As the archenemy of the Man of Steel, Luthor’s villainy gets highlighted through his dastardly schemes, which involve him using his genius intelligence to conjure new threats for Superman to deal with. But one of the most important aspects of his character often gets missed: how much of a danger he poses as one of the one percenters who has a vice grip over the financial, political, and authoritative sectors. This side of Luthor is perfectly highlighted in the sixth episode of the final season, titled “A Regular Guy,” where Lex tries to take control over Smallville using this very power.Â
Previously, Lex squandered away his chance to reconcile with his estranged daughter, Elizabeth, in his manic pursuit of vengeance against Lois and her family. With Clark limiting his Superman activities and Jordan taking time off from his Superboy career, Jonathan, who has quickly grown into his newfound powers, stepped up big time. Lois appealed to Doomsday’s humanity—and by that I mean the humanity of mutated Bizarro Superman—and managed to convince him to leave her family alone for good. Lacking his strongest weapon against Superman, Lex begins to opt for a plan B to torment Lois further, to do which he needs to move his headquarters to Smallville.
Spoilers Ahead
Man of Steel Is Getting Old
Previously, Superman/Clark dealing with his newfound sense of mortality provided a poignant, humane outlook to his arc in the concluding season, and Superman and Lois episode 6 goes down a similar path by letting him face aging issues. Lois jokingly mentions that Clark is graying around the edges, which reminds Clark about the fact that he isn’t the same invincible protector he used to be. At the same time, he believes that people who look up to Superman shouldn’t have to deal with the thought that their friendly savior is getting older. Clark buys a hair dye, which Lana sees, and he gets immediately embarrassed. Later, as he shares his concerns with Lois, the fact that he is aging is a constant reminder to him about his powers not being at their optimum levels, which is concerning for him given the responsibilities he has to shoulder. Growing up and knowing his alien heritage, Clark always wanted to feel like a ‘normal’ human being—but he didn’t expect the ensuing burdens. However, as Lois reminds him, as an upside of aging, he and Lois will have the chance to grow old together, which, for Clark, is worth the burdens.Â
Coming of Age
Jonathan has been doing overtime in his duty as Superboy, pushing himself way too hard while saving people across the world. While Clark and Lois share their concerns about this matter with Jordan and ask him to talk to his elder brother, Jonathan retorts by calling out Jordan for backing off from his responsibilities as Superboy, which is what prompted him to take up additional duties. Instead of slacking off at home, Jordan listens to his parents’ advice and tries to seek a summer job at the diner, but Sarah isn’t eager to vouch for him as she feels conflicted about having her ex-boyfriend working shifts alongside her. Additionally, having powers, Jordan has options to seek out any alternatives to utilize his spare time, while for Sarah, it’s a regular drudgery from which she wants an escape. We have to keep in mind that between Kyle and Lana’s separation, having faced a DUI for drunk driving, breaking up with Jordan, and learning about the truth of the identity of the Kents, Sarah has gone through a lot—and understandably she is feeling exasperated with her life in Smallville. Getting the chance to spend time with her mother, Sarah finally asks her for permission to study abroad. Lana initially feels hesitant to come up with an answer, and this factors in later in the episode.
Lex’s Attempt To Take Over Smallville
With his daughter cutting him out of her life, Lex finally devotes himself completely to the task of bringing ruin to the Kent family, which will begin with Lexcorp headquarters shifting to Smallville. Lex’s assistant, Amanda, is less than enthusiastic about his decision, but she abides by her boss and brings Milton, Lex’s tech and business associate, to Smallville. Milton feels bewildered after learning of Lex’s plan, and his confusion increases further as Lois tracks down Amanda and has a heated argument with her over Lex’s motives behind settling in Smallville. Lois reveals to Amanda that, unbeknownst to her, Lex had met Elizabeth in Smallville, and had refused to be a part of her life for the sake of his revenge against Lois.
Lana has been extremely supportive towards Lois and Clark in this issue throughout, as she has actively tried to use her power as the Mayor of Smallville to stop Lex from acquiring land near Smallville, which now prompts Lex to pay a visit to her office, and he straight up threatens her. Later on, Lana learns that Lex has managed to convince an elderly resident of the town, Aidy Manning, to sell her land to him in exchange for five times the usual price of the land—and she takes Clark with her to warn Addie not to make a mistake such as this. Aidy agrees to Lana’s suggestion, but not because she told her to, but due to the fact that, like a number of townsfolk, she had witnessed Lois and her sons mourning the death of Superman and has been able to learn Clark’s real identity. Aidy, like other residents of Smallville, is beyond grateful for what Clark did for their town and the entire world, so when he says that Luthor is trouble, Addie refuses a financially lucrative deal without hesitation. Later on, Lex goes to the town’s pub to further threaten Lana and present Addie and all the present townsfolk with an exorbitant amount of money in exchange for the piece of land. It is understandable that for a self-centered egomaniac like Lex, flaunting money and power is the simple solution to force his will upon others, but Smallville stands up to him by siding with Addie and Lana. The present townsfolk get wary of Lex, seeing his antagonistic stance, and warn Aidy. Clark arrives there as well, after which Lex doesn’t feel it wise to escalate the situation any further and leaves. Lana’s defiant stance against Lex was commendable, to say the least, but for this she pays a price later on in Superman and Lois episode 6.
This time, Amanda doesn’t mince her words to convey to Lex how frustrated she is with Lex having his own secret agenda, his personal vendetta—all of which can bring down Lex’s business, which she had protected on her own over the last decade. Lex, who didn’t even consider his daughter to be more important than his ego, naturally tells Amanda that she needs to choose sides as he is unwilling to change his ways.
Clark and Lex Duke It Out
That night, Lex sends his henchman, Otis, to Lana’s house, who tries to kill her by strangling, but Sarah arrives just in time to rescue her mother and knocks the intruder out with a baseball bat. There is a reason why the Kent family couldn’t immediately arrive at Lana’s place, as Clark is already having issues with his powers, Jordan has left his superhero career in the backseat and isn’t focusing as much as he should have otherwise, and Jonathan is too exhausted after spending days flying across the globe and saving people. However, as the Kent family arrives at Lana’s place, the super-powered members of the family are understandably quite ashamed that Lana had to go through all this to protect them, but when she needed them most, they were absent. Clark is especially shaken after seeing strangulation marks on his best friend’s throat, and as Lana confides in Lois about fearing for her daughter Sarah’s life, Clark finally loses his cool and goes to Lex, screaming at the top of his lungs as thunder rages in the night sky.
Clark threatens Lex to leave Smallville; he has had just about enough of Lex and is done trying to reason with him. Lex responds by turning the street lights into red solar energy emitters, something he had secretly staged during his time in Smallville, which immediately depowers Clark and turns him into an average human. Clark and Lex engage in an old-fashioned street fight, trading punches and kicks, and against a crimson backdrop and a rainy atmosphere, it looks rad, to say the least. Initially Lex gains the upper hand, but even in his human form, Clark manages to overpower him. It’s funny how Lex was preparing himself by building himself up in prison, fueling his rage and hatred all the while, and despite all that, he lost to a depowered Clark. The Kent family arrives shortly after, and Clark feels ashamed as, in his anger, he had started strangling Lex, and the maniacal mastermind has a laugh over it. Clark delivers the knockout punch after warning Lex to leave the town, and after returning home, he and the twins plan to remain alert as long as Lex stays out of custody.
Lana is scarred mentally and appears apologetic in front of Sarah, considering it was her actions that brought Lex’s goon into their house and put their lives in jeopardy. However, Sarah stands by her mother’s decision on standing up against Luthor, as she knows that bullies like Lex feed on compliance and fear. Lana decides to allow Sarah to study abroad, much to her delight, and later on, as she shares the news with Jonathan and Jordan, the super-twins decide to give her an idea about possible college options by flying her to Greece.
Is Luthor Finally Out of Smallville?
With his pride and ego hurt, a humiliated Luthor returns to Metropolis, and Amanda approaches him to reveal that she has chosen to trust Lex after all. Additionally, as the episode ends, she puts the idea of using a battlesuit in Lex’s mind, as she seems supportive towards his quest for vengeance against Superman and Lois. Having Lex appear in his iconic battlesuit, possibly laced with Kryptonite, will make for an iconic battle as the series nears its end, and Clark needs to recover from his power deficiency soon enough by making a trip to the Fortress of Solitude. Even though Lex has left Smallville, he won’t back down, and the Kent family needs to be vigilant enough before someone close to them gets hurt by this vengeful megalomaniac.
