex screencaps.

I'm thinking that the triangle is actually Lex/Kara/Jimmy, but will see. Keep posting. I'll keep refreshing.

It certainly was. As I said in the spoiler thread - I didn't come here for the Goughlar's fantasies.

OTOH - TW is always good with kids, MR and AM. If Clark can take away the fact of looking for the good in people and going all out when you have a gift and can help, you just do it, then the episode is worth something.

Also, it's a bit of stretch but there's a little something in Fracture for Chlexers and Chlionelers. Hell even Lexarthaers if you really stretchhhh it. (Lex sure remembers that other pie fondly ;) ).

Young!Lex really was a good child actor. I wanted to "Saaave him..." Poor woobie.



I'm just thinking within the scene itself. But yeah this might pop up later. Poor Jimmy. Last girlfriend he felt he was competing with a hunky (superhero) best friend. Now he'll be competing with a sexy billionaire genius. I feel for him I really do.

I keep thinking this is foreshadowing Chloe's death. 18 hours is a long time. If she heals Clark directly sometime in the future, that could be it.

Then again, it could be a red herring (like in S5) but ....I'm worried for our intrepid reporter.

And folks, they keep going back to Lana for ISIS data on Lex. They've legitimized that spying at this point. Why does Clark let Lana keep looking at Lex? Just...ewwww. Let someone else do the job, not your girlfriend.

I think there's a world of difference between looking into Luthorcorp projects, which is what this was, and Lana sitting around watching Lex in every room of his house. One is no different from what Oliver does, or what Chloe was doing for Oliver. The other is creepy and stalkerish.

As for what Clark will "let" Lana do, he's her boyfriend not her boss. Probably as long as she doesn't take it to the extreme, and nothing here suggests she has, then I doubt he'd really object. Especially when the information is gathered for the purpose of trying to help someone, i.e. Kara.

Oh hush, that's all I have left of my theory that the fantasy episodes are all about Lana. It was such a good theory too. It worked so well. Sigh.

I'm worried for Chloe's life too. I think the show gives us reason to both believe in Chlois and prepare for her death. They're covering all their bases.

After all these Chloe repeated 'deaths', I think any permanent one would be anticlimactic at this point, and unnecessary- it wouldn't help anything. Beside with Chloe in the comics now, tptb will want to milk their original character for all she's worth to leave their mark on the mythos, not kill her off.

Actually I'm interested to see what would happen to Chloe if she tried to heal Clark...I don't see how it would hurt her, anymore than Lois' stab wound, or Lex's gunshot. I think the "worst" that could happen is her getting healed and not being an immortal anymore.

One thing they've left hanging, and there's no real plausible reason why except to stall the plotline a little longer, is Lana not knowing about Chloe's meteor power. She should have just been in the next room, so did she not see Chloe being moved or at any point in the those 18 hours? Are she and her foundation still out of the loop as far as freak!Chloe is concerned? Gaah! Inconsistencies abound!

Even if Chloe were to seemingly die healing Clark, who's to say she doesn't just take a really long time to come back to life.

I think it is more of a red herring. We have two examples of the ToS killing Chloe mostly... but not all the way. Heck, the second time she was in contact (at least indirectly) with two people. Just like Chloe going to work fot the JL or Chloe deciding to leave journalism, Chloe dying from the ToS has been brought up as an endgame, and eliminated IMO. Of course, who knows what will happen if they get a season eight?Because they need to figure out some way to keep Lana involved in the story? No matter how absurd or convoluted? I don't care how many episodes they show it in, HackerLana is just another Mary Sue magic skill for Lana, not more or less legitimate than any of th the others. She will probably get confused by her VCR in one of the new post-strike episodes.

Lana: Clark, why didn't you tell me where the manual was? Why are you keeping secrets? I am going to stay with Nell!
Clark: Huh?

I figured though it took longer for Chloe to come back considering she ended up having to save two people, one being human and one being non-human. Also what would be the use of Chloe having the power to heal if it had a shelf life.

Even though I'm happy with the Chlex fix here, I'm a little disappointed this is the Chloe healing moment Craig was referring to. I was hoping she'd use it on Clark in Traveler.

But all the same, it's awesome to see Clark's concern and being possessive over Chloe this season, it's like she's trying to push him away (in "Cure" and now in "Fracture") with her "I'm a big girl. I can do what I want. Why are you so clingy? " attitude. But Clark won't let go. So, I wonder what kind of showdown this is heading toward.

Oh yeah, I like the sound of his "what you did was more than friendship' line. Awww. I really do believe those two would be willing to give their lives for the other. Too cute.

Ha! My theory is that Caroline Dries always uses a Lana Trojan Horse to sneak a great Clex-plot past Goughlar. (as in "Nemesis")

I did love how Lex said he was trying to call Clark but Lana kept hanging up on him. Lana, you bitch!

And it's interesteing that, just as in "Onyx", when Lex is divided his "good" side heads straight for Clark and his "bad" side wallows in cheesy Lana memories.


And why does Lana have a cross-section of Lex's head on her computer? I want one of those!


And Clexers finally got our bone and it's a good, long-lasting one!

I thought the episode was really great. The only thing that I was disappointed with was the scene between Clark and Chloe at the end. It was good, as far as it went, but there was so much left unsaid and so many long pauses. I wanted to smack the BDA in the back of the head and say "spit it out! We haven't got all night!"

I admit that I have no idea where they are going with Chloe and death. My first impression was that Chloe will die permanently next time. My second impression was to wonder if this is intended to tie in with Clark's phobia about living forever alone. Definitely, I think she will be faced with the need to heal Clark at some point and the consequences for her will be profound. Just what exactly those consequences will be, I have no idea.

I don't think Chloe is currently immortal, as evidenced by her inability to heal the wound she received last week at the hand of the Black Canary. Of course, it does not follow that she might not yet become immortal. The nice thing about Kryptonite is that it does whatever the writers need it to do.

On a totally shallow note: Chloe's hair and purple outfit was too cute this epi!

You know what else I noticed? Clark will sometimes say what he thinks about Chloe off-hand and without thinking about it. Like, "she's smarter than both of us", and "smart won't help when she's stuck on a roof top...". And he compliments her too on occasion. But he's also mentioned having to describe Chloe in a way but we don't get to hear what he would say. For example, in Progeny with the "Chloe Sullivan bio" we never get to hear, and tonight with "I've been sitting here seriously thinking about what I would say at your funeral...", that again we don't get to hear. Could be that they are saving a big reveal of his thoughts about Chloe's "bio" for a Chlark/Chlois declaration of love, or her funeral. Or trying to refresh her memory after a mindwipe.
I may be reaching of course, but when Clark says things like "I've been thinking what I'd say about you", I'm not the only viewer saying "What?! What would you say about her?!", am I?

I think the role reversal of Clark being the one dealing with the uncertainty over his superpowered best friend's life gives him a new appreciation for what Chloe has gone through since learning about his secret. All those unanswered phone messages when he is in danger or missing and those hours waiting at home base for him to return from some dangerous mission SUCKED more than he ever realized because Chloe was so brave about it. Clark couldn't understand the sheer awesomeness of how Chloe has handled everything that goes with being the sidekick until she got this power. In a way he is getting to know Chloe for the first time.

IA, Bob about the figuring out some way of keeping Lana in the storyline. They could easily have had Chloe or Lionel or Oliver uncover the same information. And what was up with the Drab!Lana wardrobe. We're not going to take her any more seriously if they put her in "grown-up" clothes or glasses. I think since they had to ditch the Pink, they haven't been able to find a style for her - just as with the magical abilities - and they keep jumping around trying to find one.

I also take tonight's episode as a the next thing to conclusively saying that Lex has some kind of mutant healing power. I know he didn't heal himself tonight, but how else can he have survived the bullet to the frontal lobe. Although I thought they cheated on the gore factor. Wasn't evil busboy close enough for it to be a through and through. However, it could give them an out with the conflict between Evil!Lex and NotEvil!Lex - the bullet is pressing on parts of his brain. :)

I'm most disappointed that the flash vision I saw of the hanging meat didn't appear - I was convinced Kara and Lois were in a meat-locker, not a car junkyard. And does the toppling pile o' wrecks count as reverse-continuity to Clark and pile o' pick-ups.

There was no indication that Lana is still spying on Lex. All Lana says is that she couldn't find out what Lex was doing in Detroit very probably doing nothing more than Chloe would do if she still had access at the DP, which I assume Lex has cut off at this point. Given that, Lana is about the only other choice they have. As for the project, that was Lionel's, not Lex's.

I've just sort of powered through the episode and there's a lot to process, but I think this is two in a row that I've liked, aside from the utterly rushed plot in order to get Clark in Lex's mind. I would have liked there to have been more urgency, because frankly, Clark could have searched all of Detroit in about 5 minutes and found Lois and Kara on his own, but they just sort of steamrolled right through that and went right into the complicated and life threatening mind probing procedure! Oh, show.

Lex gets shot in the head and they medvac him to Smallville? Was I the only one who started laughing uncontrollably when Lionel started going on about the neurosurgeon while there?

Moving on, Clark again was strong I thought in this episode. I wasn't keen on his final scene with Lex after everything, but he got the right point across. Him and Alexander? Priceless. Their final scene was just awesome and that little boy was adorable. I'm also glad we finally got a Chlark chat about Chloe's power and Clark not letting Chloe just brush it off.

The rest was all right. I really didn't care for the Kara-Lois plot, but I am glad they didn't just magically give Kara her memory or powers back, and that we're going to get more Kara-Lex.

Overall, the plot was full of holes and there was so much unexplained, but since that's about par for the course, what we did get was worth it this time around.

At this point, I don't understand how they would be certain that was it. She's actually died twice and come back to life, quite a while later. Having a doctor declare her dead would be irrelevant, because we've already seen that she can be declared literally dead, or have her heartbeat stop for eighteen hours, and still revive. Would Clark ever allow her to be buried, knowing she might resuscitate herself at some point a la Snow White? Could the show ever make it completely and unequivocally clear that she was really dead, and that it's impossible for her to come back to life? It seems to me that the best they could do now is ambiguity, with Chloe's corpse being kept in a refrigerated drawer and Clark always keeping a hopeful ear out for her heartbeat. Morbid, to say the least, but not irrevocably final.

I just don't see this setup as leading toward her death, but as having more to do with the immortality arc from earlier in the season.

That is too cute, about what Clark said. I just think, at this point, what would a Chloe permanent death possibly accomplish? And from Al and Miles perspective, since she's been introduced into the comics, I see no reason why they would kill her off. They're too smug about their work. We've already seen Clark's reaction to her death like three times on this show, so what difference would one more time make.

Unless, I think it would actually make for a pretty dramatic scene if Chloe did use her power to save him, against his will, and he thinks she's dead for good, pours out his heart when he thinks she can't hear, and then she opens her eyes and she's heard all of it. Now that would be sweet.

But anyway, I'm surprised it doesn't sound like there wasn't much Clark and Lana in this episode...or Clois interaction? That's kind of different.

"I couldn't figure out what Lex was doing in Detroit but I may have found something even more helpful"

So Lana is the one who comes up with the idea of using Project Intercept to poke around in Lex's brain.




But we don't need a death for angst and her survival would be a wonderful motivator for hope.

Motivation by triangles, yes. Jealousy, yes. But not so by much death from what I've seen. I didn't see Alicia, Jonathon's, or Chloe's "death" in Season 4 or Labyrinth inspiring him to do much of anything. They only served to make him feel more isolated and shameful of his powers than ever.

If Chloe dies, permanently that is, the one thing we know from this shows history is that Clark will put the blame on himself...even if Chloe did it of her own free will I don't think he'd be able to live with the guilt of knowing he is the reason why is best friend is no longer here.

I think Chloe 'dying' yet again in this episode, just makes a permanent Chloe death seem less and less dramatic in the long run.

Okay, so plotholes abound and we could spend alot of time on any of them....but....I think Lana just taking off when Clark was in danger is not a plothole or a just poor writing ploy to keep Chloe's secret from her. Perhaps she's digging up more data for some reason. IDK. But how does Clark explain how Lex got healed? Does he use the Lionel lie? Then we're back to that same old secrets and lies plotline. How does he explain where he has gone for 18 hours? I could see the 18 hour bit be "I had to help Chloe with something", but Lex's recovery and how Clark survived it? I think we'll see some later reason why she was gone. It's deliberate, not just convenient.

And Lexana sex....I think that is probably the farthest SV has pushed this kind of a scene. The implication was they were not preparing to... they were "in the act". Well, for pity's sake. Goughlar.... please.... KK needs a restraining order. IF there was something other than Goughlar perversion (highly unlikely), I would think that it's undermining Clark's feelings for Lana. Clark was so deeply in love with her. All year I've felt they've push Lana too dark -- the shovel to the face, the bear trap, really harsh power trip in Wrath, preferring Bizarro, etc. It's like they have to use a small thermonuclear device every week (Wrath, Persona, Siren, Fracture) to change his feelings for her in order to set up romantic Clana ending. If he was having intimacy issues before, I can't see it getting better. For all the talk of Lanaville, the "Gouglar are sadomasochists" theory seems to be winning in my mind -- I did not see any Lana-love from the writers tonight.

I also agree that Clark is not going to bury Chloe until the body decays. Gross but true. It's hard to pull that kind of a scene off. A bit too "Gone with the Wind" and Bonnie Blue Butler. So this is probably the best rationale for why she wouldn't actually die (IMO). Of course the Snow White stasis theory is amusing. But who would play the dwarves?

I can picture it now. Lana will feed her some apple pie and she will go into a deep coma...or maybe Sleeping Beauty. Only a kiss from a handsome alien prince would wake her of course.



Oh, she's not? Why?

Aside from the obvious "OMG let's have KK be naked!" aspect of it, I do think this is what it was for. Lana was wearing her wedding ring so the audience at least knows this is not a true memory, but something evil!Lex was showing Clark to taunt him. Clark, of course, doesn't know what we know so he will have to consider the possibility it was a true memory, so I do think it was to put yet another chink in the Clana armour, as it puts into question for Clark as to when, exactly, Lana's feelings for Lex changed - if they ever have. After all, he knows Lionel forced Lana into the marriage.

I don't know exactly why, but I read over on K-site that an announcement was made that her character was not going to be included in the Superman comics.

I think figuring out motivation on Smallville is a tricky thing. Something doesn't motivate someone...until it does. And vice versa. So, could Chloe's death be used as a motivator for Clark? It could. Would it be good writing? Well, that question answers itself. Though they might want to use Chloe's death more as a motivator for someone else, rather then Clark.

All of these are possibilities. Certainly they seem to be going somewhere with the TOS. Having Chloe save Lex and Clark makes it into a very big freaking deal. So, I don't think its something they are going to forget about, or have it go away (again, this is SV, so there's always that possibility).

I tend to think its more foreshadowing of Chloe choosing a different path in life rather then her dying. But I think making predictions with SV is a bit like playing lotto. Its a total shot in the dark. ;)

I could understand the Lexana scene if it was done for a specific reason, leading up to something. Is it a coincidence that they show something like this one week after we have Clark bringing up Lana falling for Lex? It could be, of course. But I'd like to think it wasn't. But then again, without some sort of follow-up scene for Clana in this episode, its hard to know. But I would like to believe that they are making it more and more plausible that Clark would choose to end this romantic relationship.

Oh, I see it now! That is....interesting. Really interesting. I hadn't heard that before but now I wonder why. Hm.

Well, anyway, with so little Lana in Fracture, that's kind of funny considering there's not much Lana in "Hero" either right?

Seriously, why don't they just break up already.

Clark's shock over the scene didn't last too long; he certainly didn't brood over it for the rest of the episode. I did wonder if hearing Lana tell Lex she loved him, after Lana just last week told Clark he's the only one she's ever loved, was meant to sow another seed of doubt in Clark.

And yeah, poor KK (not that straddling Rosenbaum is a chore or anything!) but they do love to put her in exploitative scenes. Of course, what turned me on about that scene was evil!Lex with his hands all over Clark's face and almost humping him from behind: woof!


Based on "Nemesis" and "Action", Caroline Dries seems to like to write villainous Lana; since this story line didn't have a role for villain!Lana, her air-time was mercifully brief.

Gayest line of the episode:

Clark to Lionel: If Lex wakes up, he'll never know I was in there, right?

Hey, Omar already made that joke!

As to the Chloe death omens....she's already healed Lois, Lex, Clark and Jimmy. Wouldn't sacrificing herself again for one of them be rather anti-climactic? (Unless she dies to save Lana which will cause the internets to explode!)

One other thing about Lana and Isis. I don't object to Clark using her resources because she is not spying on Lex with cameras and that kind of crap, but this can't go on every episode, IMO. The last thing that I want to see is the show turn into Lana using her resources to give other characters an edge on Lex every week. Once in a while is ok, I just don't want to see it happen all of the time.

Hey! Don't you dare even go there, Mister. LOL

Personally, I think a Chloe "death" death would be more climactic with a "death" like Charlie's first one when he's found hanged- where no matter what they try they can't revive her, he'd try like crazy to revive her but can't. And when all hope is lost and Clark's already in mourning over it out comes a gasp of air.

Of course that might be similar to Chloe's several other 'death's', but as far as Clark's history of dealing with death is concerned I don't think he'd be able to handle the guilt he'd feel over it. It'd help him more than hurt him, imo.

And I've had enough depressed Clark on this show.

Also in this ep, I'm glad after totally dropping it they brought up the Karex again but this is lame. They should have follwed up with it in Wrath or Blue when Kara still had her memories and had reason to trust Lex a little post-Lara. I'd have much rather seen smart, suave Lex chasing after Kara than the Kryptonian love triangle of doom and idiocy. Having Kara/Supergirl with no powers and no memories is lame. She didn't share anything about Krypton with Clark while she lived with him and now she can't. The only thing she can do is not cost the FX department money.

Also, I hate Clana. I loathe it in so many ways I can list them all night long. However, it's weird to have them have a huge blow out and this reconciliation of Clark rel-losing his balls last week, and then back to what exactly? Lanapedia as plot device? A cold kiss on the cheek isn't epic romance or the sweetness (pun intended) we saw between her and Not!Clark in persona, but it's still more affection that she's shown Real!Clark all season save for sexquakes in Wrath. Are they back to twu wuv? What does it all mean? Is everything just honkey dorey after she killed someone and slept with Biz? Blank slate for Lanacakes again? I love having only 2 min of Lana per episode. However, it feels as cheap to have Lana disappear and not be around for MF chloe showing off her powers, talking with Clark about the Lexana ramifications, or even showing concern for Clark as it does for Lois to just magically be in Detroit.

The SV story writing gets more and more full of plot holes as the series progresses. It's like watching cheese cloth.

Still curious to wonder exactly what type of story Lois thought she was writing up at the end:

Lex Luthor meets with senator's niece?

I got knocked unconscious again?

Crime in Detroit is high?

For those that don't mind being completely spoiled, a review is up on this blog.

*dead*

Oh, show. How dare you continue to toy with me this way? ETA: Thanks, nzs.

Can someone make Goughlar disappear and have CD run the show?

Thanks nzs, you always hit all the good parts. I really really appreciate the details. I'm glad Chloe reminded Clark that both should stay alive.

Thank you nzs! Little Alexander and Clark are too cute! Makes my Clex heart happy!