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Lexmas is currently the only Christmas episode of Smallville. The episode starts out with Lex going to a meeting in a dangerous area of Granville. He’s making plans to get Jonathan Kent out of the senate race. Lex is shot when a couple of junkies steal his car.
When he “wakes up” he is lying in bed next to Lana. A young boy runs in and calls him daddy. Not only that, but Lana is pregnant. He is very confused, and asks some crazy questions to figure out what is going on. He is married to Lana and their son’s name is Alexander. They have a middle class income, as Lex was cut off from his father when he married Lana. Lex takes Alexander to find a Christmas tree, and runs into Clark and Chloe. They are all still friends. They remind him that they’ll see him later at the annual Kent’s Christmas party. Lex and Lana attend the party, and Lex is honored by Jonathan and the community. This has to be Lex’s perfect life, right?
Well, no. Lana goes into labor, but there are complications. Lex goes to Lionel for his influence and money in getting the best doctors. Lionel turns him down, and says he made his choice. Lana dies, and Lex wakes up again. This time he is in the hospital, having had a risky surgery that Lionel approved to keep him from being paralyzed. Throughout this whole thing, Lex has been “seeing” his mother, Lillian. She tells him that if he chooses correctly this could be his life. He could be happy. After seeing the death of Lana, Lex concludes that money and power are the way to true happiness. This is the moment where Lex makes a choice that will take him down the dark path to becoming the evil Lex Luthor.
Also in this episode, Chloe has Clark help deliver toys to underprivileged children. He runs into a drunk Santa, thinking of committing suicide. Clark saves him, and Chloe’s presents are magically delivered.
I really enjoyed this episode of Smallville. It could’ve been just a throwaway episode, like many holiday episodes are, but it wasn’t. This is a major event in Lex Luthor’s life. It’s a very big deal that he makes the choice to go down the darker path. He’s been fighting with his darker side for years, but here he chooses to embrace it.
Seeing the alternate future is lots of fun, too. Michael Rosenbaum is such a funny guy in real life, but you don’t get to see much of that in the character of Lex. It was great to see him smiling and laughing for a change. It’s also really fun to see where Clark, Chloe, and the Kents end up.
